Zero To Ten

We're very excited to introduce you all to the newest addition to our team, Joe Tortolon. Joe has a background in education and has been bartending in Charlotte for a few years now before joining hygge. He's now a community manager and is ready to make a friend out of anyone, even those who believe Australia is real (you'll need to listen in to get that refrence). 

We're welcoming Jessica Lackey of Jessica Lackey Consulting to the Zero to Ten podcast. Jessica focuses on helping small businesses and solo entrepreneurs grow their businesses in ways that make sense for them - which might not always mean hiring more employees and growing to an agency level. She's a whiz at processes, revenue structure, CRMs and so much more, and we loved learning from her. Listen to the full episode to check it out! 

We're sitting down with 24-year-old CEO Drake Gens, the owner of FinTeam Business Consulting. Drake purchased the business in May last year and now acts as a part-time CFO for small businesses as they work to achieve financial goals. We have a lot of great laughs and talk about everything from ice cream to books. Listen in for more! 

We are so excited to introduce y'all to the newest member of the hygge team, Ashley Gamber! Ashley has worked with our friends at COhatch for a few years now but decided last year that she wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone and move to a new area. This lined up with when we were looking to hire a new community manager, and everything worked out from there. We chat with Ashley about her move to Charlotte, what she likes about the Queen City so far and more. 

This episode we're talking with Corey Easterday, a hygge member doing entirely too much but we're here for it. In it we talk about his nonprofit initiatives, therapy, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, aspiring rap careers and more. 

We're welcoming someone new to the hygge team this week! Teddy Johnson is the new community manager for our hygge camp greene and 3rd ward locations here in Charlotte. We learn more about her in this episode, and in particular talk through how she put herself out there and met people after moving to Charlotte 3 years ago at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with Hollywood writer Stacey Rose about her background in theater, her decision to go to graduate school in her mid-30s, how the writer's strike affected her budding career and what's next for her. 

Teddy Fitzgibbons, founder of local tech startup StreetFair, joins us this episode to talk about his business, what it's like to work with a business partner and his passion for skydiving.

Meet Courtnie Coble, the founder and owner of Charlotte nonprofit The Academy of Goal Achievers, or TAOGA. Courtnie was inspired to found this youth leadership and mentoring program based on her own life experience. She believes no student or caregiver should feel alone when they are trying to figure out what comes next in their life. Listen in to learn more!

This week we're sitting down with local events planner Tara West, owner of Experience Bold. When you think of event planners, you might picture someone with an eye for decor or a wedding planner, but Tara is here to tell you that the side of events she loves the most are the logistics, and we can see why. Learn more about event planning, Tara's dream of going skydiving and her latest obsession over pour-over coffee by listening in.

We're sitting down with Andy Smith, publisher of Charlotte Magazine, to chat with him about his role, media in Charlotte and so much more. 

This week we're sitting down with Richmond Brautigan, a member of the incredible Leading on Opportunity team here in Charlotte. Think of LOO as a think tank for nonprofits working toward different aspects of economic mobility. Richmond is taking us through how they use data to connect nonprofits over larger issues and make folks aware of where they can have the most impact.  

And we mean that in the best way. We knew this local nonprofit organization had a lot going on, but sitting with COO Shelly Biby we truly learned how much time, energy and work they put into supporting Charlotte students. We loved learning more about the organization and how we as a community might be able to support them. 

We're sitting down with Paul Reali, co-founder and executive director of Charlotte LIT, to learn more about the organization, how it was formed, what makes Paul passionate about it all and what types of programming they have coming up. If you also love to nerd out about writing and books, this episode is for you!

We're sitting down with the hygge team's newest addition, Bryan Archilla, to get to know him a little better now that he's been on the team for a few months. We talk about his background in video work, his time at a film school that ended up being a ponzi scheme, the podcast he hosts with two friends and seagulls. There's a lot about seagulls. Check it out.

We're sitting down with Garrett to talk all about the new partnership with Columbus-based COhatch and what it means for the business. We also get some tips about Milan, because that's just how Zero to Ten rolls.

We're sitting down with Jess Berresse, the better half of Seemingly Overzealous, a dairy-free ice cream shop coming to Camp North End in just a few weeks. She also just happens to be hygge coworking's owner, Garrett Tichy's, girlfriend. We learn about her favorite and least favorite flavors, get an update on the shop and talk about the difficulty of building a business with someone you also live with.

Meet Dylan Smith, owner of Current Nostalgia, one of the newest shops at Camp North End. Current Nostalgia is a streetwear boutique and brand which has been operating online since 2020 but just a few weeks ago opened its first physical location at Camp North End in Charlotte. We sat down with Dylan to learn about his journey, his dog and what exactly streetwear is. 

We're catching up with Michelle Fernandez, owner of super popular Charlotte brand Limoncitos, which features handmade home goods made out of terrazzo and polymer materials. Michelle's whole goal with her business is to encourage people to find joy in their home or work spaces and to help them create an environment which reflects them. She's also finishing up her second masters degree program in counseling and hopes to help others process trauma and emotions through art. 

We're so excited to introduce y'all to Eboni Huggins, the newest member of the hygge team. In addition to being a part time community manager with us, Eboni is also a small business owner, a writer, a podcast host and so much more. Wait until you hear about everything she's got going on. 

On this episode of zero to ten we're chatting with Charlotte interior designer and business owner Cristy Montoya, who's run her business Factory of Spaces since 2017. She talks with us about her creative process, how her business did during the pandemic and what business ownership looks like now that she's a mom of a 7-month-old baby.

We're sitting down with the owner of Uptown Doula in Charlotte to talk all things pregnancy, postpartum and business ownership. Haley breaks down what exactly she does with us and we have some laughs along the way. 

We're welcoming the owner of Pretty Honest Candles, aka the Charlotte candle business that is so popular even Beyonce knows about it to Zero to Ten in this episode! We chat candles, business ownership and babies with this brilliant entrepreneur. 

We're talking with Sam Hagy, assistant manager of FIT, hygge's group fitness gym, about her dive head first into a full time fitness career, her favorite parts of fitness and how she keeps herself motivated. 

When we heard one of our newer members was a gay romance author, we knew we needed her on the podcast ASAP. If you're active at all on Book Tok, aka that nerdy space on Tik Tok where books are discussed, chances are you've heard of Onley James. If you haven't, you're in for a treat with this episode. 

Executive Director of Trips for Kids Eric Supil has a passion for biking, something we don't quite understand but are definitely drawn to. He's taken that passion and translated it into a career of helping young kids explore the outdoors and find their own independence through biking in Charlotte. 

It's time for our 6 month check-in with hygge owner Garrett Tichy. In this episode we dive into our recent acquisition of Advent Coworking, talk about reviving community and share what it's like to grow a small team quickly.

This week on Zero to Ten we sit down with hygge team member and local yoga teacher Ben Kalra to talk about finding your life's passion, representation in basketball and some fun recreational activities. 

People don't like to discuss death, but it's a fact of life, and one that life insurance agent Bill Wormley tries to make less scary through his work. We sit down to talk with him about his business and his recent move to Charlotte. 

Dave Butler is likely one of the coolest, most creative, most generous people we know. One of our favorite things about this episode is learning how he's been able to get involved in so many projects that all work together to further his life goals and mission. 

We're finally getting the chance to sit down with hygge's director of membership Chloe Barksdale 9 months after she's joined the team to learn a bit more about her and what she does. 

We're sitting down with local coffee roaster Chandler Wrenn, one of the owners of Hex Coffee, a former city planner and musician, and someone we think is pretty funny and cool, even if his kids don't think so. 

In this episode you'll meet hygge fam member Haley Willis, a small business owner and an environmental compliance engineer here in Charlotte. We talk about everything from our candy hot takes, her work in environmental sustainability and owning a creative business on the side. 

We're sitting down with #hyggefam member Bryce, who tells about his path to racial justice work, how he's breaking down a complex topic so it's approachable to folks and his history as a college athlete. 

We sat down with hygge coworking owner Garrett Tichy to get a bit of a state of the union on business as the year begins. Hear what he's proud of over the last 6 months and where he plans to take the business this year. 

Over a year ago, we sat with Courtney Estes, owner of Lincoln's Haberdashery, on one of the worst days of her life. She had just laid off most of her staff and had no idea if her restaurant would survive. In this episode we check in with her to see how Lincoln's is doing and what's next. 

A lot has happened since we last spoke with Julia, personally and professionally. Even amid a pandemic, she's gotten engaged and married, has grown her team at Julia Fay Photography and is back at her pre-pandemic work level. Listen in for more deets on what running a photography business looks like in the current world. 

Small business owner Erin Waters is not one to words, and we love her for that. As a massage therapist with a petite bodywork studio, she has been hit hard by the pandemic. In this episode, she'll share some of her frustrations struggling to meet ends meet while seeing people continue to gather maskless and spread the Covid-19 virus. Listen in for some refreshing tough love from one heck of a person.

Being a travel advisor in the middle of a global pandemic when many countries are limiting their travel is no easy thing. We sat down with Ashley to talk about how she handled everything, why she decided to jump into her business full time anyway, and what advice she has for others.

In this episode we're chatting with Jennifer Bishop, owner of local event company J. Leigh Events, about how she survived the pandemic and what she's doing differently now in the face of the Delta variant.

Founder and CEO of the American Pit Bull Foundation Sara Ondrako is sitting down with us to talk about how her nonprofit survived the pandemic, what long lasting affects Covid-19 has had on their funding and advice for other nonprofits facing the Delta variant.

Hygge's owner Garrett Tichy is taking over Zero to Ten to talk with Alyssa, the usual Zero to Ten host, about her used bookstore at Camp North End. Alyssa shares how That's Novel Books opened two weeks before the state shut down last year, what she did to survive as a business owner and what's next. 

You'd be hard pressed to find a small business owner who didn't learn something throughout the pandemic, but for Olivia Wolff, co-founder of UpDog Kombucha, the lesson was a particularly hard one: she learned she was not the best person to be running her company. Listen in as she tells us about keeping the business afloat during 2020 and finding a buyer to take over.

Over a year ago, Garrett and George first on a podcast about how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected George's music lesson business, Bold Music Co. We're catching back up with this local entrepreneur to see how things are going and what's next. 

We sat down with hygge's owner Garrett Tichy to get an update on business as coworking adjusts to life opening up after the pandemic. He shares more about what hygge coworking faced during the pandemic and how we are still working through it all now as a small team of three. 

In this extra special episode, Garrett guest-hosts while we hear from Niché Faulkner, a Charlotte yoga trainer and the co-founder of SHAE Movement African Arts, on the state of the city's yoga community post-pandemic and the lack of diversity in yoga spaces. 

Mental health and physical wellness often go hand in hand, both in good ways and bad. While physical wellness can alleviate symptoms of mental illness, there's a line that can be crossed. This week we're sitting down with hygge wellness's GM Jamie Horn to talk about her history with this and how hygge wellness tries to keep people well in the safest ways. 

If you've been struggling with your mental wellness lately, you're not alone. For Mental Health Awareness Month we're sitting down with Dana Burbridge Pennington and Jenee Thorsell, the owners and therapists behind Starting Point Counseling and Wellness in Charlotte. We chat about changes in therapy over the past year, tips for finding the best therapist for you and other ways you can prioritize your mental wellness. 

"Sometimes life is just more fun when you wing it." That's what we did for this week's Zero to Ten episode. Alyssa was in need of another guest, so she forced the unsuspecting Hannah Krueger to hop on the mic and participate with no preparation whatsoever. The result? Well... it's a weird, kind of awkward episode, we won't lie. We talk about things like pie, Pitbull, and her favorite take out spots in Charlotte. We still think it's a fun episode, though. Give it a listen.

When Stacy Cassio started Pink Mentor Network 4 years ago, she saw it primarily as a B2C company. She would work with local Charlotte women on creating a community that could learn from each other and lift each other up. The pandemic changed all of that, though, and Stacy has seen her business primarily switch to B2B. It's a journey she didn't expect, but is embracing wholeheartedly. We talk with her about that, the survivors guilt of seeing a business succeed while so many others have failed, and what's next for her on this episode. 

"If you're not changing, you're dying," Meggie Williams, founder and owner of SkipTown, likes to say. It's an ethos she's always followed when it comes to her business, which started as Skipper, a dog walking business, and has now evolved into basically a country club for Charlotte's pooches. Change came fast for Meggie and her team last March when investors started pulling out of their SkipTown fundraising round and they lost 90% of their dog walking business within a week as folks started working from home. A year later, SkipTown is wildly successful and looking to expand to new cities like Atlanta and Dallas. We hear about the wild journey on today's episode. Buckle up.