Ariel Ruben is a passionate supporter of entrepreneurship and innovation. Working for many years in the Startups scene in San Diego at SDVG/Connect, she understands what it takes to build a successful company that is both scrappy and scalable. She most recently worked as a Rural Venture Catalyst for Oregon RAIN where she built entrepreneurial ecosystems in small cities across Oregon by activating opportunities, capital and local government support. She served over 200+ small businesses and early stage entrepreneurs by connecting them to resources and providing 1:1 mentorship.

Previous Ariel specialized in food systems development at her family's business, Hummingbird Wholesale where she wore many hats from sales, marketing and website development to strategy, customer service and product creation. She also was a part owner at the Hazel People, an Oregon startup making the world's finest Hazel Nutmilk. There she lead the branding charge as Brand Strategist, bringing our innovative and playful brand to life. 

As an entrepreneur herself, she dreams big and never takes no for an answer.

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In her free time, Ariel loves building websites for small businesses and entrepreneurs who need things clean, simple and efficient. She wants business owners to be free to pursue their dreams with the help of a supportive online presence. How? First - visioning and site mapping. Second - brand positioning. Third - streamlining using automation, centralization and the latest technology. Forth - building the vision. And fifth - empowering the owner to own it, work it, rock it.