Passioners Podcast

We talk to Luca Lampariello, a polyglot who speaks English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Hungarian, and his native Italian. He is a language coach, blogger, YouTuber, and a lifetime learner. You can find his stories on various news platforms such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Babbel.

We talk with Christine Cotton, CEO of Porch. Porch is a volunteer, nonprofit hunger-relief organization that provides healthy food and other assistance to thousands of families living in poverty. Ms. Cotton started Porch in Chapel Hill and has now expanded it across the east coast. Listen to hear about Ms.Cotton's journey on expanding her act of kindness across neighborhoods.

We talk to Katie H. Hotze, founder of Grocery Shopii, a meal planning technology company that builds and orders customers' shopping carts based on the recipes they want to make. Listen now to hear how she became a tech CEO after working years in a corporate marketing department.

We talk with Alex Brandwein about his transition from making six figures in investment banking to risking it all to create his bagel shop. Alex is a UNC alumnus who tells us about his journey and the tough decisions he had to make which ultimately led to his pursuit for happiness. Listen to hear about Alex Brandwein's journey to find what matters to him.

We talk to Joe Puccio, co-founder of Coursicle, a website & mobile application that helps college students plan their class schedule and get into their classes by notifying them when a class they need has an available seat. Mr. Puccio doesn't use superfluous jargon to present Coursicle, doesn't shy away from money-related questions, and doesn't try to paint UNC better than his experience -- he is straight to the point. Listen now to hear his honest insights.

We talk to Jennifer Evins, CEO of the Chapman Cultural Center. She is in charge of the Chapman Cultural Center located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Listen to how one woman has been able to make an impact on her community.

We talk to Rob Taylor, a Senior Camera Journalist for BBC News. Based in London and part of the UK Operations team, he covers news stories in the UK, Europe, and around the world. Jennes Kang found Mr. Taylor in Forbes list 30 under 30 published in 2020. At the age of 22 (currently 23 years old), he became the youngest Senior Camera Journalist at BBC.

We talk to Simon Burgess, a long-time real estate multihyphenate. He is currently the managing director for Hotel Indigo located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Listen to how one man was able to go from having no college education & working for others to having others work for him.

We talk to Kirsten Baker, CEO, and Co-Founder of Jeenie. It won the Startup of the Year award by Established and US. Jeenie was co-founded by Kirsten Baker and her father, Richard Brecht. Its mobile platform connects users via video and audio calls with live, HIPAA-trained, medical interpreters from mobile devices or computers. Instead of paying $90 to $125 an hour for a professional interpreter, you can use Jeenie's service for $1 per minute.

We talk with Tristen, Justin, and Baquir, co-founders of Triad Studios. Triad Studios co-founders consist of UNC-Chapel Hill alumni. Triad Studios creates strategic, cinematic video content for their clients to showcase their brands. They made $82,000 in revenue in their first year, but quadrupled in the second year and now are seeking to further expand their company. Listen to how 5 co-founders found each other to create content that complemented the group.

We talk to Alex Amoroso, a founder of Cheesecakes by… who? You guessed it: Cheesecakes by Alex. Cheesecakes by Alex boasts more than 1,700 Google reviews of 4.7 stars and combined 1,000 reviews of TripAdvisor and Yelp with 4.5 stars or more. The bakery is a great success now. However, if you dig deeper into the very beginning of Mr. Amoroso's journey, he initially started making cheesecakes because of his frustration that he wasn't good at it. Listen now to hear how frustration combined with a love for food turned into a successful bakery business.

We talk with Kerwin Donis, a co-founder of a real estate investing company located in North Carolina. He is currently a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although his family has endured their fair share of struggles, he was motivated to start his company with his brothers. He speaks about the specifics of what he does and the journey to reach the success his company has acquired. Listen now to hear Mike Garcia and Jennes Kang interview this young & self-motivated entrepreneur.

We talk to Timothy Marr, a professor of American Studies at UNC. Jennes took his class called Birth and Death in the United States during her first semester in college. It was an extraordinary class that encouraged her to develop different perspectives about human life. This freshman seminar reaffirmed to her the wonders of higher education in the U.S. In his class, she was able to reflect and ruminate on important concepts with other peers with the guidance of an encouraging, thoughtful, and intelligent professor. Listen now to hear about Jennes's four main takeaways: regret, privilege, prestige, and aging.

We talk to Jeff Polish, founder of “The Monti,” a story-telling non-profit organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina that invites people to tell personal stories. Their mission is to create a community through the telling of stories. Dr. Polish says, "the audience, they want to love you. They are not there to pick you apart; they want to connect, whether they are aware of it or not." But are you still afraid?: "If you just relax, take a breath, you'll find your place in the story, and you will move forward."

We talk to Abby Falik, a Founder & CEO of Global Citizen Year (GCY), a non-profit organization for graduating high school seniors to participate in an immersion-based international bridge year before embarking on their college journeys. GCY Fellows go to countries like Ecuador, India, and Brazil and work in local apprenticeships and live with host families. Tune in to find out Mrs. Falik found and expanded GCY, and the organization's impact on graduating high school seniors.

We talk to Jesús Cepeda, the CEO of Os city, a gov-tech company based in Mexico City, Mexico. Os City transforms governments into a platform of digital services. It aims to reduce the struggle of government professionals who operate within a limited budget by offering them the necessary tech-service. Their goal is to build one smart city at a time. Os City also has an open-source blockchain initiative for artisanal industries called Artisan Origin.

We talk to Paolo Rizzi, a co-founder of Minu, a fin-tech company based in Mexico City, Mexico. 75% of Mexicans live from paycheck to paycheck with no savings for contingencies, and 33% get loans from family, friends, or institutions to cover their recurring expenses. However, the current options are complex, inadequate, and expensive, and promote a cycle of indebtedness that favors poverty. From this realization, the fin-tech Minu company was born. Tune in to hear how Minu's service alleviates employees' lack of liquidity as well as Mr.Rizzi's entrepreneurial life story starting from when he built his first internet company with his college friends when he was 19 years old.