Harley
Lever
Harley Lever, the founder of WeSprout, is a social entrepreneur who has
committed himself to business owners in the food, beverage, and hospitality
industry. He draws strongly from his previous experience, endless research, and from the innovative team around him to provide vision for the development of WeSprout's clients.
Entrepreneur:
Harley launched his first company, HarleysEye.com
a Nature and Commercial photography company, when he was 33 years old.
This successful company donates 51% of it's profits from Nature prints
to charities that protect children and the environment. The launching
of HarleysEye.com allowed Harley the freedom to develop a business that
could to be both successful and philanthropic. To Harley's amazement,
the more philanthropic the company, the more successful it became. These
lessons learned throughout Harley's life and especially through HarleysEye.com
were instrumental in the creation of WeSprout and has served to position
his company as a leader in business innovation and development.
As a human factors research scientist, Harley was one of 13 members of a world renowned think tank. He was contracted to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Air Naval Warfare Center, and a commercial airlines company. His research in system design and development, system-to-system interaction, and human-to-system interaction, human-to-system design, was instrumental in the development of FAA funded training systems, advanced flight deck designs, and other systems that leveraged human sensory and ergonomic interactions of pilots. Harley went on to author and co-author of several government and commercial training programs.
Business Developer:
Before becoming a research scientist, Harley worked extensively on business and product development programs. He was 1 of 3 member-team chosen by Arizona State University's Technopolis program to develop and launch a cutting-edge biomechanical analysis technology company. Harley managed a subsidiary web-based company and was instrumental in increasing the revenues by 75% through the restructuring of an existing website and improving overall customer relations and service. In addition, he has lead the industry and market research for several start-up companies and product development projects including a biomechanical analysis technologies, aerospace certification products, ergonomically designed child strollers, and automotive-related products.
Restaurant Developer:
Harley has over 20 years of hands-on restaurant experience working in virtually every position from a dishwasher to upper management. He has worked for national chains such as Pizzeria Uno and Boston's Gourmet Pizza as well as independent restaurants and bars including Mc Duffy's Sport Bar and the Bash on Ash. His customer-centric approach was instrumental in turning several businesses around and has seen results that increased revenue by 300% and reduced cost from 37% to 18%.
Team Developer:
Harley was a fisherman and member of a multi-national search and rescue, fire fighting, and deck team aboard the vessel the "American No. 1" in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. His team was charged with the safety of the forty-member crew in ever-challenging conditions in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. He lead the training of new crew members in teamwork strategies and the operational and emergency processes aboard the the vessel.The lessons learned in Alaska coupled with his research work with the government were crucial in the development of the strategies he uses to build and leverage the powers of teams.
Harley is a goal-oriented, driven individual who's combined educational background, entrepreneurial know how and proven field experience has helped numerous businesses achieve maximum growth and profitability using advanced business solutions and customer-centric approaches. His ability to strengthen the relationships between his clients and their customers and integrating solutions and strategies to support this relationship will provide for continuing success in today's challenging business climate.
