Member Spotlight: Mike Bell

As a working parent from Cincinnati, Ohio - Mike was frustrated with organizing schedules for his personal and professional life. He knew there should be an easier way to help even the busiest people find time together.

With involvement in OCEAN accelerator and recipients of Main Street Ventures Grant, Mike and his wife Maddie Bell started Get Together: a tool that easily integrates with calendars to schedule time together within seconds.

Mike has been involved with our community from day one as an original founding pioneer. Although Mike and his family primarily reside in Cincinnati, working remote has been crucial to his lifestyle as his family tries to take a couple of RV trips a year. With everything Mike has going on, we were fortunate enough to catch a second with him to ask some questions in efforts to inspire others who may be starting a business and who work remote as well.

TOA: In a couple of sentences, tell us a little about you and your business.

Mike: "Get Together allows groups to schedule instantly in their favorite messaging platforms including text message, iMessage, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord with more on the way. My wife / co-founder (Maddie) and I started the business in March 2021 mostly because we were tired of all the endless back-and-forth making plans with friends and it just grew from there."

TOA: Where is your favorite place to work (at home? At a coffee shop?)

Mike: "Home! But we have an RV, so also Florida and Maine where we have family :)"

TOA: What inspired you to start your business? Mike: "After having kids, it became incredibly difficult to find time with friends. One day on the drive home from church Maddie said, 'it should be as easy as just sending a text message and some AI just figures out all the details,' and the idea just stuck with us."

TOA: How has your company impacted Ohio businesses?

Mike: "We went through OCEAN accelerator and received a Main Street Ventures grant so we've been leaning into providing first access to our new products to the Ohio startup and business community through those avenues."

TOA: What advice do you have for those who are working remote?

Mike: "Figure out the physical space where you can best get focused and stick it there each day."

TOA: Do you think connecting to other Ohioan’s who work remote is beneficial?

Mike: "I absolutely believe having a remote community is beneficial - you never know who you will meet and be able to help / get help from."

TOA: How have connecting on Slack helped your business / career in general?

Mike: "Well, winning the Slack Hackathon was a big moment for Get Together so that for sure! Otherwise just having the ability to learn from others and promote what we are doing has been a huge part of Slack for us."

Interested in learning more about Mike's story and his company? Check out Get Together or apply to become a member of our community to connect with Mike today.

Written from a cozy corner in the Medina Library, Medina | Ohio