Podcasts about baskin robbins

What separates people who build lasting wealth from people who just chase the next hot investment? David Greene from BiggerPockets has a clear answer, and it's not what most people want to hear. Joe Saul-Sehy and OG revisit a standout 2023 conversation with David that still resonates today. His story isn't about shortcuts, hacks, or getting lucky. It's about skill building, discipline, and learning to turn everyday work into long-term opportunity. From scooping ice cream at Baskin Robbins to building a successful real estate career, David breaks down what actually creates momentum over time and why "passive income" still requires serious intention. This episode showcases the kind of conversation that belongs in the vault. David explains what makes work feel worth it, how to develop skills that compound, and why the unsexy fundamentals matter more than the flashy strategies everyone's talking about. If you're tired of hype and ready for substance, this interview delivers. The show also tackles two critical protection topics. Adam Barowy from UL's Fire Safety Research Institute joins to explain the real (and often overlooked) risks of lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes, scooters, and everyday devices. He shares practical steps every family can take to reduce fire risk without panic or overreaction. Then Joe and OG field a listener question about keeping family property in the family. The discussion explores estate planning tradeoffs, communication challenges, and how to think through shared ownership without creating future conflict. Every segment connects to the same core idea. Building a life that's not only financially strong but resilient, safe, and meaningful. What You'll Walk Away With: • David Greene's framework for building wealth through skill mastery, not investment shortcuts • Why "passive income" is never truly passive and what actually makes work sustainable long term • Practical fire safety guidance for lithium-ion batteries you probably already own in your home • Simple steps to reduce household fire risk based on real research, not fearmongering • Thoughtful estate planning insights for preserving family property across generations • How to think about money not just as growth but as protection and stewardship This Episode Is For You If: • You're tired of wealth-building advice that sounds too good to be true • You want to hear how someone actually built success through discipline and skill development • You've got lithium-ion batteries around the house and never thought twice about fire safety • You're thinking about how to pass property or wealth to the next generation without creating conflict • You believe the smartest money moves involve both growing and protecting what you have Before You Hit Play, Think About This: What's one area of your financial life where you're focused on growth but might need more protection or structure? Share your thoughts in the Spotify comments or bring the discussion into the Basement Facebook group because this episode tends to spark great follow-up conversations. Sometimes the smartest money move isn't about earning more. It's about keeping what you've built safe and aligned with what matters most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 11th Nightmare Before Christmas... On a sunny November morning in 1971, best friends Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson, both just 15, set out for a day of surfing near Galveston, Texas. The two girls were inseparable—bonded by their shared love of the beach, the waves, and the promise of youth. Maria, a newcomer to Galveston, had already endured a turbulent childhood. After her parents split, she bounced between homes and schools before settling into Ball High School. Shy but friendly, she quickly found her place. She loved water skiing, dated a local ski jumper, and spent her weekends at the beach. Debbie, by contrast, was a lifelong islander, what locals called a BOI (“born on the island”). With one brown eye and one blue-green eye, she stood out immediately. She was bold, competitive, and passionate about water sports, often making the local news for her water skiing competitions. Surfing was her favorite pastime, and her friends remembered her as fun, magnetic, and endlessly outgoing. That Sunday, November 14, they planned a short trip to Houston, just over an hour's drive away, to spend the day exploring. Since neither girl had a car, they decided to hitchhike, a common and almost carefree practice in the early 1970s. Witnesses later reported seeing them outside a Baskin-Robbins near Stewart Beach, laughing and chatting as they bought ice cream. A white van pulled up to the curb. The driver asked where they were headed. “Houston,” one of the girls said. It was his route, he told them. They climbed in. They were never seen alive again. Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled: The Eleven Who Went To Heaven: Edward Bell." Thank you to our incredible team: Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS. Executive Producer/Music by @theinkypawprint. Sources:  https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/tenth-court-of-appeals/1994/1036.html https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-news-journal-1979-tx-edward-ha/37438275/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37438275/1979-tx-edward-harold-bell-convicted-of/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80125091/edward-bell/ https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/tv/2023/10/03/how-a-shirtless-matthew-mcconaughey-got-his-first-credit-on-unsolved-mysteries-in-1992/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5511750/the-waco-citizen/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82998028/ed-bell-69-exposure-to-13-year-old/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0737501/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80125009/edward-bell/ https://archive.today/20211228093122/https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/10/18/243184/investigators-think-they-know-who-killed-eleven-girls-around-galveston-in-the-1970s-2/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harold_Bellhttps://archive.ph/20131014191511/http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Confessions-of-a-cold-blooded-killer-2187501.php#selection-4701.0-5149.1https://archive.ph/20190823045333/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-killer-s-death-leaves-unanswered-13783107.php Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sue Straughan, a tenured hospitality specialist and Corporate Director of Business Solutions for the food distributor Ben E. Keith, shares her remarkable 40+ year journey in the industry, detailing how a necessity job at Baskin Robbins evolved into a profound passion. The discussion centers on her pivotal experience working for Houston's restaurant, where she learned that "chaos and hospitality could coexist in a way that was beautiful", and how she applied these high standards to help turn around the struggling James Coney Island chain. This success was achieved not by raising prices, but by relentlessly focusing on systems, consistency, team pride, and the overall guest experience, demonstrating that flawless execution on the basics is the key to driving sustained sales and word-of-mouth growth.10 Takeaways  Prioritize Execution over Complexity: The most successful businesses, especially in restaurants, focus on doing fewer things perfectly rather than many things averagely. This requires a constant discipline to maintain simplicity. Hospitality and Chaos Coexist: High-volume restaurants (like Houston's with 1-3 hour waits) prove that it's possible to execute 100% flawlessly and maintain composure ("calm in the middle of chaos") by having robust systems and an intentional team culture. The Menu Should Serve the Concept: Keep the menu small and focused (e.g., Houston's one-page, 22-item menu). Introduce new items only if they meet strict time standards (e.g., eight minutes at lunch) and, if needed, replace an existing item to prevent complexity creep. Structure and Systems Build Culture: Employees thrive when they know what is expected of them. Implementing detailed, consistent systems, from cleaning standards to specific service greetings, creates a "well-oiled machine" and instills a sense of pride in the team. Invest in Your Team's Pride: Simple things like new uniforms, standardized training, and daily pre-shift meetings can significantly boost team mentality, tenure, and passion by making employees feel valued and reinforcing the importance of their role. Sales Growth Should Precede Price Hikes: The turnaround at James Coney Island focused first on driving sales by improving the guest experience before considering raising prices. The four ways to drive sales are: raise prices, encourage higher spend per visit, increase visit frequency, or attract new customers. Focus on Low-Hanging Fruit for Revitalization: Start improvement efforts by addressing what the customer sees first, such as clean parking lots, fresh paint, working signage, and clear glass. These visual cues are essential for first impressions. Measure and Reward Hospitality: Implementing a rigorous system like a 10-page mystery shopper report, coupled with accountability and financial rewards for achieving high scores (e.g., $1,000 manager bonus), can directly correlate with rising sales. Focus on What You Can Control: Don't rely on external factors like the weather to drive business. Concentrate effort and resources on perfecting the inside of your four walls: the guest's experience from driving by to walking out. Reverse-Engineer Customer Frustration: Identify the top five things consumers are most frustrated with in your industry (e.g., long waits, inconsistent quality) and intentionally do the exact opposite to stand out and "blow their mind."

This week, Jason is joined by Executive Vice President and General Manager at Intuit's Consumer Group, Mark Notarainni! Mark leads customer success and expert platforms for products like Credit Karma and TurboTax. Mark's story is a powerful example of long-term career growth and leadership evolution from his early days managing teams and customer experience to now overseeing global strategy at one of the world's leading financial technology companies. His career is built on a people-first leadership, what it takes to thrive inside a major organization, and the lessons he's learned about mentorship, career resilience, and defining success.  Mark opens up about his very first job at Baskin Robbins in high school and how those early lessons stuck with him throughout his career. He reflects on the pivotal decision that reshaped his professional path, the power of intellectual curiosity, and how he learned to stop being intimidated by others—remembering that everyone is “just people.” Mark walks through what a typical day looks like for him at Intuit, why staying close to the technology is essential, and how generative AI is transforming the way Intuit's Consumer Platform serves customers with speed, personalization, and scale. He touches on what causes him anxiety, the strict prioritization system he uses to manage his time, and why taxes represent the largest paycheck moment for many Americans. Mark also breaks down how Intuit's suite of companies helps consumers make smarter decisions around debt, tax returns, and the blend of human expertise and AI. He shares how customer-centricity guides every product improvement, where he recommends people begin their financial journey, and wraps with rapid-fire personal finance questions. Mark reveals all this and so much more in another episode you can't afford to miss! Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: John Gurney Guest: Mark Notarainni + https://www.intuit.com/ - includingCreditKarma.com and TurboTax.com, both of which are ready to help you make smart money moves ahead of tax season.  Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group  All Access: Free 30-Day Trial  Trading Secrets Steals & Deals!

Lucious Lowe never saw his empire, but his son and son-in-law figured out how to give the customer what they needed. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is… Well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients, so here’s one of those. [OG Law Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young, Steve Semple’s here, and we’re going to talk about another empire. Stephen Semple: Another one. Imagine that. Dave Young: And it’s another one of these big boxes. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: So this is brick and mortar big box store. And so there’s two things. One thing I love, one thing I hate about big box stores in this category. I used to love going down to my local hardware store and just tooling around. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And I guess you can still do that, but there’s something about some old guy walking up and chatting with you about what you could maybe buy or not. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And so Lowe’s is our subject today. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: I’m interested to see how they started. And again, I love shopping at Lowe’s, I hate shopping at Lowe’s, for two different reasons, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: The variety. It’s all there. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: The old guy that knows every piece of hardware in the store. Good luck finding that person. I mean, they may be there, they may not. It’s hit and miss. Stephen Semple: Yes. So the first Lowe’s, of course, started as one of those old-timey hardware stores. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: It was a 3000-foot store in 1921 in North Wilkesboro in North Carolina by Lucius Smith Lowe. That’s basically the first Lowe’s was way back in 1921. Dave Young: Lucius Smith Lowe. Okay. Stephen Semple: But the success of Lowe’s actually did not come from Lowe, but rather an in-law named Carl Buchan, who came on the scene in 1943. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So when Lucius died in 1940, the business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth Buchan, who then… Now, I was not able to find the family story on this, because I find this interesting. It was inherited by the daughter, who then sold the company to her brother, and I always thought, “Why’d the brother not inherit the business?” Dave Young: Right? Stephen Semple: Now, I also get why she probably sold it, because as we know, one of the really big problems, especially back in the 1940s, was women couldn’t get credit, and it was very, very, very hard in the forties for a woman to actually run a business. So I also understand why she sold. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah, and weird estate planning goes on that you don’t know why they did what they did. Right? Maybe the son had an insurance policy. Right? Stephen Semple: Who knows? Who knows? Dave Young: I don’t know, but maybe he got… Who knows? Stephen Semple: Now, at the same time, when she sold it to her brother, her husband, Carl, ended up becoming a partner in the business. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So it was this really weird, father dies, it goes to the daughter, the daughter sells it to the brother, and the husband ends up becoming a partner. Dave Young: Who knows about the transactions inside family businesses, right? That’s a… Stephen Semple: Right? All I’m just saying is, if it sounds weird, it was. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s all I’m saying. But moving forward, what’s really incredible is today, Lowe’s is 1700 locations doing 80 billion in sales. So it is- Dave Young: That’s not nothing. Stephen Semple: That’s not nothing. That’s not nothing. But back in the early forties, hardware stores did not have building supplies. They didn’t have plywood, they didn’t have… They didn’t have building supplies. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. You went across to the lumber yard to get that stuff. Stephen Semple: Correct. Correct. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And so one day Carl gets this deal on toilets, and he decides to buy a whole pile of toilets. When I say a whole pile, the whole truckload, which was 400 toilets. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: And James? James Lowe comes in the office one day and he’s like, “Toilets in the office.” And he says, “Carl, why is there toilets in the office?” He goes, “Well, I bought 400 of them and I ran out of space, so they’re sitting in here.” And he’s like, “We don’t sell toilets.” He goes, “Well, we are now, because we got 400 of them.” Dave Young: “Yeah, we sell toilets. Sell them or else.” Stephen Semple: “[inaudible 00:05:20] now!” So, “Yes we are.” And what turns out is that they sell out really quickly. And Carl looks into this a little bit more and he sees this trend. Right? Think about it. It’s 1946. What’s happening in the United States? There’s a building boom. Right? The number of homes being built has grown 10 times over the last three years, because we got the baby boom happening. We got the return of the soldiers, we got the baby boom, we got the sprouting up of the suburbs. That part is growing. So they sell out these toilets in like a week, and so he wants to open a second store. He goes, “Look, here’s what I want to do. I want to open a second store and we’re going to sell everything for building and fixing a home. Everything. We’re going to turn specialty stores into one shop.” So in other words, you don’t have to go to the plumber… you know. Look, this is another variation on the department store and the convenience store. Dave Young: Absolutely. Stephen Semple: So Lowe agrees, and they invest a hundred and sixty thousand dollars in the second store, and it’s a 10,000 square foot, so they’ve gone from 3000 square feet to a 10,000 square foot store in Spartan, North Carolina. Dave Young: And so yeah, we tripled the size. It’s all the space we’ll ever need. 10,000 feet. Stephen Semple: Right. So it’s 1949, and literally customers are coming. Yeah, that’s right. It’s 10,000 square feet. I missed that for a minute. Yeah, yeah. Hold that thought. Dave Young: “Hang on.” Stephen Semple: Hold that thought. So it’s so popular, they’re actually finding customers are coming from states away from, outside of North Carolina. So Carl wants to open a third store, and Lowe doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to grow this thing. Dave Young: Isn’t it amazing that the whole company’s not called Carl’s instead of Lowe’s? Stephen Semple: Well, here’s what ends up happening. Lowe says, “Look, I don’t want to do this. Why don’t you just buy me out?” Carl buys out Lowe, but says, “Well, let’s keep the name.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: “Let’s keep the name.” Dave Young: Yeah, that’s smart. You got equity there. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So in 1952, Lowe is bought out, but they keep the name. And it expands rapidly. They quickly open 13 more stores. [inaudible 00:07:27] Dave Young: Oh, wow. See, I did not know they were this old. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So it starts growing like crazy, but then they hit a problem. After six years, profits stall. Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: What he notices is, he’s been focusing on opening stores, but not focusing on the buying experience. And if you went into a Lowe’s at that time, it was super disorganized. Stuff was just all over the place. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: And so it was not appealing. So he hires Bob Strickland, marketing guy. Bob points out that people come in to get what they need, but what if we were able to make them to stay and buy other things? Like instead of an oven, how about a whole kitchen? Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: So he says, “Let’s be like a department store.” They looked at how Sears was laid out, right? There was these departments. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And basically this is the model that they created, which is really the template that all these big box home improvement stores are built on. Here’s the appliance section, here’s the flooring section. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: But it didn’t just have flooring. It had, okay, along with the flooring, the caulking and the this and the… Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: All the things that you need with it. Dave Young: So take those toilets out of the power tool section and put them where they belong. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So they create this template that they’re going to roll out, and before they’re ready to roll it out, Buchan passes away. Dave Young: Oh no. Stephen Semple: And so now it’s up to Strickland to open with the new idea. So Strickland takes the ideas. He opens five stores on it. They’re super successful. In two decades they got a hundred and eighty stores, 1978 they’re the largest in the region, 1979 they’re 200 stores, and they just grow and grow and grow and become what they are today. But Lowe’s basically built this idea. The two innovations Lowe’s did was built this idea of, “We should have a store that’s dedicated to home improvement,” because they saw the trend on it. And then they created this whole idea of looking at department stores and saying, “This is how a home improvement store should be organized.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That template? That template, that idea that every one of these big box home improvement stores is built on, was created by Lowe’s. Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories to Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off, and trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: … that idea that every one of these big box home improvement stores is built on, was created by Lowe’s. Dave Young: Well, and so the reason I didn’t know about them when I was younger is that they started in the east and slowly moved west. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yes. Dave Young: And I don’t know where Home Depot started, but in the Rocky Mountain West and Western Plains, there were Home Depot stores long before there were any Lowe’s stores. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Dave Young: So it’s just a matter of growth at that point then, right? Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: They figured out the formula. Stephen Semple: They figured out the formula, and then it’s just grow, grow, grow. Dave Young: I’m guessing that, yeah, Home Depot probably has a similar story. Either they copied Lowe’s or they figured it out themselves that this is the right way to do a big box home improvement store. We going to do that one sometime? Stephen Semple: Well, I don’t want to say much, because we are going to do… Oh. Dave Young: Okay. All right. I’ll hold that for another day. But- Stephen Semple: Well, what ends up often happening when I’m researching these things, there’s no way to do it without learning about both. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: So often that’s the reason why when we’re doing these, there will be two in a category, because you learn about both of them at the same time, because they have kind of a shared history, right? Dave Young: Well, and those guys absolutely copy each other. Right? Stephen Semple: They did. Dave Young: I think we go back, I don’t know what episode it was, but we talked about Cabela’s, and then we sort of told the story of them being eventually bought by Bass Pro. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: And the [inaudible 00:12:08] Bass Pro, I think… Well, at least according to the people that I knew at Cabela’s, they were the first ones to build this giant experiential store. Right? Stephen Semple: Well, in Sam Walton- Dave Young: And so… But that gets copied. And Sam Walton, same thing, right? Stephen Semple: Well, Sam Walton has openly stated that he stole a lot of his ideas from Sol Price. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: He has come right out and said that. He’s like, “Oh yeah, I always watched what this guy did, and I’d always keeping my eye on him, because he was brilliant.” Right? Dave Young: Yeah, I mean- Stephen Semple: Who was the founder of Costco. Right? So. Dave Young: At the end of the day, these are just sharing good commerce ideas. Right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Nothing new under the sun here. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: There’s a reason that every ancient city has a bazaar, a marketplace where they all gather, right? You make it convenient for consumers by, even though you’re 10,000 little competitors, you’re all in one place. Stephen Semple: Yeah. What I really liked, again, about this story, was Lowe saw a trend going on in the United States, and the trend was, “People are building these homes, and so there’s going to be more demand for home improvement stuff. How do I make it easier?” Again, that theme of, “How do I make it easier for the consumer? Wouldn’t it be so much easier for the consumer if it was this one stop?” Dave Young: Yeah. [inaudible 00:13:29] Stephen Semple: Now, the other thing I thought that was brilliant is that when the profits stalled out, he didn’t flip to, “I need more leads, I need more customers.” He didn’t go there. He went, “Oh, if this has stalled out, there’s something I’m doing wrong inside my four walls.” Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: And he looked at the experience and he said, “Okay, I’ve already got customers. What I need to do is if I make that experience better, the customers will return more often and will spend more.” I remember going to a presentation from the folks from Barnes and Noble, and Barnes and Noble talking about how they… And Ikea’s the same. They would measure how long somebody was in the store. Ikea’s amazing at this. And what they know is, the longer you’re in the store, the more you spend. Period. So what’s their whole objective is “I’m going to keep you in the store. How do I do that? I’m going to put a restaurant in. I’m going to put in a place where you can stick your kids to play. I’m going to make it so that you’ve got to walk the maze.” The point is, the longer you’re there, the more you’re going to buy. And not only that, Ikea’s figured out, “If I display these things this way, people will stop and look at it,” so that they do move through the stores slower. Dave Young: Yeah. You- Stephen Semple: But Lowe’s really caught into- Dave Young: And there’s sort of a logical progression to it. Stephen Semple: Right. Right. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So Lowe’s created that idea of “Let’s do this one stop shop.” And then the next one was, “Okay. Now that we’ve made this idea more convenient, let’s now make this idea more enjoyable and also more convenient, because there’s all these ancillary things that you need when you’re doing that in the moment. Let’s put all that stuff together.” Dave Young: Well, and you bring designers in because if you’re coming in for all these kitchen products- Stephen Semple: Yeah, absolutely. Dave Young: … maybe you don’t know how to put that all together and make it look good. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: Right? So here’s you’re somebody that can help you lay it out. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And then they can sell you all the materials that either you or your contractor need to make it happen. Stephen Semple: Now what we know is, David Young is going to leave this talk with an even more love-hate relationship of Lowe’s. Am I right? Dave Young: I’m not remodeling anything. No, I love walking around a Lowe’s. I find it hard to… If I need some adhesive, I need some Gorilla Glue or something, and I walk into a Lowe’s, two things are going to happen. Unless I’m in just a blazing hurry and I’ve left someone in the car with the car running- Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: … I’m going to just wander around. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And I’m likely to walk out with something else besides the glue. Along with the glue. Stephen Semple: Correct. Yes. Dave Young: Sometimes without the glue, because I forgot why I went in. Stephen Semple: Oh God, yeah. Dave Young: But that’s a whole different psychological thing. We just finished talking about that at my portals class this week. Stephen Semple: Oh yeah, [inaudible 00:16:25] Dave Young: Tell you about that sometimes. That was fun. Stephen Semple: It’s a thing. It’s a thing. Dave Young: We had a blast. Yeah. Wow. Lowe’s. Stephen Semple: Yeah. There you go. Dave Young: Now I’m thinking in my head, what do I need? You know, near Wizard Academy, we’re not really close to a Lowe’s. You’ve got to drive 20 minutes or so to get to a Lowe’s. Stephen Semple: Yep. Dave Young: But about 10 minutes, 15 minutes away is independently owned Ace Hardware store. Stephen Semple: Yep. Dave Young: And I love that one too. Right? Because if you’re really just looking for a tool or some little hardware bits and bobs, you’ll always find it there. Right? [inaudible 00:17:02] Stephen Semple: Yeah, well, because Ace is the place with a helpful hardware man, right? Dave Young: Yeah. And they’re helpful because they’re locally owned. So there’s always somebody in there that can, “This is not the glue you really want. You want this.” Stephen Semple: Right. Right. Dave Young: “Oh, I thought I just wanted Gorilla Glue.” But this guy knows. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: So it’s two different experiences, and a lot of your choice in it is based on experience. Stephen Semple: Yeah, yep. Yes. Dave Young: I mean, shoot. When we lived in western Nebraska, they eventually got a Lowe’s, but they had a Home Depot first in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We were a hundred miles from there. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: And there was a lumber yard in Sydney, and there was a hardware store in Sydney, and we would drive to Home Depot a hundred miles away. Stephen Semple: Yes. Yes. Dave Young: Because one, we could find any of it there. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And two, Cheyenne also had a Starbucks and a Baskin-Robbins and a… right? Stephen Semple: That’s the other thing that starts to end up happening, is you get one of these, and then the other things sprout up around that. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah, you rarely see one off by itself somewhere. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, that’s the reason why you would see a movie theater, and then the restaurants go. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: These things happen. But yeah. But you know, I was pretty impressed when I heard the history of Lowe, and also thought it was really interesting looking at this department store and bringing it across. And again, it’s that idea. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: “Who outside of my world is doing this really well?” Dave Young: I kind of wasn’t surprised that their origin goes back as far as it did, because I think you always are going to assume that that started as a little hardware store somewhere, or a lumber yard. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: But I was surprised that they started that growth curve as soon as they did. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: So they were really the pioneers in that. So. Stephen Semple: Yep, and the key is you didn’t need more than 10,000 square feet, as you pointed out. Dave Young: Yeah. Well, you do today. Stephen Semple: Some of them are like, “Holy crap.” Yeah. Dave Young: You need 10,000 square feet in the kitchen part. Stephen Semple: No kidding. No kidding. Dave Young: All right, well, thank you for bringing that story, Stephen. I like that. Stephen Semple: All right. All right, thanks David. Dave Young: And congrats, Lowe’s, on decades and decades of money making as an empire. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks, man. Dave Young: Thanks. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big fat juicy five star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute empire building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

A wave of new spots is changing the rhythm of daily life in Perry, and we're mapping it corridor by corridor so you know what's open now and what's around the corner. From coffee and cones to craft beer and new hotel keys, the skyline isn't the only thing shifting - your options for food, services, and experiences are growing fast.We start on Perry Parkway, where recent openings like KidStrong, Pilates, Waffle House, Giles Outdoor Power, and Holy Pie Pizzeria set the pace. Then we look ahead to Dunkin' paired with Baskin Robbins, Surcheros, Meridian Craft Kitchen, Flow and Glow Wellness, a nail salon, Jack in the Box, Five Star Credit Union, and Valvoline - an everyday mix that keeps errands and weeknight meals closer to home. Over on Sam Nunn Boulevard, the new Hilton Garden Inn is open, while strategic redevelopment is reshaping high-traffic sites: Aspen Dental and Piedmont Urgent Care at the former Chick-fil-A property, Sonic at the old Zaxby's, a Japanese hibachi in the former Applebee's, and a major Hampton Inn renovation to match the corridor's role as a gateway.Downtown gets momentum from the Chalet Lofts, adding homes above fresh dining like Fuego Fresco and the Italian market Ciao Bella, with another 36-unit loft building in the pipeline. A craft destination, Left at the Pig Brewery, brings energy to Jernigan Street, and a new Morris Bank strengthens Main Street services. Citywide, major anchors round out the picture: a dual-branded Marriott at the Georgia National Fairgrounds with a restaurant and beer garden, Jack Link's manufacturing up and running, and the UGA Grand Farm pushing ag-tech research and startup testing.Underneath it all is a simple driver: more homes, more neighbors, and more demand for better choices. We connect the dots on how residential growth supports restaurants, medical services, hotels, and financial institutions—and why that matters for traffic, convenience, jobs, and a resilient local economy. Tune in to get the what, where, and why of Perry's growth spurt, and hear how we're working to keep it smart, sustainable, and community-first.Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share it with a neighbor, and leave a quick review to help more Perry residents stay in the know.If you like Inside Perry - subscribe and share the podcast with friends and family. The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms.Visit us at perry-ga.gov. We hope to see you around in our amazing community...Where Georgia Comes Together.

Today, Elvis and Lee Schrager talk about their jobs from their teen years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the biggest barrier to healing… is the belief that you're broken? So many of us are doing everything right — eating better, moving more, trying to fix our health — but deep down, we're carrying a quiet belief that we're not enough. That our body is the problem. That healing has to come through restriction, guilt, or perfection. But what if real change begins not with feeling shame — but love? In this week's episode, we sit down with Ocean Robbins, CEO of the Food Revolution Network, for a deep, honest conversation about what it means to root health in compassion — not shame. Ocean is the son of John Robbins, who famously walked away from the Baskin-Robbins empire to write Diet for a New America. Ocean has forged his own path — helping millions transform their relationship with food and health to experience what truly matters to us in life. In this episode we explore: Why so many people feel like they're failing at health How Ocean's upbringing shaped his values and mission The tension between grief, perfectionism, and purpose What it means to choose love — again and again This conversation was one of our most soulful and resonant yet — and I'm so glad to have Po back for it. You're definitely in for a treat. So whether you've felt stuck, not enough, and are looking for a gentler path forward — this episode is for you. Until next time… Live well and RAK ON, – Dr. Rak

 Mitch Albom is on Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito this week. What type of work would Mitch be doing if not for being an author, sports journalist, talk show host, and philanthropist, with 40 million books sold worldwide? Many celebrities will tell you that if not for that one lucky break or meeting, they would have been scooping up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins like Barack Obama or working as a beautician at a morgue, like Whoopi Goldberg. They may have been just a jobber. Thanks for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito wherever you pod.

NOOOO not Baskin Robbins flavors, but HORROR!! Keith and Chad Trick or Treat you to the 31 Horror flicks they survived this Season of the Witch. How many of these Deliciously haunting lil snacks have you seen?! Join them and find out. MuahHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Today is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 election, which feels like a good time to take stock of how well our elections actually work. There are lots of ideas for improving the voting process in Pennsylvania, from opening our primaries to making Election Day a holiday. Host Megan Harris joins State Rep. Chris Rabb and Armin Samii, a volunteer with March on Harrisburg, to discuss some recent proposals — and learn what ranked choice voting has in common with Baskin-Robbins. Check out RCVis, Armin's ranked choice voting data visualization tool, and read up on the history of closed primaries in PA. Learn more about the sponsors of this October 20th episode: AIDS Free Pittsburgh The Frick Family House Pittsburgh Opera Become a member of City Cast Pittsburgh at membership.citycast.fm. Want more Pittsburgh news?  Sign up for our daily morning Hey Pittsburgh newsletter. We're on Instagram @CityCastPgh. Text or leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info here.

Abbott Elementary is on a two episode streak! Also, this brings Kaya to tell you about how she was about to throw down at Baskin Robbins. Lastly she gives you the real tea on GLP1's. OZEMPIC WEGOVY MOUNJARO OH MY!Sign up for Mochi and get $40 off GLP1s right to your door: app.joinmochi.com/eligibility?utm_source=influencers&ptcode=oe522aFOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM HERESUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON HEREOH YEAH WE ON THREADS HEREWHAT? YOU WANT OUR FACEBOOK? I GOT YOU RIGHT HERE

Building successful businesses often requires embracing opportunities that find you rather than forcing predetermined plans. In this episode of Building Texas Business, I sit down with Gregg Thompson, who runs multiple ventures with his brothers including landscape operations, nurseries, and the beloved Tiny Boxwoods and Milk & Cookies restaurants. We talk about how their family business evolved from a high school lawn mowing operation into a diversified enterprise spanning Houston and Austin. Gregg shares how their restaurant concept emerged accidentally when customers kept lingering at their West Alabama nursery, leading to an "accidental" expansion into hospitality. He explains their approach to hiring entrepreneurial people and giving them autonomy, plus how they've built robust back-office systems that support everything from landscape project management to baking croissants. The conversation reveals how measuring margins and sharing financial data across divisions creates a culture where creative people start thinking about gross margins. His philosophy centers on being in the "yes business" rather than automatically rejecting new ideas, combined with the belief that there's no limit to what you can accomplish when you don't know what you're doing. This mindset helped them navigate from municipal bonds to nurseries to restaurants without getting paralyzed by industry expertise they didn't possess. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Sometimes the best business opportunities come from customers eating sandwiches in your nursery at lunchtime, leading to "accidental" restaurant concepts that nobody planned. Giving employees autonomy to try new things without permission first creates innovation - even when it occasionally surprises leadership with what they're attempting. The difference between a good business and a bad business is the back office - if you can't measure it, you can't fix it. Being in the "yes business" means not automatically saying no to employee ideas, since people bringing suggestions are stepping outside their comfort zones. There's no limit to what you can do when you don't know what you're doing, because you don't see the barriers that "experts" assume exist. Family businesses work when siblings have completely different skill sets that complement rather than compete - finance, construction, and wholesale trading each requiring distinct talents. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Thompson+Hanson GUESTS Gregg ThompsonAbout Gregg TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Chris: Hey Greg, I want to welcome you to Building Texas Business. Thanks for taking the time to come in. Gregg: Yeah, my pleasure. I'm really excited about this. Chris: Well, you've got a great story to tell. I can't wait to hear more of the details. So let's start. Just tell us about your businesses. I know there's more than one and kind of what it is that you're doing out there and what you feel like those businesses are known for. Gregg: So I work with two of my brothers and I work with a great partner on the restaurant side. And we have, I think, an interesting little business. I was asked about a year ago to do a little speaking engagement about our company and landscape architecture. That's how it all started. And they asked me to do a quick recap of our company, the history, kind of like this. And I started jotting down timelines and I thought, this is dry. There's really more to how it started. That's all I thought. What was really the genesis of it? How did we get here? And so I call it my dad's lawnmower story and I'm 61 and I had three brothers and we all grew up just working around the house and mowing yards and doing chores and getting allowance and all that stuff. And I think that's how we evolved to where we are today in terms of just being willing to get out and work. And my older brother Lance officially started our landscape company when he was in high school. We all had Chris: Really, Gregg: We all had jobs and chores and I worked at Baskin Robbins. I had one brother that worked at a gas station and Lance was always the most successful entrepreneur. Mowing yards. Well, yeah. So we all mowed the yard and we all got our little allowance and that was great. You get the satisfaction of mowing the yard and finishing and then you get a little economic reward from your dad In the form of an allowance. But Lance was always just really good at making money When we were kids. He bought a new motorcycle when we were kids and I bought a used one. He bought a brand new car when he was in high school, 10th grade off the showroom floor and then traded that in and bought another one. This was like 1980. And so he just was very scrappy and entrepreneurial and was working at a nursery not too far from here over on a sacket. And a lady came in Mrs. Presler and bought a bunch of plants and asked if he could come by and plant them over the weekend. And so he did it. And that was officially his first client. She lived around the corner from us and I'm sure Lance did a good job and she loved having this guy around planting and stuff. And she told some friends and we just evolved and he was wrapping up high school and started making a little bit of money. And by the time he graduated he had some people that wanted projects and he's a really interesting guy. He had really bad dyslexia when he was growing up, still has it. And so school didn't come easy for him, but he had dyslexia and a DD, all those things can be really secret weapons if you know how to work around them. And he just had the ability to visualize things. He's always been into aesthetics and building. And so I think that really gave him some tools to just keep going with this landscape Chris: Thing. And then you ended up joining them at some point. Gregg: And so I went off and did the whole college finance thing and got into the municipal bond business and did that for a few years and I'd helped him with his books, a little glorified bookkeeper when he was starting. And in the early nineties we had talked about he was still growing and had a few employees and a few trucks and moved to some different locations and we just talked about me coming over or getting somebody else in to be the CFO and operations person. And it really wasn't that big at the time. And so I left my job in 94 and joined them and we were just around the corner over on Edlo. We leased some space over there and started a little bitty nursery as well as landscaping. And it was an accidental nursery. It was really a holding yard, and we would get all these plants delivered, we'd buy direct from growers and get all these plants delivered and put 'em in the holding yard and it looked like a nursery. And so people would stop in and want to buy plants and we thought, you know what? Let's see if we can open a nursery. And so that's how the retail nursery Chris: Started. Sometimes you find the business Gregg: And sometimes they find Chris: You. Gregg: Yeah, I call it the accidental nursery. And it was a great location and we were able to secure the real estate and buy it. And then we had some real estate trades that allowed us to move and grow a little bit. And so that was 94. And then that growth occurred throughout the nineties and in late I think 98, we sold that land and moved to the current location on west Alabama. And then we also moved our crews and our administrative offices over to West Park in six 10. And we opened a wholesale nursery there. We bought about eight acres of land there. And that's become the biggest part of our business on the landscape and nursery side is the wholesale. So we sell to other landscapers and over the years we've just grown and we have these divisions. We opened an office in Austin, Lance lives in Austin now. He moved in about 2000. And so we operate out of both cities. We have nurseries in both cities. And then probably our most visible business to the public is the restaurant side. Tiny box woods and milk and cookies. Chris: It keeps me fed. Gregg: Yeah. Well, I wish I could say it was a master plan, but it's been a fun plan. Chris: So I've always been curious how did you go from a nursery and landscaping into the restaurant business? Gregg: So that's I think a fun story too. So nursery people are kind of like book people, book people go and hang out at libraries and bookstores and they just want to be there around things that they love. Plant people are the same way. And our little retail nursery on West Alabama is a really beautiful place and people would just come and hang out. They would come over and on Saturdays there would be three or four people that were there every Saturday just walking around. They'd buy a few things, but they just wanted to be there. A little bit of an oasis. It is. And a lot of the mom and pop nurseries have gone by the wayside over the years. And so it was just a real pleasant space. It's the best patio in Houston. Well, thank you. And so one day, this lady was over there at about noon and she was walking around and she was eating a sandwich and we'd always joked about how people wanted to just be there and hang out and move in. And we got a lot of comments like that. And I saw this lady eating a sandwich just walking around. And so I just imagined that she was there on her lunch break and just wanted to hang out there. And so I called my brother Lance, and we talked probably six or seven times a day. We're always just calling and checking on things and riffing a little bit. And I said, we need to think about Dale coffee shop or restaurant. We've got this beautiful space and people want to be here, so we've got the captive audience and we have a place where they want to be. Let's sell the sandwich or a cup of coffee. We talked about a coffee shopper and we didn't really have a vision. And he said, that's the worst idea. That's a terrible idea. And I was putting this pitch on him. We've got the land, we had the building where I thought we could do it, and we were just using that for storage and mostly for Christmas trees. We sell Christmas trees once a year and we storm in there for about 30 days and otherwise just building was just storage. And I said, we've got the real estate and we can find somebody to cook. I had no idea what I was talking about. And I said, we've got an HR department, we've got the back, we've got all that stuff that's really hard for first time entrepreneurs. We didn't have to sign a lease, we didn't have to learn about hiring people and firing all that sort of administrative stuff. That can be really challenging if you're just a chef and you don't know all that. So we had that in place and we thought, or I thought there wasn't a lot of downside, give it a whirl and if it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world. And he was like, no, that's a terrible idea. Terrible idea. And so I thought, okay, he's probably right. Little Chris: Motivation to prove him wrong. Gregg: Yeah. And so he called me the next day we were talking about stuff. He said, we could probably figure it out. We could probably find somebody to help with the kitchen. And we've got the back office. So he's putting the sales pitch back on me that I was putting on him. And we just decided we had a place where people want to be and they like being there and we're already selling products. Our products just happen to be plants And we could figure out the food part of it. Again, we're pretty naive about it. And so we just started working on it. We hired an architect, we know how to build things and renovate spaces, and we thought we could make it a real pleasant patio and we thought we could do all that pretty stuff. And then we got just incredibly fortunate and found this. He was a young man at the time. He's still pretty young, but I think he's 25 at the time. He's our partner. His name's Bardo, and he's just been the best partner imaginable. And he came in and he was a little bit like us. He grew up mowing the yard and he had a bunch of siblings, but really had this love of hospitality, really outgoing, loves to cook and loves to feed people. And we met him through a client of ours who would come by our nursery and she asked, what are y'all doing over there? And we told her and she said, I've got the perfect guy for you. Chris: How about that? Gregg: And so we think, we still talk about what a miracle all this stuff is, just how things lined up. But Chris: Well, a lot of entrepreneurs will say that being naive in the beginning was a blessing because had they known what they were getting into and all the reality of it, they probably wouldn't have done it. Gregg: Yeah. I call that there's no limit to what you can do when you don't know what you're doing because you're not. That's a good one. You don't know the barriers that are there and you're naive. And if you knew all the stuff that's involved, you would probably be not always. It's tough to think through everything, especially when you don't know what you're doing Chris: Well, and I say just put your head down if you're passionate about it, which you all clearly are. Put your head down and just keep going and you figure it out as you go. Gregg: Yeah. And we did a lot of that, a lot of problem solving and figuring it out. And Baron was just amazing. He learned a lot of skills as we were building this building and he learned how construction works and he learned how software works and he had a really interesting sort of chefy background, but had never been run a restaurant and built one. So it was great. We all developed great tools and we called Lightning in a bottle with the first restaurant. So that's Tiny Boxwood. That's tiny boxwood. And then, let's see, and then in 2010, another one of those little bitty miracles happened and we were able to buy the old JMH grocery Chris: Store in Gregg: West University just through happenstance. I was out walking my dog one night and ran into this guy and he told me about it might be for sale. And so we opened that restaurant up and turned it on in 2011 and operated that for about five years. And we had this little bitty space in the middle between, there's a bank in there, and then we had the restaurant and then there was about 1700 square feet in the middle, and we just held that We wanted to see how everything worked with the neighborhood. We wanted to be good neighbors and see how the traffic flows. Parking's such a big deal in any retail establishment. And we just wanted to see how everything flows. And we didn't really have a vision for that space, but we spent a lot of time talking about it and we designed different things and had different ideas. And then about not quite, it's coming up on 10 years, I think, eight or nine years, we opened milk and cookies. We designed that around the concession stand over in West University, that little baseball walkup window. We didn't have enough parking to allow us to have a restaurant where you walk in and have seats. So really out of necessity, we did the walkup window that we thought was really charming, But we couldn't even if we wanted to, we didn't have the parking Chris: Right. And everyone loves it. Gregg: And everybody loved it. And so that has really developed into just a really fun and interesting part of our business and very visible. And people love it. It's like a little bitty Disney world. Everybody kind of shows up happy and leaves happy and the tickets aren't big tickets. And we've made some fun connections with people. And we've opened three of those in Houston and one in Austin. And then we're opening one in the Heights right now. It's under construction. Chris: I saw something about that in the little area there in the Heights. And they've got some other shops and things around there. Gregg: Yeah, we've got these Chris: Milking cookies. I was there this morning, so it's too close. It's dangerous. Gregg: Yeah, it's been an interesting business. Chris: I don't know how my youngest daughter would've made it through high school without being able to go to milking cookies on the way. But my biggest question is who came up with the chocolate chip recipe? Chocolate cookie recipe. Gregg: So I would love to take credit for that. I had nothing to do with it. That was my brother, Lance and Baron. And Lance has just always been a cookie guy. He's chocolate chip cookie. The greatest thing. Wasn't a real big cookie guy, but he's like, I want to have the best cookie. It just got to be off the chart. And he's one of those guys that everything's got to be the best. It's like he has these visions of things and he just wanted it to be the best. Chris: Well, he succeeded. If people haven't had it, they need to go try it. Gregg: Yeah, thank you. Chris: Hands down the best. Gregg: They've become popular. They've taken on a life of their own. And so he and Baron worked on just these different iterations of different ingredients and recipes and processes. And I got the benefit of taste testing for about six months and then stumbled into a little recipe and process. It seemed to work. That's great. And we've stuck with it and it's been really fun and successful. And we built the milk and cookies was really born out of the cookie. We sold the cookies of the restaurants and we'd get a lot of people that would come. They would pick up their kids at school and come and have milk and cookies that they'd sit at the bar in the restaurants. And Baron, to his credit, thought we could build a little business around pastries and the cookie. And we started doing ice cream and coffee. And so we made it what it is today, but it was really born out of that little cookie. Chris: Yeah, that's amazing. So three different businesses, you can't do that. You can't even do a business, no alone. Three different concepts without a good team. So what have you learned over the years that's helped y'all hire the right people? What kind of processes? What's been the learning and the journey around that? So critical to Gregg: Success? Yeah, it is. People are everything. It's a cliche, but it's true. People are everything. Hiring is anybody can hire. You need to know when to fire, getting the right people. I'm not a great manager of people, so I tend to delegate a lot. And I like to hire people that are entrepreneurial themselves and I like the back office and the numbers and the analysis, and I like to be involved in a lot of discussions and problem solving, but I like to delegate a lot. Give Chris: 'em autonomy. Gregg: Yeah, I give 'em a lot of autonomy. We have another saying that if you're not making mistakes, you're not trying hard enough. It's like when y'all were doing this, you made mistakes, I'm sure, and you figured stuff out. Oh sure. And you don't repeat and learning what not to do, it's just as important as learning what to do. And so that's how I operate. It's probably not the best form of management. And over the years we've gotten just some amazing people. We've got this one guy that operates our maintenance division. His name's Bill Dixon. He joined us over 30 years ago and he's created a little business within our business and it's great. He's had a great career and it's helped us build our landscape brand. And we've got some architects that are doing the same thing. We've got one coming up on 30 years. And then our back office, I think the back office, I've always said the difference between a good office or a good business and a bad business is the back office. You got to be able to count, you got to be able to report, and you got to be able to analyze and know if you can't measure it, you can't fix it. And so we've got a great back office and it's pretty robust for the, we do a lot of different things too. We do everything from landscape project management, building pools and fences and walls, and then baking croissants. We've got this whole range of accounting needs and back office needs. Chris: And is it all consolidated to kind of in the one back office space? We have Gregg: Space, what we call shared services, and it's really where we consolidate all of our accounting and we have different heads of different departments and different software for the restaurant side and payroll side, and then the landscape retail side. And that's been a lot of optimization and evolution that continues today. We just engaged a company to come and advise us on how AI can work within our existing software platform. Chris: Yeah, let's talk about that, just kind of innovation. What are some of the things you think y'all have done to innovate and keep the business progressive that's helped fuel the success? Gregg: I think a lot of it comes from the back office being able to report to our divisions. We have landscape maintenance, Houston, we have one in Austin. We have construction divisions, we have a retail division, a wholesale division. We have warehouse distribution. So we have all these different divisions. And I like the numbers piece and I like sharing that. And it's fun to see people that aren't real numbers. People look at 'em and make the connection between what they do during the day to how it translates into commerce and what does that mean in margins. And you see these really creative people that don't think of themselves as numbers people, and they start talking about gross margins and vice versa. We have a joke with Cindy Keen, who is our CFO. She's super great accountant and manager and does a lot more than just accounting, but she's pretty creative. And we've got these numbers, people that probably never thought of themselves as creative that really are. And so it's fun to see all that, but we rely a lot on software and accounting and reporting and trying to measure things where we can. And it's just a continual optimization. Chris: It sounds like you created a culture around focusing on the numbers and the margin, the details of how do you drive Gregg: Profitability Chris: In everything you do, right? No matter what role you have, that's part of the culture Gregg: You've created. So at the end of the day, if we're not making a profit, nothing else matters. We can talk about all this Nice pretty stuff, but if you're not retaining earnings and making money, you can't give raises. You can't get bonuses, you can't do the things you want to do. You can't try new things. And so we have a robust reporting and accounting and we keep optimizing. We can just change some tools last two or three months and how we account for labor, not account for it, but how we manage it within the restaurants or the restaurants are. It's funny, I was listening to the p Terry's podcast that you did, and the stories he tells really resonate with me because every day you're getting out and you're managing, you're hyper managing everything from cost to sales to labor to time to percentages. And so we just continue to optimize and haggle and we have a lot of different skill sets in our meetings. And so it's a continual, I like to think of it as just an optimization. Chris: Yeah. So you mentioned just a minute ago that you don't fancy yourself as a manager of people. I probably begged to differ, but when it comes to leadership, how would you describe your leadership style and how do you think that's evolved over the last several decades of you doing this? Gregg: Well, well, thank you for saying that. My style is to be encouraging and be open. I try to be in the yes business, I call it the yes business where I don't just automatically say no to things and be open. And if somebody brings you an idea, they're really maybe stepping out of their comfort zone a little bit, something that they think might be worth it, or they may just try it on their own. It's funny, some people within our organization now just try stuff without even bringing it to me, which I love. And sometimes I'm surprised to hear they're doing it Chris: Within certain Gregg: Boundaries, right? Yeah. There's usually some boundaries. Sometimes they're like, okay, you could have talked to me about that. So I think hopefully my leadership style is encouraging and I've been accused of being too positive. People from my office that are listening to this will know what it's talking about. I'm usually overly optimistic on a lot of projections. And my accounting department has a bad habit of proving me wrong on more than one occasion. But I love the people we work with. I love getting to know 'em and see 'em grow, especially on the restaurant side. It's been really, the restaurant business was so alien to me. I didn't know all the components that would go along with it, but some of the really fun pieces have just been getting to know the people that work there Are, I don't know if you've ever worked in a restaurant, but I have. Yeah, they're hard worker. The back of the house, the dish guys, it's a hard job. And then you have the front of the house where a lot of, for some people it's career and it's hospitality, and that's their mindset and that's their personality and they're wonderful. And then you get a lot of people that are working their way through college or school or just want to work and make a little money. And so we've had people go through college and we've had some come and a couple have come and work in our accounting department. They went to U of H and got a degree in accounting and just had breakfast with a guy a couple of weeks ago that's wrapping up his accounting degree. And he wanted to know if there are any opportunities and just getting to see people grow. And Baron who runs the restaurant side, is really good about developing young people in general around what he wants. Chris: Well, I just know from experience on the restaurant side, your retention is remarkable. The same people, I've been a loyal patriot for years, and it's a lot of the same people there, which says something about what you're doing something really right. Gregg: Well, so what I did was stumble across Barron, and I would love to say that, but I've learned a lot from him and what he expects, he has really high expectations and loves. He would've been a great football coach. He loves to coach people. And he has these meetings where he talks about culture and words to use and how to present yourself and how to stand up, just really blocking and tackling around interpersonal skills and then the culture of service and hospitality. And he just does a tremendous job. And it's been fun for me to see that and see these young people develop and become more confident. And we've been doing it long enough now where some of the people that work for us when we started, or in their thirties and mid thirties and speak very fondly of their work experience. Chris: That's great. Let's switch gears a little bit. It's a family business and those aren't always easy. What have you and your brothers done to get along on video and make sure there's no real conflict? And how have y'all shared responsibilities or divided responsibilities? Because not every family business is really easy or successful. So anything that you can share in that Gregg: Regard? Yeah, that's a great question. And for me, I think it's pretty easy answer. We all do different things. My skill's a lot different than Lance. Lance. He's not intimidated by building anything. I've learned a lot about building and construction, landscaping, even the restaurant side of it, but my skills are more around the office finance management and really administration. And so we don't really step on each other's toes. Hopefully we compliment each other. I think we do, and we talk a lot and every day. And then my younger brother, Brad is really interesting too. He runs our wholesale division, which is really big division that we're not known for because it sells to the trade. And he's got a completely different skillset too. He's buying millions of dollars worth of plants and trees, and he's almost like an oil and gas trader. He's taken positions on these perishable products and moving 'em to other landscapers and manages a lot of people too. And he's doing over the counter sales. And we have salespeople that work with them. So we've all got different skills and we all contribute differently. And that's, I think really been the key to making it work. And we occasionally bristle and step on each other's toes, but it's pretty rare, thankfully. Chris: Well, it'd be odd if you didn't from time to time, but it sounds like one, you have different skill sets that y'all recognize and appreciate, and two, there's no Gregg: Ego Chris: Because that gets in the way of whether it's family or not. If you have partners in a business and there's some egos in the room that can lead to, and we've seen it here. I call 'em business divorces and they get ugly. I can Gregg: Imagine. We just have different skill sets, hopefully. I know Lance and Brad both very humble. Hopefully I am too. And we just love what we do. Lance is he loves to say, and I'm the same way. I'll never plan to retire. I want to be able to retire. I don't want to retire. There's a difference. There's a difference. One's a little more freeing and we've just got probably overuse the word fun, but we've got a fun business and we work with great, creative, scrappy, entrepreneurial, hardworking people and who we admire and respect and it's great. Chris: So you started in Houston, obviously and grown here that you've expanded out. Has having a business based in and expanding within the state of Texas you think been an advantage for you Gregg: Texas? So I listen to this guy, I don't know if you've ever heard a guy named Peter Zhan. He talks about geographics and geography and demographics and why some states and cities are successful and some countries, and it's been fascinating, but he says Texas is the greatest state in the world to do business. He says Houston is the greatest city. And he goes on to explain why. And Austin's right up there too. Texas is just, it has his reputation for being wide open and scrappy and entrepreneurial. That's true. It's a great place to start a business. The barriers to entry are pretty low. They're getting a little more, I say burdensome, but it's still pretty easy to just fire up a business. And there's a good labor force here. There's good distribution in the form of imports and exports from the ports. We've got one of the greatest ports in the world for sure. We've got I 10 running through here so you can distribute in and out of there. We've got low cost of energy, we've got low cost of food, we've got a ton of real estate, so it's a great place to do business. And Austin has exploded over the last 10 years and it's gotten a little more expensive to operate out of there. They've taken over the world too with tech and opportunities, and you've got this intellectual knowledge base there. And so Texas is just a great place to do business. We're looking to expand some of our little stores to other cities in Texas. Chris: That's great. Yeah, I agree with you. I think of Houston, especially as a city of opportunity. You see entrepreneurial spirited people everywhere and other entrepreneurs willing to support those starting out, which is the whole reason we started this podcast is to share knowledge, pass something on. And when you think about that, if you were to say something, one or two tidbits to an aspiring entrepreneur who may be listening, what would be your advice about taking that first step or something to maybe watch out for that may be around the corner? Gregg: Yeah. Yeah. So my overly optimistic personality would say, do it, measure the downside. Can you handle if it doesn't work? Worst case scenario, can you handle that? And if you can, the upside will hopefully take care of itself. But I say, go for it. I love to talk to young people that are thinking about starting a business or want to know how you do it. And I love to talk to them. And it's never too late. I love to had a lot of great conversations with older people that have retired or become empty nesters and started a little jewelry business, and then other people that have started wildly successful, much bigger public companies. And so businesses, it's such a creative endeavor and there's a gillion ways to make a living and to start businesses and to try things. And you never know what you can do until you give it a world. Yeah, I love, Chris: I'm always amazed at how the different things people do to actually have a business or make an income, it's fascinating. Some of 'em are obvious, and then there's so many that you're like, wow, I had no idea that someone would've a business around that. Gregg: It's really remarkable. And the more you drill down and get into it, and the more you discover how people have just built great businesses, wildly successful financially and big and small, and yeah, it's great. I love entrepreneurship and I love people that think about it and want to give it a whirl. Chris: Yeah. Well, it's obvious because y'all have been wildly successful yourself and been cool to see how it's evolved from just a nursery to, like I said, a restaurant. I mean people that are passionate about restaurants and can fail at 'em. And it's cool to see someone knew nothing about it, but have it be so successful. Gregg: Yeah. I'm probably a little too capricious about saying, we got really lucky with some of the people and we went into it not knowing, Chris: Well, no sub super hard work. Right? Gregg: Yeah. Chris: So all that to say, then you got all this going on, what do you do to just rest and recharge and find some time for yourself? Gregg: Well, so when my youngest, who's same age as your oldest went off to college, we became official empty nesters. And I had a couple, a little more time on my hands and I wanted to fill it. I'm not good with time on my hands. And so I was trying to decide between, I used to fly airplanes and I was trying to decide between flying or taking up golf. And thankfully I took up golf. It's a little easier to do every day. Chris: Tends to be safer on life expectancy Gregg: Too. If you fall out of the golf cart, it's not fatal. And so I play a lot. I've just become really passionate about golf. I love golf. And so I enjoy that. And Carol and I are traveling a little bit. We got a little place in Florida where we go to, and I still stay pretty busy with work. We are going back and forth to Austin a lot. Catherine, my youngest is still there, so I stay pretty busy. Chris: Good Gregg: Doing stuff I like to do Chris: And well, they say, right, you love it and passionate about them until work. Gregg: Yeah. Yeah. Chris: That's great. Alright, so last question is, do you prefer Tex-Mex or barbecue? Gregg: Oh, that's so tough because I was just at our little shop and somebody who works there who knows I'm into certain types of foods and ingredients and stuff, she gave me these great, because she knows I love chips. And she's like, oh, I got these, they're seed oil free and all this stuff and you got to try. I'm like, oh man, I'm going to have something to snack on. So I love chips, I love Tex-Mex and I love barbecue. But if I were to choose, I would probably choose Tex-Mex. Okay. Some of my early fondest food memories are Tex-Mex. Chris: Yeah. So it's funny, it's the hardest question that I ask on the podcast for everybody, and it's a hard one for me to answer, but I go to, when I've been gone traveling for a while, what's the first thing I want when I come back? And as much as I love barbecue, the answer text Gregg: Message. Yeah, it's our comfort food. I literally remember the first time I had chips and queso the day I remember where it was, where I was. And it just changed my life. Chris: Well, maybe there's a new restaurant concept for y'all to go after. It could be, yeah. Although there's a lot of competition here, right? Gregg: I know there's good competition. Yeah. Chris: Well, Greg, thanks so much for coming on. Love your story. Congratulations to you and your brothers and your whole team there for what y'all do. And again, from a personal standpoint, I love it. I take advantage of it being just two blocks away more times during the week than I care to admit. Gregg: Yeah. Well thank you and congratulations to you on your podcast. I just love that you're doing this. It's very entrepreneurial. It's like this, the definition of an entrepreneur is Chris: Trying something. Well, I appreciate that. We consider ourselves here. We talk about it all the time within our partnership that we're entrepreneurs. For sure. And to your point, we look for people that have that ownership mindset to work here because we think that's what makes this firm successful. And it helps us with our clients because our clients are entrepreneurs. And so I think we're, those connections help form deep Gregg: Relationships for sure Chris: With the clients that we have. And we think that's part of why we 35 years and going strong. Gregg: Yeah. That's great. Chris: Thanks again for coming. Appreciate you taking time. My pleasure. Take care of Hello. Gregg: I will. Thank you. Alright. Special Guest: Gregg Thompson.

Today, Mike, Pam, and Scott are here to get that Labor Day Weekend started with some fun Disney talk! We are continuing the discussion we had last Friday about finding comparisons to chain restaurants around Walt Disney World! However, we wanted to get Pam's thoughts on this topic and today, we added hotels and retail locations into the mix! Where would your Walt Disney World equivalent for Baskin-Robbins be? Chi-Chi's? Wal-Mart? Cracker Barrel? Hear these and many more! Please share your thoughts over on the Discord channel at www.beourguestpodcast.com/clubhouse. We hope you enjoy today's podcast!  Please visit our website at www.beourguestpodcast.com.  Thank you so much for your support of our podcast! Become a Patron of the show at www.Patreon.com/BeOurGuestPodcast. Also, please follow the show on Twitter @BeOurGuestMike and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/beourguestpodcast.   Thanks to our friends at The Magic For Less Travel for sponsoring today's podcast!

Don Felder is on Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito this week. What type of work would Don be doing if not for being the former lead guitarist of the rock band the Eagles, from 1974 to 2001, co-writing major hits like "Hotel California"? Many celebrities will tell you that if not for that one lucky break or meeting, they would have been scooping up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins like Barack Obama or a Hooters girl like Amy Adams. They may have been just a jobber. Thanks for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito wherever you pod.

This Patreon sample episode is brought to you by our incredible sponsors. The boys will be back with fresh news tomorrow! Brooklyn Bedding -  Go to brooklynbedding.com and use code HARDFACTOR at checkout to get 30% off sitewide. This offer is not available anywhere else.   DaftKings - Download the DraftKings Casino app, sign up with code HARDFACTOR, and spin your favorite slots! The Crown is Yours - Gambling problem? Call one eight hundred GAMBLER Lucy - Let's level up your nicotine routine with Lucy.  Go to ⁠⁠Lucy.co/HARDFACTOR⁠⁠ and use promo code (HARDFACTOR) to get 20% off your first order. Lucy has a 30-day refund policy if you change your mind. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Story lineup (00:05:00) King Charles is giving Canada their marching orders (00:22:31) Sidney Sweeney is doing Baskin-Robbins ads  (00:24:20) Man Who Married Almost 30 Women, and Pacino having more kids (00:36:50) - Zuck buying up whole neighborhoods, and WNBA Dildo Bandit Discussion (00:45:14) - Mark and Will try to comprehend "67" Thank you for listening!! Go to ⁠patreon.com/hardfactor⁠ to join our community and get AD-FREE bonus episode like Florida Man Friday. We love you, and most importantly HAGFD! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 5 AM hour, Larry O’Connor and Julie Gunlock discussed: Weekend Recap; Baskin Robbins vs Carvel DC Crime Update Protests Against Trump's DC Crime Crackdown Where to find more about WMAL's morning show: Follow Podcasts on Apple, Audible and Spotify Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @JGunlock, @PatricePinkfile, and @HeatherHunterDC Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Website: WMAL.com/OConnor-Company Episode: Monday, August 18, 2025 / 5 AM HourSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Longtime cohost Mike D rejoins the show for a special 3 hour + investigation of the new Baskin Robbins new advertisement, Dunkin Donuts ingredient lists, and American school lunches vs those from oversees. As the MAHA movement seeks to change schools lunches, opponents argue that it is difficult, expensive and laborious, yet other countries with less money and resources have already perfected the school lunch. So what is going on in the U.S.?*The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKWEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Robert Horry, aka "Big Shot Bob," is on Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito this week. What type of work would Bob be doing if not for being a 7-time NBA Champion, current sports commentator, and podcaster? Many celebrities will tell you that if not for that one lucky break or meeting, they would have been scooping up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins like Barack Obama or serving at Red Lobster like Nicki Minaj. They may have been just a jobber. Thanks for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito wherever you pod.

We survived Mexico. We survived the wedding. We even survived the resort's “complimentary” robes (shoutout to DudeRobe for saving my honeymoon). And now… we're back.This week, I catch you up on the Cabo Wabo chaos — from my son crushing his first flight, to a surprise Backstreet Boys dance on the beach, to me promising Los we'll get him in the water with the dolphins NEXT time.Then it's straight into the news you didn't know you needed: Donald Trump declaring it's officially a Sydney Sweeney Summer (triple S, baby). We're talking jeans, ice cream, ad campaigns, and how the internet will find a way to call everything racist — yes, even Baskin-Robbins rainbow sherbet.We also address the crime of the century: Gypsy Rose stealing my business idea for “Blown Booby Art.” I can't make this up — she's peddling canvas blow art on TikTok while I'm here with an actual art degree, a Dyson dryer, and a commission already sold. Lawyers, get ready.From there, we hit Soulja Boy's latest “first rapper” achievement: getting arrested twice for the same thing. Sprinkle in Sean Kingston scamming a home theater system, the anxiety of going to Trader Joe's in America, South Park trolling Trump on a pro-Trump network, and my growing temptation to get the hell out of the U.S. for good.Also, the other “What Are We Doing” podcast? Still sitting on the floor. Boys, call Daddy. I'll let you use my set.Sponsors this week:

Zorhan Mamdani has vowed to become President Trump's nightmare, plus Joe Biden has been visiting a lot of Baskin Robbins lately.  Visit the Howie Carr Radio Network website to access columns, podcasts, and other exclusive content.

These two powerful segments explore the growing intersection between global instability and America's cultural and political battles. In the first, South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis discusses the deeper implications of U.S. foreign policy decisions — including the sudden $15 million bounty on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro — and raises concerns about cartel infiltration, border security, and how international crime can impact states like South Carolina. In the second, Tara shifts to the domestic culture war, highlighting the backlash against actress Sydney Sweeney's Baskin-Robbins ad and what it reveals about shifting beauty standards, corporate virtue signaling, and cancel culture. A caller from Chesnee brings the discussion back home, urging young conservatives to get involved in local elections and push back against cultural and political apathy. Together, these conversations underline a central theme: the fight for America's future isn't just happening in D.C. — it's playing out on the world stage, in the culture, and right in your hometown.

In this open-line Friday segment, the show dives into the cultural firestorm surrounding Sydney Sweeney's Baskin-Robbins ad — and what the backlash says about beauty standards, cancel culture, and political identity in America today. Tara explores how major brands are pushing back against left-wing cultural dominance and why the reaction to Sweeney's image is about more than just aesthetics. Listeners also join the conversation, including a compelling call from Riley in Chesnee, who makes a heartfelt plea for younger voters to get involved in local politics — especially in critical races like sheriff elections. The episode wraps with practical advice for digital activism, including how to build influence and spread truth on platforms like X. A thought-provoking blend of cultural commentary and grassroots organizing, this episode challenges listeners to reject fear, engage the culture, and take back the narrative — one post, one vote, and one conversation at a time.

Mark Long is on Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito this week. What type of work would Mark be doing if not for being a reality television personality, actor, host, and professional wrestler known for his appearances on MTV reality television series Road Rules: USA – The First Adventure, Challenge, The Challenge: All Stars, and an appearance on Even Stevens? Many celebrities will tell you that if not for that one lucky break or meeting, they would have been scooping up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins like Barack Obama or serving at Red Lobster like Nicki Minaj. They may have been just a jobber. Thanks for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito wherever you pod.

A lot of sugar in this edition.

Jamie Lissow is on Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito this week. What type of work would Jamie be doing if not for being a regular comedian on the #1 rated late-night show, Gutfeld? Many celebrities will tell you that if not for that one lucky break or meeting, they would have been scooping up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins like Barack Obama or selling Timeshares like Jennifer Aniston. They may have been just a jobber. Thanks for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito wherever you pod.

This week on Own It we're talking to Genna Franconi from 22squared and Trade School. She and they are based in Atlanta, Georgia. As you probably noticed, she runs two agencies. One is over a century old. The other was born out of a client need for scaling audience-based content.  Gemma came up through the account side of the business and worked her way to the C-Suite at 22squared before founding Trade School as a spin-off firm, eventually earning leadership and partial ownership of the company. The two firms work with great brands like Home Depot, Publix, Baskin Robbins and many more.  Genna has also become an avid pickleball player in addition to her work and her children. We have so much in common. I loved this discussion. I know you will as well. You can find links to Genna's LinkedIn profile and the agency websites for 22Squared and Trade School in our show notes at untilyouownit.com.  If you're enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community.  Also, if you're a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Donna D'Errico is on Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito this week. What type of work would Donna be doing if not for being an actress, best known for her starring role on the television series Baywatch? Many celebrities will tell you that if not for that one lucky break or meeting, they would have been scooping up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins like Barack Obama or working as a beautician at a morgue, like Whoopi Goldberg. They may have been just a jobber. Thanks for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito wherever you pod.

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We've gotten chosen to participate in some extreme versions of children's playground games. But not the stuff you're used to, like licking wafers. We're talking games like zoo jogging, wing sauce mixology, and sneaking into Baskin Robbins after dark.Suggested talking points: Squid Game Den Mom, Deadly Cornhole, Five Nights at Louvries, Sydney Sweeney Todd, Gesticulatory ExcitementImmigrant Defenders Law Center: https://www.immdef.org/

Why the Heir to the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Empire Walked Away From It All The son of the ice cream behemoth chose veganism over inventing the 32nd flavor. In this VegNews exclusive, John Robbins reveals what it's like to walk away from an ice cream cone-shaped swimming pool. Listen to today's episode written by Tanya Flink at VegNews.com #vegan #plantbased #plantbasedbriefing #johnrobbins #dietforanewplanet #mayallbefed #foodrevolution #baskinrobbins  ========================== Original post:https://vegnews.com/the-untold-vegan-story-of-baskin-robbins  Related Episodes: Use search feature at https://www.plantbasedbriefing.com/episodes-search    ======================== Launched in 2000, VegNews is the largest vegan media brand in the world. They have a best-selling plant-based magazine, and they create amazing content from food and fashion to travel, celebrity interviews, beauty and health info, a meal planner, and vegan travel excursions. Their Guide section on their website is full of great information and they have an online shop where you can find cookbooks, foods, kitchen tools, vegan meal delivery services. They also have a website, VeganWeddings.com. Please visit www.VegNews.com for a wealth of resources.  ======================== FOLLOW THE SHOW ON: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@plantbasedbriefing     Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2GONW0q2EDJMzqhuwuxdCF?si=2a20c247461d4ad7 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plant-based-briefing/id1562925866 Your podcast app of choice: https://pod.link/1562925866 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlantBasedBriefing   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/plant-based-briefing/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plantbasedbriefing/   

Do you fear aging? Do you dread getting older? Do you think that you'll likely be sick or have a disease? Many people are living longer yet not living healthier. Today's guest is health expert, environmental pioneer, and best-selling author John Robbins. John is the author of the best-selling books “Diet For a New America,” “The Food Revolution,” and “Reclaiming Our Health.” He talks about the growing population of people who are currently over 65 years old. Globally it continues to increase. John would like our older years to be a time of celebration and not a time to fear. It is possible to become much healthier as we age. It can be a time to be stable and connected. If we feel more positive about aging, we can add many healthy years to our life. On the other hand, if we shun it, and try to protect ourselves from the aging process, we close down possibilities. In the US especially, we can feel divided and separated. Many people ultimately die of loneliness. John talks about four cultures that he has explored where people live to be healthy at 100. The older people in these cultures are not interested in fast foods. They tend to have much more community. They eat simply, with many being basically vegetarian. This diet includes nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, and no artificial sweets. They don't have processed sugar. They are connected to the local food and eat seasonally. Family and friends are extremely important. The communities work together. By comparing the diets and attitudes of different world cultures with the American lifestyle, John shares the truth about the health effects of the foods we eat. The only son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, John was groomed to follow in his father's footsteps but chose to walk away from Baskin-Robbins and the immense wealth it represented to “…pursue the deeper American Dream…the dream of a society at peace with its conscience because it respects and lives in harmony with all life forms. A dream of a society that is truly healthy, practicing a wise and compassionate stewardship of a balanced ecosystem.” We air this interview today to honor health pioneer John Robbins, who passed away in mid-June.  Info: www.johnrobbins.com

The girlies return from their summer break with a chatty episode recapping their travels, including our bodies yet again keeping the score, a shocking Alec Baldwin sighting, and the transcendent beauty of Nerds Gummy Clusters. Digressions include: Aura ring-induced health spirals, the evilness of snoring, and Baskin-Robbins' haunting Trolli milkshake. This is a teaser for a Patreon-exclusive episode. To listen to the full episode and access over 50 bonus episodes, mediasodes, and monthly zoom hangs visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today.  

Today on the show, we have the phenomenal Ocean Robbins — the dynamic CEO and co-founder of the Food Revolution Network. This esteemed network boasts a membership exceeding 500,000, establishing itself as a colossal community of advocates passionately promoting healthy eating on a global scale. With an impressive portfolio of live seminars and events numbering in the hundreds, Robbins has successfully impacted millions of lives across 190 nations through his transformative efforts. But who is Ocean Robbins? His roots trace back to an intriguing family history; his grandfather founded the famous Baskin-Robbins. However, it was his father, John Robbins, who bravely walked away from a lucrative ice cream empire to pen bestsellers like "Diet for a New America" and become a respected health advocate. Today, Ocean Robbins is on an audacious mission: transforming our industrialized food culture into a supportive ecosystem for healthy individuals and a thriving planet. He extends a warm invitation to YOU, urging you to become an active participant in this vital food revolution."31-Day Food Revolution" unfolds as a carefully crafted plan comprising 31 accessible, step-by-step actions, serving as your roadmap to ethical, nutritious, and sustainable food consumption. This holistic plan is segmented into four pivotal parts: Detoxify, Nourish, Gather, and Transform. With Robbins as your guide, embark on a transformative journey towards less sugar, fewer processed foods, and decreased unhealthy animal products while embracing whole plant foods and consciously sourced fare.Please enjoy my conversation with Ocean Robbins.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/next-level-soul-podcast-with-alex-ferrari--4858435/support.

This show is a tribute to Mr. John Robbins, who passed away on June 13th. His family is the "Robbins" of "Baskin-Robbins." His story has a connection with my Momma's story.

What do a 1946 Western film, a fight for independence in the Balkans, a celebrity Engagement, a Fulbright Scholarship and Baskin-Robbins ice cream have in common? They are all part of the life story of a charismatic, hardworking, and big dreaming winemaker. Meet Sonja Magdevski of ⁠Clementine Carter Wines⁠ in Santa Barbara County's Los Alamos, where she's one of the OGs who turned the sleepy little town into a must visit wine destination.But, her first job in wine was planting a vineyard with no experience.We explore how Sonja fell in love with Grenache, her pioneering role in the Los Alamos wine community and her passion for storytelling through both wine and writing. Join us for an inspiring conversation about taking risks, following unexpected paths, and creating something truly unique. We're excited to have Sonja, a fellow journalist and an inspiration to so many people, joining us to share her story.

What do a 1946 Western film, a fight for independence in the Balkans, a celebrity Engagement, a Fulbright Scholarship and Baskin-Robbins ice cream have in common? They are all part of the life story of a charismatic, hardworking, and big dreaming winemaker. Meet Sonja Magdevski of Clementine Carter Wines in Santa Barbara County's Los Alamos, where she's one of the OGs who turned the sleepy little town into a must visit wine destination.But, her first job in wine was planting a vineyard with no experience.We explore how Sonja fell in love with Grenache, her pioneering role in the Los Alamos wine community and her passion for storytelling through both wine and writing. Join us for an inspiring conversation about taking risks, following unexpected paths, and creating something truly unique. We're excited to have Sonja, a fellow journalist and an inspiration to so many people, joining us to share her story.

EPISODE 131: Philadelphia native Tim Johnson Jr. has established himself as a dynamic singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and actor. At just 10 years old, Johnson's talents led him and his family to Las Vegas, where he landed the coveted role of Young Simba in Disney's The Lion King. His acting career continued to flourish with roles in Everybody Still Hates Chris (Paramount), Saturdays (Disney), Ballers (HBO), Meet the Blacks 2, Fist Fight (Lionsgate), FBI (CBS), and critically acclaimed films such as We Were Meant To (Sundance 2023) and Pens and Pencils (2023 NAACP Image Award nominee). His commercial credits include major brands like Nike, Apple, Verizon, Baskin Robbins, and Sprite. In 2018, Johnson captivated audiences as a semi-finalist on FOX's The Four: Battle for Stardom, reaching millions worldwide. Since then, he has continued to carve his own path in the music industry, independently releasing singles, EPs, and two albums, all written and produced alongside his father. His signature blend of R&B, pop, and soul resonates deeply with his growing fan base, while his electrifying stage presence brings undeniable energy to every performance. instagram.com/cityboyjrContact us: makingsoundpodcast.comFollow on Instagram: @makingsoundpodcastFollow on Threads: @jannkloseJoin our Facebook GroupPlease support the show with a donation, thank you for listening!

Are you wondering: ✓ How to use the Matterport Merge Tool? ✓ When to use Auto-Align vs. Manual Align? ✓ How long it takes to process the merged model? Stay tuned! On this WGAN-TV Podcast (above), our WGAN-TV Podcast Guest Host is: ✓ Tom Sparks, Founder and CEO of ScanYourSpace, a division of Sparks Media Group @ScanYourSpace Our topic is: ✓ WGAN-TV | Mastering Matterport Merge Tool (Beta): How to Combine Interior & Exterior Scans! Tom walks through how to merge two Matterport models: a scan of a Baskin-Robbins interior and a separate scan of the exterior plus 360s—using Matterport's new Merge Tool (Beta) in Workshop. Watch as he demonstrates the step-by-step workflow, shares tips on alignment, and reveals the final results the next day. What You'll Learn Here's what we cover during this WGAN-TV Podcast: ✓ When and Why to Use the Merge Tool • Ideal use cases for merging separate scans (interior + exterior). • Why photographers may shoot spaces in separate sessions and need to merge. ✓ How the Merge Tool Works (Beta) • Step-by-step demo using Matterport Workshop. • When Auto-Align fails—and how to fix it manually. • Previewing, rotating, and positioning models for alignment. • What the processing stage involves and what to expect after submitting. ✓ Post-Merge Review & Lessons Learned • What worked well and what to watch for (e.g., 360º bubble limitations). • How entry and exit points between merged models may behave. • Importance of open pathways (like doors) for seamless navigation. ✓ Pro Tips for Success • Why you may want to trim the final model. • When not to expect perfect walk-through transitions. • Best practices for communicating merge limitations to clients. Why This Matters For Matterport Service Providers, the Merge Tool (Beta): ✓ Expands creative possibilities by combining separate captures ✓ Makes hybrid indoor/outdoor tours easier to deliver ✓ Saves time and adds value by connecting previously disconnected scans Among the Questions Tom Answers: ✓ Can you align outdoor and indoor scans if the door was closed? ✓ What are the limitations of 360º navigation in merged models? ✓ What happens to the original models after merging? ✓ How long does the merging process actually take? Got Follow-Up Questions for Tom? ✓ Visit: www.SparksMediaGroup.com ✓ Learn more: www.ScanYourSpace.com ✓ Post below in the We Get Around Network Forum ✓ Subscribe on YouTube: @SparksMediaGroup Best, Dan

It is a privilege to welcome Tim Johnson, Jr., to The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast.  Philadelphia native Tim Johnson, Jr. has established himself as a dynamic singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and actor. At just 10 years old, Johnson's talents led him and his family to Las Vegas, where he landed the coveted role of Young Simba in Disney's The Lion King.  In 2018, Tim captivated audiences as a semi-finalist on FOX's The Four: Battle for Stardom, reaching millions worldwide. Since then, he has continued to carve his path in the music industry, independently releasing singles, EPs, and two albums, all written and produced alongside his father.  His signature blend of R&B, pop, and soul resonates deeply with his growing fan base, while his electrifying stage presence brings undeniable energy to every performance.In addition to his recording career, Tim's acting career continued to flourish with roles in Everybody Still Hates Chris (Paramount), Saturdays (Disney), Ballers (HBO), Meet the Blacks 2 and  Fist Fight (Lionsgate), FBI (CBS), and critically acclaimed films such as We Were Meant To (Sundance 2023) and “Pens and Pencils” (2023 NAACP Image Award nominee). His commercial credits include major brands like Nike, Apple, Verizon, Baskin-Robbins, and Sprite.On this episode of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Tim Johnson, Jr. spoke about his experience on The Four: Battle for Stardom and American Idol, songwriting, and voicing Young Chris on the animated series Everybody Still Hates Chris. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.

After kicking off the hour with a new beat for Gelo feat. Lavar Ball, Stugotz calls Mike Vrabel the most overrated coach in NFL history. Then, did Williams Shakespeare invent every modern phrase? Did he invent swagger? Plus, A.J. Brown is a big reader, Greg "teaches" the crew about Mike the headless chicken, and Chris Cote did what he could to kill a cockroach this morning. Also, it's time for Stugotz's Weekend Observations including the Washington Commanders, Jordan Like, the Patrick Mahomes of Ryan Tannehills, Jim Harblah, and an affair with a pint of Baskin Robbins ice cream. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are back!! We missed you guys so much and decided to come back with a 2 parter. In part 1, we will discuss the murders at Captain Ds, McDonalds, and Baskin Robbins that happened in early 1997 in the Nashville and Clarksville areas. Tune in to hear the details we know about the crimes and the victims.Instagram: @caffeinatedcrimespodTwitter: @caffcrimespodEmail: caffeinatedcrimespod@gmail.comFacebook: Caffeinated CrimesSupport the show

Chris Egan, KING 5 TV, joins Jason “Puck” Puckett for his weekly visit.  You never know where the conversation goes and since Puck celebrated his 49th birthday on Thursday, Puck and Egan want to bring back 1980's birthday parties for adults.  Tecmo Bowl. Shakey's Pizza. Baskin-Robbins ice cream birthday cake.  Jolt cola. VHS tapes and Nerf hoops! They wonder how much money adults would pay to have an '80's themed party?  It would include a sleepover and sneaking out to meet up with girls, or wives for that matter! The high school football season wraps up this weekend and they discuss and preview the championship games.  

On Friday's Daily Puck Drop, Jason “Puck” Puckett is joined by Jim Moore, the Go-2-Guy, who pops on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Former Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu, our football handicapper TroyWins.comand Puck wraps up every Friday show with Chris Egan from KING 5 TV. Puck and Jim open up the show talking about the Seahawks, why don't they talk more about the Kraken, Stephen A. Smith making big dollars and celebrating Puck's 49th birthday and looking ahead to 50! Lofa Tatupu joined Puck and Jim to chat about the Seahawks and the defensive turnaround since Ernest Jones joined the team. What has his impact meant to the defensive and specifically Leonard Williams.  Does Lofa feel the pressure on Ryan Grubb is warranted?  Is it a must win game against Arizona?  Also, Lofa, Puck and Jim go around the room and give their “Highest Performer of the Weekend” brought to you by 1937farms.com Puck and Jim switch gears to their gambling expert,Troywins.comand they go over all the championship games for the weekend, including Troy's “Lock of the Week” and their “Dogs of the Week.”  Chris Egan, KING 5 TV, joins Jason “Puck” Puckett for his weekly visit.  You never know where the conversation goes and since Puck celebrated his 49th birthday on Thursday, Puck and Egan want to bring back 1980's birthday parties for adults.  Tecmo Bowl. Shakey's Pizza. Baskin-Robbins ice cream birthday cake.  Jolt cola. VHS tapes and Nerf hoops! They wonder how much money adults would pay to have an '80's themed party?  It would include a sleepover and sneaking out to meet up with girls, or wives for that matter! The high school football season wraps up this weekend and they discuss and preview the championship games.  Finally, Puck wraps up the show with “Hey, What the Puck!”   Puck goes back to high school football and tells kids and parents to enjoy the last weekend of football.  It's a time that you never get back and it's the absolute best period of time to go through. 

Tom and Julie and Producer Brett celebrate Threatsgiving 2024 with an ice cream taste test featuring seasonal flavors from Baskin Robbins, Salt & Straw, and Jeni's. Plus Ayn Rand, Frank Zappa album names, the Oakwood Apartments, the chicken big mac, and more!SUPPORT DOUBLE THREAT ON PATREON Weekly Bonus Episodes, Monthly Livestreams, Video Episodes, and More!https://www.patreon.com/DoubleThreatPod  WATCH VIDEO CLIPS OF DOUBLE THREAT https://www.youtube.com/@doublethreatpod  JOIN THE DOUBLE THREAT FAN GROUPS *Discord https://discord.com/invite/PrcwsbuaJx *Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/doublethreatfriends *Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/doublethreatfriends  DOUBLE THREAT MERCHhttps://www.teepublic.com/stores/double-threat  TOTALLY EFFED UP T-SHIRTS https://www.teepublic.com/user/dttfu  SEND SUBMISSIONS TO DoubleThreatPod@gmail.com  FOLLOW DOUBLE THREAT https://twitter.com/doublethreatpod https://www.instagram.com/doublethreatpod  DOUBLE THREAT IS A FOREVER DOG PODCASThttps://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/double-threat  Theme song by Mike Krol Artwork by Michael Kupperman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tom and Julie and Producer Brett celebrate Threatsgiving 2024 with an ice cream taste test featuring seasonal flavors from Baskin Robbins, Salt & Straw, and Jeni's. Plus Ayn Rand, Frank Zappa album names, the Oakwood Apartments, the chicken big mac, and more! SUPPORT DOUBLE THREAT ON PATREON  Weekly Bonus Episodes, Monthly Livestreams, Video Episodes, and More! https://www.patreon.com/DoubleThreatPod   WATCH VIDEO CLIPS OF DOUBLE THREAT  https://www.youtube.com/@doublethreatpod   JOIN THE DOUBLE THREAT FAN GROUPS  *Discord https://discord.com/invite/PrcwsbuaJx  *Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/doublethreatfriends  *Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/doublethreatfriends   DOUBLE THREAT MERCH https://www.teepublic.com/stores/double-threat   TOTALLY EFFED UP T-SHIRTS  https://www.teepublic.com/user/dttfu   SEND SUBMISSIONS TO  DoubleThreatPod@gmail.com   FOLLOW DOUBLE THREAT  https://twitter.com/doublethreatpod  https://www.instagram.com/doublethreatpod   DOUBLE THREAT IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/double-threat   Theme song by Mike Krol  Artwork by Michael Kupperman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this edition of BaskTrend-Robbins, Jack and Miles discuss The Rizzler's Jimmy Fallon appearance, Baskin Robbins introducing the "Brie My Guest" flavor of ice cream, McDonald's finally being allowed to "fix" their own ice cream machines, Harris' Ellipse rally, a vulgar billboard featuring Kamala Harris, a MAGA candidate caught stealing ballots in Indiana and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are participation trophies ruining kids? Jason Feifer debunks myths and reveals the surprising century-long history behind the debate on Skeptical Sunday! Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we're joined by Jason Feifer, the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, host of the Build for Tomorrow podcast, and author of Build for Tomorrow: An Action Plan for Embracing Change, Adapting Fast, and Future-Proofing Your Career. On This Week's Skeptical Sunday: As it turns out, participation trophies aren't some newfangled millennial invention. These shiny symbols of showing up have been collecting dust on shelves since your great-grandpappy was in short pants. We're talking 1922, folks — when the biggest participation trophy was surviving the Spanish Flu! All of these folks bellyaching about participation trophies probably have a few lurking in their own attics. It's like complaining about kids these days and their gimmicky rock music while air-guitaring to Led Zeppelin. Pot, meet kettle — you're both made of participation trophy material. Despite what the armchair psychologists down at the local watering hole might tell you, there's no scientific evidence that participation trophies turn kids into snowflakes. As they grow, kids naturally get more interested in winning than just showing up — like trading in their tricycle for a Harley. The whole participation trophy hullabaloo is less about plastic awards and more about our collective freak-out over parenting, work ethic, and why these darn kids won't get off our lawns. It's just generational anxiety dressed up in a well-worn, borrowed suit. Want to level up your success game? Ditch the black-and-white thinking. Winning's got more flavors than Baskin-Robbins, so keep an open mind for what's possible. Embrace the past, eye the future, and you'll be batting home runs with life's curveballs like a pro. Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know! Connect with Jason Feifer at his website, Twitter, Instagram, and