2023 SPEAKERS & CELEBRITIES

PAUL MIELKE, HOST OF A&E'S FLIPPING DOWN SOUTH

Paul Mielke is the founder of Monroe Park Homes in Birmingham, AL. A self-taught, serial entrepreneur, Mielke moved to Birmingham a few years ago in search of a better life. At first Mielke drove the streets of Birmingham buying the ugliest, most beat-up homes and sold them to investors with contractors in place to do the renovations. As his career evolved he found himself finding the homes, designing them, managing the contractors and selling the property for his investors. He quickly realized that he had built a real business and that he should be doing this for himself. After his first house flipping business partnership ended abruptly, leaving him without a car or a home of his own, Mielke met Cody Cummings and the two launched the Apollo Group. Their company bought rundown homes and transformed them into fun, colorful, bold, affordable homes.

Mielke has recently broke away from The Apollo Group and founded Monroe Park Homes. He is in the homes every day working on bringing his vision to life and is constantly pushing the limits of style. He isn't scared to get his hand dirty and still finds himself working in the homes regularly. With 20+ homes being flipped at once there is ALWAYS something to do and Mielke is the type of guy who rolls up his sleeves to get it done no matter what the situation. Mielke's skillset ranges from drywall, tile and painting all the way to picking and installing furniture and assuring every house feels like home. As their business thrives, Mielke does not forget the past – when he had to walk to work and slept at the office. He works every day with the same burning desire as he did when he first started out. In 2021 Apollo sold 240 homes, flipped over 30 homes, wholesale over 40 homes and landed a national cable tv show, A&E's Flipping Down South. Paul was also an early adopter of the PLACE Inc platform which has since become the fastest growing real estate start up in history and has another cable tv show in the home space coming in spring of 2023. 

Don't miss Paul live on the Fresh Ideas Stage on Friday, February 17th at 3pm and Saturday, February 18th at 12pm and 2pm!

Jennifer Newhouse

Jennifer Newhouse is a content creator who lives here in the Birmingham area. She focuses primarily on home DIY projects, and does most of her projects along side her husband, Tanner Newhouse. Originally from central Georgia, Jennifer and Tanner moved to the Birmingham area following their wedding in 2013. When not doing home DIY projects, Jennifer stays busy working as a special education teacher, as well being a mom to her two boys. While on maternity leave with her second son in 2019, Jennifer decided to start her Instagram account, as a way to show others how they could take their builder grade home and turn it into a custom home with simple DIY projects. Jennifer now shares her DIY projects and home décor tips on her Instagram as a way to show others how they too can make anywhere into their dream home with a few simple projects.

See Jennifer live on the Fresh Ideas Stage on Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 1pm!

Heather Brown

Heather Brown lives in Birmingham, AL with her husband Eric and two young boys. She is a blogger, podcaster, speaker, content creator, e-book author, work-from-home mom, and fitness enthusiast who has become a valued positive voice to the women in her My Life Well Loved and Healthy with Heather Brown community around the world.

Hear Heather live on the Fresh Ideas Stage on Saturday at 4pm!