Tropical Smoothie Area Director Christina Noordstar to Speak at UT Nov. 5

On Thursday, Nov. 5, The University of Tampa will welcome Christina Noordstar, owner of seven Tropical Smoothie Café locations, as part of its Today’s Entrepreneurial Women speaker series. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. in the John P. Lowth Entrepreneurship Center on the eighth floor of the Innovation and Collaboration Building, 820 W. North A. St.

The event, which includes a networking reception and tour of the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center following the talk, is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, however, and a reservation is required.

Noordstar opened her first café 12 years ago and now owns seven Tropical Smoothie Café locations and is the area developer of more than 17 locations in Tampa Bay. She expects to grow to 23 by 2017.

As area developer, Noordstar and her husband, Quint, oversee each new location through the lifecycle of building a business, including finding your passion and connecting to the business, real estate, construction, operations, employee management, customer service and ongoing marketing support. They regularly receive Top Store Sales Awards and are recognized as a Top Brand Builder.

A mother of two, Noordstar is also an accomplished triathlete and distance runner, calling athletics a driving force in her motivation to succeed. She has qualifying times for the American Development Team and is training for international Marathon races.

The number of businesses started by women has increased significantly in recent years. Because of this new need, the UT Entrepreneurship Center has created a forum that showcases female entrepreneur models. Today’s Entrepreneurial Women brings together women entrepreneurs to tell their story and interact with business leaders and students.

RSVP by 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5 at www.eventbrite.com/e/todays-entrepreneurial-women-christina-noordstar-tickets-18849649810. For more information, contact Lori Castellano at lcastellano@ut.edu or (813) 257-3227.