Timothy Totten

Entrepreneur

Timothy Totten is an energetic, talkative, and creative force in Central Florida and his chosen hometown, Eustis. As an entrepreneur, Totten oversees a staff of 14 creating unique and comforting products for the funeral industry. As a philanthropist, Totten organizes and oversees the Amazing Race for Charity, the laziest, wackiest fundraising event that pits teams of two on a five-mile trek to complete 20+ challenges at schools, businesses, parks, and more on their way to a crazy finish. In just seven years, the Race has raised more than $200,000 for more than twenty-five local charities. As a mischievous gamer, Totten co-creates the unique events at FunVenture, a company dedicated to creating game experiences that allow adults to have fun again. The company's most popular creations include "Escape Game in a Box," "Audio Game," "Pop-Up Mini Golf," and "QR Code Scavenger Hunt. Finally, as an entertainer and educator, Totten shares his encyclopedic knowledge of the famed American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright through his engaging storytelling sessions about the icon's life with audiences across the country. With elements of love, adultery, murder, and the Emperor of Japan, Totten's stories about Wright's out-sized life and personality serve as a worthy counterbalance to the amazing architectural feats achieved by the artistic genius. When Timothy isn't busy with one of these endeavors, he can be found playing paintball or riding go-carts with his 24-year old son or taking in a movie, concert, or play with his friends.

The exciting story of Frank Lloyd Wright. Giving back locally. Creating smiles. Cheese. Chocolate. Warm cinnamon rolls. Now I'm hungry!

Charities can help one another find success and discover audiences by sharing their knowledge through something I call "Open Source Philanthropy." Someone held the first bake sale. Someone else was the first to say "Let's wash that guy's car for money!" Someone, somewhere decided that getting up at 7am on a Saturday to run 5K was a great fundraising idea. If you find them, please Baker act them! And someone else saw one of these ideas and said "I'm going to copy that for my own charity." Rather than protecting our intellectual property and institutional knowledge, we should be accelerating the sharing of this valuable information so that the worthy non-profits in other community can benefit from "what works today."

Architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, Funeral Service, Games, Marketing

Lots of people want to give a TED talk. I'm one of them. But how many are crazy enough to say "I want to put on an entire TEDx event with a dozen speakers and a hundred people in the audience?" Okay, still a lot of people. I launched TEDxEustis because I live in one of those towns where people are more likely to think we just don't do cool stuff here, and so we never try. I wanted people to be surprised that there's a TEDx here. And they are! Our inaugural TEDxEustis was a blistering success! So much so, that I was concerned about how we'd top it for year two. Fortunately, we've been able to find engaging and interesting speakers and performers for our first six years and we hope to continue that in the future! I also tend to obsess when I like something, so I've attended three other TEDx events and been able to attend TEDWomen. This community is a fantastic resource and I am glad to be part of the TEDx family.

I sew at a "champion level", if such a thing exists. Rather than make me the Star Trek costume I wanted at 16, my grandmothers taught me to sew my own and it has turned into a successful business that allows me to provide jobs for more than a dozen people and pursue all the other passions in my life.