Interview With Adam Slatniske: “Inspiring The Way” Organization
About Adam Slatniske: Adam V. Slatniske was born and raised in Carroll County and went to South Carroll High School where he was an honor student and captain of his football and lacrosse teams. At a young age, Adam was dedicated to community service, earning hundreds more service learning hours than needed to graduate.
Asam Slatniske attended Washington College where he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. His community service continued in college where he participated in a program called Neighbor Ride where he drove elderly people who could no longer drive to their appointments and helped them run errands. Adam V. Slatniske also volunteered at Copper Ridge Nursing Home for dementia and Alzheimer patients. Adam participated in many activities for domestic violence awareness and during the blizzard in 2010, he shoveled out the Chestertown Hospital to ensure that EMS could operate safely.
After college, Adam Slatniske went to Nova Southeastern Dental School in South Florida where
even his intense course load did not stop his dedication to community service. He helped run
blood drives, gave blood and platelets as much as allowed and even went on the bone marrow
donor list for people with blood diseases and leukemia. Adam used his newfound skills to give pro bono dental work to the HIV/AIDS and low-income communities. As a dentist, Adam moved
back to Maryland and in his practice, he was one of the only dentists in the area to put the time
and care into providing treatment to the mentally and physically disabled. After joining the
At Parkville Dental practice, Adam’s grandfather suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right side.
Adam traveled twice a week from Parkville to New Windsor to help his grandfather during the
week with his home physical therapy.
Adam Slatniske is surrounded by close friends and family near his home in Maryland. As his past and present demonstrate, he is a passionate and dedicated public servant and dentist.
Recently, Adam V. Slatniske and his girlfriend decided to start a non profit organization to help to build a powerful foundation that supports local organizations and families with financial support for medical needs, housing, and beyond! It is called Inspiring The Way.
1. How did Inspiring The Way come about?
Helping families has always been something that we wanted to do. I think a lot of societal issues stem from a broken household in childhood. Providing a way to improve the stability of a household we believe can really help children better cope with life situations.
2. Describe what your typical day looks like.
Working with developers to make sure our site is functional for our patrons to RSVP to upcoming charity events where all proceeds will go to selected charities. Contacting vendors and venues to set up events and reaching out to local companies for donations for raffle prizes. Setting up ticket sales using the following platform.
3. How do you turn ideas into reality?
Reaching out to the community through the official facebook and Instagram pages (@inspiringtheway) collecting ideas for upcoming events.
4. What’s something that excites you?
Working with local communities within Baltimore City who are excited to gather together for volunteer opportunities, creating a better environment for the families.
5. How can you be productive as an entrepreneur?
Setting a schedule and holding myself to it. I have to constantly fight myself to not procrastinate because though I know I may have more time to complete a task, inevitably something will pop up and take up time.
Learning what is trending in today’s society while engaging in talk radio daily, helps bring creative ideas everyday, motivating myself to continue to explore ways to attract patrons to this organization.
6. If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?
Don’t limit yourself. The only thing that has ever held me back in life is myself.
7. Tell us something that not a lot of people agree with you on.
Locust Point was listed as one of the safety communities within the United States. The community is extremely strong and willing to go above and beyond, contributing to helping families, friends, neighbors, the homeless and local small businesses.
8. What is one thing you do as an entrepreneur that you would recommend everyone else do as well?
A good night’s sleep is always important for a productive day.
9. What strategy has helped you grow your business?
Finding a niche and fulfilling the need. After contributing to the House of Ruth and part-taking in local Bull and Oyster Roasts over the years, it was apparent that there was a need for more non-profit organizations, interviewing non-profit volunteers after events within the Baltimore community to help raise money, and to provide volunteer opportunities for those who have a desire to help.
10. What is one failure you have experienced while being an entrepreneur and how did you overcome it?
We have not experienced a failure yet, but we have learned from our individual failures in the past. Coming from a broken household
11. Are there any business ideas you have that you are willing to share?
Sit down, and when you think of the question “What is your passion?,” get a pencil and paper, and write down every word that comes to mind.
Also, speaking from a non profit prospective we always need photographers to help promote our business
12. What is the best $100 you’ve recently spent?
Giving monetary donations to the House of Ruth monthly as this organization helps women who are victims of domestic abuse, providing them a safe environment to live while also protecting their identity, and helping them create a fresh start!
13. What is one piece of software that helps you be productive?
Wix.com is a user-friendly platform used to help users like myself, who are excited to explore their creative side, increasing their workflow and producing an eye-catching website. Features on this platform allow external users to purchase tickets for upcoming events, subscribe to blog posts to learn about past events and future causes, subscribe to our monthly newsletter, volunteer opportunities and MORE!
14. What is one book that you recommend others to read?
The Bible and 5 love languages. These books have really helped me to relate to others.
15. What is your favorite quote?
I have two favorites:
- “Faith can move mountains” which is extracted from the New Testament of The Bible (Mark 11:23) “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
- Seuss: “Be who you are, and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” I like this quote because it dives into learning how to express your feelings which contributes to positive coping mechanisms.
Tips from Adam Slatniske: Be in the now. It is very easy to be thinking about the future of your business, but focusing on making sure that everything is going well in the present will help set up and give you ideas for the future.
- Do not be afraid to fail. Everyone has failed at one point in their life. I think that failures are the greatest opportunity to learn and come back better.
Working with other non profits or businesses is a great way to promote yourself while helping others. Oftentimes there is only the appearance of competition when really there is an opportunity for growth.