The businesswoman was invited to participate in the second cohort of Jax Bridges late last year, a Jax Chamber program geared toward growing small businesses through partnerships with larger corporations.

Pope-Wells was asked to come up with a business plan — specifically, a way she planned to ramp up her business, even as it surpassed $17 million in revenue in 2014.

That’s when Pope-Wells had her aha moment.

“I began seeing all the connections I have from staffing, nonprofits and the business community,” said Pope-Wells.

In June, Amy Pope-Wells launched her second venture, Tire Diva. The startup is a direct-to-consumer tire service company begun with a tire distributor she knows who imports tires through the Port of Jacksonville. Instead of going to a retail outlet like a Tire Kingdom, customers are able to pinpoint which replacement tires they need by year, make and model and Tire Diva, through its global supply chain partners, locates and delivers them. Because it is cutting out the middleman and buying in bulk, Tire Diva is able to offer wholesale prices. (read more from original JBJ article by Colleen Jones)