Podcasts about downtown alliance

A delegation of Utah leaders is headed to our nation's capital to advocate for Utahns and discuss solutions to the most pressing issues facing our state today. Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins the show to discuss the goal of the delegation and what they hope to accomplish.

Hosts: Leah Murray and Greg Skordas Kamala Harris chooses Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mateThe Democratic presidential ticket is now complete; Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her vice presidential pick. Who is Walz? What does he bring to the ticket? Hosts Leah Murray and Greg Skordas get our listeners up to speed. But wait, what do Republicans think about Walz? Are they feeling worried or strengthened? KSL at Night host and President of ASG Consulting, Adam Gardiner joins the program to share some insight from the other side of the aisle. Reviewing some key primary elections around the country todaySeveral states held primary elections today, with a few big names facing stiff competition. We talk through some of the races in Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, and Washington. Two states are also seen as vulnerable to conflict in the next election: Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The KSL at Night hosts catch our listeners up on other federal races across the country.Discussing the effects of Google losing its antitrust caseA judge has ruled that Google’s search engine illegally exploits its dominance to beat its competitors. The major antitrust case could have huge ramifications on online searches going forward. The hosts take a moment to compare this case to other historical antitrust case. Greg Skordas, KSL Legal Analyst, breaks down the newest ruling against Google and talks about what it could lead to. Gov. Cox rejects death row inmate’s request for a reprieveToday, Governor Spencer Cox rejected a request from Taberon Honie, a death row inmate set for execution this week. Honie’s lawyers had asked for the Governor to grant a temporary reprieve. What exactly does that mean? This is a sensitive case, but an important one nonetheless. We take a few moments to discuss the situation surrounding the first legal execution in Utah in 14 years. What does the future of Downtown Salt Lake City look like?Following the pandemic, there’s been a slow return to the office, especially for workers in Downtown Salt Lake City. Does this mean Downtown needs to diversify itself more — adding more housing or entertainment, for instance? Dee Brewer, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance calls into the show to shed some light on what his organization sees for the future of Downtown Salt Lake City. Brewer also discusses how the 2034 Winter Olympics could help boost the area’s “social economy.” Examining life expectancy rates around the state People in Utah have a longer lifespan than the average U.S. population. In fact, the state ranks 9th in the country, placed between Vermont and Connecticut. But the life expectancy varies depending on where you live in the state. We speak with Deseret News contributor and professor at The Catholic University of America, Stephen Cranney about the trends he’s seeing in his analyses of the data. News Roundup: Bald eagles, RFK Jr., and a bear carcass in Central ParkDid you know the bald eagle — a symbol of America for years and years — wasn’t actually the official bird of the United States until last month? It’s crazy to think about! We share the story of how it finally came to be. In other news, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has admitted to dumping a dead bear cub in New York’s Central Park. Wait what? Listen to hear that story too.

Hosts: Leah Murray and Greg Skordas Following the pandemic, there’s been a slow return to the office, especially for workers in Downtown Salt Lake City. Does this mean Downtown needs to diversify itself more — adding more housing or entertainment, for instance? Dee Brewer, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance calls into the show to shed some light on what his organization sees for the future of Downtown Salt Lake City. Brewer also discusses how the 2034 Winter Olympics could help boost the area’s “social economy.”

We had the chance to talk to Mayor Melvin Carter and Joe Spencer, President of the Downtown Alliance, on a variety of topics as changes are coming to Saint Paul with the streets as well as the Lunds and Byerly's locations and much more! - also chatted about the MN Yacht Club event coming up to Harriet Island!  

We had the chance to talk to Mayor Melvin Carter and Joe Spencer, President of the Downtown Alliance, on a variety of topics as changes are coming to Saint Paul with the streets as well as the Lunds and Byerly's locations and much more! - also chatted about the MN Yacht Club event coming up to Harriet Island!  

  During a Tuesday night press conference, Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz and now Utah’s National Hockey League team, revealed his plan to renovate the interior of the 33-year-old arena not long after officially acquiring the Arizona Coyotes last month. Smith's entertainment group painted a picture of how they imagine the "Delta Center District" will look, with walkable blocks throughout the area, connecting to City Creek Mall. Renderings are still unavailable, and some questions remain regarding the status of Abravanel Hall, and other venues.  D2 speak with KSL 5 TV Reporter Lindsay Aerts, who was at the press conference, and Dee Brewer, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance to get more information.  

*Recorded live at M.M. LaFleur in New York City on February 27th** Farnoosh interviews Sarah LaFleur, founder of the NY-based fashion brand, on how she pivoted the women's wear company during Covid, business lessons from her start-up days, the evolution of workwear, and more.More about Sarah: She founded M.M.LaFleur in 2013 with a mission to help women take the work out of getting dressed so they can focus on what matters to them. Before founding M.M.LaFleur, she worked at Bain & Co. in New York and TechnoServe in South Africa. Sarah sits on the Advisory Council of the New York Federal Reserve and is a board member of the Downtown Alliance of New York City. Most recently, she is a Henry Crown Fellow within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. She graduated from Harvard University. M.M.LaFleur is named after her mother, whom she calls her biggest inspiration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Darlene Carter serves as the CEO to C.W. Group which oversees 6 business lines: C.W. Urban, C.W. Design, C.W. Land Co., CW Build, Home by CW Urban and Cole West Home and Development. Darlene Carter brings almost 20 years of experience in a variety of residential real estate development asset classes. Darlene is responsible for overseeing all company deliverables and has participated in over 3 billion dollars in residential and mixed-use projects. Darlene started in 2005 with one of the nation's largest private home builders and quickly became a standout in sales strategy, operations, and execution. Darlene left traditional homebuilding in 2017 and transitioned to the C.W. Group. She is proficient in creating product that recognizes and optimizes on changing market trends and demographics, capital raising, building brand recognition, strategic planning, operations, and systems development to execute business plans and profitability, proforma budgeting, and building the self-development of people and an authentic culture. Darlene was named Utah Business 30 women to watch in 2018 and 40 under 40 in 2020. Darlene serves on the board of ULI Utah and Envision Utah and has served as the Co-Chair for the Salt Lake City Development Committee for the Downtown Alliance.

This week we're at the 2023 Mpact conference closing plenary in Phoenix Arizona. Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Transportation Policy at USDOT Christopher Coes leads a panel discussing what's happening in central cities and how to make them thrive again. This panel features:  Karen Chapple, Ph.D., Director, School of Cities, University of  Toronto, Toronto, ON | Nichol Bordeaux, Chief Planning and Engagement Officer, Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City, UT | Dee Brewer, Executive Director, Downtown Alliance, Salt Lake City, UT | Emeke Moneme, President, Capitol Riverfront, Washington, DC | Ryan Johnson, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Culdesac, Tempe, AZ OOO Follow us on twitter and threads @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

Learn more at TheCityLife.org --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/citylifeorg/support

This month on the Mpact podcast, we're at the closing plenary of the Mpact Transit & Mobility conference in Phoenix. Christopher Coes, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at USDOT moderates a panel of experts discussing the evolution of downtowns.  Learn more about Mpact and the annual conference at http://mpactmobility.org Moderator: Christopher Coes, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Office of the Secretary, USDOT, Washington, DC Karen Chapple, Ph.D., Director, School of Cities, University of  Toronto / Professor, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Nichol Bordeaux, Chief Planning and Engagement Officer, Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City, UT Dee Brewer, Executive Director, Downtown Alliance, Salt Lake City, UT Emeke Moneme, President, Capitol Riverfront, Washington, DC Ryan Johnson, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Culdesac, Tempe, AZ

This is Derek Miller, Speaking on Business. Open Streets is back in downtown Salt Lake City and better than ever. You might think you know what to expect, but get ready to be surprised and delighted by this year's new improvements. Josh Jones with the Downtown Alliance joins us with more. Josh Jones: Derek, imagine an urban mini golf course, free yoga sessions, a silent disco, muralists, and lots of free concerts, all of it cascading down Main Street every Friday and Saturday this October. This Open Streets is actually a packed confetti cannon of fun thanks to our BLOCKS team who have curated talented artists and programmers from all across the valley. AND, the best part: it is entirely free. Each weekend has different activities and entertainment, so be sure to check out our website for what's happening this weekend. We hope the community will wander down to Main Street without a ticket and explore and discover their city. There are more than 170 bars and restaurants downtown, and more than 30 on Main Street alone! Plus, some of the most unique shopping and retail outlets in the region. Main Street is the family room for our community. It is the place we gather, to have fun, to see each other, to be neighbors, we hope to see you there. Derek Miller: Be sure to check out Open Streets in downtown Salt Lake City every Friday and Saturday, noon to 1 a.m., for the rest of the month and discover the urban playground awaiting pedestrians. For more information, visit the Open Streets webpage. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, Speaking on Business. Originally aired: October 13, 2023

Derek Miller is the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. He recently traveled to Washington DC with a group of business executives and community leaders to advocate for immigration and permitting reforms that will help Utah businesses. He joins Boyd to discuss that and how the government shutdown would impact businesses here in the state.

Hosts: Maura Carabello and Greg Skordas The Salt Lake Chamber to discuss immigration and permitting reform in Washington D.C. The Salt Lake Chamber is heading to Washington D.C. this week to meet with Utah's congressional delegation and discuss some of their top federal priorities, including immigration and permitting reform. Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins the show to discuss what's to come from this meeting. NASA collects a sample from an asteroid for the first time NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time, and Utah played a pretty big role in this monumental achievement. KSL NewsRadio Reporter Adam Small joins the show with the latest on what he discovered on the scene at the West Desert. Local news raises a big question: Why aren't we de-escalating conflict? There's been quite a lot of local news surrounding us recently… The Mayor of Orem was spat on by the daughter of a reporter he criticized during a City Council meeting last week. Additionally, there was a bomb threat at The King's English Bookshop that canceled a drag event. Greg and Maura break down the events and discuss the big questions: Why are we reacting so strongly to each other? And why aren't we de-escalating conflicts like these? Where is the compromise to prevent a government shutdown? We are just days away from a potential government shutdown, which no one wants. In an interview with the Deseret News, Senator Mike Lee said that he doesn't think deep down anyone in Congress would choose a shutdown. So then why isn't anyone actually compromising? Senator Bob Menendez says he will not resign despite his indictment New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been indicted again on federal bribery charges. But despite several people calling on him to resign, he said he's not going to. This raises the question: How do we feel about our elected officials being indicted, and how will that affect whether we vote for them? The weight of the word “and” on the Supreme Court Let's talk about the word “and.” It may seem like a simple word, but it holds a heavy weight that could affect thousands of prison sentences each year based on how the Supreme Court interprets it. What exactly does this mean? Greg and Maura break it down. Hollywood writers reach a “tentative” deal with studios After nearly five months of going on strike, Hollywood writers have reached a “tentative” deal with studios that may end the writers' strike. Jason Nathanson, ABC News Entertainment Correspondent in Los Angeles, joins the show with the latest. General Conference Special Preview: Dieting by Design General Conference begins this Saturday, and we have some great specials lined up. Dave Noriega, Host of Dave and Dujanovic, joins the show to give a preview of their special, Dieting by Design: Fads, Trends and the Body Image Battle.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts: Maura Carabello and Greg Skordas The Salt Lake Chamber is heading to Washington D.C. this week to meet with Utah's congressional delegation and discuss some of their top federal priorities, including immigration and permitting reform. Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins the show to discuss what's to come from this meeting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts: Maura Carabello and Greg Skordas The Salt Lake Chamber to discuss immigration and permitting reform in Washington D.C. The Salt Lake Chamber is heading to Washington D.C. this week to meet with Utah’s congressional delegation and discuss some of their top federal priorities, including immigration and permitting reform. Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins the show to discuss what’s to come from this meeting. NASA collects a sample from an asteroid for the first time NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time, and Utah played a pretty big role in this monumental achievement. KSL NewsRadio Reporter Adam Small joins the show with the latest on what he discovered on the scene at the West Desert. Local news raises a big question: Why aren’t we de-escalating conflict? There’s been quite a lot of local news surrounding us recently… The Mayor of Orem was spat on by the daughter of a reporter he criticized during a City Council meeting last week. Additionally, there was a bomb threat at The King’s English Bookshop that canceled a drag event. Greg and Maura break down the events and discuss the big questions: Why are we reacting so strongly to each other? And why aren’t we de-escalating conflicts like these? Where is the compromise to prevent a government shutdown? We are just days away from a potential government shutdown, which no one wants. In an interview with the Deseret News, Senator Mike Lee said that he doesn’t think deep down anyone in Congress would choose a shutdown. So then why isn’t anyone actually compromising? Senator Bob Menendez says he will not resign despite his indictment New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been indicted again on federal bribery charges. But despite several people calling on him to resign, he said he’s not going to. This raises the question: How do we feel about our elected officials being indicted, and how will that affect whether we vote for them? The weight of the word “and” on the Supreme Court Let’s talk about the word “and.” It may seem like a simple word, but it holds a heavy weight that could affect thousands of prison sentences each year based on how the Supreme Court interprets it. What exactly does this mean? Greg and Maura break it down. Hollywood writers reach a “tentative” deal with studios After nearly five months of going on strike, Hollywood writers have reached a “tentative” deal with studios that may end the writers’ strike. Jason Nathanson, ABC News Entertainment Correspondent in Los Angeles, joins the show with the latest. General Conference Special Preview: Dieting by Design General Conference begins this Saturday, and we have some great specials lined up. Dave Noriega, Host of Dave and Dujanovic, joins the show to give a preview of their special, Dieting by Design: Fads, Trends and the Body Image Battle.

Hosts: Maura Carabello and Greg Skordas The Salt Lake Chamber is heading to Washington D.C. this week to meet with Utah’s congressional delegation and discuss some of their top federal priorities, including immigration and permitting reform. Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins the show to discuss what’s to come from this meeting.

This is Derek Miller, Speaking on Business. For more than 30 years, the Salt Lake City community has welcomed the Downtown Farmers Market that includes more than 100 Farms and ranches from several Utah counties. Carly Gillespie from the Urban Food Connections of Utah is here with more. CARLY GILLESPIE: 32 years ago, Salt Lake's Downtown Alliance started the Farmers Market at Pioneer Park. It is now a beloved summer tradition every Saturday 8am-2pm, June through October. In addition to fruits and vegetables, vendors offer locally made food and beverages alongside our arts and crafts market. We think of the Farmers Market as a gathering space for Utah farmers, food entrepreneurs, and consumers which strengthen our communities. The mission of the Market is to support sustainable, regional agriculture; to build community gathering places; to increase access to nutritious, local foods in urban areas; and to educate the consumer about shopping local. With your support, we're achieving the goals and ensuring that our community always has access to delicious, local food. We feature fresh vegetables, honey, local meats, savory salsas and sauces, bountiful baked goods, and delicious dairy products. We believe in knowing where your food comes from and how it is produced and vet our vendors so you can trust their products are made and grown in Utah. The Downtown Farmers Market at Pioneer Park is open every Saturday 8am-2pm. You can visit slcfarmersmarket.org to learn more! DEREK MILLER: The Downtown Farmers Market is a vehicle for entrepreneurs and represents the best of Utah. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, Speaking on Business. Originally aired: Jun 2, 2023

On February 16th, Erin hosted a panel on the Power of the Romance Heroine put on by the Downtown Alliance of New York City.    On the panel were authors Sarah MacLean and Adriana Herrera as well as Berkley editor Esi Sogah. Theses women are so fantastic and one could listen to them talk about romance forever (and you CAN, by listening to Sarah's podcast Fated Mates.) They also recommended a TON of books, so have a pen and paper out to take all the notes.    Happy Listening!    Please Rate, Review and Follow us on Apple Podcasts. It helps the podcast grow.   Rate us Five Stars on Spotify!   WE HAVE MERCH! Go to Tee-Public to get T-Shirts, Totes, Onesies and MORE: http://tee.pub/lic/learningthetropes   Find us- Patreon Learning the Tropes Instagram @learningthetropes Twitter @learningtropes Facebook Learning The Tropes Podcast Join The Learning The Tropes Troop! Email: learningthetropespodcast@gmail.com

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. The Downtown Farmers Market in Salt Lake was created in 1992 to bring fresh Utah products to the city. Allison Einerson, Executive Director of Urban Food Connections of Utah, shares more. ALISON EINERSON: The Downtown Farmers Market features more than 100 farms and ranches from within 250 miles of Salt Lake City. In addition to farm goods, area vendors offer handmade, locally produced food, beverages and crafts. Our motto is "Make it, bake it, grow it!" The mission of the Market is to support sustainable, regional agriculture; to build community gathering places; to increase access to nutritious, local foods in urban areas; and to educate the consumer about shopping local. With your support, we're achieving the goals and ensuring that our community always has access to delicious, local food. Our markets feature fresh vegetables, grass-fed meats, honey, savory salsas and sauces, bountiful baked goods of all kinds, as well as products for pets and more. The Winter Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm at The Gateway downtown. You can visit slcfarmersmarket.org to learn more. DEREK MILLER: The Farmer's Market is a non-profit and an extension of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. It helpis small farms and businesses bring their products directly to the public. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, Speaking on Business. Originally Aired: December 15, 2022.

How is New York City faring in the post-pandemic period? Greg Olear talks to his friend Jessica Lappin—president of the Downtown Alliance, former New York City Council member for the 5th District (Midtown Manhattan), and a consummate New Yorker—about the past, present and future of NYC. They discuss the lingering effects of the pandemic and quarantine, the commercial and residential real estate markets, and the challenges the city faces going forward, and she shares her thoughts on Mayor Eric Adams, DA Alvin Bragg, former mayor Bill DeBlasio, and Governor Kathy Hochul. Plus: yesterday. Follow Jessica Lappin: https://twitter.com/JessLappin Follow Downtown Alliance: https://twitter.com/downtownnyc Downtown Alliance on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/downtownnyc/ Subscribe to the PREVAIL newsletter: https://gregolear.substack.com/about Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York and former City Council member, joined the show to discuss the future of Lower Manhattan, including the area's evolution over time, office occupancy, tourism, affordable housing, and more. That includes the work of The Downtown Alliance, which manages the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District, publishes research, provides services, and advocates on behalf of the businesses and residents of Lower Manhattan.

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. The Downtown Farmers Market in Salt Lake was created in 1992 to help bring fresh Utah products closer to the city and introduce positive activities in the community. Allison Einerson, Executive Director of Urban Food Connections of Utah, is here to share details about its mission and schedule. ALLISON EINERSON The Downtown Farmers Market features more than 100 farms and ranches from within 250 miles of Salt Lake City. In addition to farm goods, area vendors offer handmade, locally produced food, beverages and crafts. Our motto is "Make it, bake it, grow it!" The mission of the Market is to support sustainable, regional agriculture; to build community gathering places; to increase access to nutritious, local foods in urban areas; and to educate consumers about shopping local. With your support, we're achieving the goals and ensuring that our community always has access to delicious, local food. We feature fresh produce, honey, local meats, eggs, savory salsas and sauces, bountiful baked goods, delicious dairy products and products for pets and more. The Winter Market at The Gateway is open every Saturday downtown. You can visit slcfarmersmarket.org to learn more. DEREK MILLER The Farmer's Market is non-profit and an extension of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. It's sustained us for 31 years, helping small local farms and businesses bring their products directly to the public. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, Speaking on Business. Originally Aired: February 18, 2022

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on R-Town, Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara meets Dr. Azar Maluki, Board Chair of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, to discuss the upcoming listening session at the Rochester Area Foundation. We visit the Lion Heart Clay Works, and we visit RCTC to view Zoe Cinel's newest art exhibit "TOO HOT TO HANDLE, A Portrait of the Artist With Pain." We check in with Dan Nowakowski from the History Center of Olmsted County to discuss Mayowood as we approach the holiday season. Lastly, Nicole visits with Holly Masek to discuss what's coming to Downtown Rochester for the holidays. (MPTA, Legacy, KSMQ, 11-19-21) Connect with us! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KSMQPBS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ksmqtv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KSMQ #RTown Website: http://ksmq.org/rtown R-Town, the show about Rochester, is brought to you in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota, and the members of KSMQ Public Television. Thank you!

What more can be done to help homeless people in Salt Lake City? Salt Lake devoted millions of dollars to open four new homeless shelters, and yet the problem persists - it's just moved to a new location. KSL Newsradio's Amanda Dickson asks her guests this week on A Woman's View what else can be done? Her guests this week include Kathy Nelson with Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services, Crystal Young, Executive Director of the Utah Cultural Alliance and Liz Sollis, Associated Director of Community Engagement for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on R-Town, Danielle Teal hears from Zoe Cinel with the Rochester Art Center about their upcoming Iraqi American Cultural Celebration. Javier Ortiz tells us how he followed his dreams to become a barber, and we take a walk through 125Live. Scott Schneider tell us all about the upcoming Olmsted County Fair, and Holly Masek from the Rochester Downtown Alliance stops by to talk about all the upcoming events this summer. (MPTA, Legacy, KSMQ, 7-23-21) Connect with us! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KSMQPBS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ksmqtv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KSMQ #RTown Website: http://ksmq.org/rtown R-Town, the show about Rochester, is brought to you in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota, and the members of KSMQ Public Television. Thank you!

Businesses are joining the fight against the drought: The Salt Lake Chamber is asking companies to take the H2Oath, a pledge to cut back on water use. Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO Derek Miller talks with Boyd about it, as well as the challenges businesses face when trying to cut back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 years ago, Downtown Alliance started our first Farmers Market in Salt Lake City to support our farmers, ranchers, artist and food vendors growing to 190 food vendors and 190 artists. The Winter market kicked off 8 years ago and is now in the Gateway which Director, Allison Einerson, loves. Even though they have had some contraction with the market due to Covid restrictions on spacing, Allison is seeing new ideas and vendors taking advantage of the low barrier to entry. Allison can rightfully boast about businesses that launched and took off because of the Downtown Farmers market like Rico Foods, Beltex Meats and the Soap Lady to name a few. Don't forget to find out about the canning classes and especially Allison's bread and butter pickling class. The Downtown Farmers Market supports locals first and their mission is shopping to show our farmers and ranchers the love. June 5th is the open date. Go to downtownslc.org for more. Utah's main streets define the character of our communities, as much as our cities and national parks. Through innovation, resilience and hope, small business owners in Salt Lake County and throughout the state are rising to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Visit Salt Lake and the Utah Office of Tourism invite you to join us as we hear the inspiring stories of these small business owners in a series we call Mighty Main Street. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 years ago, Downtown Alliance started our first Farmers Market in Salt Lake City to support our farmers, ranchers, artist and food vendors growing to 190 food vendors and 190 artists. The Winter market kicked off 8 years ago and is now in the Gateway which Director, Allison Einerson, loves. Even though they have had some contraction with the market due to Covid restrictions on spacing, Allison is seeing new ideas and vendors taking advantage of the low barrier to entry. Allison can rightfully boast about businesses that launched and took off because of the Downtown Farmers market like Rico Foods, Beltex Meats and the Soap Lady to name a few. Don't forget to find out about the canning classes and especially Allison's bread and butter pickling class. The Downtown Farmers Market supports locals first and their mission is shopping to show our farmers and ranchers the love. June 5th is the open date. Go to downtownslc.org for more. Utah's main streets define the character of our communities, as much as our cities and national parks. Through innovation, resilience and hope, small business owners in Salt Lake County and throughout the state are rising to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Visit Salt Lake and the Utah Office of Tourism invite you to join us as we hear the inspiring stories of these small business owners in a series we call Mighty Main Street. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on R-Town, Danielle Teal sits with Holly Masek, Executive Director of the Rochester Downtown Alliance and Dina Abo Sheasha, Director Of Business Development at Curve Solutions to discuss Downtown Rochester and the events coming this summer. (MPTA, Legacy, KSMQ, 6-11-21) Links: https://www.downtownrochestermn.com/ https://www.facebook.com/DowntownRochesterMN https://curve-solutions.com/ https://www.facebook.com/curvesolutions How to Market Your Business on a Budget with Dina Abo Sheasha: https://www.facebook.com/events/1133350027166771/ Connect with us! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KSMQPBS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ksmqtv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KSMQ #RTown Website: http://ksmq.org/rtown R-Town, the show about Rochester, is brought to you in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota, and the members of KSMQ Public Television. Thank you!

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Once again, Salt Lake City will host Open Streets to help support businesses, strengthen our economy, and welcome people back to the heart of our community. Dee Brewer, head of the Downtown Alliance, is here to tell us how you can participate. DEE BREWER Open Streets is an invitation to enjoy 150 restaurants and bars and more than 100 local and downtown-only retailers. Main Street from 400 South to South Temple will be Closed to cars and open to pedestrians every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from Noon to Midnight, beginning May 27. Businesses will be extending their service areas onto the sidewalks for more outdoor dining and shopping, and a mix of musicians, buskers and artists will bring a spirit of creativity and celebration on Main Street, from Exchange Place to the City Creek. The opening weekend of Open Streets will be augmented by the Salt Lake City Arts Council's Busker Fest, featuring 30 nightly performances on Main, Regent Street, Gallivan and Exchange Place. Per CDC guidelines, masks are welcome but not required outdoors. However, some restaurants and shops require face coverings within their premises. So come downtown and join us any weekend evening to celebrate Open Streets. DEREK MILLER The Downtown Alliance works to building a dynamic and diverse community, making Salt Lake the center for culture, commerce, and entertainment. For more information, visit downtownslc.org. I'm Derek Miller, of the Salt Lake Chamber, and this is “Speaking on Business.” Originally aired: May 28, 2021.

30 years ago, Downtown Alliance started our first Farmers Market in Salt Lake City to support our farmers, ranchers, artist and food vendors growing to 190 food vendors and 190 artists. The Winter market kicked off 8 years ago and is now in the Gateway which Director, Allison Einerson, loves. Even though they have had some contraction with the market due to Covid restrictions on spacing, Allison is seeing new ideas and vendors taking advantage of the low barrier to entry. Allison can rightfully boast about businesses that launched and took off because of the Downtown Farmers market like Rico Foods, Beltex Meats and the Soap Lady to name a few. Don't forget to find out about the canning classes and especially Allison's bread and butter pickling class. The Downtown Farmers Market supports locals first and their mission is shopping to show our farmers and ranchers the love. June 5th is the open date. Go to downtownslc.org for more. Utah's main streets define the character of our communities, as much as our cities and national parks. Through innovation, resilience and hope, small business owners in Salt Lake County and throughout the state are rising to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Visit Salt Lake and the Utah Office of Tourism invite you to join us as we hear the inspiring stories of these small business owners in a series we call Mighty Main Street. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 years ago, Downtown Alliance started our first Farmers market in Salt Lake City to support our farmers, ranchers, artist and food vendors growing to 190 food vendors and 190 artists. The Winter market kicked off 8 years ago and is now in the Gateway which Director, Allison Einerson, loves. Even though they have had some contraction with the market due to Covid restrictions on spacing, Allison is seeing new ideas and vendors taking advantage of the low barrier to entry. Allison can rightfully boast about businesses that launched and took off because of the Downtown Farmers market like Rico Foods, Beltex Meats and the Soap Lady to name a few. Don't forget to find out about the canning classes and especially Allison's bread and butter pickling class. The Downtown's Farmers Market supports local first and their mission is shopping to show our farmers and ranchers the love. June 5th is the open date. Go to downtownslc.org for more. Utah's main streets define the character of our communities, as much as our cities and national parks. Through innovation, resilience and hope, small business owners in Salt Lake County and throughout the state are rising to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Visit Salt Lake and the Utah Office of Tourism invite you to join us as we hear the inspiring stories of these small business owners in a series we call Mighty Main Street. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Utah's rural communities are in need of an economic boost. Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins Lee to discuss what can be done to make it happen.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek Miller, President, and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins Lee to talk about how Utah's economy is wavering during the pandemic.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About the Show: On this episode of the podcast we get to chat with Paige Tashner & Emily Nicolosi about a Downtown Salt Lake City art installation they are part of at the Gallivan Center. We find out how they got teamed up with the Downtown Alliance and We are Dust to create this collaboration. We find out what motivated them to create their creations, obstacles they faced, and even got a chance to talk about some upcoming art projects they are working on. Important Links: Purr Pods website https://www.purrpods.art/ Laser Eyes of Love instagram https://www.instagram.com/lasereyesoflove/ Koro Loco website https://sites.google.com/view/love-is-project/home Koro Loco on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/koro_loko/ This episode is sponsored by: UtahMarijuana.org http://utahmarijuana.org Connect more with I am Salt Lake: Email chris@iamsaltlake.com Connect With Our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IAmSaltLake/ Connect With Our Twitter https://twitter.com/iamsaltlake Connect With Our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/iamsaltlake/ Join The Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamsaltlake/ Support our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/iamsaltlake Sign up for our email list https://iamsaltlake.com/email Thank you for listening to this episode of I am Salt Lake podcast. We showcase local talent, businesses, and everyday people making Salt Lake City what it is today. Please consider making a one time donation through PayPal to help with the expenses of keeping this podcast running smoothly https://www.paypal.me/iamsaltlake

State lawmakers consider major policy changes as the end of the legislative session looms. Utahns and political parties react to our senators casting opposing votes in the divisive acquittal of former President Trump. Utah looks to the future as it recovers from the economic crisis. Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, Taylor Stevens, state government reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, and Dennis Romboy, political reporter for the Deseret News join host Jason Perry on this week’s Hinckley Report.

Dick Sanger is joined by Dewitt Peart, CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance to chat about the challenges the organization is facing, upcoming projects, and how to apply peer to peer business advisory solutions and learnings to their non profit / public private partnerships.

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. The Downtown Alliance is a 501c6 nonprofit organization dedicated to building a dynamic and diverse community that is the regional center for culture, commerce and entertainment in Salt Lake City. Downtown Dollars is their new program aimed at giving shoppers more value for their dollar during the holiday season. Dee Brewer, Executive Director of Downtown Alliance, is here to tell us more. DEE BREWER The Downtown Alliance is encouraging Utahns to shop, eat and gift local this holiday season with Downtown Dollars! The program features dozens of downtown bars, restaurants and retailers. This electronic gift card can be spent at many of your favorite downtown merchants and is a great gift for yourself or friends during the holidays. And for a limited time, you can get up to $25 in “Bonus Bucks” to spend downtown when you buy $75 or more in Downtown Dollars. So when shoppers buy $75, they'll be receiving $100 Downtown Dollars to spend. Bonus Bucks are funded by a Shop In Utah grant and can be spent just like Downtown Dollars at all participating businesses. Shoppers simply show the eGift card (it's actually a MasterCard product) on their mobile devices at participating retailers to make a purchase. DEREK MILLER We encourage listeners who love shopping and dining in Salt Lake to visit downtownslc.org/dollars to purchase your Downtown Dollars, Bonus Bucks and browse the participating businesses. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, and this is Speaking on Business. Originally Aired: December 1, 2020.

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. The Downtown Alliance is a 501c6 nonprofit organization dedicated to building a dynamic and diverse community that is the regional center for culture, commerce and entertainment in Salt Lake City. Downtown Dollars is their new program aimed at giving shoppers more value for their dollar during the holiday season. Dee Brewer, Executive Director of Downtown Alliance, is here to tell us more. DEE BREWER The Downtown Alliance is encouraging Utahns to shop, eat and gift local this holiday season with Downtown Dollars! The program features dozens of downtown bars, restaurants and retailers. This electronic gift card can be spent at many of your favorite downtown merchants and is a great gift for yourself or friends during the holidays. And for a limited time, you can get up to $25 in “Bonus Bucks” to spend downtown when you buy $75 or more in Downtown Dollars. So when shoppers buy $75, they'll be receiving $100 Downtown Dollars to spend. Bonus Bucks are funded by a Shop In Utah grant and can be spent just like Downtown Dollars at all participating businesses. Shoppers simply show the eGift card (it's actually a MasterCard product) on their mobile devices at participating retailers to make a purchase. DEREK MILLER We encourage listeners who love shopping and dining in Salt Lake to visit downtownslc.org/dollars to purchase your Downtown Dollars, Bonus Bucks and browse the participating businesses. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, and this is Speaking on Business. Originally Aired: December 7, 2020.

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Salt Lake City is the economic hub of Utah and is well-positioned to capitalize upon human, cultural, and technological assets, even during a global pandemic. Ben Kolendar, director at the Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development, is here to tell us more. BEN KOLENDAR At the SLC Department of Economic Development, we meet with about 300 businesses in person each year. Due to COVID-19, we've modified that process and have been exploring a virtual site visit program moving forward. We're also proud of the “Emergency Loan Program” we initiated this spring to help small businesses. We've teamed up with tremendous partners in the community. The “Tip Your Server” grant program in particular is something I'm proud of. We partnered with the Chamber and Downtown Alliance to provide $500 grants to more than 1,200 local employees in the food and beverage industry. We just concluded the “Open Streets SLC” program, which expanded patio dining for restaurants along Main Street. We will continue to innovate moving forward. We have constantly been working with our own employees who have been working from home since mid-March to address issues ranging from mental health to work schedule flexibility as children have gone back to school. DEREK MILLER We are grateful for the SLC Department of Economic Development and how it has adapted to continue to serve Utahns. Visit.slc.gov/ed for more information. I'm Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, and this is Speaking on Business. Originally Aired: October 29, 2020.

Derek Miller, President, and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance discuss the distribution of the CARES funds to local businesses. Additionally, local business owner Maxine Turner, founder of Cuisine Unlimited, shares her experience during the pandemic and how the CARES act can help. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Salt Lake City will move into the yellow risk phase on Friday. What impact will this have on the businesses downtown? Abby Murtagh, Hilton General Manager, joins Lee to discuss how the hotel will benefit from the shift. And Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins the program to discuss the boarder impact of the shift in restrictions.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

A new report from the Downtown Alliance shows just how badly the pandemic is financially impacting the downtown Salt Lake area. We'll dive into the numbers.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Businesses in Salt Lake can get a seal of approval from the Chamber of Commerce to show they’re sticking with local health requirements. Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, joins Lee to explain how it works. 

Rod Arquette Show Daily Rundown - Thursday, March 12, 20204:20 pm: Senator Mitt Romney joins the program to discuss the federal government’s response to the coronavirus, including his legislation that will provide emergency unemployment relief to those unable to work because of the coronavirus4:35 pm: Dee Brewer, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance, joins the program for a conversation about how Salt Lake City businesses will deal with the NBA’s shutdown and the decision by the LDS church to hold its conference sans visitors5:05 pm: Utah Governor Gary Herbert joins the program for a conversation about the state’s response to the coronavirus, as well as the end of the 2020 Utah Legislative session5:35 pm: Steve Moore, Chief Economist for The Heritage Foundation, joins the program for his weekly visit with Rod about politics and the nation’s economy6:05 pm: John Kruzel of The Hill joins the program to discuss how the coronavirus is serving as a test of the limit of government powers6:20 pm: Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times on the criticism the media is receiving for helping drive coronavirus panic to such high levels6:35 pm: Heidi Matthews of the Utah Education Association joins the show to discuss a historic deal with lawmakers that could, pending voter approval, make major changes to how the state’s schools are funded

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Thom Carter, executive director of the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR).

Derek Miller, President & CEO, Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, spoke at the LDS Business College Devotional on January 21, 2020.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and chief economist for the Salt Lake Chamber.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Martin Ritter, CEO of Stadler US.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with SLC Mayoral Candidate Erin Mendenhall. NOTE: We encourage members of Utah's business community to actively participate in the political process. Any reference obtained from this podcast to a specific candidate or initiative does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the Salt Lake Chamber. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Salt Lake Chamber.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with SLC Mayoral Candidate Luz Escamilla. NOTE: We encourage members of Utah's business community to actively participate in the political process. Any reference obtained from this podcast to a specific candidate or initiative does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the Salt Lake Chamber. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Salt Lake Chamber.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with the CEO of Kodiak Cakes Joel Clark

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with University of Utah President Ruth Watkins.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Linda Wardell, General Manager of City Creek Center.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Molly Mazzolini, partner and director of brand integration, Infinite Scale.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Steve Starks, president of Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment.

Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. This week’s news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com SKYSCRAPER PROJECTS TO CHANGE DOWNTOWN SLC SKYLINE In 10 years, the skyline of downtown Salt Lake City (SLC) is projected to look quite different, with a flurry of skyscraper activity poised to start, Deseret News reports. According to the Downtown Alliance, up to five cranes are expected to be operating a year from now as an updated master plan paves the way for urban revitalization. Recently approved projects include the Salt Palace convention hotel, a 28-story building being developed by John Portman and Associates; Liberty Sky, a 24-story tower that is the city's first entirely residential skyscraper, being developed by Cowboy Partners and Boyer Co. and designed by Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart of Atlanta; and Tower 8, a 28-story office tower being developed by the real estate arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Image credit: David Mark for Pixabay To read the full transcript of today's podcast, visit: elevatorworld.com/news Subscribe to the Podcast: iTunes│Google Play|SoundCloud│Stitcher│TuneIn

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with CEO of Pluralsight, Aaron Skonnard.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with CEO of Ivory Homes, Clark Ivory.

In the Salt Lake Chamber podcast called "CEO Success Stories," Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top leader from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with community advocate Pamela Atkinson.

The Salt Lake Chamber has created a new podcast called "CEO Success Stories." In every episode Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top CEO from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Nathan Rafferty, CEO of Ski Utah.

The Salt Lake Chamber has created a new podcast called "CEO Success Stories." In every episode Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top CEO from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with Cindy Crane, CEO of Rocky Mountain Power.

The Downtown Alliance is a nonprofit serving the lower section of Manhattan since 1995. They keep the streets clean. They run a free bus service along the top of the area from east to west. They are the major publicity organization to promote the area and

The Salt Lake Chamber has created a new podcast called "CEO Success Stories." In every episode Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top CEO from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with the CEO of Merit Medical Fred Lampropoulos

The Salt Lake Chamber has created a new podcast called "CEO Success Stories." In every episode Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top CEO from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with the “CEO of the Salt Lake Community College" President Deneece Huftalin.

On this week's podcast, Marcus sits down with Richard McGill, the founder of Mobile Fashion Week. From a background in theater, design, photography, and fashion, Richard dreamt of bringing every facet of the fashion industry together to support a local charity. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story of an upcoming Mobile event! Richard: Hey, I am Richard McGill, founder of Mobile Fashion Week. Marcus: Well, welcome to the podcast, Richard. Richard: Oh, hey. What's up, you? Marcus: Okay, so full disclosure, Richard and I do know each other. We've met through Tony, who is a photographer here locally, and we've kind of run into each other occasionally, but I wanted to have you on the podcast, because I love what you're doing with fashion week. Richard: Awesome. Marcus: Thank you for coming. Richard: Thank you for having me. Super excited. Marcus: The way that we normally start the podcast is we always kind of try to find out a little bit about the person, before we get into some of the ways of their thinking and what they have going on and stuff like that. Tell us a little bit about who you are, where you from, where'd you go to high school? Did you go to college? Did you graduate? So on and so forth. Richard: Awesome. Awesome. Well, I'm Richard McGill. You already got that part, but I'm from Mobile, Alabama, born and raised. On the playground is where I spent most of my days. Y'all get that reference? Marcus: Yes. Absolutely. I'm old enough to get that reference. Richard: Awesome. Marcus: Jerry's just trying to touch you again. Pay no attention to the man. Richard: Let me shimmy for you. But yes, I went to Davidson High School. W.P. Davidson. I was in musical theater, I was in color guard. I was the only boy in color guard at that point. I was the boy with the flag. Marcus: Blazing new trails. Richard: Man, hey, I always had that flag and I was throwing it. Had a big old smile on my face. I was good to go. In Mobile, Alabama, 2005. I went to the University of Southern Mississippi, and then I transferred to the University of South Alabama. I did have a musical theater ... I was on the tract for musical theater degree. Developed a nodule on my left vocal cord. Kind of switched it up for me. But it didn't end anything, it just started a new path, which I was really excited about. And then I ... Yeah, in Mobile. Marcus: But you didn't graduate music theater, you went and got a graphic design- Richard: Yes. Photography and graphic design. Marcus: Photography and graphic design degree. But you're in ... I mean, you predominantly are in fashion. That's where you live, that's where you love, that's, you know, all the things that are you surround fashion. Richard: Is about, just with fashion. It's just explaining to people and educating people on the fact that fashion is every day. You might not think you are the most fashionable person in the world, but what you picked and your chosen skin is what you're wearing. You chose that to wear, and whether you think it's fashion or not, like you'd make a decision. Marcus: Conscious or not. Richard: Yeah, and just teaching people that that's okay. No matter if people are telling you "Oh, well that doesn't look great together, that doesn't look good together." There's going to be people that tell you all the time "That doesn't look good." But there's going to be those people that are like "Hey, that's some pretty fresh style you got going on there." The only thing that changed in between those conversations is the person. You didn't change your outfit, it was the person that looked at it and so that's what I always try to remind people about. That's what it's about. Marcus: So, I'm the same way. I didn't grow up with a whole lot of money and so I was always very ... like I remember when Nike first released the Cortez's and they had the red heel and they had the blue stripe and I just was like "Oh, man I'd really like to have those," but I was the kid wearing the shoes from Payless, right. Just recently I started getting Air Jordan's. Richard: Okay. Marcus: And so I was wearing some the other day and Terrance DeShaun who has not been on this podcast but he is going to come on this podcast, was giving me crap about "What do you know about J's?" And I was like "Please player, don't even start with me." Like I've been lusting after J's since they first came out in the 80s but I would agree with you that fashion is very much what you're comfortable in but it projects quite a bit. Richard: Yes. Marcus: And so even as a business owner ... I'm going to go out on a limb here and I may make some enemies but the thing that kind of bugs me about fashion here in Mobile is that, you know, in the business community it's much like what it was in D.C. where you go to a business event and it's the blue blazer, the gray slacks, the white shirt with the red tie and it's like there's so much more to it then that. Richard: There's so much more you can do. Marcus: Put some effort into it and so I'm the guy that shows up wearing all the weird stuff, you know, and the funky clothes but I love it. That's who I am, and I can get away with it because I own an advertising agency, and I don't work at a law firm. Richard: But everybody can get away ... Even those people who do work for law firms. Even if you feel that you have wear a suit, wear a funky sock with it. Do something really cool, wear a really different tie, wear a bow tie or do something crazy because it's not the norm any more. I think it's definitely the new generation of people that are showing us like "Hey, you should be you." I mean people are going to love you and it's not so much more, I feel, it's not so much more about the business anymore. It's more about who you are and people are realizing that. Marcus: Like, authenticity. Richard: It's your authenticity; you are not playing a suited person. Marcus: No, and they can see thought it. Richard: You're playing you and that you are amazing so be you. Just be great being you. Marcus: Yeah, that's awesome. So I want to go back in your history. What was your first job, and I don't mean your first job in fashion. I mean like your first crap job, like flipping burgers or whatever. Richard: You want to know it? Marcus: Well, yeah. Richard: Only a few people know it. I worked at Golden Corral. Marcus: Seriously? Richard: Yes, Golden Corral. Marcus: Doing what? Now a lot of people know about it. So you know, like.. Richard: Golden Corral. I was that really loud guy at the front saying "Hey," to getting your Coke, getting your drink and that's back when like the budget really wasn't good the sign wouldn't say Golden Corral it would say like the Golden Oral or something in the light. Marcus: I'm telling you this may be the last episode of this podcast, friends. Richard: Hey now, people know me, they know my spirit, they know my heart. They know me... Marcus: It's all good. Richard: But, no, that's what was my first job and I loved it. Just because it taught me a lot. It really did even though it was my first crap job and I knew I wasn't supposed to be there. I knew that wasn't in my wheel house but I was touching people and I was my energetic self and I did make peoples day. It was a job that taught me from day one that it was okay to fail and I feel like a lot of people these days feel like ... Especially because of social media and I love social media, I'm always on social media. But you have to post like the best of the best, of the best, of the best and you have to live this like that's not authenticity you. When you fail you learn so much more than if you succeed. Like if you're doing great all the time how are you growing? You're not growing but the moment that you mess up, you know what I'm not going to do that again and I'm going to learn from that and then I can help the next person that comes and asks about it and you're just sharing that knowledge. Even though it was Golden Oral. Even though it was the Golden Corral that's where I learned it from and I learned it from there and then I probably got out of there quick. Then I went, of course, into Abercrombie & Fitch. That was my next ... Marcus: No, the Golden Corral ... Richard: You almost said it to. Got you! Marcus: The Golden Corral is the much better story and the lesson that you learned there is absolutely perfect. Richard: Yes. Marcus: Yeah, because I think sometimes so many people are afraid to fail but I actually I want to fail quickly and I want to fail often. And I want those to be micro steps that allow me to pivot into the direction that I need to go. Richard: Because that's the only way that you are literally going to grow as a person. If I'm telling you you are great all the time ... Marcus: Or as a company. Richard: Person, company ... Marcus: Organization. Richard: Who you are, just anything. If you are being told "Oh, that's just great, that's just great, you know, that's awesome." No give me honesty back. I know, and this goes back to fashion week, not to be conceited or anything but we put on the best show that we can put on. So you telling me "Oh, that was a great show," well, that's why I did it like that. I knew that, what could I have made better? "Oh, well the lighting over here really couldn't see the clothes when it got here," Bam! Not going to do that again. Marcus: You're going to fix that. Richard: I'm going to have them make sure there is plenty of lighting over there, that's right. Make it overly bright. "This designer, her clothes started falling apart in the run way." Okay I'm going to make sure to talk to her about her seams and making sure that we are secure in our seams and we're doing this and we're doing that. You just telling me "Oh, it was a great show. Thank you, we can't wait until next year." Okay well you're going to see the same thing next year if you don't tell me what else you need. What do I need to give to you? Marcus: Yeah, and like anything there is a good way to give feedback and I think giving feedback is an art form. You want people to give you that feedback. You want it to be from a position of them wanting to help you versus being overly critical and just trying to destroy you. Richard: Just being shady. There's no point in being that. I get it. There's a lot of shows that have been inspired by Mobile fashion week, a lot of different fashion events, fashion weeks have been started and of course they're going to say stuff like "Oh, we would have done it like this, we would have done it like this." Okay, that's great. Marcus: Go do it. Richard: Yeah, go do it. That's not how we do it but that's okay. You do your thing. Marcus: So you are a founder of Mobile.... Are you the founder? And that I know that. Richard: Yeah, so I'm the founder. We did it after an event we had called Fashion Forward. It was me, Suzanne Massingill, with Barefoot Models and Talent, and Toni Riales. There was a local model Morgan that had a brain tumor and we needed to raise money for her and then we don't play sports. We don't do any of that stuff so what are we going to do? Marcus: Really? You seem like a very sporty guy. Richard: Right? Don't I look like I play something. I'm just like "Yes, field goal, touch down, War Tigers, Eagles." Marcus: No, let's not do that. You just lost the rest of our audience. Richard: Roll Tigers ... War. Marcus: Yeah, but that was how it started? Richard: Yeah, it started from that because everyone loved the idea, they love the concept. They loved that we booked real models, got real designers, real styling. Everything was authentic about it. Before then, it was a little fun mom-and-pop, mom and daughter little fashion shows. Like fun stuff which is done by the Junior League which is an amazing group. They have the audience, they have the clientele and that's who they market to but we wanted to do something different. So then me and Susan got together and I was like "Hey Susan I want to start something, I want to start it, let's do it." And she was like "Hey let's try it, let's go, let's see what happens." And that was year one in 2011. Okay, we learned some stuff. We got in a little bit of debt. Let's try year two. Year two, okay we actually donated a pretty good check to Camp Rap-A-Hope. Year three, okay, this is an even better check. Okay, year four. Marcus: Is that where the proceeds go? Richard: Yeah everything goes to Camp Rap-A-Hope. We've had little other non-profits that we've joined in. We do Children With Hair Loss, that's a really cool one where if you go to any of the salons that we partner with you get a free ticket to the show if you donate your hair and that's 100% free wigs to kids that have lost their hair towards any kind of cancer treatment towards alopecia like just losing their hair any kind of diseases like that. It's just been so much fun getting to work with these people and getting to know that it's not all sad. Yes, it's sad when you see the little bald girl. Marcus: Yeah but it doesn't have to be. Richard: But it's not ... that's now who they are. They're still getting though life and they're doing this and we're getting to help them and it's powerful. Marcus: So, you're are in your ... this will be your eight. Richard: This will be year eight, season seven. Marcus: My gears just crunched. Richard: Last year I had the opportunity with H&M to go to Vietnam to open up Ben Thanh Market in H&M and it was an amazing opportunity and I couldn't let it pass and neither could, like the board, they're like "Hey, no, you've got to go. You've got to have this happen." This is one of those, not failure times, one of those times we reflected on because when I was gone a lot of stuff happened that was going to cripple the show and people spend money ... It's not like we're a cheap ticket. Like we're $25, $30 a ticket to come support Camp Rap-A-Hope and see a show. So if we don't put on the best show or if we know that we're not going to be able to provide that. We're not going to have you waste your money that you could have used on this, that, the other. Could have just given to Camp Rap-A-Hope right out of your pocket. So, when it got closer to the fashion week we walked the space again it just wasn't what we needed it to be. We've talked to some vendors, they weren't going to be able to deliver what they were supposed to and then I was out of town, so I couldn't pull up the charm like "Hey let's get this together guys. Go team." The board was like "Hey, it's going to cripple the show, it's going to ruin the brand, it's going to not be like anything anybody signed up for and people are going to be wasting their money and we can't do that to them." So we decided to cancel the show last year. The PR nightmare that came with that was like "Oh, their canceling it forever. It's because Richard was out of town." No, it wasn't because of just me out of town. It was other factors that went into it. This isn't just the Richard show, this is an amazing group of people that just come together, volunteer their time and energy to raise money for Camp Rap-A-Hope and the only way that our industry knows how, which is to put on a fashion show. Marcus: So, Mobile is not the epicenter of ... Richard: Right, where have you been? What are you talking about? No it's not. Marcus: No, but I mean let's be real. I mean it's not the epicenter of fashion. So I just want to say in this that it is absolutely very cool that we have something like this because it's not New York City, it's not L.A., it's not even Miami or any of the other secondary markets that would be considered fashion centers. Richard: Yeah. It's really not and when I got back here that was one of my main ... I moved out to L.A. that's when ... around the time when I met you and we started being cool with each other. I don't know what to say. That was kind of weird. Nothing creepy was happening. Marcus: It's all good people. Richard: But when I moved out to L.A. and I was there for six months and I got to work with some people at L.A. fashion week and I've got to engulf myself in there and when I came back and because the L.A. market just wasn't for me. It just was a lot of mean. I just didn't ... Marcus: Born and raised in Mobile you're used to people being friendly and hospitality and stuff. Richard: Smiling and just being able to be who you are and you would think that in L.A. it would be even more. Marcus: More embracing. Richard: More embracing. Like me just being the loud person that I am it was more embracing but no. It wasn't so came back on home. So I came back home and when I got here a lot of my really talented friends that were into make-up, into hair, into designing were leaving for these big markets as well. They were going to even New Orleans or Atlanta, some of them went to New York, or some of them went to L.A. and I was like, "Wow, we just lost a lot of really talented people," because they feel they didn't have the outlet to express themselves in Mobile and I was like "No, we can't lose anymore talent." That's why we have to show that we can embrace that talent here. So we did the fashion show for Morgan and then I was like "No, it's fashion week. That's what we're going to give them." Yes, you might be a hair stylist down here, you might have to do up dos for prom and homecoming all year but this is the one week that you can do these crazy looks and you can get pictures of them. You can have them all week. Marcus: Thanks for filtering. Richard: Man, you know I was. I was about to... I'm trying to be a good Christian around here. Marcus: He's trying to church it up a little bit though. Richard: Sorry, everyone. Sorry everyone but yeah, love y'all. Marcus: Now, let's think about this as an organization, okay. So, if you were talking to someone that wanted to get started in running these types of events or being more involved in the Mobile community, what's the one bit of wisdom you would impart to them? Richard: Don't be scared, do it. I mean even if you have three people that show up and three people that support you. Those three people next year will tell three more people and then those six people will tell six more people. Marcus: So, just out of curiosity how many people came to the first event. Richard: The first event it was fresh, I was young. So I was on the street I was peddling. It was our first year because we are a 501C3 though the Mobile Arts Council and so those were the days of Bob, Charlie, Hilary. Give me all these contacts and meeting all these people and that when I met Stacy Hamilton and I got in touch with the Downtown Alliance and I was like "Oh, I know all these people now." So the first year we did get about 150, actually 200. Marcus: Pretty darn good for the ... Richard: For the first year, yeah. There was a lot of ... I called in a lot of favors because like you said I worked with Tony Riles and so though that I knew people at Mobile Bay Magazine, I knew people at Access Just Launch that year as well. So I knew Hayley Hill. So I was like "Let me get all these people and let me try and get some free ads from them," and be like "Oh, it's a non-profit." So we had a lot, a lot of press in that first year. It was the first year. Marcus: Right. Richard: So, I feel now, of course we've grown, we've learned a lot from that year. Now if we had that same amount of press and people coming it would be even more. But hey this is what you learn. Marcus: Yeah, it'd be a much bigger event. No, I just ... to your ... I mean what you were saying though, those three people. I mean it is, it's a process. You have to go though that process and go through it and build on it and learn the lessons like what you're talking about and grow. Richard: Learning the lessons because ... guys just don't be afraid. You can do it. There are at least three other people that have the same idea that you have in your head but they are just so scared of failing or just scared... Marcus: There's more than that. There's more than three people. Richard: Three people. Marcus: So, I will go just to soap box for just a second. Richard: Yeah, let's soap box. Marcus: I get tired of people coming to me and not wanting to tell me their ideas and the reason why is because they're scared that if they tell me that idea that somehow ... First of all I've got my own ideas and I'm busy executing on those, but the other thing to is ideas are cheap. Ideas are really cheap, it's the actual execution of the idea is where it becomes valuable. And most people never take that first step to execute the idea and so it's just a wasted thought. Richard: Yeah. Marcus: But anyway. Richard: Stand on that soap box. Marcus: Get back on topic. Richard: The more you know. Marcus: By the time this releases we will probably be two or three weeks out from Mobile fashion week so what are you currently working on? Richard: Okay, so what am I currently working on or ... Marcus: Right now, but I mean ... Richard: Right now. Marcus: Yes, right now. So we're recording this on the 30th of August. So what are you working on for ... Richard: Right now. It's just finalizing the schedule. Everybody thinks that "Oh, it's just a fashion show. You can put that together in a month." Marcus: That's hilarious. Richard: No, no, darlings. It takes literally a year. After the last show we are already ... Like while we're putting that last show ... this show on we're already going to be working on ideas, concepts, designs for next year because one you have to give these designers a chance to make something and you have to give them a chance to let their ideas grow because sometimes their not thinking about it yet. They're just trying to get though that month. Those are the new designers that don't realize they have to be so far ahead yet. But then there's other designers that are a little bit more into the game and know a little bit more. They're already prepared, already have some of that worked out. But you need to give them time. You have to get the Pantone colors for the season, you have to make sure you're trendy. You're keeping the social media up all year so people just don't forget about it and it's like "Oh, well August is here so we're going to start hearing from Mobile fashion week again." No, we have to be at events, we have to be at this, we have to be at that. We have to be promoting, we have to be sharing. So, right now we are finalizing the actual day of fashion week. We used to do three shows. Then we started doing two shows. This year is going to be our first year with one show. One really big show and it's not because of anything else besides the fact that shows cost money and at the end of the day the more money we're spending; yes we have a great week. But the less money we're able to give to Camp Rap-A-Hope. At the end of the day that's what it's about. Like giving the money to the kids with cancer. How do you say no to that? So us cutting down the days that we're actually having to spend on production costs and just focus on the show, focus on the big show and just do other little fun special things though out the week that have to do with fashion, have to do with Camp Rap-A-Hope and promoting that. That's what's important this year. That's what we're focused on this year. Marcus: Very cool. Richard: Just another little fun little change. So yeah just finishing out the calendar. Making sure all the models are still the size they're supposed to be from casting because sometimes you just like ... Marcus: Cheeseburgers. Richard: A new restaurant will open up and you'll eat there a couple times. I've been at that Poke Luau. Marcus: Where's that? Richard: Oh, man you don't know about Poke Luau? Marcus: No. Richard: It's over in Pinebrook shopping center. Marcus: I'll have to check that out. Is that buy ... We're going on a tangent folks, give us just a second. Richard: Yeah, y'all go there too. Marcus: Yeah, is that over by Whole Foods? Richard: Whole Foods. So it's Whole Foods and then that new F45 work out place. It's right next to ... Marcus: Andy Vickers, owns F45. Richard: He's an awesome guy too. All these awesome people. But right next to it there's this Poke Lulu place. Marcus: What kind of food is it? Richard: It's just Poke. It's like... Do you know what Poke is? Like the rice with ... Marcus: Some sort of meat and fresh vegetables and stuff like that. Richard: Yeah everything. Marcus: Alright. Richard: Just go see them. Marcus: Come on, you had to know. I should have told you beforehand just strap yourself in dear listener because we're going on a ride today. Richard: Left, right, up, down. You all should be prepared. Marcus: Who's one person from the business world that motivates you? Or from the fashion world, I'll throw you a bone. So fashion world ... Richard: No, it's actually right in like I can always think big. Think globally act locally and the one person that just inspires me right now and he's local. It's Scott Tindle. Scott Tindle is just an amazing ... y'all clearly ... everybody should know who Scott Tindle is right now. Marcus: Yeah, I mean he's been on the podcast before and Scott and I are friendly. Richard: Yeah, he's just like one of those people that has those ideas but doesn't just spit them out. Like all the sudden they're just there and it's like "Oh, this is an actual thing now. Oh, we actually have a restaurant here now." Marcus: We have Duck Boats that drive down... Richard: We actually have Duck Boats. Marcus: Dauphin Street and we have a fort that's actually being used and we have a restaurant in the fort that has amazing Po Boys and who knows what else dear Scott Tindle has planned for this city. Richard: Hey, and there's going to be a fashion week at that same fort. Marcus: Is it going to be there? Richard: Yeah, it's going to be at the fort. Marcus: Nice. Richard: Yeah, it's going to be great and then we have some food there from ... oh, and they just got their liquor license so we got booze from them too. So you know the fort is going to be a poppin' place Marcus: Somebody hide the Vodka from Richard before the show. Richard: I don't actually drink. I take pictures of everybody else being drunk. It's really good. Especially at business events. It's like "Got this for later." What he has done ...It's just one of those people that's also inspiring also can make light of bad situations. Like bad stuff happens ... Marcus: Yeah. Richard: Forgot to get this license so we've got to ground, you know, the Duck Boats for a little bit but hey learned now not going to do that again. Marcus: Yeah, move forward. Richard: Yeah, move forward. So he's just really ... He's inspiring so many like Andrew Vickers he like worked with Scott and now he's doing his own thing. Just being that inspiring person and being okay with sharing ideas and not thinking like "Oh, I have to keep these ideas to myself because I wanna be the most successful, the richest person in Mobile." No, share your ideas. Marcus: One of the things that the internet has taught me is that ideas are meant to be shared. Richard: Yes. Marcus: Right, they're meant to be shared freely and that, you know. So we give away a lot of information whether it be on the  videos or the podcasts or the blog posts that we right and stuff like that and I mean we go into great detail in some of the things that we share. The funny thing is even if you give away those details often times people will never do anything with it. It's just information that they kind of consume. Richard: I learned a lot about SEO from y'all. See look, hey. Marcus: Throwing that out there. Richard: Yeah, learned it, hey. Marcus: Are there any books, podcasts, people or organizations that have been helpful to you? Richard: Yeah, Mobile Arts Council has been just the supporting of Mobile fashion week. When Bob and Charlie were there, of course, they were just people that I could go in there, talk to, cry if I needed to and just be like "Guys, I'm so overwhelmed. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do next." And they were just there ... just the ear to talk to. They were also ... It was really inspiring just for them to talk to in the fact of fashion is art as well. I know it gets lost. Marcus: I love it. Richard: A lot of people don't think of it as art. They think if it's not hanging up on a wall it's not considered art. Marcus: Right. Richard: So, being that outlet for them as well saying "Hey, fashion is art." Yes, it's clothing. Yes, you can wear it every day. Marcus: It's functional. Richard: But yes there are some designers that are making these gorgeous pieces that you will never wear down Dolphin street but they're these beautiful concepts and it took time and effort. It took just as much time to make that dress as it did to paint that picture. Marcus: And as much creativity. Richard: Much creativity and much uniqueness and that's just energy. Marcus: What's the most important thing that you've learned about running this organization? Richard: Just to ... I know that sounds bad because you should take everything seriously but not to take it too seriously. Marcus: Right. Richard: Not to take everything ... It's not mapping the brain, it's not brain surgery. It's nothing to do with that. Yes, we have this. Yes, we're dealing with money. Yes, we're donating money. All this important stuff behind it but if it ended today, if it ended tomorrow, if this was the last year, if next year's the last year, if anything happen that would not affect me as a person much without saying "I've learned a lot from it." I've learned so much for it and now I can move on and do something else for it. Not that it's going to end anytime soon. Marcus: Right. Richard: Because we're still young around here and we're just going to ride it until the wheels fall off. Marcus: There you go. Richard: But it's just the importance of just not taking it too seriously. Marcus: Well, I mean fashion and art are meant to be fun, right? Richard: Yes. Marcus: And there is ... often times I think we try to make things serious in an effort to lend importance to them. Richard: It gives it validation. If we make it serious, if it's a serious thing then it's validated. Marcus: Right. We have to study it and pick it apart and make it mean something more then what it means. Richard: Those lines. Did you see those lines ... Marcus: Right, exactly. Richard: It was a fun picture. Marcus: Yeah, exactly. Richard: It was a Campbell's soup can, you know. Marcus: Yeah, Andy Warhol is the reference there if you're not catching it. I mean it is ... How much cocaine was consumed in the making of those Campbell's soup cans? Richard: No matter. Marcus: I mean, how much fun was he having while he was doing that? You really think he was trying to be all that serious, no. I mean it was Campbell's soup. He was trying to make a statement but it wasn't meant to be this global thing. Richard: Yeah, no. Marcus: See I get on these soap boxes. I need to just ... Richard: I like your soap boxes. Marcus: Yeah. Richard: Where did that term come from you think? Marcus: Soap box? Richard: Where's that term come from? Marcus: Soap box. Back in the day when people would stand on some sort of pedestal and what's the old term ... Stump speech when ... in politics. Anyway we're way off topic now guys. See I told you this is the last one. We've got another one, we may have to put him in front of this just to make sure that this ... Richard: Make sure you know. Marcus: How do you like to unwind? Richard: How do I like to unwind. Do I unwind? No. I like to sew. Marcus: So you do ... I mean you're actually making fashion pieces and stuff. Richard: One of my things for fashion week ... one of the other things that inspires me. Yes, I make ... I sew, I design, I do all that fun stuff too. I love so many ... and this is what help people that want to start events as well or want's to start something to. I don't believe in a jack of all trades. Like I just don't think it's a good concept. I never really liked it. I liked the fact that you know a little bit about everything but I don't think it's good for the market place, I don't think it's good for anything. Like you just doing it all yourself. So I love make-up, I love hair, I love design, I love shows, I love everything about it but I don't want to be the designer that also does hair, that also does make-up, that also does photography, that also does this, that also does that. Marcus: No, but you have to have some understanding of it in order to pull all of those things together. To make your vision come though. Richard: I do that through fashion week. So I get to play dress up with the designers, I get to talk design to the designers, I get to talk make-up to the make-up artists that support. I get to talk hair to the hair stylist that are coming. You get all these facets together and you get to be engulfed in it all at once without trying to be like "Oh, I'm perfect at everything." And you're not actually giving it everything you're 100% because you can only give 20% of yourself to hair, 20% of yourself to make-up. Marcus: Yeah. Richard: Just put an event together, get these other people that are amazing at these talents because that's what they focus on and just be engulfed in it and just have fun with them. Marcus: Yeah, that's really cool. Now tell people where they can find out more about the event. Richard: Gosh, go to Mobfashionweek.com M-O-B fashionweek.com We post fun blogs there, we have some information about Camp Rap-A-Hope there, we have pictures from past shows. You can see what designers are walking this show. You can see the hair stylists that are supporting, the make-up artists. Everyone that's on the board and on the team that puts this show together because yes I talk because I'm the talker. I'm the loud one. I'm the one ... Marcus: [laughs] Richard: I'm the loud one. I'm the one that puts myself out there but there's so many people and that's what's also empowering as well. Having people because there are those people in life, in the world we live in that have to be the center of attention but I work with this amazing group of people that they will work back behind the scenes. You don't need to know their name, you don't need to know they helped at all. Susan Massengale one of the ones been there since day one and she never comes out and says thank you afterwords. She never does that after the shows. She cleans up, she gets all the models stuff that they leave because we have these ... Marcus: Make sure that everything's buttoned up and taken care of. Richard: Everything's buttoned up and taken care of. You don't have to see her, you don't even have to know she was a part of it because at the end of the day we all work to donate this charity to Camp Rap-A-Hope. Marcus: Yeah. Richard: And that just one of my things that I just loved about working with her, working with the rest of the team with Allison, with Lindsey, with Malcome, with all of these amazing people. Just they don't have to be the center of attention. You don't have to know they're there but they are, they're helping and I appreciate them so much but I'm, of course, like I said the loud one. I'm the loud one, I'm the one like "Hey, y'all coming to the show now? Y'all get over here y'all." Marcus: Oh my god, help us. Richard I want to thank you again for coming on my podcast to wrap up any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share? Richard: Man, just come to the show, support Camp Rap-A-Hope, support all the local events that happen in Mobile; 1065 all these great really cool events. There was that new music ... Marcus: South Sounds. Richard: South Sounds, gosh, please go to South Sounds. Marcus: Yeah, and then you're talking about Mobfest Richard: MOB Fest. That's an event that comes around. All these events, support them. So go there. It might be something you're into, e-mail them say you want to be a part of it if you want to be part of it. If you don't, if you just want to be at the house and go to a cool event, man there's so many events around Mobile. Marcus: It's important that you support them. Some of them are free so it's not even a matter of paying to go but it's important because the people put a lot of effort into that and if people don't come out then they stop putting that effort in and the other thing to is just from the economic impacts stand point because well it's a business podcast so we'll talk about it. Richard: We gotta talk about that. Marcus: From the economic stand point, you know, I was talking to someone who shall remain nameless who said that they generate $30 million worth of revenue for the city by bringing their event here. Richard: Voldemort? Was it Voldemort? Marcus: No. Richard: Oh. Marcus: And so we ... Richard: You said nameless, okay. Marcus: No. It's... Richard: It's not a bad guy. Marcus: Yeah. Richard: Their bringing money in. Marcus: I don't want to ... I mean he's going to be on the podcast soon and he may actually talk about this but we were having lunch the other day and $30-$40 million every year is brought into the city by this guy. Richard: Oh, wow. Marcus: And, you know, the tickets to the event are not that expensive but it's extremely important that we go out and we support these events. Even if they're free because there's sponsorships that, you know, they want to know the numbers that of people that come and there are organizations like yours where it's $25, $30 to come or even if it's $50 who cares. That money's going to a good cause and yes that's not a cheap ticket but at the same time it's a fun event, go. Richard: It's not like trying to go to New York. So many people ... Some of our guests that come they will never have the chance to go to New York fashion week. They'll never have the chance to go to Miami fashion week or L.A. fashion week so we want to bring that experience to them and we don't want be like "Oh, it's $100 to come to our show." Yeah we would love to raise that much money, if you want to spend that much money on a ticket write the other donation to . We don't need that money, we're okay. We're not profiting off this at all. No ones making money everything after they count zeros out goes to Camp Rap-A-Hope. So we're not trying to profit off of this. All we're trying to do is create an amazing event for you to have fun at and not think about ... because that's the fun thing about Camp Rap-A-Hope is they don't ever want to push the fact that the kids have cancer on you. They want to push the fact that they're having fun and they're able just to have fun because its not a big taboo subject because every kid there has cancer so you don't have to talk about it. Marcus: Right. Richard: Because you already know everybody else here has it so we're just going to have a fun weekend and not have to talk about it. You don't have to worry about these ports and tubes around you because you see it all around. It's just a fun week of kids ... oh gosh, I get emotional about it. Marcus: Well, I do need to wrap up. Richard: Oh, yeah we do. Marcus: But I want to say ... I normally wrap up with appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as a business center but I would just like to commend you for taking something like this on because I know it's not a small feat. So pouring your life into something and not getting anything from it other than just an outlet is an amazing thing. You're a beautiful individual. Thank you for what you bring. Richard: Thank you so much. Thank you so much everyone. Learn more about Mobile Fashion Week on their  and follow them on , , and .

The Salt Lake Chamber has created a new podcast called "CEO Success Stories." In every episode Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, sits down with a top CEO from across the state to hear from them their leadership philosophy, best practices and lessons learned. We are pleased to be joined with the “CEO of the State” Governor Gary Herbert for our inaugural episode.

On this week's podcast, Marcus chats with Jeff Carter with the City of Mobile. You're not going to want to miss this interview as Jeff shares his journey of connections and organic education that sent him from being a paramedic to being the Chief Innovation Officer for our city.  Jeff: I'm Jeff Carter, the Chief Innovation Officer with the City of Mobile. Marcus: Awesome. Well, welcome to the podcast, Jeff. Jeff: Thanks. Marcus: Yeah. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Jeff: I have no idea. Marcus: Now Jeff, full disclosure, Jeff and I know each other from a number of organizations. The one that we should probably mention because we want them to known is Fuse Project. We both sit on the board for Fuse Project. I've known you from your past life as the head of the I-Team, which we won't get into here because I'm very curious to hear about what you have going on as the Chief Innovation Officer. But before we get into all of that, why don't you tell us the story of Jeff. Where are you from? Where'd you go to high school, college? I know a little bit about your background before getting hired as the lead of the I-Team. Married? Not married? All that stuff. Jeff: Ah, the short biography. Well it's a- Marcus: No, this is 25 to 30 minutes, so you better talk for a little bit or we're gonna have to dig deep. Jeff: Well, it's kind of a bizarre story that doesn't make a whole lot of sense how I got here. I'll try to make it as concise and believable as possible. Marcus: Sure. Jeff: But I grew up in the booming metropolis of Citronelle, Alabama. Marcus: Sweet. Jeff: When I got to the age of middle school, my parents decided to send me to school in Mobile. I came to the Magnet Program. I went to Phillips for three years. At the end of three years, my dad made a deal with me that I could go to high school wherever I wanted. He assumed that I would go back to Citronelle High School because that's where my friends were and everything. I did miss that a lot. But when I got through at Phillips, it just occurred to me that I'd had such a good education at Phillips that I really couldn't go back to Citronelle. Marcus: Even as young kid you recognized that? Jeff: Yeah. Marcus: Wow. Jeff: I wound up graduating from LeFlore High School, which was the Magnet High School at the time. It was a very interesting change for me to go from a small town to really an inner city high school when I graduated from LeFlore. It was, I don't know, 97% African-American. I tell people all the time that that was really one of my first and best real learning opportunities. I tell people I got an education and an education there. It was really, really good to be able to learn, at that age, so many different things that I had never been exposed to before. That really started opening my mind to how to learn from different people and how to focus on people, and it was very important to me. When I got out of ... When I was in ... um. Lot of ums. When I was growing up, my parents worked hard. They were blue collar. My mom's a teacher. My dad worked in the chemical plant. They tell people that the dreams they had for us as kids all came from a Willie Nelson song. They wanted us to grow up to be doctors and lawyers and such or get a good job. Marcus: Did they know at the time that Willie Nelson was ... nevermind. Jeff: Hey, let's not down an icon here. All right? Marcus: Yeah, a massive pothead that, you know, but anyway. Jeff: Willie's an American treasure. Marcus: He is absolutely. Jeff: He's an American Treasure. Marcus: I love Willie Nelson, but, yeah. Jeff: Anyway, so I thought I wanted to go to med school is what I thought I wanted to do. I did well in high school and tried to do all those extra things that they tell you're supposed to do. One of those extra things I wound up doing was I became an EMT. That made perfect sense to me at the time. I was gonna be an EMT, and I was gonna have this on my transcript when I applied for med school that I had had patient care experience, and it was all gonna be great. After high school went to South, enrolled in South and wound up finishing my paramedic at night while I did the rest of my college courses during the day. Then what happened was I was 19-years-old and I had a paramedic license. I was the youngest paramedic in the State of Alabama. I could give narcotics but not drink alcohol. That's when I found out that a 19-year-old boy should not be allowed to make his own money. At the age of 19, I was a paramedic, and I found out that I could get a job and make money. Somehow that became a lot more alluring to me than finishing college. I dropped out of college, much to my dad's chagrin, and I worked on the ambulance. I worked here in Mobile County. Later transferred over and worked in Baldwin County. I worked 24-hour shifts, 48-hour shifts, 72-hour shifts, X-hour shifts, but I loved it. It was great. What I loved the most about being a medic was that in a single day, in a single shift, you might help the smartest person in the world, the most challenged person in the world, the richest person in the world, and the poorest person in the world. You might get to see all those people and learn something from them in a single shift. There's really nothing else like it. It was a really cool experience. It taught me a lot about how the world works. Taught me a lot about how to talk to people of different backgrounds and learn information in a very short amount of time, and then try to turn that information into something that could help make them better in a very short amount of time. I worked on the ambulance for a little while. I was fortunate enough to get hired at SouthLight. My hire date at SouthLight is pretty memorable. The hire date was 9/11 2001. Marcus: Oh, gosh, dude. Jeff: That was my first full-time day on the helicopter, and so did that for a while. Loved that. Working at South was amazing. Also in that time, I got asked to come back, and I taught in the paramedic program run at South. Paramedic, EMTP means EMT part-time something else, where every paramedic has a bunch of jobs. Marcus: Right. Jeff: I was fortunate enough to work on the ambulance, work on the helicopter, and teach, and did that for a while. The Hospital chose to get out of SouthLight at a time and went over to a private provider. That transition was where I learned a lot about business, because all of a sudden it was more than just taking care of sick people. You really started having to understand the business aspect of it. In the healthcare world that's a challenge. Did that for a while. I thought I was ready for an eight to five day job, and got asked to come be the Deputy Director of EMS in the country, for Mobile County. I knew they had some challenges there when I took the job. Marcus: It's a nice way of saying, "Things were kind of messed up." Jeff: Yeah. Well, it reminds me of one of my favorite John F. Kennedy quotes. He was asked by a reporter his first week in office what he was most surprised about so far. He says, "Well, what I'm most surprised about is things was as bad as we were saying they were." Anyway, so we got there and they were in the transition of going from a full volunteer to a paid service and trying to do a better job for citizens in the county. We just realized we had to get to work. What happened there was I'm really proud of. We were able to turn that operation around from an operation that had very, very long average response times for the county, just very, very long was all I can say. In two years we had grown that organization from about 10 employees to 120 employees, and we cut response times in the county to 10-minute average response times for the entire county. Marcus: Wow. Jeff: We did that really sort of organically by finding problems and addressing problem, finding problems and addressing problems. The way we started to do this was really by looking at data and mapping. We started really, really paying attention to the data that we had on our run volume and the needs of the county. We really looked at mapping those calls for service by hour of the day, and day of the week, and hour of the day. We were able to match up our schedule side or deployment side to the needs and then keep growing with a county that was growing. That was our little formula there. That worked out real well. Marcus: It sounds like that was the beginning of your data analysis- Jeff: It was. Marcus: ... because I know that that becomes also very important in what you did at the I-Team as well. But I didn't realize that that was where that education came from. Jeff: Yeah, a lot of my education is pretty organic. I learned things as I needed them. Taught my self a lot of things. I don't have a very traditional education background, although I did go back to South and complete my bachelor's degree. Marcus: What'd you get your degree in? Jeff: Some of my degree is in emergency management. Marcus: Okay. Jeff: I did go back to South and complete my degree. But most of the other things I learned since then were really just sort of ad hoc in a lot of ways. But it's interesting to me how all of those things have kind of wound themselves together and built on one another, so, yeah, the data analysis and stuff that I learned there and the mapping that I learned there has been instrumental in what I've done here. Marcus: Right. Jeff: Do I just keep going here? Are you good? Marcus: Yeah, no. You're good. But seriously that's what this podcast is all about, man. Jeff: All right. All right. Anyway, so while I was working there, things had gotten settled down and we were in a maintenance mode and just growing a little bit, and things were really good out there. They're still doing a great job out there. I started getting invited to some of this volunteer stuff. In 2010, I did Leadership Mobile, which was cool for me because when I was in high school and I thought I was going to med school and I was trying to check all the boxes, I had signed up for a Youth Leadership Mobile. It turned out to have been the first class of Youth Leadership Mobile that Mobile United had ever done. Marcus: Interesting. Jeff: I was in the inaugural class of Youth Leadership Mobile. Then in 2010 had applied for the Adult Leadership Mobile course and was the first person in the adult class that had done the youth class, so that was cool. I really enjoyed that, met some awesome, awesome people, had a great experience, learned even more about Mobile. Then after that I'm kind of in this mode where once you do that, the next thing you're supposed to do is "be on some boards." I thought that's what I needed to do next. I got an invitation to the Greater Gulf State Fair Board. I didn't know the Greater Gulf State Fair had a board. I just knew that I'd been to the fair. That was all I knew. I really had not other motivation to do it other than- Marcus: To be on a board. Jeff: ... you're supposed to be on some boards after you do this. This is kind of the thing. Right? Marcus: Yep. Jeff: I think I'm following the formula. I found out later I wasn't following the formula, but I thought I was following the formula. I get on the board and to my surprise when I got there, I found that they had a lot of challenges. I was on the board for four or five years, I guess, and in that time we went through some pretty big transitions. There was some staff turnover. I wound up hiring a guy named Scott Tindle. Marcus: He's a common theme in what's going on in Mobile right now. Jeff: Yeah. I never forget it. I talked to him, interviewed him. The board voted. I went outside and said, "Man, if you're dumb enough to take this job, they're gonna give it to you." Marcus: Yeah. He's the dog that caught the car. Jeff: Yeah, so before he got there, we had made a lot of changes. When he got there was when we really started the rebranding efforts. I love telling the story because people assume that we hired some high dollar agency to do all the rebranding. The truth is we drank a lot of beers, and somebody said, "Let's just call it The Grounds." The next morning, Tindle got on Fiverr and got us a logo for 300 bucks, and hence it was rebranded. Marcus: Sure. Jeff: But all the changes that we made there, that organization had been losing six figures a year for a while. Marcus: Wow. Jeff: We were able to take that organization by re-changing its brand, changing its presentation, and changing who we advertised to. Marcus: Yeah, the audience. Jeff: Who we market it to. The feel of the event as well as some price structure, some contract things, and just a sort death by a thousand cuts. But we were able to take that organization from losing $100,000 a year to making $400,000 a year in 13 months. Marcus: A $500,000 swing- Jeff: In 13 months. Marcus: ... in 13 months. That's amazing. Jeff: Well, the cool part about it is what we did with the money. The cool part about it is we had this concept we call Community Capital. I define Community Capital by if you wink out of existence tomorrow, who would raise their hand and say, "I really miss those guys at Blue Fish"? Marcus: Right. Jeff: If there's nobody that'll raise their hand, then you don't have any Community Capital. Marcus: Please, somebody raise their hand, please. Jeff: We started doing things with the money that organization made and reinvesting it back into organizations that were providing service. One of the things we did was used to have a hard time getting people to work the ticket office. Well, we had 10 nights, so we gave a thousand dollars to a different nonprofit every night to staff the ticket office. If you've worked at a nonprofit, you know how hard it is to make a thousand dollars in six hours of profit. It is a huge deal. We started doing things like that to help really engrain that organization in the community. Marcus: Well, then also, I don't know if it was intentional, but you're also probably getting marketed to the audience that they have as well. Jeff: Everything is related. Every single thing is related and there's a- Marcus: Scott's good at that kind of stuff. Jeff: ... value exchange on everything. I did that for a while, enjoyed that. Sort of through that, that's when I got introduced to Grant and the Fuse Project. I missed their very inaugural event, but I've been on the board since right after that. What I loved about that organization was their focus on creating immediate measurable impact for kids in our area. I liked that we weren't gonna do things regular. That was really something that spoke to me, so I've enjoyed being a part of that. Actually, that organization is why I am in the job I am now. Marcus: How so? Jeff: It was a little bit serendipitous. The first year we had the first Dragon Boat, we made more money than we thought we were gonna make. At the time we felt like we needed a strategic plan, but we really didn't have enough money to go hire anybody that did a strategic plan. We didn't really believe that we could do our own strategic plan, so we had this idea that we would have an event called Light the Fuse. We had this dinner, and Noble South catered it and gave us a great deal. We completely redid the lot next door to Downtown Alliance. We invited a hundred movers and shakers of Mobile. These were the guys who get hit up for money every 10 seconds. Marcus: All the time. Yeah. Jeff: The hook we told them for that night was that we needed their brains not their wallets, and there was no charge. We paid for the entire dinner, and paid for everything. All they had to do was have a fantastic dinner, sit with some fantastic people at 10 tables of 10, and dream up what solutions would they have to fix issues for children in our area. That was what they had to do. They had to do that before dessert. Marcus: No small feat. Jeff: Yeah. We are on a clock here. Marcus: Yeah. Exactly. Jeff: Before dessert came around, we went around the tables and filmed each table's response to their answers and cut them all together real quick and played them up on that wall while dessert was being served. The 10 answers from that thing did dictate the next projects that Fuse entered into. One of the first ones, they said, "You know we need a place for nonprofits to come together." Marcus: Which became Fuse Proper. Jeff: Which became Fuse Factory. Marcus: Yeah, Factory. Jeff: Several tines we heard that we really need more mentoring in Mobile, and so that became a pledge to Big Brothers Big Sisters to fund a hundred new mentors in Mobile and Baldwin County from Dragon Boat. That was our strategic plan, and we're still working on some of that stuff. But I digress a bit. As I was doing research for the table that I led that night, I came across this article on Money.com, of all places, about Memphis, Tennessee. What they had in Memphis was an I-Team, and I read about the work they'd done in Memphis on rebuilding neighborhoods. They used a model they called: Clean it, fix it, sustain it. It was fascinating to me. I just dove into it. I found everything I could read about it. They were one of the first five I-Teams in the world, the inaugural I-Team class from Bloomberg. I just could not read enough about it. I was fascinated. We did this event in October. In December, low and behold, there's Mayor Stimpson walking down Texas Street announcing the City of Mobile has gotten an I-Team grant. I felt just compelled to apply for it. I don't think I had any special skill set that would get me in the I-Team. I didn't think that the resume I had would get me in I-Team, didn't know anything about it. But I felt I'd read about it, I was fascinated by it, and I wouldn't be able to sleep until I applied for it. I sent my application into the dark. They were dumb enough to call me, and here I am. When I got offered the job, it completely freaked my mom out, because she wanted me to have a good job, a good stable job, and I had that at EMS. I was the Deputy Director and things were good. Marcus: Right. Jeff: I'll never forget. I went to sleep one night and I woke up the next morning and I said, "You know, if I stay where I'm at, in three years I'll know exactly where I'll be. If I go take this grant-funded job, in three years have no idea where I'll be. I'm actually more terrified of knowing where I'll be than not knowing where I'll be." Marcus: There are some life lessons there. Jeff: Yeah, so here I am. Marcus: For those of you that aren't familiar with the I-Team and ... if I understand from what you said earlier ... Terrance is now the head of the I-Team, so we want to get him on as well. Because honestly I wasn't aware that you had been promoted to Chief Innovation Officer for the city. We're gonna get to that in just a second. But for those of you that aren't familiar with the I-Team, the I-Team, I usually refer to them as the virus that is infecting the city. Whenever there is a problem area ... Correct me if I'm wrong but ... where the citizens are necessarily receiving the service that they should be receiving as the citizens of Mobile, then the I-Team usually goes in, tries to assess the situation, oftentimes there's interviews of the citizens of Mobile to find out what the issues were. The I-Team tries to go in and find pathways that they can smooth out those rough spots. Jeff: Oh, that's part of it. To simplify it a little bit, the I-Team is really there to add a capacity to help the government think of old problems in new ways. Marcus: Yep. Jeff: Many of these problems that the City of Mobile has challenges with, cities all across the US have challenges with. Sometimes cities are not necessarily have the human capacity to think of new ways. A lot of the times when you hear about cities cutting budgets and all of those things, you really have an organization that has just enough people to do the job it's doing. Marcus: Sure. Jeff: For it to stop and think about how it might do it different- Marcus: It's a luxury. Jeff: ... it means that it has to stop, and you can't stop the functions of government. That's where this I-Team Innovation capacity comes in is to really help think about those things differently. To do that, the focus is very, very much on the end user, whoever the end user might be. A lot of times everybody thinks the great ideas come from the corner office. Well, they don't. The great ideas come from the people doing the work every day. Marcus: Right. Jeff: That's where the real focus of the I-Team is and has been a focus of mine. No matter what I've done is to think about it from the perspective of the guy that's out there actually doing the thing, whatever the thing is. Marcus: Getting into the change here with your role as Chief Innovation Officer, so what does that look like? What are you? Jeff: Yeah, so as the Chief Innovation Officer, I'm a member of the I-Team, the city's I-Team, city's GIS and the city's 311. Those four organizations are all related and separate. But each one of them really is a service. They provide a service to someone. Our I-Team provides a service to citizens and to the city. They're really, really, really good at looking at things from end user prospective and letting that help the design and dictate the solutions that the city needs to make sure that whatever we do as a city that we continue to serve our ultimate purpose which is to improve the lives of citizens. Our IT Department is super-strong in the technical stuff, but hasn't in the past had the capacity to think about those things from the user prospective. Marcus: User prospective. That is normal with IT. Jeff: Yeah. They're good at technical stuff. Marcus: They're really good at technical. Jeff: They're really good at it. Marcus: And they understand it- Jeff: They do. Marcus: ... but translating that into how they reach an audience is difficult. Jeff: The one thing that our I-Team gets from this marriage is they get better access and understanding and capacity on the data side of the house to make sure that when we talk about the changes that the I-Team makes, it's not good enough just to "make things better." We have to make sure that we did it in a measurable fashion and that we're meeting targets. Or if we're not meeting targets, we're adjusting what we're doing along the way so it's a continuous improvement cycle. That's the big vision of this Chief Innovation Officer, and working hard to get there. Marcus: Well, that's exciting because you're the first Chief Innovation Officer for Mobile. Right? Jeff: Yep. Marcus: Again, First Youth Class, first youth in the Adult Leadership Class and breaking down walls, Chief Innovation Officer, man. Jeff: I'll get you to make my commercial for me. I don't think about it like that, man. I'm just- Marcus: Yeah, no, I get you. Jeff: ... here to do work. Marcus: I think it's cool. I was excited about having you on because I think people need to hear that the city is trying to get better. That we oftentimes we hear it and from the mayor, and I think he's a straight shooter. Obviously we do, because we did a bunch of stuff to try and help him get elected. But we think he's a straight shooter so we tend to believe him. But there are a lot of people that look at a politician and they just think, "Well, he's just saying those things because he wants people to believe that he's doing his job." I've oftentimes said that I view the position of mayor or the position of governor or the position of President as a person that needs to be the cheerleader for the group that they represent. That they're really casting vision for that, but it is the responsibility of the business owners and of the citizens to actually take up that mantle and move it forward.  We've had that conversation a number of times on the podcast where it's not the city's job to provide good jobs in Mobile. It's the entrepreneur's job to do that. But it is the city's job to make it easy for the entrepreneur to operate and to do business. I know that you all have been, with your work with the I-Team and hopefully now continuing that as the CIO that ... Well, I guess I should take say Chief Innovation Officer because CIO is Chief Information Officer typically. But I know that you'll be continuing that effort. For people to hear from you that A, there is a Chief Innovation Officer and that the city is still looking at ways to smooth those rough edges and being self-aware and that things aren't perfect and that you're trying to get better. I think that's promising for people. Jeff: Yeah. I'll tell you the one thing that we know for sure in the city is that things aren't perfect. The only thing we know for sure in the city is that everybody's working hard every day to make it better. I haven't had a meeting with the mayor yet that at the end of the meeting he didn't say, "Go get them." That's what he wants to see done. He wants to see these changes made. The city is better for everyone. The one thing that I see with the city right now and I kind of heard you say a little bit, but it's something that I really believe in is that you can't do anything by yourself. Everything is a team. Marcus: Yep. Jeff: Whether you build a large team or a small team, you have to make sure that there's a lot of respect amongst all the people on that team. They trust each other. We trust each other. You trust each other enough to say when things are good and high five. But you also have to trust each other enough to say when things are bad and really challenge one another to make things better. We do that a lot inside of the I-Team. We're doing that now in this new Innovation Department. But it's also being done at a macroscopic level. It's also being done amongst the city as a whole. The City Administration is a team. The City Council is a Team. The business owners and citizens, those are all team members. Marcus: Yep. Jeff: Each one of them has an important role. Neither of them could do the job for the other people. Everybody has to do their part. But we also have to keep building that trust and respect to get down to what we really need to do. Marcus: Have you read, and if you haven't, I wouldn't be surprised. But have you ever read Startup Communities by Brad Feld? Jeff: I have. Marcus: You have? I think that's amazing. The whole premise of the book is that, again, going back to what we're saying, the city has to operate at a certain level, but it's up to the entrepreneurs. Also, I love that University of South Alabama and Spring Hill and University of Mobile, they're all very much trying to be a positive influence in the business community and the economic development of the area and stuff like that as well. Because I don't know that anybody is orchestrating that at a high level, but without really even trying we're kind of following the book. Jeff: Yeah. I think if you blended that book with Maker City, I think you'd have a lot of what's going on in Mobile right now. Marcus: It's blowing me away because ... speaking of Maker City ... earlier today we posted on our Facebook page that if you're a maker of goods in Mobile, please tag your business or let us know by making a comment or something like that. The last time I checked, there were like 50 comments. Jeff: Nice. Marcus: It's just blown me away. Heather Pefferkorn and I have had a number of conversations because she does The Market at The Pillars. I was blown away to hear how many people she was hearing from that were makers in the city. I don't think people realize just how much stuff is being created here, whether it's candles or art or music or whatever the goods are. I think she was talking about a young brother and sister that make bread and baked goods and stuff like that, all kinds of stuff, so. But anyway, it's cool to see that. Jeff: It's a super-cool phenomenon. I would also venture that if there were 50 people who would call themselves makers, there's probably another 150 there who are doing great at making amazing things, but don't feel in themselves that they're able to elevate their work and name it as a maker. But Mobile is just full of that kind of talent, man. It's [crosstalk 00:30:44]. Marcus: Yeah. We're looking at ways that we can actually amplify the voices of those people. Honestly the reason why we started this podcast was to amplify the voices of business owners and the awesome things that they're doing in Mobile. Because we're unique in that as a city we have a lot of people that are entrepreneurs and that step out and do some really great things. I don't know that we celebrate that enough. It's a difficult road, and if we can give somebody a platform that allows them to get some notice and some notoriety, then by all means we'll do that. Because I just think it's hats off to those that take it upon themselves to start businesses. It's not an easy road. Jeff: It's a good one though. I'll tell you, I was walking down here and I looked across the street and saw the graffiti mural on the side. I was very, very glad all of a sudden that I lived in Mobile. I'm glad to live in a city where Johnny Cash, Tupac, and John Lennon can be painted side-by-side. Marcus: That is great, isn't it? I know. I love it, and it's cool because I don't know the artist that did that. But two days after Prince passed away, he had Prince up there, and you know what I mean? Jeff: Nice. Marcus: It's just like he is continually adding to that. I don't know. I love that aspect of what we have going on here as well, so. Now I do want to get back to some of the questions don't necessarily apply to you, but there are some that do. Are there any books, podcasts, people, or organizations that you would like to recommend or that you think would be helpful to business people. Jeff: The number one business book I'm stuck on right now is Zero to One. It's by Peter Thiel. You know this one? Marcus: I don't. Go ahead. Jeff: Ah, it's amazing. Peter Thiel is the creator of PayPal- Marcus: Yep. Jeff: ... and thus the PayPal Mafia and Elon Musk and all of those other guys that worked there are doing amazing things. Everybody knows their name right now. I've read it once and listened to it twice. I've been really obsessed with it right now. It's such a great book. It's not just a great book about the business world. There's a lot of businesses that take one thing and try to make it from one to many, but that real active creation of going from nothing to one. Marcus: Yeah, getting that first client or that first product that's viable. Jeff: Yeah, is fascinating to me. But what was so fascinating to me about it again was how much focus he had on the team and building that team and how he looked at the business. So huge fan of Zero to One. Marcus: In regards to PayPal or in regards ... because he's doing mostly venture capital investment type stuff now, isn't he? Jeff: Yeah. He does a lot of things now. He does Palantir and does some VC stuff. But his team that he built there ... They wind up calling them the PayPal Mafia ... those guys started and ran tons of things out there. Marcus: Yeah. They're changing the world that we ... I'm adding that to my books to read list. Jeff: Zero to One. Got to have that one. Marcus: Yeah. Anything else you want to add to that? Jeff: That's my number one business book right now. I'm really kind of eclectic in everything else that I listen to and look at. One of the things that I hate about the digital world that we live in is that if you're not really, really, active and purposeful, you'll just keep getting fed the same kind of stuff over and over in our little filter bubble world. I don't really have any one thing to recommend as far as blogs or podcasts. It's pretty eclectic. I really try to jump all over the place. Marcus: Yeah and that is totally cool. Now I'm gonna ask this question and we may have to mark it out, so. Is there a bit of advice that you would give to people that are looking to start a business in the city? Jeff: I tell you, my best number one answer for people right now is you keep going until you find someone who says yes. Mobile is in a very, very weird time in its lifespan right now. I see Mobile more as a frontier city where anything is possible and anything will work. But starting a business, if you're starting something new and the number one thing you need is 10 people to say, "That's a great idea," you're probably not under the right space. But if you keep going, you will find this tribe of people here that really want to see Mobile do the right thing and embrace all these different ideas and all these different things. Because of that, Mobile is a place where really anything can grow here. Marcus: Yeah, Scott Tindle's proving that. Yeah. No. Without getting into too much detail, I've found that to be true. That oftentimes if you are not speaking to the right person, whether that be somebody that you're dealing with at the city, at City Plaza ... or whether that's just doing business in general ... that just finding the right person that you should be talking to oftentimes you'll get the right answer, but you just have to be persistent and push forward. Jeff: Yes. Keep going until somebody says yes. Marcus: Yeah. Now how do you like to unwind? Jeff: I'm a fisherman. I got two boys at the house. Right now I am 0 and two, my last two games of NBA 2K17 against my 12-year-old. We won't talk about the 30 games before that, but. Marcus: I'm sure he gets a lot more practice time than you do. Jeff: His practice time is higher than mine. But no, I spend time with family and fishing, being outside, is kind of my thing. Marcus: Now if people want to understand more about some of the changes that are gonna be happening, because I recognize you are just getting started, so there might not be a whole lot. But is there a place where they can keep tabs on all of that? Jeff: That'll be coming soon. Marcus: It will be. Jeff: That'll be coming soon. Marcus: Okay. Right. Well, I want to thank you, again, for coming on the podcast. I know that this is outside what we normally talk about here, but I felt because of your position and the influence that you have over what business owners care about that it was very important to have you on. I want to thank you for your time. Anything else that you'd like to add or comments you want to make? Thoughts? Jeff: No. Thanks for having me. Enjoyed it. Marcus: Yeah. Very good. Well, I appreciate your willingness to sit with me, and it's been great having you on. Jeff: Cool.

Kati: My name is Kati Lovvorn, and I'm the store director at Urban Emporium. Marcus: Yay. Kati: Woohoo! Marcus: No, it's great to have you on the podcast. I know we talked about this beforehand. We've had Carol on, and you all are kind of part of the Downtown Mobile Alliance, but not really. So, when I was in the store the other day getting a Mother's Day present, because I shop local, people- Kati: Yeah! Marcus: ... it occurred to me that we had not talked to you, and I was glad to hear that you were coming on. So, thank you for being here. Kati: Yes. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Marcus: Yeah. Absolutely. Well, you know how this goes, because you listen. So, tell us the story of Kati. Where did you grow up? Where'd you go to high school? Where'd you go to college, if you went? Because not everybody on the podcast has been. Give us some of the backstory. Tell us who you are. Kati: So, I'm from here, born and raised Mobile, Alabama. Marcus: Yay. Kati: And I went to McGill-Toolen for high school, which was great. Then I actually went to the University of Southern Mississippi for college. So, that was a change, because not a lot of people from here went there. It's actually really popular for people from here to go there now. Marcus: Interesting. Kati: But met a lot of great friends there. Moved around a little bit. After I graduated college, I moved straight to West Palm Beach, Florida, like the day I graduated college, which was kind of crazy. But I was a fashion merchandising and marketing major, so I wanted to work on Rodeo Drive, but I didn't want to go all the way to California, so- Marcus: So, West Palm Beach was as close- Kati: Yeah. So, they have Worth Avenue, which is like a mini Rodeo, so I was like, "Let me get in on that." And I had a good friend that lived there. So, I did that for a while, and I ended up working at Nordstrom down there, which was a great experience for corporate retail. I had never worked in corporate retail before. And let me tell you, it is a different world from local. And learned a lot of lessons in that, and kind of learned that it wasn't for me. So, I moved to New Orleans after that. I came home for I think four or five days, and it was Memorial Day weekend, and I went to New Orleans, and then I was like, "Yeah, I'm gonna move here now, too." So, I packed up a bag and lived there for about a year. Kati: I worked for a small business there. It was a boutique. The owner, she was just the most amazing person ever, and she was so great about teaching me about business. She was a struggling small-business owner. She had just started her company. She was under five years old. And those are the really hard years to make it happen. So, you- Marcus: Amen. Kati: ... everybody says, "If you make it to five years, you will make it." But it's a struggle to get there. And you go through highs and lows and getting your name out there. And she was great. And she taught me how to do some buying and all the ins and outs of retail. And she really got me excited about small business I guess is how that all started. Marcus: That's cool. So, what was more valuable to you, the experience that you had in work or the experience that you, the knowledge, not necessarily the experience, because college experience is something different, but the knowledge that you got when you were in college? Kati: I'd say the experience was way more because you're talking about out of college ... Marcus: Yeah. Kati: ... in college? Yeah. So, in college, obviously it's a book that you're learning from, so you don't really get prepared for real-life situations or how hard it really is. And even in college, I worked for a small-business owner, too, in a boutique there. So, the experience is better. You learn the struggle. Everyone thinks it's so easy to go open a small ... They're like, "I'm gonna open a business." And it's like, it's really not that easy. And I guess I got to learn that at a really young age. And that's actually what made me wait a very long time to open my own small business because the struggle is real. And I learned it firsthand. Kati: So, I got a chance to ride on other people's coattails I guess and learn from their mistakes and their hardships to figure out the best way for me to make it work. Marcus: And it's cool that you got the experience at a corporate retailer to know that that, even moving up in that world wasn't for you, because for instance, we deal a lot with technology. So, we just had somebody in. We wish him well, but we had somebody leave because he had aspirations of working on much larger, bigger projects. And quite honestly, I come from much larger, bigger projects. I mean I worked for contractors that did projects for the DOD and Department of State and all ... It doesn't get much bigger than that. Marcus: But that is not, I don't enjoy that at all because you're really just a cog inside of a huge wheel, whereas what I love about what we do now is that I'm impacting other business owners and I'm getting to do a lot of what you're getting to do, which is really help other people achieve their dreams and their goals as well. So, that's cool. Kati: Yeah. It was a different world. And you know then, right, you learn so quickly that it's just not for you. Marcus: Yeah. Kati: Working for small-business owners, you just become family. You're part of the team. Their successes are your successes. And you get excited about different things. It's a whole different story because in a corporation, you don't really matter a lot of times. And your opinions or your thoughts and all that kind of stuff is pushed to the wayside because they have a plan. They have a plan 18 months out. And- Marcus: Or longer. Kati: Yeah. So, small business it's fun because you can fly by the seat of your pants. It's like, "There's an event coming up? Let's do it. Let's pack up a bag and go." Marcus: It's like even small things, the Nappies were just released today, and we were nominated for two awards. Kati: Fantastic! Marcus: I know. So, I stop and I ... That thing is, we haven't talked about it internally, but that's kind of a big deal. Kati: It is, yeah. Marcus: We've never been nominated for a Nappie before. We've not done a whole lot of business here locally, so it's kind of cool to see ... I don't know. Anyway, this isn't about me, so we're gonna stop. Kati: It's exciting, though. Marcus: But it's exciting. As a small-business owner, it is, it's very exciting. Kati: Yeah. Marcus: Now, what was your first job? And are there any lessons that you still remember taking from them? Kati: I think my first job, because I kind of got a heads-up about this before, it was either working at my dad's office filing papers or a lifeguard. And I don't remember which was first because I kind of did them at the same time. And I don't even know. Lessons to learn, do what you're told at those kind of jobs. You're 16, and you're pushing papers around. But I did learn, I think organization skills was probably one of the best things that I learned. I didn't realize how important is it to be organized until you're filing house plans and papers and stuff like that all together. And if you don't put them in the right place, it's gonna- Marcus: Or in the right order even, yeah. Kati: ... yeah, it's gonna be a problem for somebody. But, yeah, and then lifeguarding, that was just a lot of fun, and meet some cool people and don't drown. Marcus: Yeah, and people's lives in your hands. Now, you mentioned starting your own business. Why don't you tell people a little bit about that. Kati: I've been with Urban Emporium almost four years now. It'll be four years in August. And when I first started there, I was just so excited to move back to Mobile and have an opportunity to work in the fashion industry in a different way because I kind of always struggled back and forth with, "Am I gonna be able to live in my hometown that I absolutely love and do what I absolutely love to do? Or am I gonna have to suck it up and move somewhere else? Because this is my career. This is what I chose to go to school for, and I love it." Kati: And then through a friend, through the grapevine, I heard about Urban Emporium, and I'd been in a couple of times but didn't really know what it was or the concept about it. And interviewed for the job, and it was awesome. And then just I didn't realize how much good that they did and how many different people they reached out to and how many businesses they were helping. So, over the years, I've learned so much being a part of the organization that I finally decided to be ... I think I've learned so much now that I'm like, "Okay, I think I can do my own business now." I've been wanting to do this since I was 17. I'm like, "Hey, you can do it now." Kati: So, I finally decided to take the leap. And it was hard. I did even working with small-business owners every day and sharing the advice and all of the things that I've learned over my years in my career in fashion, and it's kind of easy to teach it, but then when you're actually doing what you're teaching, it's hard. Marcus: It's hard. Kati: Yeah. It again, I was prepared for the wake-up call and I was prepared that how hard it is to run a small business, but then it still got me. Marcus: Yeah. It is a bit of a different bird. It's funny because even Blue Fish has been in existence for over 10 years, but as a marketing company, it was oftentimes like the cobbler's kids have no shoes. And it wasn't until probably about a little over two years ago or so, three years ago, because we started the podcast about three years ago, where we started putting a little bit more effort into those kinds of things. But it is, small-business owners are really focused on serving their clients, and oftentimes, it sounds like that's what you got tapped into. Kati: Yeah. Marcus: It was like, "Well, I'm busy serving the Urban Emporium clients and putting that over my own desires, but- Kati: Yeah. Because I mean and I still do that today because the Urban Emporium has to succeed for retail to be able to [come 00:10:44] a real thing downtown. And we have succeeded. We've been in operation for it'll be six years in October. And it started at first as a proof of concept that retail could live in downtown. And now, it's snowballed into this amazing landmark in downtown for shopping and retail. And we love that. So, without that, my business wouldn't exist. So, it's just one of those things that I truly love working with all of our tenants and our consignors and artists and everybody that are involved in it. And I want them to succeed because I want the shop to succeed, too. Kati: It's like Urban Emporium wouldn't be there without them, so- Marcus: Well, let's go back. Kati: ... it's one without the other. Marcus: Describe ... I don't know, have we said what Urban Emporium actually is? Kati: No. I could do that. Marcus: Yeah. Let's do that because I think many people probably don't even know what it is. Kati: Yeah. Every day, I meet people that don't know what we are. So, Urban Emporium is a 501c3 nonprofit, and we're started to revitalize retail in downtown Mobile. So, the Downtown Alliance actually came up with the concept and started us as a nonprofit wing of the organization and to fill a need in downtown. After everything moved out West, there wasn't really much left down here. And then with companies moving back down here and more and more visitors trying to come to town and the CBD is obviously done huge things to bring more and more people into town- Marcus: Tourism and stuff like that. Yeah. Kati: Yeah. So, they actually, with other downtowns across the country, they went and visited all these different places and got the idea from a PieLab. So, it was this incubator that all these different chefs and cooks were in, and they were all making desserts under one roof and selling their product. So, that's kind of where they got the idea. So, they took that and ran with it and created this whole retail concept with it. And there aren't very many retail incubators across the United States, but it's cool. And it has changed 100% from day one the plan. We have a 4,000-square-foot store. It was originally designed for six retailers. And now we have 32 retailers in there. Marcus: I was just gonna ask, yeah, how many people are represented? Kati: Yeah. It's totally different. We were just started to support entrepreneurs, local, start-up businesses, maybe even businesses that are in other locations that want to be in downtown now, because a lot of people we've had some people recently from the mall come down. We've got people from West Mobile that are down here because it's such a different consumer that you can reach so many different people. Being in West Mobile doesn't mean that everybody's getting to you. And being down here doesn't mean everyone's getting to you. But down here, there's just a feel about downtown and the people that come down here. It's just fun. Marcus: Well, I know that the chamber has spent some time in Charleston. Kati: Yep. Marcus: And I imagine the Downtown Mobile Alliance has also looked at what Charleston has as well. And I can't for the life of me remember the street, because we were just in Charleston in February for a conference. I was. And there's a street there, and it's either King Street or something along those lines. And literally it was just store after store after store. And they shut it down I think it was we were there on a Sunday if I remember correctly or a Saturday. They had shut down the street. And we just happened on it. We went to Husk, which was a dream come true. This is where Jared inserts angels singing, stuff like that, because it was literally a gastro experience like no other. Marcus: But anyway, and we were just walking around downtown. And all the sudden, we saw all these people. All the restaurants had brought tables out into the street. And there were stores all over the place. And I think if I was to look into the future, Dauphin Street becomes that. Kati: I would love that. Marcus: And there's no more traffic, and there's just retail shops and restaurants, yeah. Kati: Cobblestone streets and tables and people everywhere. Marcus: Yeah, and I think that would just be very cool. So, you guys were kind of the stake in the ground of, "Hey, this can be a reality." Now, one of the things that we're flirting around is that you said 32 different retailers. The idea here is that people that don't necessarily have retail experience or that may not need a big enough presence to own or to lease a 1,500-square-foot or bigger space, which is about as small as you're gonna find in downtown, that they can come to you and apply to be part of the Urban Emporium. And then you'll get into some of the semantics later, but then they can have their stuff there. Marcus: So, you walk in and you may have soap that's made by somebody and jewelry that's made by another person. And one of our previous guests, the Mobtown Merchants, has their t-shirts there. Kati: Absolutely. Marcus: And you were saying Mobile Bay Company has some hats and shirts and stuff like that. So, it's just a mix of different products. Kati: Yeah. We've got as small as a wood turner that has pins and delicate candlesticks and things like that to as big as 200-square-foot retailers in there. So, the size [crosstalk 00:16:20]- Marcus: There's even a dog food- Kati: There is. [crosstalk 00:16:21]- Marcus: It was funny, I made a joke with the woman that was working the counter that day where there was a dog biscuit or something like that. I think it said, "Eat me," or something along those lines. And I like .. She was like, "No!" And I was like, "I'm kidding. I know that this is all-" Kati: Kids lick them all the time. We're not surprised by anything that happens. We've got a lot of people that've come in and licked them and taken a bite out of them. And they don't taste that bad. They just don't have sugar in them. Marcus: Yuck. So gross. But I just think it's a really unique and really cool idea. But I have to go back because you've not told us what your business is. So, what is your business in the Urban Emporium? Kati: My mom and I started our business a year ago March. So, we just had our one-year anniversary. We didn't even do anything to celebrate. I don't know. It just passed and didn't even realize it. And it's called The Broke Croker. And it's basically we started out because starting a small business, we didn't want to take out a loan or anything. So, we kind of just did it out of pocket. So, without a lot of startup capital, you have to get creative with what you're gonna do. And my dad does a lot of handmade furniture, frames, tables, really cool stuff from refurbished wood from the bay and the delta. Marcus: Very cool. Kati: So, we started out with a lot of stuff like that, local fill type stuff and some jewelry and cards and just a few gifts. And then now, we've grown into clothing, accessories, gifts, candle, a little bit of everything. So, it's kind of like a mini Urban Emporium because I've ... My favorite thing about Urban Emporium is how we have so much to offer. There's literally something for everyone. So, when I started my small business, I was like, "I want something for everybody, too." You can't get so narrowed down with, "I'm just gonna do this," or, "I'm just gonna do this." And it's such an ever-changing business that you really have to just fly by the seat of your pants and do what you're feeling.   Kati: So, we've gotten some really crazy stuff and just kind of run with it. And it's- Marcus: Well, I love that it's there because I think, if I remember correctly, it may have been Valentine's Day or something along those lines, I went in and got something for my wife. Mother's Day was just recently, was able to pick up a piece of jewelry for her. I bought a t-shirt from Mobtown Merch there. I think it was the "Defend the Delta" one, you know what I mean? I always like stopping in and seeing what you have all have because it is such a hodgepodge of different things. It's not just a women's boutique. They have guys' stuff there. They have pet stuff there. They have kids' stuff there. It's all kinds of things. Marcus: And I do like the idea that from what I understand, most of the people that are in there are local businesses. Kati: Everyone is a local business. A lot of the people, and [they're 00:19:09] make their own items, so they're handmade artisan items. But the people that don't hand-make their items also go to market and do things. But it's all local businesses. So, we don't have anything chain in our store. So, that's great because everything you come in it's gonna have a local feel. Marcus: Yep. Shop local-local. Kati: Yeah. Marcus: All right. If you were talking to someone that wanted to get started in running their own business, what's the one bit of wisdom that you would impart to them? Kati: Do your research. Just make sure it's something you really want to do because ... Marcus: Because it's gonna suck? Kati: Yeah. It's hard. It's not gonna be fun like you think it is in the beginning. It is so super stressful. And if you have a partner, you're gonna fight, you're gonna get mad at each other. You're gonna not be able to handle some days. There are a lot of tears in starting a business. And that is just straight-up, 100% honesty. I think I cried more this past year than I've ever cried in my life. And it's just it comes with it, and some happy tears, some sad tears, some stress. But in the end of the day, every day, I knew I wanted to do it. It was like, "Okay, I learned something new today. Keep going. Take it down, learn a lesson, and keep going." Marcus: We hear oftentimes, especially when it comes to political things, like, "Small business is the engine that blah, blah, blah drives America blah." And the truth is that really when you look at Mobile, it is a small- and medium-size business. If I remember correctly, the classic definition of a small business is 100 employees or less. Kati: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Marcus: So, the vast majority of businesses in this area would fall into that classification. Kati: Oh, my God, they probably have less than 10. Marcus: Yeah. Most of them are gonna be 20 people or less, right? Kati: Yeah. Marcus: So, really, small businesses are the engine that drives Mobile. Kati: Absolutely. Marcus: So, the more that we can do to foster that through mechanisms like Urban Emporium and then also the more that we can do through the chamber to educate people on how they can take that business and accelerate their growth and stuff like that, I just think that that's extremely valuable. So, you guys play an extremely important part in that. Kati: Yeah. And we've got a business consultant on staff. She's here every Wednesday. Being a 501c3, to hit all of our qualifications of what we are, we offer education classes. We have the business consultant on staff. And her major role is to really help people that are brand new starting out develop their business plan. So, it's a very simplified, three-page business plan. You fill out this little questionnaire, like, "Who are you? Who's your market?" What you're trying to do. And she really helps you put that together. And then once you've got six months or a year under your belt, she meets with you again to really go over your numbers, because our retailers in our store are selling as much square foot as the mall or a Nordstrom or a Saks or something. I mean they're up there with major retailers. And it's just on a small scale. Kati: So, there's such an opportunity and a need for it. And we can't make it if people don't support it. So, it takes the whole community to get behind small businesses. And we try to just be a flagship of a supporter to say, "Hey, you can do it." And if you start it and you decide in a year it's not what you wanted to do, you tried it out at minimal risk. And that's what we're here for. It's like it's- Marcus: Just try signing a lease for a year. Kati: Yeah. Figure out if it's really what you want to do. So, we're a good jumping point for that, too. And we help you along the way so you don't fall hard or have any major setbacks. You don't have to do rent, staffing because we handle all the staffing, the bills, all that kind of good stuff. And, like you mentioned earlier, it's really hard to find an appropriate-sized storefront in downtown for a small retail business. So, that's a struggle that we've been dealing with and trying to work with property owners and stuff like that because the sweet spot is 1,200 square feet for a retailer that's graduating out of our store. They've gotta be able to operate at minimal cost for what they're doing. Marcus: Especially the average cost per square foot right now is $15 per square foot in downtown Mobile. So, it's getting a little bit ridiculous. And if something doesn't change, then it'll mean that those- Kati: It's gonna push people out. Yeah. Marcus: ... yeah, those smaller retailers won't be able to afford to be down here. Now, if you were to look to the business world, is there someone that you oftentimes go to that motivates you or that you look up to? Kati: I love Rachel Zoe. She is so, she's my fashion idol. Marcus: I'm surprised. I actually know who that is. Kati: Yes. She's amazing! How could you not? Marcus: I get a cookie right? Yeah. Kati: Yeah. I think when I was young, I wanted to be a stylist, so I followed her very closely, and I still do today, because she's turned ... She started as a stylist when she was a kid. And now she's turned it into a multi-million-dollar empire. She's amazing. And she worked really hard for what she has. And she's just, she's somebody that I'm like, "She did it. Why can't I do it?" So, I like to look to her for inspiration and girl power. Marcus: That is cool. Are there any books, podcasts, people, or organizations that have been helpful in moving your forward? And the Downtown Mobile Alliance does not count. Kati: Oh, my goodness. Yes. So, when I was in college, I was in a sorority. I was a Phi Mu. And that really shaped me as a young adult I think to ... We did a lot of community service and did different things in the community. And it really taught me how to reach out and get outside of your box and don't just sit at home and not do anything. So, I'd say they, and the friends that I made there, definitely motivated me, and we encourage each other to do better things and to keep going forward. And I'm actually a board member on the Girl Scouts of South Alabama. And that organization does so much for young girls everywhere. And they're great. It's a great thing to be a part of that organization. They've done a lot. Marcus: Yeah, that's cool, because I know that, especially for minorities and for women, having somebody that's actually doing those kinds of things paints a path to a different future. So, that's really cool. What's the most important thing that you've learned about running a business? Kati: It's hard. I mean it is hard. And it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. It's worth it, but I think that's something that people sugarcoat and that's something that I've tried with our tenants and our potential tenants is to not sugarcoat that for them because it's tough. And you need a lot of support and help being in a small business and being in a community. And I think we're lucky that Mobile is, downtown Mobile especially, is so supportive of it. The mayor, he's come by and done ... We do our continued education stuff we do. He came and did a talk one night. And it was just great to have him come out and show his support for the community. And just that people, everybody down here believes in it, and it makes the hardness a little easier- Marcus: Easier? Kati: ... to swallow. Marcus: Yeah. Well, I mean going back to this, it has to be a little bit satisfying to know that there are a number of shops that are popping up downtown. Kati: Absolutely. Marcus: And that would not have happened without the existence of the Urban Emporium. Kati: Yeah. It's great every day. Covered Boutique is a graduate of us. Very early on, she was a pioneer in going out and doing it on her own. And she's worked really hard. And then [Cable's 00:28:08] popped up along with Urban Stiles and several other small shops along the way. And it's inspiring. I'm so happy because several of those places have had no affiliation with us at all. And it makes me just smile so big to know that people are seeing us and seeing that it can happen. And they're like, "I'm gonna take the risk and do it." And- Marcus: They're betting on it. Kati: Absolutely. And it's just so great to see more and more people taking the risk to do it because it's so great. And there's such an untapped market for it down here. There's room for everyone. And that's something that I really want people to know, too. There's room for everybody. We need it. We want it. The people need it and want ... It's just- Marcus: It's gonna be a different downtown in five years. We'll look back at this podcast and we'll be able to ... Because you just named most of the retailers. So, in five years, we have to come back- Kati: I have to come back and listen to it. Marcus: ... and we'll have to listen to this, and we'll probably be amazed at the number of retailers that are in downtown, because right now it's mostly focused on restaurants and businesses. Kati: It is, yeah. Marcus: But I can totally see that this, especially as the weekends with the market that takes places down here and with the art walk and stuff like that- Kati: The cruise ship, yeah. Marcus: ... cruise ship. I know a lot of us are pushing for Mobile to become a destination for tourism. All that's gonna really drive this need for retailers to be down here. It's not just something that we want. It needs to happen. Kati: Yeah. And with all the breaking ground on the new living downtown is amazing. That's gonna drive it right there alone. I am so excited about that because with more and more people down here, it's just brings more, it's just the more the better. Marcus: It's $185 million of investment in living. Kati: It's pretty amazing. Marcus: Let's just pause for a second, folks. If you're listening to this, $185 million of renovation is happening in downtown Mobile right now. So- Kati: Get in early. Marcus: ... get in. I just bought my building. What are you doing? So, tell people where they can find out more information. Kati: Our website, ​​. We've got it's just a little information. We've got our tenants listed, and there's a ​ where you can find an application. If you're a potential tenant and you're interested in starting your own business, definitely reach out and give me a call. I'd love to talk to you. And ​ and ​ you can follow us there. And you can come stop in the store and see us. That's my favorite thing. Marcus: They are across from the Downtown Mobile Alliance, which is next door to the offices for the Mobile Symphony. Kati: yes. Marcus: Well, it's the Saenger Theatre Mobile Symphony offices, which is ... Okay, for all you listeners, it's near Loda Beir Garten. Kati: Yeah. It's right next door to Brickyard. Marcus: I'm trying to give all the- Kati: We have a hot-pink awning and now we have a hot pink fence in the back patio, so you cannot miss us either way. Marcus: That's too funny. Well, I want to thank you again for coming on the podcast. To wrap up, any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share? Kati: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be a part of this. And I just want to share my love for downtown. And it's come such a long way since I've been down here. And I'm ready to see it keep rolling. Marcus: Awesome. Well, it's been a pleasure. Kati: Thank you. Marcus: I appreciate year willingness to sit with me and share your journey. It's been great talking with you, Kati. Kati: Thanks. You, too.

Thomas: I'm Thomas Smith, the owner/operator at Cuppa Go Coffee. Erin: And I'm Erin Smith, the co-owner/co-operator of Cuppa Go Coffee. Marcus: Very good. Well, welcome to the podcast, guys. Thomas: Thanks for having us. Marcus: I really am excited to hear your story about Cuppa Go and how you got here, but to get started, normally we get some backstory about where the people are from, where you grew up, where you went to school, did you go to college, kind of what your background is, to give people a flavor of where you're coming from. Thomas: Sure, yeah. I was born and raised in Mobile. I spent my entire life here. I went to University of South Alabama and graduated with a communications degree, which is about as useless as it sounds, and met Erin eventually. We ended up going to the same high school and same college, but never knew each other, and met each other about 11 years ago now at one of the places that we were working, and ended up getting married, and I'll let her ... Erin: Also born and raised in Mobile, went to South, was in the communications department. We had the same advisor, everything. Marcus: How in the world did you guys not meet in school? Thomas: No idea. Erin: And the school that we went to had one hallway. I mean, it was very small. I have no idea. Marcus: Which high school? Erin: We went to Mobile Christian. We're a couple years apart, but ... Thomas: Yeah, so it's a smaller school. Yeah. We were about [crosstalk 00:01:45] years apart. Marcus: Okay, and you weren't necessarily in the same grade? Erin: We weren't in the same grade, but- Marcus: Okay, and were you ... I guess at that point then, you weren't in the same classes at South either then. Thomas: I'm surprised we weren't. Erin: Actually, we might have been. It's possible. Thomas: Yeah, it's possible, but yeah. Marcus: That's too funny. Thomas: It's just we never crossed paths. It was really strange, and yeah. Marcus: So, how long have you been married? Thomas: 10 years. Marcus: Very good. Congratulations. Thomas: Thank you. Marcus: Any kids, or ... Erin: No. Thomas: No, two small chihuahuas, and that's- Erin: They think they're children. Marcus: Fur babies? Thomas: Yeah. Erin: Yeah. Thomas: Yeah, they're a handful. One's two now, and she's crazy, so [crosstalk 00:02:20] Erin: Furry toddlers. Marcus: Yeah, and I can relate. We've got a Pomeranian/dachshund mix who passes as a chihuahua, but she's a little bit bigger, and she's eight pounds or something like that, but yeah. We'll share picture afterwards, but ... So, what made you study communications? Was there something ... Thomas: Well, I had actually started off with pre-law, political science, and found out that was kind of boring, and I've always had a passion for filmmaking and storytelling and that sort of thing, so I got into the communications departments at South, took all the film classes there, TV production, thinking that maybe I would be a camera guy for the new station, something like that, and make some films on the side, and once I got my degree and graduated, realized there's not a lot you can really do with that communications degree, and ended up working at TeleVox Software as a scriptwriter for on-hold messages, which is very strange. Marcus: Weird. Thomas: Yeah, and she actually- Marcus: They have a person that write scripts? Thomas: Yeah, yeah. So, if you call into a doctor's office and you get that automated message that says, “Please hold. Our team is busy, and we'll be with you shortly," someone that writes that, and she recorded some of those messages, and that's actually how we met there. She was a voiceover artist, and so with that communications degree, I still continued to make short films on the side and do filmmaking, and still do that as well, but it was a driving force for me. Marcus: Yeah. Now, you have started a new business called Cuppa Go, and so we'll get into that a little bit, but where are you, where currently as far as jobs go? Thomas: I still have a full-time job as communications director at [inaudible 00:04:19] Smith. Erin: And I am over at TeleVox West doing voiceovers still. Marcus: Still? Erin: Still doing those. It's a really fun little job. I like it. Marcus: I was gonna say, there is not many opportunities for somebody with that skillset, so I have to ask you, were you ever in choir or did- Erin: Oh, yeah. Marcus: Okay. Erin: I started off at South in vocal performance, opera and musical theater, and realized that while that was great and what I wanted to do, I still needed something to kind of fall back on. I always enjoyed journalism and writing and that sort of thing, so I went and got a journalism degree, which is so useful these days, so much. Marcus: Our stories are the exact ... Literally, I went to James Madison, studied voice- Erin: Oh, wow. Marcus: ... and I was a music education major, but I never learned keyboard, and so in order to graduate, I would've had to stay for six or seven years in order to pass the keyboard proficiency exams, and I was paying my way through college, so I was like, I'm not staying around for an additional three years so that I can teach kids how to sing. If it's gonna take me that long, I'm just gonna switch. So, I switched the English, and so it was the closest thing I could do to a business degree without actually going back to business because of the reading skills and writing skills and stuff like that, so that's really cool, though. Yeah. Erin: Yeah. I figured if I wanted to go for a career in performance, I could do that really with or without a degree as long as I had the training. So, I went and got the fallback degree, I guess, and ended up using the vocal performance way more than I never used the communications degree. Marcus: Interesting. Erin: So, that's how I got started doing voiceovers. I did a lot of theater and did a little bit of radio, and they were looking for voiceover artists at TeleVox, and got started there, and it's a really cool gig, so I just stuck with it. Marcus: I've never met a voiceover artist. This is a first. That is so cool. Thomas: She annunciates very well, all the time. Erin: I do. Marcus: And most vocal performance majors do. Yeah, they kind of beat it out of you. So, the short tangent, I don't know where I picked it up. I have a feeling it was because of my love of U2, that With or Without You, so I always said my [chu 00:06:56] instead of you- Erin: Chu, mm-hmm (affirmative). Marcus: ... or whenever you say a T, sometime it comes out with a C-H instead, and so my vocal professor was just like, “Where in the world did you grow up, because ...” Then I was like, “Well, I grew up like two hours away from here.” James Madison is in the Shenandoah Valley, and I grew up, for the most part, in Northern Virginia, and he was just like, “Yeah, I've never heard that,” and I think it was just because of the kinds of music that I was listening to. They just didn't pronounce things correctly. Erin: I did the opposite. I was born and raised here, but I trained a little bit in New York, and they were always asking me where I was from because they didn't believe I was from here, so ... Marcus: Right. Yeah. Erin: But just with the annunciation and- Marcus: Lack of ... Erin: ... lack of Southern accent. Marcus: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Erin: But I still sing all the time professionally, and it's been fun. Marcus: Very cool. Erin: I've enjoyed it, but the day job is basically telling people to press one for English over and over again. Marcus: That's great. Erin: Somebody has to. It's me. Marcus: Somebody has to do it, yeah. No, that's great. Well, go back for me. Go back to your first job. Can you picture that? Thomas: Out of college, or- Marcus: No, first job. Thomas: Very first job? Yep. I was working the lawn and garden section of Target at the mall, Bel Air Mall, back when they actually had one. Marcus: Nice. Yeah. Thomas: Yeah. It was during the summer. I was saving up to pay for a trip to go to London. Marcus: How old were you? Thomas: I was a junior in high school, so 16, 17-ish, something like that. Marcus: Any lessons that you learned out of that? Anything that you took away? Thomas: People. It trained me to deal with people, because you could get a gamut of someone who's really sweet and really nice, and then someone who just wouldn't care if you dropped dead come through that line, and also, it was summer in Mobile, rain and heat and everything, and it taught me to just endure what you had to to do your job, that not every circumstance is gonna be nice and cushy, not gonna be air conditioned with a chair and anything. Marcus: Well, there's some foreshadowing there. Thomas: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Outdoor, rain, heat, yeah. Yeah. Marcus: Yeah. How about you? Erin: First job was senior year of high school. I worked at JC Penny at the mall, Bel Air Mall, upstairs in housewares, and about four other departments, and I learned that people can be awful, but I also learned that ... I had a really great manager. He knew everybody's name. He knew everybody's birthday, what their hobbies were, and was just amazing to work for, and I learned that that really ... It makes people want to work harder when they know that they're working for somebody who actually cares about them, and that was my greatest takeaway from that. Marcus: It's amazing to me how ... I mean, because I also worked for a bunch of jerks, but I also worked for a couple of people that really did care, and it's amazing how that can really shape that positive attitude from a manager, especially if you have worked for somebody who really just, you're like, why is this person the spawn of Satan. I mean, when you finally get to work for somebody that actually shows an interest in you as a person and wants to see you grow and all that other stuff, it's amazing how much that inspires you to kind of do good by that person instead of just kind of half-assing it. Erin: Get through the day. Marcus: Yeah, exactly. Punching the clock. Now, we talked about it just a second ago, but why don't you describe to people what Cuppa Go is? Thomas: It's very unique to the area. We're the only one for I think until ... Montgomery is the only that has a similar situation, but it's a tricycle that on the very front of it has almost like a kegerator mounted on the front. It's just a big box that houses kegs, nitrogen gas, and has taps built onto the very top. So, it serves coffee, cold brew coffee and nitro coffee on tap, and it has a little motor on the back, so I can peddle it around, or if I get too tired, I can just let the motor do all the- Marcus: Just go. Thomas: Yeah. It'll go up to 20 miles an hour, I think, which is kind of fun. Marcus: Wow. Thomas: But it's a very interesting journey with that. Marcus: I want to ask, because I think you have an interesting story in the sense that you had to have some legislation passed or something in regards to ... Thomas: Yeah, very complicated. We've been working on it for about a year-and-a-half now. The initial idea for the business came in like January of last year, 2017, and within two months we had the bike and everything at our house, ready to go. Marcus: Ready to go. Erin: Oh, yeah. Marcus: You're thinking, man, we're gonna be in business in a month or two, and then- Thomas: Yeah, yeah. Erin: Yeah, yeah. Thomas: I'd done all the research, and asked around to some of these other places and- Marcus: Yeah, pump the brakes. Thomas: ... just figured out what we needed to do, and everything seemed pretty simple, pretty straightforward, and so we spent the past year-and-a-half dealing with health departments and city licenses and all this because it's so new. No one knew what to do with this. Marcus: I can imagine the health department was kind of scratching their head like- Erin: Oh, they had no idea. Marcus: ... are your fingers clean? Thomas: Yeah. No, we talked to the Montgomery Health Department, since there was a similar setup up there, and kind of got the rundown from them, and it was pretty basic and straightforward. We passed that information on to our local health department, and we just went back and forth with them. We just couldn't get a really straight answer on anything. So, eventually, January of this year, a year, we were pretty much ready to throw in the towel and just say, “This is-” Erin: We unpacked everything. We were done. Thomas: Yeah, we unpacked everything. We were like, maybe we can put this on the back deck, and it'll be kind of a cool thing for parties, something like that. So, we wrote an email to our City Council representative, Bess Rich, and that night we got an email right back of her wanting to help, trying to get everything situated. She thought it was a cool idea, and so I think a total of like a month, month-and-a-half- Erin: Something like that. Thomas: ... working with her and Wanda Cochran, who was the attorney for the City Council, to get everything situation. We ended up not having to do the legislation- Marcus: Oh, cool. Thomas: ... which was cool, because it could've been, what was it, a franchise agreement between us and the city, and to be able to peddle up and down the street and use the sidewalks and all that, but ended up not having to do that because it's so small. It's not like we've got a fleet of these things out there. It's just one, and- Erin: We're not using any power or water or anything. Thomas: Right. Yeah. Yeah, and so Bess Rich was really instrumental in making this happen. Marcus: Well, and I think the reason why, it's important to kind of talk about that, is because there's oftentimes this idea ... Well, first of all, there's often an idea that starting a business is easy, and it's not. I mean, it took a year for you just to find the person that you needed to talk to as an advocate, but then the second this is when you do run into a situation like that, having an advocate. Right? So, it's important to kind of put your feelers out there and figure out who is that person if you do find yourself ... As a business owner, I'm kind of talking to the audience now, of if you're a business owner and you've run into that wall, find that person that can be your advocate, because otherwise you probably won't break through. Thomas: Right. I agree. Erin: Yeah, we wouldn't have. Marcus: Yeah. Thomas: No. Marcus: There's a number of folks that are put into position for that. I would also just say, if you're dealing with the city of Mobile, then the I-Team, as I always call them ... I don't know. They like to be called the virus for the city of Mobile, but I oftentimes think of them as the vaccine because they're actually fixing the things that are wrong with the city, so they're coming in and talking to people about their experiences, and if the gay guys, if you're listening to this podcast, then here's another example, I mean getting something like this passed. I'm sure it could've been fast-tracked a little bit, but ... So, this isn't a franchise then? It was just an idea that you had? Thomas: No, no. This is just an idea. Marcus: Did you have to have the bike custom made, or was there a provider, or- Thomas: Actually, yeah. So, the whole thing started, it was, like I said, January of 2017, and sometimes I'm the worst about this. I was just like, Saturday mornings while I'm waiting for Erin to get ready, for the hair and makeup, all of that. Erin: To finally come out of the bathroom so we can leave. Thomas: Yeah, just trying to be nice about it. Erin: I admit it. Thomas: Yeah. We'll just sit around and I'll just throw out some of the stupidest idea I've ever had, just to entertain myself or her, whatever, and so I just said, “You know, it would be great if there was this company that would drive around and deliver coffee, and call it Cuppa Go, kind of like cup of Joe.” Erin: Yeah, and I absolutely agreed, because I need the coffee. If they could bring it to me, that would be great. Thomas: Yeah, and so for some reason it stuck, and I'm not even a coffee drinker. She's the one that has the coffee background and the coffee interest, so I'm not even a coffee drinker. So, then I started doing some research online one day, because I was just kind of curious. It was extensively bugging me. I couldn't quite explain it. It just kind of stuck, and so this was before Yellowhammer was in town, so we didn't have the coffee truck in the area. So, I looked at that, and it was really expensive to even start with a coffee truck, but then in that search I found this company. There's two of them. There's one called Bike-In-A-Box, and then one, Icicle Tricycles, that make these, and they're popular out West, places like Portland, of course, and they make them for beer. Marcus: I can see you trying to get that through. Thomas: Yeah, good luck. Marcus: Yeah, good luck. Thomas: Beer, donuts, popsicles, and some of them are also set up to be like little boutique dress shops, which is strange. Marcus: What? Thomas: Yeah, they have these racks that kind of pop out- Erin: A little popup. Thomas: ... and I guess you can't try anything on, but they hang there, and they make them for everything. It's crazy. Marcus: That's interesting. Thomas: So, the entry level for these is pretty inexpensive, and it just looks cool, and there was nothing else like it here. I don't even think New Orleans had anything like this, so that's- Marcus: So, who are you getting ... Or is there a source for the coffee? Erin: Yes. Thomas: Yes. It's a smaller company called Nightbird Coffee out of Jackson, Mississippi, and they've been really great. Marcus: Okay, so someone real local. Thomas: Yeah, yeah. It's regional. Erin: We were trying to keep it as local as- Thomas: Yeah, as local as we could. Erin: Yeah, as we possibly could. Thomas: And they've been really great and very helpful. Craig, I think he's also supplied some other companies down here as well, but he's been really supportive of the whole endeavor. Marcus: I mean, it is also cool because I'm assuming that you're intending on keeping your daytime job and that this is just kind of a side hustle for now. Thomas: Yeah. I mean, I just thought it would be really cool for Downtown Mobile, something like this just peddling around, for the people coming home on the cruise ships, the people hanging out at the fort, tours, just something unique for the city. Marcus: Well, and we love Serda's, and also, we had [Shallure 00:18:44] on. They're getting ready to open up a coffee shop downtown in the Innovation PortAL, but I think that may be a little bit further away, and downtown needs other options for coffee, because it may seem crazy, but to walk from end of Dauphin down to the other end of Dauphin, you're not gonna drive down there because there's no parking, so you're gonna walk or take the electric skateboard or something down there, and it takes time, so it'd be nice if there were other options on this end of Dauphin Street, but ... So, we're actually hopeful that even though Shallure is opening up, they're over on St. Louis Street, so that doesn't help things much, we're hoping that the [PV's 00:19:28] or somebody will open up a coffee shop closer to Moe's BBQ instead, but if you guys are in the area, then that'd be great, too. I don't know when this is gonna be released, but we had an art walk this past weekend, and you all were at that. How was the reception? Thomas: It was pretty good. It was like a soft opening for us. We were at the back lot, and it let us work out some kinks and figure out some issues that- Erin: That you'd never know until you actually get out there and get started with it. Thomas: ... we never would've thought about, what worked, what didn't work, because when we first turned it on, we unloaded the bike from the cart and plugged everything in, it was all set to go, and then this coffee started spewing out of the spigot. We had a tarp over it. When we uncovered the tarp, the handle was just slightly- Marcus: Just slightly ... Yeah. Thomas: ... bent down enough to start pouring, but it smelled great when coming out. Marcus: Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. Thomas: But stuff like that, so maybe we should watch that, but it was pretty good, and people seemed to really enjoy the coffee and liked the taste, and cold brew's kind of everywhere now, but nitro coffee is still rare. I think there's only one other place in town that might have that right now- Erin: Yeah, I think so. Thomas: ... and so that it's new for the area, and it looks cool. Marcus: I am a fan. It's so good. Thomas: It's like Guinness. That's what- Marcus: Yeah, it is very much ... It has that same velvety texture that a good Guinness has, but without the alcohol. Thomas: Yeah. Erin: Which we decided to go with that, and the flavors that we offer are mostly cocktail-inspired- Marcus: Interesting. Erin: ... so we had a lot of people asking if they had alcohol in them. When they took a sip, they were like, “Oh, my god. Does this have alcohol in it?” Marcus: Yeah. No. Erin: No, it doesn't. It's just really tastes like it. Marcus: No, but if you're drinking it at night, you might find yourself organizing your closet at 2:00 a.m. Thomas: Yes. Erin: Oh, when we were testing flavors, I had four cups in front of me because we had to make a full cup in order to figure out ratios and things like that, so I had four cups of coffee in front of me. I did not sleep at all for days. Thomas: Yeah. So, someone came. It was about 6:30 when we set up. They got a cup, and then they came back the next day when we were set up again and got another cup, and said that they were up till whatever the night before, binge-watching Lost in Space on Netflix. Erin: They watched a couple episodes of Lost in Space before they could make it to bed. Marcus: Yeah. I have to watch myself because I will oftentimes go down to Serda's and get an iced coffee with the coffee ice cubes, so that's the kicker, is iced coffee is brewed at double or triple the strength in order to account for the ice that you put into it, but if you get the coffee ice cubes, then it kind of negates that, and so you're drinking three or four cups at the same time. Thomas: Yeah. Erin: And cold brew, really, it has about 30% more caffeine than- Marcus: Caffeine. Thomas: Yeah. Marcus: Yeah. Erin: Yeah. So, yeah, you could get real wired real fast. Marcus: Yeah. You only get a small when you do that. Thomas: Yeah. Marcus: Now, do you remember the first ... Was this the first evening that you were selling at art walk? Thomas: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yes. Marcus: It was. So, my questions is normally, do you remember the first time that you made a sale that you think there might be something to this, but if that was just five days ago, then is there something to this? Thomas: I think so. It took Saturday, I think, because that night, I think we were just exhausted, and South Sounds was going on too, so it was just kind of crazy, so it's kind of a blur, and the mayor stopped by, so it was just super crazy, but then Saturday, we actually got out of the back lot and peddled it around Dauphin Street and took it around the block, and that's when we kind of noticed people going, “Hey, what's that?” We were stopped at a red light, and someone said, “What's this? What's that?” Carol Hunter at Downtown Alliance stopped us, and she had a cup, and then it was just this swarm of people. Erin: We ended up with a line. Marcus: That's so cool. Thomas: Yeah. So, it was like after that, we're like, this is kind of cool. People were- Erin: Yeah, and we've been doing quite a bit on social media, and we found that a couple people came looking for us. They saw where we were gonna be out, and they came looking for us and got a couple of cups to take back to people, so ... Marcus: Yeah. One of the things that Yellowhammer does a good job of is getting word out of where they're gonna be, because you do start to build a following, but if you're just gonna be pretty much downtown, then it'd also be kind of interesting to figure out if there's some way for people to beckon you to their location, like, “Hey, could you stop by 412? We're all kind of dragging.” Thomas: Yeah. That's one of those things that we want to eventually kind of look into. Right now, since it's just the two of us, we're just kind of focusing on some weekends and special events, that sort of thing, but then as we can kind of maybe build onto it, have some folks peddling around downtown in the mornings, maybe, or midday, something like that- Erin: That's the expansion plan. Thomas: Yeah, that's the expansion plan. Marcus: Yeah, it's the 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. kind of thing, because- Erin: Yeah, that 3:00 p.m. slump. Marcus: Yeah, that 2:00 or 3:00 when most people are having another cup, so ... Thomas: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Marcus: Now, if you were talking to someone that wanted to get started in running their own business, even though you are new at this, obviously you've learned some lessons already, so what's the one bit of wisdom that you would impart to them? Thomas: Research, because we found that when we're going to the health department and all these places, they may not know 100% what's needed, but if you can just say, “I've done all the work. Here it is. This is what-” Marcus: Here it is. Make it easy for them. Thomas: Yeah, that makes it a lot easier for them to say yes or no, and also, it's gonna be a lot less stressful on you, too, so just know what you need to do, research, go in prepared. Marcus: Nice. Thomas: Yeah. Marcus: You want to add anything to that, or ... Erin: He took the words right out of my mouth. I guess if I were gonna add anything to it, I would say don't make any large purchases of anything until you know when you're going to start. Have the start date. Otherwise, especially if you're going into something that's food service-related, you may end up having to toss some stuff, and that kind of sucks. Marcus: Yeah. So, in hindsight, wait to buy the bike until approval? Erin: Well, less that, and more like wait to buy creamer and sugar and stuff like that. Yeah. Thomas: Yeah. Yeah, because we had a couple of false starts when we thought we were ready to go, and we just had to end up throwing out a box of creamer. Erin: I mean, I've had really great coffee in the mornings for a while now because we had to get rid of some stuff. Marcus: Eating the product, yeah. Erin: Yeah. Marcus: So, you guys have been through some trials and tribulations over the last year-and-a-half. Are there any books or podcasts people or organizations that have been helpful in moving you forward? Erin: The City Council. Thomas: City Council. Erin: City Council. Thomas: I'm trying to think of any books or websites. Marcus: Obviously, you mentioned the Montgomery Health Department. Thomas: Yeah, the Montgomery Health Department. Erin: Yeah, they were great. Marcus: But outside of that, obviously, when you start the process of running or forming a business, you're obviously looking to other sources. You mentioned Carol Hunter in Downtown Mobile Alliance. Anything along those lines that ... Thomas: Yeah. Locally, people like Carol Hunter, Bess Rich, and Wand Cochran, and then as far as all of the ... We just hit the internet like crazy on doing all the research, so it was everything we could get our hands on, any kind of website, any kind of information, YouTube, just to kind of inform everything that we needed to know. Marcus: You're simplifying that, because you don't think of that as a resource, but the truth is YouTube is an incredible wealth of information. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not watching something on YouTube. Thomas: Well, I think when we got in we just had to put some of the stuff on the bike together, and it didn't quite make 100% sense, so I just went on YouTube found little instructional- Marcus: Yeah, and you would go ahead and figure it out. Thomas: Yeah. It was like, how do you do this, and so yeah, that has been very helpful. Erin: Yeah, and I worked in coffee shops for several years. I've made cold brew. This is not, I guess, my first rodeo, but still, making sure that we had ratios correct, and making sure that we hadn't forgotten anything. I'm still looking at YouTube, how to make cold brew, how to ... Marcus: I mean, Tad, who's my lead developer, Tad and I often say that if it wasn't for Google, we wouldn't have careers, because most everything- Erin: It's true. Marcus: ... that we've learned has been through Googling and finding somebody else that has done something at least similar, so you mentioned you came up with the idea, and then got online and started Googling, and found that there were these companies on the West Coast that make these bikes and stuff like that. I mean, I would just encourage whomever's listening that if you have an idea, spend the time doing that research, and Google and YouTube are gonna be your friend. Thomas: Yeah. I don't know how anyone functioned before Google and YouTube. I don't remember. Erin: I know. Marcus: Yeah. We walk around with ... It's interesting. We could spend another 30 minutes talking about the education system, but there's been a number of talks where it's like, why are we still teaching people to remember rote dates when we walk around with basically a supercomputer in our pocket. So, it's like let's focus on thinking creatively, but again, a podcast for a different time. So, what do you like to do to unwind? Thomas: Something I haven't done lately. Usually, binging Netflix. That's what it's been lately. It's like after this past week of getting everything ready and being out on the street, we just came home and snuggled up with our puppies and watched Netflix. Erin: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Marcus: Documentaries, shows? Thomas: We binged a few episodes of Series of Unfortunate Events, the second season, and- Erin: Just finished Santa Clarita diet. Thomas: Yeah, and then special features on some DVDs. We picked up The Last Jedi and The Greatest Showman- Erin: The Greatest Showman. Thomas: ... and stuff like that. Marcus: Yeah. Thomas: So, yeah, just try to relax, but then even when I'm doing that, my brain is still going on 12 other things, so ... Erin: One of my- Marcus: No, I'm often the same way. So, when I am looking to just kind of relax, it's Netflix or YouTube, and I'm oftentimes watching comedians, just because I like to laugh, like to end the day on a funny notes. So, tell people where they can find you, and I don't mean physically, like in a virtual sense. Where can they find out? Thomas: Yeah. You can go to ​, and that will take you over to our Facebook page. We've got ​, Cuppa Go Mobile, and then a ​ page, and you can find them all right there. They're all linked up, and when we're out and about, we'll post on our social media where we are, so just kind of stay tuned. I think we're gonna try to be back out on the 28th of April- Erin: Mm-hmm (affirmative), for Market in the Park. Thomas: ... for Market in the Park, so kind of keep an eye out for that. Marcus: Nice, and you may want to give Heather [Feffercorn 00:30:49] at The Pillars a call about the market that she does- Thomas: Market at the Pillars, yeah. Marcus: Yeah, she does, because I know a lot of people are gravitating towards that, so ... Well, I want to thank you again for coming on the podcast. Any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share? Thomas: Thank you for having us, and we're honored to be here. Erin: Yeah, really. Thank you so much. Marcus: Yeah, absolutely. Erin: It was too far. Marcus: Well, it's a very interesting business idea, and I'm curious to see in another year where it is, so definitely keep us posted. Thomas: Hope maybe one day we'll have a fleet of these things. Marcus: A fleet, yeah. Fairhope, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores. Erin: Well, this one is- Marcus: Have you thought about Hangout Festival and talking about them as- Thomas: Oh, gosh. I don't even know. I don't even know how we would even deal with that crowd. Huge, huge crowd. Erin: But this bike is named Cuppa 1. Hopefully, there will be a Cuppa 2 at some point. Marcus: Maybe they'll ... Yeah. Well, I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as business owners and entrepreneurs. It's been great talking with you. Thomas: Thank you. Erin: Thank you.

On top of being Utah Water Week, this week (May 7th-12th) is also Economic Development Week. Now in it's second year, the goal of Economic Development Week is to increase awareness for local programs and projects that create jobs, increase our quality of life and accelerate our economic development. Today we sit down with the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance's new President and CEO Derek Miller to talk about the positive impacts smart growth and smart planning have on our state's economy.

In November, Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and the Downtown Alliance, announced his planned retirement. His last day at the organization is April 30, 2018. But before he heads off to spend more time with his family, he sat down with us to reflect on his last 15 years with the Chamber. “I cannot express how grateful I am to have been able to lead this great organization for the last 15 years. When I took the job at the Chamber I planned to only stay on for two years. But two years turned into five, five turned into ten and I just couldn't pull myself away from all of the exciting progress we were making here at the Chamber, ” said Beattie. “None of the successes of the Salt Lake Chamber and the Downtown Alliance would have been possible without the dedication and participation of this state's business community. By working together we have accomplished many great things, and I have no doubt that with the continued leadership of our board, the engagement of our business leaders and the commitment from this great staff that those successes will continue for many years to come.” Beattie became president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber in 2003. Since that time, he has helped transform the 130-year-old statewide institution into a powerhouse of influence that stands for all Utah businesses. Under Lane's stewardship, the Chamber embraced a new era of business and policy leadership. By blending the traditional business chamber with powerful, top-notch business advocacy the Salt Lake Chamber has truly embraced the designation of ‘Utah's Voice of Business.' “Lane Beattie dedicated his time, wisdom and passion to this great organization and has helped shape what it is today. Under Lane's direction, the Salt Lake Chamber has stepped up and been the advocate for Utah's business community even when it meant making tough decisions,” said Wilford Clyde, chairman of the Salt Lake Chamber. During his tenure as president of the Downtown Alliance, Lane created the Downtown Rising vision and helped to advance projects including City Creek Center, 222 South Main, Salt Lake City's Public Safety Building, and Eccles Theater along with regional light rail and commuter rail lines to support downtown's growth. “As president of the Downtown Alliance, Lane has been our city center's biggest cheerleader,” said Molly Mazzolini, Downtown Alliance board chair. “He understands the urban center's role in building a strong regional economy and has been a tireless advocate for creating a dynamic and diverse downtown community.” While Beattie will certainly miss his role in bolstering the business community, he says, “I have to look at retirement through my grandchildren's eyes, and understand for them, it means more time with grandpa.” Derek Miller will take over as president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance on May 1, 2018. For more information about Beattie's history with the Chamber, visit http://slchamber.com/lane-beattie-bio/

Downtown Alliance Director, Joshua Armstrong, joins Clark Osborne and Jason Burton to discuss what the Downtown Alliance is, what he does as the director, working with the chamber of commerce, status of the downtown master plan, his restaurant - Firefly, moving from California to Indiana, parking, being in an urban place vs sprawling place, picking up trash, his cycling accident, and some upcoming projects that should be announced soon.

Joseph Aquino has more than 30 years of New York City real estate experience. No one knows the city better than Joe, who has assisted all of the top property owners and retailers during his long, illustrious career. Capitalizing on his many years of experience, Joe recently launched his own company and brand: Joseph Aquino Commercial Real Estate Services. Joe's specialties include; hotel, retail, office, showroom and industrial development projects. He has placed top retailers along Madison Avenue, in Soho, in the Meat Packing and Flatiron districts and in Nolita. Some of the tenants he has represented are Buccellati, Paul Shark, John Fluevog and Ports 1961. Career Highlights In 1992, Joe consulted for The 42nd Street Development Project, when Times was changing from the red light district into the family center it is known as today. He helped the state of New York create a retail use plan which described in detail all the wonderful things that could be done on the one block of 42nd street between 7th and 8th Avenues. He predicted the securing of tenants such as Disney, Madame Trussaud, and Blue Café, which turned out to be BB Kings. Joe also foresaw the corporate sponsorship of Broadway theaters that occurred when Ford Company stepped in to rebuild the Lyric Theater and American Airlines financed restoration of the Selwyn theater (American Airlines Theater). After reclamation and redevelopment of target properties in Times Square, crime decreased by 72% in the first year alone. Joe represented Amtrak for the retail level development at Penn Station. He also represented the financial district's business improvement association, The Downtown Alliance, where he assisted in the analysis for big box retail development. In addition, he has assisted in creating and designing retail use plans of numerous national brand hotels and casinos across the United States. Cartier Lease Renewal Joe was privileged to represent Cartier when the 75-year lease on its flagship mansion at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street was up for renewal. When Joe arrived on the scene, landlord and tenant were not speaking because ten years earlier, Cartier had sued the property owner, The Onassis Foundation, in a dispute over building services. His assignment from Cartier was simple: “Get us in the good graces of the property owner and have them renew us or find us another location.” After six months of painstaking negotiations with the property owner in which Joe was instrumental, Cartier remained in its iconic location. Home in Manhattan, Connected Abroad Joe is a well know commodity in the New York City landscape, which he also calls home. With the creative energy and vision for which he is so well known, he brings a fresh approach to work and relationships in the city that never sleeps. Joe also travels extensively to bring back to Manhattan the best of European, Asian, South American, Mexican and Canadian brands and businesses. In fact, he recently launched a travel blog in which he shares with his audience news, information and insights from the many places he visits. Joe founded and leads the SBS Worldwide Group, a collaboration of top real estate professionals who live and work within their respective markets throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, South America and Canada. There are over 35 active cities represented in this group. The list of landlords Joe has worked with recounts the last 30 years of Manhattan real estate development history: Blackrock, Extell, Spitzer Enterprises, Hartz Mountain, Stahl Properties, Helmsley Organization, Coca Cola, Trump Organization, Tishman Speyer, Peninsula Hotels, Forest City Ratner, General Investment Development, CIM, Tahl Properties, Kensico Properties, Estate of Sol Goldman, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, Taubman, Starwood Hotels, Westfield, Onassis Foundation and Minskoff. Running on Lombardy Time Joe often jokes that the day he arrives to a restaurant when it is packed, it will be time to quit the business. He runs on what he calls Lombardy Time, named for Coach Vince Lombardy of Green Bay Packers fame, who used to set his watch ten minutes fast so that he would be always arrive early to meetings. Joe explains, "It is important to always be ahead of the pack and in leasing you want to be the first to get to the space. There are no second or third places in leasing. There is only one place, and that place must be first if you're going to secure the space for your tenant.”

Today on the show Jason speaks with Kristin Beck, Director of Urban Activation and Public Art at the Downtown Alliance, about the Downtown Garden Stroll (Parks Pop Up on Main). In April and May, downtown bursts with colors of spring. The Garden Stroll builds upon one of the premier urban gardens in the west, at Temple […]

What is the State of Downtown? Every year the Downtown Alliance looks at the overall economy and benchmarks what's happening in Downtown Salt Lake City, and from this they develop the State of Downtown report. Downtown Alliance's Executive Director Jason Mathis and Director of Urban Development Jesse Dean discuss with us how this report is developed, as well as give an in-depth look at some of the findings from the 2016 report, and what is to come for the future.

I chat with Tracy Candido (@VivaLaLadyBoss), the Director of Events and Programs at LMHQ, run by the Downtown Alliance, and the founder of Lady Boss, an initiative for creative women to kick more ass at work and to talk about feminism in the workplace. Listen in as "serial side project starter" Tracy shares her journey to becoming a NYC events producer, what it means to run “small experiments with radical intent,” and more.

Nick Como is the senior director of communications and marketing for the Downtown Alliance. He possesses over a decade of media experience, most recently having served as the director of marketing and public relations at Solitude Mountain Resort. Nick has spearheaded social media initiatives, local and national advertising campaigns and has fostered strong relationships with local media members.

How do we deal with immigration as a state? How do we create a welcoming environment for immigrants and attract the top talent? Why is The Utah Compact so important? Jason Mathis, executive director Downtown Alliance, discusses immigration, The Utah Compact and particularly the overall Utah approach.

This week we take a look at local food, first with Jeffrey Steadman from Yelp as we explore Latin American food, and then Alison Einerson from the Downtown Alliance talking about the Winter Farmer’s Market. … read more The post Episode #191 – Latin American Foods, Winter Farmer's Market first appeared on SLUG Magazine.