This past week, I walked back into JAX Bridges as a member of Cohort 25. But this isn’t my first time. I’m already a JAX Bridges graduate.
So, why would I go through a business program I’ve already completed?
Because I’m not the same entrepreneur I was the first time and business isn’t the same either. I am in a new city and state and I this time have a clearer understanding of how to navigate here
Going Back Was Intentional
I completed JAX Bridges before the program introduced its enhanced AI component. Since then, technology has changed how we communicate, market, create, analyze information, serve customers, and operate our businesses. At the same time, my financial education company, It’$ My Money, has continued to grow and evolve.
I’m entering this cohort with more experience in Florida, a clearer understanding of the business I’m building here and a stronger vision for where I want it to go. That made returning to JAX Bridges an intentional decision.
As a business owner and leader, I believe there’s a difference between having experience and becoming comfortable. Experience should give you a stronger foundation to ask better questions, make better decisions, and recognize opportunities you may not have been prepared for earlier in your journey. And right now, I have some new questions.
AI Is Part of the Reason I Came Back
I’m especially interested in the enhanced AI component of Cohort 25. I already use AI, so my goal isn’t simply to learn what AI is or experiment with the latest tools. I want to learn more.
✅ How can AI help It’$ My Money operate more efficiently?
✅ Where can it help us expand our reach and impact?
✅ What can my team automate or improve so that more of our time and energy can be focused on the work that requires a human touch?
And perhaps most importantly: How do we embrace new technology without losing the human connection that is so important to financial education?
I’m not interested in using AI just because everyone is talking about it. I want to understand how to use it strategically, responsibly, and in ways that support the mission and future of the business.
Don’t Just Look for Grants, Look for Opportunities to Grow
There’s another lesson here that I want to share, particularly with the small business owners who read the grant list we send on the 15th of every month. When you’re scanning that list for your next funding opportunity, don’t skip over the accelerators and pitch competitions.
I know it is tempting to go straight to anything with the word “grant” attached to it. Funding matters. But I am hear to tell you, sometimes the opportunity that opens the biggest door isn’t a grant.
Accelerators, business development programs, and pitch competitions can give you access to training, mentorship, new relationships, greater visibility, potential funding, and rooms you may not otherwise have access to. They also force you to refine important skills.
✅ Can you clearly explain what your business does?
✅ Can you articulate the problem you solve and the value you provide?
✅ Do you understand your numbers?
✅ Can you communicate your vision confidently to a room of decision-makers?
✅ Can you make someone understand why your business matters in just a few minutes?
Those are skills that extend far beyond a pitch competition. And that’s another thing I appreciate about JAX Bridges.
At the end of the program, participants have an opportunity to pitch their businesses to representatives from several major companies.
Think about the value of that experience beyond whether an immediate opportunity comes from the pitch. You’ve practiced telling your story. You’ve refined your value proposition. You’ve received feedback. You’ve strengthened your presentation skills. And you’ve put your business in front of people and organizations that may not have known about you otherwise.
That’s how doors begin to open.
Sometimes the value of an opportunity isn’t only the check you could receive. It’s the access, exposure, relationships, and skills you take with you afterward.
So when that next grant list hits your inbox on the 15th, look at the grants and look beyond the grants, as well. That accelerator or pitch competition you almost scrolled past might be exactly the room your business needs next.
I Also Came Back for the Room
That brings me to another reason I wanted to participate again: community. As entrepreneurs, Founders, CEOs, it’s easy to become consumed with our own businesses. Keep our heads down. I know, been there done that. There’s always another project, another problem to solve, another goal to reach. But growth also happens when we get outside of our own four walls. One of my goals for Cohort 25 is to continue expanding my network of Jacksonville small business owners and leaders. And when I say “network,” I don’t mean collecting business cards or adding more connections on LinkedIn. I mean relationships.
I want to learn what other entrepreneurs are building. I want to hear about the challenges they’re solving. I want to exchange ideas and resources, identify opportunities for collaboration, and be exposed to perspectives outside of my own industry. And I want to contribute as well
I’m coming into the room with my own experiences, lessons, successes, mistakes, and resources that may be valuable to someone else. The best rooms aren’t just about what you can get from them. They’re also about what you can bring to them.
What I Hope to Walk Away With
By the end of Cohort 25, I hope I walk away with new knowledge, meaningful relationships, fresh perspectives, and practical strategies that I can put to work in It’$ My Money. But I also hope I leave asking even better questions about what’s possible for the business. Going through the same program at a different stage of your entrepreneurial journey gives you a different lens.
Things you may not have been ready to implement the first time suddenly make sense.
Questions you didn’t know to ask before become important.
And conversations hit differently because you now have real-world experiences to connect them to.
That’s why I went back. Not because I’m starting over. I’m preparing for what’s next. And if there’s one thing I hope other entrepreneurs take from my decision to return, it’s this:
Don’t only chase funding. Chase the opportunities that make you a stronger business owner, put you in better rooms, and prepare you for bigger opportunities when they arrive.
Here’s to Cohort 25 and to seeing which doors open next.
Your business bestie,
Patrina