Yanni Hufnagel
Yanni Hufnagel is an American entrepreneur, former college basketball coach, and the founder and CEO of Atlanta-based record label 495 Records. He is also the founder of the Suwannee Hulaween Festival, two-day annual music and arts festival held in Live Oak, Florida. In 1996, he founded the annual festivals in North Georgia and South Carolina.
- Personal Life
Hufnagel was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended high school at Triton High School in Algonquin, Ill., graduating in 1987. His youth basketball teams competed against future NBA players such as Chris Mills, Kris Humphries, and Sean May. In 1995, Hufnagel joined the financial services team at Merrill Lynch in New York City as a financial analyst after graduating from Kansas State University with a degree in finance and accounting. The following year he became a human resources consultant for IBM for five years before becoming Director of Personnel for General Electric Credit Corporation (GE Capital).
- Giving Back to the Community
Hufnagel donated $2,000 to the Live Oak, FL, fire department to help purchase a new fire truck. In return, Live Oak declared October 16, 2011, as Hufnagel Day. Hufnagel has donated items for silent auctions at multiple Stomp Out Bullying events across the country to raise money and awareness against bullying through the National Education Association’s Stomp Out Bullying campaign.
- Career
In 1992, Hufnagel founded 495 Records to promote his music career. He wrote and performed songs under the moniker Yanni Wolf for two years before retiring in 2011 to write and produce music under the name Yanni Hufnagel. In 1996, he co-founded an annual Halloween music festival in North Georgia called “The Suwannee Hulaween.” On October 16, 2011, he was named the Live Oak Mayor’s Enterprise Award recipient for his work with this festival and other local philanthropic efforts. In 2012 and 2013, he was featured on Forbes’ magazine list of America’s Top 40 Under 40 Business Owners List.
Yanni Hufnagel is a succesful entrepreneur and world-renowned musician. He has worked with many prominent organizations, such as the National Education Association and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, to help raise money and awareness against bullying through their Stomp Out Bullying campaign. He also has started the Suwannee Hulaween Festival, a piece music and arts festival held annually in North Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, where he regularly performs. His business success is directly attributed to his work ethic and persistence through hardship.
Read more about Yanni on The Boss Magazine.