CO+HOOTS Member Profile: Multiple Natures and solving the ice cream dilemma

When choosing a career path, whether it be for the first time or fifth time, it can be overwhelming. Whether you are a recent college grad, high school senior or experienced industry professional, there can be so many directions to go, you may not know which way is up after a while. CO+HOOTS member Steven Rudolph said it best when he compared it to going to an ice cream shop: “There are too many choices. You don’t know which type of ice cream to choose.”

This is the very dilemma Steven set out to solve with his company Multiple Natures. He said the aim of the company “is to help people identify their potential and to align it with the work that they do so they get greater fulfillment and success, life balance and direction.” It was after a journey practically around the world that Steven was able to not only discover his love of teaching, but also “(find in his) own evolution that (he is) good at finding other people,” as well.

His journey would begin with his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, where he would then move to New York City in a hope to find “fame and fortune as a rockstar.” As all authentic rockstars start off, Steven got a job to help pay the bills, but what would happen next would ultimately change his career path altogether. This part-time job? Teaching.

“I fell in love… in my first classes and I thought, ‘How come nobody ever told me about teaching?’ I didn’t know I had this ability,” Steven said.

This would begin the trek across the world, which took Steven to Japan and then India, where he would create Jiva Public School. What started with eight children grew to more than 2,000 and over his 20 years spent in India, other schools picked it up.

“The core of the program is that every child has to do some introspection, figure out what their strengths are and make the decisions for their course of study,” Steven said.

Steven would then advance to Europe, taking on France, Switzerland and Lithuania. He created a program where “people were choosing the course and direction of their life based on who they were.” People everywhere have been choosing it for the different experience it brings, so much so that the website is offered in three languages: English, French and even Lithuanian.

He soon knew it was time to build it out. That’s when he decided it was time to move back to the U.S. and fully build Multiple Natures to scale.

Mentor and friend Francine Hardaway had been selling the city of Phoenix to Steven for years before the move back to the States, but was able to officially convince him after his first visit to CO+HOOTS. Steven said Francine told him, “Don’t even start thinking about apartments. The first thing you go do is you drive over to CO+HOOTS right now, and you meet Odeen and Jenny, and you get yourself a desk there. Then, once you’ve got your place, then you find an apartment and you’ll see everything will fall into place.”

Heeding her advice, Steven made the journey to midtown and realized CO+HOOTS is where he needed to be.

“It gave me a beautiful, energetic, focused environment that enabled me to feel instantly at home, with respect to my business and my work,” Steven said. “There was no friction here. When I sat at my desk, I felt energized by the other people who are around the community that’s here, which is very supportive. It gave me a grounding and insights into the entrepreneurial scene.”

Multiple Natures has been able to “create tools that are best in class…for working with clients in the process of identification and alignment of potential.” In this, the company has been able to help countless people in finding the right career path for them. Being a part of the CO+HOOTS community has provided Steven with the chance to not only help others in solving their own ice cream dilemmas, but serve as a valuable asset to the community and fellow entrepreneurs.