Podcasts about Downtown San Diego

14 people have been arrested for violating the city of Vista's homeless encampment ban. The city of Chula Vista has broken grund on a multi-million dollar renovation project for Eucalyptus Park. A number of arounds Downtown San Diego and Point Loma will be closed tomorrow for the San Diego Half-Marathon and 5K.   What You Need To Know To Start Your Saturday. 

Here we have the sad story of Shauna Haynes a young woman who worked at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Downtown San Diego. Joshua Palmer her co-worker was the person behind her murder.S.B.S of the weekSUNFLOUR N SUGARCookies, Macarons, Cupcakes, etc.https://www.instagram.com/sunflournsugar/Persons of InterestFrom murderers to money launderers, thieves to thugs – police officers from the...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifyFollow us on our social media outlets!!https://www.instagram.com/whereintheworld_iscrimeinsd/https://www.facebook.com/people/Where-In-the-World-is-Crime-in-San-Diego/100084037718436/

San Diego Police are investigating after a man was killed in a shootout with Sheriff's deputies in Spring Valley. Days after a married couple was shot and killed in their car in downtown San Diego, their family wants to know why the shooter still had access to guns. People are heading to our shores this weekend to catch the return of King Tides to San Diego's coast.   What You Need To Know To Start Your Saturday.  

A Harbor Police officer remains in the hospital after getting shot in the hip by a man in Little Italy who just 45 minutes earlier had shot and killed two people in Downtown San Diego. The San Diego Sheriff's Office is warning drivers about a rise in pickup tailgate thefts. Crimestoppers is asking for help in the search for a driver whose car hit 2 women, then took off.   What You Need To Know To Start Your Thursday.

Work begins Monday on rebuilding part of the Oceanside Pier, nearly six months since a fire destroyed it. Thousands of statewide mental health professionals will go on strike Monday, including hundreds here in San Diego. The power is back on for thousands of people in Downtown San Diego, after a massive outage left them in the dark Saturday night. Here's NBC 7's Nichelle Medina with the top stories of the day.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We visited Half Door Brewing Co. in Downtown San Diego, CA days before the Comic Con. With special guest Khalil from Beers of a Feather, we drink and talk comics, shows, daddy life and a special collab between Night Parade Brewing Co. and Beers of a Feather. Cheers! IG @beerbellysociety Email beerbellysociety@gmail.com TikTok @beerbellysociety

Thousands of comic book and pop culture lovers are piling into Downtown San Diego today for the beginning of Comic-Con. The annual event is now in it's 55th year, and will run through this Sunday. The wait is almost over the official start to the Paris Olympics. We're now less than a day away from the opening ceremony. In recent weeks the city and urban corps teamed up to clear 12 miles of storm channels in Encanto and Chollas Creek in an effort to prevent another flooding disaster. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A SPECIAL episode! We're live at Karl Strauss Brewing Company in Downtown San Diego, talking about rumors we're hearing from the upcoming San Diego Comic Con, the new Transformers movie, Deadpool, and… wait did that Amy Winehouse movie seriously already come out? During Comic Con this year you can head to the Karl Strauss location in downtown San Diego for the "Mega64oz." special: $12 for a 64oz. growler fill of any KARL beer exclusively at the Downtown location to all guests, running from Monday the 22nd-Sunday 28th.

Capt. Todd Perry, USN SEAL (Ret.) and the Executive Director of the Navy SEAL Museum San Diego, chats about the securing of Downtown San Diego location for the Museum. Perry talks about the history of the Navy SEALS and its legacy in San Diego.

Randi Halaway is a Self love and Business Coach for women who are READY to step into their highest level of mastery and claim more freedom, abundance, and fulfillment in their lives. She has been a successful entrepreneur since 2001 and is grateful for the vast array of experiences that have shaped her into who she is today. Her background includes a successful, 17 year career as a hairstylist, owning and managing a salon in Downtown San Diego for over 5 years, which she sold in 2017. Since 2016, Randi has been coaching and supporting women like you to create and implement key strategies and organization within their businesses and their lives. She is here to help you remember who you truly are, by breaking through the limiting beliefs and blocks that keep you playing small, and to help you claim your power. She is on a mission to help you LOVE yourself fully. The Illuminated You Workshop with Randi Halaway – REGISTER FOR JUNE 24TH WORKSHOP Links: Website: www.randihalaway.com Journal prompts freebie: https://randihalaway.kartra.com/page/U1614 Meditation freebie: https://randihalaway.kartra.com/page/k5X16 OR all freebies here: https://programs.randihalaway.com/resource The Heart-Centered Collective Membership: https://programs.randihalaway.com/hcc The Self Love Course: https://randihalaway.com/the-self-love-course Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randihalaway Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randi.halaway.7 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@randihalaway

A lot of traffic is expected around Balboa Park and Downtown San Diego, as the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon is taking place this morning. San Diegans are heading to the Mexican Consulate in Downtown to cast their ballots for Mexico's Presidential Election. UC San Diego's academic workers, who are part of the UAW Union, plan to walk off the job tomorrow. Here's NBC 7's Jackie Crea with the top stories of the day.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode features Simon Andrews, neighborhood branding professional and former C-3 board member. Simon shares his personal journey from Detroit to San Diego in the 1960s and discusses his career helping to shape the identity of neighborhoods through signage and design. Simon also offers his insight into downtown redevelopment and its impact, the rise of sustainable community planning since the early 2000s, and his involvement over many years with civic groups such as C-3. He and Jennifer also talk about how community planning groups can help empower local voices and reincorporate the creative class into our development and design.   Timestamps: [2:20] How Simon made his way to San Diego. [7:29] Back in the pandemic, people found creative ways to connect and support each other even from a distance, including chalk art and teddy bears in windows. [8:18] Downtown San Diego redevelopment, anchored by Horton Plaza, Convention Center, and the ballpark. [9:09] Redevelopment's impact on affordable housing and community identity. [10:52] Addressing some of the social tensions around redevelopment. [12:00] The need for a dynamic balance between power, money, and community well-being. [14:42] The growing trend of building sustainable communities. [18:38] San Diego's unique way of building up communities, compared to other municipalities. [22:48] Creating a neighborhood identity through signage and design. [24:16] Building consensus between community members and stakeholders. [26:57] The iconic branding of El Cajon Blvd. [33:21] Community activism and involvement in San Diego. [35:22] How Simon discovered C-3 and the benefits he has gained from being involved. [40:31] How C-3 can help us reincorporate the creative class back into our work and design plans. [42:17] How community planning groups have evolved, and how C-3 can help these groups meet the challenges of the modern era. [49:09] Using the Axios model as inspiration for future writing pieces.   About C-3   Even before the California Coastal Commission or Environmental Protection Agency existed, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) was the environmental conscience of San Diego. Since that time, in part due to C-3's leadership in education, advocacy, and empowerment, a plethora of organizations have developed throughout San Diego County. These organizations specifically focus on promoting progressive values in architecture, urban design, land-use governance, natural resource management, sustainable economic development, climate change resilience, and social justice. As the field of allies has grown, C-3's role has evolved to provide a platform that promotes creating civic community.   Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement: C3sandiego.org Simon Andrews LinkedIn   Quotes: “Some people are critical of redevelopment as a process, but for downtown San Diego at the time, it seemed to be really beneficial to clear the way for redevelopment to happen.” — Simon [9:05] “A lot of people would like to see a balance between wealth and their well-being; that level of physical well-being with dignity for individuals as well as the communities.” — Simon [13:54] “Between marketing tricks and leadership, things get adopted. It makes life fun.” — Simon [33:30] “If this were a pitch for joining C-3 or especially the board, I would say don't hesitate. There's so much to be learned, and it's so valuable. Every single person that I interacted with on those boards, it's a really great gift.” — Simon [37:48] “The visual element works well with the planning element together. They work together.” — Simon [40:38] “It's a good thing for the city to have community planning groups, but they should have better backup and better resources available. They could make the community of San Diego that much stronger.” — Simon [44:16] “I certainly hope that C-3 continues and endures because there is no other organization quite like it.” — Simon [52:06]

Several people reported an odd smell across several parts of San Diego. County supervisors are moving forward with plans for a long term migrant transfer site. Downtown San Diego is getting a new Goodwill store. NBC 7's Marianne Kushi has the top stories of the day.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join us for a reflective journey in this special episode of "Homeless in San Diego: Real People, Real Stories" as we pay tribute to the late Peter Seidler. Your host, Greg Anglea, CEO of Interfaith Community Services, guides us through a poignant exploration of a past episode featuring Peter Seidler, Managing Partner of the San Diego Padres. In this thoughtful retrospective, we revisit the insightful conversation between Greg and Peter, delving into Peter's background in business and Major League Baseball. Together, they explore the transformative moments that shaped Peter's commitment to addressing homelessness in San Diego. Peter's personal experiences, including his battle with cancer and the meaningful connections he forged while walking the streets of Downtown San Diego, provide a powerful backdrop for this reflection. As we honor the legacy of Peter Seidler, this episode serves as a tribute to his dedication and compassion towards making a positive impact on the lives of those experiencing homelessness. Join us for a heartfelt journey as we revisit the wisdom and insights shared by Peter in this memorable episode.

LIVE From The University Club in Downtown San Diego for the First Annual Top of the Key Event Club in put on by the Mesa Foundation. We Talk With Jeff Smith President of the Mesa Foundation, Aztecs Aguek Arop, Reece Waters And Jaedon LeDee,

LIVE at the University Club in Downtown San Diego for the First Annual Top of the Key Event Club in put on by the Mesa Foundation. The Rap. Lamont Butler & Coach Brian Dutcher Join The Show.

LIVE From The University Club in Downtown San Diego for the First Annual Top of the Key Event Club in put on by the Mesa Foundation. We Talk With Jeff Smith President of the Mesa Foundation, Aztecs Aguek Arop, Reece Waters And Jaedon LeDee,

LIVE at the University Club in Downtown San Diego for the First Annual Top of the Key Event Club in put on by the Mesa Foundation. The Rap. Lamont Butler & Coach Brian Dutcher Join The Show.

Pro-Palestinians Supporters Rally in Downtown San Diego, Israeli Supporters Plan Rally Today, San Diego Police Department Looking for Crisis Intervention VolunteersSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you are thinking about moving to or living in Downtown San Diego, this is the PODCAST is for you. Discover the hidden drawbacks of living in downtown San Diego in this eye-opening video. Despite the many pros and reasons to move here, downtown living comes with significant challenges, including a high cost of living with soaring rent and property prices, constant noise and traffic congestion, limited access to green spaces impacting mental well-being, homelessness and panhandling issues, safety concerns in certain neighborhoods, and limited family-oriented facilities. By understanding these cons, viewers can make informed decisions before considering downtown living's excitement and convenience. 

Comic-Con Continues, as thousands take over Downtown San Diego through Sunday.Today, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club also Starts their summer racing season.California bill would require e-bikers to have license, mandate training.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to the Fitness Business podcast, where we explore the intersection of fitness and entrepreneurship. Each week, we bring you interviews with industry leaders and experts as they share their insights and experiences on what it takes to build a successful fitness business. Whether you're a personal trainer, gym owner, or fitness entrepreneur, this podcast is for you. Tune in to learn about the latest trends, marketing strategies, and business tips to help you take your fitness career to the next level. So if you're ready to level up your fitness business, join us and let's get started!

We are so excited for our Wonderbus pre-party for Morgan Wallen. We'll be driving around Downtown San Diego with performances from Frank Ray on Friday and Drake Milligan on Saturday. Back at Stagecoach, we had a chance to chat with Drake about his career, playing Elvis and what life is like for him now. 

Sorry for the sudden absence but we are back after taking some time off!!!This week we share the tragic disappearance of Dane Williams, a Hurley intern from Orange County who went missing after a night out in Downtown San Diego. Listen as we share his story and how a phone lead to person responsible. S.B.S. of the weekKiller Pizza From MarsPizza Restaurant and arcade https://www.facebook.com/KillerPizzaFromMarsOceanside/https://www.instagram.com/killerpizzafrommarsoceanside/?hl=enFollow us on our social media outlets!!https://www.instagram.com/whereintheworld_iscrimeinsd/https://www.facebook.com/people/Where-In-the-World-is-Crime-in-San-Diego/100084037718436/

Panca is a Binational Street Artist - Muralist - Illustrator that has been displaying her unique art all over San Diego, Tijuana, and Los Angeles. We discussed her life, her inspirations, her art, and her up coming project at the Children's Museum in Downtown San Diego. Enjoy!  Need Caffeine & GREEN  3072 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92104  www.caffeineandgreenroasting.com   

Neal Bloom is a Managing Partner at Interlock Capital, a community of founders, investors, and subject matter experts. Victoria talks to Neal about what he finds attractive about startups and companies he's excited about, out of all the pitches he receives, how many he gets to say yes to, and when working with a team, what he uses to manage information and contacts for investors. Interlock Capital (https://interlock.capital/) Follow Interlock Capital on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/interlock-capital/), or Twitter (https://twitter.com/InterlockCap). Follow Neal Bloom on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealbbloom/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/NealBloom). Check out his website (https://withkoji.com/@Nealbloom) and blog (https://freshbrewedtech.com/)! Follow thoughtbot on Twitter (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: VICTORIA: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Podcast where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Victoria Guido. And with me today is Neal Bloom, Managing Partner at Interlock Capital, a community of founders, investors, and subject matter experts. Neal, thank you for joining us. NEAL: Hey, thanks for having me. It's so great to be here with you. VICTORIA: Fantastic. I'm excited to finally get a chance to talk with you. I met you at an investor hike that you organize once a month. NEAL: A founders' hike, yeah. I get up nice and early on the first Wednesday of each month in Torrey Pines in San Diego. And we hike up and down the hill with ocean views. It's not a bad day. VICTORIA: It's a great way to start the morning, I think, and to meet other people, other builders of products in technology. So tell me more about your work at Interlock Capital. NEAL: Sure. It really kind of organically happened that I became an investor, but not planned at all. I have an aerospace background then built my own edtech and talent tech marketplace. I call it the LinkedIn for students is really what we built as our first startup called Portfolium. We sold it, and I got really into startup communities, especially because of some people who helped me with my first startup. I want to be a part of building an even better ecosystem for others. And that turned into a podcast, a blog, an event series. And once I had the capital from my exit, turned into angel investing as well, too, and really just found that as I got to know people over time, the more and more I got to know them, the more certain ones stood out that said, wow, I don't just want to help them for the good of it. I also just want to be along for the ride. And I started writing checks to other founders. So that was the beginning of my investor journey about five years ago. And over COVID, a whole bunch of other later-stage experience operators, either founder-level or executives at tech companies, said, "I want to learn to do this. Can I do it alongside you?" And we created Interlock Capital as an investment syndicate. A group of us can share and utilize our brainpower, our time, and our capital to help companies. It's kind of our focus. So that's why we call it a community because it's not just kind of a one-way pitch us, and we'll write you a check. It's very much get to know the people, find the exact right domain experts who have subject matter expertise, who've been there and done that before. If they like the company and they want to personally invest, then we go to the greater group and say, "Hey, everyone, who wants to join this deal specifically?" So 18 investments later from Interlock Capital, we now also have an investment fund. So now we write two checks into every company. We do our syndicated style, pass the hat, if you will, "Hey, everyone, anyone want to invest in just this deal?" And then match it from our fund. And we're writing between $300,000 to $500,000 checks into early-stage software or/and software plus hardware companies. VICTORIA: What an incredible journey. And I love that it's led you to creating a community as part of what you do as an investment capital group. What do you find interesting about these startups and these companies that you want to be interested in? NEAL: Part of it is how much you learn about yourself, to be honest. I get to meet three to five new founders a day in a variety of ways, whether it's straight Zoom and pitch, or grab a coffee, or see them on a hike. We're kind of constantly introducing ourselves to each other. There's a bit of learning about how to size someone up to a certain regard. So you're kind of building this inner algorithm of how to top-prank people and their ideas. That's one interesting way that I never thought I would be doing professionally. There's a lot that we say versus what we do, and that's a data point that I have to keep track of because I get pitched amazing ideas that will literally change the world for so much better. And you get really excited about it, and you get invested in it. And I call it founder love. You fall in love with these founders specifically and almost say, "I don't even care what you're working on. I just want to work more with you. How do we do it?" So there's a lot of that. So there are some dating aspects [laughs] in terms of founder dating, like getting to know people. There's the determining how do we date towards marriage? Meaning, I'll write you a check, and I'm along for the ride for the next ten years. And then there's the kind of relationship maintenance which is okay; I wrote the check, now what? Where can I be helpful to the company? How can I anticipate their needs so that they have to think one more thing of how to satisfy me? It's quite the opposite way around. I'm trying not to be a barrier. I'm trying to work for them while they're sleeping. So yeah, it's really interesting the kind of the relationship aspect that goes into getting to know and helping founders take their ideas and turn it into reality. VICTORIA: That's very cool. And I have talked to people who have met you and talked to your company and just how supportive and helpful you all are even if you choose not to invest. So I think that's a really valuable resource for people. And I wonder, do you think it's something unique about the San Diego community in particular that is exciting right now? NEAL: I think so. I think San Diego specifically has always had this culture of give-before-you-get mentality, and so we kind of lead with that. There are a lot of people moving here. And you could choose many places that could be great, like LA versus San Diego, and there's a certain kind of person that chooses here versus somewhere else. And what I have found is there's a certain kind of give-before-you-get cultural mentality here that somehow people register pretty quickly and come with. And so that's an underlying greatness about us here. There's also because of the great environment we live in, by the beach, healthy lifestyle. I think we choose to work on things that maybe are also satisfying, just like our personal lives, meaning we work on things that matter, that are going to change the world, that are life-changing. That's not to say that we don't need certain other kinds of technology. I'm sure at some point, we felt we needed Twitter, and maybe we don't feel like that now. [laughs] But here, it feels like everyone's working on very impactful things, and I think that's really special to think about. Some examples of that is we've got an interesting subset of the SaaS world in nonprofit tech. So GoFundMe was founded in San Diego. They have since acquired three other nonprofit tech SaaS companies in San Diego, like Classy. So that's kind of interesting. You've got people who want to build a business that services nonprofits, and now they're all under one roof. So yeah, I think there is something special. We can dive deeper into some of the other sub-industries or categories that are interesting here, too, if you're interested. VICTORIA: Well, I could talk about San Diego all day. NEAL: [laughs] VICTORIA: Because I'm a fairly new resident, and I'm in love with it, obviously. [laughs] But let's talk more about products that can change the world. Like, what's one that you're really excited about that you've heard recently? NEAL: Ooh. I would start a little high level in certain categories that I'm really liking. I like things I'm seeing in the infrastructure space right now, meaning, you know, whether it's pipes and our water utilities, and I would include that in energy and EV, you know, kind of a mobility piece. There's even the commercial side of mobility, so trucking and freight. That whole infrastructure layer is really interesting to me right now. A certain company that, full disclosure, we invested in recently is a company called EarthGrid. They have a product that is boring holes tunnel-wise underground, but they're using just electricity and air, so plasma. And it's fascinating. They can bore holes 100 times the norm right now. They don't need to potentially trench, meaning they don't need to cut above the surface. They can just dig for miles straight underneath the ground, so they can go under things with that. And really a lot of the expensive pieces, closing lanes on freeways or highways to put fiber in or plumbing and all that. So it's really interesting to see that. Now, one element is the technology is interesting. But they have a plan to actually own their own tunnels that go across the entire United States. So they don't just want to be a device that they're going to sell to everyone. They want to actually own their own utility that has major tunnels across the United States. So that's fascinating to me because that's like think big, think exponential around that. So that's one area that's kind of fascinating to me. VICTORIA: That's super interesting, and thinking about the impact it can have on making power more secure for more people, things like that. There are just so many problems to solve, and so many are people trying to solve them. [laughs] - NEAL: Yeah, exactly. And they have a clean tech angle in that there are a lot of different ways to dig and tunnel that includes chemicals, and so their big thing is to not do that. Some of their background is installing these kinds of lines in the EV space for solar panels. So they have a big kind of clean and sustainability focus there. And our infrastructure is aging big time. We've got 100-year-old bridges and pipes and other things that it's really interesting to see the government put money into. And so that is another aspect, a business model, per se of infrastructure. You have the government putting billions, if not trillions, into upgrading our infrastructure, which as an investor, I like to hear that there's free capital out there in forms of non-dilutive funding to help these along, and that's existed for hundreds of years. Cars and oil industry got these kinds of subsidies, and then the EV and solar panels. So that's a good area that I like to look in as well is where is there additional large-scale funding to help these products really get to market? VICTORIA: That makes sense. And so you're meeting three to five founders a day, and you're watching where the funding is available. And out of all the pitches that you receive, how many do you really get to say yes to? NEAL: Oh, it's small, I mean, one to two a month if that would be a lot, and those could take a few months to work through. The best way for us to invest is to get to know the people for as long as possible. So I kind of mentioned that relationship aspect. I want to see how people operate. I want to see how they build product. I want to see how they get to know their customer and iterate and bring that back into design thinking. And so that's a big piece is getting to know and see the people do the things that they're saying. Man, there are so many companies that I like on paper, whether it's oh my God, amazing team, or, oh, cool, the product. Yes, love that idea. And then you have to look at everything together, the timing, the valuation that they want, the team. Has this team been there, done that before? So there are a lot of elements that go into it. Like I mentioned, you have this founder love where you fall in love with the people, and maybe the rest doesn't work out or vice versa. But yeah, I think each investor comes at it differently. So my area because I built two tech companies that were talent tech-related, meaning connecting people for opportunities; my investing style is very team and talent and recruitment-focused, meaning what are the superpowers of the founders? Are they aware of their weaknesses and their strengths? Have they filled in those gaps by finding co-founders that are complementary and opposites? And then my partner, Al Bsharah, he is a super product guy, and he wants to break the product and see, how can you break it? What are they thinking product roadmap-wise? That's his first go-to. And so, for us, we're super complementary in that regard. So we will assess the same company in very different ways and then come together and say, "Let's share our scores, share our rank. Where do you think this company sits at in all these different areas and boxes?" And so that's a great way, that complementary skill sets as investors. We utilize those strengths together. So yeah, it's hard for a founder to know that. A founder who's building a product, the person on the other side of the screen, they're meeting me. They're not going to know my algorithm. They're not going to know what I value more than something else. So there's this whole dance. I wish it didn't have to be that way, but it is a dance. It's a negotiation. And that's why I build a community because I'd really rather take the gloves off and get to know people when they're not raising capital, when they really are just inspired by innovation and by customers, and they're just excited, and they're building product. That's the time I want to get to know them and see how they iterate before the capital question comes in. Because when it's capital, it tends to feel a little transactional, and that's just not the name of the game per se. VICTORIA: It makes sense. And I'm curious, working with your partner who has a specialty in product, has there ever been a big surprise that he presented with you that you would never have thought of without that product perspective? NEAL: Oh yeah, absolutely. I think there are many times now where either the company is really touting a specific piece of their product, whether it's a certain kind of technology that as a non-product builder either I think, wow, that's unique. That's special; that's novel. And I go to my partner, who really is an automation expert in terms of product building, and boom, can whip it out in a second and say, "I could that with Zapier," or now ChatGPT. So I think there are those elements that are good checkpoints of putting too much...maybe I get too excited about uniqueness or a novelty of a product. And then there's the opposite. There's the team undersells their product, and really they're touting, hey, we have a background in this industry. So we're going to go build because we know how to get into that industry. Our uniqueness is go-to-market, so they think. And it turns out, hey, you're really underselling the product here. There's something special about your vision system here or your data set that you're using to build your ML model. So I've seen a variety of both of those. I think we're going to see more and more right now where ChatGPT and other AI models are going to show that maybe the tech exactly like AI isn't the specialty. That's going to be a democratization across the board. We're just going to expect that everyone can build a baseline product. So how are people going to differentiate on the product? That's where I'm really excited to see where product stands out now that more and more people have more tools at their disposal to build a good product. VICTORIA: Yeah, I'm excited for that too and to see which experiments with AI really pan out to be something useful that becomes part of everyday life. Do you have any instincts on where you think you're going to see the most out of AI innovation in tech? NEAL: AI is such a big word, and it feels so buzzwordy right now. But actually, in San Diego, we have a deep history in the high-level AI, and it starts with analytics. We have a deep, deep bench of analytics talent here. In fact, Google Analytics was founded in San Diego under the name Urchin Analytics and acquired by Google in 2004. VICTORIA: Oh. NEAL: And so you have these big analytic models and builders here that is interesting to tap into. I kind of bucket it in a few areas. I look at the vision aspect, so motion capture, motion classification, image classification. That's really interesting that I think we'll see a lot of that that applied to blank. I'm seeing that applied to life sciences, so cancer detection through some sort of imaging. Obviously, the mobility aspect, whether it's self-driving or driver assisted for blank, whether that's drones, self-driving trucks, all those areas. That's one area interesting from the AI piece. Natural language processing which there's a piece of ChatGPT to that regard. I think it is really interesting from what is your dataset? What are you tapping into? I'm also seeing that applied to digital health, whether it's clinical trials bringing AI models there, whether it's taking genomic data and saying, let's build better clinical trial classes. Maybe we don't need 500 patients when we can build the best 30 patients to enter a trial because we've got genomic data on our side. So yeah, I think I'm more looking at certain industries and saying, what is the right AI model for it? And I think that's pretty exciting. MID-ROLL AD: Are you an entrepreneur or start-up founder looking to gain confidence in the way forward for your idea? At thoughtbot, we know you're tight on time and investment, which is why we've created targeted 1-hour remote workshops to help you develop a concrete plan for your product's next steps. Over four interactive sessions, we work with you on research, product design sprint, critical path, and presentation prep so that you and your team are better equipped with the skills and knowledge for success. Find out how we can help you move the needle at: tbot.io/entrepreneurs. VICTORIA: So tell me, you know, at Interlock Capital, when you're working with a team, what do you use to really manage all of this information and these contacts for your investors? NEAL: Yeah, it's a great question. We decided to build our own products in-house thanks to my partner Al who's a great product builder. At the end of the day, there are a few different funnels we are managing within Interlock Capital. We're managing our customer, which really is the startup. We want to make sure we're keeping track of them on whatever timeline. And so we use CRMs, basically, to manage funnels per se. So that's startups. Then there's the deal flow sharing, so these are other VC firms, maybe other service providers, where we're sharing companies with each other. And then we have investors, so we're using CRM for managing our investors, like our limited partners, our LPs. So that's basic CRM. Luckily, we were able to use an off-the-shelf product called Streak for that. But what we do uniquely is we want to engage in two directions our investment community, meaning we want to get to know them, get to know everyone's expertise so we know when to tap them to say, "Hey, can you help on this deal?" And help is very broad, meaning it could be to give it a quick look before I've even met them to say, "Is this something I should even be looking at?" Or I've already met the team, maybe spent a few hours with them. And I'm asking for a deep dive with an expert to say, "Join a call with me after you've reviewed a deck and help me ask harder questions." So there's that aspect of we wanted to figure out how do we get to know our people in our group? Because we're hundreds now. So we decided to build a platform off Bubble.io and Airtable basic no-code where we could build a light profile of everyone. So everyone self-selects a number of profile aspects about themselves. It's also where we're starting to keep data and documents for them as well too. So whether it's tax documents or other forms, we can have it all in one spot. And then lastly, when we do decide to make an investment in a company, we write a very detailed memo that starts in Google Docs but then gets built into our product, the Interlock platform. And so in that memo which could honestly be 10 to 20 pages of diligence, in our language only, what are the pros, cons, and risks? We also showcase who is on the diligence team, what their specific expertise is to this investment, if they're personally investing or not. We really want to show conviction from the diligence team. And then we've built in some really cool features where you've got a Q&A board that you can upvote other people's questions about that investment. You can watch a video right there and then about the company, and then you can commit to the investment itself on our platform, saying, "I'm interested in this deal specifically. Here's the amount." And boom, we take you over to a third-party platform to just sign in and wire. So that's current day the product that we decided to build. We've got this whole product roadmap that we've built out that we want to build out more. We would love to automate a little bit more of our deal funnel so that a certain company that we meet maybe they get to a certain stage that we know we're ready for diligence. We can auto-ping the ten people that have that specific domain expertise. So luckily, we built out the profiles about everyone. Now we need to start building some automation in there so that maybe I'm not the bottleneck. I'm going to meet three to five companies a day, I mentioned. That's three to five follow-ups that I need to do. I'm never going to be as fast as the founder wants me to be on getting back to them and saying, "Here's our next steps." So if we can utilize the greater body of people that are in our investment community, that's where we'd love to build out some of the pieces next as well. So automation is kind of the hope there. VICTORIA: That's great. And I love that you're able to take advantage of these low-code tools to build something that worked for you. What was your initial approach to figuring out how to build this in a way that worked for your user group? NEAL: Well, we looked at a lot of existing products first, and there are. There are these angel syndicate websites like AngelList is a big one, you know, a consumer-facing platform where if you're interested in investing, you can join a group, or you can join a dozen groups and just get an email when they have a new investment opportunity. And so we looked at...first, it was survey what's existing out there already. Start building a product feature must-have or is nice to have list for us to get off the ground within Interlock. And then determine the pros and cons of building off the shelf, the time and cost, and maintenance versus using something that already exists. So that was a big piece, just assessment upfront before we do anything. And I think learning the landscape was big for us. I find that building tools for startups there's a lot, but there are also not a lot of mature ones because there's just not a lot of money out there to be made. There's not a billion-dollar industry of making a website to invest in startups per se yet. So that was another thing as well. It's just understanding will the companies that we choose off-the-shelf products-wise will they still be there a year or two or three from now? And ultimately, we decided, you know what? We got to build it ourselves if we really want the two-way communication, not just one-way. We didn't see everything out there. And I think the piece you always underestimate is the maintenance over time as well as all the third-party tools and apps and services that you end up needing and using and how do they play into the maintenance role as well too. We've definitely had elements of our product break because they're no longer supporting that tool anymore. So those are all aspects that you can do as much as you can self-assessment upfront. There's obviously the maintenance piece that goes into it down the road as well too. VICTORIA: That makes sense. And then, in this way, you have control over it, and you can change it as often as you want. NEAL: Totally. VICTORIA: And as much as you like, if you have the time. [laughs] NEAL: One piece that I think we have never planned or expected is that because we built it and it's super unique, there are many other angel groups who have come to us and said, "Can we use your tool? Like, yours is better than anything that exists." And we did not build ours with a commercial aspect in mind at first. We can't just clone an Airtable and be like, "Here we go. Here's your product. It's Bubble and Airtable," because if it breaks for them, we're on the hook for that [laughs] as well too. So I don't think we thought through too much around a commercialized product when we built out our own. But because we've been pinged so many times about, can people use it? It's on our mind now. Like, it literally is on our list of priorities of hiring either part-time or full-time a product builder to go back in and commercialize aspects so that we could actually maybe turn this into a product one day, this whole investment community manager software. VICTORIA: That's really cool. And it's funny, talking to founders, there's always a story about how you set out to do one thing, which was build a community around startups and founders in San Diego, and then you end up building a product, [laughs] right? NEAL: Yup. VICTORIA: And getting something marketable later that you never even intended. NEAL: Yeah, I mean, I think the big learning there is, one, listen to your customer first, then go build products. And so yes, you said it exactly; we wanted to build a community where we could be more engaged with our customer. And as we heard more and more from our customer, it told us what to build. And I always find that from other startups, that's a great model to follow as opposed to build and then go determine if there's a market out there for it. VICTORIA: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So it's interesting that you've had this experience of building tech startups from scratch and then now investing, and then now you're back [laughs], and you have a product again. NEAL: [laughs] VICTORIA: So I wonder, if you could go back in time starting Interlock Capital or when you started your companies, like, what advice would you give yourself if you could travel back in time and talk to your past self? NEAL: Oof, so much. Spend a lot of time getting to know yourself, not just what you're good at but what you like to do business-wise. And I actually see those are two different things. Sometimes the things we like to do we're not as good at, but yet we want to spend more of our time on it, and maybe it takes us longer to do it. So do some self-assessment. I would have done that more on myself. And I'll give you an example, I, for whatever reason, like to brute force certain things like our email outreach, whereas my partner loves to build automation campaigns for it because he built a software in the email space. I know I could learn a quick automation route [laughs] to do certain things, but for whatever reason, I love sometimes the analog version of things. And that's good sometimes, and sometimes there's no time for that. So learn a lot more about myself, what I like, and what I'm good at. And then the opposite, what I don't like doing, what could I shed as quickly as possible and could hire for in some way or another, trade my time or capital for time. And then, only then, once I know myself better, then go find the perfect partner that complements everything. It's the opposite of me in that regard, opposite in network, opposite in skill sets, and in that regard too. And so I think my first startup, we were carbon copies of each other. We were both aerospace engineers who kind of wanted to do the same thing who lacked emotional intelligence at the time. So yeah, that's a big learning. But I didn't know enough about myself at the time. And it took hardship to learn the hard things. Honestly, entrepreneurs seem to learn by doing more than anything. So you can only tell an entrepreneur so much. Sometimes they're just going to have to go and figure it out by running through a wall. That's one thing I would have changed about myself in that regard. I also probably would have, even earlier during college, gotten more internships to just test myself professionally and know what environments I do well in, meaning big companies, small company, or hands-on mentorship and management or hands-off certain kinds of skill sets. How could I be presenting more often versus just kind of behind-the-scenes doing? All of those I probably could have learned quicker about myself the earlier I would have put myself in those situations as opposed to getting my first job and working at one place for five years. That's a long time to dedicate to learning one culture about that I thrive in. But you live, and you learn. VICTORIA: I love the drive to keep learning and to be like, you know, don't expect to be good at everything [laughs] that you want to do. I think that's fantastic. And what do you see success really looking like for yourself in the next six months or in the next five years? NEAL: This year, this calendar year is really about getting the fund up and running. So we've raised an initial tranche of capital and got through this calendar year to get the full capital we want for the fund in. And we're being really picky about that. We really want operators, so that just takes time to go and meet the right people that maybe have recently exited, so have a little bit of time and have a little capital and now want to spend time with earlier stage companies. So that's a big piece of this year. I also, on the community side, want to scale it a little bit. I've found recurring...like the founders' hike is a really consistent and easy way to build community, just meet new people, get to meet 30 people at once instead of maybe 30 coffee meetings to meet those people and just kind of selectively choose who is good to follow up with. So building and scaling, thinking about how to scale community growth is another area, and hiring a little bit around that. So hiring either a community manager and understanding what does that role even mean? Because it's vague in a variety of scenarios. I think we as a company could utilize it. But I think even San Diego could really benefit from someone professionally community-managing all of us. I don't even know what that means yet. And I'd actually push that back on you. Like, you're recent to town. You've started to meet people in a variety of venues. What's the community management void that you see that exists locally? VICTORIA: Oh, great question. I'm actually going to the Annual March Mingle tonight. This episode will come out a little bit later. NEAL: I'll be there too. VICTORIA: Oh, I was like, I'm going to interview you and probably see you later. [laughs] NEAL: Awesome. VICTORIA: Yeah, I think what's interesting about what I've experienced so far is that there is a thriving community. People show up to events. There are a lot of different focuses and specialties. Like, there's the San Diego Design and Accessibility meetup, which had over 30 people over and has a lot of great content. The tech coffees usually have your standard crew who comes. I'm in North County in Encinitas, and then there's Downtown San Diego. And I think you and I have talked about this, that there isn't as much of a major hub. And people are kind of spread out and don't really like to travel outside of their little bubble, which isn't necessarily unique to San Diego. [laughs] I think we've seen this in other areas too. So I think deciding where and how and maybe just building that group of community organizers too. One thing we had in DC was we would have a meetup of all the meetup organizers. [laughs] NEAL: Ooh. VICTORIA: They were just the people who are running events would get together and meet each other and talk and get ideas and bounce off, and maybe that exists in San Diego, but I just haven't tapped into it yet. NEAL: Well, that's a great, great, great, great point because, yeah, learning from others. Everyone is out there doing. Let's learn what's working and what's not. I do that actually from community to community. I do compare...I'll pop into a city on personal travel, but I'll look for, say, the Neal Bloom of Phoenix or something [laughter] and share quick notes. Something Startup San Diego started... when Startup San Diego started ten years ago and became a nonprofit shortly thereafter, it wanted to be the convener of all the organizations that help startups. And so there became kind of the startup alliance, I think, where it was all people who run different startup orgs, mostly nonprofits or just meetups getting together. And that hasn't come back since COVID, and I don't know if anyone's thought to bring it back. So this is a great time to think about that. Let's do it. Let's absolutely get the startup community alliance back together and sharing what's working and what's not. Something else that I think matters as we're coming out of COVID and really matters also for product is it feels like curation matters way more than anything before. Like, we value our time more. We want to be home a bit more. And so we're only going to go to the things that we know there's some value out of it as opposed to, oh, I'll show up to that thing. It sounds cool. I get free pizza. So the curation piece, I think, is interesting to think about, like, how do you scale curation? Because if you make smaller groups and make it more valuable, you still can't make a group for everyone. Someone's always going to be missing out. That's a piece when I think of how has product worked really well for that? Obviously, product has done amazing things on curation with using filters and ranking and other things. How do you do that in real-time for community? VICTORIA: Yeah, that's a really cool idea. And it's interesting talking with organizers from Women Who Code DC who are still there and coming back from COVID. They were all virtual events, and now they're having part virtual and part in-person. And it's interesting where some people really want to get back to the in person and see people in real life. The virtual is also still a very good option for people altogether across the board. So, yeah, I think you're 100% right on the event has to be kind of worth it. [laughs] And how do we make that real? But we still have all these other options for connecting with each other too, and we should take advantage of this. I love that here if we're going out in person, you're on a patio. [laughs] You're outside. Even though it's pouring down rain right now so we're probably going to get rained out a little bit. NEAL: I don't think I realized how outdoorsy we already were until this recent rain, one, because COVID forced everyone outdoors already. So for the last three years, we've only been going to places that have been outdoors. But then I realized, wait, every coffee shop I go to already is just open air. Every brewery, every restaurant is open-air. We've got it pretty good here. March Mingle, as big as it is, which it's like you're 17, 18, maybe 20, it's always an amazingly cool crowd and a crowd that I don't always see at every event. It's not the same, same people. It's a crowd that just comes to March Mingle. VICTORIA: That's super cool. I'm excited to see you there later. And maybe by the time we've aired this episode, I'll have actually posted about it, so it won't be a surprise [laughs] for anybody. But I love that. Okay, so, wait, that was...did we talk about six months and five years into the future of success? NEAL: We didn't. We just talked this calendar year. Five years out, professionally, I think a well-oiled community, multiple funds under management that maybe have realized, like, let's have one with different focus. Maybe there's an infrastructure tech fund, maybe there's a diabetes tech fund. I'd love to explore the curated focused thesis aspects because it's easy to be pretty general when I'm meeting so many interesting companies, and I have so many experts at my disposal. Maybe it makes sense to have multiple smaller focused funds in that regard. I think five years out; also, we will have probably weathered some financial storms, probably be on the upswing of that, and therefore maybe there are some exits that would have happened in town. There's certainly a number of late-stage tech companies that have been at it 10, 15 years that a lot of early investors and employees with stock are just kind of waiting for a liquidity event, and I really think by then we will have seen that. And that will be really interesting to see if and how people recycle their capital back into the community, both from investing, from giving philanthropically, and then their time as well. Sometimes when you have really big success, it's easy to check out and leave, and I'm hoping we're getting ahead of that cycle now. We're getting people to put some skin in the game now so that when the exits happen, they stay connected because they're got some investments in the community. So I'm really hoping that we've closed the wheel on the flywheel of capital, recyclable capital here in San Diego five years out from now. VICTORIA: Oh, I really like that. And I think it makes sense from that idea of if you've benefited from being able to run your own company and to work with all these people in San Diego that when you exit, you invest that back into the community and grow future companies with it. NEAL: Exactly. I mean, someone helped you, all of us, and they're just ahead of us. It kind of behooves all of us; then, to each stage and phase we go forward, we should look back and say, "How can we help someone behind us?" And we started this conversation that is a very San Diego culture thing. And so I'm really excited to see when that line bends back on itself, that flywheel closes. So the other aspects of that is we're starting to build some crossroads with Tijuana. We tried before COVID, and we're trying again now. And I'm really excited to see the long-term effect of connecting these cross-border communities. And then we talked about some technology, five years out, man, if GPT is updating so quickly now, I can't even imagine what AI is building product by itself five years from now. And where do the humans play a role in that? People love the splashy headline articles of here's where AI is going to replace your jobs. I'm thinking quite the opposite. I'm so excited for the new jobs to emerge that don't exist right now, for us to complement technology, that, you know, we'll be doing things that are better than humans. So that's a whole piece of technology and product that I'm excited to see play out. VICTORIA: I agree. I think that it's humans plus machines make the most impact, right? [laughs] NEAL: Exactly. VICTORIA: It by itself won't do it. But I think that's fantastic. What a great note to kind of end on. But is there anything else that you want as a final takeaway for our listeners? NEAL: One, I'd love to meet you if you're building an interesting product. I'd love to connect you into our community, so that's a self-serving ask. Find me on LinkedIn or Twitter; probably, Twitter's easier. Write me that you heard me on Giant Robots Smashing Into Others. Absolutely would love to hear that feedback loop. Also, come check out San Diego sometime. Come join our founders' hike. If you're listening to this, pretty much we have it on every first Wednesday of each month. We'd love to welcome you into the community here. And if you have an idea for a startup but haven't started yet, that's a great time to be talking and thinking how could I iterate way sooner than you would have thought. So don't wait to get started on something; just start talking to people about it. Don't be afraid to share your product ideas. No one's going to steal it. So I would just tell people to get started sooner than you think. And the world will benefit from you putting that out into the universe. VICTORIA: I love that. Thank you so much for sharing and for being a guest on our show today, Neal. We'll have links for how to get connected with you in our show notes. You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. And you can find me on Twitter @victori_ousg. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. ANNOUNCER: This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot, your expert strategy, design, development, and product management partner. We bring digital products from idea to success and teach you how because we care. Learn more at thoughtbot.com. Special Guest: Neal Bloom.

This is Dr. Travelbest's Guide In this episode: FAQ is: Who sets the standards for airline seats? Today's Destination is: Point Loma, San Diego Today's Lesson Learned- I forgot the tent poles. Travel Advice:  Join the US STEP program if you plan to travel out of the country in the next year.   FAQ: Rebecca asks, Do the airline seats seem to be getting smaller these days? Am I the only one who sees or feels this happening? I would like to know. Also, please give me information on how much space should be on a plane for my seat. I'm struggling with this issue now. Who sets the standards for airline seats?   Answer: Dear Rebecca, You are being heard. I'm so glad you asked. I've wondered the same thing. In the USA, The Federal Aviation Administration is looking at a rule for minimum amounts for the width of airplane seats and the distance between the front of one seat and the back of the seat ahead.  They are gathering public comments on the issue now. Their concern is safety. If seats are too small, it can hurt evacuations in an emergency. How is your legroom? We want to hear from you now, so contact the FAA to give them your concerns. Today's destination: Point Loma, San Diego   Point Loma is a land mass that sticks out in the Pacific Ocean, a large peninsula; on the water, you can't go from Downtown San Diego without bumping into this point. So it was one of the first places to land for settlers in the land.    Why visit Point Loma? The National Park, Cabrillo National Monument, and the lighthouse are the most famous places to visit as a traveler. This is one best viewpoints for the entire city and region. You will want to spend a half day exploring nature and the visitor center. You can see inside the lighthouse and climb the stairs to see what it was like to live there hundreds of years ago. I highly recommend this destination.   You can see Mexico, downtown, and a lot of ocean from here. Tonight, I met a couple from Lexington, Kentucky, and they visited the lighthouse today. They raved about the experience of being in the home that was a lighthouse and being able to see afar.   The tidepools are also worth seeing. If you have never been to a tidepool, it's when the ocean tides recede, and you can see the small sea creatures like starfish and crabs among the nooks and crannies of the rocks on the beach, walking carefully not to disturb wildlife.    My favorite place to eat fresh seafood locally is Point Loma Seafoods. My favorite Coffee shop is Peet's. My favorite YMCA is Ryan Family Y. My Favorite thrift store is Goodwill San Diego. Point Loma has Sunset Cliffs Blvd, which has great views and sunsets. You can swim here, too, if you can navigate the hike safely. However, it's not meant for the faint of heart, as swimming here is not as safe. It's better to head north to the public beaches. You'll also see beaches just for dogs, and dozens of them running around the sandy beach.   You'll be in Ocean Beach, which is a community next door, almost connected.    My first visit was in 1982, as I was relocating from Chicago. Little did I know how this part of the region would impact my life when I prayed in my car that day. I said out loud, “Lord, if it is meant to be, find my subsequent work and life in this city. So I prayed in my car, parked on Cornish Drive, a block from where I lived a few months later. Yes, the same street, about a block from where this prayer happened. And it turned out great for the past several, well, 40 years, it's been. Today's Mistake- Forgot the tent poles   I was camping in Nevada along a beautiful river. I brought my tent but forgot to bring the tent poles. So, I slept under the stars. It was decent weather that night, so pretty good. Don't forget your tent poles as I did.    Today's Travel Advice-Join the US STEP program if you plan to travel out of the country in the next year.   I joined the US STEP program in 2023, and they will inform me when I travel abroad and see a problem in a country I visit. Also, they will have my information if I need to contact them, making it easier to find and help me. They help people with problems. I hope I don't need to contact them, but better safe than sorry.

In today's episode, Rich sits down for a conversation with Emmett Cahill – Commercial Real Estate Broker and Vice President of QFC Real Estate in Downtown San Diego. Emmett is a local Little Italy resident, and was actually the broker who assisted Rich in finding the space that is now home to Somers Capital Headquarters and the podcast studio. They talk about how retail, office, and industrial spaces are bouncing back after the pandemic, and whether or not the shift to work-from-home is here to stay. They dive into tenant improvement allowances, co-working spaces, HOA fees, and leasing vs. buying your office space. Emmett is passionate about helping people find spaces for their businesses, and would love to help you if you're in the Southern California area. // Connect with Emmett: ECahill@qfcre.com--Connect with Rich on Instagram: @rich_somersInterested in investing with Somers Capital? Visit www.somerscapital.com/invest to learn more. Interested in joining our Boutique Hotel Mastermind? Visit www.somerscapital.com/mastermind to book a free call. Interested in STR/Boutique Hotel Management? Visit www.excelsiorstays.com/management to book a free call.

Welcome to IoT Coffee Talk #103 where we have a chat about all things IoT over a cup of coffee or two with some of the industry's leading business minds, thought leaders and technologists in a totally unscripted, organic format. Thanks for joining us. Sit back with a cup of Joe and enjoy the morning banter. This week, we filmed live from Downtown San Diego for Qualcomm's 5G Summit. We entered the danger zone with a chat about how 5G is slowing making new possibilities possible, we talk about inflation, how ridiculous crypto is and the crumbling thesis, the detriment of speculative culture on the integrity of our economy and society. We sprinkle a bit of IoT in there somewhere. I think we mention sustainability.Thanks for listening to us! Watch episodes at http://iotcoffeetalk.com/. Your hosts include Leonard Lee, Stephanie Atkinson, Marc Pous, David Vasquez, Rob Tiffany, Bill Pugh, Rick Bullotta and special guests. We support Elevate Our Kids to bridge the digital divide by bringing K-12 computing devices and connectivity to support kids' education in under-resourced communities. Please donate.

Douglas Wahl, President of the Downtown San Diego Lions Club, and Jon Mosier, Lions Club First Vice President, discuss the Club's annual scholarship fund that provides assistance to graduating high school students that plan on attending universities and community colleges. Wahl and Mosier talk about the Lions High School Baseball Tournament this Spring ... the largest high school baseball tournament in the nation -- along with Lions Camp Jack and other Club projects.

After years of being stuck in bureaucratic limbo, it appears that the old Central Library in Downtown San Diego will begin offering shelter services to the homeless later this month. Then, a volunteer group is providing medical care to unhoused people in Sacramento, where in 2021, almost 200 unsheltered people died. The practice of bringing medicine to the people is taking off around the state. Next, plastic waste is a huge environmental problem for the earth and its oceans. One answer to the problem is being explored in San Diego. Then, while in some ways the world-famous Hollywood-dwelling mountain lion, P-22 was unique, mountain lions aren't uncommon here and they make their homes closer to humans than you might think. Finally, we talk to Jeff Speck, author of, “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time” about efforts to transform America's cities away from cars, toward a more walkable future.

SAN DIEGO — San Diego's homeless crisis is profoundly impacting both people living on the streets and the people living and working near unhoused individuals.For some people living in Downtown San Diego, the situation has gotten so bad - they want to leave the area and are willing to break their leases. But moving out isn't just time-consuming; it can also be costly.Some people say they're simply tired of dealing with it every time they walk outside their door and want a way out of their leases, and while to them, it might seem like they're stuck, one legal expert says that's not entirely the case.Fred Altman is among the many San Diegans who call downtown home. He says he and his family are considering moving out due to issues he says comes with the homelessness crisis."I've seen overdoses, I've seen stabbings… people dying on the sidewalk," said Altman."The biggest reason we wanted to break our lease is just the safety of ourselves," said another resident.The woman, who didn't want to show her face, said when she first moved to San Diego from overseas, she never expected the crisis to be as bad as it is."With all the homeless, it's a little scary to just be with my daughter alone, and a lot of times, it's just my daughter and me," she said.She and others like Altman are looking at options to break their leases, but they come at a price."It's just hard to break the lease with the amount of money they're asking."Support the showSign Up For Exclusive Episodes At: https://reasonabletv.com/LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos every day. https://www.youtube.com/c/NewsForReasonablePeople

The Truth shall set you motherfuckin free. As many know and some dont know. I was falsely arrested an illegally detained and imprisoned at Mens Central Jail in Downtown San Diego for some bullshit I was set up for. I was specifically instructed to ever set foot in the store again but I said fuck it..why not and let's see what the fuck happens. Nothing except obtaining my some of my self respect and self Worth as I knew what happened wasn't a crime and that I did nothing wrong. However, when the loca shit bag police want you dead and gone they will do a anything to protect their way of life. The time for honoring you motherfuckers and even paying a modicum of respect has come to an end. Fuck you San Diego Police Officers. Fuck you in the ass with a massive immascullatrng dildo with zero fuckin lube. Not even spit. Just your own fuckin tears dripping down your face that slightly lubricate your asshole as this massive ethic fake cock destroys your rectum forever and a day. I kinda forgot where I was going with this but I knew I did nothing wrong. I was fucked over by the Very entity sworn to protect the citizenry from threats. But who protects those when the protector is the one we need protection from. When the wolves guard the henhouse who watches the wolves....just more wolves. For those to whom I will now burst your bubble...the falsely superior people that believe they run the show and can do whatever they want. I say....fuck that..you will answer for your crimes.. I want my Fuckin money now... Don'tmake me regret being leineient. Anyway SDPD is going fuckin Down. Eat she and kill yourself.

Goran Bozinovic, President & CEO of the Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, chats about the Institute's mission; its community outreach; its access to high-end biology research to diverse pre-college and college students; and the Annual Environmental Science and Innovative STEM Education Symposium on October 21 and 22 at Park & Market in Downtown San Diego.

  Albert Einstein famously said, "Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them." I love the wisdom in that quote! My hospitality spin on this quote would be:    Good hotels deal with problems. Great hotels fix problems. The most loved hotels see a problem as an opportunity for creativity and innovation, so they avoid having to see that problem recur.   To illustrate this point, I have selected a few true-to-life review responses I have just seen online.   I will show some typical hotel review responses, where the hotel hopes to get the customer back, fingers crossed. They are dealing with the problem. not fixing or preventing it from recurring. The reputation management box has been checked, but has anything been accomplished?   I will then show an alternative approach for the response so you can see the difference.  You can decide which sound good versus which effectively elevate consumer confidence by showcasing responsible and compassionate leadership in action. That response has a good chance of winning a return visit and attracting new customers.    The excellent review response came from a young manager, Frangelica Siy, at the Embassy Suites in Downtown San Diego. They are a 3-Star hotel that consistently inspires 5-Star reviews from its guests, thanks to leadership in action from great hoteliers like Frangelica. No wonder the Embassy Suites in San Diago is currently one of the top 10 hotels in the city, out of hundreds of other hotels, many far more opulent than the Embassy Suites. Way to go- Frangelica and team!     I hope you will find these examples illuminating and begin to consider these Dos and Don'ts whenever you or your team respond to reviews with the goals of elevating consumer confidence, living your values, and demonstrating leadership in action.    For more information and inspiration on Reputation Cultivation, Leadership and Culture, please visit adelegutman.com/getgreatreviews.         

Hello North County CA! Today we get into the Padres moving on, a Pumpkin Patch that Cassidy said don't go to, and Chris has a coyote and a hawk update. We also highlight a Rouler Brew, a Resident Brew, and a few neat-looking spots in Downtown San Diego. And it's spiny lobster season. Enjoy!

As negative headlines come fast and furious, commercial real estate investors are faced with a question: Is now a time to get defensive, be opportunistic, or prepare for the worst? Learn why Co-Head of U.S. Real Estate, John Ockerbloom says the answer is 'yes' - all of the above.Episode Segments:(02:33) - Do market conditions on the ground match the negative headlines?(05:07) - A market still in price discovery mode(08:19) - The inherent defensiveness of real estate debt(12:11) - Where opportunities are today in residential real estate(18:33) - Riding the wave of revitalization in Savannah, Georgia(23:09) - Life science and the changing definition of "high quality" office space(27:26) - Leading the life science renaissance in Downtown San Diego(29:39) - The cycle agnostic opportunity in self-storage(33:18) - The distressed asset landscape today(37:20) - Fear, greed and patience through the cycleIMPORTANT INFORMATIONAny forecasts in this podcast are based upon Barings' opinion of the market at the date of preparation and are subject to change without notice, dependent upon many factors. Any prediction, projection or forecast is not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance. Investment involves risk. The value of any investments and any income generated may go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. Any examples set forth in this podcast are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not indicative of any future investment results or investments. The composition, size of, and risks associated with an investment may differ substantially from any examples set forth in this podcast. No representation is made that an investment will be profitable or will not incur losses. Barings is the brand name for the worldwide asset management and associated businesses of Barings LLC and its global affiliates. Barings Securities LLC, Barings (U.K.) Limited, Barings Global Advisers Limited, Barings Australia Pty Ltd, Barings Japan Limited, Barings Real Estate Advisers Europe Finance LLP, BREAE AIFM LLP, Baring Asset Management Limited, Baring International Investment Limited, Baring Fund Managers Limited, Baring International Fund Managers (Ireland) Limited, Baring Asset Management (Asia) Limited, Baring SICE (Taiwan) Limited, Baring Asset Management Switzerland Sarl, and Baring Asset Management Korea Limited each are affiliated financial service companies owned by Barings LLC (each, individually, an “Affiliate”).NO OFFER: The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument or service in any jurisdiction. The material herein was prepared without any consideration of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of anyone who may receive it. This podcast is not, and must not be treated as, investment advice, an investment recommendation, investment research, or a recommendation about the suitability or appropriateness of any security, commodity, investment, or particular investment strategy.Unless otherwise mentioned, the views contained in this podcast are those of Barings and are subject to change without notice. Individual portfolio management teams may hold different views and may make different investment decisions for different clients. Parts of this podcast may be based on information received from sources we believe to be reliable. Although every effort is taken to ensure that the information contained in this podcast is accurate, Barings makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the informationAny service, security, investment or product outlined in this podcast may not be suitable for a prospective investor or available in their jurisdiction.Copyright in this podcast is owned by Barings. Information in this podcast may be used for your own personal use, but may not be altered, reproduced or distributed without Barings' consent.22-2456479

Hello North County San Diego! Cassidy shares his venture downtown (and we share a few new spots in Downtown San Diego). Chris hit up some mini golf at Pelly's in Del Mar and shares his dream of a mini-golf-disney-land of sorts. Plus O'side has a lot of inland breweries. Enjoy!

Today on the Southern California Real Estate Report we talk about the new apartment building, called The Lindley, that is currently being developed by Toll Brothers and PGIM Partner.The project is a 37-story, 422-unit luxury apartment complexDesigned by Joseph Wong Design AssociatesIt will be LEED certified Gold article referenced:https://www.multihousingnews.com/toll-brothers-pgim-partner-on-san-diego-development/

This week's episode highlights the importance of timing in all real estate related especially the buying side. Just like what Robert Allen said "Don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait." Time is of the essence. Waiting may cost you more than what you intend for and with the market constantly changing, it's difficult to keep up sometimes. The two tammy's also dived into a few properties that will surely boost San Diego's work opportunity as well as real estate needs. Listen to the whole podcast to know what are these and how beneficial it will be for you in the future! Podcast Available on all platforms. - Like & Subscribe - ••••••••••• ⚜️ Tammy Dean, San Diego Realtor & Advocate Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties BHHS BRE# 01317331 | DRE# 02078221 Call/Text: (619) 920-8264 ⚜️ Tammy Krug, "Downtown Tammy" Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties BHHS BRE# 01317331 | DRE# 01417954 Call/Text: (619) 384-3490 Follow More Here: Instagram: @movingonwith.tammydean Tiktok: @movingonwith.tammydean Website: movingon.co⁣ Youtube: "Moving On" the Series Podcast: @albertovisuals #undercontractpodcast #businesspodcast #downtownnews #marketupdate #realestatetips #realestateadvice #twotammys #sandiegorealtors #socalrealtors #sandiegoliving #socalliving #buysandiego #sellsandiego #downtownmarketupdate #realtorsofinstagram

Welcome to The Alley.This week's topics include:5 Red Flags in a customer (5:45)Miguel has to answer for Tatis Jr. (14:50)Downtown San Diego is disgusting (24:30)The TJ situation (31:00)Heider runs into his 8th Grade English teacher at at work (39:30)Miguel talks about the FX show, The Bear *NO SPOILERS* (53:45)Email us mailbag questions! thealleypodcasst@gmail.comFollow us on social media!Twitter: https://twitter.com/thealleypodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealley.podcast/Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thealleypodcast

   Raised in Berlin, Charlene Mosley is an Oscar-nominated, San Diego- based fine artist, illustrator, concept artist and muralist. She received her BA in Studio Arts from San Diego State University with a minor in German Studies.   Charlene's current work portrays figures and faces of various backgrounds immersed in organic natural elements such as plants and animals. She uses vibrant expressive brushstrokes to bring the paintings to life mainly in oils, watercolors, ink and gouache. She has recently started exploring miniature scenery paintings of her travels as well. Her work expresses her observations of current matters and experiences living in a 21st century media driven society and its relationship to nature.   In 2016, Mosley was one of the contributing artists of “Loving Vincent“, the first ever fully-painted, Oscar-Nominated feature film. This opportunity was the artist's first time working in animation in Poland. Creating over 250 frames of the film while in Poland “was life changing in a way, and a motivation to keep pursuing my passion as an independent artist”, notes Mosley. During the promotional touring and award ceremonies following the films debut in the US, Charlene had gotten to work closely with the Royal Talens Art Supply company which resulted in her becoming one of their ambassadors.    Charlene works as a freelance, independent artist on several projects, such as murals, private commissions, and book illustrations with clients. Five children's books she has illustrated and a literary novel, have been published in 2018 and 2019; three winning Purple Dragon awards first and second places within their categories. She works closely with various authors and longest so far with Deedee Cummings, the founder of Make A Way Media. As an independent artist, Charlene works with clientele worldwide, shipping out commissioned paintings as big as 12x8 feet.  Her large roster of public and private murals include locations such as: San Diego State University, Barrio Logan, La Jolla Shores, Horton Plaza, Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Lake Forest and Shenzhen, China.    Her personal artwork is created in her San Diego studio, STUDIO 15, at Art on 30th. Charlene is currently represented by Sparks Gallery in Downtown San Diego, California. The artist is working on her upcoming solo-exhibition "Pollinators" at Sparks Gallery, set to debut May 15th, 5-8pm. The exhibition runs May 15- July 3, 2022.   “My work depicts my curiosity of how people connect to nature in a busy technology and mass- media driven world. I paint people I see in everyday life as well as myself and how I see myself interact with and observe my natural surroundings. I love to paint in a combination of expressive line and brushstroke and vibrant colors, with the effect of intriguing the viewer and letting the eye embark on a visually fulfilling journey.” -Mosley

Homelessness in Downtown San Diego doubled last year, now an SDSU professor and his students are asking those living on the streets what it is they need. Meanwhile, San Diego abortion clinics are preparing for a future influx of patients from out of state. Also, a study called “Power Mom” is using wearable technology to gather data on pregnant women in an effort to promote maternal health and combat structural racism.

Taking A Radical And Extreme Leap—A Journey Where Leadership, Love, and Business Go Together This is the audio-only podcast edition of the fourteenth episode of the JOURNEYS Webcast—Adventure & Discovery In The Time of Corona where Allan Karl and Steve Farber chatted from North San Diego to Downtown San Diego when this show originally Livestreamed on August 10, 2020. The Journey of Steve Farber From a dream of music to bestselling author and business leadership consultant. This is a wild ride with great music. Meet Steve Farber — Steve Farber is the president of Extreme Leadership, Incorporated, and the founder of The Extreme Leadership Institute, organizations devoted to the cultivation and development of Extreme Leaders in the business community, non-profits, and education. Links Mentioned in this Episode: Love Is Just Damn Good Busines Book: https://amzn.to/3JxEXiN Steve's Website & Newsletter: http://www.stevefarber.com Brothers Koren & Steve Team Songwriting: http://www.findingyourBIGleadershipVo... Steve & Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister Jamming to B.B. King's Thrill Is Gone: https://youtu.be/o2IQHX2kx6I Find Steve's Books On Amazon: https://amzn.to/37SREqE Steve is a good friend, a gifted storyteller, and an inspiring speaker and leader. He is also an amazing guitar player, singer, and songwriter and he shares several new songs from inspirational stories you'll want to hear! This is a replay of the 16th episode of the JOURNEYS Webcast—Adventure & Discovery In The Time of Corona where Allan Karl and Steve Farber chatted from his home office in San Diego to Allan's just 20 miles north when this show originally Livestreamed on August 10, 2020. Steve's third book, Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson In Leadership, was a Wall Street Journal® and USA Today® bestseller. His second book, The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World, was hailed as “a playbook for harnessing the power of the human spirit.” ​​​​​​​ And his first book, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership, is already considered a classic in the leadership field. It received Fast Company magazine's Readers' Choice Award and was recently named one of the 100 Best Business Books of All Time. Farber's much-anticipated new book, Love Is Just Damn Good Business, was listed by Book Authority as one of the top Business Strategy books for 2020.   This is a replay of the 16th episode of the JOURNEYS Webcast—Adventure & Discovery In The Time of Corona where Allan Karl and Steve Farber chatted from San Diego when this show originally Livestreamed on August 10, 2020. Our Conversation Touched On Some of These Topics & More: What's Love Got To Do With It | In challenging times we discuss love and its role in business and life—and society. The Journey of Steve's Guitar—Lost & Found | Years ago Steve was forced to sell his prized guitar—how some twenty years later he found it and reunited with it. Voices & Music | We talk about Steve's collaboration with pop music legends Brothers Koren. And finding your voice. Team building? Yeah, but so much more! From Big Stages to Virtual Meetings | Can virtual conferences and meetings deliver the personal touch of live events? The Journeys Webcast is a weekly live stream event where travelers, entrepreneurs, vintners, chefs, musicians, authors, speakers, and ordinary people living extraordinary lives come together for an hour of storytelling, inspiration, idea-sharing, and connection. Watch The Video Replay of the Livestream on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bqA0fuqgzbw #love #leadership #compassion #stevefarber #worldrider #journeyswebcast

In this episode, Sarah Tenisi speaks with Maritza Diaz, founder of ITJuana, which enables companies in California to create technology centers of excellence in Tijuana. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and sits on the Forbes Technology Council.Listen in as Maritza unpacks her initiative to build the Biomed tech valley in Tijuana and why more discussions need to be had on the cross-border economy. She contends that the area covering San Diego and Tijuana makes for a “something way better Silicon Valley” due to its being a prominent hub for the life sciences.Maritza also explains how she aims to generate the next wave of engineers and thereby solve the problem of access to talent in software engineering, not to mention pave the way for greater diversity in the industry.Finally, she discusses how developing this market ultimately results in a huge win-win situation for both the U.S. and Mexico, giving both nations an even greater competitive advantage on the world stage.Maritza concludes that: “We do have the talent. We just need to leverage it.”What You'll Learn in This Episode:●      [01:45] Why Tijuana is the ideal tech center●      [03:56] San Diego and Tijuana as a “way better Silicon Valley”●      [08:22] Telling the Federal Reserve that Silicon Valley shouldn't be in San Francisco●      [11:07] The difference between perception and reality●      [14:37] Solving the problem of access to talent in software engineering●      [22:19] Developing the “next wave of engineers” via bootcamps●      [30:16] Unintentionally weaving diversity into the software industry●      [32:54] How companies can tap into this market●      [37:20] Breaking perceptions through this initiativeKey quotes:●      “Tijuana is only 25 minutes south of Downtown San Diego; hence, it's located in the same time zone. We can find amazing quality software engineers. It's sort of a no-brainer: Why wouldn't more companies go there to enable their digital capabilities?”●      “For every two jobs that Tijuana generates, it represents one job created in San Diego.”●      “Hire the person, not the skill.”●      “My passion—the reason why I do this—is because I do want to generate these jobs of the future for people like me who probably otherwise wouldn't have that opportunity. And the way to do it is by bringing the companies to establish them here in Mexico.”

In this episode, we link up with Martin Lidgard (CEO & Founder) and Krister Genmark (VP of Sales) at Web Manuals. Web Manuals provides a document management platform that significantly streamlines the editing, compliance, review, and distribution of manuals and documents for aviation professionals. They currently serve over 400 customers worldwide including charter, commercial, corporate, drone, and eVTOL flight operations. Greg stopped by their new office in Downtown San Diego and had a great conversation with Martin and Krister. They talked about the progression of their business, growing a bootstrapped multi-national company, the future of technology in aviation, and some of the keys to building a true company culture. You definitely want to listen in! For more info on their products and services, check out the video and links below: To learn more about Web Manuals, visit www.webmanuals.aero To follow Web Manuals on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/webmanuals/ To connect with Martin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinlidgard/ To connect with Krister on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristergenmark/

One in four American menstruators have missed class because of improper access to period products. Andrea Rix and Yasi Henderson decided to do something about it. They created the Period Poverty Project, an organization based in San Diego, CA with a mission of dismantling the stigma around menstrual health and providing easier access to period products. In their first project, they donated over 500 period packs to the Rachel's Women's Center in Downtown San Diego and in their growing community of 35-40 volunteers and changemakers, Andrea and Yasi are here to change the way we talk about periods! In this episode, I got to talk to them about their own experience learning about period poverty and what they've learned throughout this process. If you enjoy this episode, and you find yourself coming back, make sure you follow the show and leave us a review! Learn more about the Period Poverty Project here. Follow them on Instagram @periodpovertyprojectt! Check out Period Power by Nadya Okamoto! Connect with me on TikTok @allyphann. Here is my linktr.ee! Intro/Outro Music - Go by Ikson www.iksonmusic.com

This week, Kate introduces a conversation between C-3 Board Director and Planning Professional Suchitra Lukes, Mike Stepner, and Vicki Estrada from June 23, 2020. The three discuss the long-sought vision for a pedestrian link between Balboa Park and downtown San Diego. Vicki and Mike are well-known thought leaders and are involved in the San Diego Commons effort that includes a movement to “Heal the Gash” and connect downtown to Balboa Park and the Waterfront. They discuss how the community plan would positively impact the environment, reconnect divided communities, and why the post-pandemic world may be the best time for this. Mike and Vicki also talk about the challenges and setbacks with Heal the Gash, and how the community can get involved and support this initiative.   Timestamps: [1:23] Mike and Vicki introduce themselves and their passion for the San Diego Commons Effort and the Heal The Gash community plan. They talk about running this non-profit organization, and how it's time to stop talking and take action towards reconnecting communities and connecting Balboa Park to downtown. [3:48] They address how the I-5 Freeway got built through downtown San Diego in the first place, and whether it would have been better along the waterfront. From an infrastructure standpoint, did we really need a freeway to continue all the way through? [6:14] We have been talking about Healing the Gash ever since the I-5 was moved to its current location in the 1960s. Looking at how other cities address this issue has been a great help and two that Mike and Vicki cite as models include Hollywood Central Park in Los Angeles and the Freeway Park in Seattle. [9:32] The pandemic has shown us that we don't need wider lanes. What we need is easier access and more space for public parks and spaces. [10:30] The Heal the Gash effort has almost doubled in size, and Mike and Vicki appreciate the commitment and dedication of community advocates. [12:10] Healing the Gash is also a way to desegregate the community, which we need more than ever, considering the current issues of social unrest and injustice. [14:09] Mike and Vicki explain why we have to do an Environmental Impact Report if it's an environmentally positive project, and how the backing and involvement of CalTrans is both needed and appreciated. [17:06] It takes a lot of community support, and requires a support system to get it done in a timely fashion. [17:42] To be fully on board, community members need to see that the benefits of connectivity and walkability outweigh the cost needed to make it happen. [24:55] We have not taken advantage of the canyons the way we could have, and San Diego has so many special streets and areas that could be better utilized.   About C-3 In its 60 years of existence, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has brought together local thought leaders from planning, design, policy, academia, community development, and more to address our region's distinctive and pressing land use challenges. In founding C-3 almost 60 years ago, architect Lloyd Ruocco's vision was to bring together our region's most creative minds from the arts, sciences, academia, and government to share ideas, learn new perspectives, and build fellowship around the idea of creating livable communities.   Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement: C3sandiego.org San Diego Commons Heal The Gash  

We loved the value Erin left in this episode!!! Make sure to support her and share what you learned! Find Erin on IG @omg_itserin Her personal website www.erinnaanee.com Get a spray tan @ iTan Sun and Spray at her 3 locations in San Diego Visit her Sente Bella MedSpa (located in Downtown San Diego) and get 20% off using code "Erin" for a service of your choice for the month of March! ___________________________ Text us @ 303-529-1291 for Business for Breakfast tips Find us on IG: @LerinKelly @SydneyLich Post your biggest takeaways & share this episode on Instagram @SellingSocialPodcast Join our community: www.sellingsocial.online ______________ Shop KadyLuxe.com Athleisure- use code ‘SellingSocial' to save 20% Join HONEY for discounts whenever you shop- joinhoney.com/ref/w2c477p 50% off Flodesk (your email list bff)- https://flodesk.com/c/OSE2NT Receive 70% off Hello Fresh- https://www.hellofresh.com/pages/share?c=HS-7S97VTX4I&utm_campaign=clipboard&utm_couponvalue=70&utm_invitername=&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=raf-share Social Sparkling Wine 20% off use code ‘Selling Social' Thanks for listening, See you next time!

Blenders Eyewear was founded in 2012 by Chase Fisher. The idea spawned when Chase went to see one of his favorite DJs at a Downtown San Diego nightclub. His neon green “beater” sunglasses received an overwhelmingly positive response, and what started out as a night full of close friends and good music quickly escalated into a full-fledged obsession with sunglasses. After further research Chase learned that one company lords over approximately 80% of the global sunglasses market, he knew it was a broken system begging for disruption. And disrupt he did. Chase believes in the hustle, he started a grassroots effort buoyed by social media and his SDSU network, selling shades out of his backpack while doubling as a surf coach during the company's first year. He leveraged his background as a sponsored athlete (surfing, snowboarding) to develop sunnies with scintillating style and adventurous spirit—the visual embodiment of the company's "live in forward motion" maxim. It's been this steadfast self-determination—and the combined efforts of the San Diego-based company's 32-person team—that's established Blenders as one of America's fastest-growing sunglasses brands today. In addition, Blenders worked with Direct Relief to produce 30,000 pairs of safety goggles to help fill the shortages. These goggles were supplied to regional and state hospitals that were hit the hardest. In the month of April, a portion of all proceeds were donated to Direct Relief to support their cause. Our goal was to raise $100,000. And with your help, Blenders reached their goal! You can check out his website at blenderseyewear.com