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Hernando Planning Commissioners Jarrett Mashaw and Kevin Thorn Explain the 2nd McDonald's, Traffic Concerns, What it Means to be a Commissioner, and What's Coming NextThe Real Hernando welcomes planning commissioners Jarrett Mashaw and Kevin Thorn to explain why a proposed second McDonald's near the McIngvale/Green Tea area and the I-269 interchange roundabout has become controversial, outlining how plats move from preliminary review to final plat and how the planning commission's recommendation goes to the aldermen for a vote. They discuss concerns about traffic flow, queueing, and long-term growth around a roundabout already seen as a bottleneck, along with how zoning limits what the city can stop versus what it can regulate. The commissioners also cover recent denials of a conditional-use liquor store and a proposed second dispensary location, share business updates including Baskin-Robbins, Jersey Mike's, Captain D's, new hotels, and progress at Delta Landing and its YMCA, and explain commissioner appointment, meeting schedules, and the commission's four core responsibilities.Sponsored in part by Electrical Repair and Installation and Brandon Vanderburg at Shelter InsuranceThe Real Hernando is on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram and TikTokProduced by Derrick Michaud and SRP Studios Podcasting

September 11, 2001, changed Bob Ellis's life, just as it changed mine. Bob was working at the Pentagon that morning and had walked out of the building only minutes before Flight 77 struck the area where his meeting had taken place. You will hear how he immediately became part of the response, helping organize emergency supplies and support for those working at the Pentagon. We also compare our experiences from two different locations that day, Bob at the Pentagon and me at the World Trade Center with my guide dog Roselle. Twenty-five years later, our conversation is about more than remembering 9/11. It is about leadership, teamwork, service, controlling fear, and deciding what we do with the life we have been given. I believe Bob's story offers lessons we can all use when the unexpected happens. Highlights: 05:29-Bob shares how his early life and military support career shaped his path. 23:53-He recalls realizing the first World Trade Center strike was not an accident. 32:59-Bob describes being just 300 yards away when the Pentagon was hit. 37:00-He explains how he helped organize emergency relief supplies within hours. 1:03:54-Michael reflects on survival, fear, and the responsibility to move forward. 1:06:55-Bob shares the lasting life lessons he took from September 11. About the Guest: Bob Ellis is the Vice President, American Logistics Association responsible for Exchange, MWR, Food Service Operations. The native of Fort Walton Beach, Florida began his career with AAFES in 1972. From 1972 through 1984, he held retail management positions as a Branch Manager, and Operations Manager Main Store. In 1985, Ellis began a string of assignments as an Exchange General Manager trainee at Fort Belvoir, VA, and Exchange General Manager, Fort Hamilton, NY and Carlisle Barrack PA, (Army War College). Assignments as Area Retail Manager and General Manager at the former Japan Area Exchange ran from 1989-1992. In 1992, Ellis was transferred to Travis AFB in California as Retail Manager, Main Store. In 1994, Ellis was selected for the General Manager's position at Travis and spent three years assisting in the design and new construction effort of the largest retail Main Store ever constructed by AAFES. From 1997 to 2002, Ellis held the position of Director of AAFES' Washington Office, serving as the principal representative of the Commander, AAFES to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Departments of the Army and the Air Force, Congressional offices and industry representatives. Notable among his accomplishments, Ellis was instrumental in spearheading AAFES support to the Pentagon after the attacks of September 11th. Within 48 hours of the event, AAFES established a mobile exchange in the shadow of the impact site to support rescue workers and investigators with critical need and personal comfort items. After Washington, Ellis moved to AAFES Headquarters' in Dallas to assume the Vice President Specialty and Consumables position. In this role, Ellis was responsible for the SD-C Category Team Managers/Buyers. In August 2003, Ellis took his a position as Vice President of Corporate Planning and Communications where he managed the development of AAFES long range and contingency planning programs, oversight of corporate public affairs and ensured compliance with Department of Defense policy guidance with the goal of preserving and protecting the exchange benefit for soldiers and airmen and their families around the globe. Bob joined the ALA on 31 July 2006 where he continues to serve a role in military resale supporting Exchange, MWR, and Food Service, operations still serving military resale over 51 years continuous service. Ways to connect with Bob**:** You can find more benefits how Branded Riches can help you build your Brand, Product, Business, and Yourself at https://www.BrandedRiches.com   Connect:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/neryk-davydov Branded Riches Audiobook by Neryk Davydov https://www.audible.com/pd/Branded-Riches-Audiobook/B0GCP9MMRB Branded Riches Book https://www.amazon.com/Branded-Riches-Increase-Income-Irresistible/dp/1987753836 $5 Free Gift for Creating A New Ovato Wallet    www.ovatoCoin.com  About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Everyone, I am Michael Hingson, the host of Unstoppable Mindset. You've heard my voice for the last 471 episodes, but I'm calling you all out today and asking you to listen to this because we're going to make a special announcement now regarding the next four episodes, starting with 472. We're going to help commemorate the historic events of September 11, 2001. Yes, they're definitely historic, although not necessarily the most positive things that have ever happened. But as many of you may know, I was in the World Trade Center working on September 11, 2001, on the 78th floor of Tower One, and escaped with my guide dog. I've delivered a speech about that, which we put in the first episode of this podcast series back in August of 2021. But this Friday, episode 472 is going to have an updated speech that I delivered just a few years ago at the Marshfield, Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival. That festival is a yearly event celebrating different kinds of things that have happened in American history, and I was invited to come and speak, which I did. I'm going to put that speech up for you as episode 472. I think you'll find it enlightening. It'll teach you something about blindness and blind people. It'll tell you my story, and it'll give you some inspiration that I hope you will find helpful. Next Tuesday, september 8, Michelle Abraham is going to interview me. Michelle is with Amplify You, the company that does all of our back office stuff and helps me with the editing and other things regarding the podcast. Michelle owns her own podcast, and she is going to interview me about September 11th and other kinds of things relating to what I've learned and things that have happened over the past 25 years. She's also going to be putting this up on her podcast Amplify You, so you can find us in a lot of different places. On September 11th, I'm going to chat with Bob Ellis. Bob was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and had literally just walked out the door of the Pentagon when the plane crashed into the Pentagon and did the things and the damage that it did, and of course generated all the things that occurred at the Pentagon. On the 15th of September, I'm going to come back and have a conversation with all of you about lessons that I've learned over the past 25 years, and just reminisce a little bit about all of that. While the podcast is occurring on September 11th, I will be actually in Kilgore, Texas, doing a speech about September 11th. So lots of things going on, I hope you listen to these episodes. I hope that you'll tell everyone that you can about them. I really enjoy all of the support that you've given us over the years, and we're going to continue to do things with Unstoppable Mindset. And of course, as always, if you'd like to come on or know anyone who would, please let us know. We're always looking for guests. Thanks very much. We'll see you on Friday with the first of these four episodes. What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingston, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Unstoppable Mindset. You are listening to us today, or at least I'm assuming you're listening just when this came out. But whenever you're listening, it is today, September 11th, 2026, which is needless to say, a special day. If you have kept up with my podcast from the beginning, you know that I worked in the World Trade Center on September 11th, and ever since then I've been a public speaker, traveling the world, talking about trust, teamwork, leadership, the human-animal bond, and a variety of things. But recently, I met Bob Ellis. Michael Hingson  04:40 Now, Bob, as it turns out, on September 11th worked at the Pentagon, and I have not ever really had the opportunity to talk with someone who was at the Pentagon, especially on September 11th. But we get to chat about that today, and Bob knows our rules, which are basically. He sent me a series of questions that he wants to cover, but we are doing this as a conversation, so we'll probably talk about a lot of the things that he specifically sent. But we can go any old way that Bob wants to go, so that's what we'll we'll make this really fun. And I'm really looking forward to having the opportunity to talk with Bob. So again, welcome to September 11th, and Bob, I want to welcome you to Unstoppable Mindset. We're really glad you're here, Bob Ellis  05:28 Michael. Thank you for inviting me. I know you you've inquired several times, and I've debated it, and and I was just holding it for the right time, and this is the right time-the 25th anniversary of the event. Michael Hingson  05:40 Yeah, it is, and and and as as we've said, if you find anybody who needs a a speaker to come in and speak, let me know. But but for now, we get to chat about you and and hear your story, which I think is the important thing. I think we'll probably talk about both of our stories in the course of the day, no doubt about it. But I really am glad that you are here and that you are able to to talk with us today and and and talk about things. So let's start the way I love to start with people. Let's start at the beginning. Tell me kind of about the early Bob growing up and so on. Let's start with that. Bob Ellis  06:17 Well, I I grew up in let's say grew up until I was four years old. I lived. I was born in Pensacola, Florida. Lived in the Panhandle. Mother and father got divorced, and we moved to Norfolk, Virginia. And it was just my my mother and I until I was 14 years old. And I found out about my dad and found some letters from him and insisted to go see him. And so, between 14 and 15, I made a couple of unauthorized attempts to to make my way to Florida. On the third attempt, I made it, and it was quite a surprise for my father. Ended up living with him and being my closest friend up until I had he had grandkids, we had kids, and so I lived and grew up in the Destin, Fort Worth, Fort Walton area. Went to work, and this is where the story begins. I went to work at Eglin Air Force Base as a as a janitor in a gas station for the Army Air Force Exchange Service, so that I could continue to play high school football and practice, was a great job. It was an opportunity to work with the military, be around the military, and I took great pride in that feeling that that that that while I I wanted to go into the air force and I wanted to fly jets, that opportunity just never presented itself because the Vietnam War was going on and they were banking pilots instead of taking pilots. Anyway, I I ended up staying with the Army Air Force Exchange Service for 34 years. I moved all over the world. I've seen the every AOR and every combat scenario since the Vietnam War. Not in the Vietnam War, but I was in the refugee program, helping with the resettlement back in 1972, 1973. Spent the rest of my career going wherever they sent me, and and and that was from Tokyo, Japan, to to Tuli, Greenland, to California, and ultimately to to Texas. Michael Hingson  08:30 I remember during the Vietnam War, someone called me one day. I was a student at UC Irvine, and there was a refugee camp fairly close to the university, and someone said, and someone said, "There's a blind young man at the sent at the refugee center, and we should go see him. And so we we bought a transistor radio for him and went out to visit with him and spent some time with him, and I never got to see him after that. But I hope I hope he did well. He he seemed like he was doing okay, but he was a little bit lost, needless to say, because it's a whole bunch of people. There are no a lot of people who knew much about blindness and blind people, but I would presume he did reasonably okay. I hope so, but that was the only time I specifically had an involvement with him or anyone at the refugee camps. Later, when I met my wife Karen, she lived, I think, a door down, and she and her parents lived a door down from a Vietnamese couple, and he was a tailor and actually made her wedding dress, which was kind of cool, and so we got to spend a fair amount of time with the Voo's, which was was good, but what's. Interesting for me now, with with now being well so many years later. In November, I will be going to do a speech in Hanoi, so I'm really looking forward to to going over there and and experiencing it. At least it'll be a little bit cooler then than it probably is now. So we'll see, but it'll be it'll be pretty enjoyable to go and again see a different a different part of the world, and I I think we'll be fine. At least that's that's that's the plan. Bob Ellis  10:34 That that that that tour that I had at Eglin Air Force Base with the refugees, will come back to to to 911 2001 and the experiences that I had at that refugee camp replicated in the Pentagon park and lot there in 911. So we'll get to that. I'll explain it further. Michael Hingson  10:56 Yeah, I'm sure it was a a great a great lesson. Where did you do college, or did you Bob Ellis  11:03 went to went to Duke University and the University and the University of Maryland? Michael Hingson  11:10 Okay. Well, at Bob Ellis  11:12 least much of it was correspondence as well, only because I was deployed for for so many years back to back, 17 moves in 34 years. Michael Hingson  11:22 Wow, Duke University. At least you didn't go to one of those other schools in North Carolina. Boy, talk about talk about rivalries and basketball. What a what a group down there. Bob Ellis  11:35 Oh, I know, I know. Michael Hingson  11:38 I once spoke in Kentucky, and the Wildcats were in the NCAA championship that year, and I was asked to speak at an event on the night of the championship. But I was told I had to end by 630. I could not go one second past 630 because the gym I was speaking in was going to clear out. Well, I ended in time so that at 630, what they said was absolutely true. That gym cleared out. Everybody went home to watch the game. Bob Ellis  12:09 That's that's sports. Michael Hingson  12:11 Not sports. It is, but it's okay. I I learned a lot down there and got to meet a number of people, and so it was it was a lot of fun to to do it, and then years later I was in North Carolina when NC State and UNC were playing to see who was going to go into the championship. So again, pretty interesting world, and and sports ruled everything then, so it's okay. It Bob Ellis  12:43 hasn't it hasn't changed at all because my my my daughter I got her graduate studies done at NC State, and it hasn't changed a bit. It's just I'll bet it's just crazy as it's when was 20 3040 years ago, Michael Hingson  12:58 and it shall ever be, won't it? Bob Ellis  13:01 Yeah, yeah. Her undergraduate degree was at University of Texas. This was my son's, and she went on to NC State, and and he went on to medical school in in Houston. Michael Hingson  13:16 Okay. Well, UC Irvine, when I was there, had the championship water polo team, but that's what we had. But they started basketball while I was there, although it wasn't anything huge. But a couple of years ago, they made it to the Sweet 16, and that was kind of fun for UC Irvine. One of these days, it'll go all the way. Bob Ellis  13:40 Yep. Michael Hingson  13:41 Well, anyway, so you you went to college, and and what did you major in? Bob Ellis  13:45 Political science. Michael Hingson  13:47 Okay, political science Bob Ellis  13:48 and business management. With a with my two aspirations, I wanted to. I really wanted to major in in aviation science, but that that wasn't offered. So that's political science and business science, business law. Michael Hingson  14:06 But you were working for the Army Air Force Exchange Service. What is that exactly? Bob Ellis  14:11 Yeah, it's a it's it's it's a non-appropriated funded Service provided all goods. I think of it as the the Walmart or the Target of of the civilian sector, except the Army Air Force Exchange Service has stored everything from stores, every business that you can think of therein, from stores to convenience stores to gas stations to beauty shops and barber shops to dining facilities, franchise Burger Kings, anything that a soldier and his family needs at the base or overseas or in the combat arena, where we were there with it, providing it. It's been a great career. Michael Hingson  14:59 Did you? Do you have any involvement with, especially here in the U.S. the the Randolph Sheppard programs, the blind vending stand operations at any of the facilities? Bob Ellis  15:09 Yep, sure did many many times. We're still working with it. There's there's some issues present right now under the Randolph Shepherd that they're looking at. I don't know what what's going to change, but yes, sir, we were very, very close to that. Michael Hingson  15:24 Yeah, I know there. The current government's looking at it; they want to scale a lot of it back, which would, I think, not be a good thing. I think there's a lot of reasons to keep it, but we'll see. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. But I, the closest I ever came to dealing with anything from AAES was I was invited to speak once at an organizational meeting of the National Property Managers Association in the military. Are you familiar with that? Bob Ellis  15:56 I am. Yes. Michael Hingson  15:57 And when I was asked to come, the Speakers Bureau didn't do a good research job because they told me, "Oh, it's the people who rent apartments and all that. When I got down to the to the event, I will say that the National Property Managers Association certainly serves a nice breakfast. But anyway, the conversation just didn't seem like what I what I was expecting. So I asked somebody, and they told me that the organization was the organization that had complete jurisdiction over anything physical that the government owned, and Bob Ellis  16:30 absolutely Michael Hingson  16:31 that that changed my grass. Sorry, Bob Ellis  16:34 right down to the grass, right down to the grass and the concrete. Michael Hingson  16:37 There you go. Well, it also changed my speech in 10 minutes, but it was fun. They invited me back the next year, so that was good. But it's it's fun when you're you're planning to do a particular speech, and suddenly it turns out it's got to change. It's good to have the flexibility to do that. But I'm I'm glad I had the opportunity to do it, and hopefully we'll have opportunities to do it again, but you have served a lot of different kinds of of services within AAES, and and I assume that's all worked out pretty well. Bob Ellis  17:14 That that worked out very well. Yep, I had I started at the bottom and and climbed as close to the top as I possibly could, but Michael Hingson  17:23 you eventually got the the highest medal that was available for civilians when you retired or after you retired. Bob Ellis  17:31 No, the highest award that I ever received was from my man over the Pentagon 911 support program, which was a nice medoris civilian award. Michael Hingson  17:46 Okay, where is your favorite place to live in the world? Or is that really easy to say? I mean, you've been all over the place and seen a lot of different kinds of places. Don't know how much you got to two of them, but anyway, Bob Ellis  18:00 it wasn't the two places that I that I went overseas, which was Japan and Greenland. Those were the longest tours of my life. Beautiful country in Japan, and and great facilities and support in tuning Greenland. But I would I would guess throughout the United States, I had a great assignment at the Army War College, and I had a great assignment at Travis Air Force Base here in Michael Hingson  18:26 California. Yeah, Bob Ellis  18:28 yeah. Michael Hingson  18:30 I've spoken. Bob Ellis  18:30 My son was born in Japan. He's dual citizen as a result on the Air Force Base, and my daughter was born in California. So it was a great time, mainly because the kids were younger and and and and we were in great climate areas. Michael Hingson  18:48 When people ask me what my favorite place in the United States is, I say everywhere. I I just enjoy meeting people wherever I go in the U.S. It's so many different cultures and customs and ways of doing things. It is so fun to to see all the different places and see how they are. People ask what I like, where I like outside the U.S. And so far, it's been New Zealand. I would say is probably the best, but Japan has to be up there too. I've really enjoyed being in Japan. I've been there a couple times, and I thoroughly enjoyed Bob Ellis  19:23 it. I, I had, I think the most the the greatest thing about the assignments was some of the people I I got to to meet in in my in my tours. One of them would be the Crown Prince of of Thailand, who who is now the king of Thailand, King Rama, got to meet him when he was a pilot, and supported him when when I was at Yokota Air Base, and multiple other celebrities. I I had the opportunity as a kid to attend the funeral. For Douglas MacArthur, and and his his memorial was right across the street in North Virginia from where my mother worked. And 20 years later, I had the opportunity to to meet mrs. Mcarthur, Jean MacArthur, at Gracie Mansion in New York, and I I I wrote protocol. I when it came time for her to to meet me and meet meet her, I got down on one knee and I held her hand and I said, "I want to tell you a little story, ma'am. And she said, "Well, certainly, absolutely. And I told her the story how when the general had died in in 1964, I was required by my my mother to go to the funeral, and the most fascinating person I'd ever seen in my life was herself, and she just got she just turned red. Well, long story short, I was at an army command at Fort Hamilton. The next day, the the group the the installation commander called me over to his office, very angry, but he wanted me to know that I was going to be the first civilian aide for the old lady, which was mrs. Mcarthur, and he had to take one of his lieutenants off. And I got to know the family and and the Mcarthurs as a result of that. So lots of opportunities, just absolutely amazing. 911, and we'll get to it. I got to meet President Bush momentarily, but I I got to meet him and have a short conversation. Michael Hingson  21:32 I got to meet him in 2005. We went to the Oval Office, and we were supposed to have a two minute photo op, but he kept wanting to interact. We ended up talking for about 15 minutes. He kept the Italian ambassador or prime minister waiting, but it was a was a great conversation. I very much enjoyed having the opportunity to meet with him. Bob Ellis  21:53 Yeah, he was remarkable. Michael Hingson  21:54 Yeah, in in so many ways. If Speaker 1  22:00 you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes. Thank you for being part of the Unstoppable Mindset Community. Michael Hingson  22:33 So that's that's pretty cool. So as you were going around to all these different places, what would you say you were learning. Bob Ellis  22:41 I was learning business. I was learning relationships. I was learning marketing. Pretty much anything that you wanted to do as a general manager or a vice president, the exchanges let you do it. You know, until you got too far gone, and they they reel you back in. But I love being able to run multiple businesses on the installation, and and be accountable for them, and run them at a profit, and and at the end of the day, do great things for military families. Michael Hingson  23:16 Wow! So you um, you you've you've had a lot of challenges and and had to learn a lot of different things. Needless to say, but I would would think that you've you've been able to to keep a lot of that and use it. And you know we've referred to September 11 th, and so let's let's get to around that time. The first thing I would ask, and people have asked me, but you're in a better position in theory than I. Did you have any inkling that something like September 11th was going to happen? Bob Ellis  23:53 Well, actually, September 11th was was happening. I left for work about 4:30 in the morning. I lived out in the suburbs in Centerville, Virginia, and it was one of those days that you just wished you didn't have to go to work. It was the as the sun was coming up, it had a little cold breeze to it. The skies were blue. It was just one of those days that you just wanted to sit out in the yard and and relax or go bicycling, whatever. But I did my duty and I drove in to the Washington D.C. area and reported to my office on time, which was right around 5o'clock. My staff showed up around six and some at seven, and my secretary came in, and I don't know exactly what time it was, but it was shortly after, right around 9o'clock in Eastern Time, when the first airplane had hit the the trade center. Michael Hingson  24:49 Yeah, Bob Ellis  24:49 846-940-6846, Yes, right, 846. Yeah, and and so I I went in to look at the. The the television monitor standing there it was just her and I at the time and and and I said that's not an accident and she says how do you know that I said look at the skies that was an airliner they were talking about it was a little small private aviation well I'm a pilot I've been a pilot for 40 years 41 years I knew exactly, you know, that that where it was, what it was doing, and that wasn't a it wasn't an accident. And and my inkling was is that I was in a in rented space in Arlington, Virginia, because we had been moved out because the wedge that got attacked was the one that was still under construction. My office had not been completed there, and and I had a meeting in that wedge at 9o'clock that morning. And my secretary said to me, "You know, Bob, the Pentagon is next. And I paused for a minute and I looked at her and I said, "How in the world could you even imagine that, you know that that that's a fortress? Who would be crazy enough to attack the Pentagon? And she says, I I just I don't want you to go over, you know, just just just do it by phone, which I I probably could have done. And I said, No, I'm I'm going to go over there. If they're going if they're going to attack the Pentagon, I'm going to go down with it, and that was kind of my philosophy. So, in the back of my mind, seeing that airplane hit the Trade Center and her telling me that certainly made me wonder if it wasn't a possibility. Michael Hingson  26:33 So, you didn't. You don't think that anyone, and I've never heard of any such, but that anyone had any advance notice? There wasn't chatter. There wasn't anything that made people suspect what might be getting ready to happen. Bob Ellis  26:47 No, I I I think that is the the worst our country has ever been off guard. It reminds me of you know the the attack on Hawaii and that you know in in Pearl Harbor. We were completely unprepared, and I thought we were completely unprepared on 911. And in fact, after the attack, I knew we were unprepared when I saw the two jets fly over with no armament on the wings. So no, I don't think anybody had any idea. Michael Hingson  27:18 Well, the other side of it, and I've talked about this in in some talks I've given. I talk a lot about trust and teamwork, and like it or not, one of the things that I observe is you had 19 terrorists who functioned well enough as a team that they didn't talk about it. They didn't let anything come out. So no matter how much armament or whatever we might have had, I'm not sure whether we could have predicted that on September 11th, what occurred was going to happen. Bob Ellis  27:49 You know, all the indicators were there. You know, those those 19 trained at private airports, and they and during their training, it was it was reported multiple times that all they were interested in was taking off, not landing. I mean, first clue, you know. Okay. Why would you just be interested? He's taking off an airplane, and and I always found that very curious, and I'd heard it several times. That should have set alarm bells off. Should have. It didn't. Apparently, it did. Michael Hingson  28:20 Good point, and you know the the thing is though that, as as you pointed out, who would have thought that anybody would attack the Pentagon, the fortress that it was? Who Bob Ellis  28:33 yeah, Michael Hingson  28:33 who would have thought? So again, you can only go by what you got, and so nobody, I think, would have ever imagined that. Well, of course, the first plane hit the World Trade Center, and at first, people didn't really know what happened because there were really not very many people who who saw it. In fact, we only have the few photos that were taken by the French photographers who were there for something else, but then a little after nine, the second plane hit, and that changed the dynamic and changed the perspective a lot. Although a bunch of people who started seeing it on TV thought it was just a movie, and it wasn't true, but the second plane hitting changed the attitudes. I think for most people, and that's when people knew something was going on. Bob Ellis  29:24 Yeah, I didn't know anything about the second trade center. I had left my office in Crystal City, and I had headed to the Pentagon. And the meeting, the meeting that I had was with the Army Personnel Chief and several other folks. And as it turned out, that is exactly the window that the airplane flew into. That was ground zero for the for the for the target for the airplane going in just above the first floor for the Pentagon. So I didn't know anything. I was I was trapped at that point. I was trapped. Couldn't go um. Wouldn't go um. Didn't want to go um. And I had lived in New York City for five years, and I was my biggest. I was always impressed by the New York City Fire Department. I mean, they're they're just walking heroes if you've ever seen them. I mean, they were like they were like giants when you got next to them, and that they would they were just superhumans. And I always wondered upon the top floors how in the world you would get a fire put out at the top of the World Trade Center, and and I did not know until two days later when I made it home. That was my first question to my family: How did they get the the fire out at the top of the World Trade Center? And I and and it was repeated to me centers, and I said, What are you talking about? Centers in my family, and they said, "Bob, the World Trade Centers are gone. I said, "I don't understand. How could they be gone? And that was that. That was you know two days later that I found out about that. It was quite a shock to me to learn what it actually while I was on on the Pentagon mission. Michael Hingson  30:58 Well, when the first plane hit. Well, in the second plane, the firefighters were going up the stairs carrying all their equipment, and I had had had known about that and asked people, "Well, why are you or would you be carrying equipment? Because I met I I didn't meet the FDNY people ahead of the World Trade Center attacks, but I did meet with other people to learn about emergency preparedness and so on because I felt as the leader of an office, it was my job to know because I wasn't going to be able to read signs, and I love information, so I was trying to learn all I could, and they told me that where would if you if you had equipment stored in the in the towers, then people would go to it. Firefighters would go to it and get the the equipment. What floor do you put it on? Because no matter what floor you put it on, what if the fire broke out one floor below? You know, you can't get to the equipment. So the only way they could get up the stairs to fight the fires was to carry all of the equipment with them, yep, yep. Not enough is said about those guys in history. No, and I met a number of them coming up the stairs as we were going down, and they wanted to escort me down, and I didn't want them to do that because I knew they were a team, and I I pushed back pretty hard and said, no, you guys go up and we'll go down unless we can help you fight the fires, and they said no. The reason they eventually let me go down without any assistance was I had a friend with me who could see, and I said, "Look, David can see. Don't worry about us. And David and they turned to David and they said, "You're with him. And David said, "Yeah, leave him alone. He's fine. So we went on down, and they went up. I don't know whether the people we interacted with made it down or perished up above. It was about 10 after 10 after nine or so when we got to the 30th floor where we met them. So it was another hour and almost 20 minutes before the tower collapsed, but I don't know where the firefighters were, or how many people from the groups that we interacted with perished, or if they all made it out. I don't know, but Bob Ellis  33:12 yep, I I memorized all those numbers. You know, 189 between the airplane and the Pentagon, 200 injured, but 189. 189 total were 64 on the airplane, 125 in the Pentagon, and I'll never forget those numbers. Yeah, I'll never forget the time. I looked at my watch at 9:17, and and I have to tell you that on 9/11, I always sit very quietly until I get past 917, not 937. I'm sorry, 937. Michael Hingson  33:48 So Bob Ellis  33:48 in the morning. Michael Hingson  33:49 So, how close were you to where the plane came into the Pentagon? Bob Ellis  33:56 About 300 yards. When when it was clear that the meeting wasn't going to happen because the air traffic control system had been shut down. They released us to go back to our our offices, and I was going out the front door. I left about 930. It was supposed to start at nine 930. The generals said we'll just reconvene, and and I agreed. And from his office on on the south portico, I was walking out the front door. Literally, I heard the engines spool up. I had been in the AOR in rail combat munitions, and and I've heard cruise missiles, and and I could hear this one spinning up, and I thought it was a cruise missile, and so when it hit when it hit the building, it was just it was just a horrendous sound. But my first impression was to run to it to see what happened, what what what caused that, and there was nothing there. It was just four or five cars burning and smoke billowing out of the building. And and the the rest turned into a you know a rescue and a a recovery. Michael Hingson  35:08 AOR is what Bob Ellis  35:10 the area of responsibility. Michael Hingson  35:13 Okay, area of responsibility. Okay, Bob Ellis  35:16 yeah, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, wherever we are, it's it's N A O R, and that's your A O R. That's state. That's where you are. So that that's where I encountered first first and only live person coming out of the building, and which was a which was a really big surprise. But I knew that there was something that I I had to do, and and one of the things was to, if he needed assistance, getting him assistance. And there were several people. He was he was he was burned third degree burns over his whole body. He lived. I said one prayer was for him. And as it turned out, he became a a great ambassador. Turned out to be a great friend, and is actually back in the Pentagon to this day, just steps away from his old office as a civilian, went went back on a presidential appointment. Michael Hingson  36:09 So, you mentioned the general a while ago. Was did he survive? Bob Ellis  36:15 No, he was the he was the highest ranking person that we lost in in the entire encounter, and it was the entire office was just instantly vaporized. So he did not survive. Michael Hingson  36:33 Well, so you heard the engines revving up, and you went after you heard the explosion and so on. You went over to see what was going on, and then what did you do? Because it certainly had to be a major surprise and a shock by any standard. Bob Ellis  36:49 Yeah, I went that side of the building, saw the hole in the building, kind of convinced myself it was a cruise missile, but I never heard such a loud engine noise. As it turned out, it was it was two big engines off of a 757 200, and so I immediately tried to figure out you know what can I do? What should I do? Should I even be here? And that's when I saw the colonel coming out of the building, and I was able to walk with him and four others over to the the road, the Washington Boulevard that goes around the Pentagon, and and I sat down on the telephone pole, a light pole that the airplane hit going in. Now I'm a pilot, and and I have to tell you to take an airplane going at Mach point eight seven, and hit a target, hit the building, and not hitting the ground was just absolutely amazing to me. So as they got the colonel into an SUV and and and got him out of the the scene, I sat there. Just it was almost like a movie I was watching. The triage was being set up. The Pentagon was burning. The emergency services units were starting to show up, and we had very intermittent phone capability. And I had I had a a friend, my my the commander that I worked for in Dallas at the time. This secretary's husband was a bodyguard for Secretary Rumsfeld, and and Secretary Rumsfeld was actually carrying litter patients, carrying people out of the debris area and out of the offices. He was actually helping people, and he he realized that something needed to be done. So he gave Jerry a note, a piece of paper. We called them snowflakes, but it was a tablet, and he had listed what needed to be done and what needed to be done now. And Jerry found me sitting over there and gave me that that piece of paper, and it had everything listed on it. He wanted a a tactical field operation in place. He wanted it now, not yesterday. He wanted something in the interim, and it was to provide emergency relief supplies. So I I sat down on that telephone pole and I called our our local dist not local our largest distribution center in the world was down in Newport News, and I got the director on the phone and I said, I have an official order from you coming from the Secretary of Defense, and and don't override, don't just just follow my instructions until we can get to the commander at AFIS headquarters, and so I gave him the list. I just gave him the full list of things that we needed to get rolling, and I called another gentleman that was just across the river, the American Logistics Association, which owned all of the brokers and manufacturers, and I gave him a list of stuff that we needed now, like Gatorade boots. the The surface was over 2000 degrees, and the emergency service boots were melting almost upon contact. So I had I had 1000s, hundreds of 1000s of dollars of equipment. And supplies coming in, and we set up the USO tent, put everything in the USO tent. We raided all the stores in the in the Washington D.C. area. I was able to contact the region manager, and I told him, you know, what we needed to take it off the shelf, put it in the back seat of the cars, don't account for it, and get it to me. And that's what we did the entire first night was setting up the USO trailer, and the next morning I had two tactical field tractor trailers coming up the ramp just as the sun was coming up, and they were loaded with supplies, and that's what stayed in place for the next two months. Over $2 million worth of merchandise, emergency recovery type merchandise, everything from linens to the towels to eye wash, and and and we had to actually have some special boots made out of leather for the dogs because the dogs' feet were so it was it was quite an operation. We ended up well running within within 24 hours of the attack, Michael Hingson  41:04 why is it that you are able to stay pretty focused through all of this? Bob Ellis  41:08 I you know I you know I I've often asked that question. I wanted to go home. Alls I could think of is my kids, my wife. What what are they doing? What are they thinking? They're watching this on the news, and I had I had drifted over to which my car was very close, and it was taped off. The parking lot was taped off. It was a crime scene. There was no going anywhere. There was no transportation. If I wanted to walk 40 miles, I guess I could have, but because I couldn't go anywhere, I had to do something there on the scene, so that's that's that's what I did, and and it wasn't until the next day when the phone started working again, our two star in Dallas was able to get through to me on on my BlackBerry, and he wanted to know what the situation was, and and and I told him, and and he said, what what are we going to do? And I explained to him what we had done already, and he says, "How did you do all of that? I said, "I picked up the phone and I told him I was working for Secretary Rumsfeld, and this is the order. And and he says, "How are we going to pay for all of this? I said, "Sir, this is our finest hour. We're not. We're going to donate. These are all donating goods, and and it really was an interesting. I I just I just don't know. I was compelled. He he he ordered me on that second day to go home, and and I said I had no way to go home. And he said go to the motor pool. I'm going to call the motor pool. He had been the commander of the Air Force One Squadron, so he had a lot of connections in Washington, and he he got me a car, and I went home long enough to change clothes and and and to come back out. So it was it was just out of adrenaline, I think. Somebody had to do something, and and everything that I've told you here today is not written anywhere in history. I own every bit of what happened in in in that story, other than some of the people that were working there. Michael Hingson  43:07 What phone did you use that first day? You said you're you're it was the second day or the next day that you're phoned. So how were you able to communicate? Bob Ellis  43:17 We had Blackberries, and and until the networks got completely overrun, we were able to use it. And and so by the second third day, we we had pretty consistent communication, because the the the commander called me back that same morning, and and he said, you know, he said, how come you haven't been home? And I explained to him, and he says, "Will you do me one favor? And I said, "I would. He said, "Will you go back into the building? Said, "Sir, the building's on fire. He says, "Well, well, you get in the front, and I'm looking at it. He was looking at it on television, and the military clothing store was in the very front, within 100 feet, probably of that door that I went out of. And he says, "Would you see if our people survive, and if the store itself survived? It was sitting near the the area. I went in the store. I went into the building, into the burning building, and was able to look in the door, and I could see that the the room was full of smoke, and the door was locked. So I told him I would assume that our people made it out, alive and okay. And they say that was a, and they did, and they absolutely did. And in fact, everybody that that that that had any kind of supervisory capability around the Beltway, they volunteered to come over and work for me and and operating that facility for 2024 hours a day, seven days a week. Wow! So and not and not to shorten the the question, I wasn't there, but because of what I was doing in the in the Pentagon, my old homestead was at Fort Hamilton. Fort Hamilton picked up the same thing and went over to the Trade Center area, and they gave them a place to put a mobile. Food truck, and they brought supplies in and pretty much supported the firefighters and the and the and the police there. So so we had quite an operation going for a long time. Michael Hingson  45:11 Yeah, and and needed to, but it was interesting and commendable that in both places people were able to focus, and were able to carry out missions. I know at the World Trade Center when the two towers collapsed. Of course, it was it was unexpected, but we know now, of course, why they collapsed. It wasn't that the planes hit; it's that they were they were full of what 36,000 pounds of jet fuel each, and that exploding jet fuel is what damaged the infrastructure of the buildings to cause them to be able to collapse. But as well as at the Pentagon, but very quickly people were able to start to move and deal with issues and put procedures in place that were able to, I'm sure, keep more people from perishing and keep kept more people being able to focus throughout the whole the whole sequence of events. It it certainly was very scary, but it is something that that people like you were able to do. I know for me, the reason I was able to focus was because I had learned what to do in an emergency at the World Trade Center. I spent time with people and I learned how the whole building was structured, so I knew when the building tipped, why it tipped, and and things like that. You Bob Ellis  46:40 felt it. You you felt it. Michael Hingson  46:43 Oh yeah. Oh my god. We moved probably at least 20 feet, and then it came back, and oh my Speaker 2  46:48 god, it Michael Hingson  46:48 got vertical again. It got vertical again, and then a few seconds later, it dropped about six feet because the expansion joints went back to their normal configuration. But Bob Ellis  46:59 we uh we we knew from 937 till about 5o'clock that evening there would be no more survivors. It was over, and and and the dogs were getting depressed because they were they were they were not cadaver dogs. They were recovery dogs, and they were used to fight. And we we actually had ceremonies for the dogs every day, where we sewed flags onto their collars, and they had special water and special food. So they played a big, big role in morale, mine especially. Michael Hingson  47:33 And at the same time, I know people had to do drills to keep the dogs focused because they weren't able to find people, as you said, so they had to do things to give them something to find to keep them happy, which was was so important. Bob Ellis  47:50 Yeah, that we had two two tractor trailers lined up. It was just just two 300 feet from where you went into the damaged area of the Pentagon, and those dogs and their handlers would get up underneath those trailers and sleep, and they would play with the dogs. We actually had some carpets brought out, tarps brought out, and that's kind of where that was kind of their headquarters during 911. We had to make it up as we went along, and and the other interesting part of this story is in 1972 at the at the refugee camp, I was sleeping in the back of a van because there was just no way to go home. It was too it was too far to drive home to turn around and come back at 8o'clock the next morning, and I heard somebody knocking at the door, and and and I and I opened up the door, and it was a military colonel in uniform, and there was a civilian standing there with him. And he says, "Are you part of this operation? And I said, "Yes, sir, I am. He said, "Who are you with? And I said, "The Army Air Force Exchange Service. And and he says, "You're not provided any other facilities. This, I said, that was my choice. And as it turned out, I was speaking to Secretary Rumsfeld during his first administration as Secretary of Defense, and it was interesting that when he found out that what I did in in that program, I won the Indo Indo China Award for service, and then of course you you move ahead to to 2001, and we we knew each other. I had briefed him several times, and we we knew each other in the Pentagon. And that day, he knew that I would know what to do for the support role, and that's why he sent the letter up. And as it turned out, when he retired and and left the Pentagon, he was on a book tour, and and the the general secretary and myself got an invite to come to the book tour with him and and have lunch with him. And he handed me a book and he said, "I want you to have this, but I don't want you to open it up until you, Bob. I don't want you to open it up till you get home. I don't want you to give it to your wife. And and it was like this. Sure, I'm not not a problem, and so I got I got home. You know, this is this is 10 years later, and handed the book to her, and I said, "Open it up. I'm not wasn't allowed, and there's a nice thank you page on the front from Secretary Rums for allowing him to use me on 9/11, and you just you just that's the best reward that I could have ever ever expected. A guy that I just idolized to do that. Michael Hingson  50:26 When you got home, so you weren't able to talk to your wife before you got home, or did you ever get communication so you could call her? Bob Ellis  50:33 No, I didn't. I when I finally got the phone back up and running and got in the car. I had lost the battery, so I said, "I'm gonna be home in in an hour. I'll just be there. But General Wax called up, and she answered the phone. She went. She went sometime during that day and pulled the kids out of the private school, brought them home. She could see my car. It was a yellow SUV, and she could see it in the South parking lot in the news choppers going around. She said that was my car where my spot was, and General Wax got her on the phone and she and and she answered the phone and he said this is C J Wax and she thought that was the call. She thought that was it, and she alls I could do was drop to my knees and and and C J said and it's it's okay. I've ordered him to come home. He's all right. He's running. He's running a a program for us for for recovery. And if he's not there, he should be there shortly. And then by the time I got there, I got to the front step. I'm asking the question about the World Trade Center, how they got the fire out, and I was ordered that I could not go in the house because I smelled like smoke. So, so two minutes before that, I was the most important person in the world, and and then all of a sudden, I was I was back to Bob, and I wasn't going to wear that that suit in the house to to smoke it. So anyway, that's that's how she found out. He he called her up. I asked him. I think I asked him if he would get in touch with her at our last conversation, and he did. Michael Hingson  52:06 Soon after both towers collapsed, like a minute or so later, I called and got through to my wife Karen. I had talked with her before we left our office, and then when we got downstairs, I couldn't get through to her because the circuits were busy, and it was obvious that everyone we learned later was saying goodbye to loved ones, and so the circuits were busy. So after both towers collapsed, I was able to get through to her, and as I tell people, there were tears on both sides of the phone at the when that conversation started, but she was the first one who told us how two aircraft had been crashed into the World Trade Center towers, one to the Pentagon, and at that time, the fourth one was apparently still missing over Pennsylvania, and of course, then it crashed at Shanksville. Bob Ellis  52:52 I love it. Michael Hingson  52:54 Yeah, but we, you know, we talked, so she knew I was okay. Then a friend of ours, Tom Painter, who had been a friend of Karen's at high school out in California, but Tom, over the years, had ended up moving to New Jersey. He came down to stay with her, not knowing until he arrived whether I was in the office that day or out with a customer or what was going on. And of course, then she told him, and so he drove her to the train station to pick me up. When, when I got back out to Westfield, we went home. And you talk about with with dogs. We got in the house, and I took Roselle's harness off because I was going to take her out, and she would have none of it. She ran off, grabbed her favorite tug bone and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog Linny, and I talked to the veterinarians at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael the next day, and they said, "Did anything threaten her? And I said, "No, not directly. And they said, "That's why she ran off because it was over. Nothing threatened her. Bob Ellis  53:58 Comfortable. Michael Hingson  53:59 She, they don't. Dogs don't do what if like we do, and so she was comfortable. She was happy. She wanted to play, and then then she did go out. But by the same token, the the whole point was that she was able to deal with with all of it and was able to to focus. Then we got her outside and and came back in, and she ate and and all that. But the the the thing is that she focused all day, and and she did a a wonderful job. And the reason that she focused and did so well was mainly because I worked at keeping her focus by telling her every chance I got. You're a good girl. What a good dog! Good dog. You're doing a great job. Keep going. I did that all the way down the stairs in the World Trade Center, and I was very deliberate about that because I knew she had to sense the fear and what was going on, and I wanted her to know that I was okay and I was going to be there for. Her, which is of course what teamwork and support is all about. You understand that very well. You you proved it in so many ways. I kept working with Roselle and kept her focused, and you know it all it all really went well. I still think one of the most relevant things for me in the World Trade Center. I went down the stairs with a guy named David Frank. David was from our corporate office in California, and David and I were going to be conducting sales seminars that day, teaching some resellers how to sell our products. And we got down to about the 50th floor, so David was there to talk about the the pricing and so on. I was going to do the majority of the presentation because I was going to be their technical contact, anyway, and we got to about the 50th floor, going down, and suddenly David said, "Mike, we're going to die. We're not going to make it out of here. And as I tell people, since I got a teaching credential, I had learned all about the secrets of how to yell at students. So I just said, "Stop it, David. If Roselle and I can go down these stairs, so can you. And he then immediately said that I brought him out of his spunk, and he told me that later as well. But what he told me was that he wanted to walk a floor below me on the stairs and shout up to me everything that he was seeing. He had to take his mind off of what was going on, and so he asked if I cared, and I said, "No, go ahead. That's what you need to do. That's fine. So I got like down to the 48th floor, and he yelled, "47th floor, Mike. All's clear here. Going on down. So we went down several floors that way. Eventually, I got to 45, and he was 44th floor. This is where the Port Authority cafeteria is not stopping. And the reason I mention it is because I think what David did is one of the unsung things that is so important from September 11th. He kept shouting up to me everything that he saw, but the reality is, anyone in the sound of his voice heard that there was someone who was okay going down the stairs, and he had to keep panic out of people's senses for so many individuals, because they just heard him, Mike, 43rd floor, all's good here. Going on down the stairs, all the way down the stairs. He had to have been able to keep so many people focused because he was able to keep his mind off of what was going on by shouting to me, and I think that that's so important, and so I'm. I always tell that story. I've been telling it for many years now because I want people to know what he did to keep so many people focused going down the stairs, and he had to have done that. Bob Ellis  57:31 Well, you know, I have. That's that's the first I've heard that, and and and and I read everything that I followed your story very closely, as well as the colonel who I was so close to, but there there are a couple of stories that are just never mentioned, not talked about, and one of them where we had to do every day. There was an update that the military gave the families an update as to what is happening, what was found, what was recovered, what to expect, and they would bring the kids in to listen to these brutal military briefings. I mean, just you know, these were these were soldiers, these were these were combat folks, and this is the way they briefed. And the therapy dogs were brought in, and there wasn't but about a dozen of them, and I will never forget not only the kids on the floor with the arms around those dogs, but some of the adults were as well. And I thought, what what a moment! That was the most touching moment of my entire life witnessing that. I mean, I could have done without it, but it was it was a very special moment. And then the the other thing that the world doesn't know about is on the second day, I got a I got a phone call from Secretary Rumsfeld's office that the VA was completely out of coffin flags. We had nothing in inventory to to cover the remains or the caskets for burial, and what could I do? And and right right from the Pentagon parking lot, I I called one of the buyers that bought American flags in Dallas, and then I asked her who do you get flags from, and she says it's American Flag Company. I'll give them credit for that, and and I said you need you need to get their entire inventory. We need to get it flown in, whatever expenses cover it, and get them here. The Pentagon doesn't have them, and New York doesn't have them. And those flags came in. They were they were there about that midnight that that that night. Now boxed up, thrown in the bag box, whatever tape they were bound, but everybody that came out later, you know, the recoveries as we got deeper into the debris, that had a had a flag that that came that came from us in the as well as at the Pentagon, and they put two very big special flags in there. I mean, like you see flying over a car dealer. And they hung that on the side of the Pentagon. And if you look at any of the any of the news willers of that time, it was on day two that flag was hanging that that came in with the rest of the other flags. So it was it was quite impressive. You never know what the next moment was going to bring you on you know from my side and and and can I meet the challenge? That was what I constantly worry about. How could I let any of this down? And I've got to do something. And and we were making it up as we went along. Michael Hingson  1:00:33 Yeah, that's all you could do. And so when I go back to Bob Ellis  1:00:37 to to this to this day, you know, we go back. They've got 184 markers. I don't know how many people attend it, but it's it's right in that zone, right outside the building, in that grassy area where they they they've made that memorial. And 184 people, to include I think two infants, are are memorialized there forever, which is very touching. It was a that was a hard place to go back to. Still was New York City when I went to it because I'd never I had never been 20 years 20 years yet 18 years before I ever went to to New York City to see the recovery there. I've never I've not been to the to the to the Pennsylvania field. I plan to go. I want to go. Just hadn't been convenient to get there, but but if I do that, I will have seen all all the sites. Michael Hingson  1:01:26 Yeah, I haven't been to Pennsylvania either. In 2017, I did make it to the World Trade Center Museum. In well, so we moved out of Westfield, and I moved back to California in late January, beginning of February of 2002, to work for Guide Dogs for the Blind and and speak from there. And traveled around and speak. Karen was there for a couple more months selling our home, and then she came out. But in May of 2002, Roselle was going to be honored by Hart's Mountain, the pet food and pet supply company. So, so we went back to New York, and while we were there, I met one of the police officers with with one of the service with one of the rescue dogs that that had been around the World Trade Center, and he arranged for us to get in a vehicle and drive down into the pit that was where the World Trade Center was, and they had built an artificial, well, a temporary road, and they were bringing things up, but we got to go down to what would have been the seventh sublevel, the bottom of the tower, and it was just a for me just imagining it standing in that dirt area in a hole seven stories deep and remembering what what it was like, and then in 2017 I went to the World Trade Center Museum and got to spend a little bit of time there, and of course everything had been rebuilt. The reflecting pool was there, and so on. But it was nothing like what I remembered from having been in the World Trade Center, and I walked around with someone who was able to be aware and describe what was where we were and what was above us, or what part of the building we were in as we walked through the complex. But of course, it was totally different. So it was it was such a strange feeling to experience all of that. But we did it, you know. And so now I've been to the museum, and actually there is a there's an animal exhibit in the basement, and Roselle's collar is is part of that exhibit. We donated that to oh Bob Ellis  1:03:50 really, oh really, oh God, I I was I was thinking that when I asked you that question earlier today, and I was thinking about that that has got to be remarkable, you know that that that's what touched me so much at the period. That the fact that the two of you were such a team, and I read everything that newspapers printed and watched. I guess there was some there was some CBS specials and so forth too, where you were interviewed, and it was it was just it was just absolutely amazing. Michael Hingson  1:04:21 Well, it is. you know, it is a an awe-inspiring sort of thing. And you know, people always say, you know, don't you feel guilty about surviving when so many people didn't? And and I said, no, I I didn't have any control over that. But what I do have control over is having been a survivor. What am I going to do about it? It's my responsibility to decide how I'm going to deal with moving forward after something like that. And of course, the opportunity opened to travel and speak, and so I've been doing it ever since. And I believe my job is. Is to educate people about what happened on September 11th, and let them know t

Walter Sterling guides listeners through a chaotic mix of caller banter, trivial grievances, and wild conspiracies. In this episode, guest Dr. Linda Salvin drops a series of jaw-dropping claims—from golden spots on cars actually being bee poop to secret subterranean networks beneath the Getty Museum, and even an alleged 4th of July satanic Taylor Swift wedding witnessed by Denzel Washington.Meanwhile, Walter tackles the ultimate modern crisis: being denied a free birthday scoop at Baskin-Robbins because he refuses to download their app.

In this episode of Local Matters, host Tiffany Anton welcomes Tyler Buck, owner and operator of the Cookeville and Algood Baskin-Robbins locations, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, innovation, and building a business with purpose. Tyler shares how a part-time job scooping ice cream as a teenager turned into becoming the youngest person to purchase a Baskin-Robbins franchise, and how he's reimagined the iconic brand through creative ideas like drive-thru service, innovative store designs, online ordering, and customer-focused experiences. The discussion also explores his passion for giving back to the Upper Cumberland, why community impact is more important than traditional advertising, and how he has built a culture of generosity by partnering with local nonprofits and schools throughout the year. Tyler also offers a glimpse into his vision for future locations, proving that entrepreneurship is about more than growing a business—it's about creating places that bring people together and leave a lasting impact on the community. Listen To The Local Matters Podcast Today! The UC Now · News Talk 94.1

Send us Fan MailC4 Leaders – the ONLY nonprofit to utilize the pizza making process to create space for our companions to be seen, heard, and loved.   We work with businesses, sports teams, hospitals, churches…anyone looking to RISE TOGETHER.  We also write children's books and use the most amazing handmade, hand-tossed, sourdough pizza to bring out the best in each other.   Please check out c4leaders.org to support our important work. Season 6 Episode #26 Lydia Chale via her email address lydiachale@gmail.comMy wife recently had a birthday and I ordered her favorite ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  I did it online but unfortunately entered the wrong time to pick it up.   So I had to call and leave a message to change the pick up time.  I was pleasantly surprised when I received a voice mail stating the cake is ready and I can pick it up any time I want.  I entered the store the next day and spoke to the staff at Baskin Robbins and immediately Lydia noticed my voice and stated she would be right with me.  I was taken back by her attention to detail and that she remembered and appreciated my voice… So we decided it would be fun to join each other on this podcast…so here we are.  A little about our guest : Lydia was born in North Carolina and moved to Davis when she was 12.  Unfortunately, things didn't work out so well and Lydia decided at the age of 16 to drop out of school and moved out on her own.  That drastic change in her life lead her to needing to find a job… Lydia found work at Baskin Robbins and has been doing incredible work ever since.  She became the manager at 18 and at 23 she is a Franchise Manager. Lydia has used that opportunity as a spring board into creating potential future opportunities down the road.   She earned her GED and is currently taking college courses for business and philosophy. Lydia loves her 4 cats and spends most of her free time trying to study and learn. Lydia thanks for sharing your amazing customer service with people, thanks for continuing to better yourself with knowledge and education, and thanks for being our guest on Life's Essential Ingredients…welcome to the show!TOTD – “We don't develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” ―Barbara De AngelisBuild a habit - to create intention - to live your purpose! In this episode:What was life like growing up?What are your essential ingredientsWhat do you love about music…CatsPeople…Legacy 

Peter Hwang spent 28 years building six companies across six completely different industries. He survived the 2008 financial crisis, which wiped out a near-IPO a month before closing and left him with $3M in debt and a wife six months pregnant with their third child. He rebuilt from that. Then built again.In 2018 and 2019, two of his companies sold within 14 months of each other, an 8-figure and a 9-figure exit. He was 45. Technically retired, but then everything stopped.In this episode, Peter and I get into what was  driving him through 28 years of building, the fear, the proving, the  scarcity model he carried his whole life without naming it. We talk about what it felt like when the emails stopped and the urgency disappeared, why achieving everything he worked for left him feeling lonely and depressed, and how he eventually found his way back to building for a completely different reason.We also get into what separates founders who make it from those who get stuck, how his passion and purpose shifted across three distinct chapters of his life, and what his dad said when Peter finally gave him the one thing he actually wanted.This is a conversation about what happens when the outcome arrives and it doesn't feel the way you thought it would. If you've ever felt like you were chasing an external feeling of success and needed to rediscover your internal purpose, this one's for you._______(01:25) Growing up watching his parents' Baskin-Robbins(04:47) Why he knew he had to work for himself(06:07) What actually drove his early ambition(07:42) Starting Extreme Pita and his first exit at 24(10:43) Why he keeps building in completely different industries(12:53) Enwise: the near-IPO that collapsed in 2008(15:03) The email that changed everything(16:22) Who showed up when things fell apart(18:28) What Cindy said when he told her(20:32) What kept him going through two years of rebuilding(23:37) How Enwise led directly to Globalfaces(24:09) Running two companies simultaneously for seven years(32:01) What separates founders who make it from those who get stuck(37:07) Two exits in 14 months and the arrival fallacy(39:53) From 100 emails a day to three(41:52) How he found his way back to purpose(45:07) How passion and purpose shifted across three chapters(46:18) What his dad actually wanted(47:40) How building businesses built him as a person(53:47) What he hopes his kids take from watching himShow notes:Find show notes of each episode on ProfitLed.fm. Connect with our host:Follow Melissa on LinkedIn where she shares stories & lessons from her founder journey weekly.Connect with Melissa at melissakwan.com and subscribe to  'your founder next door', Melissa's weekly newsletter on what it's like to build a company without an abundance of resources and friends in high places.Follow @themelissakwan on Instagram and YouTube where she shares short videos of business advice and other truth-bomb sound bites.This podcast was brought to you by eWebinar:Find out how you can turn pre-recorded videos into interactive experiences with chat so you can run your demos, onboarding calls, and training sessions on autopilot, 24/7, without being there. Hop into a demo at eWebinar.com, no salesperson required.

David from Project Goemon is back to chat about Ganbare Goemon Daishugo, the newest Goemon collection of over a dozen games! We chat about the long-awaited return of the series, what games in the collection to check out, and theorize about the future. In the feature, I run down all the tasty collabs Baskin Robbins has had with Nintendo in Japan!Follow our guest!Website: https://projectgoemon.wordpress.com/BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/projectgoemon.bsky.social(0:00) - IntroGames(0:54) - Ganbare Goemon Daishugo w/ Project GoemonFeature(31:37) - Baskin Robbins X NintendoNews(45:49) - PlayStation to stop printing discs, Splatoon and Mario Kart updatesSocial media:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tokyogamelife.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/TokyoGameLifeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tokyogamelifeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyogamelife/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@tokyogamelifeWebsite: https://tokyogamelife.com/Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast app!

Katie Cluff didn't plan to spend her life in recovery work. She planned to design interiors. She worked at Baskin-Robbins as a teenager, serving ice cream, dreaming of something different. Then life happened. Her father had 35 years of sobriety. She didn't. She fought the diagnosis for years — "I didn't want to be an alcoholic like my dad." But denial isn't a solution, and by her early twenties, Katie found herself in treatment. The first of many attempts. "For the first several years, I think I was doing it for my dad and not for me." That changed when she had a spiritual awakening during a family dynamics lecture. She saw herself — really saw herself — and for the first time, accepted that she was an alcoholic. Today, Katie is employee #5 at Recovery Centers of America. She's been with the organization since the vision phase in 2014, before the first center opened in 2017. She was there for the first call. The first patient. The first miracle. Now RCA has 12 inpatient treatment centers, and Katie is still answering her phone at midnight. The Consciousness Scale: Brandon's Framework Meets Katie's Work During the conversation, Brandon introduces a "map of consciousness" developed by David Hawkins — a logarithmic scale running from 0 to 1,000 that maps human emotions from shame (20) up to enlightenment (700-1,000). Courage sits at 200. Below that threshold, people are trapped in fear, grief, and apathy. They can't see a way out. Change feels impossible. But at 200 — courage — things open up. Possibility emerges. Someone in that state can finally pick up the phone. "Once you have courage and you step into it, because it's scary, change is scary... it takes some courage to step into the unknown." The problem: courage is fragile. Someone can be at 200 in the morning and back down to 100 by noon. Fear rushes back. Doubt creeps in. Here's what Katie and the RCA team do to keep people in that state of courage long enough to actually take action: How RCA Keeps Callers in a State of Courage When someone calls RCA, they're in a fragile state. They've maybe hit a bottom — a DUI, a relationship falling apart, a moment of raw honesty with themselves. But that moment can evaporate fast. Here's how Katie and the RCA team hold the space: Urgency without pressure — "We need to move fast, but we're not going to rush you." Compassionate tone — "I understand. I've been there." Non-judgment — "No matter how many times you've been before, I'm glad you're alive." Vulnerability — "I'll sometimes share my own experience. I tell them: I've lost everything too." Presence — Sometimes there are no words. Sometimes presence is the whole message. The Eagles Partnership: Breaking Stigma One Tailgate at a Time RCA partnered with the Philadelphia Eagles for a sober tailgate event — and the response was overwhelmingly positive. "The majority of comments were really positive and really pumped. People were saying: this is great for the Eagles, this is great for recovery." The goal isn't to convert people into recovery. It's to normalize it. To show that you can go to a sporting event, have fun, be part of the crowd — without drinking. The alcohol industry has taken an $800 billion hit in recent years. Sober bars are opening. Mocktail culture is trending. The tide is turning. But for people in active addiction, "Miller Time" still feels like the only option. RCA's job is to show them another way. Staff Growth at RCA — From Housekeeper to Executive One of the things Katie is most proud of at RCA: watching staff members grow. There's a man who started as a housekeeper, changing sheets and cleaning rooms. Today he's in a leadership role. Another employee started slicing deli meat at the grocery store. Katie hired him as a recovery support specialist. He became an admissions coordinator. Her nephew started answering phones. Today he's a vice president. "It takes a special individual. It takes a special individual's heart to do this work." RCA doesn't just hire for credentials. They hire for "why." Why do you want to do this work? If the answer isn't coming from a place of service, the job will break you. The Nephew Story — Answering the Call That Was Meant for You Five years ago, Katie's nephew called her. His roommate had overdosed. Katie dropped everything, drove to the apartment, and sat with him. She let him stay on her couch for four days. She didn't have the right words. Nobody does in those moments. But she didn't leave. Today, her nephew has almost 10 years of sobriety. "I was supposed to answer that phone call. I was supposed to. None of the meetings that day mattered anymore." That's the work. Not dramatic. Not glamorous. Just showing up. Being present. Answering the call. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to be brave enough to call. https://recoverycentersofamerica.com/

In December of 1996, 32-year-old Sharon McLane was found brutally murdered inside her Bedford, Texas apartment, stabbed and slashed more than fifty times in a crime that shocked the Mid-Cities area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Police quickly focused on Sharon's acquaintance, John Earl Nolley, and within months he was arrested, charged, and eventually convicted of her murder. But while investigators in Texas built their case against Nolley, another terrifying series of murders was unfolding hundreds of miles away in Tennessee.As Nashville-area detectives investigated what became known as the “Fast Food Murders,” authorities began connecting multiple brutal restaurant killings tied to a violent drifter and former fast-food employee named Paul Dennis Reid Jr. The murders stretched from Captain D's in Donelson to a McDonald's in Hermitage and eventually to the abduction and murder of two Baskin-Robbins employees in Clarksville. The crimes shared disturbing similarities: restaurant workers targeted during opening or closing shifts, robbery mixed with extreme violence, and victims executed by firearm or repeatedly stabbed. As Reid's history and alleged crimes came to light, Sharon McLane's defense attorneys began noticing troubling overlaps between the Tennessee murders and Sharon's killing in Bedford. Witnesses reportedly placed Reid at Sharon's apartment complex around the time investigators believed she was murdered. Others claimed Reid had previously been seen at Sharon's workplace. Hair recovered from Sharon's clothing reportedly did not belong to either Sharon or John Nolley, and witnesses later described Reid appearing with cuts on his hands shortly after the murder.The rise and fall of Paul Dennis Reid was at the expense of several lives, the horrifying Tennessee fast-food murders. And his arrest cast a shadow over the prosecution of John Earl Nolley. As investigators in Tennessee connected Reid to one of the region's most infamous murder sprees, questions continued to linger in Texas about whether Sharon McLane's killer had truly been identified, or whether another violent predator had passed through the Metroplex before the violence escalated elsewhere.Part two of three.If you have any information about the murder of Sharon Lucretia McLane, please call the Bedford police at (817) 952-2127.You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcastFind us at https://www.gonecold.comFor Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.comFollow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast#JusticeForSharonMcLane #BedfordTX #TarrantCountyTX #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.

Episode Summary: In this week's episode of your favorite Korean Adoptee podcast, the Janchi Boys sit down and talk about whether we (adoptees) have backed ourselves into a niche too hard by leaning into the ‘adoptee' tag, or whether it's just a byproduct of being fully conscious of our identity.Later, we try a Baskin Robbins Choco Ball….does Baskin Robbins even make non-ice cream products?!---// Support the Show!Online at janchishow.com / @janchishowSupport the show at janchishow.com/supportWatch our Youtube VideosWrite us a note: janchishow@gmail.comThe Janchi Show Quick BioThe Janchi Show focuses on exploring intersectional identities and current events through the lens of adoption, race, lived experience and more. Sometimes we have guests, and sometimes it's just the three of us. Either way, it's always a janchi!// Meet the Janchi Boys!Nathan NowackNathan (he/him) is a transracial Korean American adoptee who was born in Seoul in the 1970s. He was adopted at the age of 5 months old and raised in a small town in Oklahoma along with a non-biological Korean adopted sister.  After going to college in Colorado he later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a digital media career and eventually started 2 photography companies.  He loves spending time with his wife and 3 kids, playing golf, and collecting Lego. He is in reunion with his biological family as the youngest of 7 and has been in contact since 2015.  He currently serves on the Advisory Council for KAAN and helps with the planning of their annual adoptee conference.  In 2021, Nathan and his family moved back to Colorado to be closer to family and start a new chapter in their lives.  Connect with Nathan!Website: http://www.coverve.comInstagram: http://instagram.com/nnowackPatrick ArmstrongPatrick Armstrong (he/him) is a transracial Korean American adoptee, podcaster, speaker, and community facilitator. He is one of the hosts of the Janchi Show, a podcast that explores and celebrates the experiences and stories of Korean adoptees everywhere. He also is host of Conversation Piece with Patrick Armstrong, a podcast where he discusses the missing pieces of the conversations we're already having. He is a cofounder of the Asian Adoptees of Indiana, a group dedicated to creating a safe, engaging community for all Asian adoptees who need it. He is currently based in Indianapolis with his wife and cat. Connect with Patrick!Website: http://patrickintheworld.meLinkedIn: http://linkedin/in/patrickintheworldInstagram: http://instagram.com/patrickintheworldK.J. Roelke (@kjroelke)KJ (he/him) was adopted from Daegu and raised in Dallas, Texas with his two biological, older siblings and his younger sister, adopted from Russia. After spending a decade in the Midwest for college and career, he and his wife are back in Dallas and living large! He has been on his journey of discovery since 2015 and spends his days as a web developer for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.Connect with K.J.!Website: https://kjroelke.online/LinkedIn: https://linkedin/in/kjroelkeInstagram: https://instagram.com/kjroelke// Listen to/Watch The Janchi Show on all major platforms:Apple: http://janchishow.com/appleSpotify: http://janchishow.com/spotifyYoutube: http://janchishow.com/youtubeGratitude & CreditsMichelle Nam for our logo and brandingJerry Won for bring us togetherThis show is created and produced by Patrick, Nathan and KJ and is the sole property of the Janchi Show, LLC.

Our primary election is just around the corner on May 19, so it feels like a good time to take stock of how well our voting process actually works. There are lots of ideas for improving elections here 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 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. **This episode originally published on October 20, 2025. Learn more about the sponsors of this Monday, May 11th episode: AIDS Free Pittsburgh Fulton Commons City Winery Pittsburgh PGH Cultural Trust Become a member of City Cast Pittsburgh at membership.citycast.fm. Want more Pittsburgh news?  Sign up for our daily morning 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.

Learning a new language as a busy executive sounds great in theory. In practice, the process for how to learn Spanish, for most people, is downloading five apps, getting overwhelmed, and quitting within a month. Sound familiar?In this episode, Omar Newman—Spanish educator, coach, and founder of Carolina Language Solutions—joins Julian Hayes II to break down exactly how busy operators and professionals can learn Spanish without the noise, the overwhelm, or the wasted time.Omar brings 34 years of experience, 22 of which were spent teaching in the school system, before building his own adult language coaching practice. He explains why most people are learning Spanish the wrong way, how to build real conversational fluency faster than you think, and why the biggest barrier isn't grammar, but instead, confidence.He also unpacks why Spanish sounds so fast to English speakers, how to use high-frequency phrases to build momentum fast, and the mindset shift that separates people who stall from those who actually speak. This is a practical, no-fluff conversation about one of the highest-leverage skills an executive or entrepreneur can develop, and a natural extension of what Executive Health is all about: optimizing your full performance, mind included.— Episode Chapter Big Ideas (timing may not be exact) —0:00 - Introduction and why 2026 is the right time to learn Spanish0:45 - Omar's origin story: from Fort Bragg to 34 years in the language3:00 - Why culture and music pull people into a language—not the language itself7:36 - The language noise problem: too many apps, too many voices10:26 - High-frequency phrases and the ICE method for building sentences fast17:41 - Repetition, reps, and treating language like a training program21:44 - Confidence as the real barrier and how to overcome it26:30 - Why Spanish sounds so fast to English speakers28:47 - Syllable-based vs. stress-timed language: the real reason for the speed gap32:26 - The 2X speed hack: train your ear in English to hear Spanish better37:27 - Staying consistent: the SOTT plan and three activities a day44:15 - The four levels of fluency (and why the European framework overcomplicates it)49:02 - How conversational fluency holds up in real business settings56:42 - The easiest forms of Spanish to learn first1:01:43 - Learning two languages simultaneously: how Omar manages six1:06:01 - Three things to do right now if you're serious about Spanish1:11:09 - Where to connect with Omar— Key Quotes from Omar Newman — "It's not that they're speaking too fast. It's that you all listen slow.""You don't go to Baskin-Robbins and try every single ice cream they have. Stay in your lane.""You're already creating a false scenario of how it's going to be received when you use the language in public. Once you do it, that's it.""You can't start building the roof on the house when you don't have a foundation."— Connect With Omar Newman —Website: https://carolinalanguagesolutions.com/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@SpeakSpanishNowInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/carolina_language_solutionsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-newman-26877b4b/ — Connect with Julian and Executive Health —LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianhayesii/X — https://x.com/thejulianhayesDon't let your biology become the bottleneck to the enterprise you're building. Book a private call —https://www.executivehealth.io/contactWebsite — https://www.executivehealth.io/***DISCLAIMER: The information shared is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. This is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes. The content here is not intended to replace your relationship with your doctor and/or medical practitioner. Consult your provider before making any decisions.

Now, I'm not in the business of advertising any particular ice cream spot, but let's face it, it's kind of fun to go to Baskin Robbins. You know, they have all those flavors they advertise. Now, you can write to me and tell me that maybe you like another place better, but listen, I know you like to go where there's a lot of flavors. And you know what? It seems like it takes me an hour to decide which one I want. Well, not really, but seems like an hour to the person whose waiting on me. But the variety is a lot of fun. Now, can you imagine an ice cream store that offered only vanilla? Yeah, boring! After a while you get tired of the same old flavor. Can you imagine a person who said, “I only eat vanilla. I never tried anything else.” I'd say to them, “Man, look at the list! You're missing so many flavors. You can have ice cream so many different ways.” How boring to think that all ice cream has to be the one flavor you like. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “Many Flavors At God's Place”. Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And we go, in a sense, to God's ice cream parlor if you want to put it that way. And it's called the church—the body of Christ. Listen to all the flavors. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” Verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 12, “The body is a unit, though, that is made up of many parts, and though all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” Okay, now, if there's one message we could get from these wonderful verses it would be this. Variety is God's plan for His body. He's not interested in cookie cutter Christians. He wants many styles, many flavors of Christians. God likes variety. Guess what we like? Uniformity. We want everybody to be like us—like our group. So as a consequence, generally speaking, Baptist Christians only know Baptist Christians, and Assembly of God Christians only know Assembly of God Christians, and Methodist Christians only know Methodist Christians, and Presbyterian, Presbyterians, etc. The list is infinite. But, you see, none of us has all of Him. But all of us together have all of Him. Don't cut yourself off from all the other flavors; don't just be a vanilla Christian. See, we disagree only about, say, 10% of it. Ninety percent is about Christ, and sin, and salvation, and Christ's return, and the Bible: we tend to agree on those. We need each other. Those different styles and different emphases in the body of Christ are not only God's will, but they make you rich. One group of Christians may teach you how to pray and get a hold of God. Another group may really have a vision for missions, and they'll help you care about a lost world. Others will really get you into personal evangelism. There's another group of Christians who might really help you learn about God's sovereign control over things. And then there's a group over there that may be strong in loving and caring and accepting. And this group over here, they'll teach you a lot about worship. And this one, oh you'll learn a lot about careful Bible study. Hey, listen. We will be together forever. All the labels we have here on earth won't make it past the gate of heaven. Why don't we get together now? You're on God's side when you're against whatever divides His body. It's not all vanilla. Its lots of flavors. It's all ice cream; but it's lots of flavors, and that's what counts. We're all the church. So, celebrate the variety in God's family. And enjoy all those flavors.

Emmy Blotnick (@emmyblotnick, What's Her Secret) joins the 'boys to talk side dishes vs main dishes, NY pizza spots, and Dubai chocolate before a review of the Baskin-Robbins Dubai Chocolate Menu. Plus, another edition of Chips Inhale.Watch this episode at youtube.com/doughboysmediaGet ad-free episodes at patreon.com/doughboysGet Doughboys merch at kinshipgoods.com/doughboysAdvertise on Doughboys via Gumball.fmSources for this week's intro:https://www.britannica.com/place/Dubai-emirate-United-Arab-Emirateshttps://everything-everywhere.com/the-history-of-dubai/https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=%2Fg%2F11wh5k127b&date=today%205-y&geo=UShttps://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=jsshttps://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/country-studies/united-arab-emirates/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250502-how-dubai-chocolate-conquered-the-worldhttps://news.baskinrobbins.com/news/here-by-popular-demand-baskin-robbinsR-debuts-the-dubai-chocolate-collectionEXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/doughboys Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guaranteeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's Marvel Monday and we're shrinking down to size! ABOUT ANT-MAN Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, pull off a plan that will save the world. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR ANT-MAN July 17, 2015 | Theatrical Release CAST & CREW OF ANT-MAN Director: Peyton Reed Writers: Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay Cast: Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym Corey Stoll as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS Back in 1989, Hank Pym is working with S.H.I.E.L.D. until he finds out they're trying to copy his shrinking technology, and he's like, “Absolutely not, y'all are way too shady for tiny science.” So he quits and decides nobody gets the shrink suit on his watch. Fast forward to the present and Hank's life is not going great. His daughter Hope is mad at him, his former protégé Darren Cross has basically stolen his company, and Cross is this close to making his own terrifying murder-shrinking suit called Yellowjacket. Hank sees this and is like, “Cool, this is really bad” and does not sign off on it but Darren doesn't care. Meanwhile, we meet Scott Lang, a lovable ex-con whose main personality trait is that he's trying really hard. He gets out of prison, moves in with his buddy Luis, and wants to be a good dad to his daughter Cassie. Unfortunately, society has decided once you've gone to jail you're only allowed to work at Baskin-Robbins for like six minutes before getting fired. He tries to visit Cassie, but his ex Maggie and her cop fiancé Paxton are like, “Maybe pay child support before doing surprise pop-ins, my guy.” So naturally, Scott does what any struggling dad trying to get his life together would do: he agrees to do one more burglary. His buddy Luis tells him about this rich old dude's house with a big safe, so Scott breaks in, cracks the safe, and finds… a weird leather motorcycle suit. Not cash. Not jewels. He takes it home, puts it on, and immediately shrinks down to bug-size and nearly dies in a bathtub and getting stomped on at a party, all while some voice talks to him in his mask. Terrified, Scott decides to return the suit, but on his way out he gets arrested. cuz thief. But surprise! The whole thing was a setup by Hank Pym, who wanted to see if Scott had the skills to become the new Ant-Man. He tells Scott that if he wants to help and also get out of the jail, to put back on the suit. It works and he shrinks again and sneaks out.. Hank recruits Scott to help steal the Yellowjacket tech before Darren Cross can sell it to evil people, which, spoiler alert, he absolutely plans to do. So now Scott enters the classic superhero training montage portion of the movie where he learns hand-to-hand combat, how to use the suit, and most importantly, how to command ants like some kind of tiny bug king. Hope, meanwhile, is clearly way more qualified for all of this and would obviously be better at the job, but Hank refuses to let her do it because he's still deeply traumatized over what happened to her mother Janet. We learn Janet was the original Wasp and got lost in the Quantum Realm years ago while stopping a missile, which is both sad and also the most comic-book sentence imaginable. To prep for the big heist, Scott needs a special device, which means he has to sneak into Avengers headquarters. This leads to a random but delightful side quest where he fights Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, and somehow wins mostly by being annoying and tiny. It's one of those MCU moments where the movie just casually reminds you, “Oh right, this all technically connects.” Then it's time for the big finale. Darren Cross unveils the Yellowjacket at Pym Technologies during a fancy event, and Scott and the crew break in to stop the sale. Luis and the gang somehow become essential parts of the mission despite being, at best, wildly underqualified. Scott sneaks in with a whole army of ants, plants explosives, and tries to steal the suit. But Cross is ready for them because of course he is, and he captures Scott, Hank, and Hope. He reveals he's planning to sell the tech to Hydra, because if there's one thing Hydra loves, it's tiny fascism. Things go sideways fast, but Scott and Hope fight back, the building starts collapsing, and Hank gets shot because apparently old men in Marvel are legally required to get wounded in the third act. Scott chases Cross, who puts on the Yellowjacket suit and becomes a full-on flying nightmare. Their final battle somehow goes from high-tech corporate warfare to a fight in Cassie's bedroom, which is honestly one of the best visual gags in the whole movie. Trains are crashing, Thomas the Tank Engine is involved, and to Cassie it probably just looks like two dads having a nervous breakdown. When Cross takes Cassie hostage, Scott has no choice but to do the one thing Hank warned him never to do: override the regulator and shrink beyond human comprehension into the Quantum Realm. Which sounds fake, but in this movie is very real and extremely stressful. Scott manages to sabotage Yellowjacket from the inside, Cross gets absolutely obliterated, and somehow Scott finds his way back from the Quantum Realm because apparently he's just built different. After saving literally everyone, Scott finally gets a win. Paxton decides maybe this guy isn't so bad after all and helps keep him out of prison. Hank realizes that if Scott could survive the Quantum Realm, maybe Janet could still be alive. Hope gets teased with her own Wasp suit, which everyone in the audience immediately wanted to see instead, and Luis pops back in at the end to say Falcon is looking for Scott because once you do one weird tiny mission, suddenly the Avengers are texting. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss my personal favourite Led Zeppelin songs. I went with a Top 31 because I turn 31 on the 31st next week. Think of it like Baskin Robbins: 31 flavours of Led Zeppelin...Support the showSubscribe to Rock Talk with Dr. Cropper +Instagram & TikTok — @rocktalk.dr.cropperTwitter — @RockTalkDrCroppFacebook, LinkedIn & YouTube — Rock Talk with Dr. CropperEmail — rocktalk.dr.cropper@gmail.com

Partner with our Meta ads experts: https://www.tiereleven.com/apply Are your ads “good enough” but still not getting anyone to fall in love? If your creative looks like vanilla ice cream, you're probably forcing Meta to guess, and that's basically running your business off a magic "8 ball."In this episode, we use ice cream flavors to explain what Meta's real creative diversification demands. We break down why “pink shirt vs blue shirt” isn't diversification, how the 25% (or more) difference rule actually plays out, and why you need multiple angles that feel like totally different flavors, not vanilla bean vs French vanilla.By the end of the episode, you'll know about building a simple “Rule of Six” creative system, why contribution matters more than last-click attribution, and how to stop turning off ads that are doing the heavy lifting in the background. Give this one a listen, then go build your Baskin-Robbins ad account.In this episode:- Are you running “vanilla” ads?- Creating memorable ads that convert- Meta's creative diversification playbook- Hook rate vs conversions- Contribution vs attribution- The rule of six for Meta ads- Why you need a real source of truthMentioned in the Episode:Partner with our Meta ads experts: https://www.tiereleven.com/apply Tier 11's Data Suite: https://www.tiereleven.com/what-we-do/data-suite Previous Episode on Pausing Ads: https://perpetualtraffic.com/podcast/episode-743-stop-pausing-winning-ads-andromeda-ad-strategy-that-changes-everything/ Ice Cream Place in New Zealand: https://www.patagoniachocolates.co.nz/pages/ice-cream-flavours Previous Episode with John Moran: https://perpetualtraffic.com/?s=john+moran Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console Creative Diversification Playbook: https://perpetualtraffic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Creative-Diversification-Playbook-Practitioner-Guidance.pdf Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/perpetualtraf Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 - https://www.tiereleven.com/apply-now Connect with Lauren Petrullo:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laurenepetrullo/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenpetrullo Consult Mongoose Media - https://mongoosemedia.us/ Mentioned in this episode:Head to www.perpetualtraffic.com to apply to be a sponsor of this showhttps://www.NEXTInsurance.com/perpetualWe're opening up sponsorship spots for Q1 and Q2! Apply now by visiting www.perpetualtraffic.com We're opening up sponsorship spots for Q1 and Q2! Apply now by visiting www.perpetualtraffic.com

Target Is Making A Big Change To Its Entire Cereal Aisle, Riley's backyard cleaning and wasp incident, Daylight savings, Baskin Robbins failed ice cream flavors — plus more news. Plus, joining us in the studio today, Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Glen Brewer stops by to talk about Taste of Aggieland, the Chamber Crawfish Boil, Chamber Day, Business After Hours, ribbon cuttings, and more. 

Download our list of 42 High Performing (and profitable) Franchises: https://www.franchiseempire.com/42hpf?utm_source=FEfeb082026Baskin-Robbins is one of the most recognizable franchise brands in the world, but how much does it actually cost to open one, and do the numbers make sense for franchise owners today? In this video, I break down the Baskin-Robbins franchise startup costs, royalty and marketing fees, and real franchisee sales data so you can see how this brand performs from an investment standpoint. We'll walk through average unit volumes, top and bottom performers, and why food franchises like this often require scale to generate meaningful cash flow. If you're considering buying a franchise in 2026 and want a clear, numbers-driven look at whether Baskin-Robbins is a good investment, this breakdown will help you make a smarter decision.------------------Considering Investing In A Franchise?

CJ Bruce is the Founder and CEO of The Missing Ingredient, a Sacramento-based food marketing agency that helps healthful and sustainable food and beverage brands grow. The agency specializes in performance marketing, paid media, influencer campaigns, and AI-driven strategies. Since 2016, CJ has led a team of 15, working with brands like Amy's Kitchen, Sumo Citrus, Baskin-Robbins, and Milk Bar. A certified plant-based chef and former food influencer, he combines his passion for food and technology to help brands stand out, connect with consumers, and scale. In this episode… What makes some food products stand out while others fade into obscurity? Why do certain brands go viral, gaining devoted fans almost overnight, while others never leave the shelves? Could the secret lie in the right mix of marketing creativity, influencer partnerships, and technology? As noted by food marketing veteran CJ Bruce, the intersection of creative passion, tactical strategy, and AI integration defines the modern path to success. He highlights the importance of building genuine relationships with influencers rather than relying on one-off partnerships, creatively engaging consumers through contests, and leveraging digital workflows to scale brands quickly. By combining micro-influencer campaigns, viral video content, and AI-driven processes, even niche products can gain cult followings and achieve measurable growth. He emphasizes that balancing technology with authentic human connection is key to capturing attention in today's fast-moving food landscape. In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with CJ Bruce, Founder and CEO of The Missing Ingredient, to discuss mastering food and beverage brand growth in the digital era. They explore how CJ uses AI to streamline campaigns, the strategies behind viral influencer marketing, and how to tap into emerging food trends for rapid growth. CJ also shares practical tools and workflows that help brands scale while staying agile.

Love and Torah – what's love got to do with it? This study series is based on the “Two Great Commands” – love Yahweh and love your neighbor. Continuing our journey through the second of the Two Great Commands, ‘love your neighbor', Rabbi Steve Berkson takes us to Luke 6:38, where we see Messiah Yeshua continuing to show the contrast between what Rabbi Berkson calls “the Below” and “the Above”. He points out that in order to please the Father, you must be aligned with “the Above”. A component of loving Yahweh and your neighbor is giving. What does that mean, though? Rabbi Berkson clarifies how, when, and why to give. He also points out an incentive to give, noting that whatever we give will be returned, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Rabbi Berkson uses his trip to a Baskin-Robbins™ ice cream store to make the point. In Luke 6:39-40, Messiah Yeshua tells a parable about the blind leading the blind. Rabbi Berkson cautions about where and from whom you get your information as you walk in Torah observance. There's a lot of misinformation out there that presents itself with authority. In verse 41, Yeshua teaches about the plank in your eye and the splinter in your brother's eye. Rabbi Berkson explains how some people take Torah knowledge and use it as a weapon to try to “help” others with their walk. “Correction can only happen correctly in the right relationship.” Then in Luke 6:47-49, Rabbi Berkson tells us that our lives are like building a house. Are we building on the correct foundation, or without one? The key is whether or not we are listening to and doing the words of Messiah. Rabbi Berkson once again dissects the words in these passages so that you will have a deeper understanding of what Yah expects of you, so that you can do it and receive the blessings.

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/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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/

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.  

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