Austin Spotlight

Jimmy Yen has built the largest acupuncture clinic in Austin, TX through a mission to help people restore their body's natural ability so they can do what they love.

Bandolier Media is an award winning company that has created original IP and relevant brand content along with managing day to day social media for clients. They have also developed and launched the world's first spicy coffee brand, Roasty Buds.

Nicole Palomo McCharen created Mama Bloom in 2016 a powerful guided postpartum group that provides connection, reassurance, and resources. Through the years, Nicole put together a team of professionals and mamas who are committed to facilitating these group experiences.

Jason is a lifelong Austinite, athlete, technology innovator, team builder, and entrepreneur who approaches his career and business as a sport. His latest venture, Wellcore is bringing an ultra-premium health & wellness business that scales through virtual care technologies.

Elijah is an artist with technical, creative, and productive capabilities. He combines stories along with technique to develop works of art with iconic design and timeless beauty that appeals to audiences of all ages and cultures.

Jodie King is your straight-talking friend, fellow paint-slinger, and mindset slayer. She likes to create things while breaking some rules and making a mess, because life is more fun in the splash zone.

Amy Laine is the co-founder and CEO of SandwYch. She is a gerontologist, an entrepreneur, daughter, wife, stepmom, and dog mom. In addition to co-founding SandwYch. As a business owner, she understands what it takes to move mountains and how to get things done.

A Sydney native, Byron is an entrepreneur with a background in commercial real-estate, the family business. He's run and been the co-founder of several ventures in a variety of fields. His lastest XSpace is bringing a new type of commercial space to Austin, TX.

Renée Rouleau is a celebrity esthetician, beauty entrepreneur and skin expert who established her namesake skincare brand in 1996. Having built her company from the ground up over the last 25+ years, Renée has learned the value of growing a great company versus a big company and building a brand that has recently being named as “A Best Place to Work” by Austin Business Journal.

Ever the entrepreneur, Vi Friebertshauser made her first dollar in first grade by trading in found soda cans. She's continued to scale up her life and her business pursuits with her most recent being Homads in 2015. Her philosophy and that of Homads is simple. Don't Settle. Settle In.

After discovering a mutual love of donuts while dating, Andy & Nicole decided they wanted to recreate their favorites from stratch. From starting in their home kitchen over five years ago, to signing a lease on a commercial kitchen they have continued to grow with their community and fans. They've been lucky enough to work with local businesses and events and look forward to the day they can open their own donut shop.

With a love of jiu jitsu and having been trained by some excellent teachers Gabe Pearlman decided to open his own jiu jitsu studio after moving to Austin from Providence, RI. As the owner of Sheild Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Gabe is able to pass on the lessons he learned and build the jiu jitsu community.

Jocelyn Harris is an avid food warrior, invisible disability fighter, and a brain aneurysm and stroke survivor. After a wonderful career at Disney, she left to focus on her own baking project and opened a bakery called SugaPlump Pastries in Austin, TX. Then came her 100+ pound weight loss journey. She started developing more and more recipes that showcased healthier ingredients.

After struggling to find healthcare when she became self-employed, Melissa Blatt turned the struggle into an opportunity and created Indipop, a health care company geared toward the independent popluation of self-employed professionals and small business owners.

Alexander Linn is an entrepreneur with experience in artifical intelligence, building science, energy techologies and economic development. His goal is to build technologies that promotes the development of better communities. His current company Shipshape AI does this by connect home systems to help owners detect and fix potential issues with their homes prior to them becoming serious.

As a graduate of the University of Texas Austin and the CEO of the Austin Monitor, Joel Gross has been interested and invested in what happens in the Austin community for some time. At the Austin Monitor his mission is to educate residence on what is happening and shaping the city they live in.

Since he was a kid, Grant King has had an unwavering love for the kitchen. The inspiration he received from his mother laid the foundation of his cooking skills. Combining that with knowledge acquired from some of his favorite chefs has lead him to develop his own style of cooking and entertaining.

Liz is an entreprenuer in the film, TV and voiceover industry. Her latest venture CastVoices is working to make the business of voiceover casting simple, accessible and transparent.

Aaron Bergman has a passion for two things: teaching and golf. He has blended his two passions into a one-of-a-kind golfing experience that's changing the face of the game for the better. Golfinity is the vision for a better, more effective golf instruction experience.

Jennifer Porton has always loved making spaces beautiful, functional, and organized. She's taken that passion and created Jen's Pro Organizing to adapt her skills to her clients personalized needs to make their spaces calming, relaxing and inviting.

Forrest is a 7th Generation Texan who is enthusiastic about Texas history. She provide insight on rare stories from the history of Texas on her social media platforms.

Patter Paws Pet Company was born with the vision from Tessa Nappi of providing services for pets in the comfort of their home to allow for lowest level of stress for pets and the highest level of convenience for pet owners.

Frustrated by the landscape of baby foods in 2016, Joe and his wife Serenity, decided to start their own healthy and nutritious baby food brand, and Serenity Kids was born.

In this episode I answer some real estate questions submitted by listeners from if we are in a housing bubble to things to help if you are planning to buy or sell your home. 

Bassist, Artist, and Director at the Austin School of Music, Jasmine Jew guides the schools mission to encourage and promote the Austin music community and provide programs to develop it in young musicians.

Cristina Puscas is a nutritional health coach and personal trainer, empowering women who are looking to break down dieting habits to become stronger and more powerful in fitness and in life.

Grant Hanson shares his journey through addiction and how he now spends his career providing tools and guidance to his patients and clients to ensure they maintain their health and gain strength in recovery so they can live with excellent mental fitness.

As the owner of Forever Forward PT, Mark has taken the physical therapy process and made it mobile to provide easier access for his patients and clients and has brought the physical therapy clinic to the community.

Krista is a nutritionist who's mission is to guide you to discover the body, health, and lifestyle that feels best for you, which you can maintain while living life to the fullest. Living Large is about experiencing life, dreaming big, setting goals, and aligning your health with your unique values.

George Vance McGee is a native Austinite, author of 3 self-published books and a Realtor with Austin Silent Market. He has seen all of the tremendous growth and changes that Austin has experienced and enjoys helping his clients navigate the current market.

Jen Shultz quit her career as a teacher when it left her without purposes but with anxious and depression. She then dedicated herself to creating her own career path and now educates and coaches others that are meant to leave the typical 9-5 and venture out on their own.

Ryan Kober is a chef, actor and food blogger who has recently relocated to Austin and is enjoying exploring the city and sharing his adventures. He has a top 5 happy hour deal recommendations and we discuss the 5 restaurants and what makes each a great place to check out.

Pavel Kolenda and Kelly Kassian from Backyard Pod join me to discuss the first year of building a startup. They share the fun in seeing the quick growth as well as some of the challenges they have had to navigate along the way.

Elisa creates curated online enrichment programs that take your employee's interest in mind. Whether you're bringing your remote teams together to focus on personal growth or dedicate to their wellness. Elisa believes when you invest in your employees, they become more invested in you.

In this interview with Dr. Brynna Connor we discuss the journey to opening up her own practice. The challenges in running a family medicine practice and the innovations that the last few years have brought to her practice.

Danielle Fewings has been a business owner for a number of years, but after having challenging experiences with various marketing companies, she decided to invest in herself and learn how to effectively run marketing which is how Styledaf Consulting was born.

Victor Celania helps men build a wardrobe that can really transform the way a man dresses. On top of running his own company he's also into the early 1900s era and enjoys playing in a band and the swing dancing that help keep that era alive.

This episode is an interview with Daniel Tyranski, Founder & Chief Creative at Nomadic Beerworks in south Austin. We talk about his love of beer, starting a business with family and what some of the biggest challenges have been for him as an entrepreneur.

Michael Barnes joins me to discuss his early career as a teacher, then his transition into the startup world and creating business to help teachers, renters and others.

Meghan Gonzalez is the Editor-in-Chief of MyPoint.TV a startup bringing news through digital and social media channels that is curated by local citizens. We discuss her early career of wanting to be an on-air TV personality to transitioning to a producer for several different programs and stations and her current roll shaping the path of the startup MyPoint.TV

Jayme Shiarla spent many years growing through the adversities life brought her way. Her growth through those lessons gave her the passion to find her true calling to help others grow through what life has brought them. Armed with her Life Coaching Certification and lessons from her own life she has becoming a NLP Practitioner to achieve her mission of helping other achieve the greatness they are capable of.

K.Lee Marks is the Founder of Podcast Farm. He uses his experience in digital marketing and podcast to help other podcaster reach their intended audience, grown their community and amplify their businesses.

Albert Baez is the Co-Founder & President of Blended Sense. We discuss his transition from NYC to Austin and his early years in the start-up world prior to starting his own company. We also discuss how his company connect creatives with business owners to help them grow their business by getting their story out.

My interview with Max Kunik of Austin Taster's Table Club discusses his start in building a restaurant club with some friends from college as a way to try out different restaurants in the Austin area as well as connect with other Austin foodies.

Jeanette is the Author of "The Day I Threw Banana Bread and Almost Went to Jail" and has her own coaching practice where she helps parents and families build happier, heathier homes.

I'm joined by Wendy Elder Real Estate Advisor with Compass Real Estate. We discuss the journey of her real estate career and answer some of the most common questions we get from family, friends and clients about the current Austin real estate market.

Katie Fore is the Founder and Owner of The Elevated Stag. A consulting business to help busy, successful men with elevating their lifestyle through carefully curated interior design, home organization and wardrobe styling. Find out more about her lifestyle consulting business as well as the rewards and challenges she has had being a small business owner.

In this episode of the Austin Spotlight I sit down with Adam Creighton the Founder and Studio Director of Enduring Games. We talk about his love of comics, his early career in acting and video game design and how that passion has lead to a career building games for other to enjoy.

The real estate market has been crazy both here in Austin and nationwide. While many people are running into multiple offer situations when trying to buy a home there are some things you can do to help your offer stand out and give you the best chance to win the deal. Check out these tips and reach out if we can provide and advice.

Mark Downs took his expertise at creating games and experiences along with his passion for travel and exploration and started a company with his wife to provide team building and group experiences to bring people close to each other and their cities.

Cinthya was a teacher with no baking experience and a distaste for chocolate who found her passion baking for her students and has turned herself into a Chocolatier. Hear her fascinating story.