Author: Abimbola Elizabeth Eminowa

Great ideas can be born under the most mundane circumstances. NSU alumnus Alexander Lafortune got the idea for his new business while a student at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Alone in his dorm room one evening, Lafortune accidentally knocked his toothbrush into the toilet. Frustrated by the inconvenience, he wondered why replacing or buying a new toothbrush was not as easy as ordering a pizza.

In October 2018, Lafortune launched Fortune X, a monthly oral care subscription service www.fortunexbox.com based in South Florida. The company’s goal is to help customers improve their oral hygiene and save time by having products regularly shipped to them.

“Dentists recommend that everyone replace their toothbrush every three to four months,” said Lafortune, whose company sells a variety of toothbrushes, replacement bristle heads, toothpaste, and whitening products. “People tend to forget or they don’t have time to buy a new toothbrush. Fortune X wants to take away those worries and create a new lifestyle…College students are a huge market for us. We understand that most college students do not have cars or time.”

Lafortune graduated in 2018 with a B.A. in Business Administration and a minor in Human Resources Management from NSU’s Huizenga College.

“I’ve aspired to become an entrepreneur since I was in high school,” he said. “Through my four years at NSU, my business degree helped prepare me in numerous ways. The business program had outstanding professors who were professionals in their fields. All had one goal in common: To make sure they prepared us to become the best when we entered the real world. The encouragement they gave me as a student motivated me to pursue my business.”

Jeffrey Scarpiello, M.S. is the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education (FCE) 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award winner. On November, 5 he presented and held a book signing on his book, The 10 “C” Leadership Principles of Excellence – Working Toward the Benefit of the Team, at the Don Taft University Center Club Room.

Scarpiello is a medically retired service-disabled Air Force Veteran with over 20 years of veterans’ advocacy, policy and strategic planning experience. Currently, he works for Optmum Serve – United Healthcare as the Virginia Market Lead, where he is responsible for the development and oversight of a Request for Proposal (RFP) on a federal contract with the Veteran Benefits Administration valued at $6.8 billion that would provide medical disability examinations to veterans and service members.

He has worked for two national veteran non-profit service organizations, the federal and legislative branches of government and in the private sector on behalf of Veterans.  Jeff is a graduate of the Department of Veterans Affairs Leadership VA, class of 2010, where he was the Class “Moose’ and President. In 2013, he was selected to attend the prestigious Partnership for Public Service Excellence in Government Fellows Program. In 2015, Jeff was the recipient of the Partnership for Public Service Citizen in Action Award for a homeless pilot project initiative leveraging partnerships to help cover move-in costs for homeless veterans to help make their new house a true home. Scarpiello earned his Master’s in Leadership with FCE in 2012.

To learn more about his book, please visit: https://outskirtspress.com/the10cleadershipprinciplesofexcellence