Profound change starts when authentic connections begin.
We have experienced incredible success in our lives, professionally and personally. And the key to our success has been the connections we’ve made along the way.
We created Profound to provoke those connections. To create a community for Upstate NY’s brightest minds and most ambitious doers--from high level leaders and small business owners to young entrepreneurs and beyond.
It will take work. But if you’re invested, we guarantee that Profound will take your business, your life and your impact to the next level.
Because we’re living proof that awesome things happen when ambitious people connect.
We can’t wait to get started.
A message from Jeff Knauss, Arel Moodie, and Adam Weitsman
The Founders
Arel is a best-selling author and executive coach who has spoken to over 750,000 people throughout 48 states and 5 countries.
As an entrepreneur and “human behavioral investigator” he has extensively studied the intricacies of human dynamics and relationships. Arel has been invited to speak at the White House twice, the TEDx stage three times and has been featured in The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Essence, USA Today, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Huffington Post, and has been a contributor to the television program The Doctors. He has been named to Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 list and CNY Biz Journal's 40 under 40.
His podcast has reached millions of listeners throughout 178 countries and was once the Number 1 career podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Arel Moodie
Bestselling Author & Speaker
Adam Weitsman
Serial Entrepreneur & Philanthropist
Adam is the CEO of Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling, the largest privately held scrap metal recycling company on the East Coast. Headquartered in Owego, New York, the business now operates in 15 locations and earns more than $1 billion annually in sales. The company is a two-time winner of the S&P Platts Leadership Award and the American Metal Market Scrap Company of the Year (Large Category), the two most prestigious industry awards that can be achieved worldwide in the scrap metal recycling industry.
Weitsman is also an active restauranter, with his restaurant ownership group including The Krebs in Skaneateles, where profits benefit local charities for women and children; The Elephant and the Dove in Skaneateles; a forthcoming collaboration with East Syracuse’s Rise N Shine Diner; a sushi restaurant coming to Skaneateles; in addition to his recent purchase of the Hilltop Restaurant, which will be renamed Clover’s Café, in Skaneateles.
In 2021, Weitsman founded Viridium LLC, a cryptocurrency mining farm planned to occupy several locations throughout New York State, and also announced his involvement as a partner/advisor to Nushama, a psychedelic wellness clinic based out of New York City.
An avid art collector and philanthropist, Weitsman notably donated his more than $10 million 19th-century American stoneware collection to the New York State Museum in Albany. He is a well-known supporter of Syracuse basketball and the Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation, and recently committed $1 million to local charities following the Boeheim Army tournament team’s win. He is also a long-time Boys & Girls Club supporter, and the founder of the Southern Tier Tuesdays and Central New York Wednesdays initiatives, in which he and his daughter Clover award weekly $4,000 grants to Upstate New York non-profits, among many other philanthropic endeavors.
Weitsman resides in Skaneateles, New York City, Miami as well as Yellowstone Club in Montana.
Jeff’s entrepreneurial journey started by co-founding Digital Hyve, a full-service digital marketing agency with offices in Syracuse and Rochester, NY with 50-plus full-time employees.
Digital Hyve was named the 52nd fastest private growing company in the U.S by Inc. Magazine in their annual Inc. 5,000 edition and was also named the 5th fastest growing Marketing & Advertising Company in the nation. Since 2018, they have been listed on the Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in the United States 4 years in a row.
Jeff has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Adweek, Fortune Magazine, Facebook.com Success Stories, Statista, and multiple television news networks.
In 2021, Jeff sold Digital Hyve to a large, independently owned ad agency, Butler Till, which resulted in DH's 56 employees becoming employee-owners of the business through an ESOP. This has been Jeff’s proudest professional moment as it honored the employees that helped build Digital Hyve.
Jeff is an angel investor in seven other businesses through his company HML Holdings and has started four new businesses after his exit from Digital Hyve.
He is also very engaged with his community. Currently, Jeff sits on 6 Board of Directors including the Loretto Foundation, Byrne Dairy, United Way of CNY, CenterState CEO, Onondaga Community College Foundation, and SUNY Oswego Foundation.
Jeff Knauss
Serial Entrepreneur & Angel Investor
“Everything incredible in my life has happened because I met someone amazing.”
- Jeff Knauss
“Everything incredible in my life has happened because I met someone amazing.”
- Jeff Knauss