Podcasts about Eastern Shore

On June 13, 1895, a two-seat vehicle driven by Émile Levassor crossed the finish line in Paris 48 hours and 48 minutes after leaving that city in the world's first automobile race. The journey took contestants on a 1,178 kilometer course to Bordeaux and back and Levassor arrived six hours before the runner-up. However, the rules called for a four-seater and both were ineligible for victory. What sort of race is Charlottesville Community Engagement documenting? I'm Sean Tubbs, and we can only know through the stories.In this edition:* Kellie Brown is stepping down as Charlottesville's director of Neighborhood Development Services (read the story)* Area officials report from recent Chamber trip to Chapel Hill (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors presented with first transportation priority list in a few years (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors allow building to remain within stream buffer (read the story on C-Ville Weekly)* UVA Provost: Record number of applications for Class of 2030 (read the story)* Only two buildings left to be programmed at UVA's Emmet-Ivy Corridor (read the story)* Buildings and Grounds Committee gets details on UVA's next heat plant (read the story)Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it.First shout-out: Plant Virginia NativesSummertime means that the invasive vines are winning the battle at my house but one day I will attain the skills to make my garden something more palatable and less like it's an exterior shot in the Walking Dead.I often look longingly at the Plant Virginia Natives to inspire my dreams of a tidy yard. Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore.Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and GardenSecond shout-out: Celebrating the community's other information organizations!There are a lot of stories each week that go out through this newsletter, but no one information outlet can put together the entire picture. That's why each regular edition ends with a section called Reading Material.Charlottesville is fortunate to have a media landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now, I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives.There's also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you'll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times.Now more than ever, journalism is needed. To be a citizen of a democracy, you must seek information from multiple sources. Consume only one and you are at risk of becoming a zombie!#1069-A ends with a Town Crier Productions backstorySaturday podcast editions mark the end of one work week and the beginning of another. As soon as “publish” is hit I'll get to work on the next set of stories. Paid subscribers and other contributors have been keeping this newsletter afloat for nearly six years now.The first edition on July 13, 2026 is a lot different from where the newsletter is now. The original idea was for the newsletter to be a five to ten minute podcast each day. My career began as an intern for WVTF Public Radio back in January 1995. That's where I learned to write copy for broadcast, and learned to write quickly.But there weren't really a lot of jobs in public radio and unsettling experiences in New Hampshire in 1996 caused me to lose interest. It took living outside the country for a year to want to come back and want to get back to this career.I've been in Charlottesville now for nearly 24 years moving here for a job in public radio but I was not a good fit for the organization that hired me. I went back to freelancing but that wasn't enough to make a living so I worked at Court Square Tavern and created a business to try to figure out if I could make money off of podcasting.I couldn't, but the Charlottesville Podcasting Network was an experiment in trying to use audio to get information out in different ways. By 2007 I had to take a steady job and for eleven years I learned about this community in my time at Charlottesville Tomorrow.And now I've just concluded a week in which I published five morning newsletters each day. I don't think I could go back to afternoon publication anymore because the benefits of the switch become more clear each day.For now, though, I really want to hit send so I can get on with the day. There are a lot of stories to dig into today. I'm grateful for paid subscribers, sponsors, and donors for their belief in the work I'm doing. In so many ways, I'm still that 21-year-old kid in Roanoke in awe that I got to write stories about local government. I believe in what I do and appreciate you reading to the last line. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The Delmarva Peninsula sits between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, two hours from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC, and it is one of the last relatively undeveloped stretches of the entire eastern megalopolis. It is also the third most vulnerable spot in the country to sea level rise. That combination makes it one of the most interesting places in America to talk about land conservation. National Land Realty agent Sue Hudson and Matthew Heim of the Lower Shore Land Trust join this episode to break down how conservation easements actually work, what they do and do not restrict, and why the reputation they have for locking land away and killing its value is mostly wrong. Matthew explains how his organization has protected 25,000 acres across three Maryland counties, how payments to landowners can run several thousand dollars per acre, and why many easement holders immediately reinvest that capital back into their farming operations. The conversation also goes deep on what is actually happening to this landscape, saltwater intrusion drawing visible lines through crop fields, ghost forests appearing where coastal marshes are advancing inland, and a sinking tectonic plate compounding everything. For landowners on the Eastern Shore and anywhere else facing development pressure, water impact or generational transition questions, this episode is a ground-level look at what conservation tools are actually available and how to find them.   Lower Shore Land Trust https://www.lowershorelandtrust.org/   Talk with Sue Hudson https://nationalland.com/real-estate-agent/sue-hudson    Visit National Land Realty to see our Listings!  https://nationalland.com/ 

This week's Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report covers a changing early-summer bite from the surf to the offshore grounds, plus a new kids fishing tournament on the Eastern Shore. Tony Emmons with South Alabama Surf Fishing kicks things off with a beach report focused on working around heavy grass, finding openings in the surf, and catching speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, flounder, redfish, and the first schools of jack crevalle. Capt. Kendall Annan of Gulf Rebel Charters checks in from Orange Beach with a red snapper and offshore report, including how to catch better snapper, why drift lines matter, how to deal with scattered grass while trolling, and how his crew is picking up bonus fish like wahoo, king mackerel, mahi mahi, and other pelagics in pretty water close to shore. Capt. Jay O'Brien of Irish Wake Fishing breaks down a strong but complicated inshore trout bite, with fish changing between mullet, glass minnows, krill, soft plastics, MirrOlures, croakers, and smaller bait profiles depending on water quality, tide, moon phase, and salinity. To close it out, Anthony Ricciardone joins the show to preview the inaugural Hooked on Fairhope kids fishing tournament, a beginner-friendly event built around the Fairhope Pier, local access, youth fishing, and getting more families connected to Mobile Bay SPONSORS Make Wake Marine Deep South Cranes CCA Alabama Dixie Building Supply / Baker Metal Works Foster Contracting Black Buffalo Slip Ski Solutions Admiral Shellfish Company Coastal Connection Fiber Plastics Inc Hilton's Offshore Charts / Realtime-Navigator McCoy Outdoor Company Ricciardone Dentistry  Midway Lumber Sales Coastal Brew Baits Pure Flats EMS / Endeck Camper City Mobile

Melissa Drew is the Founder and President of InSite BUILD, a construction management firm based on Maryland's Eastern Shore that specializes in complex state-procured projects. After 20 years with national contractors including Holder Construction and Gilbane, she started her own firm to bring big-project experience to a smaller, more relationship-driven model. In this episode, she shares how she manages complex projects, builds trust with contractors and owners, and leads a growing startup in a tight-knit market. Key Takeaways: Two extra weeks of planning at the start of a multi-year project can prevent months of rework Superintendents need permission to slow down. That permission has to come from leadership Trust is built in small moments, not just when the big problems hit Hiring for a startup construction firm means finding people who love the work, not just the structure When your team is full of introverts, pressure makes them go quiet. A leader's job is to keep the conversation going Connect with Melissa Drew: LinkedIn | insite-build.com

Join the Parajunkie Fam so you don't miss our upcoming Willard Library investigation... dropping first for Parajunkies on Patreon: patreon.com/hauntedcitypodcastGhost Mail is back, and this one hit different.We read three stories this episode, and each one had us asking the same question: what if the haunting isn't the house... it's you?First up, Ashley H. shares a lifetime of paranormal activity across every home her family has ever lived in. Saloon music playing at 3am, cabinets flung open, a white mist drifting down the hall... and a grandmother whose fingernails on the wall didn't stop after she passed. With a family rooted in Brujería and a rival witch's curse in their history, we dig into why some families seem to attract the paranormal no matter where they go.Then Bear writes in from the Eastern Shore of Maryland with stories from his time in Montana... including a figure hovering outside a window seven feet off the ground, shadow people making phone calls, and something on the Battle of Little Bighorn grounds that may not be human at all. We get into skin walkers, elementals, and why Montana's energy hits differently than anywhere else.Finally, Parajunkie Prachi brings us part two of her story: astral projection, a charming salesman who shows up in a dream and asks to come in, a door in the ceiling surrounded by entities, and a husband who starts seeing her face twisted into something with a wolf's mouth and sharp teeth. We break down what happens when you leave your body unguarded... and who's waiting.-If you have a ghost story you'd like us to read and analyze, send it to ghostmail@hauntedcitypodcast.com.-We're paranormal investigators living in the most haunted city on earth — Savannah, Georgia.#ghoststories #paranormal #hauntedcity #ghostmail #savannah #paranormalinvestigation #astralProjection #haunted #trueghostsories #poltergeist

Did you know you can still file a claim for a hit-and-run accident, even if the driver who fled the scene wasn't identified? One of our firm's Partners Griff, joins us to unpack the complex nature of hit and run claims. Learn more about hit and run accidents here: https://cooperhurley.com/virginia-injury/car-accident-lawyer/hit-and-run/ABOUT COOPER HURLEY INJURY LAWYERSCooper Hurley Injury Lawyers helps those injured in car, truck, and motorcycle wrecks or other serious injury and wrongful death cases. Our Virginia-based firm is located in Norfolk, Virginia with client meeting locations in all of the cities of Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore.Our partners, John Cooper, Jim Hurley, Bill O'Mara, Griff O'Hanlon, and John Baker, have decades of experience and have secured millions for accident, TBI, railroad, slip and fall, and medical malpractice victims.Injured in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident in Hampton Roads? Get help now at 757-333-3333.Or, visit us online at: https://cooperhurley.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaBeachinjurylawyerTwitter: https://twitter.com/CooperHurleyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cooper-hurley-injury-lawyers/

While Vern investigates Gasparre De Vailenti and prepares to target his mansion, Martin's pack comes and gets caught up on what's been going on in the Eastern Shore.   Music Credits: Intro: The Heart of the Forest - Robert Purzycki Working Hours: Lay of the Land - Robert Purzycki Plotting and Scheming: Premonition - Robert Purzycki Visitng Packs: One of Us - Robert Purzycki Locus: The Barrows - Robert Purzycki Daggers in the Moonlight: Organic Dystopia - Henri-Pierre Pellegrin End of Session: Into The Night - Robert Purzycki Outro: Ava - Henri-Pierre Pellegrin

Melissa Weller is an acclaimed baker, pastry chef, and cookbook author with over two decades of experience. Before pursuing her passion for baking, she worked as an engineer, but at 30, she pivoted careers by enrolling at the French Culinary Institute (now the Institute for Culinary Education). Since then, Melissa has built an impressive career in some of the country's most esteemed kitchens, including Babbo, Sullivan Street Bakery, Per Se, Bouchon Bakery, and Roberta's. She was the founding baker at Sadelle's and later served as the head baker at Walnut Street Café in Philadelphia and a chef-partner at High Street on Hudson, where she further cemented her reputation as a leader in the industry. Her expertise and dedication earned her a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Baker in 2016, and in November 2020, she published her first cookbook, A Good Bake (Knopf), sharing her deep knowledge and passion for the craft. In 2024, Melissa partnered with 55 Hospitality to spearhead the opening of Bub's Bakery (opened September 2025), an innovative allergen-free concept, expanding her influence in the baking world while championing inclusivity in pastry. Melissa's career spans New York City, Philadelphia, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where she continues to explore the art and science of baking. Driven by a love of learning and sharing knowledge, she remains a respected voice in the culinary world. Instagram: @melissafunkweller or @bubsbakerynyc Websites: Melissabakesbread.com or bubsbakery.com In this episode we discuss: •  What prompted Melissa to pivot from a career in chemical engineering to professional baking •  What she learned from mentors at Babbo, Sullivan Street Bakery and Per Se, among others •  Juggling her role as a mother with baking at Roberta's in Brooklyn •  Becoming an entrepreneur – opening a bagel stand at the market •  Opening Sadelle's – where Melissa brought her pastries to a new level •  Becoming an author: writing A Good Bake and Very Good Bread •  Opening Bub's Bakery, an allergen-free bakery •  And much more!

On this exciting episode of Fishing the DMV, I'm joined by Capt. Todd Bellamy of FishPit Charters, one of the most experienced and passionate Chesapeake Bay charter captains on the water. Capt. Todd operates primarily around Tangier Sound, Smith Island, Fishing Bay, and the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay, and in this episode he gives us a full late May into June fishing report for one of the most unique and productive sections of the Bay.We break down what is happening right now in the middle-to-lower Chesapeake Bay region, especially around Tangier Island, Smith Island, the grass flats, marsh islands, creek mouths, hard-bottom areas, and main Bay edges. This is the time of year when the Chesapeake Bay really starts to transition, with warming water temperatures, expanding grass beds, baitfish movement, and multiple species becoming active at the same time.Capt. Bellamy talks about the current bite for striped bass/rockfish, black drum, red drum, speckled trout, white perch, and shallow-water species moving through the Tangier Sound and Smith Island area. We also discuss how anglers should approach the Fishing Bay marsh system, including tidal creeks, grass lines, marsh drains, and backwater areas that can hold fish as the water warms up heading into June.If you're interested in Chesapeake Bay fishing, Tangier Sound fishing reports, Smith Island fishing, Fishing Bay Maryland, rockfish fishing, red drum fishing, black drum fishing, speckled trout fishing, white perch fishing, tidal marsh fishing, or late spring fishing patterns, this episode is packed with information.Topics Covered:Late May into June Chesapeake Bay fishing report Tangier Sound and Smith Island fishing patterns Fishing Bay marsh and tidal creek breakdown Rockfish and striped bass on grass flats and shallow points Black drum and red drum movement in the lower Bay Speckled trout potential around grass beds and marsh islands White perch fishing in tidal creeks and shoreline structure How tide, water temperature, salinity, and grass growth impact the bite Best areas to target during the spring-to-summer transition Capt. Todd Bellamy's guide insight from years on the Chesapeake Bay This is a must-listen episode for anyone fishing the middle Chesapeake Bay, lower Eastern Shore, Tangier Sound, Smith Island, Hoopers Island, Honga River, Fishing Bay, or the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay heading into summer.Whether you're a weekend angler, kayak fisherman, charter fishing fan, tournament angler, or someone trying to better understand how the Chesapeake Bay fishes during the late spring transition, Capt. Todd Bellamy brings a ton of knowledge to the table.Fish Pit Charters Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088596144560 Fish Pit Charters on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fishpitcharters?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==  Fish Pit Charters website: https://fishpitcharters.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawN3Se9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFFVVZyNGFwU2dsRzg4MVc3AR6ZhKCSK8QlhGQnXDglZlQ_GcAFbt9EncSWYYr6afvwnyKNyIBcR4GKx1pTnA_aem_9BIlG7ZB24Bm7mXXyQ6D-Q Sandbar yoga: https://www.sandbaryoga.com/ Please support Fishing the DMV on Patreon: https://patreon.com/FishingtheDMVPodcast If you are interested in being on the show or a sponsorship opportunity, please reach out to me at fishingtheDMV@gmail.com LMD Enterprises: http://lmdoil.com/ Jake's bait & Tackle Website: http://www.jakesbaitandtackle.com/ Link to Tactical Fishing Company: https://tacticalfishingco.com/ Fishing Pro Tech: https://www.facebook.com/FishingProTech Phone Number: (757) 566-1278 Email: lin@fishingprotech.us  Fishing Pro Tech Address: 7812-A Richmond Road, Toano, VA, United States, 23168Support the show

Fishing is heating up across the Alabama Gulf Coast, and this week's report has a little bit of everything, from nearshore reef fish to Eastern Shore trout to surf-zone fly fishing. Capt. Spencer Kight with D.I. Reef Monster breaks down the strong vermilion snapper bite, how he is fishing efficiently with fuel prices in mind, what he is seeing on triggerfish, and why he is watching for mahi, cobia, and the start of snapper season. Capt. Lyons Bousson with Fairhope Charters gives a strong Eastern Shore report, with speckled trout, redfish, and flounder showing up around piers, plus some encouraging signs for the trout and flounder fisheries. Sam Sumlin with Community Fly Shop in Gulf Shores shares a detailed surf fly fishing report, including how to find productive beach structure, what flies and lines he is using, and why anglers may be overlooking fish right at their feet. Blakeley Ellis with CCA Alabama also joins the show to preview the 2026 STAR Tournament, including the tagged redfish division and the chance for a registered angler to win a Skeeter bay boat.    SPONSORS   Make Wake Marine Deep South Cranes CCA Alabama Dixie Building Supply / Baker Metal Works Foster Contracting Black Buffalo Slip Ski Solutions Admiral Shellfish Company Coastal Connection Fiber Plastics Inc Hilton's Offshore Charts / Realtime-Navigator McCoy Outdoor Company Ricciardone Dentistry  Midway Lumber Sales Coastal Brew Baits Pure Flats EMS / Endeck Camper City Mobile

On May 31 – June 2, in NYC, the industry-defining NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference is taking place. In this Suite Spot episode we are pulling back the curtain on what to expect at this year's landmark event. Joining us on the Suite Spot is Alexi Khajavi, President of Hospitality, Travel, and Real Estate at Questex. In this exclusive preview, Alexi breaks down the 2026 NYU IHIF agenda and shares why this year's gathering is more critical than ever for hospitality leaders, hoteliers, and investors.  Tune in now. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, as always, Ryan Embree here with another hospitality event preview with a very familiar guest, very excited about this conversation. It’s spring, so right around the corner, we know what’s next, one of the premier events of the hospitality event calendar. Here to talk with me, a frequent guest, Alexi Khajavi, Questex, President, Hospitality and Real Estate. Alexi, thank you so much for joining me again here on the Suite Spot. Alexi Khajavi: Ryan, great to see you. Great to be back. Ryan Embree: Yes, it has been too long since we last spoke. We were out in Denver together at the Hospitality Show there on stage. Alexi, you were talking about everything that happened over the course of an entire year. I feel like from October to where we sit right now, in the middle of spring, it’s felt like a complete change. Whirlwind. I’m not even sure if when this episode’s released how much there could be even more change, but since then, so ground us. Give us a little sense of the state of hospitality and the sentence EE everything that you’re feeling right now. Alexi Khajavi: What we saw each other end of October in Denver, just at the conclusion of the hospitality show. And I guess, yeah, to your point, every day is, like an like a year or or seven years for that matter. So, six months on I mean, some consistencies, and I suppose the consistency is the volatility just in the geopolitics, macroeconomics, local state of affairs. And that does have a knock on effect on, on tourism and hospitality certainly. But some of the themes are consistent and that is that it is a, a continued challenging operational environment. rev pars have which we talked about rev pars, we were starting to see some normalization after they had been really on a only an up into the right performance for the prior three years. We started seeing that slowing down in Q3, Q4 of last year. And that has continued. One of the, the aspects, and a lot of people are talking about it, is a Ks shaped economy. And so you’re still seeing some, some interesting and pretty exciting, RevPAR ADR growth on the luxury side of that upper part of the K, if you will. And in the lower K of the market, you’re, you’re seeing increasing and continued challenges. Right? And I think everyone is sort of asking two questions around that, which is one is how much more runway of growth does the luxury market have? And then in on, on the sort of upper upscale midscale and economy, is the economic conditions going to encourage a trading down of the consumer. Speaking to David Pepper, for example, from Choice yesterday, they are seeing some positive RevPAR growth in that upper upscale, which, they’ve got a lot of hotel stock in. So I think the question is and we’re seeing some data that the customer is still traveling. They still see both on the leisure sh leisure side from the experience economy, travel as not being discretionary and not being something that they’re willing to give up, but something that they may trade down for make it more economical, domestic tourism, and drive to staycations those types of things versus the international travel, which certainly was in demand for the last three years. Corporate travel, I think that’s, that’s directly tied to GDP and the economy. But again, corporate travel has actually been coming back. It lagged leisure tourism recovery. So that’s been, performing quite well. Again, business is done face to face. It’s why we do live events in the, in, in, in the sectors in which we serve. So, continued operational challenge, questions around demand, a lot of impact from AI on demand, and how that demand is coming to your brand.com or to your property website, how they’re searching. SEO is in massive disruption. So, it’s not a typical recovery at this point. It’s, it’s fragmented, it’s bifurcated. It depends what part of the market you are in. There’s divergent recovery that’s sort of replacing that, that high tide lifts all boats. That uneven demand is translating into really kind of diversity of performance. And so it depends what markets you’re in. So the operating side is, is is tough. It is becoming harder and it is becoming more expensive. And yet there are some tools out there, AI and others, and technology generally that’s offering a lot of opportunity for optimization, efficiency, productivity in those areas, which will flow through to the bottom line. And then we’re also seeing, kind of a bifurcation in the capital markets. On, on, on the big side, there is a ton of capital that is chasing hospitality, moving from other asset classes whether it be office or retail or industrial. And they’re moving into hospitality for all the reasons that it’s operational real estate. It’s a tailwind market from the experience economy, despite the fact that we are cyclical, right? It goes up and down, but there’s a ton of liquidity. There’s a, there’s a wall of money that’s chasing, the asset class ranging from your owner operator franchisee, which is looking to grow from three properties to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, whatever it may be, to institutional capital, which really never looked at a hospitality in general. So that’s creating more diversity in the type of investors which is coming into the market. So again, all of that challenge could unlock the transaction market. And then with those transactions, we see this regeneration of capital CapEx is deployed, and that’s really good for the industry. I mean, nobody likes to see falling net operating incomes, in running hotels. But that being said, it means that people have to be hyper-focused on how to run those hotels more efficiently. Why we run the hospitality show. And at the same time, NYU coming up, a lot of new capital coming into the market, a lot of capital chasing that, trying to figure out where the deals are, where to deploy that capital. And again, that’s why we have events like IHIF EMEA in Berlin, which was a few weeks ago. And to your point, NYU IHIF coming up in five weeks. Ryan Embree: It’s so many storylines in our industry right now that we’re chasing. We’d even touch on the upcoming summer, summer World Cup and events like the Olympics here in a couple years that are also gonna have a massive shift in international travel, which has been down. So again, so many challenges, but also think opportunistic time right now in hospitality and being at a spot like NYU is one of those places to capture those opportunities, to learn more about that from your peers, to have those conversations. Networking, I mean, I’ll, I’ll turn our attention there with some impressive numbers from the event. 2200 delegates, 450 plus C-suite executives, 400 plus investors, and $132 billion in assets under management there. So it’s impressive, like I said, impressive feat and number that you have all gathered in, one of the hospitality meccas of the world, which is New York City. What makes this event different from other hospitality events, and why is it a really a can’t miss for, for hoteliers investors this year? Alexi Khajavi: Yeah, I would say it’s a couple of things. One which you touched upon, which is, New York City financial capital of the world, it is the gateway city for the us it is, a hospitality driven economy. But it’s also one of the most thriving, financial market economies, in the US and certainly the world as well. So, that if you were to think, where do you hold an investment forum in any sector, but for that matter, in hospitality, New York, no better place, right? The money is there, the banks are there, the professional services are there, the brokers are there and many of the, the top brands are on the Eastern Shore board from DC and Maryland, up to the city here. So, it is just simply having it in New York. Second, it’s got a 40 year history associated with the New York University and the School of Hospitality and the John Tisch Center of Hospitality. It’s the only event where a portion of every dollar and revenue spent there goes towards supporting the next generation of hospitality professionals. So, we continue to partner with NYU and the School of Professional Studies. There, it’s an incredible partnership, which we’re just privileged and delighted to continue. And the fact that labor and talent is a massive challenge for the industry that, that you’re, you’re supporting a school which is turning out some of the most talented future hospitality professionals in the world by attending or sponsoring that’s goodwill. And, and we’re just delighted to be able to support that. So, that, again, I think is another anchor for why NYU is just such a special event and is different from a lot of the other good events that are, that are out there. And then lastly, NYU is part of a global portfolio of hospitality investment forums. And so, we have our event in Berlin. We have an event in Manchester, UK. We have an event in Athens, Greece, which is focused on the branded resi and the resort, segment, which is international and frankly, one of the fastest growing segments in hospitality. And then we have our Asia event in Hong Kong. So, we’re able to still bring in that global capital, those global operators that want to do business, want to bring their brands, want to deploy capital, want to invest in the us. So it’s not just a New York show, it’s not just a US focused show, but it’s a North America event where how do operators, how do investors, and how does the ecosystem of professional services come in and facilitate and drive deals to invest in the US and North American hotel market and all those things coming together, make it vibrant, make it diverse, make it one of the most active deal making conferences in the circuit. It really is for the investors to connect, with each other, but also the rest of the segments and the stakeholders, as it’s very diverse and fragmented industry. So deals get done. I mean, it was just on a in a conversation, a few weeks ago talking about a deal that’s been, announced since then. But they met in New York last June and really kicked off those conversations there at New York. And that ultimately consummated in a deal, in the fourth quarter of, of, of last year. We know that that’s what our value proposition is, and we know that’s why people spend their time with us and invest in, in NYU and we expect it to be even more vibrant and active on the deal making side, this June. So it should be should be a good event. Ryan Embree: That’s why I was gonna say, I had the privilege of attending for the first time last year, and I think the biggest difference for me was just the energy and the buzzing, and it just, it felt like what you said, it felt like deals were moving forward, whether that was the first time someone was connecting and networking, or whether it was something where these, these deals are not done in a vacuum or a silo that they take time, they take effort, and they take meetings like this, right? This connection, sometimes it’s, especially in a challenging market, can be the thing that brings a deal across the finish line. So it was palpable in the air when we were at that event last year. And it was a, it was a who’s who in hospitality too. You turned one way as a brand leader over here. Next is a president of asset management company. It really was an an extremely impressive event. I wanna get your thoughts, Alexi. You mentioned the sister events, the IHIF emea, which just wrapped up here at the end of March, obviously completely different markets that we’re talking about, but I still think holistically, there’s probably some lessons, feedback and sentiment that you could probably share that will translate into NYU, right? And some of those themes that are gonna make it there. What was your kind of, I guess, overall sentiment about the event and how just the energy and hotelier’s feeling was around that event? Alexi Khajavi: Yeah, I mean to go back to the start of the podcast, every day, there’s been something else. There’s been a, a ton of volatility in the market, a lot of uncertainty in, in the world. We still have a, a conflict, going on in, in Europe with, Ukraine and Russia. We now have a conflict happening in the Middle East. You’ve got macroeconomic conditions of still tariffs and the inflation that is causing interest rates still remain elevated, albeit they’ve, they’ve come down, over the last sort of 12 months. Elevated however, to historical, all of that creates uncertainty in the market. And as an investor said in, in Berlin, we can, we’re very good at penciling in risk and quantifying, the impact of that risk on both present day valuation. And a 20 year IRR, what is harder to pencil in is volatility and uncertainty. The certainty of risk is fine because you can quantify, the impact that that risk will have on the business. What you can’t is the uncertainty. And so with that, what we saw in Berlin, however, is that really is driving a lot of engagement around the expertise and the speakers and the sessions. We really pride ourselves on not having the same speakers every year saying the same things. We always leave a portion of our programs sort of unfinished, if you will, or, started but un unfinished because, because of that volatility in the market. So we saw a huge amount of engagement with people in the, in the sessions, in the rooms, which is interesting because at the end of the day, it is a deal making conference. And people are in meeting rooms, they’re up in suites they’re in the lobby and they’re, they’re engaging with each other, they’re there to do business. But we saw a lot of engagement, increased engagement with the sessions that we had. We then saw those individuals that were in a session often go out of the session and engage with each other and engage with speakers. And so one of the things that we’re doing is creating content fueled networking. So, a session will then lead to a round table where the speakers will stick around and the delegates or the folks that were in that session as an audience are able to then continue that conversation and go deeper and get into an actual conversation rather than just sort of a q and a that’s, that’s tagged on at the end. So it really created a, I think, a huge amount of engagement and peer-to-peer conversations. And really, I think people seeking a perspective. When, when you’re in a volatile market, really the most important thing you can do is to, to talk to your peers, to talk to your competitors, to talk to your mentors and get different perspectives to try and create some fidelity of what didn’t work or what has working, or what are the things that you’re trying out that’s really exciting. I mean, we really love that because, an open market, a transparent market, and an engaged market on the buy side and the sell side is a more informed market. Everybody needs that, right? It just makes markets more efficient. It make every, makes everybody better operators, and it creates a transparency as to where those opportunities are. And that’s, that is a, a tide that does lift all boats. The other thing I would say, Ryan, is, is that there’s always this question in an, an investment forum, like IHIF, like NYU as to what the sentiment is. And we’ve been tracking investor sentiment for the last five years now, since, January of 2020, which was an interesting time to first sentiment. Yeah. And it’s interesting because it certainly went down during COVID, no news flash there. It quickly rose up from 22 to 21 to 24, and then it’s leveled off since then. And it’s kind of just, a few index points gone, gone up or down depending on all of this volatility Liberation day last year, which was the first day of April, if I’m not mistaken, which was actually right during IHIF was created a lot of pessimism. It, however, was replaced with some optimism as interest rates fell down. So the sentiment to that question was, was actually quite positive. I think maybe through just the density of volatility or the consistency of volatility. People are somewhat getting used to it and separating noise from substance. And, and really there are the, there are more deals coming to market. We are seeing a diversification of capital coming into the market, lot of high net worth, lot of family office, a lot of institutional capital, sovereign wealth pension funds. And what that’s creating is more demand. So you’re starting, when we talk to the brokers, you’re starting to see a number of underbids in terms of a mandate comes to the market. A transaction occurred, but there was 6, 7, 8 under bidders in that transaction that shows interest, it shows appetite and it shows that the bid ask gap to a certain extent is narrowing. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean in all cases that valuations have come down. I think buyers would like them to, but at the end of the day, I think capital, and we’re seeing capital become more confident and have more conviction in the market, but that also there are regeneration opportunities through CapEx deployment, through repositioning and through other levers that they have to pull, that they can take an asset that is performing at x and through CapEx and better operations and better plans, better brand, make it X plus y. And that was really the sentiment coming out of Berlin that the market is opening up, that there is a diversity of capital coming into it that’s creating a lot more demand and through a number of different sort of challenges, or let’s just say realities on the operator side, you are seeing a higher interest in selling. And I think that that will start to, to narrow the bid ask gap and look the unlocking of the market. We’ve been waiting for it for two, three years. It’s been a challenging market, but I think everyone’s seeing some optimism. I think the wishlist is, is that we reduce the amount of volatility in the market, but that’s an uncontrollable from your and and my perspective, we don’t have much control of that. Ryan Embree: Yeah. But I think the industry’s skin is, is thickening to that, right? And we’ve talked about that, how it’s our new normal is the constant state of change. And I also think it’s something, I’m not sure if we’ve talked about or thought about this too much, but we really saw worst case scenario just six years ago of being like, where everything dropped to none. When we’re assessing risk, we’re a lot more battle test. This industry is a lot more battle tested than maybe previous than it had previously. So some of these uncontrollables, like you mentioned, that yes, they are headwinds, yes, they are challenges, but it’s those investors right now that see opportunities that assess that risk and say there could be some really, really great upside at a at a time right now. And one of the places also where there is a lot of uncertainty, but I would, I would almost phrase it in the sense of a, of a positive uncertainty is the impact that AI is gonna have on our business in the future. And the gains and dividends that we can yield from those have really just scratch the surface. And we talked about this, and I wanna bring that into the conversation ’cause it’s hard to not talk about it anymore, right? It, I think we don’t go a, a podcast episode without bringing it up and people filling out their bingo cards on AI and technology. But I want, I wanna take us back to where we were a year ago, and maybe we can do this an exercise. Alexi, what would you grade right now, our industry, which historically has been maybe on the lighter end of the spectrum of a technology adoption, but what would you, what grade would you give it? Because I think we’re at this weird inflection point where hoteliers and brands and management companies and really everybody’s starting to look and saying, alright, we’ve implemented some ai. Where are the dividends? Where are the results? How do I measure these successes? What, what grade would you give and how do you think we can improve there? Alexi Khajavi: You know, that’s a, that’s a great question because it’s not an easy one to answer. Sure and not to cop out of giving you a specific answer, I would give it a a non-applicable, because the reality is, is that technology as a whole, in terms of using technology as a tool to optimize the hospitality market, I would certainly give ourselves a c plus. I think that’s historically been where we have failed for many reasons, which we can we don’t need to go into right , we know, we know that. But I think, I think AI right now is there is an overestimation of its impact on the near term, and there’s an under appreciation for its impact on, on the long term. Love that that’s, that’s quickly, quickly changing. I mean, if you, to your point, if you just look at the last six months, massive wholesale change, and I, so I think that that’s changing very quickly that people are starting to appreciate this. This is enormous, both in its capacity to be a force of good as well as its capacity to be a, a force of bad, to sort of broadly call it as such. But that being said, I think there’s sort of two themes around ai. One is on the, on the sort of operational side, AI has, has largely, I think been distributed as a individual choice through the industry and the departments. And the overall, whether you’re on the brand side or the operator side or the investor side, I know that there are mandates and there are committees and everybody’s sort of got their own playbook to how they’re using ai. But at the end of the day, it’s gonna come down to any individual that’s using it or not using it in their respective role. And that’s all over the map. Some people are using it, some people are not. And, and frankly, I think those that are using it are going to be better off for their r and d and just their effort to try and figure it out. Because the more you use it, the better off you become at using. It’s, it’s a tool like any tool, right? You, you need how to use how to use that tool in order for it to do the job you want it to do. So in that case, I think we’re probably no different than some other industries, which are certainly spending a lot of money on it and trying to figure it out. The other aspect of it though, that I think is really interesting is that it is already changing, particularly those frontline manager roles. A GM, for example, that is using AI will have more time to do the things that a GM should be doing, rather than all of the back office stuff, which AI can do at scale and at pace, and to a high degree of quality with oversight and q and a being done, not just to let AI go do all those things, but that, that frees up your general manager to go do the things that really drives guest satisfaction. Respond to RFPs, take care of guests, drive revenue, be present in the local market so that you’re capturing demand drivers, in your local city or wherever you may be. So, I think if that individual GM is using AI effectively to free them up to do what a GM really should be doing, and probably why that person went into being a GM in the first place, then I think we’re gonna start to see the progress. But we haven’t really started to measure it yet. I also see on the positive side, other industries, IE healthcare are also realizing that AI is doing a lot of back office work at a very high level, or high degree of, of quality. And that’s now freeing up their own people. And what they’re finding is, is that maybe we should be engaging, empowering those roles in a hospital or healthcare broadly to be taking care of patients in a more human hospitable way. And so, in some degree, I think the long-term impact will be that other industries are now going to start looking at hospitality as being a, at the vanguard of driving human powered experiences that will drive back to revenue and premiumization and ultimately profits. So we’ve always looked to other industries for, God, we’re, so, we’re Luddites, how do you do this? What, how do teach us in hospitality? I, I think we’re going to start to see other industries look to us to, how do you actually take care of a guest, a customer for that matter? How do you do that to create loyalty to, to a, to increase average order value or ticket receipts. So I think that’s the opportunity to answer your question in terms of one area that I think is directly and already being deeply impacted is distribution and search. Search is been a, a topic of discussion for the last 30 years. And we’ve largely gone through this used SEO to fine, the white hat, the black hat the right levers to pull your all tags, your meditechs, I mean, the whole thing, right? Brand equity, la la, la. Well, AI replaces all that in one fell swoop, and nobody really knows how that’s going to play out. But on the sort of doomsday perspective, it completely wipes out your brand equity online in a search engine. On the positive side, it reinforces it because AI is simply pulling from algorithms and behaviors on the internet to sort of drive, it’s, it’s results. But again, we don’t know the answer to that. And I think already revenue management, sales and marketing distribution, those are the areas where I think in the next six months, we’re gonna be having a conversation that is gonna be completely different than the conversation we’re having today. And we’re gonna be focusing a lot on that because that is one of the areas that today is being completely upended. Ryan Embree: I one hundred percent agree with you. I think that’s where a lot of the hunger and the appetite and thirst for knowledge right now of why maybe there’s more engagement in those sessions than you’ve seen before, is because I think people are starting to, if they haven’t already started to understand the gravity of where we’re at in this inflection point and the massive disruption that this is going to cause and do not want to be left behind. And I think you’re right. There was a fascinating point you made in there about the GM and their role, and we all, the big fears around AI are, are AI replacing jobs? And I would say when it comes to hospitality, it could really upend what the, the role of a job, right? Your GM might start looking a lot more like the GM of 40 years ago when you first got into hospitality, or where you weren’t having to do those tasks. And we almost have to learn this new job. It might be the same title as general manager, but you’re doing completely different things, which is a fascinating topic to talk about because we’ve been training these young hospitality professionals in the way of what a GM is today. That role could look completely different here in the next three to five based on the, on the speed and acceleration of these, of AI tasks that they’re doing. So it, I could talk about it all the time. We do talk about it all the time, I feel like, but it’ll be very interesting to see that impact that it’s making. I wanna switch back to NYU, and this is one of my favorite questions because there’s so much intention in these, in these shows, and that’s why I love doing these episode, these preview episodes, because you get to, to learn all the work that goes in, you’ve told me before you start on these events, day after, sometimes even now hours after that first one ended. So this year’s theme sharpening the edge. Talk to us a little bit about how the team settled on this and, and the story behind it and how you’ve incorporated it into the programming a little bit. Alexi Khajavi: Yeah, I mean, sharpening the edge is, an ode to the investment, nature of the event. It’s a deal making conference and it’s in New York. And so it’s a very sort of public market Wall Street saying, where do you find your edge or where do you find your alpha compared to another investor? If all you’re doing is chasing, the broad returns of a market or an asset class for that much, or for that matter, then you’re, you’re gonna be, at the whipping end of the overall broader market. It’s not a good place to be in a volatile market like this. And it doesn’t drive the outsized returns that investors are looking for. So it really is a tip of the, the cap to where we are. We’re in New York, we have a lot of Wall Street, public Market, New York Stock Exchange, synergies there, Sarah Eisen from CNBC, comes up and moderates the CEO panel. Most of the CEOs head down for interviews, on Wall Street and CNBC and Squawk Box and so forth. And we have that partnership still with CNBC this year. So, but as you shift it to what’s happening in the capital markets as it relates to real estate and more specifically to hospitality, private equity has been the dominant capital type in hotel investment. And that’s been the case for the last decade. And today that’s really no longer the case. It’s PE is still extremely active, but it’s more diversified in terms of across investor types. So we’re seeing, again, as I said, family offices, high net worth, a lot of sovereign, a lot of institutional capital that is growing materially, that is looking to hospitality to, to deploy capital. And with that, you’re seeing a lot of opportunities around value add. PE is really your value add investor, right? They’re looking for an underperforming asset or an asset that has the ability to perform at a higher level that’s sharpening the edge, that’s driving alpha. And so PE is really looking at this as a great opportunity as institutional capital comes in and is looking for stable, more stable returns, securitized assets, and an annuity like return over a longer hold period. It’s a great opportunity for private equity to exit in a market in which it’s been tough to exit. That being said, global hotel and fund allocations in hospitality and real estate has been tough, but it’s growing and it’s coming back. And so you’ve got a lot more money coming back into the market. And, and that’s really, a positive thing. We having events across Asia, Europe, and the us it allows for us to drive that cross-border capital. US capital has been less active, but despite all the challenges, we still see a lot of, international capital, which wants to invest in the us. So that kind of diversification of capital is a real, real positive for the market. It, it means more liquidity, it means more exit opportunities to get off, on the off ramp for PE or any other investor. As more capital comes in, it offers more opportunities to exit. It provides or, or enables less sort of seasonality, if you will, in the marketplace, right? There’s less of that volatility in the marketplace as all as well. So really the sharpening the edge is about having the education, the networking, and the quality of people in the room that have the money are looking to deploy and know how to create alpha. Getting those individuals together to hear from each other, engage with one another, and ultimately, build relationships with the ecosystem that helps a deal get done, transact that transacts, underwrites that deal, and then drives that alpha from an operating value creation perspective. Those are the folks that are in the room at NYU. Ryan Embree: And you’re right in the middle of it. I mean, I remember waking up at the, the marquee and seeing Chris Nasetta on CNBC and a few hours later seeing him just a couple hundred feet up on stage in front of me. I mean, that’s the possibilities right there. Alexi Khajavi: And talking to people, right? I mean, this is the beauty of the hospitality industry is there’s really good people, right? They’re just, at the end of the day, you may be running a public company, and on TV, you’re sitting there talking to a franchisee of a Hampton that wants to meet the CEO. So it really kind of creates this very magical engagement where the fifth floor, sixth floor, seventh floor, eighth floor of the marquee are just a hive of activity with the best and the brightest from a franchisee to Chris Nasetta, to your point, there’s not many places that create that access and that transparency and cross engagement from such a diverse, but focused, sector, as NYU. So it’s a real, real special place to be. Ryan Embree: A thousand percent. And last year you used this forum to really get us fired up for some of the sessions in educations. And now you’re talking about, especially with your experience here earlier in the year, people being more open to that, being more thirsty and, and hungry for that information, looking up and down the programming. Because we know you spoke to last year the detail and depth that your team goes to create these panels, and sometimes even putting on stage opinions that differ, that go head to head to one another, to try to get that friction to try to get a rise out of that engagement. Looking up and down the agenda this year, which sessions, if you had to pick a few, do you have your eyes on? Alexi Khajavi: Well, there’s some, some obvious ones, but always at NYU, we’ve got some, some exciting ones as well. And the first one, our first session actually Monday morning, Anthony Scaramucci, the Mooch, who is an investor himself actually owns a restaurant as well, but certainly, podcaster and just an expert, on the economy, politics, the Trump administration having worked, I think 10 days, there, if I’m not mistaken. So, he’s gonna kick us off. We always have a marquee name that’s relevant to the industry, but he really has his finger on the pulse as to, one, what are all the geopolitics and the macroeconomics, in the overall state of the economy and the country, what impact is that having on the investment markets on where the opportunities are? Alexi Khajavi: And as he runs a restaurant what is he seeing? What does he think specifically of the hotel space? So I think that’s, again, that’s, that’s just not something that you get at any of the other hotel investment forums, but you get that and you’ll get it right, served with breakfast on Monday morning. So we kick off big and we kick off bold on Monday. Obviously Monday has, is a great day. We have the CEO council on Monday as well. Or sorry, the CEO panel that’s the five top brands, again, interviewed by Sarah Eisen, which they have a great rapport with. And that really does set the tone for what they’re seeing as the opportunities. Clearly they are on top of demand and where RevPAR and ADRs and occupancies are going, how they’re performing and what the differences are by chain scale. There will be a lot of conversation around how much gas in the tank does luxury have I’m sure you’ll hear differing views on that. And then are we gonna see a return to some of the midscale and upper upscale, as potentially people trade down but still travel and where’s economy, where’s extended stay? We’ve also seen these brands make some interesting investments in new concepts, graduate hotels, which is last year, yo hotels glamping and branded resi. That’s a big day. In fact, we’ve got a full day of content on branded resi with active developers developing properties right now that are branded resi mix of hotel, mixed use, retail, hospitality and so forth. And then capital markets. Capital markets our Cap Talks session is probably one of our most popular, and that’ll be a mix of both active US investors as well as foreign capital, international capital investors, sovereign Wealth, as well as private equity, which continue to look to deploy capital in the US. Alexi Khajavi: We then have Danny Meyer, who’s the founder, and CEO of Union Square Hospitality, Shake Shack. And obviously a number of other incredible Union Square restaurants in the city here. But and then you’ve got your breakouts where you will be focusing a lot on the investment development market. Asset management is a key thing, how do you drive Alpha through the operations of these hotels? So there’s a ton of content. We’ve left a lot of time for networking. We know that’s where the deal making is the eighth floor, which is the lobby level. We’ve extended the event to include the Broadway Lounge, which is this beautiful lounge overlooking Times Square. We’ll have, food and beverage in there throughout the days. Great space to network amongst all the delegates, including the ninth floor where we’ve got Marriott and Hilton taking that space. So it’s just a ton going on. And the program’s out, it’s 90% there. We still got a few couple of marquee names that we’re going to announce over the next few weeks. But really, if you’re gonna be, if you’re in hospitality, investment development and operations where you’re driving Alpha, there really is no other place to be on the first and 2nd of June. You’ve gotta be there. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I can attest to it again, first time last year have the privilege of attending officially announcing the Suite Spot will be back at NYU this year. We can’t wait. Our associate producer’s gonna be traveling with me this time. This is her first time. And there is even a first timers meet and greet that you do as well at the event, which I had the privilege of partaking in networking last year. What type of tips for any hoteliers investors that might be considering or even attending the first time, what, what one piece of advice would you drill down for this event as the best piece? Ryan Embree: I would definitely get on the app. I know that the serendipitous meeting, which to your point, you bump into the CEO of Hilton or Marriott for that matter, is great. And that’s, there’s good value in that, but we have about 70, almost 80% of all delegates are on the app. That’s great. And that’s a great place to find people and to be found and it also gives you all the other information as the agenda speaker bios, but it allows for you to reach out to other delegates. So I would definitely do, that’s, something that can be sometimes just overlooked or just not not done. And then I would go to the Sunday evening reception if it’s your first time that’s at the marquee, six o’clock, we get about 500 people there. A good mix of veterans and, and first timers. I would certainly do that. I would try and plan out your days ahead. It’s amazing how with all that, with all everything that’s going on, you can easily kind of get sidetracked. So if there are some sessions that you wanna see, you can bookmark them in the app and make sure that you, you don’t miss those. But, I would, get some sleep, stay hydrated and be prepared to have some full days of education, networking and just a whole lot of fun. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And some of the receptions that are after hours at the end of the day, are absolutely amazing too. And I know you have sponsors that kind of do that, sometimes onsite, sometimes offsite, encourage, those to attend that in full force as well. Hospitality, we definitely know how to, to host a party, that’s for sure. So Alexi, we appreciate you hosting us here on the Suite Spot and previewing this year’s 2026 NYU. We are counting down the days until June. Thank you again to my audience to learn more information. Obviously visit the website, make sure you register. Any final thoughts before we wrap up today, Alexi? Alexi Khajavi: No, just very much looking forward to seeing you there and the other 2400 people that will be joining us. So, looking very much forward to it. And appreciate your time. Ryan Embree: All right, thank you, Alexi. Thank you for listening to The Suite Spot and hope to see you at NYU in June in New York City. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star reading on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell, with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

“Just hearing, 'You died twice,' and you have no recollection of it— it was a lot for me to go through.” Daniel Bohner woke up on a breathing machine after crashing into the front-end of a vehicle on his motorcycle. When he flew off his bike, he took the handlebars and gas tank with him. His pelvis split in half, his arm was broken, and several internal organs were damaged. "I thought I could make it," is what the at-fault driver told the police officer who responded to the scene of the crash. Thankfully, a friend recommended our firm to Daniel. We became very involved in his case right away and fought for him to receive justice for his injuries. After negotiating the reduction of his $80,000 medical debt, Daniel walked away with the money he needed to recover and peace of mind knowing his case was handled properly. "Very welcoming and heartfelt," is how Daniel describes his experience with Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers and his attorney, Jim Hurley. "Having someone genuinely interested in how I was doing gave me the support to get better." ABOUT COOPER HURLEY INJURY LAWYERSCooper Hurley Injury Lawyers helps those injured in car, truck, and motorcycle wrecks or other serious injury and wrongful death cases. Our Virginia-based firm is located in Norfolk, Virginia with client meeting locations in all of the cities of Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore.Our partners, John Cooper, Jim Hurley, Bill O'Mara, Griff O'Hanlon, and John Baker, have decades of experience and have secured millions for accident, TBI, railroad, slip and fall, and medical malpractice victims.Injured in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident in Hampton Roads? Get help now at 757-333-3333.Or, visit us online at: https://cooperhurley.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaBeachinjurylawyerTwitter: https://twitter.com/CooperHurleyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cooper-hurley-injury-lawyers/

"Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey and special guest Connor Walsh SJoin host Joanne Carey for Episode 3 of a 4-part Series highlighting Houston Ballet & YAGP! Joanne welcomes principal dancer and YAGP Alum, Connor Walsh, principal dancer at Houston Ballet, as he shares his journey from childhood on Maryland's Eastern Shore to the heights of ballet as a principal with Houston Ballet. Together they discuss insights on dance education, the importance of collaboration, and tips for aspiring dancers as well as the impact YAGP had and continues to have on Connor. They also discuss the upcoming YAGP Houston event May 10-18. Get your tickets!Connor Walsh was born in Fairfax, Virginia and began his training at the age of seven under the direction of his mother Constance Walsh. He has trained at The Kirov Academy of Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and Houston Ballet's BenStevenson Academy, where he was awarded the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Scholarship and the Ben Stevenson Scholarship award. In 2004, he won the first annual gold award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA), and was given the Award of Encouragement at the Shanghai International Ballet Competition. In 2004, Walsh joined Houston Ballet's company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was quickly promoted to soloist in 2006 and then to principal dancer in 2007. Walsh has originated lead roles in Stanton Welch's The Nutcracker (The Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Giselle (Albrecht), Marie (Count Axel von Fersen), and La Bayadère (Solor).  He has danced major roles in numerous full-length ballets including John Cranko's Onegin (Lensky) and The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), Kenneth MacMillan's Manon (Des Grieux) and Mayerling (Prince Rudolf), John Neumeier's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theseus / Oberon, Puck) and The Little Mermaid (The Poet), Sir Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal Gardée (Colas), Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow (Camille), Ben Stevenson's Don Quixote (Basilio), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), and Dracula (Fredrick), Sir David Bintley's Aladdin (Aladdin) and The Tempest (Ferdinand), Trey McIntyre's Peter Pan (Merman), and  Stanton Welch's Swan Lake (Siegfried), Marie (Count Axel Fersen and King Louis XVI), Madame Butterfly (Pinkerton), La Sylphide (James), and Cinderella (The Prince and Dandini).Walsh's repertory also includes works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Justin Peck, Alexander Ekman, Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, Hans Van Manen, Glen Tetley, Christopher Bruce, Antony Tudor, Nacho Duato and Serge Lifar, Melissa Barak. One act creations include Stanton Welch, Aszure Barton, Edwaard Liang, Mark Morris, James Kudelka, Nicolo Fonte, Melissa Hough, and Garrett Smith among others.In recent years Walsh has expanded his reach into teaching, coaching and choreographing. In 2015, along with fellow Houston Ballet company members Oliver Halkowich and Melody Walsh, Walsh founded REACH - a choreographic project that raises money for arts education in schools.  Following the success of REACH, Walsh and his colleagues were invited to create a world premiere, entitled What we keep, for Houston Ballet in spring of 2018.  Walsh's world premiere A Joyous Trilogy (in flight) created for Houston Ballet and set to music by Quinn Mason took the Wortham stage on June 2, 2022. Walsh enjoys teaching, coaching and choreographing as well as participating in many forms of dance.  He is also a soccer fanatic as well as food enthusiast.Houston Ballet⁠https://www.houstonballet.org/⁠YAGP⁠https://yagp.org/⁠Tickets for YAGP Houston⁠https://yagp.org/yagp-2026-houston-tx-finals/⁠“Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey "Where the Dance World Connects, the Conversations Inspire, and Where We Are Keeping Them Real."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dancetalkwithjoannecarey.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Please leave us a Review.Please help support the podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gofund.me/e561b42ac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

On this edition of Catholic Forum, Lisa Livezey a local author and part time Eastern Shore resident joins the show to discuss her book "Minding Mom: A Caregiver's Devotional Story" which follows her caregiving journey with her elderly mother. Lisa also discusses her faith journey which includes coming into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Anglican Ordinariate. Lisa resides in the Philadelphia suburbs and is a part time floating resident of the waterways of Maryland's Eastern Shore which also influences her writing. You can find all of Lisa's publications on her website: https://www.lisalivezey.comas well as additional information about Heart of the Father Ministries and other opportunities mentioned in this interview. Each week you can listen to The Catholic Forum podcast on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music podcasts, www.youtube.com/dioceseofwilm every Wednesday; and on Relevant Radio 640 every Saturday afternoon at 1:30. More information is available at cdow.org/CatholicForum and Facebook.com/CatholicForum. Catholic Forum is a production of the Office of Communication of the Diocese of Wilmington (supported by the Faith and Charity Appeal!) Please like, subscribe and share.

Fr Mike Delaney tells the story of a family who relocated from Sydney to Hobart's Eastern Shore. Their experience highlights how small encounters with creation can awaken gratitude and wonder if we take the time to notice them

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, intimate partner violence, poisoning, and discussions of coercive control in same-sex and heterosexual relationships. Crisis resources are listed at the end of these notes.Historical ContextIn Indiana, public pressure forced an exhumation four months after Hattie's death. Organs shipped to Chicago forchemical analysis revealed large quantities of strychnine. Pettit was arrested and charged with murder. The trial in Crawfordsville drew journalists from across the Midwest. Lew Wallace — the author of *Ben-Hur*, a former Union general, and a member of the military commission that tried the Lincoln assassination conspirators — attendedregularly from the gallery. The jury convicted Pettit and sentenced him to life in prison at hard labor. He died oftuberculosis in 1893, the same day the Indiana Supreme Court granted him a retrial. Elma Whitehead, who funded his defense and fled the state to avoid subpoenas, was never tried.Lilly Duer was captured in Baltimore and tried at the Worcester County courthouse in Snow Hill, Maryland, in May 1879. She was housed not in jail but at the National Hotel across the street — jail being unsuitable for a woman of her standing. The jury convicted her of manslaughter. The sentence: a five-hundred-dollar fine and no prison time. For shooting a woman in the face.The InvestigationsIndiana, 1889: While Hattie Pettit visited a friend in South Bend, her husband moved into the home of Elma Whitehead — the wealthiest woman in the county, daughter of church patron David Meharry. Pettit proposed to Elma, and she accepted. When Hattie returned on July 12, she was poisoned with strychnine on at least three separate occasions over five days. The poison produced violent convulsions — the body arching, the muscles seizing, the face drawn into what the Victorians called the risus sardonicus. Hattie told her doctor she believed she had been poisoned. He did nothing. She died July 17, 1889. The official cause: malaria.Maryland, 1878:On November 5, Lilly Duer walked into the Hearn family home in Pocomoke City with a revolverconcealed in a specially sewn pocket of her dress. She shot Ella Hearn in the face. The bullet passed through Ella's lip, shattered a tooth, and lodged in her skull. Through the blood, Ella spoke: "Don't, Lilly, please don't. I'll marry you." Lilly fled to Baltimore disguised in her brother's suit with her already-short hair cropped shorter.The CrimesHattie Sperry Pettit: was a schoolteacher who married the Reverend William Pettit through church connections inNew York. In 1889 Indiana, teaching was one of the very few professional callings available to educated women, andHattie was practical, self-sufficient, and disciplined. She did not know that the man at the head of her table had oncebeen jailed for theft, had lied his way into the Masonic Brotherhood, and had used those connections to secure his ordination. The minister she married was a fabrication.Ella Hearn was nineteen years old in the autumn of 1878, the daughter of an established merchant family in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Quiet, gentle, trusting — she had graduated from a boarding academy where she shared a room with the woman who would shoot her. She observed what the newspapers called a delicate, unassuming grace. That grace made her extraordinarily vulnerable.The VictimsBoth cases are about desire that could not be spoken aloud and justice systems that decided the people who caused harm deserved more mercy than the people who were harmed.In a river town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a nineteen-year-old woman is shot in the face by her closest companion— and through the blood and agony speaks five words that have echoed for nearly a century and a half. In the farming country of western Indiana, a minister poisons his wife with strychnine so he can marry the richest woman in the county — and the dying woman figures out exactly what is happening to her. No one lifts a finger.Season 40 of Foul Play begins a year-long journey across all fifty states, pairing two historical crimes per episode —connected by a single thread. Tonight: Maryland, 1878, and Indiana, 1889. Two women trusted the people closest to them. Both paid for that trust with their bodies.Crisis Support ResourcesIf you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence:-US: National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233-US: Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741-UK: National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247-UK: Victim Support: 0808 1689 111Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Latrese and her husband were stopped at a red light on Diamond Springs when a drunk driver crashed into their vehicle. One moment out of the blue can change your course for months to come. Latrese was left with a torn muscle, severe neck pain, and limited mobility. While she was trying to recover physically, her work life balance was also interrupted by not having a reliable vehicle. This impacted her and her husband's life for nearly a month.Our team stepped in quickly to fight for Latrese and handle the insurance process on her behalf. We managed all communication, documented injuries, and ensured the full impact of the crash on her life was clearly presented. All the while, keeping Latrese informed as we did our work was never lost in the process. Latrese always knew where things stood without having to ask. By holding the at-fault driver accountable and advocating for fair compensation, we recovered $25,000 to help Latrese put this accident behind her. With ABOUT COOPER HURLEY INJURY LAWYERSCooper Hurley Injury Lawyers helps those injured in car, truck, and motorcycle wrecks or other serious injury and wrongful death cases. Our Virginia-based firm is located in Norfolk, Virginia with client meeting locations in all of the cities of Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore.Our partners, John Cooper, Jim Hurley, Bill O'Mara, Griff O'Hanlon, and John Baker, have decades of experience and have secured millions for accident, TBI, railroad, slip and fall, and medical malpractice victims.Injured in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident in Hampton Roads? Get help now at 757-333-3333.Or, visit us online at: https://cooperhurley.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaBeachinjurylawyerTwitter: https://twitter.com/CooperHurleyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cooper-hurley-injury-lawyers/

Episode 105 In rural Accomack County, structure fires are rare—maybe a handful a year across an entire district. So when six fires break out in less than 30 hours, investigators know immediately: this isn't coincidence. It's arson. What follows is one of the most baffling serial arson cases to ever hit Virginia's Eastern Shore. Over five months, 87 fires tear through a tight-knit community of just 33,000 people—stretching volunteer fire departments to their limits and leaving investigators with little more than ash to work with. But what makes this case truly unsettling isn't just the scale—it's the motive. There's no money. No revenge. No attempt to cover up another crime. The fires target abandoned buildings, offering no clear benefit to the person setting them. And the suspects? They don't fit the profile. They're not outsiders. Not isolated. Not young thrill-seekers. They're a couple. In this episode, we break down how a quiet rural county became the center of a serial arson spree, what investigators look for when fire scene evidence is all but destroyed, and why cases driven by psychological motives—like pyromania—are some of the hardest to solve. Because when there's no clear reason… there's often no clear path to a suspect. And when someone sets six fires in 30 hours— they're not finished. Buy Monica Hesse's amazing book on this case: American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land here: https://a.co/d/0609yUqG The Crime to Burn Patreon - The Cult of Steve - is LIVE NOW! Go join and get all the unhinged you can handle. Click here to be sanctified.  Inner Sanctum Acknowledgments: Eternal gratitude to our Inner Sanctum patrons, Melanie Curtis, Jenny Mercer and Laura Pisciotta, for helping us bring light to the stories others would rather leave in the ashes. Listener discretion is advised. Background music by Not Notoriously Coordinated  Get your Crime to Burn Merch! https://crimetoburn.myspreadshop.com Please follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube for the latest news on this case. You can email us at crimetoburn@gmail.com We welcome any constructive feedback and would greatly appreciate a 5 star rating and review.  If you need a way to keep your canine contained, you can also support the show by purchasing a Pawious wireless dog fence using our affiliate link and use the code "crimetoburn" at checkout to receive 10% off. Pawious, because our dog Winston needed a radius, not a rap sheet.  SOURCES: Hesse, Monica. American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land. Liveright Publishing, 2017. Johnson, R. Scott, M.D., J.D., LL.M., and Elisabeth Netherton, M.D. “Fire Setting and the Impulse-Control Disorder of Pyromania.” American Journal of Psychiatry Residents' Journal, Vol. 11, No. 7, April 2017. https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2016.110707 Eastern Shore of Virginia 9-1-1 Commission. 2022 Annual Report. “Burning Down Accomack – 10 Years Later.” WBOC Delmarva's News Leader. https://www.wboc.com/news/watch-burning-down-accomack---10-years-later/video_0aa43587-4fdc-5678-96d2-ce9eb85d62e2.html “Second Accomack Arsonist Tonya Bundick's Prison Sentence Ends.” Curtis, Sean. WBOC Delmarva's News Leader, September 24, 2025. https://www.wboc.com/news/second-accomack-arsonist-tonya-bundick-s-prison-sentence-ends/article_62e90020-318e-475a-9ae9-a3e8d90557c6.html “Accomack Arsonist Charles Smith to Be Released from Prison Tuesday.” WBOC Delmarva's News Leader, October 31, 2023. https://www.wboc.com/news/accomack-arsonist-charles-smith-to-be-released-from-prison-tuesday/article_3f047cee-7825-11ee-8c0b-b3dda31728b0.html Cohen, Stefanie. “How a Man's Sexual Performance Led to a Massive Arson Spree.” New York Post, August 5, 2017. https://nypost.com/2017/08/05/how-a-mans-sexual-performance-led-to-a-massive-arson-spree/ Vaughn, Carol. “Serial Arsonist Told Cops Fires an Act of Love.” The Salisbury Daily Times, via Delaware Online. https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/1/01/01/serial-arsonist-told-cops-fires-an-act-of-love/3476357/ “The Arsonist Was Like a Ghost.” Longreads, August 2, 2017. https://longreads.com/2017/08/02/the-arsonist-was-like-a-ghost/ “Were There Any Copycats During the Eastern Shore Arson Spree?” WTVR News 3, April 11, 2014. https://www.wtkr.com/2014/04/11/were-there-any-copycats-during-eastern-shore-arson-spree Delmarva Public Media (Don Rush) “Charles Smith Gets 15 Years for Accomack County Fires.” April 24, 2015. “Bundick Enters Alford Plea to Virginia Eastern Shore Fires.” April 21, 2015. “Bundick Faces Third Trial for Accomack County Fires.” December 4, 2014. “Tonya Bundick Gets Over 10 Years in Prison for Arson.” September 4, 2014. “Bundick to Be Sentenced in Eastern Shore Arson Spree.” September 4, 2014. “No New Court-Appointed Attorney for Tonya Bundick.” August 22, 2014. “Tonya Bundick Convicted of Arson in Second Trial.” July 16, 2014. “Bundick Trial Begins, Has New Relationship.” July 15, 2014. “Arson Trial for Bundick Begins Today.” July 14, 2014. “Other Fires Could Be Mentioned in Bundick Arson Trial.” June 17, 2014. “Bundick Could Get 62 Separate Arson Trials.” April 29, 2014. “Arson Trial for Tonya Bundick Will Be Moved to Virginia Beach.” April 11, 2014. “Tonya Bundick Trial Delayed.” February 21, 2014. “Tonya Bundick Pleads Guilty in Accomack Arson Trial.” January 14, 2014. “Bundick's Fiancé Testifies at Arson Trial.” January 14, 2014. “New Details from Indictment in Accomack County Arsons.” December 5, 2013.

On this exciting episode of Fishing the DMV, we're joined by Taylor from Always Bent Fishing to break down kayak fishing in Ocean City Maryland, Eastern Shore fishing opportunities, and the hidden potential of Maryland's legendary blackwater fisheries.The Eastern Shore of Maryland is the stretch of land east of the Chesapeake Bay, known for its vast network of tidal rivers, coastal bays, marshes, and backwater systems. It's one of the most unique fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic, offering a mix of freshwater, brackish, and saltwater environments all within a short drive. This region is famous for its diverse species, consistent fishing opportunities, and less pressured waters compared to the western side of the bay. From shallow grass flats to open ocean access, the Eastern Shore truly gives anglers the ability to fish everything from kayak backwaters to offshore tuna grounds.We dive deep into inshore kayak fishing techniques, back bay fishing Ocean City MD, and how to consistently find fish in the coastal bays, tidal creeks, and marsh systems that make this region one of the most diverse fisheries on the East Coast. If you're into saltwater kayak fishing, inshore fishing Maryland, or targeting species like striped bass, red drum, flounder, and speckled trout, this episode is loaded with actionable insight.We also explore the highly talked-about blackwater fishing in Maryland, including tannin-stained rivers and low-visibility systems across the Eastern Shore. Learn why these dark water fisheries hold big fish, how to adjust your bass fishing techniques, and what lures and presentations excel in stained water and low-visibility conditions. This is a must-listen for anglers targeting largemouth bass in blackwater, tidal river fishing, and Eastern Shore bass fishing hotspots.Please support Fishing the DMV on Patreon: https://patreon.com/FishingtheDMVPodcast If you are interested in being on the show or a sponsorship opportunity, please reach out to me at fishingtheDMV@gmail.comAlways bent.com https://www.alwaysbent.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alwaysbentfishing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alwaysbentfishingoc?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Facebook: http://facebook.com/AlwaysBentFishingOC Jake's bait & Tackle Website: http://www.jakesbaitandtackle.com/ Link to Tactical Fishing Company: https://tacticalfishingco.com/ Fishing Pro Tech: https://www.facebook.com/FishingProTech  Phone Number: (757) 566-1278Email: lin@fishingprotech.usFishing Pro Tech Address: Support the show

Can a doctor bring a new perspective to Washington?On this episode of The Arrington Gavin Show, Arrington sits down with Dr. Nila Devanath, a physician, Harvard-trained lawyer, and Democratic candidate running for Congress in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District.Dr. Devanath has spent her career on the frontlines of healthcare — treating patients, caring for veterans and families, and seeing firsthand how policy decisions in Washington impact everyday people. Now she's taking that experience from the ER to the campaign trail.In this conversation we discuss:• Why she decided to run for Congress• The biggest healthcare challenges facing Hampton Roads• The rising cost of living and economic pressures on families• Veterans' healthcare and military family support in VA-02• What she believes Washington is getting wrong• How her background as a doctor AND lawyer shapes her approach to leadershipArrington also asks the tough questions about politics, policy, and what voters in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, and the Eastern Shore should expect from this race.

A 10-year study on the Eastern Shore found balloons and their ribbons are a top source of litter.

1933 was a bad year for the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Slime mold wiped out the eelgrass beds in the shallow coastal waters. A big hurricane made things even worse. Without the seagrass habitat, fish and crab populations were decimated, and bay scallops vanished. And neither seagrass nor scallops were seen again for almost seven decades. Today, though, both are recovering. Healthy eelgrass covers 10,000 acres. And there are enough scallops that people are talking about opening a recreational harvesting season. The comeback began when a scientist at the College of William & Mary discovered a small patch of eelgrass, in 1997. He then began a program to restore the grass along the Eastern Shore, which is separated from the mainland by Chesapeake Bay. As the beds expanded, researchers began looking at restoring bay scallops. The scallops are about three inches across. They use small tentacles on the edges of their shells to sense their surroundings, and gills to filter food from the water. Scientists harvested scallops from North Carolina and elsewhere. They cultivated new generations in the lab, then slowly released them into the wild. And the population has taken off. A 2025 survey found by far the highest number of scallops since the project began. And researchers estimated the population could double over the following year and a half. That could make it possible for people to harvest a few of the tasty morsels in the coming years. The post Restoring Scallops appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin..

"It's about working together, together we are the Church." On this edition of Catholic Forum, Sheila McGirl, Director of Development joins the show to discuss the 2026 Faith and Charity Catholic Appeal. 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the appeal being taken up in our diocese to support our community of faith in Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore! Sheila explains why giving to the appeal isn't transactional, every gift made to the appeal helps to strengthen and serve the people of the Diocese of Wilmington. The weekend of February 28, 2026 is Commitment Weekend for the appeal and we're excited to see what good we can do as a community this year thanks to your generosity. To learn more about the Faith and Charity Catholic Appeal visit our website: https://cdow.org/ministries/development-office/faith-and-charity-catholic-appeal/ In addition to the video interviews from Catholic Forum here on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@DioceseofWilm), you can listen to Catholic Forum in its entirety on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio or Amazon Music podcasts. Catholic Forum is a production of the Office of Communication of the Diocese of Wilmington (supported by the Faith and Charity Appeal!) Please like, subscribe and share.

Give us about fifteen minutes daily, and we will give you all the local news, sports, weather, and events you can handle.   SPONSORS: Many thanks to our sponsors… Annapolis Subaru, the SPCA of Anne Arundel County, MacMedics, Covington Alsina, and Hospice of the Chesapeake, Today... A hidden-camera arrest at Anne Arundel Community College, a crowded new Democratic primary taking shape in County Council District 6 with Katie McDermott joining the field, a mostly underwhelming storm locally while the Eastern Shore took the brunt of it, and the return of Annapolis Restaurant Week with nearly 35 restaurants and plenty of prix-fixe deals — those are the stories on deck, we'll hit the highlights and what you need to know. Daily Newsletter Subscription Link: https://forms.aweber.com/form/87/493412887.htm The Eye On Annapolis Daily News Brief is produced every Monday through Friday at 6:00 am and available wherever you get your podcasts and also on our social media platforms--All Annapolis and Eye On Annapolis (FB) and @eyeonannapolis (TW) NOTE: For hearing-impaired subscribers, a full transcript is available on Eye On Annapolis.

Big winners report in daily at the Maryland Lottery headquarters but it's always fun when it's a million dollars on the Eastern Shore in a fun winner scratch-off person with a perfect plan. Executive Director John Martin returns to update us on all things spring and winning ahead for the lucky ones. The post John Martin brings some winner tales to Nestor and a million more on Eastern Shore first appeared on Baltimore Positive WNST.

In this episode of Champ Talk with Branden Hudson, Branden sits down with Pastor Bill Cropper, a prominent community figure on the Eastern Shore. Bill shares his incredible journey from a troubled past involving addiction and crime to becoming a dedicated pastor for nearly 30 years. He discusses his transition out of the pastoral role, the challenges and rewards of church hopping, and launching a new social media ministry called Marked Ministries. The conversation delves deeply into the personal encounters with God that changed Bill's life, the importance of real relationships over religious performances, and the ongoing nature of spiritual growth. Branden and Bill also explore the impact of genuine connections over preaching from a pulpit, the role of fitness in maintaining balance, and the essential nature of continuously seeking transformation through faith. This heartfelt dialogue provides valuable insights into living a life of purpose and resilience through unwavering faith.00:00 Introduction and Housekeeping00:54 Meet Pastor Bill Cropper01:20 Transitioning from Pastoral Life01:58 Church Hopping Experience02:20 The Reality of Being a Pastor06:34 A Radical Transformation11:24 Life After Addiction17:04 Called to Lead19:28 Challenges of Modern Faith25:49 A Life-Changing Encounter26:24 A Moment of Transformation27:00 Building a Relationship with God27:31 Facing Adversity with Faith28:55 The Journey of Ministry31:23 Finding Purpose Beyond the Pulpit33:44 The Power of Personal Testimony43:17 Embracing the Bible's Teachings47:09 Final Thoughts and Reflections

The Show Must Go On Despite battling the flu for over 10 days, Niki Foster, President of the Front Royal Warren County Chamber of Commerce, refused to miss another episode of The Valley Today. Host Janet Michael awarded her friend the "perseverance award of the year" as they settled in for a conversation about recent community celebrations and upcoming events that have the chamber buzzing with unprecedented excitement. Stargazers Gala Honors Local Leaders The chamber recently hosted its Stargazers Gala, marking a triumphant return to annual dinner awards after a COVID-induced hiatus. The event brought together community members in a mix of elegant cocktail attire and casual work uniforms, creating an inclusive atmosphere that reflected the chamber's welcoming spirit. Among the evening's honorees, Tana Hoffman received Citizen of the Year recognition, while Mayor Lori Cockrell earned the Education Contributor of the Year award. Cockrell, who celebrates 36 years in the public school system before retiring this year, received a particularly touching nomination from a former student who described how the educator followed her journey from elementary school through higher education. Furthermore, the awards recognized Blue Ridge Opportunities as Nonprofit of the Year and entrepreneur Shelly Cook for her community-building efforts. The chamber also introduced a new "Community Spark Plug" award, honoring Jen Avery and Rob McDougall for their energizing presence in Front Royal. Small and Large Businesses Shine In a move that Foster and Michael both celebrated, the chamber now splits business recognition into two categories. On Cue Sports Bar and Grill claimed Small Business of the Year honors, while Rappahannock Electric Cooperative took home the Large Business award. This division allows the chamber to acknowledge that larger businesses often contribute through financial donations, whereas smaller operations typically give their time—both equally valuable yet difficult to compare. Entertainment Elevates the Experience Adding to the evening's magic, literally, the chamber brought in entertainer Chris Michael. Board member Tina Tolliver had originally spotted Michael at a pre-COVID event and finally made her vision a reality five years later. Meanwhile, Brad Minardi from Artsii transformed the venue with spectacular uplighting effects that perfectly complemented the stargazer theme. Wine Festival Registration Breaks Records Shifting to future events, Niki shared staggering news about the May Wine and Craft Festival. By early February, the chamber had already secured 17 wineries—a number they typically reach just before the event itself. Even more impressive, approximately half of these participants are new to the festival, offering attendees fresh tasting opportunities alongside their beloved regulars. Additionally, food vendor spots have nearly sold out, with only three spaces remaining. This early momentum represents an unprecedented shift in the festival's typical timeline. Foster attributes the surge partly to the chamber's strategy of limiting food vendors to encourage festival-goers to support Main Street restaurants and coffee shops. The festival, scheduled for the third Saturday in May, expects around 200 total vendors including wineries, crafters, and commercial exhibitors. All participating wineries hail from across Virginia, from the Eastern Shore to Charlottesville, with local meaderies Honey and Hops and Saga also returning. Bowling for Business and Community Before the wine flows in May, the chamber invites the community to its popular bowling event in March. These twice-yearly gatherings at Rick Novak's bowling alley consistently sell out, offering a low-key opportunity for team building, employee appreciation, or simply an evening out with friends. The event takes on added significance this year as Novak's movie theater recently suffered fire damage and remains closed. Supporting the bowling alley directly helps a local business owner navigate challenging times. Interested participants can register online through the chamber's website or Facebook event page, though Janet jokingly suggested avoiding in-person registration to spare people from Niki's lingering cough. Celebrating Milestones and Looking Ahead Before wrapping up, Niki highlighted Jenneration Salon's 20th anniversary celebration on February 12th. Owner Jen Nicholson, who relocated from the Martin Shopping Center to her own renovated building on Warren Avenue two years ago, will host a ribbon-cutting at 5:30pm followed by refreshments. Looking to February 24th, the chamber's Business After Hours event will showcase CSM Aesthetics at Blake & Co Hair Spa. Janet marveled at how much the beauty industry has evolved, noting that salons now offer services far beyond traditional cuts and color—including Botox, permanent makeup, and various aesthetic treatments. These networking events remain open to non-members, allowing curious community members to test-drive chamber involvement before committing to membership. A Testament to Community Spirit Throughout the conversation, both women emphasized the difficulty of selecting award winners when so many individuals and organizations deserve recognition. Yet this challenge itself speaks to Front Royal's vibrant business community and the chamber's role in celebrating those who make it thrive. As Foster battles through her illness to share these updates, she embodies the very perseverance and community dedication that the chamber honors. For more information about upcoming events and committee opportunities, community members can visit frontroyalchamber.com or follow the organization on social media.

In this episode of Champ Talk, Branden Hudson dives deep into the topic of dealing with hate and criticism, especially relevant for leaders, entrepreneurs, and influencers. Branden shares personal experiences of handling constant negativity and jealousy in his local community on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He emphasizes the importance of not letting online hate affect your mission, staying strong in your leadership role, and recognizing the impact of your actions on those you lead. Branden also touches on the necessity of celebrating wins, the role of social media in modern business, and the need to filter out the constructive points from the criticism you receive. Additionally, he discusses the importance of maintaining integrity and authenticity amidst the challenges of running a successful combat sports business.00:00 Welcome and Call to Action00:48 Dealing with Hate and Jealousy01:31 Local Community and Business Ventures03:15 The Impact of Combat Sports05:09 Personal Development and Leadership08:35 Handling Criticism and Staying Positive17:42 The Role of Social Media18:39 Navigating Online Recommendations18:57 Impressive Trial Class Numbers19:16 Avoiding Online Drama19:35 Impact of Leadership on Students20:59 Rising Above Hate23:04 The Reality of Violence24:56 Leadership and Culture28:02 Handling Haters and Trolls28:39 The Importance of Authenticity34:16 Concluding Thoughts and Appreciation

This week on the pod, the boys talk about their favorite food experiences, from Peru to Dubai, with a little Eastern Shore of Maryland thrown in. Plus, learn which European cities are the most densely packed and perfect for traveling on foot. LAST STOP: Ryan: https://www.travelawaits.com/3021526/most-walkable-cities-in-europe-from-new-study/ Kiernan: https://www.datarescueproject.org/save-our-signs-the-peoples-archive/

In this episode of the Plein Air Easton Podcast, we're joined by Carol Bean of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy for a conversation about land, legacy, and the power of creative expression. Carol shares how ESLC works to protect the Eastern Shore's farms, forests, and waterways—and why preserving these landscapes matters now more than ever. We also dig into the unique role artists can play in environmental advocacy, exploring how painting, storytelling, and visual documentation can inspire stewardship and spark meaningful conversations about conservation. It's a thoughtful look at how art doesn't just capture beauty—it can help protect it. https://www.eslc.org Follow Plein Air Easton: Official Site Facebook Instagram YouTube

Del. Rob Bloxom is also pursuing legislation to ban similar proposals in areas with protected groundwater.

On this episode of Catholic Forum, Joe Owens, editor and general manager of The Dialog, interviews Bob Krebs, retired director of communications for the Diocese of Wilmington and host/producer of Catholic Forum for 25 years. Bob looks back at his career in Catholic media serving the people of Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore. In addition to listening to Catholic Forum in its entirety on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio or Amazon Music podcasts and every Saturday afternoon at 1:30 on Relevant Radio 640, you can also watch video interviews on the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington YouTube Channel. Just search Diocese of Wilmington on YouTube. Catholic Forum is a production of the Office of Communications of the Diocese of Wilmington. Please like, share and subscribe.

If there's anything I have learned in my thirty years of reporting, it is that there is always more to be learned. One reason to do journalism is to document potential solutions to problems over time. At least, there's the point of Charlottesville Community Engagement and this edition is a collection of audio stories from the past week. For those of you who do not want to listen, there are also links to this newsletter's archive at Information Charlottesville.In this edition:* Charlottesville Planning Commission briefed on tax abatement, student housing review (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors begin 2026 with a transportation update (read the story)* Albemarle assessments have increased by 6.17 percent in 2026 (read the story)* Spanberger signed ten first executive orders on first day in office (read the story)* Charlottesville City Council weighs in on student housing changesCharlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.First shout-out: Plant Virginia NativesThe year is now 2026 and time is running out for me to plan for what my yard could look like if I were to get it ready for spring! The invasive plants won again and I've got maybe a month until they begin to come back to life. Is this the year I get ahead of the creeper and vine that thrive in the humidity and the hot sun? What else could I plant instead?One resource I could consult is Plant Virginia Natives to figure my way out of my predicament. Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.A glimpse of the story spreadsheetSecond shout-out: Charlottesville Scholarship ProgramToday's second subscriber-supported shout-out goes to the Charlottesville Scholarship Program. Started in 2001 by an initial investment by Charlottesville City Council, the Charlottesville Scholarship Program has grown their endowment to over $1.3 million, and has awarded 201 scholarships totaling more than $1.1 million.The goal of the program has remained constant: to assist low- and moderate-income City residents and City employees who wish to improve their lives through post-secondary education. Many of these students are the first in their family to attend college.Income-eligible Charlottesville Public School System high school seniors, City residents who are Charlottesville Public School System graduates or GED recipients, and City municipal and City School System employees, no matter where they reside, are all eligible for CSP scholarships. In a typical year, CSP awards eleven new, renewable scholarships. Ten of these are designated for eligible high school seniors, and the 11th scholarship is designated for an eligible adult applicant.To learn more about the program, sign up for their newsletter, or make a donation, visit their website. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Discover how a Crisfield carver kept Chesapeake Bay decoy traditions alive—and what he learned from the legends.Host Katie Burke sits down with Oliver “Tuts” Lawson, a master decoy maker who grew up in the Ward brothers' shop and spent decades shaping waterfowl art and heritage.From carving his first birds at age eight to repairing hunting decoys for Eastern Shore clubs, Lawson shares stories of mentorship, craftsmanship, and community. Hear how oil paints, raised wings, and open-door shops defined a culture—and why preserving tradition matters more than chasing ribbons.Takeaways:How Oliver Lawson learned carving and painting from Lem and Steve WardWhy oil paint creates depth and patina unmatched by modern acrylicsThe evolution from hunting decoys to ornamental birds—and why he returned to gunning styleHow early carvers shared techniques versus today's secretive approachStories behind rare swans, auctions, and the founding of the Ward FoundationWhy tradition and accessibility keep decoy carving alive

Host Katie Burke visits Virginia carver Mark McNair, a lifelong artist shaped by Connecticut folk art, Easton's decoy scene, and decades of hands‑on craft.In this conversation recorded at McNair's marsh‑side home, he traces his path from Guilford, Connecticut to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, sharing mentors, influences, and the community that keeps carving vibrant. You'll hear how form leads paint, why some heads go to the scrap pile, and how a celebrated swan decoy gathered its story over time. McNair also explains his “alchemist workshop” demos, opening the process to families and new carvers.The moment he asked “Who's in charge here?” and took control of the carve.Why form should guide paint—and when paint distracts from the sculpture.How mentors (from Madeleine Shar to peers like Cameron McIntyre and Grayson Chesser) shape better work through real critique.Building decoys with raised wings and two‑part construction; borrowing ideas from Cobb, Shang Wheeler, Blair, and John English to solve design problems. The liberating lesson of throwing a failed piece in the wood stove and moving on.Community moments: Easton Waterfowl Festival, Barrier Island Center's Meet the Carvers, and teaching with his son Ian.Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcastSend feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.orgSPONSORS:Purina Pro Plan: The official performance dog food of Ducks UnlimitedWhether you're a seasoned hunter or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable insights into the world of waterfowl hunting and conservation.Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails:Whether you're winding down with your best friend, or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award-winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.

On this episode of Catholic Forum, after a news update from The Dialog, we talk with Pastor Mark Hansen from St. Clement's Episcopal Church in Massey, Maryland and Mr. Ed Gordon from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Chestertown, Maryland about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and how the week was started by Maryland Eastern Shore native, Father Paul Wattson, SA. Father Paul was an American priest who co-founded the Society of the Atonement with Mother Lurana White, and the Christian Unity Octave in The Episcopal Church. He was later received into the Catholic Church and is remembered as an advocate for ecumenism. His case for canonization is being promoted by the Archdiocese of New York. The communities of St. Clement's and Sacred Heart are inviting all to come celebrate Christian unity at a fellowship and worship service at St. Clement's, 32940 Maryland Line Road, Massey, Maryland 21650 on Friday, January 23, 2026 at 6:00 PM. You can see a video of this interview on the Diocese of  Wilmington's YouTube channel - YouTube.com/DioceseofWilm. Catholic Forum is a production of the Office of Communication of the Diocese of Wilmington. Please like, share and subscribe.

What happens when laws designed to protect water fail — and what legal action does it take to set things right?For decades, the health of the Chesapeake Bay has struggled because of three major pollution sources: stormwater, wastewater, and agriculture. These pressures send nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment into streams and rivers that flow into the Bay, where they harm water quality and the environment broadly.While there have been many solutions implemented and tremendous progress made across the watershed, there are still challenges that sometimes require a legal approach.In this episode, David Reed of the Chesapeake Legal Alliance shares a look at these three major pollution challenges through the lens of local riverkeepers in Maryland.The story begins with Gunpowder Riverkeeper Theaux Le Gardeur, who explains how unchecked development and failing stormwater controls allowed sediment to smother vital habitat. Next is Alice Volpitta, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper at Blue Water Baltimore, who shares how two of Maryland's largest wastewater treatment plants fell into disrepair. Finally, Taylor Swanson of the Assateague Coastal Trust talks about the Eastern Shore, where industrial poultry facilities have created unregulated ammonia pollution.They each share how legal action was the last line of defense for the Chesapeake Bay and local waterways.waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability.

A haunted house on Virginia's Eastern Shore becomes a conduit between two women separated by 400 years.Author and screenwriter Jacquie Walters joins The Dark Mind Podcast to talk about her new novel Turn Off The Light.We dig into dual timelines, women of knowledge, and how small communities can be more terrifying than any ghost.Jacquie unpacks how sleep deprivation, grief, and family secrets fracture her characters' sense of reality.We explore her use of quantum physics to reframe what a haunting actually is.She shares how her TV background shapes her pacing, structure, and “cinematic” horror on the page.Jacquie also opens up about mediumship, trusting her intuition, and how her daughter's experiences with spirits helped inspire the story.JACQUIE WALTERS - AUTHOR LINKSOfficial Website:https://www.jacquiewalters.comSocial Media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jwalterswrites/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquiewaltersGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15036438.Jacquie_WaltersFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/61564033081098Buy Books:Dearest by Jacquie Walters:https://www.amazon.com/Dearest-Novel-Jacquie-Walters/dp/0316580293Turn Off The Light by Jacquie Walters:https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Off-Light-Jacquie-Walters/dp/0316580323Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/turn-off-the-light-jacquie-walters/512b3cf20bdbb039Mulholland Books (Publisher): https://www.mulhollandbooks.com/titles/jacquie-walters/turn-off-the-light/9780316580328/Hachette Book Group: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/jacquie-walters/Book Community:Send Me A Book (Book recommendations): https://www.sendmeabook.me

Merry Christmas! On this special Christmas Catholic Forum  we feature Bishop William Koenig's annual Christmas message to the people of Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore and present an interview we talk with Boglárka Sztancs, International Relations Coordinator for EWTN Global Services. Boglárka, a native of Hungary, has been living and working in Rome for many years and shares what it is like to experience Advent and Christmas in the Eternal City. Also, we are happy to present some great Christmas music from the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy's The Glourious Sounds of Christmas CD, John Michael Talbot's The Birth of Jesus CD and John Angotti's Welcome Home for Christmas CD. You can see videos of Bishop Koenig's Christmas message and Bob Krebs' interview with Boglárka Sztancs on the Diocese of WIlmington's YouTube channel - YouTube.com/DioceseofWilm. Catholic Forum is a production of the Office of Communications of the Diocese of Wilmington. Please like, share and subscribe!

Dr. Erin Drinkwater, a Virginia veterinarian, shares decades of terrifying encounters that occurred from Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore, Lynchburg, and finally a shocking full-body sighting along I-295 near Varina and Chester. Her professional training in animal behavior and physiology makes these reports some of the most credible and detailed ever recorded.In this episode, she describes:• A massive pale humanoid crossing the road near Lynchburg College in 1996• A 500+ pound biped walking across the roof of her trailer on the Eastern Shore (2009)• A violent, unexplained stomping incident inside her home in Virginia Beach (approx. 2018)• A breathtaking sighting of an amber-colored Bigfoot standing on a ridge beside I-295 near Richmond (2022)• Early unexplained events near First Landing State Park and Fort Story, including an aquamarine orb and a non-human attempt to open her family's front doorDr. Drinkwater's firsthand knowledge of animal gait, mass, and movement adds scientific clarity to some of the most unnerving Bigfoot reports ever documented.If you're interested in Bigfoot sightings, cryptid encounters, paranormal activity, or eyewitness testimonies from professionals, this episode is essential.Resources: Contact Dr. Drinkwater here: drdrinkwater@yahoo.com

On this episode of Catholic Forum, after a news update from The Dialog, we talk to Sister Ann David Strohminger, OSF, Delegate for Religious for the Diocese of Wilmington. Sister tells us about all the ways that religious women and men are vital contributors to the life of the Church in Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore. Sister also highlights how the money raised during the Retirement Fund for Religious Collection - held this year on Dec. 13/14 - helps the religious of our diocese to have a more secure retirement. You can see a video of this interview on the Diocese of Wilmington's YouTube channel. Catholic Forum is a production of the Office of Communications of the Diocese of Wilmington. Please like, share and subscribe!

On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, Mitch is joined by Tim Schlappich, a Pennsylvania native and member of the Final Stand crew who found his passion for hunting later in life. Tim shares his journey from being an avid angler and traveler in the military to diving headfirst into the world of whitetails, first in Nebraska's river bottoms and now across the big woods and marshes of the East Coast. Through trial, patience, and curiosity, he's learned to balance the challenges of new terrain, the lure of technology, and the importance of keeping the adventure alive.Throughout their conversation, Mitch and Tim reflect on the tension between trophy hunting and personal fulfillment—how the fun, the people, and the places matter more than antlers on the wall. From Sika deer on Maryland's Eastern Shore to DIY filming and mentoring new hunters, Tim's story captures the spirit of curiosity and humility that makes hunting special. It's an episode about growth, grit, and remembering why we step into the woods in the first place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, Mitch is joined by Tim Schlappich, a Pennsylvania native and member of the Final Stand crew who found his passion for hunting later in life. Tim shares his journey from being an avid angler and traveler in the military to diving headfirst into the world of whitetails, first in Nebraska's river bottoms and now across the big woods and marshes of the East Coast. Through trial, patience, and curiosity, he's learned to balance the challenges of new terrain, the lure of technology, and the importance of keeping the adventure alive.Throughout their conversation, Mitch and Tim reflect on the tension between trophy hunting and personal fulfillment—how the fun, the people, and the places matter more than antlers on the wall. From Sika deer on Maryland's Eastern Shore to DIY filming and mentoring new hunters, Tim's story captures the spirit of curiosity and humility that makes hunting special. It's an episode about growth, grit, and remembering why we step into the woods in the first place.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last episode ended with Sir William Berkeley, on the deck of a ship in the James, watching Jamestown burn to the ground in the wee hours of September 19, 1676. The rebels under Nathaniel Bacon were ascendant, and Berkeley resolved to return to his refuge on the Eastern Shore and plot the next phase of his increasingly desperate war. Little did he know that the tide of the war was about to turn again in his favor. This episode begins in London in the summer of 1676, where Crown officials were just beginning to figure out what to do about the turmoil in Virginia, over which they had incomplete and very emotional news. Charles II made some decisions with long-term consequences for Virginia. At about the same time, in a stroke of luck - good or bad, depending on one's point of view - Bacon died rather horribly. He had done a good job building an organization with an orderly succession plan, but the rebellion had lost its most charismatic leader. A few weeks before Bacon died, at the end of September, the first of several armed merchant ships arrived in the Chesapeake, and after learning about the revolt their captains pledged their service to Berkeley. They would provide crucial support in an amphibious war against rebels along the James and York rivers. One of the captains, Thomas Grantham of the powerful 500-ton Concord, emerged as a courageous and wise diplomat, and would do more than anyone to end the rebellion in early January, 1677. At the end of the war, Berkeley mopped up, and prosecuted and executed most of the leaders of the rebellion. Richard Lawrence, however, disappeared, and was never seen again. The episode ends with the arrival of royal commissioners and a thousand English regular infantry at the end of January, which would be more bad news for Sir William Berkeley. My Substack Check out the new merch store! X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) James D. Rice, Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America Wilcomb E. Washburn, The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia Charles McLean Andrews, Narratives of the Insurrections, 1675-1690 Robert Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia

Virginia Governor Sir William Berkeley has fled to the Eastern Shore with a small group of loyalist planters and a detachment of perhaps only fifty armed men. Nathaniel Bacon has occupied Berkeley's estate near Jamestown, and dispatched men to capture loyalist ships anchored there. Bacon's "navy" has out in search of Berkeley, but Berkeley turned the tables in an audacious amphibious attack and grabbed control of the Bay and the rivers. While Bacon was mucking around in the Dragon Swamp hunting notionally allied Pamunkeys, Berkeley recaptured Jamestown. Loyalist victory seemed at hand, but Bacon forced Berkeley to retreat from Jamestown a second time in part by grabbing the wives of loyalist planters and using them as human shields, and this time the rebels burn it to the ground. At the end of the episode, it appears that the rebels had the upper hand. Little did they understand that the loyalist cause was far from lost, and the rebellion was, unbeknownst to anybody, on the brink of disaster. My Substack Check out the new merch store! X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) James D. Rice, Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America Wilcomb E. Washburn, The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia Various authors, for the National Park Service, “Mapping the Dragon:AN INDIGENOUS HISTORY OF BACON'S REBELLION” (pdf) Charles McLean Andrews, Narratives of the Insurrections, 1675-1690

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts.What if the medicine you need was growing right outside your door? We sit down with author and farmer Aleya Fraser to trace the living thread of Caribbean herbalism as she details in her new book Caribbean Herbalism: Traditional Wisdom and Modern Herbal Healing. Together, we unpack the tension between modern convenience and disappearing habitats, and we get practical about what to do next: how to identify plants safely, why relationship matters more than hype, and where citizen science can meet peer-reviewed research without losing soul. We talk creolization—the way Indigenous, African, European, and South Asian traditions fused into today's remedies—and why names matter, from “guinea hen weed” to Latin binomials that help us translate across islands. If you're in the diaspora or on the islands, you'll find clear steps to reconnect: sit with elders, join a local farm or foraging group, support growers protecting habitats, and keep a simple log of what teas and tinctures do for your body. This conversation opens a another gate into herbal practices that are accessible, rigorous, and deeply Caribbean—where story and science enrich each other and wellness returns to the commons. If this speaks to you, subscribe, share with a friend who loves bush tea, and leave a review to help more listeners find these roots.Aleya Fraser is a land steward and ethnobotanist with a strong lineage of land-based people. She has spent the last 12 years managing and founding farms and deepening her herbal knowledge through communing with elders, practice, and scientific research. Aleya uses her bachelor's degree in physiology and neurobiology as well as the ancestral wisdom in her fingertips to guide her studies and research interests. She blends her upbringing in Maryland with a strong focus on Trinidadian roots in her writings. She is considered a pollinator of people and weaver of landscapes. Aleya managed and cofounded farms in Baltimore City, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in Northwest Virginia, and now, in her ancestral lands of Trinidad and Tobago, where she lives with her husband and daughter. She can be found on Instagram (@naturaleya) or online at naturaleya.substack.com.Support the showConnect with Strictly Facts - Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Website Looking to read more about the topics covered in this episode? Subscribe to the newsletter at www.strictlyfactspod.com to get the Strictly Facts Syllabus to your email!Want to Support Strictly Facts? Rate & Leave a Review on your favorite platform Share this episode with someone or online and tag us Send us a DM or voice note to have your thoughts featured on an upcoming episode Donate to help us continue empowering listeners with Caribbean history and education Produced by Breadfruit Media

Nathaniel Bacon and his army of volunteers have returned from beating up on the friendly Occaneechees (Occaneechis) on the Roanoke River in southern Virginia. It is election day, and Henrico County will elect Bacon and his sidekick, James Crews, to the Virginia Assembly, which has been called into session on June 5, 1676. This episode describes the dramatic session of that Assembly, which began with Bacon's arrest and ended with he and his army holding the Assembly at gunpoint. Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, demonstrates his own flair for the dramatic along the way, but by the end of this episode has taken refuge with other loyalists on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Oh, and there is a "manifesto." Never a good sign. Check out the new merch store! My Substack X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) James D. Rice, Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America Wilcomb E. Washburn, The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia Matthew Kruer, Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America Nathaniel Bacon, "Declaration of the People," July 30, 1676 Nathaniel Bacon, "Bacon's Manifesto," July 1676

Kiera is joined by Zaneta Hamlin, owner and founder of Cusp Dental Boutique. Zaneta, who built her practice from the ground up, shares with Kiera her journey, reflecting on what got her to this point and what she would've changed and focused more on if she were to start over again. Plus, Zaneta talks about how she's turned even the smallest items and exchanges into branding opportunities for her practice. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today I am so giddy. I have one of my favorite humans in the entire world. Like that is not an exaggeration. She's got a million dollar smile. She's one of the funniest people I've ever met. She makes me laugh all the time. She really does. Like Zaneta when you smile, is the world just makes like it's just a happier place. Zaneta Hamlin, one of my favorite doctors. This woman can brand like nobody's business. Surprise fact, I even have her all of her branding sitting here. I have her stickers.   I love the business card. That was my favorite thing that you added in for me was a business card for me. But Zaneta Hamlin, one of our clients, one of my faves, welcome to the podcast today. How's your day today?   Zaneta Hamlin (00:39) Great, how are you? I'm happy to be here in the chat.   Kiera Dent (00:43) I'm so happy to have you. My day has been amazing. It's been podcast day and by far my favorite podcast is you today. So I'm really, really excited because I have wanted this podcast to come out for so long. So Zaneta I don't want to like do you a disservice. I just said a few things as to why I wanted you to come on the podcast. Like I said, being a part of our community, I just watch you and something I've noticed about you since literally the day one is you dress incredibly well and you're always branded. Like you're a walking   machine of branding every event I've seen you at you have Cusp Dental I know where you are I know your colors you have everything branded you think so intentionally but you're just an amazing human so Zaneta kind of tell us and honestly I want to go with you and do ⁓ dentistry in other countries that's something that you and I are gonna do outside of that so to fill our listeners in a little bit Zaneta kind of walk them through who is Zaneta Hamlin how did you get to be into Cusp Dental just kind of give us a little background on who you are the dentistry you do   Zaneta Hamlin (01:29) Absolutely.   Kiera Dent (01:40) Whatever you feel like sharing, this is Zaneta's time. And I want everybody to get to know you because you're just an amazing human. So walk us through, how did you get from where you were to where you are today?   Zaneta Hamlin (01:46) Bye.   So am   a second generation dentist. ⁓ I started off as an associate. I went to my dad's alma mater, went to Howard University College of Dentistry around this area in the Virginia Beach Hampton Roads area. I would say Howard is the real HU, so that's going to probably offend some people great. Yes, yes.   Kiera Dent (02:01) Amazing.   That's okay. She's here for it. There's no shame. Zenita, this is your podcast. You get to say whatever you want   today. No filtered.   Zaneta Hamlin (02:19) yeah. So second gen dentist, ⁓ I started off as an associate. So I associated for about nine years, ⁓ until I, ⁓ birthed the idea for Cusp Dental Boutique. It was initially going to be an acquisition. That was the plan I was with, ⁓ coaching prior, but it was more, it was geared more towards, ⁓ acquisitions and   That didn't work out for me. ⁓ just, everything just didn't work out. And the type of practice that I was looking to create ⁓ just didn't fit in the other practices. So ⁓ my husband actually found the space that we are in ⁓ and we just built it from scratch. It was a shell. ⁓ And then we have Cusp Dental Boutique. Now, ⁓ yeah, I do like to brand. So.   Kiera Dent (03:12) That's amazing.   Zaneta Hamlin (03:17) you   Kiera Dent (03:17) Please do, I want you   to, because I also hope people hear, like I said, I brought you on for a reason, Zaneta. This is where I want you to brag. I want you to share about who you are, because I think so often we don't, and so many times dentists feel they're doing it all alone. So trying to bring different dentists, different perspectives. So brag, Zaneta, I'm gonna brag about you too. So this is your show, brag as you should.   Zaneta Hamlin (03:38) I do love my practice. I love how we do things differently. There's a lot of technology. mean, lately I've had a few temps in my office. And so just having the temps has shown me how much my office does that others don't. And so, the expectations are bit higher with what they should do. ⁓ But everyone comes in and like, my gosh, this doesn't feel like a dental office. doesn't smell like a dental office.   ⁓ even the swag they get is different. Now, yeah, I'll give the Cusp Dental Boutique chapstick or things like that, but the koozies, the ⁓ wine tumblers, because you can have wine. ⁓ I think one of the things that you might be referring to is ⁓ my luggage ⁓ cover.   Kiera Dent (04:18) Why not? Why not?   Yes. Yes.   Zaneta Hamlin (04:30) I   do have that because look, your bags, when you check a bag, even if you are rolling, like it's carry on, people see it as you're dragging it wherever. So it's advertising, you know, they might be in a different state. You might come visit Virginia Beach. You what? I was on a flight to Detroit and I saw, you know, this Cusp Dental Boutique. I want to see where that is. Maybe they have an emergency. Top of mind.   Kiera Dent (04:37) Mm-hmm.   don't   disagree with you. This is why I brought you on the podcast because the way you think about branding and advertising, like I remember meeting you first at this conference and like you're repping it. Like you've got your Cusp Dental Boutique and it makes me so happy because that's also, think why you do so well in your practice. Like you love what you've built. You can see the love and the passion and the pieces. Yeah. The luggage. just wrote it down. Dental A Team needs to freaking put those on because we travel everywhere. Think of how many dentists are traveling to conferences and we are not branding. So   Zaneta Hamlin (05:22) All the time, yes.   Kiera Dent (05:27) Dental A Team, if you're listening, which most of them do, ⁓ surprise, maybe it'll be your holiday present. Shelbi, we need to get these. So, you know, there we go. Yeah, it's brilliant.   Zaneta Hamlin (05:33) There we go.   They are great.   Nobody's gonna rep your brand better than you. So if you aren't proud of it, you know, so you gotta rep it. And yeah, I put it on anything. We went, ⁓ our family went on a Disney cruise, our first ever Disney cruise. And I just randomly saw, cause ⁓ a sorority sister of mine told me we need those ⁓ clips for your beach chair to put your towel on so it doesn't fly away.   Kiera Dent (05:45) Mm-hmm. I love it.   ⁓   right. Of course. Of course you can.   Zaneta Hamlin (06:03) Well, I happen to find there are stretchy versions, like ⁓ elastic versions, and you can customize them. So of course, mine, one side says   Cusp Dental Boutique, the other side says Cusp Untethered. So either way, you're getting something. And it went on. So on the Disney Cruise, you could see four chairs. Cusp Dental Boutique, Cusp Untethered. You know.   Kiera Dent (06:19) Something.   Amazing.   It's incredible. So, okay. So I think Zaneta, something that you do so well is you built this practice. And I mean, even, I think people seeing the clips of this online, I mean, you doesn't even look like you're sitting in a dental practice. Like you're in this very different vibe, different feel. So walk me through how has it been being an owner? And then I want to go through like what have been the struggles, what have been the good things? Like you have this amazing space, people you've got raving fans.   Like you have built this boutique dental practice, which I think is so great to stand out when I think dentistry has been a little bit tricky. And I think you're doing a great job of that. And then we're going to pivot to like some of your favorite brand. I mean, she's already listed her luggage covers. can like literally Zaneta. feel like if there's something she can put a logo on, she will like, it is like, Oh, I could put this here. I could have a bracelet. I mean, your jacket, I guarantee you there's a Cusp Dental pin. I guarantee. Yep.   Zaneta Hamlin (07:15) Really.   yeah,   I mean the back of my jean jacket says untethered on it.   Kiera Dent (07:26) It's all there. She's constantly, it's constant. Like Zaneta, I think you are one of the few people that thinks in their branding so much that it is a part of you. It's what you do. It's who you are. It's not like I'm Zaneta and here's work and here's Zaneta. It's I am these pieces. So walk me through, you started this scratch start. How's it been going?   Zaneta Hamlin (07:27) The symbol is right there.   you   Kiera Dent (07:50) The wins, the stresses, the struggles, like where are you at on the business ownership path?   Zaneta Hamlin (07:56) I mean, there have been ups and downs. I will be very honest and frank about that. I've never been a business owner. So this is my first kick at it. ⁓ But I'm very frank with my team, like, hey, guys, I'm learning too. And I rely on them to also give me their feedback. Now, I always take it into consideration. It doesn't always mean like, hey, we're going to do what you recommended this time around. But I do like to listen to them and see what they think, because they have great ideas. But you won't know unless you actually listen to them.   It's been up and down. Like when people opt to leave the practice to go somewhere for whatever reason, ⁓ I've taken it personally in the past. Now, ⁓ my gosh, I mean, hopefully Dana has seen how much I've grown in that department.   Kiera Dent (08:38) I was,   I would agree. Dana's been coaching you for quite a while and Zenita, I will even say not being in the day to day with you all the time, you have grown exponentially. It used to be this, I remember being in the Dr. Masterminds, different places. It was just this like complete stress. And I feel like you have definitely grown as a business owner, as a leader, and I'm really proud of you. And you seem happier, but you still haven't lost your flair of like loving your practice. Like it didn't jade you even though it stressed you out. And agree, Dana, Dana will for sure be watching this and she will be so proud of you.   She already is, but you have definitely grown in the time that we have known you. And I'm really proud of you because I don't think everybody does grow. Some people just stay stagnant, but you have wanted to grow. You've wanted to evolve. You listen to what people say. You've made friends in our community. You and Christie have become BFFs. Christie Moore, she's been on the podcast too. Super excited to hang out in person, but you do a good job of executing and implementing Zenita. You're very humble. You're very coachable. And you're also just a ton of fun. Like you keep the Zenita piece of you while also growing and evolving too.   Zaneta Hamlin (09:38) Thank you. Yeah, I mean, it's there's no way you can't change stuff if you don't accept it. Because if it was working the way you were doing it, then why are you coaching? So no, it's it's been up and down. I've learned to delegate. I wasn't doing that before. And I'm still learning to ⁓ give deadlines because sometimes I will suggest that something needs to be done and not say when I need it done by and in my mind, that means you've done it already.   Kiera Dent (09:45) Right.   Zaneta Hamlin (10:04) ⁓ so working on that, but I am doing better with letting others, ⁓ do things for me and that I don't have to do all of it. And I have a great team that understands that I will do it all if not, if they don't step in and they will be like, no, no, no, I got it. You go do something else or maybe go eat. about that? so, ⁓ I think it's who you surround yourself with that. ⁓   Kiera Dent (10:18) Mm-hmm.   Yeah. Yeah. Good.   Zaneta Hamlin (10:33) helps and like you mentioned like Christie, for example, I was talking to another doctor when I went to a master class a couple of weeks ago for the AGD and he was telling me like, hey, when you are looking to move your practice into different levels, like moving up, like for example, me, you know, trying to add an associate and grow, he was like, talk to people who have done it or people who ⁓   Kiera Dent (10:54) Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (11:02) have been in that seat before, or coaches that can help you. And I was like, well, definitely my coach can help me with that. And to like, you know, talking to somebody like Kristy, who's been there, done that, probably even read a book about it, you know. So ⁓ it's who you surround yourself with too, that can help you.   Kiera Dent (11:20) Yeah, no, I think you've done an amazing job and it's just fun. It's fun to watch you evolve as a leader. It's fun to watch you. I mean, I remember some of our first emails were I'm staying here so late. Everything's on my plate. I don't know how to do this to now hearing you of I delegate and I built this culture of a team that knows who I am. They give it had to change yourself as Anita. That's something I love about you is I don't feel you. There's been a huge change of Anita. I think there's been like Zenita 2.0 is Anita 3.0.   where you just keep like, keep the core of who you are, but you evolve as your business evolves and like letting the team know, yes, this is who I am and this is what I'm expecting. And I'm very honest and very frank. I think it's really helped you tremendously. And like, let's give some snaps. You are bringing in an associate. You are evolving your practice. You are growing into these things. And so if you were talking to somebody, say in your shoes, they just found this space, they found the shell. They're super excited. There's Anita, who you were at the beginning.   Zenita today, what would you maybe tell that practice owner of some things of like, hey, as the wiser version of me, this is what I would maybe do or I would execute on XYZ or I would do this again of something that I did. What would you say are some of those tips you would give maybe a Zenita coming in doing a similar path?   Zaneta Hamlin (12:36) probably would have learned to delegate earlier. I think, yeah. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (12:40) I agree.   Yeah, I remember   some long emails and some hard nights on NotDelegate and a lot of hours at the practice unnecessarily.   Zaneta Hamlin (12:48) Yeah   I was quick focusing it. Don't do quick,   you can, but why? know, like, I can't believe I did that and how much time I put, but it's interesting though, like some, the things that I have delegated, I'm still busy. I still have to do things. it's like, now I'm like, how did I have time to do that? Like, no wonder why I was stressed. No wonder why I wasn't sleeping, you know, like, so I would have definitely, ⁓   Kiera Dent (12:57) I agree. I agree.   Yes.   Zaneta Hamlin (13:20) delegated sooner. I would have gotten an aura ring earlier. That's something she knows talking to her about. I would have gotten that earlier. ⁓ But I also would have trusted my intuition more a earlier. I mean, I did, but not at the level in which I do now. Like, for example, if I extend an offer or like,   Kiera Dent (13:24) Right? ⁓ It works great. Yes, agreed. Okay.   Zaneta Hamlin (13:49) you know, I make a decision, because I like to make decisions pretty quickly. Like it's this and we're going with it, right? I don't go back and like ponder it like, oh, did I really make this mistake? Like, was this a mistake? Should I have done this? Should I have done that? I've had those thoughts before, but then I quickly am like, no, no, no, it's, this is the way we should go if an offer was made and it wasn't accepted.   Kiera Dent (13:53) Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (14:17) It's because that wasn't for me and it probably would have been a headache. You know, I've gone down that route with like negotiations and stuff like that. And I thought to myself, hey, had that actually worked, it would have been a disaster. So I'm glad it didn't. So definitely ⁓ intuition, like leaning into that and just going with the flow.   Kiera Dent (14:35) Yeah.   Mm hmm. No, and I do. I do think that there's so many times that we feel like there's all these other experts, which I do agree like great job. Kudos to you. You you jumped into consulting and you hired coaches and you talk to mentors and talking about Sheena and Christie like you use your doctor community around you and you work with other mentors. But I do believe that there's an internal knowing that I think we often lose by thinking I've never done this before. So how am I supposed to know? But I do think that there's a core knowing that   I really love that you brought that up, that people really do need to trust themselves. They need to execute on that more. ⁓ So many people are like, well, someone told me I shouldn't do this. And I'm like, but you know, like you know what you need to do and you're gonna, you'll figure it out and it will work. So, okay, I love your story and I love what you've done. And I'm so happy that you're sharing with other people. And now I wanna pivot to, let's talk about your branding. Talk me through, you said everything is branding opportunities. Every single possible thing that you do.   Zaneta Hamlin (15:18) It doesn't feel right.   Kiera Dent (15:36) Like has this always been a part of you? Did it just come with buying the practice? And then I want you to walk through some of the specifics that you do of branding intentionally, maybe even like who you use or where you get these things. Like, I don't think people realize like marketing is a lot easier than they think it is. You did a scratch start. So you have had to figure out how to market yourself with no money. So kind of walk us through like, how have you done this? How has the marketing been for you? How has it been finding more new patients like?   Zaneta Hamlin (15:54) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (16:02) I don't know, whatever you want to take on this branding, because honestly, you are one of my queens of branding that I've met as a dentist. You do it so well. So walk me through just whatever, however you want to take this branding, marketing side of the business.   Zaneta Hamlin (16:15) No judgment. Okay. Ready? Okay. One of the cheapest things you can get and y'all don't, well, let's just go through it. So ⁓ pens. Okay. So I would go to Pens.com. They always run promos and stuff like that. Get some pens, get your favorite pen. ⁓ they send you, they'll send you something. See exactly. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (16:17) No judgment. I'm ready.   No judgment, we already put it there.   You do.   I have it. It's literally right there.   Zaneta Hamlin (16:42) What I, how I started was, mean, of course, Studio 88 did my logo, my colors and all that stuff. That was a process to get to what it is now, right? Because there were different versions of it, right? And then I started putting it on pens. So here's what I would do. would, when I go to a restaurant, family, friends, myself, whatever, you know, they give you a pen, a Bic pen or some whatever pen.   Kiera Dent (17:08) Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (17:10) I will sign with my pen and I will leave that pen.   Kiera Dent (17:13) You're so clever. Okay, keep going.   I want to hear all these ideas. I'm writing them down by the way. They're brilliant.   Zaneta Hamlin (17:20) So   I always have a bajillion pens on me in my purse or in my pocket. wear scrubs, so I have them in my pockets and stuff. Like even where, like my car, where I take my car to get it serviced or I'll change whatever. They've got my pens floating around too. The wine shop that I go to with, that I have membership at, they've got my pens. They always ask me, what color is coming out next? You know, like, cause I do different colors based on different seasons, as long as it's within brand.   Kiera Dent (17:45) Smart.   Zaneta Hamlin (17:48) So I can tell when that pen was from because we've only been orange orders. And black was the last order we had. We have a teal one now. That was a mistake, but still I have 500 of them. So we're gonna work through that. Yeah. And then I also did a partnership with a restaurant that's not too far from my office, half a mile away. They're out by the water. They gave me gift cards that I can give to new patients.   Kiera Dent (17:54) That's incredible.   So we're giving them out. Yeah.   Zaneta Hamlin (18:17) I gave them a boatload of pens. So when they are having people sign their checks or whatever, you know, they finished their eating and all that stuff, they've got a Cusp Dental Boutique pen that people usually jack, they steal those. And so they've got 200 to sort through, whatever. So that's how I really started getting the brand out. I would wear what I had, if know, if I had t-shirts or something, I would wear those. Now I have sweatshirts and stuff too.   Kiera Dent (18:24) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm   Zaneta Hamlin (18:48) But it was just really wherever I can show folks. When I go with my kids to their games or their school or whatever, I might have something. And people ask, ⁓ are you the one that owns? Yeah, hi, you should come to this. You know, just really, so it could be anything. mean, again, pen is a simple and easy thing to do to carry, not a huge investment.   Kiera Dent (19:03) Yeah.   Zaneta Hamlin (19:16) you know, do that. And then when Stanley does promotions and they customize them, you do that too. Yep. Yeah. And koozies are cheap. ⁓ I use ⁓ Citi Paper. They are in Alabama. A friend of mine, another business owner, she's a pediatric dentist. Quinn, sent them or referred them to me and ⁓   Kiera Dent (19:23) On brand, on color. Excellent.   Zaneta Hamlin (19:44) They do all of my koozies, whether it's the regular size koozie or the tall ones, which we did one season for a beach, because we're right by the water. ⁓ And then even like our goodie bags, we don't do the traditional goodie bags at the office. They're cotton, because also check out the environment. I have to come up with something for my patients who bring theirs back to reuse them. Like, hey, maybe if you bring your bag back, so we can just refill it with your supplies if you need it.   Kiera Dent (20:02) Yeah.   Cute.   Zaneta Hamlin (20:14) ⁓ But things like that have been great and people love it because it's different. Now I use mine for like when I travel for makeup, like my makeup brushes. It's, you know, I've had patients that will use it for their sunglasses. We have Cusp sunglasses, which patients use when they're sitting in the chair anyway to protect their eyes and 90 % of the time they want to walk out with it anyway. So again, take it. has my logo.   Kiera Dent (20:25) Mm-hmm.   Take   it, please.   Zaneta Hamlin (20:44) Yeah,   take it. Yeah, by all means. So yeah, and sunglasses can be pretty cheap too.   Kiera Dent (20:47) ⁓   Mm-hmm. So what do you feel? Okay pens koozies sunglasses shirts sweatshirts reusable bags What do you feel are if I'm like on a budget? Pens obviously what else you feel has been I mean and also I'm hearing you you know your population You're by the beach. So you're thinking in beach like they're gonna want drinks. They don't want sand on those So koozies are gonna be great. Keep them cold. They're there   Zaneta Hamlin (21:02) Mm-hmm. Yes.   Kiera Dent (21:14) the towel thing at the beginning of the podcast. Well, yeah, that makes sense because you're at the beach. People need those are going to use those are going to see them. ⁓ I like what things would you say if I'm on a budget are going to be the best bang for my buck? I love the Stanleys. I didn't even think about like you're watching promotions on every single thing that your patients would use like sunglasses, clever. Again, you're a beach community. So what has been your best ROI?   Zaneta Hamlin (21:33) Yeah.   Yeah.   Kiera Dent (21:39) because branding is like awareness, but then there's also like, I need patients to come back with that. So what do you feel has been your best ROI that you could say these patients came from this if I could only choose like one or two of these items?   Zaneta Hamlin (21:53) If we, my team probably would have to help me with this, but if it's based on what people have asked for, I would say it's chapstick.   Kiera Dent (22:04) Interesting.   Zaneta Hamlin (22:05) Yeah, because you don't have to be at the beach to use chapstick like chaps you should keep these puppies moist like drink your water and Moisturize your lips ⁓ SPF all the things the chapstick folks have asked for like hey Do you guys still do the chapsticks because I think and I don't know I know there are different types, but the one we do is like the big daddy one I have one in my ⁓ pocket somewhere, but ⁓   Kiera Dent (22:14) Yeah.   You   Zaneta Hamlin (22:34) Um, people really like that. You know, someone once someone said to me, Oh yeah, a friend of mine was using it and I just liked how it went on. And, you know, she said she got at her dental appointment. I was like, Oh yeah. Okay. I'm glad you came because would you like one today after your appointment? can give you one.   Kiera Dent (22:52) because we've got   some and you can share them with all your friends.   Zaneta Hamlin (22:56) Yeah, so I think that has been great.   And then the koozies are the second ones because people ask for that again. You could be anywhere. I mean, my neighbors use the koozies when we're out in the neighborhood, you know, hanging out with the kids and stuff like that. So yeah. ⁓ look at that.   Kiera Dent (23:16) Mm-hmm.   Look at that. She has it. I'm telling you, this woman walks in her logo. I would not be shocked if you told me you had pajamas in it.   Zaneta Hamlin (23:28) That's it.   That's a good idea.   Kiera Dent (23:32) There you   go. Pajamas. know our team has been asking me for workout clothes, like tank tops. Um, and then also they want the branded shoes of Dental A Team shoes. So that way they're like, we do a different one every single year. Cause that way, like your team is always wearing stuff also. So like if it's stuff that they do, yes. Um, you can do that. We also found out you can make a custom Nikes. Uh, you can make other customs that.   Zaneta Hamlin (23:47) Yeah Chuck says it converse   Can you put lingo on   it?   Kiera Dent (24:01) So those are things, again, I haven't done it yet, but write down the, get your notebook. ⁓ But honestly, I think Zaneta, some of these things, even post podcast, if you can send me and we'll include it in the show notes, some of the suppliers that you use and some of the ideas that you have. like we've listed off, she's got the Stanleys that she brands, there's the ChapStick. But if you looked and if you saw on the video and if you miss it, it's not the cheap ChapStick. Like this is not a cheap ChapStick. There's some dental offices that give.   Zaneta Hamlin (24:29) They have...   Kiera Dent (24:30) Gross chapstick.   Zaneta Hamlin (24:31) yeah, the minis. I know!   Kiera Dent (24:33) The minis or the ones that just like get in your mouth and they taste disgusting or they like don't actually moisturize. They almost like dry it out worse. So you're like putting it on. ⁓ You know what I'm talking about. Excellent. Do you hear this? She's coming to our doctor in-person mastermind, which is in September and we're super excited about it. It's a doctor in leadership one and Zaneta is already thinking I'm bringing it for everybody. And that's not because these dentists.   Zaneta Hamlin (24:40) Yeah.   Yes. you're getting one. I think I'm bringing some for everybody when I come to the meeting.   and you get a chance to.   Kiera Dent (25:00) These dentists are not her client. We don't even live by her, but yet all of us are going to be wearing it. She never knows where one of us is going to be. I'm going to be on the airplane sitting there flying out to the East coast. Someone's going to see it. They're going to look it up cause they're going to love her logo. And lo and behold, they'll be like, ⁓ I saw some girl putting this chapstick on, on a plane. You never know where people are going to be. And that's very easy. I thought your restaurant idea was so clever and like pens. I did not even think about signing with your own and just leaving it there constantly.   the luggage, our team's getting luggage carriers. Like that's going to be part of their standard onboarding. Cause we fly all the time and dentists are on planes all the time. So Zenita.   Zaneta Hamlin (25:32) Thank you.   Dentists,   their assistants, their office managers, their spouses, somebody, it's fun. And I saw this cute lady walking by with this and took a picture of it and sent it to their spouse or whoever, best friend. Have you been in this company? Or why aren't you doing that?   Kiera Dent (25:43) Mm-hmm.   Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. It's a very, it's   so clever, Zenita. I think, okay, so what's your most random favorite thing that maybe wasn't the best ROI, but you just loved it. It was one of your favorite like things that you created that's been branded. I mean, you got a jean jacket that's unbranded. You've got your shirt, which is a super darling shirt. Like what have you loved that was like, yeah. And then you also said you got sweatshirts.   Zaneta Hamlin (26:16) Thank you, you really sound interesting.   Kiera Dent (26:20) What else do you have? Like, what was your favorite?   Zaneta Hamlin (26:23) well, I really like our, wine, ⁓ tumblers. I have a Yeti that has, ⁓ Cusp Dental Boutique on it, but we have tumblers or two versions again, depending on which one you break out. know when you got it because we only rotate certain things and we've, we've done some promos where like our Cusp Circle folks get, which we have to get better about it. But when people do our in office, ⁓   membership, yep, they get those things. So like the t-shirt, I'm not going to just give to like our regular PPO patient. Like it's going to be, you know, our membership folks that get those, like the nicer branded items. But I really like the ⁓ koozies or not koozies, the tumblers. ⁓ I use it often enough. ⁓   Kiera Dent (27:01) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   often enough, all the favorite things and you can have it as   a business write-off because you want them. They're branded. You pull them out for parties. You can put them on social media. Obviously, it's a complete business write-off. I agree. Yeah.   Zaneta Hamlin (27:24) Excellent. Yeah. I had   my previous coach, she would put when she would go to the beach or wherever she would go, she would take pictures with her wine tumbler in different places. I did like a, I think it's in my ⁓ Cusp merch on my Instagram, where it just shows people with Cusp Dental Boutique things in different places. ⁓ And sometimes I'll still do that. Like I'll set it somewhere or whatever.   Kiera Dent (27:40) Ha ha ha!   Zaneta Hamlin (27:54) I've had patients who will send me pictures of themselves out in the wild with random Cusp Dental Boutique things. yeah, but the wine tumbler has been great because no one else has that. no dental offices, you know, like it's something you wouldn't think of for a dental office. So yeah.   Kiera Dent (28:09) Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Totally. Well, and as you're   saying, I hope people picked up on, I wrote down some notes that I think you maybe don't even realize you're doing, but you don't call it a membership plan. It's called Cusp Dental Boutique Circle. So it's your, and as soon as you said it, I was like, that's her membership plan. But notice the way you say it, Zaneta, is you want your people to be part of your group. It's a community, it's a group, it's not, and like they're getting the special stuff. They're getting something that's different than everybody else. So you're setting it apart for people that are a part of your inner circle.   Zaneta Hamlin (28:27) Yes.   Kiera Dent (28:46) Then it said Cusp merch and I was like, probably gonna start selling your merch like honestly, but right now it's just on social media, which then helps patients realize they go, they tag you, you're gonna be putting it on there. People will see it. ⁓ You also are very clever. You said two versions and I was like, that's so smart because then people are going to want things at different times. They're gonna see other people getting it, which then creates retention of people wanting to come back because they saw the merchandise. They saw different things.   Zaneta Hamlin (28:51) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (29:15) but also you strategically know like when were, when did I see them? Where were these pieces based on what they're, they're having? So it's a very like thought out process that I don't even think people, I don't even know if you realize like the depths of the pieces you're doing that are just very fun. And it seems like you just have a ton of fun doing it too.   Zaneta Hamlin (29:22) there.   I do. mean, it's, I don't know. It's, I, now I will say if you are wearing your brand, you can't be outside acting crazy. So you can be fun.   Kiera Dent (29:41) I would agree. I was going to say, do you ever get sick of like having people be   like, hi, who are you? Like, I'm like, no, sometimes I want to go incognito on a plane. Like I don't want anybody to know me. So.   Zaneta Hamlin (29:48) Yes, right. I   do have those times. Like tomorrow, I'm supposed to be going to Cape Charles with my husband. It's our wedding anniversary. I have gone back and forth because we're going to be visiting an artillery. I'm like, do I go? Because I will wear my Cusp baseball cap. I have it in three colors. My team, some of my team members have them.   Kiera Dent (30:01) No.   Thank   Zaneta Hamlin (30:15) I think one   of our videos, were wearing it for like, it's our like new patient welcome video we have for wearing the hats. But my husband wears his often. But I've thought, do I go to this place wearing my Cusp Dental Boutique hat? Because it has the symbol in the front ⁓ and the name of the practice in the back. ⁓ Or do I go incognito? Nobody should know who I am. But the Eastern Shore,   Kiera Dent (30:42) Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (30:43) is close enough and we do have patients that have come from there. So just from talking to you, I'm thinking that I'm probably going.   Kiera Dent (30:50) at least have   like, there'll be a little Cusp Dental Boutique cameo if not the full show. So yeah, of course she's taking pens.   Zaneta Hamlin (30:55) I'm also taking pens. So I'm going to be leaving them at the   distillery strategically and the restaurant. ⁓   Kiera Dent (31:02) The pen, the pen.   And I will say, Zaneta, I mean, you shipped this to me at Summit, because this is where it came from. We were at Summit and I was like, I need a notebook. And you messaged in the chat, I saw it come through, Zaneta said, I'm sending you a notebook. And lo and behold, this shows up in like the super cute notebook. I still have it. It's got a beautiful, I mean, it's a real nice pen, Zaneta. She did, that's something else I'm noticing with you. You're not scrimping. Like this is a very heavyweight pen. It's a nice feel pen.   Zaneta Hamlin (31:14) It did.   Kiera Dent (31:32) which also is on brand with a Cusp Dental Boutique office. You're not going for this like hot, like you're not going for the burn and churn, which is fine. If you were, it'd be a different type of pen. Your stickers are very high end stickers. Your business card is high end. It's on brand. There's the untethered. There's the Cusp Dental Boutique. Like just, I mean, you guys, I still have these. They're very nice. They're cute. They are not, I feel like I'm selling Cusp Dental Boutique. Like I feel like we're on an infomercial. Like here, here we are.   Zaneta Hamlin (31:59) Please keep going.   Kiera Dent (32:02) But I think something like this pen is compared to some of these crummy ones, like, you know, Pens.com, they do send you some really junky ones. They also send you some really nice ones. But I've been in offices writing with pens, like from the Pens.com, like they ship them to me. I'll have a rose gold one. I'll have a white one. And in offices, the dental assistant's like, I love your pen. And I'm like, well, you can have it. Here you go. Like take it, write it, share it with everybody. But I do think there's something to be said. You do nice things.   Zaneta Hamlin (32:10) Thank you. Yeah.   Yeah.   Kiera Dent (32:31) rather than doing just cheap things to slap a brand, but your brand is higher end. Your brand is a nicer brand. So you're making sure it's very intentional with your brand.   Zaneta Hamlin (32:42) think when you are going to brand your items, and I get it, it depends on which season you're in in your practice, right? But when you are going to put your name on something, you want it to represent you well. And so yes, the things that I have done are probably, you know, I will always say they're top tier. But some of these things you can also get when they go on sale. Like they'll send me stuff like, it's now 85 cents.   Kiera Dent (32:48) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (33:11) you know, to get this pen or 50 cents for that pen. I'm like, oh shoot, get it, get it now. We're gonna get this color. This is gonna be this season or 2024. This is the color, you know. So it's just, and it's something I think it's probably my mother, cause she's always like, like if I'm gonna go out with her, like sometimes I wanna just dress down and wear sweatpants, right? She's like, where are you going? You're not following me like that. You know, and so it's like, okay, all right, I get it. Like I gotta represent you and myself well.   Kiera Dent (33:20) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   You   Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (33:41) So yeah, for things you're gonna put your logo on, you do wanna make sure it's something that people are gonna want, that it looks good and it represents you. So if you can't, maybe hold out till you can get the one that you really want. Because if it's crappy and you don't even like it and you're not gonna use it, why get it? Save your money, invest it in something else. Get AI.   Kiera Dent (33:55) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Get AI.   was a mastermind conversation we had this week. There is a podcast inspo'd by Zaneta. I will not say exactly which one. She knows, you guys can all guess on the podcast coming out. I recorded it right before this one, but Zaneta, I think it was just so fun. I really wanted to hear just about the different ideas. So anything you have of like, like you said, Pens.com or where you get your koozies or any of those. Cause I think that's also the hard part of there. So much out there, like who are the good brands? So even if you can send some of those that you like.   Zaneta Hamlin (34:06) You   Kiera Dent (34:30) I'd be happy to share those along. But I think if nothing else, I hope listeners today start thinking of differently of how can you brand your stuff? How can you do simple things? Where are your patients hanging out all the time that are the ideal patients you want? Not just patients, because we don't want all patients. We want your ideal patient. So like you said, they're going to be at the distillery. So you're going to a certain place. Like I picked up on that. You're not like I'm handing these out at, we won't say certain names.   Zaneta Hamlin (34:32) Yeah.   you   Kiera Dent (34:56) but I know you would not be dropping pens at certain places. You will be dropping them up. They don't go to all locations. They go to intentional locations where you know, it's like you said, there's a restaurant on the water. Well, I can already tell what type of a clientele is at that one based on where this restaurant is. So without Zaneta even telling you who her ICP is or ideal customer profile or avatar of patient, she's intentionally putting all of her brand in the places she wants people to be at her ideal patient base.   Zaneta Hamlin (35:10) You   Kiera Dent (35:25) to grow and Zaneta, mean, without even sharing any of your numbers, the fact that you've taken a scratch, start shell of a practice, built it with your own branding, your own pieces to now you're going to be bringing on an associate. think people can attest that some of the things you're doing clearly have been working really, really well. So thank you for sharing. I got excited. I I wrote a ton of notes over here and I hope other people did. And these are the type of conversations that come out at the mastermind.   Zaneta is talking about all of her problems, but then she's branding her Cuspware everywhere and all of us want it. So it goes like, you know, it's a good, it's a good thing. And honestly, Sheena needs to talk to you. She needs help on her branding. So and Sheena shout out to you. Just like, you know, you need like these are the things.   Zaneta Hamlin (35:57) Ha ha!   I would love to, but I do think   though, just, I probably picked this up from Studio 88, just because you're a dental practice, a dental office, you do not have to do everything dental. Like my logo doesn't have a tooth anywhere, right? It can, and that's great, but it doesn't have to. So just because it's a dental practice, like my logo or the things that I brand aren't specific to dental things. So my recommendation is,   Kiera Dent (36:20) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (36:33) Put your logo on something that you like and you would use outside of work. That is the best way to market your practice is on things that you would even want to use. It doesn't have to be like things you would expect from a dental office. You know what I mean? Like, hence the rumblers and yeah, the wine stuff.   Kiera Dent (36:52) right? The wine. Yep, yep. It's   stuff that you like, but also what I think is important is we often attract the people that are like us and as patients. And so Zaneta is doing things that make her happy, that make her want to do it, that are going to attract people that are very similar to her. Not everyone's going to love this pen. There will be some of you that will be like, that's too thick, that's too fat. Like I don't like how that one writes. And you would prefer another style of pen.   but people that like this high end vibe feel where it's this gel. mean, I already know Tiffany would love this pen and in the other colors. I also love that you do different colors. It's so clever, like so many fun things and you just have fun, but you do it. I'm really proud of you on an overhead budget. Good job. Like when it's on sale, when these things like, not just buying the Stanleys, you're literally being an intentional business owner too, which I think shows that you can do branding and marketing on like within an overhead budget.   and still have a ton of fun and make beautiful, high quality things. I mean, your logo just stands out even in this video. It's strong. It's, it's Anita. It's beautiful. And it just definitely represents who you are as a person too.   Zaneta Hamlin (38:00) And the final thing I'll mention about that is not every, like right now I'm the only one with the Stanley, but I will say my, if I make more of these, cause I wanted to try it out. I wanted to see how it would do. And my team members were like, I love that. You there are certain things that only squad members have. So like, right. So you want to get it. Like there's certain jackets or sweatshirts that we have.   Kiera Dent (38:14) Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (38:28) You only get that if you're on my team. So ⁓ there are certain things you and like this t-shirt patients don't get this, you know, and it has our ⁓ humble hearts, skilled hands at the back. If they're wearing it out, they're like, well, where'd you get that shirt? Even if a patient from Cusp Circle wants a shirt, theirs is a little bit different, right? So again, strategically, you know, no, how'd you that? Cause only team members have that or whatever. So.   Kiera Dent (38:41) I love it.   Mm-hmm.   ⁓ Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (38:56) If it's a little bit more expensive, yeah, maybe do that for your team during the holidays or their anniversary ⁓ or their birthday or something like that ⁓ that you're not just giving to anybody else.   Kiera Dent (39:05) Mm-hmm.   It's really clever. So for birthdays and anniversaries, do you have swag or gifts? I'm guessing it's all Cusp Dental Boutique. So tell us kind of about that. I mean, I didn't mean to go down this path, but I'm just very curious.   Zaneta Hamlin (39:20) So, not always, so give me some credit there, not always. our first, so for my office, the first anniversary, you get a Marc Jacobs tope.   Kiera Dent (39:24) Yeah, yeah. Okay.   I love it. I love it. No, there is no judgments   they needed. These are the things that make offices stand out. I love it.   Zaneta Hamlin (39:37) It's the mini though. So they get,   it's the maybe, I guess it's the small. So ⁓ far I've given four of those out. But anyway, you get that in whatever color. I order them, get them in bulk during the holidays. So I have them hidden somewhere in my office. So whenever someone's anniversary is, I can get in, I know what color they want, I can ask, and then they get that for their first anniversary. Second anniversary, what I've done is, ⁓   Kiera Dent (39:51) Mm-hmm.   Zaneta Hamlin (40:06) I have, we did like the, I think it's like the Turkish towels, because again, beach, and then ⁓ city paper put my logo on it. It's in like leather or something like that on the side. ⁓ So they have that, and you know, the Turkish towels have like, it's like tied at the bottom or whatever, like the things hanging off of it. So we did that in a wine. So the wine shop that I go to, they custom made a, they, brought the towel.   Kiera Dent (40:11) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   No.   Zaneta Hamlin (40:35) They put that in there with, so my team members that have gotten to their second year anniversary, they fill out a questionnaire from the wine shop that tells, ask them specifically what kind of wines they like. We put that in the box with other goodies from the wine shop. So it might be like truffle almonds or whatever that will pair well and little things based on what they like. And then that goes with it. And so that was year two.   ⁓ I'm still thinking what's gonna happen for those that make it to year three, ⁓ but it's always gonna be something different. They'll get at least something that has Cusp on it. It's just the first anniversary has the Marc Jacobs tote. And that started from like a joke that we had in the office, because people would walk around with these Marc Jacobs. And my admin at the time, Rachel, she was great before she moved. She had, and it's on social media somewhere where,   Kiera Dent (41:05) Mm-hmm.   Yeah, I love it.   Yeah   Zaneta Hamlin (41:32) She wrote on a brown paper bag, the tote, and she would walk around the office with it. And I was like, I get the hint. I get it. So that's when I bought it and I just made it a rule. Our first anniversary, that's what you get. So it's the same.   Kiera Dent (41:36) Mm-hmm.   You   It's amazing. And I love that you   think about like buying it on sale, there's different things. And then it's part of the Cusp. I love that it's called the Cusp squad. And you've got the Cusp Dental sort of like Boutique circle. So it's like you've got different names also for your groups that people want to be, which is so amazing. I have a friend and she does this in her dermatology and I didn't think about it. But she has it so exclusive that people like fly in from other places to go to her dermatology and be like, how did you get into joyful?   And she's just done a great job of branding it, of making things special, of making it to where this is only for, and I mean, I wrote so many notes because this is not my specialty. That's why I wanted you on the podcast, Anita, because I think hearing what other people do really can help us out. And like you are literally thinking in branding all day, every day, what can I do? But also doing it in such a beautiful aesthetic way as well that people want it. I mean, who doesn't want to Mark Jacobs bag that, yeah, I'm okay with it saying Cusp on it. Like I'll take that, right? ⁓   It's a beautiful thing that people do want, which is amazing. I love it. Well, Zaneta, I adore you. Any last thoughts you have, anything on branding or business ownership or anything that you feel leaving our listeners today would put a nice pretty bow on this for you today, because I've loved it. I've enjoyed all the tactical pieces, so many different fun things, like something so far from what I normally talk about that just makes me excited and psyched ready to do this. So any last things you want to add, any advice, any pieces?   to put a on our podcast today.   Zaneta Hamlin (43:19) Just make it fun, get stuff that you would use, doesn't have to be dental related. mean, ⁓ yeah, you can check in with your team too. They might have some great ideas that you can use, but yeah, just have fun with it and be obnoxious as you want to with it. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (43:40) I love it.   Amazing. Well, Zaneta, thank you. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for sharing. And I think this is just something really special about our dentist community of like people like you and Christie and Sheena and like, Jamin and all Kevin like so many cool amazing doctors that we get to hang out together. I didn't know how that community was going to shake. had visions of it becoming what it's been where you pop on your hair is always wrapped up because you're coming from patients on your computer hanging out.   Zaneta Hamlin (44:07) Yes.   Kiera Dent (44:09) And then all of a sudden I see the like eyes flash to the screen like what? And I'm supposed to do what? You guys want the what? But just like a fun community and having doctors like yourself that just bring special different ways. I think it's just amazing. So thank you for being on the Dental A Team's family. Thank you for being a part of our crew. It's just like, and thank you for sharing on the podcast today. I really appreciate you.   Zaneta Hamlin (44:30) Thank you for having me. Like, yeah, I'm glad Brandy got us to this point because, I'll definitely, I won't disappoint next month. I'll have some new ideas for you because my pin is going to be on, so you'll see that too, on my blazer.   Kiera Dent (44:41) I know you won't. Zaneta, I guarantee you. I can't wait.   I cannot wait. Yeah, you walk around with this pin. I'm telling you Zaneta dresses herself to the hilt with her brand and it's amazing. I love it every time and I never know what you're going to show up in and it's always different. You're always thinking but I also love that you highlighted because some people can go crazy and not be smart strategic business owners and you're able to do both and that's really what I wanted to highlight. So   Thank you and thank everyone. ⁓ And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

I got the idea for this episode talking to a bartender in Prague. The place was empty, and the fellow was garrulous and quickly said he loved American history, which naturally prompted me to suggest a podcast where he could find some. The barkeep called my bluff – “did I know who Augustine Herrman was?” Uh, noooo. It turns out he was a Bohemian – now we would say Czech – from Prague who became one of the wealthiest and most influential men in mid-17th century English and Dutch America, particularly in New Netherland and Maryland. He would live and trade in the early colonies for more than 40 years before his death in Maryland in 1686, and such diverse characters as Pieter Stuyvesant and Lord Baltimore would rely on him for their most sensitive diplomatic matters. Most famously, Herrman would draw the most detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay, at a time when maps were evidence in the settling of disputes between empires. Hermann's map would, among other things, determine the border between Virginia and Maryland on the Eastern Shore, and – through twists and turns – play a role in the establishment of the colony of Delaware. The Czechs are understandably proud of Augustine Herrman, so in gratitude to that bartender and his surprising knowledge of 17th century America, this episode is about Herrman, through the story of his map. Augustine Herrman's Map: Augustine Herrman's woodcut of New Amsterdam, mid 1650s: X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Selected references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Earl L. W. Heck, Augustine Herrman: Beginner of the Virginia Tobacco Trade, Merchant of New Amsterdam and First Lord of Bohemia Manor in Maryland Christian J. Koot, "The Merchant, the Map, and Empire: Augustine Herrman's Chesapeake and Interimperial Trade, 1644–73," The William and Mary Quarterly, October 2010.