Podcasts about Costco

Zaretta Hammond has spent her career pushing school leaders past feel-good equity language and into the instructional core, where the real gaps live. Her latest book, Rebuilding Students' Learning Power: Teaching for Instructional Equity and Cognitive Justice, names a pattern she calls cognition redlining — the quiet, well-intentioned way schools underdevelop the thinking capacity of historically marginalized students. She's the author behind Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, a text already sitting on most instructional coaches' shelves. Districts have poured billions into equity work for three decades, and the outcomes for Black, brown, Indigenous, and linguistically diverse students haven't moved. Zaretta Hammond says that's not a funding problem or an effort problem — it's a cognition problem, and most principals have never been trained to see it.

Being prepared for the next big storm, how robot umps are affecting Major League Baseball, and everyone loves Costco.

Burnie and Ashley discuss travel days, Amazon carts, LG monitors, nutrition stopgaps, dude trips, squatting, Xbox PC compatiblity, bad mobile ads, job interview, landscape tissue boxes, Costco, Sam Rockwell, Jeff Hays, and DCC casting news.

Sometimes the biggest opportunities to save money aren't found in investment portfolios—they're hiding in your weekly grocery bill. In this fun, off-the-cuff episode, Travis Chappell is joined by producer Eric and podcast strategist Brandon Birkmeyer for a wide-ranging conversation about grocery shopping, hidden delivery markups, household quirks, childhood nostalgia, and the surprisingly expensive world of organic maple syrup. Along the way, they share practical money-saving tips, parenting observations, and plenty of laughs. On this episode we talk about: How grocery delivery apps quietly increase the cost of everyday essentials The pros and cons of shopping in-store versus using Instacart and Amazon Fresh Funny household habits, dad life, and the debates every family seems to have Why organic products and premium groceries can dramatically impact your budget Childhood memories, Costco hot dogs, and nostalgic trips to Best Buy Top 3 Takeaways Grocery delivery services can significantly increase your total bill through item markups—not just delivery fees. Comparing prices and shopping in person occasionally can uncover meaningful savings on recurring household purchases. Personal finance isn't always about big investment decisions—small, everyday spending habits add up over time. Notable Quotes "Everything was like 25 cents to a dollar more in the app." "That's how they get ya." "Money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems when you've got some money in the bank." Connect with Brandon Birkmeyer: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bbirkmeyer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonbirkmeyer/ Other: https://www.brandonbirkmeyer.com/ A Word from Our Sponsors: - Visit DrinkAG1.com/TMM to get a free AG1 Travel Case with 7 free AG1Travel Packs in your Welcome Kit with your first AG1 subscription order while supplies last.  - Go to Leesa.com for 25% OFF select mattresses (through July 26, 2026) PLUS get an extra $50 off with promo code TMM, exclusive for my listeners  - To learn more about Mode Mobile and its investor community, go tohttps://invest.modemobile.com/travismakesmoney Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A VC-backed boogie gas station? And a new Costco gas station too?... We know why gas got a glow-up.America super-sized the World Cup to great success… because in live sports, more is more.Chanel acquired the oldest shirt-maker in the world… and it's actually a contrarian AI bet.Five coffees a day keeps the doctor away…$COST $SBUX $LVMUYGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingSan Francisco 9/23: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C0064AFB5F688BDBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today's top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EVEN MORE about this episode!What if your anxiety isn't anxiety at all—but a sign you're absorbing other people's energy?In this episode of the Ask Julie Ryan Show, Julie Ryan welcomes master psychic and energy healer Lisa Campion to reveal how empaths can recognize their gifts, protect their energy, and strengthen their intuition.Lisa shares her remarkable journey of growing up seeing spirits, discovering her intuitive gifts, and learning to navigate the world as an empath. Together, Julie and Lisa explore how empaths often absorb other people's emotions, stress, and even physical symptoms, why that experience is frequently mistaken for anxiety, and how healthy energetic boundaries can transform everyday life.The conversation also dives into psychic development, spirit communication, meditation, energy hygiene, narcissistic relationships, intuition, and practical techniques for protecting your energy in crowded environments. Whether you're an empath, highly sensitive person, or simply curious about developing your intuition, this episode offers powerful insights and practical tools to help you trust your gifts and live with greater clarity and confidence.Guest Biography:Lisa Campion is a master psychic, energy healer, teacher, and bestselling author with more than 30 years of experience helping people develop their intuition, strengthen their spiritual gifts, and harness the power of energy healing. Author of The Art of Psychic Reiki and Energy Healing for Empaths, Lisa is passionate about empowering empaths and spiritually awakening individuals to live with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose through her books, workshops, coaching, and internationally recognized teaching.Episode Chapters:(0:01:41) - Is Anxiety Sometimes Intuition?(0:02:54) - Are Intuitive Abilities Rare, or Do We All Have Them?(0:04:15) - Is Intuition a Skill Anybody Can Learn?(0:06:23) - When Did Lisa First Realize Her Abilities Were Real?(0:16:28) - What Happens When Spirits Try to Get Your Attention?(0:20:22) - What Is Psychokinesis?(0:20:22) - What Empaths Experience Energetically(0:25:47) - How to Protect Yourself as an Empath (Even at Costco)(0:31:49) - Empaths and Energy Vampires / Narcissists(0:27:28) - How to Say No: Boundary Strategies for Empaths(0:31:27) - Signs Your Intuition Is Trying to Break Through(0:39:24) - The Red-Tailed Hawk: A Sign in Action(0:34:22) - The Biggest Mistake People Make Trusting Their Intuition(0:45:29) - Reiki, Psychic Reiki, and Combining Healing Modalities(0:55:32) - Why We Incarnate➡️ Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan YouTube➡️ Julie's Intuitive Trainings✏️ Ask Julie a Question!

Use our code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/LAPLATICA10 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount     CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Intro 01:29 – World Cup Withdrawals & Love Island Recap 04:19 – Breaking Down The New Horror Movie Everyone's Talking About 05:37 – Spoiler Warning: The Scene That Got Us 07:14 – Fan Theories & The Cast 11:38 – Josh's Mom's Wildest Story Begins (Hawaii Trip) 20:00 – The Adoption Story That Left Us Speechless 27:21 – Reflecting On The Most Memorable World Cup Ever 28:23 – Chevy Silverado Shoutout & Truck Talk 30:48 – One Has To Go... 41:24 – The Cruda Corner Reunion Special 43:10 – Live World Cup Score Check-In 44:00 – Predictions, Betting & The Costco Pizza We Miss 45:23 – One Has To Go... 48:29 – Hot Take: The Chargers Are The Angels Of Football 49:37 – How I Became A Raiders Fan 50:52 – The Mexican QB Taking Over The Raiders 53:18 – Episode Milestones & Reunion Talk 54:59 – Closing Thoughts: Drip Doesn't Equal Style     While you're here, follow the Poddy on all socials

You've probably seen Sara post about how she's obsessed with eating a specific brand of cookie dough. Today the founder and CEO of Doughy, Kelly Ramey, joins Oversubscribed to talk about her creation. The clean, six-ingredient cookie dough sold out at Erewhon within days of launch and you can now find Doughy in Whole Foods, Target, and Costco nationwide.Millions of pounds of cookie dough are sold each year but here's the incredible part: Kelly is still the only full-time employee.We get into how scrappy events and a manufacturing background prepared her for the chaos of building a food brand, why hundreds of failed recipes led her to cashews as the base ingredient, and the surprising origin story of the chocolate chip cookie itself. Kelly walks us through sourcing cashews from a farmer in Mozambique and maple syrup from Vermont, why she still hands out samples herself, and what it actually took to land the product in 2,300 stores nationwide. If you've ever wondered what it means to "bleed" for your company, this is it.// MORE FROM DOUGHY //You can purchase Doughy at eatdoughy.com or at Whole Food, Target, Erewhon, and Costco.Follow @eatdoughy on Instagram and @doughy on TikTok.// SPONSORS // Ritual: Save 25% on your first month at Ritual dot com slash FOSTER. That's Ritual dot com slash FOSTER for 25% off your first month. Gusto: Try Gusto today at gusto.com/FOSTER, and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Quo: Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/FOSTER. Cotton: Learn more at about Cotton at fabricofourlives.com.Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's Headlines: Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Miami by US Marshals at the UK's request, facing 59 total charges including rape, sex trafficking, assault, and charges related to indecent images of a child — their attorney says they're innocent, they'll fight extradition. On the corruption beat, Trump is now selling hedge funds early access to his Truth Social posts for $100,000 a month through a service called Truth API, which is institutionalized insider trading dressed up as a subscription service — and he owns 41% of the company selling it, so that's clean. Meanwhile, Trump's primetime election fraud document dump turned out to contain zero evidence of Chinese meddling or a deep state coverup, but did confirm that Russia was pushing the exact same Biden corruption narratives Trump was pushing in 2020 — which is not the smoking gun he was looking for. In other news, The State Department hosted a global left-wing terrorism summit led by Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller, with 60+ countries invited on short notice to discuss a threat that far-right extremists — responsible for over 75% of domestic terrorism deaths since 2001 — were not mentioned at, not even once. In war news, four US service members were killed after Iran struck Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan with ballistic missiles and drones, bringing the total American death toll to 17 since the war started, and Trump's response was to order the military to "open the gates of hell" on Iran. After the mystery explosive diarrhea culprit was discovered, Taylor Farms recalled all of its central Mexico iceberg lettuce across 27 states, with Walmart, Sysco, and Taco Bell pulling products, and the same lettuce supplies Chipotle, McDonald's, Costco, and Trader Joe's, so America's salad situation is complicated. And finally, Spain won the World Cup defeating Argentina 1-0 in overtime, Trump attended, got booed multiple times, and photobombed Spain's trophy photos by overstaying his welcome on stage. . Resources/Articles mentioned: AP News: Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrested in Miami, US Marshals Service tells AP CNN: Iceberg lettuce recalled in 27 states due to potential cyclospora contamination Time: Trump Media to Sell Traders ‘the Fastest' Access to Truth Social Posts PBS: Trump says these documents prove his false claims of election fraud. Here's what they really say NBC News: At global gathering, Rubio and Miller urge world to defend against ‘radical leftism' AP News: US announces another troop death as Israel warns Tehran's attacks are coming close AP News: Highlights: Spain beats Argentina 1-0 to win its second World Cup title Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world of greenwashing, wall-to-wall podcast ads, and affiliate marketing "listicles," it's really hard to know if a brand is actually as sustainable and ethical as it claims.  Well, Amanda has been looking into this kind of stuff for years, so in this episode they will show you exactly what they do when they want to figure out the true story of a brand.  And specifically, we will unpack Quince as an example!In this episode:Is Quince as sustainable and ethical as their marketing seems to claim?What are some obvious red flags that a brand is not sustainable and ethical?Why are sustainable fashion organizations, writers, and activists no longer receiving as much funding as they once did?Why does Amanda feel "weird" about the Commons app?Why is a job review site (Glassdoor) a surprisingly useful addition to your slow fashion toolbox?And why can't we shop our way to a better world?Also: Six years of Clotheshorse...and introducing, CONWAY!Helpful links and reading:@sustainablefashionfriend@alookbehindtheseamsGood On YouEco-StylistCobbled Goods"Not everyone is loving Quince's dupes," Chantal Fernandez, The Cut."Williams-Sonoma sues Quince over sales of 'dupe' products," Jonathan Stempel, Reuters."Beyond Compare? Quince Battles Class Action Over Its ‘Traditional Retail' Pricing Model," ArentFoxSchiff"I got a cease and desist from Quince," Ecocult.Amanda's first post about the Esprit sweatshirt (you can also find this on IG)"About that viral Esprit sweatshirt...the revolution will not be for sale at Costco." (you an also find this on IG)The new Clotheshorse PO Box: 69 Main Street, Box 16  New Providence, PA 17560Get your Clotheshorse merch here: https://clotheshorsepodcast.com/shop/Until the end of July, use promo code THEPRICEISRIGHT to get 50% off all merch! Amanda and Dustin care for a colony of 12 feral cats and they want to get them all fixed this spring. So help them cover that cost by picking up some hot deals on Clotheshorse merch.If you want to share your opinion/additional thoughts on the subjects we cover in each episode, feel free to email, whether it's a typed out message or an audio recording:  amanda@clotheshorse.worldDid you enjoy this episode? Consider "buying me a coffee" via Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/clotheshorseClotheshorse is brought to you with support from the following sustainable small businesses:Slow Fashion Academy is a size-inclusive sewing and patternmaking studio based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded by designer and fashion professor Ruby Gertz. Ruby just launched CLO3D for Custom Fit: a 12-week beginner-friendly online course in virtual patternmaking with CLO3D software. Instead of making sample after sample, you can now customize avatars that match your real body measurements and fit-test garments virtually—before cutting into a single piece of fabric. You can also work from your pre-existing paper or PDF patterns! This course is designed to get you over the initial hump to working confidently in the program. It includes 300+ bite-size video lessons spaced out over 12 weeks, weekly live Q&A calls for accountability, a custom body scan to use as a you-sized virtual dress form, and a super supportive community of like-minded designers that are all learning together in a cohort. Perfect for indie patternmakers, emerging designers, or anyone who wants to design clothes that actually fit their one-of-a-kind body.Learn more about the course, as well as our in-person sewing and patternmaking workshops at www.slowfashion.academy.Deco Denim is a startup based out of San Francisco, selling clothing and accessories that are sustainable, gender fluid, size inclusive and high quality--made to last for years to come. Deco Denim is trying to change the way you think about buying clothes. Founder Sarah Mattes wants to empower people to ask important questions like, “Where was this made? Was this garment made ethically? Is this fabric made of plastic? Can this garment be upcycled and if not, can it be recycled?” Signup at decodenim.com to receive $20 off your first purchase. They promise not to spam you and send out no more than 3 emails a month, with 2 of them surrounding education or a personal note from the Founder. Find them on Instagram as @deco.denim.Selina Sanders, a social impact brand that specializes in up-cycled clothing, using only reclaimed, vintage or thrifted materials: from tea towels, linens, blankets and quilts.  Sustainably crafted in Los Angeles, each piece is designed to last in one's closet for generations to come.  Maximum Style; Minimal Carbon Footprint.Republica Unicornia Yarns: Hand-Dyed Yarn and notions for the color-obsessed. Made with love and some swearing in fabulous Atlanta, Georgia by Head Yarn Wench Kathleen. Get ready for rainbows with a side of Giving A Damn! Republica Unicornia is all about making your own magic using small-batch, responsibly sourced, hand-dyed yarns and thoughtfully made notions. Slow fashion all the way down and discover the joy of creating your very own beautiful hand knit, crocheted, or woven pieces. Find us on Instagram @republica_unicornia_yarns and at www.republicaunicornia.com.Cute Little Ruin is an online shop dedicated to providing quality vintage and secondhand clothing, vinyl, and home items in a wide range of styles and price points.  If it's ethical and legal, we try to find a new home for it!  Vintage style with progressive values.  Find us on Instagram at @CuteLittleRuin.

Spain won the FIFA World Cup! Baby Boomers have cut back on drinking. Costco has added chicken strips to their menu.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Key TakeawaysBig anchors (Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out, Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods, Bass Pro, etc.) spend millions on site selection; small investors can “ride their wave” by buying/ building nearby instead of guessing.Don't rely only on listed deals (Krexie, LoopNet), gut feel, or trailing comps; look forward to where development, permits, rooftops, and city plans (like Nashville Next) are headed.Anchors study traffic counts and speed, AM/PM side of the road, daytime population, growth trajectory, access (right-in/right-out, signals), and co‑tenancy—these same factors should guide your decisions.Case studies (Dickerson Pike, Rivergate Mall) show how land near future anchors can double in value within a few years once major campuses, stadiums, or redevelopments are announced.There is typically an 18–24 month opportunity window between anchor announcement and opening where pricing hasn't fully caught up—ideal time for most investors to buy nearby.Four main anchor types: QSR scouts, value big box, destination anchors, and redevelopment anchors; all can “make” a corridor and create demand for surrounding strip centers, pads, flex, and services.Watch for hard signals: actual closings and public incentives (TIFs, grants, PILOTs) that confirm big capital is committed to an area.Core principle: anchors don't just find good corners anymore; they create them—your job is to own real estate next door when they do.

TURF NERDS SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: https://linktr.ee/turfnerdspod Evan's Segway: https://amzn.to/49stgck Evan's Walker's: https://amzn.to/4wTxZ0O Use code TURFNERDS for 5% off orders $600 and up at Magna-Matic! Use code NERDS to save 10% on Spencer Products! Evan starts the show solo and talks mower comfort and Harbor Freight hacks (including a $12 magnetic cup holder for the Multiforce), then digs into why Bradley Mowers keep winning over solo operators on price and customer service. Greg finally joins Evan to break down gas quality.  Costco vs. Sam's Club, Speedway loyalty points, and BP's new top-tier certification. The also debate what the proposed Sunshine Protection Act could mean for fall mowing windows, and swap stories on diagnosing Pythium blight vs. dog urine damage, a nightmare steel sprinkler-pipe repair, and how to handle painters and utility crews on a client's lawn. Tap Here for Turf Nerds Merch!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Look! We Have A Website!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't forget to check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Green Frog Web Design⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tell them the Turf Nerds sent you. Or Greg will scalp your lawn! Use promo code TURFNERDS for 50% off Equip Expo 2026 registration! Shoot us an email! Evan@TurfNerdsPod.com ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TurfNerdsPodcast?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#LawnCare #LawnMaintenance #Mowing #MowingGrass #LawnCareBusiness #Toro #ToroMultiforce #CubCadet #BibleStudy #Bible #Christian #Business #Entrepreneurship #Comedy #2024 #Marketing #Advertising #TipsAndTricks #Tips #Success #Yakta #YaktaMowers #YaktaOutdoor #Spring #SpringRush #FYP #Mower #NewMower #UsedMower #RouteDensity #EquipExpo #EquipExpo2024 #Echo #Stihl #RedMax #Shindaiwa #StringTrimmer #WeedWhip #GreenFrogWebDesign #WebDesign #EzraMcCarthy #Aerator #Aeration #ZAerate #Bobcat #BobcatMowers #Husqvarna #HusqvarnaGroup #HYGREENTOOL #GOMOW #ThunderLightingSupply #ChristmasLights #Christmas #Trump #DonaldTrump #PresidentTrump #ElectionDay #EZDumper #DumpInsert #StempkyNursery #Mulch #MulchInstallation #TurfNerds #Newsmax #NewsmaxTV #CarlHigbie #CharlieKirk

Amy King hosts your Monday morning Wake Up Call. ABC News investigative reporter Peter Charalambous opens the show talking about the declassified documents touted by President Trump say election systems ‘would be difficult to manipulate.’ ABC News correspondent Jordana Miller joins the show live from Jerusalem to talk about the service members killed in Iran attack. Bloomberg’s Denise Pellegrini talks Costco planning stand-alone gas stations, dating app caution, and home chefs taking cooking tech to a new level. The show close with Amy talking with the founder of Pet Friendly Paw Life Pebbles Vadakan about the Pet Lovers Choice Awards.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us Fan MailNeleman All Day Long Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2024This is a sustainably farmed, certified organic, vegan-friendly Sauvignon Blanc from Costco.It is sourced from a winery in the Valencia DO in northeast Spain.Yes, it is a value-priced Sauv Blanc, just like thousands of others.But this Valencia Sauvignon Blanc is a little creamy and salty on the finish, which sets it apart from other Sauvignon Blancs.This is a solid $7.99 summer sipper with enough going on in the glass to put a smile on your face!Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.comor email us at podcast@cheapwinefinder.com

The Tim Conway Jr Show Hour 2 (7.17) Tim Conway Jr. dives into the newest menu item finally making its way to California Costco food courts, marvels at the discovery of a remarkably preserved 3,000-year-old sword uncovered by a metal detectorist, and checks in on when Sunset Boulevard is expected to fully reopen following the massive West Hollywood water main break. Plus, it's Conway Crew Whip Around time as the crew guesses Dua Lipa's impressive net worth, and they celebrate the opening of the Orange County Fair—bringing all the food, fun, and summer traditions with it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#997 Ever wondered what it really takes to get your product off a folding table and onto the shelves of Walmart, Costco, or Target? In this episode, host Brien Gearin sits down with retail expert Jay Yung, founder of Evergreen Retail Solutions, to break down the real path from farmer's market tables to national store shelves. Jay shares how he went from running a surf shop in Hawaii to managing hundreds of millions in inventory at Walmart, and now uses that experience to help brands scale through smart pricing, packaging, supply chain strategy, and retail partnerships. From navigating buyer expectations to avoiding costly mistakes in inventory and margins, Jay explains what separates products that land big-box deals from those that quietly disappear. Whether you have a product in early development or you're already selling online, this episode is a masterclass in getting retail-ready and scaling responsibly! (Original Air Date - 11/13/25) What we discuss with Jay: + From surf shop to Walmart + Inside Walmart's toy department + What retailers look for in products + Packaging as a sales driver + Avoiding costly inventory mistakes + How to spot a winning product + When to pursue big-box retailers + Why local markets matter first + Importance of margins and terms + Staying on-brand to scale Thank you, Jay! Check out Evergreen Retail Solutions at ⁠Evergreen-RS.com⁠. Follow Jay on ⁠LinkedIn⁠. Watch the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠video podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of this episode! To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MillionaireUniversity.com/training⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Payne is joined by Danielle Shay, Vice President of Options at Simpler Trading, to discuss why current market conditions present unique technical opportunities, from a retail rotation into names like Costco and Walmart to strategically trading the pre-earnings rally in Nvidia, while also looking at potential shorting opportunities in downward-trending stocks like Netflix, IBM, and ServiceNow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve Hartman and Jonas Knox guest host PMS again today. Freddie Freeman to play for three more years? Dodgers may have introduced the greatest bobblehead ever! And last segment is for the Costco food lovers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CPG's next big ideas often emerge in unexpected places. In this episode, we explore what founders across food and beverage can learn from the rapid rise of hard sodas and hard sports drinks, as alcohol brands borrow from health, wellness and functionality to connect with younger consumers. The Taste Radio team is joined by Brewbound reporter Zoe Licata to discuss why familiar flavors, better-for-you positioning and shifting consumer behaviors are fueling these fast-growing categories—and whether they're poised for long-term success or destined to become another fleeting trend.   They also unpack the surprising split between Costco and Deschutes Brewery, what it reveals about the evolving role of private label and retail strategy, and why Guinness has become one of the world's hottest beer brands by winning over an entirely new generation of drinkers. Show notes: 0:20: Harry Calling. Inspired Imbibing. $40M Is A Crooked Number. Lyte Come Lately. Crafty Costco. – Zoe and John share their experiences of seeing Harry Styles perform at Wembley Stadium and discuss how drinking culture among younger consumers in the U.K. differs from that in the U.S. The conversation explores Gen Z's evolving relationship with alcohol, the pandemic's lasting impact on drinking habits, and how brands are leaning into nostalgia and familiar flavors to connect with legal-age younger consumers. They also examine why alcohol companies are borrowing cues from the better-for-you beverage category, and the marketing challenges of positioning products with wellness-inspired messaging despite alcohol's inherent health limitations. Along the way, they spotlight the surprising rise of alcoholic sports drinks modeled after electrolyte beverages and viral drinking trends like BORGs. The discussion then turns to beer, where the hosts unpack the unexpected end of Costco's long-running private-label partnership with Deschutes Brewery, producer of the retailer's popular Kirkland Signature Helles Lager and Vintage Ale. The episode concludes with a look at Guinness' remarkable resurgence, exploring how the iconic stout has become one of beer's biggest success stories by winning over younger consumers through social media, the viral "Split the G" challenge, and the growing realization that it's lighter, more sessionable, and far more approachable than many first-time drinkers expect. Brands in this episode: Simply, Fresca, Owl's Brew, Bai, Crooked Pop, Poppi, Super Lyte, Surfside, Stateside Hard Seltzer, Gatorade, Spiked Ade, Pedialyte, Electrolit, Hoist, Deschutes, Guinness, Diet Pepsi

Can AI startups keep their promise to benefit humanity? Eric Ries explains why business success often leads to corporate "corruption" of the founder's mission.Eric Ries, creator of the Lean Startup Method, breaks down the inherent tensions between scaling a business and maintaining its core purpose. We examine why so many organizations lose sight of their initial mission as they grow, and what it takes for leadership to stay grounded.This discussion focuses specifically on how AI company ethics are being tested in the current market. Ries shares his perspective on advising Anthropic, offering a rare look at how a major firm attempts to protect its mission while navigating rapid growth. If you are interested in the intersection of philosophy and corporate strategy, this breakdown offers a practical look at the challenges modern founders face.Subscribe for weekly business strategy breakdowns, and let me know in the comments: what do you think is the biggest threat to a company's original mission?YOU'LL DISCOVER✅ Why corruption means making money without creating value, not breaking the law✅ The Sol Price story: how FedMart was liquidated, and Costco grew from the same idea✅ Why shareholder primacy is only about 40 years old, not a law of capitalism✅ The three-part formula for an incorruptible company: purpose, coherence, integrity✅ How alternative ownership structures (foundations like Novo Nordisk and Hershey, purpose trusts like Patagonia) make firms far more durable✅ Eric's idea of financial gravity and why your buying, working, and investing choices matter✅ The job interview question that can push a company to put its mission in its legal charter✅ Why Anthropic's public benefit corporation and long-term benefit trust protect its mission⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:00 Why success corrupts good companies3:14 What corruption really means5:41 Shareholder primacy is a recent invention8:22 Sol Price, FedMart, and the founding of Costco13:08 Who decides which values matter18:22 Missionaries versus mercenaries19:44 How Google lost its way21:38 Governance structures that protect a mission28:01 Financial gravity and your power35:25 Red flags when vetting a company43:00 Why I am optimistic50:53 Advice for AI founders and AnthropicSubscribe to CXOTalk for weekly conversations with the business and technology leaders shaping the enterprise.Get the CXOTalk newsletter: https://newsletter.cxotalk.comShow notes, transcript, and summary: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/can-you-build-an-incorruptible-ai-company-a-conversation-with-eric-riesEpisode 923 | Recorded June 26, 2026#CXOTalk #EricRies #Incorruptible #LeanStartup #CorporateGovernance #ShareholderPrimacy #MissionDriven #Leadership #Anthropic #BusinessEthics

i also ate the viral Costco chicken tenders so you don't have to (they were terrible)

Are you ready for the ultimate list of beauty, health, and relationship secrets we completely refuse to keep to ourselves? In this Five Minute Friday episode of Beauty Bytes, I am joined by the fabulous Margo Graff to share 10 game-changing tips that every girl needs to know.  We dive into everything from clearing up cystic acne by ditching toxic laundry detergents and dryer sheets, to using glycolic acid wipes on your armpits to kill odor-causing bacteria. We also break down the importance of "protein maxing" with 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight, and why ditching messy topical serums for oral minoxidil is the ultimate hair growth hack. On the cosmetic side, we debate the rising trend of the "38-year-old facelift," why you really only have two good facelifts in your lifetime, and how combining a chin implant with early fat transfer can naturally stretch and lift the face.  Beyond beauty, Margo shares her incredible advice for stepping into your feminine energy: stop giving away "Costco samples" of your value or handing out "participation trophies" to people who put in zero effort. Plus, we cover the anti-aging magic of hard-shell hyperbaric oxygen chambers for rebuilding your DNA's telomeres, and how mastering sales psychology can completely transform your personal and professional life.  Guest Information:Margo Graff is an aesthetic expert and content creator. You can find her on Instagram at @itsmargograff, where she shares resources on boundaries, self-regulation, and stepping into feminine standards.

A 40-year real estate veteran breaks down why capital keeps flooding into "comfortable" markets — and where the smart money is looking instead.George Maloomian, founder of Cambridge Properties, joins Spencer Gray to share hard-won lessons from four decades of commercial real estate cycles — including surviving the late-80s overbuilding collapse, building a retail development track record with names like Publix, Costco, and Topgolf, and why he chose to diversify into Indianapolis multifamily. They dig into today's oversupply dynamics, rising construction costs, Cambridge's first build-to-rent project, and George's "people first, project second" investing philosophy.Follow The Gray Report for weekly conversations on multifamily investing, commercial real estate, and the macro trends shaping the industry.

On this episode of Next Level: Good Vibes Only, Jessica and Darren Salquist break down a simple truth: the trail always teaches you something. Fresh off finishing a Ragnar Ultra trail race, through overnight miles, rain, and more than a few changes of wet clothes, they unpack what a hard challenge reveals about who you really are.Starting from a quote by Eric Thomas, they explore how the mind is your strongest muscle, how gratitude becomes a tool that carries you through the toughest moments, and why what you can't control matters less than how you prepare for it. Drawing on Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning and Phil Stutz's idea of Part X, Jessica and Darren share how discomfort, when you lean into it, becomes the very thing that grows you. As Darren puts it, it's a feeling you can't buy at Amazon or grab off the shelf at Costco. You earn it.Stick around to the end for five reflection questions you can carry into your own next challenge, whether that's a race, a goal, or simply a hard season of life. This one pairs beautifully with the companion meditation, Becoming Through the Challenge.Follow Darren Salquist, Life Changer, Self-Mastery + Heroic Performance Coach, PTA, and Personal TrainerIG: @salquid ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/salquid/⁠⁠Linkedin ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-salquist-3836b770/⁠⁠FB: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/darren.salquist?mibextid=LQQJ4d⁠⁠Follow Jessica Salquist, Life Changer, Nationally Board Certified Reflexologist, Heroic Performance Coach, and Executive LeaderIG: @reflexologyjedi ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/reflexologyjedi/⁠⁠Linkedin: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-salquist-46b07772/⁠⁠FB: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/salquistjessica?mibextid=LQQJ4d⁠⁠Find us both on IG @nextlevelreflexologycoaching ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelreflexologycoaching⁠⁠Wellness + Coaching — Next Level Coaching and ReflexologyWebsite: ⁠⁠www.nextleveltransformationalcoaching.com⁠⁠ Check out Heroic.us to enroll in a coaching program and be part of an amazing community.Buy the book Arete here: ⁠⁠https://a.co/d/ctXhK7A⁠⁠ (on Amazon)

What exactly is a model portfolio—and should you trust one with your retirement?Tom and Don explain why professionally designed model portfolios can improve consistency and reduce advisor bias, but also why investors should be wary as firms like Morningstar begin adding private equity, private credit, and other alternative investments to traditional portfolios.00:12 What is a model portfolio?02:11 Why advisors should use investment models03:31 Morningstar's new private market portfolios05:20 Liquidity problems with private investments07:27 The high cost of private equity08:12 “Persistent inflation” claims examined10:49 Why Wall Street wants retirement assets12:23 Listener questions begin14:17 AUM vs flat-fee vs hourly advisors21:22 Do ETF expense ratios add together?23:21 Roth IRA income limits and backdoor strategy27:44 BrokerageLink inside a 401(k)31:00 Costco, avocado oil, and gas pricesQuestions? Comments? Click!

The Fat one returns with a recap of his day which included a trip to Shady Pines, complimentary uncooked pork, sportsball, trips to the Costco and the Vons East and some quiz program nattering. Happy National Corn Fritter Day.

This week we're catching you up after working our first-ever conference (behind-the-scenes chaos included) and finally getting back to a normal rhythm. We share a wall-cleaning hack that genuinely surprised us, a budget-friendly Costco run, day one of fasting week, a 6:30AM Pilates challenge, and a cologne pick where Wifey got final say. We close it out with date night, bowling with friends, and a flat tire we did not see coming. A real week in our marriage, mess and all.Follow us: @themarriageispodcast

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl.In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:OpenAI is developing its first consumer hardware product, a mobile, screen-free smart speaker designed as a humanlike AI companion.Costco opens its first-ever standalone gas station in Mission Viejo, California, undercutting local fuel prices and pressuring nearby convenience retailers.Decathlon completes a rollout of electronic shelf labels across 700 stores in 54 countries, automating price management at global scale.The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail insights.

Why do so many great companies get bought, then deliberately ruined in the name of profit? That mystery is what drove Eric Ries, author of the mega-bestseller The Lean Startup, to write his new book, Incorruptible. Eric has spent 15 years helping founders build companies, and he has watched the best of the industry alongside its dark side: beloved brands acquired and gutted, founders pushed out of companies that still bear their names. In this episode, he unpacks why it keeps happening, and what a rare set of enduring companies do differently. In this Marketing Speak episode, Eric breaks down: ✅ Why learning, not technology, is still the real rate-limiting step in the AI era ✅ Why you can't outsource the hard cognitive work, no matter how good the tools get ✅ The two traits that Costco, Patagonia, Vanguard, and Rolex share despite having nothing else in common ✅ Ethos and integrity: how to give your mission a guardian that outlasts shareholder pressure ✅ Why it's always too early to protect your company's mission, until suddenly it's too late Whether you're starting something new or trying to keep what you've built from being hollowed out, Eric's blueprint for an incorruptible company is worth your time. Tune in! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/546  

Vince Nardo helped grow his family's cabinet refacing shop into the largest home improvement company on the West Coast with 700 employees. The company operated in multiple states and even landed a partnership with Costco to sell their products. In 2022, he sold the business to private equity firm Audax. Two years later, the acquiring company went bankrupt and the 40-year legacy the Nardo family built was gone. Now Vince is out of retirement and building a national roofing brand from scratch, and he's sharing every hard lesson along the way. In this episode you will learn: The simple metrics Vince used ensure growth of a 700-person company Why Reborn stopped thinking of itself as a sales and marketing company, and what it became instead How a meeting in Seattle turned into a partnership with Costco, and what selling under a retail giant taught his team The one question Vince says every contractor must ask before selling to private equity What convinced him to bet on himself again after losing everything he spent decades building Listen to the episode to learn more.

Single Parent Stroke Recovery: How Jeff Manuel Is Rebuilding His Life for His Kids Jeff Manuel was working two jobs to provide for his two teenage kids – a full-time role in electrical sales plus evening grocery-delivery shifts – when a stroke at 52 changed everything about how he could show up for them. Four years later, he’s not back to where he was. He’s become someone different, and by his own account, someone he likes better. A Normal Saturday Morning, Then Everything Changed Jeff’s stroke happened on a Saturday in March 2022, but the warning signs started the night before, on his last work shift. The next morning he made coffee, showered, and drove to drop off his kids’ things at their mother’s house in West Kelowna. When she opened the door, she immediately knew something was wrong – his face had visibly dropped. A local clinic ran a squeeze test that came back fine and prescribed inhalers for what they assumed was a breathing issue. It wasn’t until Jeff tried to pick up oranges with his left hand an hour later, and couldn’t, that they went to the hospital. A CT scan confirmed he’d had a stroke. He couldn’t move his arm or his leg. Raising Two Teenagers From a Hospital Bed Single parent stroke recovery comes with a particular kind of weight: the practical question of who looks after your kids while you can’t. Jeff and his ex-wife were separated but living close by, and when he was hospitalized for three months, she and their children – a boy and a girl, both thirteen at the time – stepped in to support him. She’s been doing a lot for me, and I really appreciate it. What could have been an awkward or strained dynamic instead became a stronger friendship than the one they’d had before the stroke. Jeff is candid about why the timing mattered to him: Thank goodness it happened when I was only fifty-two and not seventy-eight, when they’d got their families all grown up and their own worries. I didn’t want to be a worry to their father. His kids are now nearing graduation, and he stays in touch by text and phone, even though he doesn’t get to see them as often as he’d like. Two Years Learning to Live Again After hospital, Jeff moved into a residential rehabilitation program called Connect Communities, where he spent two years relearning basic independence – from walking to cooking to managing a wheelchair-accessible home. Progress wasn’t linear: partway through, his wheelchair tire caught on a mat and led to a fall that required a hip replacement, adding more recovery time on top of the stroke rehab. The program used occupational therapy milestones to unlock privileges – once he could complete a task within a set time, he earned the ability to grocery shop and cook for himself, working up to preparing a meal every night. That system became his bridge from full-time care toward the assisted living arrangement he’s in now, which he describes less as being stuck and more as “graduating” toward independent living. Managing Pain That Doesn’t Go Away Chronic pain has been one of the harder, more persistent parts of Jeff’s recovery – constant pain and tension on his left side, in his shoulder in particular. After four years of prescribed medication, Jeff made his own decision to stop his pharmaceutical pain pills and manage his pain with medicinal marijuana gummies instead, taken a few times a day. He credits them with helping not just with pain, but with sleep and digestion too. This is Jeff’s personal experience and decision, made under his own judgment about his body after years of living with it post-stroke – not a treatment recommendation, and as always, any change to medication should be made in consultation with your own medical team. A Rebirth, Not Just a Recovery What comes through most clearly in Jeff’s story isn’t the physical rehabilitation – it’s the internal shift alongside it. He describes the last ten years before his stroke as a period of grief he hadn’t fully processed, following the deaths of his mother and sister, and a tendency to put himself first that he says didn’t serve his family. The stroke, paradoxically, became the catalyst for the opposite: I’d like myself again because I know I’m a good person. He talks about his recovery in openly spiritual terms – leaning on his mother’s belief that “everything happens for a reason,” and describing his body’s limitations as temporary: “This is only part of your meat suit.” He’s quick to add that this reframing isn’t about denying the hard days. It’s about noticing small, cumulative wins: Sometimes you’re not aware of what’s happening, and then you think about it – I couldn’t do that yesterday, now I can. What Keeps Him Going Jeff found Recovery After Stroke the same way many listeners do – searching for answers in a hospital bed, trying to understand what had just happened to him. I’ve seen so many other people going through it. It really did help me. Now, four years on, he’s paying that forward by sharing his own story, pain and all, with the same honesty he found helpful when he needed it most. If Jeff’s story resonates with your own recovery – or your own path back to being fully present for the people who depend on you – Bill’s book, The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened, digs deeper into this kind of transformation: recoveryafterstroke.com/book. If this show has helped you, you can support it directly at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Jeff Manuel: Raising My Kids Through a Stroke and Learning to Like Myself Again (Interview) A single dad’s 4-year journey from hospital to independence – raising his kids, relearning to cook, and rebuilding who he is. Highlights: 00:00 Jeff’s Journey: Single Parent Stroke Recovery04:01 The Day of the Stroke06:42 Personal Transformation Post-Stroke09:03 Rewiring the Brain and Recovery11:04 Support During Recovery13:32 Mindset and Spiritual Growth15:25 Challenges of Recovery18:52 Personal Transformation and Reflection20:24 Daily Life in Assisted Living24:01 Pain Management and Coping Strategies26:28 Future Aspirations and Independence28:13 Finding Community and Sharing Stories Transcript: Jeff’s Journey: Single Parent Stroke Recovery Jeff Manuel (00:00)Once you get over what has happened, you become a better person. I like myself again because I know I’m a good person. if it takes another four or five years to walk again, it takes that. But if I can get as many tools into my tool chest, I can use later in life. Bill Gasiamis (00:18)Welcome back Recovery After Stroke. I’m Bill Gassiamis. My guest today is Jeff Manuel, a single father of two teenagers who was working two jobs full time in electrical sales plus evening grocery delivery when he had a stroke at 52 that left him with left-side paralysis. Jeff describes his stroke as involving a clot and possibly a bleed as well. The exact clinical picture is something we talked through together in the episode. We get into what it’s like raising teenagers through three months in hospital and two years in residential rehab, and how his relationship with his ex-wife has changed since the stroke, how he’s learned to cook again with one hand and the pain management approach he’s landed for himself after four years of recovery. Quick note before we dive in, if you’re feeling stuck in your own recovery, I now offer one-on-one coaching for stroke survivors. It’s not therapy or medical treatment, it’s lived experience support, structure, accountability, and someone who’s actually been where you are, having survived three strokes myself. I only work with a small number of people at a time, so it stays meaningful. You can apply at recoveryafterstroke.com/momentum. If Jeff’s story resonated with you, I also wrote a book about my own experience called The Unexpected Way. That a stroke became the best thing that happened, it is available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if this show has helped you, you can support it directly at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Here’s my conversation with Jeff. BIll Gasiamis (01:58)Jeff Manuel. Welcome to the podcast. Jeff Manuel (02:01)Thanks for having me. BIll Gasiamis (02:01)Tell me a little bit about what life was like before stroke. What were your daily tasks? What kind of things did you get up to? Jeff Manuel (02:10)at the time I had two jobs. I had full time journal day and then after after the day job I would go and And I was I was before I was in a loop to try to catch up and Provide for my family. BIll Gasiamis (02:22)What kind of jobs did you do? Jeff Manuel (02:23)I was my last job was in sales, electrical sales. And I used to I would pick groceries for customers that were just driving by and picking up the groceries. So I’d pick mostly the the dry goods and have it ready for when they eat when they were ready to pick up the groceries. BIll Gasiamis (02:41)Was that the after hours job? Jeff Manuel (02:42)Pardon me? BIll Gasiamis (02:42)Was that the after hours task? Jeff Manuel (02:45)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (02:45)And how many hours a a week would a day would you say you were working then? Jeff Manuel (02:48)I’d be I’d probably have four four four shifts a week. Sometimes less. BIll Gasiamis (02:53)And on the day of one of your shifts. Jeff Manuel (02:54)It was manageable at the time. BIll Gasiamis (02:56)It was manageable. Jeff Manuel (02:57)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (02:57)And on the day of one of the shifts that you went to your regular job and then you did one of those shifts, how many hours would you say that? Jeff Manuel (03:06)Five hours. I believe I worked the five hours that was on my stroke happened on a Saturday. This was a Friday night. So I believe it was five hours. Cause I was started it at five and I finished at ten. BIll Gasiamis (03:07)The added So with your full time job, the regular job, that would be a normal eight hour day and then you would do an additional five hours? Jeff Manuel (03:30)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (03:30)Okay. And w other than work, what else did you get up to? Jeff Manuel (03:37)I’m a single father of two kids. So as much time as I could spend with him I spent with them even though we were not living in the same house. BIll Gasiamis (03:45)Understood. How old were the kids? Jeff Manuel (03:46)Thirteen. BIll Gasiamis (03:47)Two boys, two girls. Jeff Manuel (03:49)boy to give us BIll Gasiamis (03:50)Sorry, Jeff, what was that? Jeff Manuel (03:51)Boy and a girl, I’m sorry. BIll Gasiamis (03:52)A a boy and a girl. And you were working the extra hours to cover everybody and make sure they had everything they needed. Jeff Manuel (04:00)Yes. The Day of the Stroke BIll Gasiamis (04:01)And what what happened on the day of the stroke, Jeff? Jeff Manuel (04:05)Well, I woke up Saturday morning, everything was fine. Put on the coffee machine. Went and got a quick shower. Packed up my clothes cause I was going to to their house ’cause they lived with their mother in West Kelowna. And I was living in Peachland at the time. So I drove on the highway, popped into McDonald’s, cup of coffee, couple of sandwiches, and then they were just two minute drive away. knock on a door. She opens the door and she says, What the heck happened to you? I said, What do you mean? She said your face is on the ground. My whole left side, I guess, just collapsed. So then she says we’re going to the clinic. Is it okay? So go over does a squeeze test. I mean both hands, fine. And I was walking and talking and doing everything. Like nothing happened yet. I said the only the only issue I had was a little bit of breathing problems a couple of months previous. So we prescribe some inhalers and see if that helps. Mm got the inhalers, tried out an hour later. Didn’t do anything for me. Then I tried picking I had a shift at twelve o’clock and this was probably about eleven. And I went into the kitchen and tried picking up oranges with my left hand and I couldn’t grab it and put it in the bag and she said, We’re going to the hospital. So, okay. Then I was getting worried. So I didn’t know what it was. BIll Gasiamis (05:29)And and then you spent some time in hospital doing tests, were you? Jeff Manuel (05:32)Heard me? BIll Gasiamis (05:32)Then you spent some time at hospital, were they testing you? Jeff Manuel (05:34)Interested C D scan. Then he comes down and tells me that Mr. Manuel you had a stroke. Said okay. And then I still can’t comprehend what that actually meant. But I knew it was something wrong. And it wasn’t till the next day that I couldn’t move my arm or my leg. BIll Gasiamis (05:52)Mm-hmm. And how long ago was that, Jeff? Jeff Manuel (05:56)That was in Right of twenty twenty two. BIll Gasiamis (05:59)March of twenty twenty two. Jeff Manuel (06:01)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (06:01)Got it. And you seem to be quite still significantly emotionally upset about it. Do you find that you’re have a a few challenges about dealing with your emotions? Jeff Manuel (06:11)that’s cool. I’m sorry, Bible is not upset. It’s happiness. BIll Gasiamis (06:18)It’s happiness. Jeff Manuel (06:19)I’ve turned a big corner this year And I’m happy I’m happy where I am I’m happy for who I am This is just temporary. I know that. And I’ve learned to live with it for four years and it’s okay. I’m good. BIll Gasiamis (06:34)Lovely, man. So who are you now? Who are you now that you’re happy with who has turned the corner? Personal Transformation Post-Stroke Jeff Manuel (06:42)I’m I’m more of myself a long time ago with the name. In the last ten years it’s It’s just listening to other people having a broadcast and internalizing it and using it for the good. And trying to help people as much as I can. Even it just means a smile and hey you’re doing a great job. That means the world to people. And for some people they can’t say it, so I’d say it for them. BIll Gasiamis (07:02)Mm. So the the the guy from ten years ago wasn’t happy. What was wrong with that guy? Like what is it that he wasn’t doing that wasn’t serving you? Jeff Manuel (07:15)I wasn’t paying attention to what I had to pay attention to my my wife and kids. I was up north and in the North Territories, which is Canada’s Arctic, for twelve years. Awesome years. Beautiful people. BIll Gasiamis (07:32)And what were you doing there? What was the task? Jeff Manuel (07:35)Doing a couple of different jobs. My last job was I was assistant manager of like a Costco. But it was a a locally owned Inn Valley store, so BIll Gasiamis (07:42)I went Jeff Manuel (07:46)When my boss would be out of town I would have to look after the stores and transfer to other parts of the Arctic. BIll Gasiamis (07:46)And were you away from your family at that time? Did that have you away from your family? Jeff Manuel (07:55)No, my family lived right in the same community, so BIll Gasiamis (07:57)Uh-huh. And what you you weren’t satisfied with the way you were going about life? What was the difference between now and then? Because you’re quite co comfortable suggesting that there’s been a shift, a change? Were how how were you not Jeff Manuel (08:13)I was drinking way too much. And then along with grief. BIll Gasiamis (08:18)What was the grief in relation to? Jeff Manuel (08:19)my mother and my sister had passed away from cancer. But like pretty close to tw twenty years ago now. So and recently it’s been my brother. So it’s been I’ve been thinking a lot about that. BIll Gasiamis (08:32)And were you using alcohol to cope before the stroke? Jeff Manuel (08:34)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (08:35)And did that mess up your relationships? Jeff Manuel (08:36)Not necessarily. BIll Gasiamis (08:37)How how was it that you weren’t doing the right thing by your family? Jeff Manuel (08:41)I’m just thinking more about myself than others. BIll Gasiamis (08:44)Putting yourself first. Jeff Manuel (08:46)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (08:46)Mm-hmm. Got it. And then the stroke happened and how did that change everything? Because the stroke made you unwell. It put you in hospital. But how did that shift the way that you behaved and the the way you went about life? Rewiring the Brain and Recovery Jeff Manuel (09:03)Well, in this is my fourth year, so this year I know that my brain is rewiring itself because I can see minuscule changes every single day. And sometimes you’re not aware of what what what’s happening and well then you think about it and I couldn’t do that yesterday, now I can do it. BIll Gasiamis (09:24)understood. And hello Jeff Manuel (09:26)And it’s a it’s a it’s it’s a positive positive thing that happens to you every single day. BIll Gasiamis (09:32)Got it, I appreciate that. So you’re seeing small significant changes that are adding up and you’re getting results from that. And it’s been for years now. Jeff Manuel (09:40)Yes. I’m happy to say BIll Gasiamis (09:41)Understood. That’s excellent. Now, what kind of stroke was it? Did they determine the cause and have they put you on some kind of medication or program to prevent another one? What was the issue with the stroke? Jeff Manuel (09:54)No, it was a hemorrhagic stroke on the the right side. Yeah, I was prescribed a whole bunch of pills and stuff. I guess it helped at the beginning. I couldn’t tell. BIll Gasiamis (10:03)Did they tell you what caused the brain hemorrhage? Do you know? Jeff Manuel (10:06)the the doctor said said there was a clot in my this part of the artery on the my right side and my neck. And he also told me that I had a heart attack the week before. But I didn’t see it, I think. It was just a mark one, I guess. BIll Gasiamis (10:21)So so was So was it a brain hemorrhage or an ischemic stroke? Jeff Manuel (10:27)Maybe it’s a brain hemorrhage. BIll Gasiamis (10:28)Bleed in the brain? Jeff Manuel (10:29)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (10:30)Okay. But the clot usually refers to an ischemic stroke, which is like a very different from a a bleed on the brain. Jeff Manuel (10:39)No, the it was just the vein that was clouded. BIll Gasiamis (10:41)Uh-huh. As well as a brain hemorrhage. Jeff Manuel (10:43)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (10:43)So you were really going through it. You had a heart attack, a clot issue and a brain hemorrhage all at the same time? Jeff Manuel (10:49)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (10:49)Wow. Under. Got it. So how long did you spend in hospital, Jeff? Jeff Manuel (10:55)I was there from march twelfth to June fourth ninth in the hospital. BIll Gasiamis (11:02)About three months. Support During Recovery Jeff Manuel (11:04)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (11:04)And who was there to support you during that time? Because if you’re if you’re no longer married and you live separately from your your former wife, who was by your side? How how did you get through that time? Jeff Manuel (11:18)That’s funny because it was my ex wife and my children. She would bring in to see me and f they would feed me and look after me. BIll Gasiamis (11:28)That’s very cool. She stepped up. Jeff Manuel (11:31)She did she’ve been doing a lot for me. And I really appreciate it. BIll Gasiamis (11:35)Yeah, that is lovely. And then you left from the hospital. At some point they dismissed you or discharged you. Did you have to go into rehab after that to try and get your your left side up back up on board? Jeff Manuel (11:51)Well, in the hospital I was doing really hard but but I couldn’t I could still couldn’t walk or go up steps or anything, but they applied to put me into Connect. It’s called Connect Communities. And there was a whole bunch of different houses you live in. And it’s like you have your own room, you have your shower days, and you get fed three meals a day. But everything was wheelchair accessible. And it was the best two years I had. There was that place was amazing. The people were amazing. And what they offered ya and taught you was amazing. BIll Gasiamis (12:26)Yeah. It sounds like you’ve gone on qu quite a spiritual kind of shift, some kind of a journey, an internal journey as well as the physical healing of your body. Jeff Manuel (12:35)Exactly. This I can live with. This is only part of your meat suit you’re aiming your leg. It all depends on what’s upstairs and how you can teach p other people to live with what’s happening. BIll Gasiamis (12:49)What’s one of the biggest things that you learnt when you were in there, by the time you left after two years? Because at the beginning I imagine you wouldn’t have been as upbeat, as positive as you are now. Mindset and Spiritual Growth Jeff Manuel (13:02)No, because You still are learning your your limits of being disabled or paralyzed. You still gotta live it’s like a regrowth. You learn from a baby again to crawl and then walk. And it’s like up until then it’s learning you think about things if you have to use the watchroom you think about it like twenty five different times before you actually use it. It’s a like a learning process. And I’m just starting to learn again. BIll Gasiamis (13:37)So it sounds like the biggest recovery that you had that’s been the most meaningful then was that kind of mindset part of your recovery, the spiritual part of your recovery. Jeff Manuel (13:47)I I I think once you get over what has happened, you become a better person. But I I’d like myself again because I know I’m a good person. And if it takes another four or five years to walk again, it takes that. But if I can get as many tools into my tool chest, I can use later in life. BIll Gasiamis (14:09)Yeah. Yeah. And you know what I love about that is you’re kind of setting an example for your kids, right? Y they may not know it and Jeff Manuel (14:16)I tried to my best to set an example because I always said, Thank goodness it happened when I was only fifty two and not seventy eight when they got their families all grown up and their own worries. Didn’t want to be wrong about their father. They stepped up and being adults when they were thirteen. BIll Gasiamis (14:34)Yeah. Were you also a smoker then? Jeff Manuel (14:35)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (14:36)Okay. Jeff Manuel (14:36)I did quit three months before going into hospital but I’m back smoking again, so BIll Gasiamis (14:41)You’re back smoking again at the moment? Jeff Manuel (14:43)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (14:44)And drinking? Jeff Manuel (14:44)The occasional drink. I’ve tested my limitations and see where it led. But I don’t I don’t over anything, I’m sorry. BIll Gasiamis (14:50)Can I be can I be Can I be perfectly blunt with you? Jeff Manuel (14:57)Yes, you can. BIll Gasiamis (14:58)Why don’t you reduce the amount of time it takes for you to get on your feet from four years to a s a shorter amount of time? And the best way to do that and avoid another stroke and be a real example for your kids is to stop smoking and drinking. That’ll make you more in a in put you more in the zone of allowing your brain to heal rather than continuously putting it in a space where healing is not possible. Challenges of Recovery Jeff Manuel (15:25)So understood. BIll Gasiamis (15:26)I know the challenge with smoking and drinking is beyond just putting it down and not touching it. I know it’s linked to a lot of other emotions and a lot of other things. I used to smoke and drink as well. But the work to be done is in the it’s in when you don’t have those things to go back to to regulate your emotions or change your mindset, that’s where the work is need to be done. You need to pick up the skills that make it possible you for you to deal with those particular emotions or those particular things that are going on that make you drink, that make you smoke. And that will enable you to also deal with those challenges of the grief that you’ve suffered in the past. And also will simultaneously make the right environment for healing the brain. And that should speed up the amount of time it takes for you to get back on your feet. Jeff Manuel (16:20)That’s gonna be my start processing. BIll Gasiamis (16:22)Yeah. I thought you know, we’re here to be honest and frank, and you’re being honest and frank. And I thought, well, I might as well just put it out there. There’s a lot of people that want to get better after stroke, and sometimes they’re doing the things that are getting in the way of recovery without realizing that they’re getting in the way of their own recovery. And that’s kinda like my job, you know, is to sort of say, Hey, here’s a mirror, pay attention to this. Have you seen this before? Are you aware of this? And and then that way, maybe together. You know, we’ve learned something today and we can overcome and then we can move forward a little better. Jeff Manuel (16:56)That’s good advice. BIll Gasiamis (16:57)Are you back to independent living now? Jeff Manuel (16:59)No, no, no. I mean long term care. I was in BIll Gasiamis (17:02)Yep. Tell me about that. Jeff Manuel (17:03)It’s it’s it’s it’s good for me right now for what I need. two years ago I had broken my my hip, so I had to get a hip replacement. So it was extremely hard trying to get your legs into the bed. BIll Gasiamis (17:17)Did you have a fall because of the stroke? Jeff Manuel (17:20)Not because of the stroke, but there was a a mat that that my tire got jammed into. BIll Gasiamis (17:26)The wheelchair tire. Jeff Manuel (17:27)Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (17:29)man, I got it. Jeff Manuel (17:30)It just slowed down my my mobility a bit in my rehab of the the walking but but it was okay. I got through it. BIll Gasiamis (17:42)Got it. And they did a they did a hip replacement. Jeff Manuel (17:46)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (17:46)Understood. So then there was some rehabilitation associated to the hip replacement as well to get you back on your feet. Jeff Manuel (17:55)Well, caught sorta say get me on my feet, get me in the wheelchair. Yeah. it was another six weeks in hospital. BIll Gasiamis (18:00)Yeah, got it. Okay. Yeah. You had a quite a journey, man. Like a lot of sort of downtime as a result of this condition and then all the little complications and bumps in the road. How have you sort of dealt with that mentally? Have you had somebody to talk to? Have you done some therapy? Like how is it that you’ve been been managing to, you know, wrap your head around all of this stuff? Jeff Manuel (18:30)and my mom always had a good say and she said everything happens for a reason. We just don’t know what that reason is at that time. And it’s like, okay, this had happened to me, so now I’m getting to learn why it happened because this is the rebirth of me. In my journey. I’m not the guy I was four years ago or five years ago. I’m me now. Somebody different. Personal Transformation and Reflection BIll Gasiamis (18:52)Mm-hmm. Had you had you in those last ten years before the stroke, had you forgotten about that side of you, that kind of spiritual element of you that you’ve rediscovered? Was it lost in the grief and in the drinking and in the all the work? Jeff Manuel (19:09)It went away somewhere, I don’t know exactly where it went, but it went away. You know, being being on this on this side of the the grass, I guess, I don’t know how you would say it, but going through the healthcare system, you get to see a whole lot of people. And y and you you can sense their their expressions and stuff. A lot of good people. A lot of good people too. BIll Gasiamis (19:32)How’s your relationship with with your former wife and kids now? Are they nearby? Do you see them often? Jeff Manuel (19:37)And they are nearby, but I don’t see as often as you want. I see at least probably about once a month. Well, we’re in contact, we text each other and phone each other every now and then. to graduate next year, so BIll Gasiamis (19:47)Are the kids in school? they’re graduating, so they’ve been busy with school and Jeff Manuel (19:53)Their friends and stuff, so BIll Gasiamis (19:54)Pretty normal. Jeff Manuel (19:56)Yeah, that’s normal teenagers. BIll Gasiamis (19:57)Yeah, understood. And your relationship with your ex wife, is it very cordial? Do you guys get along, even though you guys are exes and Jeff Manuel (20:05)Yeah. Yeah, we get we always got along, but we’ve been way better friends the last couple of years. BIll Gasiamis (20:14)Yeah. That sounds like it’s a it’s a great relief for you. And also she’s able to really kinda take care and help out with the children. Jeff Manuel (20:24)Exactly. Daily Life in Assisted Living BIll Gasiamis (20:24)What is a day like in your facility there where you live? What what do you guys get up to? How do they keep you occupied? What’s it what’s that like? Jeff Manuel (20:33)There is a there’s a you have breakfast at eight to ten and then lunches from twelve to one and dinners from five to six. And then you have the rec department that do little games and stuff in the activity room. I usually go out and and enjoy the fresh air and the sun. It’s warming up here. much fresh year and San John I can get the better. BIll Gasiamis (20:55)And And do you have a few people that live in the facility with you? Is it quite a large facility? How many people are in there? Jeff Manuel (21:05)yeah, there’s three different floors. I’m on the main floor. And there’s probably BIll Gasiamis (21:10)Mm-hmm. Jeff Manuel (21:13)Probably two hundred people, two fifty in three floors. BIll Gasiamis (21:16)Mm-hmm. A lot of people that I’ve spoken to in the past about those types of facilities get really down about They kind of don’t feel like they should be there or need to be there. How do you manage being there? Jeff Manuel (21:29)I’m not totally at the point where I can go live by myself. Right now I still need I still need this. Until I can afford something that is realistic. And you have to be realistic. You gotta think about things a hundred and fifty times more than you would regularly think about things. BIll Gasiamis (21:34)So it’s a cent. Jeff Manuel (21:47)I can still cook, but Right now I gotta concentrate on being me. BIll Gasiamis (21:51)And getting better. And getting back on your feet. Jeff Manuel (21:54)Exactly. BIll Gasiamis (21:54)So you can still cook, which is awesome. So you adapted to cooking with one arm? Jeff Manuel (21:59)yeah, no problem. As long as you you know what you can do, your limitations, you can do anything. BIll Gasiamis (22:04)What’s the hardest part about preparing food with one arm? Jeff Manuel (22:07)Well, you it’s pretty hard to make a salad with one arm ’cause you can’t hold the tomato or the cucumber with the other. That’s about it. That’s where you get the you can get these the plastic cutting boards that have spikes in So you just lay out your vegetables. And then you can use the one hand to cut it off. BIll Gasiamis (22:27)And is cooking encouraged to cook for yourself or is that just part of your occupational therapy? Jeff Manuel (22:34)at Connect you kinda you led up to being able to cook so the O T would give you a certain task and if you could achieve that task within a certain time limit you you would get X amount of dollars per week to go grocery shopping so you could cook for yourself. usually and every night I would cook a meal for myself. And then that graduated into becoming more self sufficient for myself so I could go in assisted living. So they found a place on the west side in assisted living and I lived there for a year and two years. BIll Gasiamis (22:55)And the Jeff Manuel (23:09)Like just threw you throws your curveball. BIll Gasiamis (23:11)Yeah, it sure does. Jeff Manuel (23:11)And up there, but but you know what? I kinda like it. Because you get to meet people, you have discussions. When you when you’re dying for communication You can talk to anybody. BIll Gasiamis (23:22)Yeah. Your facility there, there’s is there a lot of downtime? Do you guys get to intermingle and connect with each other and share spaces together? Jeff Manuel (23:34)Yeah. We can do that. Until we up in the morning and that we go to bed tonight. BIll Gasiamis (23:40)Yeah. So it sounds like it’s the great kind of a great place for you, like a a like a space between being independent again to kind of help you get through all the things you need to get through before you qu kind of was it like graduate to independence, I suppose. Is that like i is w is that how you would describe it? Pain Management and Coping Strategies Jeff Manuel (24:01)That’s that’s pretty good. I think to me now mentally the better I can become, the better my whole body will become. BIll Gasiamis (24:08)Hmm. What would be the hardest part of this stroke journey for you that that you kind of would be able to recall from all of this journey, the thing that was the hardest for you to deal with or overcome or or be challenged by? Jeff Manuel (24:24)Still still deal with the post stroke pain. It’s the hardest. BIll Gasiamis (24:30)The fatigue. Jeff Manuel (24:31)The the constant pain. BIll Gasiamis (24:33)the pain. Yep. Is that on your left side? Jeff Manuel (24:35)And arm, leg and shoulder, yeah, all on the left side. BIll Gasiamis (24:39)Do they medicate you for that? Do they try and give you some kind of pain relief? Jeff Manuel (24:43)No, I found my own. More medicine. BIll Gasiamis (24:45)Understood. And is that manageable then now the pain? Does it kind of help ease the pain? Jeff Manuel (24:50)Yes, it does. BIll Gasiamis (24:51)Okay. Jeff Manuel (24:52)It eases it away for me and and helps me not think about it. BIll Gasiamis (24:57)Uhhuh. Understood. So is the smoking related to medic medicinal marijuana, perhaps? Jeff Manuel (25:04)No, I ’cause I don’t smoke it. I it’s take the gummies. BIll Gasiamis (25:07)okay. So it’s it’s medicinal marijuana then. Jeff Manuel (25:09)Yeah. Well it’s all legal in Canada, so BIll Gasiamis (25:11)The the Yeah, it’s legal almost everywhere now. And it sounds like it’s actually very supportive of a lot of people that gummies sin seem to be a good alternative to you know, like the the Yeah. Or and also for some people it seems to be a better solution than the pharmaceutical painkillers. Jeff Manuel (25:25)Smoking it. Yeah, these are I I g I s had to stop taking my pharmaceutical pills altogether. BIll Gasiamis (25:40)Why were they causing Jeff Manuel (25:41)After af after four years I should know what’s happening to my body. I didn’t feel no but it no better after four years of taking the drugs. So I decided no more drugs. I’ll just have a gummy, figure out how I feel. BIll Gasiamis (25:53)Yeah. Jeff Manuel (25:57)Yes, this is working. I like it. BIll Gasiamis (25:59)How often do you have to take it? Jeff Manuel (26:01)Mm. Wait, four four times a day. BIll Gasiamis (26:03)Okay. So you notice when it’s starting to wear off? Jeff Manuel (26:06)Yeah, it’s only when it comes to extremes that it would take another BIll Gasiamis (26:09)And it helps you sleep, I imagine. Jeff Manuel (26:10)It helps the whole body. From your digestion and it has helped me. BIll Gasiamis (26:14)Yeah. Jeff Manuel (26:14)And actually sleep also. Sleeping eight, nine hours a day. BIll Gasiamis (26:17)Wow, that’s great, man. Do you have a lot of contact with your medical team, the people who helped you through the early phases? Do you have regular follow ups or anything like that to check in with them? Future Aspirations and Independence Jeff Manuel (26:28)No, sir. I haven’t once. BIll Gasiamis (26:30)Does does the facility there have medical professionals that you can access? Jeff Manuel (26:33)Yes. Does the doctor assigned to me? That comes every supposed to come up every three or four weeks. BIll Gasiamis (26:41)So what’s one of the things that you hope to do after you graduate from being in assisted care to being in independent living? Jeff Manuel (26:52)It’d probably have to be assist lived against. BIll Gasiamis (26:54)So again. Jeff Manuel (26:55)Assisted living. BIll Gasiamis (26:56)Yeah. My question was when you do kind of graduate from being in the assisted living to being independent in your own place again, what’s something that you’re kind of looking forward to be able to do? Jeff Manuel (27:10)The independence BIll Gasiamis (27:11)Can you have guests come and visit you at the facility that you’re at and hang out with you for the day? Jeff Manuel (27:18)Yeah. And if I want, I can transfer in the vehicle and we can go somewhere else. BIll Gasiamis (27:23)Understood. So Jeff, somehow you came across my podcast. What was it that made you do the search and find it? Jeff Manuel (27:29)Well, as soon as I was when I was in the hospital I started searching up stroke and disability and everything started popping up on my YouTube page and then I seen podcast recovery after stroke, so I started watching it and within the last year seen so many other people going through what you you’re going through. It inspired me. It really did help me. BIll Gasiamis (27:59)And then you thought it was time to tell your story. Jeff Manuel (28:00)Yes. BIll Gasiamis (28:01)Yeah. Good move. I really appreciate you reaching out, letting me know what was happening to you, what you were going through, and also joining me on the podcast. Thank you so much for your time. Finding Community and Sharing Stories Jeff Manuel (28:13)Thank you, Bill. Bill Gasiamis (28:14)Well, thanks so much to Jeff for coming on the show and being so open about what the last four years have actually looked like. The hospital stay, the rehab, the setbacks, and the mindset shifts that came with all of that. If there’s one thing to take from this conversation, it’s Jeff’s line. I’d like myself again because I know I’m a good person. That’s recovery in a sentence. Not just getting your body back, but finding your way back to yourself. If you’re feeling stuck in your own recovery the way Jeff once did, I offer one-on-one coaching for stroke survivors, structure, accountability, and support from someone who’s lived it. You can apply at recoveryafterstroke.com/momentum. If you’re a parent navigating your own recovery or you know someone who is, please share this episode with them. My book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. is now available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if this show has helped you, you can support it at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you in the next episode. The post Jeff Manuel: Raising My Kids Through a Stroke and Learning to Like Myself Again appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Tune in the latest Suite Spot episode as special guests, Dave Jacoby, Founder/Owner of Hotel Lucine and Kaleigh Wiese, Founder and CEO of Ode Places, take a moment to discuss the independent and boutique hotel landscape and the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami in this episode for the Suite Spot Independent Hotel Show Series. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Suite Spot podcast. This is your host, Ryan Embree, here with another episode of our Independent Hotel Show series. This is season two. We’ve done quite a number of these independent hotel show series episodes, but this is the first one where we’ve got multiple guests. So I’m excited to bring them both in today. First with me, Dave Jacoby, founder and owner of Hotel Lucine, and Kaleigh Weise, founder and CEO of Ode Places. Dave, Kaleigh, thank you so much for being with me today. Dave Jacoby: So excited. Thanks for having us. Kaleigh Weise: What a way to kick off the independent hotel show. Dave and I got to share the stage last year. Dave Jacoby: We did. Kaleigh Weise: And I feel like we could have talked for a million more hours. And we’re friends, but also we’ve worked together, so I feel like I’m excited to be on together. Ryan Embree: Alright, well this is awesome. I’m excited. We’ll, we won’t be able to speak for a million hours, but we’ll definitely have some time today. And I’m excited, but as tradition here in the Suite Spot, one of the wonderful things about our industry and hospitality is people come from all different walks of life to get into our industry. Sometimes you fall into it with a summer job, sometimes you start as a bellman. Like myself, we love to hear these stories. We live and breathe these stories in hospitality and share them with others. So let’s start by just a proper introduction and maybe your hospitality journeys that led you to your respective positions. Kaleigh, let’s start with you. Kaleigh Weise: Yeah. Well, there’s a lot to unpack here. So if you see me at the show, come find me. I have been self-employed by whole entire career, and I have always been obsessed with the form and function of business. Like, how do you have a brand that really resonates despite, you know, I see your brand is like a lighthouse, right? Like, how are you attracting the right people? But also at the end of the day, like that business has to be incredibly healthy. And then you layer on a hotel, which is a 24/7 breathing company. And so how do you make sure that you have the longevity with systems and processes and you have a brand that continues to resonate as the years develop. And so I got my start serving in essentially helping brand and position and help with coaching for hospitality and service-based businesses. And then that naturally led into places where people slept, right? So I actually was working with event venues for a long time and when we got into the lodging conversation, I was like, now this is fascinating, a one time event versus like, keeping this up 24/7, what does that look like? And so we, I started out places essentially in 2018 after being in Northern California in the Santa Cruz Redwoods, we got to support a property out there. And I was like, the resonance that I got to feel to plant seeds of purpose into the land there of those 80 acres and understanding the choices we made would affect short-term and long-term generations really put me on a trajectory where that’s where I’ve committed my work so far. Ryan Embree: Really cool origin story there. And a lot of parallels from the event industry to hospitality and lodging. So, Dave, what about you? Dave Jacoby: Yeah, thanks. So I’m born and raised in Philadelphia, but somehow I ended up in Galveston, Texas, so I did not have that on my bingo card growing up. But here I am, out of college, worked in some finance and kind of hotel development related positions. First in New York City, then went to graduate school, then moved to Las Vegas and actually was in the casino space. But throughout that whole kind of portion of my journey was developing projects that were other people’s ideas and kind of on behalf of others, even though, you know, in Vegas, for example, I led development and opening up a resort there, moved to Galveston, where my wife is from. And my family’s now based in 2016. And just felt like I fell in love with Galveston, but felt like Galveston needed a slightly different hospitality experience here. Something with a little more soul that matched the soul that this whole town has. But the hospitality offerings that I didn’t feel like harnessed that soul really well, yet found an old kind of out of favor motel on the beach and figured out a way to acquire it and came up with a brand and a design and a team that we put together. And it’s been a labor of love and, you know, blood, sweat and tears sometimes, but a lot of smiles and happiness too. And we’re going on three years open, so, okay, that’s kind of how I got here. Ryan Embree: That’s like the America, the hotel American dream, what you’re doing right now. And listen, I went to school for hospitality and I think just this conversation already between the event management, hospitality, the gaming that you’ve included. I mean, this is like hospitality management 101 through the experiences, but certainly a familiar one where you’re bouncing around. But it sounds like you found your home there in Galveston. I was really excited about this conversation because it’s very rare I get to talk to two guests that have kind of built their brands from the ground up, right? And I think this is a challenge and a task that especially independent hoteliers have to kind of face and building their story and building a brand that resonates with travelers, especially today. So how important is branding and storytelling to connect with guests? Because I think that is what independent hotels strive to do is create this connection that might be missing right now and, you know, really hopefully leads to loyalty in the future. And what maybe advice would you share from your own personal kind of branding journeys? Dave, we’ll start with you and then go to Kaleigh. Dave Jacoby: The brand is so central to what we’re doing. We sort of started with that brand identity, and I use the term identity not as like a business jargon term, but it really is an identity. We personified our brand and there are still decisions that we’ll make where we have this fictitious Aunt Lucine that we will use as a muse for decisions we make around property. And it’s sort of a guiding light for us. But, I think the concept of kind of personifying your brand really helps make it make sense, at least for me. So, I look at how do we connect with our guests? I really look at how we connect with our local community and use that as the window in to our guests with the kind of overriding assumption that if our whole town and local surrounding population considers us part of the fabric of that neighborhood, that the outsiders will, that authenticity will come through. Outsiders will see that that’s where they’ll want to stay. So then, back to the personification of it, just like in your personal life, if you are friends with a group of people, you need to add something to that group and you need to then take something back from that group. So I sort of look at Galveston as the environment here is like a play. And instead of us coming in and saying, well, what is everyone else doing, we’ll do that too. So that we fit in saying, well, how do we add a new main character to the cast here? And I sort of look at it that way. And so what are we adding that’s different, but how does it fit into and, and be complimentary with everything around it? And that’s, that’s kind of how we, we looked at how we fit in and what we offer to our guests both, as, you know, overnight hotel guests and local community that might eat, drink, hang out with us. Ryan Embree: Kaleigh? Kaleigh Weise: Well, I wanna also compliment Dave and Keith have done such a phenomenal job at Hotel Lucine that they have a brand bible, if you will. And I think that it is a testament to how the vision casting of Aunt Lucine infiltrates, the purchases that they make for design, the plants, the employees, the uniforms, how they want them to talk and walk, and all of that alignment I think resonates really well with attracting the right talent, but also attracting the right guests. And so I think having intentionality, I always say, your brand is what other people say it is. So we have to remember that we have control over how we position our brands and what we want. So I think intentionality is first, which I think Hotel Stein does. On the flip side of that, I think we have to be realistic about who is traveling and who is coming to the hotel or who is also the consumer. Obviously on the B2B side, I usually like to pick three to five different personas, and I think that that helps shape making decisions. We have a property we’re working with right now that is on 12 acres. There’s 43 cabins. It’s primarily outside, right? It’s like, okay, who is the ideal person who’s looking for a property like this? And I think the clearer that you can get with that, it helps you understand where your revenue programming is gonna come for, like, come from. It helps you understand like where you should put costs. Like do they care about the amenities? Do they care about the soap? Do they want a robe in the room? And I think sometimes we make decisions that are too close to maybe how we would like to travel or what we think is best, and we forget what our guests might be looking for, which then leads to greater revenue opportunities and better residents that leads to people wanting to come back because they feel like they belong there, right? Like that was created for them. So that’s kind of the flip side of I think knowing who you are, but knowing who your guest is is equally as important. Ryan Embree: Yeah, a hundred percent. And there’s, I mean, guests are leaving us clues constantly on who they are based on online feedback, social media posts, reviews, there’s so many things. Even just a day-to-day conversations, you would be surprised, a tip that everyone gets, you know, you wanna know, you wanna learn about what guests think about you, just hang out in your lobby for a couple minutes during breakfast and just hear the conversations about what people are saying about their stay. But Dave, I loved your point there about talking about being embedded in the local community because you think about people that really prioritize a unique experience in the independent hotel space, which they’re independent hotels are so positioned to do, if you don’t become a part of your community, they’re looking for that unique kind of experience that only an independent hotel can provide them. If you’re really embracing your local community and sharing those same kind of aspects of it’s gonna hopefully resonate with that traveler. And then hopefully they amplify that story a little bit in some of the ways that I was talking about. But one of the things we’re gonna talk about the independent hotel show in a second in September, very excited about that. But one of the things that I love about that show is sometimes as independent hotels, you might feel a little bit like you’re on an island because you don’t have that big brand behind you, right? So getting a bunch of independent hoteliers together, you hear about some of the challenges that are going on right now. And unfortunately right now there’s a lot of noise in our industry. Economic shift, geopolitical factors, rising operational costs and margins are very thin, can be challenging for independent hoteliers. Where do you guys see opportunity right now? Because independent hotels are always looking for that little bit of edge. Where do you see opportunity right now in the state of this industry and maybe where do you see some shared challenges that we have to kind of battle as an industry for independent hotelilers? Kaleigh, let’s start with you and then maybe Dave you could zoom in maybe a little bit more on your property and market. Kaleigh Weise: I think the biggest thing that I’m seeing is, I talk about all these revenue drivers as like little dials. We get to tweak and twist, right? And I think that through some of the impacts that we’re having that are things that are outside of our control, right? There’s only so much we can do with some of these things. There are a few things that you actually can kind of take control over. And I think that investing more in the community and finding opportunities to drive revenue with the people who are in your local area who maybe aren’t traveling for the summer or fall or Christmas or whatever that might be through that event programming, it is not uncommon for us to go into a independent hotel and they haven’t really ever thought about events, especially if they’re under, let’s say 60 keys. Even 20 to 40 or 80 is a great number because you have an opportunity to having a full buyout, or you can have 40th birthday parties or a wedding or something like that. And that can be a huge revenue driver. And so I think as we look at shifts that are happening with, you know, the average event or wedding right now is booking a hundred or event is booking 120 days out. I think the average wedding is booking somewhere between nine and and 14 months out. You can start forecasting revenue a little bit more in control and then focusing on your rooms and your distribution in shorter term pickup opportunities. And so I think understanding where are all of your revenue drivers? What do you have control over? What do you not have control over? And where are, maybe there are opportunities that will be very low lift to you to be able to fill dates and have revenue coming in ways that haven’t been the pickup that you anticipated. Ryan Embree: yeah, and food and beverage, huge opportunity and doesn’t, you’re absolutely right, Kaleigh. It doesn’t necessarily need to be travelers from outside of your market all the time. The hotel restaurant, I feel like has got a bad rap for the last decade or so, but it is turning around, right? And it’s a place where people want to be. It’s a social setting where when people come, you might be hosting people and for the holidays or what have you, and you might find yourself at a hotel restaurant even if they’re not staying there. So it’s certainly a shift in what’s happening right now, but especially for independent hotels. Dave, what about you? What have you kind of seen in your market and maybe any creative solutions for some of these challenges right now? Dave Jacoby: I mean, I’ll sort of piggyback off of what Kaleigh said a little bit there, but it’s events and Kaleigh has sort of focused on booking events from, you know, outside groups. I’ll sort of look at it more as your internal event programming I think is also really important. And, and that’s, and it’s our kind of best way that we use to connect with our local community. And what that event programming is can be so many different things. It sort of depends who you are, who is in your community, and how do you fit into your community, what do you offer? So kind of when I talked about earlier, need to offer something back to your community that you’re in, for us that means a lot of live music. We’re very plugged into the local live music scene and we have a great curated music program every weekend night, all year long. And then in the summer we have a series called Sunset and Sounds, which is sort of larger bands that are touring. Some are touring the U.S. Some are based in Austin or elsewhere in Texas, and they come down to hotel scene and we put on free shows for hotel guests, the community, whoever wants to go. We do wellness events and that might be cold plunges or sound baths. We’ll partner with local organizations that wanna do fundraisers or other events. And it’s just a way to activate the space. It’s a way for people that are not from your town to have a experience where they feel like they’re integrated into what’s happening in that community. It’s a little more interesting for them as a visitor. And if you’re staying at a large chain hotel down the street or in another market, they just can’t deliver that. They don’t have the people, enough people with decision making power that are in the community that are focused on that. It’s just not the way they’re built. So that’s really the advantage I think independents do have over the larger chain hotels. We might not have the distribution systems and some of the other marketing spend, but we do have the ability to deliver on a day-to-day basis and experience that’s just different than what those larger hotels can. Kaleigh Weise: And I would like to comment that, you know, we’re seeing data around three hour drives being really hot, right? So I think sometimes you think you’re marketing to the next nearest city or, you know, looking for that destination destination visitor. I think really thinking about who are those markets that are within a three hour drive that are easy pickup for you once they know that you exist and you’ve again pointed your lighthouse of your marketing and branding in their direction, I think that’s a wonderful way to pick up opportunities for guests and community and events and things like that. Ryan Embree: Hey, I am the father of a 5 and a 3-year-old. And let me tell you, I’m a huge proponent of the three hour trip because that’s about as far as I can get before all of us go a little crazy. So you, you can bet I’m definitely looking for those opportunities to get out there and have that type of experience that Dave, you know, it’s around this time of year when we’re I’m talking to independent hotels that I get so inspired because the freedom of having an independent hotel and the activations and programming that you can put on, I think sometimes independent hotels, because they see some of these big branded hotels not doing some of this programming. They think should I be doing it? And it’s maybe because they have so much red tape in their branding, they have to get approval from, legal or their brand to actually run these things that they’re just not doing it. So it’s such an opportunity, and again, I get so inspired to kind of see that because the way the ingenuity that these independent hoteliers have is just, it’s second to none in our industry. It’s really creating a very cool experience, which is now being showcased and highlighted easier than ever via social media and reviews. So as we talk about industry trends, I wanna see, Kaleigh, you were talking about the three hour trip, right? Wellness is a big one, f &b, what are some of these maybe traveler trends that you’re starting to see bubble up and emerge right now? And how can independent hotels capitalize on these trends and over maybe branded competitors? Dave, you want to start maybe any trends that you’re noticing in your market in Galveston? Dave Jacoby: I’d say one might be the, and to use a buzzword here, the bleisure trends or the business leisure trends. So we will find, sometimes we’ll get small groups, maybe it’s a board or a small creative agency or something like that, that will come and have an offsite with us. And it’s partially meant to be used as a brainstorming session or some obvious business function to their meeting. But it’s also a time to hang out. Some of these groups might bring spouses with them or there might be a business component and then they’ll stay for the weekend and then it’s a little more freeform or social at that point. Or I’ll sort of see this bleisure happen from the other direction where someone will say, Hey, I want to come for a weekend and be at the beach, but why not come on Wednesday night and I’ll stay and I’ll just, I work from home anyway. That’s become so much more acceptable for all or part of the week for so many people. What does it matter if I work from home, from home home or from a hotel or a hotel lobby where I’ve got coffee? And it can be tended to. So we sort of see leisure trips happen in both those directions where the, the work kind of lends a little more leisure and the leisure lends a little more work. Kaleigh Weise: We also have a great living room for people to work and hang out and stay and enjoy beachside. Dave Jacoby: We do, we do. I sit in there often and you’re, and you’re right that it is when I overhear what people are saying about the hotel, I do my work, but I also eave drop and pop in on people and help out with things. Ryan Embree: It’s funny ’cause you know, modern day design for hotels now are accommodating for that. They know that the flexible workspace and they’re building lobby common areas a little bit larger or maybe even not so siloed so that people can mingle, interact, but also have some spaces to work from. So certainly a trend there. Kaylee, what are you seeing maybe from, as you zoom out? Kaleigh Weise: I mean I think experiences and add-ons are something that I continue to be surprised by. So if I’m the North American Ambassador for Muse, so I of course love Muse, but also cloud beds and stay in touch and all of, like, they all offer these add-on options where a guest during checkout or pre-arrival, they can add that early check-in. I’m blown away by the amount of people who opt into that $35 pre-check in or wanna add a bottle of wine to the room. Like those little details, it’s so helpful when they’re coming to have that reminder that we can make this a more customized stay for you. And so I think the sweet spot is no more than seven upsell opportunities. But I think that that even bleeds into, I know when we were helping with Hotel Lucine I’d ideate on some of these things, it’s like they ended up doing pop-up dinners on the balconies of their rooms and adding, I forget, a couple hundred dollars right? Or picnic baskets that people could take offsite. And I think people are hungry for having that almost like travel agent like experience where if the property can customize an itinerary for them or enhancements for their stay, I think they’re very excited and eager to be able to take advantage of that. So I think that’s a trend that’s happening and desirable, but something that I see a lot of independent hoteliers are stuck in the day to day and maybe not adding the attention that they could that will see the revenue that really is low hanging fruit out there. Dave Jacoby: Kaleigh’s so good at that. I mean she helped us with that as she mentioned, but she’s got this ability to kind of come in and just see what’s going on every day and she’s not seeing anything you don’t see immediately. But then she also sees these other opportunities of ways to personalize the guest experience in a way that you’re happy to do and isn’t a heavy lift for you and the guest is happy to pay for. And it’s just such a win-win. It’s almost like you get the surprise and delight moment right outta the gates and the guest pays for it too. It’s a great, it’s a great combo. Kaleigh Weise: Just a matter of training the staff and getting in on the website. Ryan Embree: That’s right. Very important. Get the buy-in from the staff. But you mentioned that word personalized. I mean that’s what we’ve been striving for in this industry for a long time. Personalization and with the rise of technology and AI like I put here, it’s not a podcast in 2026 if we don’t use those words. I don’t think I anybody would listen if we don’t talk about that or that buzzword. But I do wanna talk about it because I think especially with independent hotels, they might be more excited than most because it could figure out a way they could use AI and technology to maybe shrink the difference or find that edge against a branded competitor and maybe not feel so, you know, just David versus Goliath in that sense. So Kaleigh, have you kind of seen any competitive or creative uses of technology and AI in the industry, especially with independent hotels? And then maybe Dave you could share a little bit of your thoughts as well. Kaleigh Weise: I definitely see us being in a bit of a purgatory and as I’m talking about this, I’m thinking fast forward a year from now and I think agentic agents are at our fingertips for having access to supportive administrative help. And I see what Muse is working on behind the scenes and it’s like we’re gonna be living in a very different operational world. In I think all the best ways. And when I think about the future of an org chart at a small independent property where you have to get stuck in the day-to-day right now planning and preparing for guests and double checking things like being able to be synced in when Uber’s about to when Uber’s about to drop off your guest. And being able to be prepared with that timing. I think we’re gonna see our front desk admin become hosts for the first time and really have the time and empowerment to be able to greet them with the level of detail and customization. I also think the automations, I think we’re gonna snap that into being just such a helpful tool to ask the right questions or personalize the spaces. So I think currently it’s very challenging, let’s say for an independent hotel to offer a pillow menu, if you will, for the right pillows that that guest is gonna want. But I think in the future we’re gonna be able to have the opportunity for putting a time and attention into creating experiences that guest deserves that’s customized based on various preferences or interactions. And so I think it’s a really exciting time for actually hospitality to take back the spotlight. And that’s why people join this industry, right? Is they love hosting people and giving people experiences. And I think sometimes the admin takes away from that, you know? And I think that it’s gonna allow us to be more competitive when it comes to distribution. All of us didn’t go to school to be revenue managers, right? And I think that is a, that is a calculated game that to be able to have tools that can help support us and making sure that we’re optimizing the proper ADR and and pickup cost to be able to book our occupancy moving forward. I think it’s a really exciting time. I think we’re just in the purgatory of it right now. It’s like at our fingertips, but we’re not quite there. But I think about a year from now, things are gonna feel like it’s restabilizing in a really exciting way. Ryan Embree: So Dave, from an owner’s per perspective, you’ve, you just talked about how carefully you’ve kind of curated and built this incredible experience at Hotel Lucine. What is your thoughts on when you think about implementing technology or, or some sort of new AI initiative into the guest experience and how you make sure that doesn’t impact your brand too much? Dave Jacoby: I like the term Kaleigh used about purgatory. I don’t think we’re quite there yet. If you look at the amount of, certainly in the independent space, useful applications of AI in the day-to-day life versus the amount of words in print publications about AI, it’s a massive imbalance there. To me, the right ways that AI can be implemented are ways that are invisible to the guests. So the example Kaleigh was using is one that we’re, I’m rolling out actually now in kind of bits and pieces is how do you use AI to improve your day-to-day workflow? And for me, if it’s, I can unleash it on my Google drive and have it pull a bunch of information and synthesize it and put report together for that I can then give to our team. We’ve got better data and that would’ve taken me three hours, but I let it run in the background for 10 minutes and it’s done. You know, things like that to get better insights on your business, that can be done. Now, to the extent we can use AI to free up front desk agents, I’m working through a specific protocol on that now, just to get all the, what’s your pet policy, what time is check? And we just get so many emails that are repetitive in nature to answer. And the front desk agent isn’t always on top of it. Sometimes they’re doing other things, and I’d rather they be eyeball to eyeball with a guest acting as a host or hostess to the people that come in and providing person to person hospitality and not in the computer. We can free that up. You can do that now. So it’s a matter of just setting the systems up and taking the time to do it. And you can set it up with as much automation or oversight as you want to do, but it’s a matter of taking the time to actually do it so that you can free up those personal interactions. Because that’s where we as independent hotels, I think are, that’s what we people come to us for, is for that personalized touch and feeling like they’re having a human interaction and they’re not at a big corporate commoditized hotel. So we wanna give them that as much as we can. Kaleigh Weise: And I mean, I think human-centric is so important. I think we can, we can still remain to have a human-centric business with these tools. I hear all the time people feel like they’re so behind with using AI. And I guess even for those listeners today, I think you can relinquish the shame because the speed in which AI is gonna continue to grow is gonna continue to grow. And I think the application of that, depending on what market you’re in, what tools you’re using, I think if you can focus on one implementation thing that’s gonna actually help you serve your guests better, you’re not behind. It’s really just pacing that is right for your team, for your guests, and what’s gonna be right for you. But also don’t be afraid of it. Like, I think that there’s a lot of exciting things and tools that are only gonna be able to support us as an industry. Ryan Embree: My big bold prediction is that I think the GM of the next couple years is actually gonna look a lot more like maybe the GM of 20, 30 years ago before all of that kind of work that what we traditionally thought a GM had to do with reports and all of these things that actually some of those desk jockeying kind of tasks, AI can, agentic AI could potentially take care of for you. And then you get back to kind of doing what both of you described as, you know, that face-to-face human interaction. So what I’m hoping is that, you know, a lot of this technology actually kind of causes more of our service driven people and hospitality professionals to kind of rise to the top and create some really cool, memorable experiences and maybe just get that service back to where it was. Because it just feels like there’s some aspects of it in some hotels where it just, we completely missed the mark. So that’s my, maybe that’s me being a litte too, but that’s, that’s my 2 cents and what I hope happens. Dave Jacoby: No, no, I think that makes a lot of sense. And I thought of one other great application for independent hoteliers for AI. We don’t have an in-house IT guy. We don’t have an in-house like maintenance tech. We’re just not big enough to carry those positions. But you can go to your, claude, chatGPT, whatever it is, and say, why did my TV turn on three times in the middle of the night by itself in room 212 last night? True story, this happened and the guest was upset. And then I explained what my systems are and how they work and what they can, you give it a little bit of input information, it’ll help you diagnose. I haven’t yet tried the recommendation ’cause I’m on here talking to you guys. But there are all kinds of solutions you can ask for help for and they might not be right, but before you’re spending money to call out an HVAC technician, find somebody who can handle whatever this one specific system you have is and can service that you can troubleshoot a lot of these things and 60, 70% of these things you can fix on your own because it’ll walk you through it. It’s really a helpful way to save money. And that also helps guests experience, right? Because now if that TV’s not turning on three times middle of the night for that guest tomorrow night, she’ll be happy. Ryan Embree: Love it. Yeah. There we go. Just claude gonna be employee of the, of the week over there at Hotel Lucine every week If we get that figured out. But I do wanna shift our attention to the reason we, you know, started this series, the Independent Hotel Show this year happening September 16th and 17th in Miami Beach. We could not be more excited. And for our Suite Spot listeners, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26 for a complimentary registration. Dave, you’re on the advisory board and Kaleigh, you’re a brand ambassador like myself. We were on a call talking about the show just the other day. I wanna get your thoughts on what inspired you to get involved with this event and maybe some of your personal favorite aspects of the show. So Kaleigh, let’s start with you and then Dave, you can answer. Kaleigh Weise: I have been an active conference goer my whole career, right? Like a little bit of hustling, a little bit of gorilla marketing. And when I look back at the growth and success in my career, it really comes down to the thin threads and the people that I meet. And I think to have an opportunity to pull up a seat at the table for independent hoteliers who do feel very isolated most of the time, right? They don’t have any other friends who have independent hotels to call. They feel like they’re stuck in the day to day. This will be the fourth year. And I’ve been able to be a part all four years. And I think it’s really exciting to even meet back up every year and hear about the growth that each person is experiencing, but also what’s working in their market and not, and just because you’re in Boston or you’re in Galveston or you’re in Monterey, California, you’re gonna find that you have more the same than different when it comes to the day-to-day challenges of operating a business or being able to get in front of the right guests that you know that you deserve, that are paying the price point that you want. And so to have an opportunity to hear what’s relevant in terms of content, but also talk with other people is just invaluable. And so I continue to be really excited about the niche of, you know, the subsegment. The industry is so large in lodging and we really haven’t had a place until the Independent Hotel Show that gathers this segment of people who are doing it. Owner operated and small with a passion. Ryan Embree: Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. Passion is is a word we hear a lot at that show. Because you can just see, I mean these are, you guys are both founders like I mentioned before. I mean the passion behind your brand, the storytelling makes such a huge difference. And to have that much energy and a place Miami Beach of all places, right? One of the independent hotel capital of the world, to see and hear all of that is a truly a memorable experience. Dave what about yourself? Dave Jacoby: Yeah, so unlike Kaleigh, I do not go to a lot of conferences. It’s not generally my thing, but I’ve been into this show and really loved it. I loved how we mentioned earlier how a lot of independent hoteliers haven’t really had a lot of places to congregate and kind of coalesce their thoughts together. I found the panels awesome, even the ones that I was like, well that’s doesn’t really touch what I do in my day to day, but I’m here so I’ll listen. All of them. I found really interesting. More than that, it was just the people that were there, these other independent hotel helped hoteliers who had done gone on their own journeys to get wherever they got. And they had all figured it out. Ghere was not a lot of resources in front of them telling them how to do what they needed to do. They just, they needed to pay their mortgage, they just did the next right thing and got there. So hearing the stories of how people solved whatever the issues were that were in front of them and sharing my own stories and finding the commonalities of maybe the setting was different or the problem was different, but really the approach was very the same. Or getting inspiration from people who have figured out things I hadn’t figured out yet and learning from them. So I really like just the being able to learn so much kind of one-on-one from people and in and in some of the sessions. Kaleigh Weise: I also think they do a great job of pulling together vendors and resources. It is not uncommon for an independent hotelier to go to Costco for some of their… Or order on, you know, Walmart.com or Amazon. And I feel like there really are great resources out there that are made for independent hoteliers and to bring them into the room to have a conversation around cost savings or ability to be able to elevate the amenities that they have on site. I’m really excited ’cause I think of the show floor this year is gonna be bigger and better than ever from what we were hearing in preparation. And so I think it’s a wonderful opportunity that people should allow time to walk the floor in addition to hearing the sessions because those vendors can really change their bottom line quite significantly with implementation. Ryan Embree: Yeah, absolutely. And it’s so cool to see the eclecticness of the independent hoteliers there from, Dave, you’re a great example coming from Galveston, Texas. You could be coast to coast anywhere from like a little five room air bnb rather to a giant independent hotel in a major market. So just everything in between, all different shapes and sizes when it comes to independent hotels, independent hotels. That’s why we love them so much. That’s why we like hearing the stories and why it’s such a unique space and hospitality. And to be able to spend those couple days putting the spotlight on sometimes, this really, really unique segment, it’s such a privilege. We’ve had the opportunity to cover the show for four years as well. So we’re very excited and hope our Suite Spot listeners will join us in Miami Beach this September. So as we wrap up, I do like to just kind of give the opportunity for any final thoughts as we wrap up today. I want to thank both of you for taking the time to join me today. Kaleigh, any final thoughts before we wrap up? Kaleigh Weise: Yeah, I feel like the, the topic I wanna touch on is a lot of hoteliers in the making are interested in the show and I feel like there’s a little bit of intimidation showing up, not really having background or knowledge or even knowing what they’re getting themselves into. And so I guess from an affirmation perspective, this is a wonderful show if this is an industry that you’re curious about or you wanna learn more about or you wanna have the conversations around. And so we look forward to hopefully welcoming you in September. Dave Jacoby: Yeah, I will echo that. And kind of say there are a lot of people at this show that are interested in the space and maybe are there to learn and they’ll find that people are there like myself or other people who have kind of gone through the process and developed their hotel. I would just say to all of them here, what I’ll say to you at the show is, I didn’t know what I was doing either when I started and a lot of us don’t. And there’s no playbook. There’s not gonna be a playbook. You’re not gonna find one that’s gonna tell you what to do at all steps. You just surround yourself with smart people. You need to know what you can and cannot do and where your limits are and kind of take the plunge and figure it out as you go. And your decision making in the moment is really gonna be what’s gonna drive the process. And if you’re always waiting to have the full roadmap, you’re never gonna have that roadmap. Ryan Embree: Maybe that’ll be our next endeavor as the independent hoteliers playbook and we can publish that as a couple authors. Dave Jacoby: Yeah, a long book. Ryan Embree: Yes. Take a lot I’m sure. Kaleigh Weise: Variation A, B, C, D. Ryan Embree: Exactly. Ryan Embree: Well, Kaleigh, Dave, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time, sharing your stories today. We cannot wait for September at the Independent Hotel Show. And thank you all for listening to the Suite Spot. We will talk to you next time. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

Our summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s conversation with Richard Kind. Single-handedly redefining the term “character actor,” the accomplished Richard Kind is surely one of the hardest working people in show business. His resume is unfathomably wide and deep, with over 270 film and television credits, spanning roles that exploit his killer comedic timing, like sitcoms “Spin City” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and those that exercise his dramatic chops, like HBO’s “Luck” and the CBS procedural “East New York.” He’s an actor just as likely to appear in an Oscar-winning feature film as an animated one, to scene-steal a sketch comedy series as to star in an indie short. Kind is also a Tony-nominated stage actor, having appeared on Broadway in “The Producers,” “Funny Girl” and “The Big Knife,” among many others. Richard Kind speaks with host Alec Baldwin about the type of comedians that raised him, how he found his way to the profession after almost attending law school – and why he believes he is the “Costco of acting.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode comes to you live from our pop-up studio at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York City. Our guest: Jason LaRose, CEO of Bombas — the brand that turned socks, underwear, and tees into a mission-powered growth machine, with more than 200 million essential clothing items donated to people experiencing homelessness. But first, the news — and in our summer biweekly format, there's plenty. Steve breaks down Nike's unimpressive quarter: revenues down, China off 12%, and an operating profit boost driven almost entirely by a nearly billion-dollar one-time tariff refund. The contrast with Levi's couldn't be sharper — under Michelle Gass, the brand posted 8% sales growth, expanding margins, and momentum across women's and tops. The winners keep winning elsewhere too. Aritzia's remarkable run continues with comps up an eye-popping 35% and digital up nearly 60%. Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing delivers 22% revenue growth from its 2,500-store global fleet. And Costco's monthly numbers offer fresh evidence of retail's Great Concentration. Then there's Kroger, acquiring regional grocery powerhouse Giant Eagle — a $9 billion revenue business bought at a strikingly low multiple. Michael and Steve debate the real question: does acquiring-to-compete solve Kroger's relevance problem, or just buy cost leverage against Walmart, Costco, and Amazon? Then it's on to Jason LaRose, who joined Bombas after leadership roles at Under Armour and Equinox. What drew him in: a genuine mission wrapped around outstanding economics — profitable essentially since day one. He traces the brand's arc from Indiegogo campaign and Shark Tank's most successful company ever to nearly $2 billion in cumulative sales, now expanding into underwear, tees, footwear, and slippers — the very items most requested in homeless shelters. LaRose also delivers a masterclass in disciplined distribution: highly curated wholesale partnerships with Target, Dick's, Nordstrom, and Scheels, each with distinct assortments for distinct customers, alongside the brand's first stores and expansion into Canada. His mantra — quality, comfort, mission, in that order — explains why repeat rates keep the funnel from leaking where so many DTC peers sprang holes. Wrapping up, on Steve's radar: a Dallas-area tour of the newly merged Container Store and Bed Bath & Beyond format (who exactly is this store for?), plus his provocative new Substack essay, "Convenience is Boring." On Michael's radar: the soon-to-open Gordie Howe Bridge, his conversation with U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, and why USMCA review limbo keeps piling uncertainty — and cost — onto businesses and consumers across North America. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2026 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.

This week on the Mondays show Han Solo is back and we're going through some news from the last month or so.  Some really super interesting items to share in news format from what's in the ROAD to Housing Act that recently passed, night time transportation, the difference between Costco and Amazon logistics, and what makes an authentic place.  There's much much more so how about diving in? News Items Inside the ROAD to Housing Act: Bipartisan Policy Center Mobility wallet - Journal of the American Planning Association Night transit - ITS International Future prime minister bus man - New York Times Costco's model - Pheonomenal World Authentic neighborhoods - Harvard Gazette Bonus Extra Items Salamander crossing - Grist Transit deserts and food deserts - The Guardian Speed cameras - SF Examiner Riding the D - The Guardian Highway lobby hard to push back - Union of Concerned Scientists New Mexico child care - The Guardian Short flights more expensive, less available - NPR Young people need own spaces - ERR How traffic makes cities warmer - The Conversation A new approach to planning with less car traffic - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Tire particles - Yale e360  Procurement matters - Eurocities Fungal network - Grist Colorado EV recycling - The Drive Dance influenced ped mall - CVille Magazine Mayor's parking meter deal - Block Club Chicago Hanoi low emissions zones - Vietnam Investment Review +++ Many thanks to Bob Nanna for our intro/outro music. Get the show ad free on Patreon! Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube! Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Substack ... @theoverheadwire Follow us on Mastadon theoverheadwire@sfba.social Support the show on Patreon http://patreon.com/theoverheadwire Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!  And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public! And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com    

5PM: VIDEO GUEST - RY CURLEY - SEAHAWKS LOOK TO HAVE A NEW OWNER // Why sale of Seahawks to Khosla family group is ‘win all around’ // The MLB All-Star break is upon us… How do we feel about the M’s? // The One Thing Everyone in America Can Agree On? Costco // He Earns $33 an Hour as a Costco Cashier. Now He’s a Millionaire. // LETTERS

Apparently, Costco has a secret discount section in every store that's hard to find. Have you ever stumbled upon the Costco Graveyard?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donna & Steve open the show with some terrible "How hot is it???" joke, Shia LaBeouf saying his dad was a creep on his movie sets and Donna watched some of the new Little House on the Prairie on Netflix.In hour two, we play the Rosie O'Donnell edition of the College of Pop Culture Knowledge, why you shouldn't sit cross-legged too much and has clothing ever injured you?Finally, a new trailer dropped for Tom Cruise's new movie Digger, why people are replacing meals with snacks and we find out the Soup of the Day!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode SummaryRecorded live at the San Diego Angel Conference finale at SDSU, Eric Ries — author of The Lean Startup — sits down with product leader and founder coach Vidya Dinamani to unpack his new book, Incorruptible. His argument: there's a gravitational force that pulls even mission-driven companies toward decay — “the making of money without the creating of value” — and the more successful you get, the bigger a target you become. Eric walks through how it happens (stack-ranking by ROI, the “what would investors want” ghost in every meeting, Groupon's two-emails-a-day spiral), why the fix has to come earlier than anyone wants (“it's too early until it's too late”), and the concrete governance moves that keep the great ones honest. Along the way: the San Diego origin story of Costco, Cloudflare giving away its best paid feature, Anthropic's long-term benefit trust, a hard-nosed take on AI, and a health insurer whose customer-service reps act like guardian angels.Key Topics* Corruption as “making money without creating value”* The gravity that pulls companies from mission to mediocrity* Costco's San Diego origin — and why FedMart died* Why stack-ranking by ROI buries the work that builds trust* “It's too early until it's too late” — protecting the mission in time* The PBC filing and binding your board to the mission* AI as a “Dunning-Kruger factory,” and how to actually use it* “Love” as an operating framework: the Devoted Health storyLinks & Resources* Incorruptible* The Lean Startup* Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE)* San Diego Angel ConferenceConnect on LinkedIn* Neal Bloom * Eric Ries* Vidya Dinamani This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

A third-grade teacher once warned that he'd grow up to be either a gangster or someone who did a lot of good. He chose to build better systems. In this episode of DarrenDaily On-Demand, Darren Hardy tells the story of Sol Price, the visionary behind Price Club and the warehouse model that inspired Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, and even a young Jeff Bezos. Price ran on radical honesty and paid his people double what others did. Everyone said he'd go broke; instead, he earned loyalty that money couldn't buy. Darren pulls three lessons from his story for your own business and legacy. Get more personal mentoring from Darren each day. Go to DarrenDaily at http://darrendaily.com/join to learn more.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest stories of the week. Team USA is out of the World Cup and the guys are done with soccer  but not before breaking down why American sports franchises are worth more than every soccer team on Earth. Then they get into the wealth-building conversation nobody wants to hear, why nearly half of Americans under 30 live with their parents, and the $12 water that broke the internet. This week's Group Chat covers: Team USA is out — the World Cup fallout, the Argentina conspiracy, and soccer's broken rules Vinod Khosla's group buys the Seattle Seahawks for $9.65 billion Why one NFL team is worth more than almost every soccer club in the world Thousands of hourly Costco workers now have over $1 million in their 401(k)s The boomer math nobody talks about — save 5-10% since 1990 and you'd have $6 million today Why the S&P 500 is the "Premier League" of investing and still available to everyone Is the system actually broken, or are we just wired for instant gratification? Nearly half of Americans under 30 now live with their parents — coddling or smart money? The participation trophy generation and how parenting changed the game Sleepaway camp, self-sufficiency, and raising kids who can take care of themselves Erewhon's $12 water sells out — genius marketing or peak status symbol? And much more!

The "Summer of Habanos" begins with the My Father La Lealtad, a hefty 6x60 cigar delivering balanced notes of cedar, coffee, tobacco, and subtle sweetness. Tony and Fingers also review Costco's Patriot Eagle Bourbon, debate the greatest Southern foods, question the purpose of warm potato salad, and prepare themselves for Indiana State Fair creations involving honey buns, melted butter, and absolutely no restraint. Plus, Walmart cuts prices, Tinder heats up during the World Cup, Adam Sandler causes ridiculous social media outrage, and baby boomers are getting divorced in record numbers. Find everything at [EatDrinkSmokeShow.com](EatDrinkSmokeShow.com).

(July 13, 2026) Billionaire exodus? Survey says California drew in 10x more venture capital than any other state this year. Free samples with a side of serotonin: Welcome to the Costco feeding frenzy. With AI character Tilly Norwood set for feature film debut, Hollywood debates what it means to be an actor. California wolves are eating much more cattle than wild prey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

HOUR 3 (07/13) – Shannon and Andy Riesmeyer recap the day's biggest headlines, including the latest on Lindsey Graham's replacement, Mitch McConnell's health, escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and the bison attack that sent a man flying.They also debate deodorants, clinical-strength antiperspirants, and the marketing behind them before wrapping the show with an entertaining conversation about Costco, why Shannon refuses to shop there, the unwritten rules of free samples, and the psychology behind warehouse shopping.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monday – Jack gets pulled over, Jim must deal with a car recall repair, we like coffee, Jim wants more Jason Deli's in the world, or at least near him, and the secret to Costco sales. Emily the Movie Girl reviews Moana and The Invite. Brandon Kravitz on the World Cup, where Lebron will play next season and MLB Home Run Derby. Attorney Ray Traendly on Apple suing OpenAI, and protecting kids of divorce. Plus, JCS News, JCS Trivia & You Heard it Here First. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Best of Tim Conway Jr. & Friends Hour # 3 (7.8) Hour 3 is stacked with laughs, tips, and unforgettable guests. Tim kicks things off with clutch tips on buying gas to save some cash, plus a Costco return story you have to hear to believe. Then Chef Kevin Ashton stops by to share what it's like cooking for a sorority, and it turns into something surprisingly heartfelt as he opens up about how much he cares for the students and pours all his effort into making sure they eat well. To cap it off, teen idol and music icon Shaun Cassidy joins the show to talk about all his music endeavors. It's the perfect mix of practical, heartwarming, and star-studded fun.Tap the mic, smash that play button, and share it with a friend.#TimConwayJr #BestOf #MoneySavingTips #Costco #GasHacks #KevinAshton #SororityChef #ShaunCassidy #TeenIdol #RadioLegends #PodcastClips #ViralPodcast #MustListen #TrendingNowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Preview for Later Today: Jim McTague observes fluctuating gasoline prices in Lancaster County, noting that costs are creeping upward daily due to Middle Eastern violence, impacting even the typically cheapest outlets like Costco and BJ'swarehouse stores.

The invisible threat moms can't wash off

Krishna Kaliannan wanted to start a tech company but failed at every attempt. On the side, he was teaching himself how to cook with high-protein, low-sugar ingredients. Not just out of interest, but out of necessity. As a teenager, Krishna had been diagnosed with diabetes and epilepsy, meaning he adopted a keto diet long before it was trendy. Krishna's home experiments with pea powder and monk fruit eventually became Catalina Crunch, one of the country's most popular high-protein, low-carb breakfast cereals and snacks. In this episode, Krishna shares how a life-changing health condition sparked an obsession with healthy baking— and a brand that reimagined snacking.What You'll LearnHow to turn a health challenge into a business opportunity The art and science of baking with esoteric ingredientsWhen to trust partners and when it's best to take charge yourselfWhy the DTC model is great for some industries and disastrous for othersTimestamps:00:06:16 - Dealing with diabetes and epilepsy as a college student00:12:38 - What Krishna learns from his early failures in tech00:22:43 - The first, low-sugar cocoa puffs: “Rocks that tasted like soil.” 00:27:36 - His homemade cereal gets good enough to sell00:32:42 - Naming the brand: classy alliteration and a nod to a Will Ferrell movie 00:44:51 - Learning to make cereal like the pros at Texas A&M00:54:43 - Krishna moves from NYC to Indiana to make sure the cereal is made right01:01:04 - Whole Foods, Costco, and becoming a household brandThis episode was researched and produced by Chris Maccini with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our engineer was Kwesi Lee. Follow How I Built This:Instagram → @howibuiltthisX → @HowIBuiltThisFacebook → How I Built ThisFollow Guy Raz:Instagram → @guy.razYoutube → guy_razX → @guyrazSubstack → guyraz.substack.comWebsite → guyraz.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.