Podcasts about northern new jersey

THE DEVIL'S LEDGER Week of September 8, 2026 MISTRIAL. After seven weeks of testimony and roughly 36 hours of deliberations, the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has ended with a hung jury in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Eleven jurors reportedly favored finding Clancy not criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children. One juror disagreed, and Judge William Sullivan ultimately declared a mistrial. So what happens now? Potentially, we do the whole thing again. A deadlocked jury generally does not trigger the double-jeopardy protection that would prevent prosecutors from retrying the case, leaving open the possibility of another trial, a negotiated resolution, or whatever comes next in a case that has already generated an extraordinary amount of public attention. We'll keep following it. In the meantime, I suppose we'll have to wait for whichever juror signs the first book deal. THE CREEPIEST THING I HEARD THIS WEEK THE MASKED MENACE — CAUGHT Remember our masked friend from Philadelphia? A few weeks ago, we told you about a man roaming Center City Philadelphia in a disturbing white doll mask, approaching and chasing strangers and generally turning the morning commute into the opening ten minutes of a slasher movie. Now we have an ending. Authorities identified the suspect as 22-year-old Zymire Hughes, who police say harassed or terrorized more than fifteen people on August 12. In one particularly disturbing encounter, he allegedly approached a woman near JFK Boulevard and repeatedly asked her, “Are you ready to die?” Hughes subsequently traveled from the Philadelphia area to Orlando and then Las Vegas. Newly released body-camera footage shows Las Vegas police and U.S. Marshals closing in on an apartment where authorities believed he was hiding. On August 25, the Nevada Violent Offender Task Force surrounded the complex. Hughes came out. The mask did not. And perhaps the strangest detail of all is that investigators have suggested at least some of this behavior may have been intended for social-media content. Which raises the possibility that the mask wasn't worn because someone didn't want to be recognized. Maybe it was worn because he wanted to be watched. A generation ago, if somebody put on a horrifying mask and started chasing strangers through downtown Philadelphia, we'd ask: What the hell is wrong with this guy? In 2026, apparently we have to ask another question: Was he doing it for the algorithm? That's the Creepiest Thing I Heard This Week. THIS WEEK ON THE DEVIL WITHIN THE NEW MONSTERS: ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWERS This week's installment of The New Monsters deals with one of my favorite urban myths of all time. Growing up in Northern New Jersey, Manhattan was right across the river, and for a kid in the 1980s it represented both sides of the cultural coin. It was the stuff of dreams—hip-hop, graffiti, Basquiat, clubs and the feeling that practically everything interesting in America was happening over there. It was also the stuff of nightmares. This was the New York of Son of Sam, abandoned buildings, graffiti-covered subway cars and an underground world that seemed to begin at the bottom of every subway staircase and continue forever beneath Manhattan. And somewhere down there were the alligators. At least where I grew up, nobody presented this as folklore. Somebody bought a baby alligator in Florida, brought it back to New York, discovered that baby alligators have the annoying habit of becoming adult alligators, and flushed it down the toilet. Then it grew to twelve feet long beneath Manhattan and lived on rats. Obviously. The adults told us this stuff. We didn't invent it. This week on The New Monsters, we're breaking down where the legend came from, the real alligators discovered in New York, the bizarre trade in baby alligators as Florida souvenirs and the stories of legendary sewer superintendent Teddy May that helped turn an isolated reptile into an entire subterranean population. And here's the surprising part: It's not as crazy as you might think. The giant albino colonies are another matter. THIS WEEK ON CRIMINAL MISCHIEF BAD BLOOD: THE HATFIELDS AND THE McCOYS Over on Criminal Mischief, Carolyn Ossorio rolls up her sleeves and heads into one of the most famous family feuds in American history: the Hatfields and the McCoys. Long before reality television discovered that Americans would happily spend an hour watching two families scream at one another, the Hatfields and McCoys were doing it with considerably higher stakes. The feud unfolded along the Kentucky–West Virginia border in the decades following the Civil War and became so deeply embedded in American folklore that the family names themselves became shorthand for any argument that has gone on so long nobody can quite remember why everyone is still angry. But beneath the mythology were real people, real politics, property disputes, murder and revenge. Carolyn separates the history from the caricature this week in Bad Blood, on Criminal Mischief. THIS WEEK ON THE SLIPPERY Scott and Nancy are taking the Labor Day holiday off this week, no doubt researching another scammer, fraudster or human-shaped warning label whose story will eventually have you stopping halfway through the episode to Google: “Wait... is this actually real?” They'll be back next week. Hang in there. THIS WEEK IN HORROR ONSLAUGHT This week in horror, ONSLAUGHT, the new R-rated action-horror movie from director Adam Wingard, gives us an Army sniper veteran forced to unleash everything she knows when a rogue squad of genetically engineered super-soldiers threatens her young daughter. And if that sounds gloriously like somebody discovered an unproduced screenplay behind a Blockbuster Video in 1989 and decided to spend actual money making it nearly four decades later, you understand why it made this week's Ledger. Genetically engineered super-soldiers. Army sniper mom. Dan Stevens. Michael freaking Biehn. I'm not sure what else you people want from me. Onslaught is in theaters now. ACROSS THE EVIO UNIVERSE That's it for this week's Devil's Ledger. Happy September, everybody. We survived August, Labor Day is behind us, football is back, playoff baseball is approaching, and somewhere out there somebody has already ordered a pumpkin-spice latte while it's still ninety-four degrees outside. Hang in there. Fall is coming. Follow your favorite Evio shows wherever you get your podcasts, leave us a 5-star rating and review, and subscribe to the Evio Creative YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you don't miss what's coming next. We'll see you on The Devil Within, Criminal Mischief, The Slippery and everywhere else we're telling stories this week. We'll see you across the Evio Universe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send us Fan MailDebbie grew up in Northern NJ, at the age of 12, her mom and dad split up. This was devastating to the family and she had to pick up 3 jobs to help mom make ends meet. As an adult, she moved to Washington state with her husband who was an engineer...after 7 children together and homeschooling her children, Debbie realized "I was the only married person in the home". At 37, she had to start all over again, raising the children and going back to school to become a teacher. Her first teacher salary was 41k per year, and she had to do many side jobs to help pay the bills and keep a roof over her head. Debbie earned her masters and national board teacher certification in a low wealth district that paid nice supplements for each as she climbed her way to the top of the pay scale. Now 67, Debbie is a multimillionaire, recently retired after 26 years in the classroom, and is a key member of Washington's Financial Education Public-Private Partnership. Be a guest on the show:https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8Check out our website:https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/Sign up for FIT coaching:https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

In September 1972, a dog emerged from the woods of Springfield, New Jersey carrying a decomposed human arm. The remains belonged to sixteen-year-old Jeannette DePalma, who had disappeared 43 days earlier. Almost immediately, her death became something else. Newspapers reported a coffin made from branches, wooden crosses, a pentagram, mutilated animals, and whispers that Jeannette had been sacrificed by a Satanic cult. For nearly fifty years, those stories became inseparable from her name. But when the original case photographs were finally released, the alleged ritual scene disappeared. Tonight, we examine the unsolved death of Jeannette DePalma, the predators hunting Northern New Jersey's highways in the 1970s, and how an ordinary pair of fallen branches helped transform the murder of a sixteen-year-old girl into one of America's earliest Satanic Panic legends. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@HauntedAmericanHistoryTikTok - @hah_podcasthauntedamericanhistory.comPatreon- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/hauntedamericanhistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HAH DISCORD - https://discord.com/invite/bJdbpH3hQm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Andy Schwartz CEO, OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners  |  Kevin Spahn Founder, Spahn Financial (now OnePoint BFG) Two former Northwestern Mutual advisors, two very different paths. Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn share what it takes to build, grow, merge, and create lasting enterprise value. In Summary What separates a successful advisory practice from an enterprise with the ability to grow well beyond its founders? Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn offer two different perspectives on that question. Both spent decades at Northwestern Mutual, but their paths eventually diverged. Andy left to help build what is now OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, an $18B+ firm expected to surpass $20B by year-end. Kevin built one of Northwestern Mutual's top practices before deciding to merge his business into OnePoint and become an equity partner. Louis talks with Andy and Kevin about the decisions behind both journeys: creating a true firm rather than an aggregation of practices, transitioning advisors from 1099 to W-2, using outside capital without relinquishing control, rethinking succession, and determining when equity in a larger enterprise can offer greater opportunity than continuing to build alone. Underlying it all is a factor that's much harder to quantify: trust. The Storyline Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn have known each other for roughly 30 years. They met while both were building careers at Northwestern Mutual, where Andy became an important mentor to Kevin as Kevin transitioned from practicing law and estate planning into wealth management. After roughly 30 years at Northwestern Mutual, Andy and his partners left in 2015 with approximately $3B in assets to launch independently. What began as Bleakley Financial eventually became OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, an $18B+ enterprise that Andy expects will surpass $20B by the end of 2026. That kind of growth required more than attracting assets. Andy describes the evolution from a predominantly 1099 structure into a firm where more than 85% of advisors and AUM are now W-2. The shift created a more cohesive enterprise, gave advisors access to equity, and ultimately positioned OnePoint to bring in minority capital from Joe Duran's Rise Growth Partners. Andy makes an important distinction about that relationship: OnePoint is “private equity invested,” not “private equity owned.” The structure gave the firm capital and expertise while allowing its partners to retain control. Kevin faced a different decision. After more than 30 years at Northwestern Mutual, his practice had grown to 18 people and approximately $2B in assets. He was happy at the firm, but his clients had evolved, his business had become increasingly complex, and the internal succession plan he once envisioned carried risks he could no longer ignore. He could have built an independent firm himself. Instead, he chose to merge with OnePoint. The decision wasn't driven by the largest possible check. Kevin saw the opportunity to become an equity partner in a larger enterprise, give his team and clients a more durable future, and leverage infrastructure he didn't want to recreate himself. For both men, the story ultimately comes back to the same principle: The right economics matter, but sustainable partnerships require trust, shared philosophy, and the belief that everyone involved can create more value together than separately. Topics Covered Building an enterprise versus building a practice Northwestern Mutual and the path to independence OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners' growth from ~$3B to $18B+ Organic growth versus M&A Creating a growth-oriented advisor culture Moving from a 1099 model to a predominantly W-2 structure Equity ownership and advisor alignment Minority private equity investment Rise Growth Partners and Joe Duran Internal succession versus an external merger Selling versus merging an advisory business Merging versus teaming versus going it alone Evaluating equity versus cash in a transaction The economics of leaving a captive firm Centralization versus advisor autonomy Trust as a factor in partnerships and transactions > Download a transcript of this episode… Listen and Learn Highlights for Advisors How did Andy and Kevin's 30-year relationship ultimately lead to a transaction? (04:11)Kevin explains how Andy helped him transition from attorney and estate planner into wealth management, beginning a professional relationship that would eventually make their partnership possible decades later. Why did Andy leave Northwestern Mutual after roughly 30 years? (08:45)Andy describes wanting greater flexibility, a multi-custodial platform, and more optionality for clients and the business—a decision that ultimately led to the creation of OnePoint BFG. Why did Kevin decide his longtime Northwestern Mutual practice needed something different? (15:49)Kevin explains how his clients, service needs, and business evolved over time, while concerns about his original internal succession plan led him to consider a different path. What has driven OnePoint's growth from approximately $3B to $18B+? (21:41)Andy outlines the firm's emphasis on client experience, advisor experience, organic growth, and carefully selected inorganic growth—and why helping advisors grow is fundamental to the model. Why does Andy say OnePoint is a firm rather than an aggregator? (23:54)The distinction comes down to alignment, shared responsibility, centralized resources, equity, and a partnership structure in which advisors are accountable to one another. How did OnePoint convert a predominantly 1099 advisor base into a W-2 enterprise? (29:26)Andy explains why capital and equity became necessary to build the next stage of the business and why trust was essential to bringing advisors into a more integrated structure. Why did OnePoint choose minority private equity investment? (33:13)Andy shares why Rise Growth Partners offered something previous potential buyers had not: a structure designed to benefit the broader advisor partnership while preserving control. Why did Kevin merge with OnePoint rather than shop his practice broadly? (36:43)For Kevin, maximizing price wasn't the objective. His decision centered on trust in Andy, confidence in OnePoint's infrastructure, and creating a strong future for clients and employees. Why did Kevin choose equity in the larger firm instead of simply cashing out? (40:57)Kevin explains why he believes participating in the future growth of a larger enterprise offers a compelling alternative to relying solely on the future growth of his own practice. How should advisors evaluate the “golden handcuffs” that can make leaving difficult? (46:42)Andy argues that the analysis needs to compare what an advisor gives up with the potential growth, economics, equity, and leverage available on the other side. How much conformity does a true enterprise require? (49:06)Andy explains why OnePoint sits somewhere between complete advisor autonomy and complete centralization, seeking enough consistency to create enterprise value without eliminating entrepreneurial flexibility. What would Andy and Kevin tell their younger selves? (52:06)Kevin emphasizes surrounding yourself with the best people possible, while Andy reflects on having the courage to make a difficult change after a successful 30-year run. Key Takeaways Building enterprise value requires more than asset growth. OnePoint's evolution included changing its ownership structure, integrating advisor practices, creating equity opportunities, and investing in centralized capabilities. Organic growth remains central even in an M&A-driven market. OnePoint targets approximately 10% organic growth and evaluates prospective partners partly on whether they are growth-oriented and whether the firm can meaningfully help them grow. A collection of successful advisors does not automatically make a firm. Andy sees shared ownership, alignment, accountability, infrastructure, and centralized services as critical distinctions between an enterprise and an aggregator. Outside capital does not have to mean giving up control. OnePoint chose a minority investment from Rise Growth Partners that provided capital and strategic support while leaving control with its operating partners. Succession can expose risks that growth may obscure. Kevin began reconsidering his internal succession strategy when he recognized its dependence on his continued production, key employees, and the future economics of an aging client base. The highest purchase price isn't always the most valuable transaction. Kevin prioritized equity participation, infrastructure, continuity for his employees and clients, and confidence in his future partners over broadly shopping his business for the highest bid. Trust can determine whether structural change is possible. From OnePoint's 1099-to-W-2 conversion to Kevin's decision to merge, both guests repeatedly point to established trust as the foundation that allowed significant business decisions to happen. https://youtu.be/jkIoynpZj6Y Quotable Moments “The biggest mistake advisors make is they buy their own bullshit.”— Andy Schwartz “We're not an aggregator, we're a firm.”— Andy Schwartz “The biggest issue is trust. Either they trust you or they don't.”— Andy Schwartz “I wasn't looking to sell my business. I was looking to merge it.”— Kevin Spahn “You have to trust them. You have to see that they provide value. And you need to be on the same page philosophically.”— Kevin Spahn “Associate yourselves with the best people you can… It accelerates your trajectory in ways that you can't do on your own.”— Kevin Spahn FAQs Why did Andy Schwartz leave Northwestern Mutual? After approximately 30 years at Northwestern Mutual, Andy and his partners wanted greater flexibility, the ability to operate on a multi-custodial basis, and more optionality for clients and the business. They left in 2015 with approximately $3B in assets and launched the independent firm that ultimately became OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners. How large is OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners? At the time of the interview, Andy says OnePoint manages more than $18B and expects to exceed $20B by the end of 2026, even without additional organic growth. What has driven OnePoint's growth? Andy points to three priorities: client experience, advisor experience, and growth. The firm targets approximately 10% organic growth while also expanding through acquisitions and partnerships with advisors it believes fit the OnePoint model. Why did OnePoint move advisors from 1099 to W-2? The firm wanted to evolve from a platform supporting individual practices into a more integrated enterprise. That required creating firm-level economics and equity that could be used to attract, retain, and align advisors. Today, Andy says more than 85% of OnePoint's advisors and AUM are W-2. What does “private equity invested, not private equity owned” mean? Rise Growth Partners holds a minority, non-controlling interest in OnePoint. The investment provides capital, expertise, and strategic support while the operating partners retain majority ownership and control of the business. Why did Kevin Spahn leave Northwestern Mutual? Kevin says he remained happy at Northwestern Mutual, but his practice and clients had evolved. His work had shifted increasingly toward investments and complex high-net-worth planning, while he also began identifying risks in his intended internal succession plan. Why did Kevin merge with OnePoint rather than launch his own independent RIA? OnePoint already had the infrastructure, people, and capabilities Kevin would have needed to build himself. The merger allowed him to focus on clients while becoming an equity partner in a larger enterprise he believed could grow faster than his standalone practice. Why didn't Kevin shop his practice to multiple buyers? Kevin says his decision was driven primarily by trust. He had known Andy and other OnePoint partners for decades and believed the firm offered the right future for his clients and employees. His choice ultimately came down to staying at Northwestern Mutual or joining OnePoint. How do Andy and Kevin suggest advisors evaluate a potential partner? Their discussion points to three fundamental considerations: trust, demonstrable value, and philosophical alignment. Economics matter, but both argue that a sustainable partnership depends on confidence in the people and business on the other side of the transaction. After approximately 30 years at Northwestern Mutual, Andy and his partners wanted greater flexibility, the ability to operate on a multi-custodial basis, and more optionality for clients and the business. They left in 2015 with approximately $3B in assets and launched the independent firm that ultimately became OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners. At the time of the interview, Andy says OnePoint manages more than $18B and expects to exceed $20B by the end of 2026, even without additional organic growth. Andy points to three priorities: client experience, advisor experience, and growth. The firm targets approximately 10% organic growth while also expanding through acquisitions and partnerships with advisors it believes fit the OnePoint model. The firm wanted to evolve from a platform supporting individual practices into a more integrated enterprise. That required creating firm-level economics and equity that could be used to attract, retain, and align advisors. Today, Andy says more than 85% of OnePoint's advisors and AUM are W-2. Rise Growth Partners holds a minority, non-controlling interest in OnePoint. The investment provides capital, expertise, and strategic support while the operating partners retain majority ownership and control of the business. Kevin says he remained happy at Northwestern Mutual, but his practice and clients had evolved. His work had shifted increasingly toward investments and complex high-net-worth planning, while he also began identifying risks in his intended internal succession plan. OnePoint already had the infrastructure, people, and capabilities Kevin would have needed to build himself. The merger allowed him to focus on clients while becoming an equity partner in a larger enterprise he believed could grow faster than his standalone practice. Kevin says his decision was driven primarily by trust. He had known Andy and other OnePoint partners for decades and believed the firm offered the right future for his clients and employees. His choice ultimately came down to staying at Northwestern Mutual or joining OnePoint. Their discussion points to three fundamental considerations: trust, demonstrable value, and philosophical alignment. Economics matter, but both argue that a sustainable partnership depends on confidence in the people and business on the other side of the transaction. Related Resources Rise and Reinvent: Joe Duran on Building and Rebuilding World-Class Firms From Insurance Sales to $8B RIA: A Northwestern Mutual Breakaway Story The 4th Annual Advisor Transition Report Andy SchwartzCo-Founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Executive Officer Andy Schwartz is the Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Executive Officer of OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, where he also serves as a Wealth Management Advisor. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® with more than 40 years of experience, Andy has built his career around helping clients make confident, well-informed financial decisions at every stage of life. He works extensively with physicians and business owners on wealth building, retirement planning, and tax-efficient asset transfer across generations. A 2026 finalist for Wealth Management Awards CEO of the Year (under $25B AUM), Andy brings the same discipline to leading the firm that he brings to client relationships: comprehensive planning, long-term thinking, and an unwavering commitment to independence and integrity. Beyond his client work, Andy is deeply invested in the advisory profession itself. He co-hosts The Advisor’s Compass podcast, offering candid, practical guidance on the business and responsibilities of being an advisor. His mentorship philosophy is straightforward: pass the ladder back down. His industry recognition spans more than a decade, including Top 1,200 Advisor by Barron’s (2018–2024), Top 250 Wealth Advisor and Best-In-State Wealth Advisor by Forbes (2018–2024), Top 400 Financial Advisor by the Financial Times (2018–2020), and Top 100 Independent Advisor (2020–2023). He was named Executive of the Year by NJBIZ in 2019 and was a finalist for the Invest in Others Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 20 years of service with NJ SEEDS. Andy holds a B.S. in Finance and Marketing from Rowan University and is actively involved with Nourish NJ, the Navy SEAL Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, and JSDD. Outside the office, he enjoys golf, reading, and time with his family at the beach.   Kevin SpahnPartner and Wealth Advisor Kevin Spahn is a Partner and Wealth Advisor at OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, bringing more than three decades of experience in comprehensive financial planning to his clients and the firm. Kevin’s path to wealth management is rooted in the law. After earning degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin, he began his career as a practicing attorney before making a deliberate pivot toward financial planning in 1993. He joined Northwestern Mutual, then founded Spahn Financial, building a practice centered on thoughtful, holistic planning for families and business owners. That practice joined OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners in 2025. His approach has remained consistent throughout: help clients build and protect wealth not just for themselves, but for the generations that follow. Kevin works with clients on comprehensive financial plans that account for the full picture, understanding that the impact of good planning extends well beyond an individual portfolio to families, businesses, employees, and the broader community. Kevin is based in the greater Chicago area.   NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation. View the transcript of this episode… Build, Grow & Transact: Making the Leap from Northwestern Mutual to a $20B Enterprise A conversation between Louis Diamond, Andy Schwartz, CEO of OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners and Kevin Spahn, Founder of Spahn Financial (now OnePoint BFG). Louis Diamond: Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast series for financial advisors. Today’s episode is Build, Grow & Transact: Making the Leap from Northwestern Mutual to a $20B Enterprise. It’s a conversation with Andy Schwartz, CEO of OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, and Kevin Spahn, founder of Spahn Financial, now OnePoint BFG. I’m Louis Diamond, and this is The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors. Mindy Diamond: At Diamond Consultants, we help elite advisors identify the right environment for their businesses to thrive, whether that’s at a wirehouse, boutique, or independent firm. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve guided thousands of advisors and represented more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets transitioned. Each year, one in four advisors managing a billion dollars or more who change firms are our clients. Our process is education-driven and based on building relationships, starting as your strategic partner well before you’re even thinking of a move. To schedule a confidential conversation, call us at 908-879-1002. Wondering why advisors change firms and where they’re headed? Are transition deals going up or down? Those very questions, and more, inspired us to create our annual Advisor Transition Report. It’s the award-winning data-driven resource designed for advisors that connects the dots between the motivations around movement and the firm’s appetite for top talent. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make smart decisions. Download your copy at diamond-consultants.com/transitionreport. Louis Diamond: There’s a big difference between building a successful practice and building an enterprise. I think Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn offer a unique perspective on that distinction from two very different sides. Both spent decades in the Northwestern Mutual system. Andy ultimately left to build what became OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, taking the firm from roughly three billion to nearly 20 billion and transforming just about every aspect of the business along the way. Kevin built one of Northwestern Mutual’s top practices before reaching a different inflection point, deciding what he wanted the next phase of his career and business to look like. Rather than go independent on his own or simply monetize what he had built, he chose to become part of Andy’s growing enterprise. That makes their story particularly relevant for our Build, Grow, and Transact series. Andy can speak to what it takes to build a firm capable of becoming an acquirer, from converting advisors from 1099s to W-2s, to creating equity opportunities, to bringing in outside capital while remaining very deliberate about being private equity-invested rather than private equity-owned. And Kevin brings the seller’s perspective, how you evaluate the economics, the trade-offs, and ultimately the people you’re trusting with the business you spent more than 30 years building. Because whether you’re building, buying, or considering a transaction of any kind, the numbers are only part of the equation. As you hear from both Andy and Kevin, trust may be the most important currency of all. So let’s get to it. Andy and Kevin, thank you so much for both joining us today. Andy Schwartz: Great to see you again, Lewis. Thank you for having us. Louis Diamond: I’ve been excited about this interview for a bunch of reasons. One, our Build, Grow, Transact series has become a real staple of our show and we got lots to talk about there. But also, the friendship, the relationship that you two have had for over 30 years really stood out to me. So before we get into the nuts and bolts, talk about your relationship. How’d you guys meet, and how did your career stay so intertwined together when you’re in different geographies and at different firms, and have each been very successful in your own rights? Andy Schwartz: Sure. Kevin, do you want to start with that? Kevin Spahn: Sure. I started in this career in 1994 and met Andy sometime after that. He was a more advanced financial planner. I was an attorney, and then I transitioned into this business. So when I first joined Northwestern Mutual, which is my first broker dealer, I didn’t really have a background in investments. At the time, a lot of Northwestern Mutual reps were learning the investment business because they maybe originally started with Northwestern Mutual focusing more on insurance planning. My background was more estate planning. At the time, if you think early ’90s, if you did estate planning, insurance often went hand in hand with that. The estate exemption in early 1990s was about $600,000. So if you pass more than $600,000 to your children, there was a 55% tax. One way around it was to put insurance in an irrevocable trust, help cover the tax that way. So it really was a popular common strategy back then, and it’s really what got me into the business. But I quickly realized that I didn’t want my future to be insurance and estate planning. And there was a conflict if you acted as someone’s attorney and sold insurance. So I had to pick one way or the other. I decided long-term it would be better for me to move into the wealth management space. But with that little background in that, I had a lot of work to do. So took a lot of tests, became a certified financial planner. But the person that helped me the most along the way was Andy. We became friends, we sat on committees together. That’s really how we met, I would say. So we worked side by side interacting with our home office and representing the field, bringing issues to the home office that we thought were beneficial to the field. As we did that together, I got to know Andy. And then separately, I learned from him how he built his business and how they would review clients’ portfolios and come up with solutions. So I really credit Andy with helping me more than anyone else to transition from attorney, financial planner doing more estate planning insurance to wealth management. Louis Diamond: Very cool. Hey, I would say, maybe I’m a little biased, that, Kevin, you picked the right path in hanging up the law shingle and coming into wealth management. Kevin Spahn: I tell a lot of people I’m a reformed attorney. Andy Schwartz: Great. Louis Diamond: Exactly. My dad would say the exact same thing. Very common at dinner tables in the Diamond households. Andy Schwartz: I was always grateful that I wasn’t smart enough to be an attorney. Louis Diamond: There we go. Andy Schwartz: That’s where my gratitude lies. Yeah. Louis Diamond: There we go. Andy Schwartz: Some would say he’s too smart. Louis Diamond: There we go. Andy, question for you. I mean, anyone who is at or was at Northwestern Mutual, I mean, you’re like Elvis to them. It’s absolutely crazy the amount of fanfare and brand recognition that you and your brother Scott have. But for those who maybe missed your first podcast appearance with us a number of years ago, or aren’t or weren’t within the Northwestern Mutual system, or haven’t been familiar with Bleakley and now OnePoint BFG, just give us the cliff notes, the origin story, how you got into the business, and how’d you get from here to there? Andy Schwartz: Yeah. So the origin is probably pretty common, probably by accident. Going into my senior year in college, I was working in a restaurant, had a falling out with my boss. I happened to be dating a woman who was living with a general agent with Fidelity Union Life. No one will have ever heard of Fidelity Union Life, but their secret sauce was they sold life insurance to college seniors on a note. So if you can get a $10 money order, because where I went to school, nobody had a checking account, then you could basically get a note signed and they would buy insurance. And then when they graduate, hopefully they’d pay for it. I started selling life insurance my senior year in college. And then my twin brother Scott, who is my partner, and has been for over 40 years, he took an interview with what was the nucleus of our present firm actually. I just went up to Northern New Jersey in May of 1984 because I was an expert. I had been selling life insurance to college kids for six months, so I knew everything you had to know. We met with these guys, and we both ended up joining them. So that was a Northwestern Mutual district agency, and that was 1984. We got licensed right away. I got my CFP in ’86. We always knew that it was going to be about planning. So I think we had the right idea. We were a little ahead of the curve because there weren’t a lot of CFPs in ’86. We got securities license immediately. So before Northwestern had securities license, we got securities license with US Life actually. And then it was really a volume business, a client-building business. We always tried to act as a firm and share resources. We were small, but like a lot of people, we started out selling A shares and B shares and C shares, doing financial planning, selling insurance, and then we made a lot of really good hires along the way. And then after 30 years at Northwestern Mutual, which was a great experience for me, and I have nothing but respect for the institution and certainly the advisors that are there, Kevin certainly was one of them, and I know he feels the same way, but we just wanted to have a little more flexibility. We went independent about 11, almost 12 years ago. We wanted to be able to be multi-custodial. We wanted to have a little bit more optionality for our clients and for ourselves. We left Northwestern at three billion or so in assets, and that was in 2015. It’s in March of 2024, I get introduced to this guy with a crazy accent named Joe Duran. Funny, probably the only person in the industry that had no idea who Joe Duran was me. I’d never heard of Joe Duran. I don’t pay attention. I worry about our firm. I don’t worry about what’s going on outside. So I get introduced to Joe by a mutual friend, and we had an interesting conversation, and it took us probably about four or five months to figure out what we wanted to do. And then in August of ’24, myself and my three partners, we rolled in. And then in ’85, the rest of the firm rolled in. And we can talk a little bit more about that. Today we’re 18-plus billion, growing quite a bit. We’ve been very lucky that we’ve made some very good decisions along the way. We’ve made some bad ones too. But most of the decisions had to do with the people that we hired, the people that we brought on to help us, because I think it’s really important. I always say that the biggest mistake advisors make is they buy their own bullshit, and I try not to, and I realize that I’m smart enough, but I’m certainly not the smartest guy. I’m rarely the smartest guy in the room. So what we try to do is hire lots and lots of really smart people. And we’ve done that. They’ve been loyal to us, we’ve been loyal to them. Yeah, so we’re blessed to have a really great team and lots of good partners. Yeah. Louis Diamond: Yeah, we’ll definitely get into more of the nuts and bolts of the decision to take on capital, partner with Joe Duran’s Rise, but that’s an amazing background. Andy, I have to give you credit because your style, and I think I’m sure there’s business benefits, but it comes from a good place, I’m sure. But the coaching and consulting and just assistance that I’ve heard you provide to so many past and current Northwestern Mutual advisors through sports camps is absolutely incredible. It’s very near and dear to my heart because we always try to lead with education and helping people. So I just wanted to call that out, that your reputation for just providing amazing guidance and coaching to advisors is unparalleled. Andy Schwartz: And it’s been the best part of our journey. We’ve been able to help so many people. We get way too much credit by the way. So everybody gives us way too much credit. But the way I look at it is, I’ve been able to leverage my life because I’ve been able to build a great life for myself and my family, but we’ve been able to leverage that, and that’s where the real gift is. So yeah, it’s been a joyful journey for us. Louis Diamond: Amazing. Kevin, question for you. You walked through your little bit unorthodox background to get into Northwestern. Can you talk about where your personal practice is today? And then I want to ask you about the decision to leave Northwestern and sell and team up with Andy and team. Kevin Spahn: Well, I have to go back to the beginning. What was attractive to me about this business is I went from a career which was confrontational adversarial. I was a trial attorney for six years, and every day I would fight with people over things I didn’t necessarily have a personal interest in and I didn’t really believe in always. But the adversarial confrontational nature wasn’t really my personality, and I would take it too personally. So sometimes I’d go home in a bad mood because I was fighting with somebody taking a deposition. At night, after so many years as a trial attorney, I started going to people’s houses and doing wills and trusts. And that’s where the dynamic of working with a client or a potential client, feeling that you helped them and walking out of the meeting where they would appreciate what you did for them, and you build a relationship and actually all of a sudden have a friend, that dynamic was attractive to me. That’s really what got me to transition into the business. So I think it was really helpful to me at the beginning of this career. As Andy said, we all grew our businesses one client at a time. There’s a lot of doors closed, phones hung up on. There’s many people that don’t want to talk to you. There’s many people that don’t call you back. There’s many people that you think you’re getting somewhere with and you don’t. And that’s difficult for people because people often, young reps take that as personal rejection. I had the benefit of comparing what I was dealing with as a young financial planner to what I had dealt with as an attorney in litigation. I think it just was perspective that I knew I didn’t want to do that anymore. So the negatives to this business didn’t seem that bad to me. I loved the independence. I loved all the relationships that I was building. And that part of it is to this day my favorite part of the business. When you ask about the present, what basically happens is you start out taking anybody and everybody as a potential client or as someone that you would be willing to work with. And then over time you work with more successful people. So where I’m at today is working with pretty successful people, but they’re all the same, meaning we like working with nice people. If people are nice, we work with them. I feel we can help anybody. Over the years, one client at a time. The thing that I probably, if I could go back, would change is I think Andy and I are both good at meeting people and building trust and providing value, so that’s why they work with us. So I think that’s just something we’ve both been able to do. He’s much better than I am at building an organization. So I built an organization basically hiring people, that whenever we got too busy, I hired another person. Drawback in terms of that is, anybody that I interview I think is great, and I think they’d be great to join the organization. I like them all. In spite of that, I’ve also brought in many good people that I love. At this point, my firm has 18 people. We’re a little subset of Andy’s larger firm. I think one of the most attractive things to me about joining Andy’s firm is what Andy mentioned before: the people. As opposed to me having to build this all out myself, going independent, Andy already did that. And he has the infrastructure that would allow me to just merge right into that and not have to go through the pain of figuring all that out, which I don’t even think I’m capable of, to be honest with you. Louis Diamond: You’re probably selling yourself short because the way I understood it, you had one of the top practices within the entire Northwestern Mutual systems, and it’s a firm filled with very successful advisors. For you, Kevin, what was the driving force to leaving NM after all these years? What was bothering you or frustrating you that indicated to you that it was time to do something different? Kevin Spahn: To be honest with you, I was pretty happy at Northwestern Mutual. I love the company and the people. I still have many good friends there that I truly miss. The big thing for me, I don’t know if it was any one thing, to be honest with you, is Andy said there’s optionality, especially on the investment side. I think one of the things that happened to me is, when I first started, I was 31 years old, and most of the potential clients that I would meet and work with, they weren’t what I would call today great investment clients. They didn’t have a lot of money. They had great futures. They might’ve been earning significant income or on the way to earning significant income. So what did they need at that point in their life? They needed planning. They needed protection. They didn’t really need investment management because most of their investments were going into their 401(k). But a lot of those clients that we would take on, and I think that’s the big advantage of Northwestern Mutual, you take on clients that a lot of the investor firms don’t want because they don’t have large investment portfolios. But at some point down the road, all of a sudden you wake up and they do have large investment portfolios. So you bring them in as clients that might buy life insurance from you or disability insurance or something like that. And then you help them, and you give them advice, and you build a relationship with them. Down the road, they make more and more money. They leave jobs, they roll 401(k)s, they have the ability to invest money, stock options, things like that. Next thing you’re doing more comprehensive planning that incorporates investments. As that progresses even further, you work with larger and larger clients, much more significant net worth, more complexity, bigger tax issues. Some of the strategies and opportunities that we now have at this independent RIA are very attractive for these high-net-worth clients. Along the same lines, less of what I do at this point in my career is insurance, mostly because a lot of the people that I meet are older, they already bought insurance, they’re looking more for investment advice as opposed to insurance. So one of the things that most attracted me to Northwest Mutual was their strong insurance products, which helped me for many years. As time went on, I was doing less of that. Louis Diamond: Makes complete sense. So it was a changing of what clients wanted and just the circumstances of your clients where you said, “What got me here when I was 31 was insurance planning, and that’s what my clients needed. But as my practice has evolved, I’ve aged, my clients are older, have more money, the focus shifted from insurance to investments.” And then the distinction was, am I at the best place to run investments in addition to insurance planning, et cetera? It’s a very interesting dynamic. Just the shift in basically your legacy clients was what drove you to consider change. Kevin Spahn: That was a big factor. I think the second big factor was I had my own firm with 18 people. My succession plan was that at some point I would shift ownership of the firm to people that worked with me. So as they owned more of the firm, they would have revenue that was currently at the time being paid to me. In my mind, as it shifted to them, they would buy me out using revenue from the clients that we already had. And I realized that there were some issues with that. In our business, as you get older, in your client’s age, they start taking money out of their portfolios. So everyone understands that in our business, the younger average age client you have makes your book more valuable. I was the biggest driver of new business at my firm, and I started to see that there were some problems with my succession plan. They included, if something happened to me during this succession, that would be a real problem for the people that were buying my business from me if I went that way. If something happened to some of my key people, that would’ve been a problem as well. So it was really attractive to me to… I wasn’t looking to sell my business, I was looking to merge it. So I merged it with Andy’s business. I believe that Andy and what he’s put together and the actual idea of having partners. So I never really had partners, but now I do. Having partners that we’re all on the same page, we all have similar backgrounds, we all bring something different to the table, and we can learn and benefit from working with each other. But also, owning a little piece of a much larger firm was, number one, it put me in a better position in terms of the potential risk of something happening to me or one of my key people. But secondly, I just think it’s more likely to grow at a greater pace than my firm would’ve as I aged from my 60s to my 70s. Louis Diamond: Very interesting. It’s a great realization. I think it’s one that probably every firm owner grapples with at some point, is the romanticism or the ease, some would say, of an internal succession plan. Rewarding those who have helped you build the firm is something I think everyone is interested in. But once that’s put into practice, whether it’s because of capital or sky-high valuations or right people on the bus or risk, et cetera, nowadays oftentimes leads to a firm owner looking at a transaction, whether it’s a merger, a sale, a private equity, capital infusion as a means to solve for succession. So it’s a very interesting way you framed it. Andy, I want to turn it over to you for a little bit. So you mentioned when you launched Bleakley Financial, which was the old name of your firm, out of Northwestern, you’re about three billion. I think I read that you’re about 10 billion or so when Joe Duran and Rise invested you in 2024. You just said you’re at 18 billion now in the middle of 2026. That is absolutely incredible and amazing. Andy Schwartz: We’ll be well over 20 by the end of the year without any additional organic growth. Louis Diamond: That’s absolutely incredible. Andy Schwartz: We’ve got a lot going on right now. Louis Diamond: What’s actually driven that? What’s been the playbook? Andy Schwartz: The three areas that are most important for us, and we had our town hall this morning, and we always talk about the things we focus on as a group, the first and most important is the client experience. I always say to people, if you are their advisor, then that means someone else isn’t. These people, they all deserve to be really well taken care of. They deserve the best service, they deserve the best advice. So that’s something we take really personally. So client experience first. Then we also understand that we don’t just work for clients, we work for our advisors. So I have two jobs. I have, I don’t know, 500 clients I service with my team, and I work for Kevin and 36 other partners and all of our employees. Because again, I recognize that the decision Kevin made… We’re in the middle of a transition out with another advisor, and we pretty much talk to her every day, and I know how hard this is. A transition is so difficult. When you come from a good place, because any of the Northwestern advisor who joins, they’re coming from a good place, it’s not like they have to go anywhere, it’s difficult. So we have the massive responsibility that three or four or five or 10 years from now, that there better be hugs around that this was the best decision ever made or otherwise. That’s the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. So we’ve got to take care of our client experience, we’ve got to take care of our advisor experience. And then obviously, we’ve got to grow the firm so the firm grows organically. So part of this whole idea of serving our advisors is we have to help our advisors grow. I talk to a lot of people on the acquisition side, and if I’m talking to an advisor, it doesn’t matter how big they are, we kind of think of it as a OnePoint way. There’s flexibility in the OnePoint way. But if I can’t help them grow, I don’t want them, because I say it all the time, I’m not the mafia. I’m not here to get a taste. Louis, if you weren’t interested in joining us, if I thought that we could help you grow by doing that, then I want you bad. If I don’t think I can help you grow because we’re so different, or because you’re not going to adapt what we do, or there’s no leverage in it, or you’re already better than we are, I don’t want it. So for us, organic growth, number one, and I think you know the industries well enough, that’s got to be the key. We shoot for 10% organic growth. We’re at a little over 5% so far halfway through the year. So assuming we have the similar second half of the year, we’ll hit our 10. Last year we’re at 7.5%. The second is the inorganic growth. If you truly build a platform, if you truly build a firm that advisors know that they’ll be supported, that they’ll be loved, and you’ll help them grow their businesses, it does make it easier for us. We’re not the highest bidder typically. We can’t. We respect our client’s capital, we respect their equity, so therefore we’re not going to go out there. We’re not an aggregator, we’re a firm. But I think that if we can get that message across, and I think we have, then advisors join us. So that’s been a big part of the growth. And then the market’s helped. Obviously, over the last two years, the market’s been helpful. So that’s how we’ve gone from 10 to 18 and on our way to 22 by year-end. Louis Diamond: This is absolutely incredible. Any advisor or firm owner would say organic growth is important, but just saying it’s important doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. So what are the ways in which you help your advisors or your own practice grow organically? What is it that OnePoint is doing for your advisors? Andy Schwartz: Starting with bringing on growth-oriented advisors. I mean, look, Kevin Spahn and I come from the same place. We learned how to sell. The great thing about coming out of whether they’re broker dealers or out of the different insurance BDs is, these are people that know how to sell. These are people that don’t think that selling is a bad word. A lot of times you go to the wirehouses and they’re not necessarily sales guys. They’re really smart. They think that they’re investment mavens and investment geniuses. I’m not interested in investment geniuses. I’m interested in people that want to take care of their clients, provide everything they can, clients first, do the proper planning, be good advisors, but they’re growth-oriented. So as long as we’re talking with the right advisors. Again, if I’m talking to advisor and they might have a big practice, if they’re not growers, we’re not interested. There’s a sense of responsibility for all the partners because we are a true partnership. It’s not an aggregation. This is a firm. I’m responsible for Kevin. Kevin’s responsible to me. All of our partners are responsible to each other, because if we’re going to do a 10% organic growth target, and if some partner is negative 3%, we don’t put them through the spanking machine, but everybody is very aware of where everybody is and nobody wants to let their partners down. I think either you’re a growth-oriented advisor or you’re a zoo-fed bear. There’s another expression that I got from another Rise Growth Partner or Rise Growth firm. We all kind of communicate and talk to each other. And I was talking about zoo-fed bears, and he said, we call them house cats that think they fight. So they’re house cats, but they have no claws. But I think if you’re careful about who you bring on as partners, and if they are workers, growers, they understand that their job in life is to serve the people. We talk about referrals, we do lots of training to help on referrals. We work on organic growth strategies from the firm, but a lot of it comes from the advisors themselves. Louis Diamond: Makes sense. So it sounds like, to boil it down, it’s being really selective and having a really clear sense of who’s the right fit for your firm. Not that there’s not amazing advisors out there, but just because you’re an amazing advisor, doesn’t mean you’re the right fit to join OnePoint. Andy Schwartz: I think the one big distinction and difference is other than the fact that we are minority-owned with private equity. So we own our business. I mean, I’m the CEO of the firm. I also have the biggest book in the firm. At least for right now, I mean, Kevin was transitioning, so I’m sure next year he’ll be the leading advisor. But I lead the firm, because as far as I’m concerned, you have to lead by example. We are completely aligned. I know exactly what Kevin does every day because I do the same thing. I’m not some attorney or accountant or private equity boss that’s saying, “Oh, I’ve got an idea for growth. We’ll just raise our fees by 5%.” Brilliant. Yeah, we are completely aligned, all of us. I think that makes us a little bit unique, and it really helps us, I think, in our growth trajectory. Louis Diamond: I would agree. The challenge that a lot of advisors-turned-firm-owners or turned-enterprise-builders have is the tug of war between the client work, which either is their ultimate passion and driving force, or it’s something they’re really good at minimum, versus being the owner, the operator, et cetera. I resonate very much, Andy, with the way you handle it. I do the same thing running a company, but also working with advisors. To me, I need to do both in order to do my job well. But that tug of war is tough. So I’m curious, your firm is very large now, you’re a steward of external capital, and you have a $3 billion book yourself. How do you do it? How do you balance the two? Andy Schwartz: Well, fortunately, my kids are grown, so I’m not coaching sports anymore. So I do have a little more time than most. Look, we have a great team. So the idea that I run the firm… I mean, I lead the firm, I don’t run the firm. We have great partners. We have great… Our manager team is fantastic. So I mean, they really run the firm. But this is where my passion is for now. So I don’t mind. Days are typically pretty long. I don’t play golf during the week. Mara and I don’t travel probably as much as we should. Vacations are always a little bit mixed. There’s always room for calls and meetings and whatever. But to me, I mean, I’m grateful to be in this situation. I’m enjoying it. This is such a privilege to be the person that people recognize as the leader of this bunch, of this group. I mean, it is the honor of my life. So I don’t think of it so much as work. It’s my advocation. It does get busy. There are some times where I have to remind myself, “Just enjoy the ride.” I get a little overwhelmed, but I get lots of help and that makes it possible. Louis Diamond: Yep. If you’re not doing the job of the folks that you’re encouraging and leading to do, how do you have fodder to train them, to teach them, to empathize with that? Andy Schwartz: Exactly, you don’t have the credibility. I can ask them to do almost anything because they know I do it myself, and I think that helps. Louis Diamond: Yep. So moving more into the decision to bring on private equity capital, what I thought was probably the most interesting component of your announcement that you took on PE investment was that you completely restructured or reoriented your firm prior to Joe Duran coming in 2024. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Bleakley Financial Group was almost all 1099 contractors. So everyone owned their own books of business, paid Bleakley a fee or an override for certain services. But now, today, over 85% of your advisors and your AUM are W-2 employees, meaning you converted them from 1099 to acquiring them or merging with them. To me, that’s the dream. It’s had to have been very, very, very hard and challenging because there’s so many aggregator firms or platforms that support independent advisors, but the value that they’ve created is fairly minimal relative to one cohesive firm. So can you just talk about that decision, a very big and brave decision to go down the path of acquiring or merging with the practices rather than letting them continue to operate independently? Andy Schwartz: Well, look, we had to… It’s funny because we had been having conversations for years with consultants, and they kept telling us what we had to do. Again, we’re not that smart, so we just kept thinking, “No, we don’t have to do that.” But we were told 10 years earlier that the only way that this thing has any value to the world is you’ve got to have EBITDA for the firm. We talked to all the smart people, we ignored all of them. But what happened was we needed capital and we needed equity in order to bring people on, because people aren’t just joining us just because we can help them grow a bigger business. So the reason we went in the direction we went initially was we just needed capital. We wanted to grow the firm, and the only way we were going to get to is… What’s the old saying? What got us here is not going to get us there. So we needed capital. But we also realized that I had to have something I could sell in the marketplace. And people want equity. So they want cash, but they also want equity, because we’re talking to entrepreneurs. Kevin owned his own firm. He has $2 billion of assets. He wasn’t interested in being someone’s employee, but he was interested in being able to get leverage and be a partner and share equity in a larger firm that had the chance to grow even more. So what the gift that Joe Duran, the Rise folks gave us was that gift of structure and understanding. So that was really helpful, and that’s been a big part of our success. Louis Diamond: Yeah, it’s an amazing journey. Again, I think you could probably write a book or a case study on how that happened. I’m sure there were some downfalls, some people that weren’t all that excited about it, but the results speak for itself. Andy Schwartz: I think people ask all the time because I do get phone calls. People are trying to do this, and they’re struggling. It took us 90 days to basically do it. People say, “I’ve been at this for two years.” And the biggest issue is trust. Either they trust you or they don’t. At the end of the day, I always went to the advisor here, we were a firm for 30-plus years prior, and these guys knew that we always did what we said we were going to do, and we always did. If your people trust you, then you can do it. If your people don’t trust you, it isn’t going to work. Louis Diamond: In other words, your firm added immense value to the advisors as well. Aside from trust, if you weren’t providing a service or services that they found a value that they couldn’t access on their own, it would’ve been 85/15 going the other way for sure. Andy Schwartz: Yeah, 100%. I know it’s not easy, but it wasn’t that hard for us. Louis Diamond: Good. It’s well-earned. So I believe you were Rise Growth Partners’ first investment. Andy Schwartz: We were. Louis Diamond: That’s cool. It’s exciting. You get to be someone’s first, but did it make you uncomfortable that you were the first investment or did you see that as a positive? Andy Schwartz: I actually saw it as a positive. Well, one, because I recognized immediately that Joe Duran and his team were way smarter than we were certainly, and certainly with what we were trying to do. And I figured that it’s almost like the first child. They were so excited to have somebody, and there was so much time and energy, so they just really doted on us. They were really able to help us. Now they’ve got four or five groups that they work with, and obviously we’ve been launched. So the younger babies are getting more time and attention, although we get everything that we need from them. But yeah, that never concerned me. I always thought that would be our advantage. It actually turned out that way. Louis Diamond: Interesting. In thinking through a sale or a minority sale, did you entertain other types of capital, whether it was a family office or a multitude of other private equity sponsors or selling the firm outright? Andy Schwartz: Yeah, we probably had four or five very, very serious conversations. Actually, some got pretty close to the end where we basically just made the decision not to do it. One was a much larger firm, good people. But the problem always was… I was always going to get rich out of the deal because it was going to be 100% sale, but there was really no lift or leverage from the advisors. So the principals, they were willing to pay me a big multiple and my partners a big multiple, and pay these guys basically an average multiple. So we had always told our guys, “Let’s stay together, and someday, this thing, whatever it’s going to turn into be, will benefit everyone.” So with the Duran situation and the deal with Rise did, it gave everybody a chance to benefit from what we were doing. But what was good about all of those false starts was, it taught me a lot because I had… I know you’re involved in this, so you know better than I do, but we’d start conversations, somebody would reach out to me, I would be very specific about what I needed. They would say, “Yep, we can do that.” And then you get to the finish line, and it’s almost like, I started out, I wanted a tomahawk steak and a baked potato, and I ended up getting a two-day-old hamburger with some cold French fries. It’s like, I know I’m not that smart and I know you’re the PE guys, but for God’s sakes, we’re not stupid. So it was funny because in January of ’24, I told my partners, “I don’t want to have any more of these conversations. It was a waste of time and energy. I’m sick of talking to these people. Let’s just put our heads down, and then let’s grow the firm a little bit more, and then we’ll see what the world looks like.” And then I get introduced to Duran. Louis Diamond: Perfect. Makes sense. Yeah, so you were well-educated on the market, the types of buyers, and I always say it’s almost more important to understand what you don’t want more than what you do want. The only way oftentimes to understand what you don’t want is to experience it and touch and feel it and really get into the weeds on it. I like too, Andy, I saw in an article, you said that “we’re private equity invested, we’re not private equity owned,” which is a very cool dynamic. I could imagine why that was important to you to retain majority control. Kevin, I want to bring you back into the conversation. Thank you for being patient here. But I mean, I would imagine you had some real choices. I mean, you could have stayed at Northwestern and been very successful, gone through with your internal succession plan. You could have gone to an independent BD, monetized, figured out succession later. You could have sold the business to a strategic acquirer. You were big enough to take on an investor in some capacity on your own. So options wasn’t your problem. Maybe just walk us through. Did you consider any other pathways? And what were the pros and cons in your mind that led you to doing a transaction with Andy? Kevin Spahn: I’m a little different, I think, than most people in this industry. Even as you grow your business at a certain percentage, none of that stuff has ever really meant anything to me. All I know is I like what I do. So when I came into the business, because I like it, I enjoy it, I spend time doing it, I’ve tried to get better at it. But it comes naturally because it’s something that I don’t look at Monday mornings as, “Oh, no, it’s Monday morning.” I’m excited to go to work. My entire career, once I left law, my business has just grown over the years naturally. But you said something before, Louis, and I think this applies to me. I love to work with the clients. I don’t like what I have to do in terms of running the firm. I never have. It’s never been my cup of tea, but you have to do it if you run a firm. So number one, the thought of all the due diligence that I would have to do to research all the firms out there, I wasn’t really all that interested in doing that. At the end of the day, it comes down to this word trust. I trust Andy. I trust the other partners here too, because I’ve known not just Andy, but I’ve known Scott and many of the other partners for years. So I knew what I was getting myself into. At the end of the day, I knew what they built. I was very comfortable with it, and I was either going to stay at Northwestern Mutual or I was going to come here, but I wasn’t going to go anywhere else. I will say, since I’ve gone, it’s been exactly like I thought. I thought I trusted Andy. And if something happened along the way with the transition, everything that he said has been true, thing that he promised is real. As you deal with more complexities with a bigger book and more and more employees, I knew that I was almost at the breaking point in terms of my own organization and to merge into this organization that, as I said before, he’s already built out. I don’t have to do it. And to benefit from these great people that he has as part of his organization, that’s all been a real blessing for me and my team. So I didn’t shop the marketplace really, but I knew what I was getting into, and it’s worked out clear as I thought it would. Louis Diamond: That’s amazing. I think that’s what most people would covet. But it is a decision in and of itself to not shop the marketplace. I mean, from representing buyers or prospective buyers, I know the pricing leverage or the negotiation leverage and the valuation lift that comes from having an open market, having multiple bids, et cetera. It sounds like that wasn’t the… Obviously you wanted to get fair value for your firm, but for you, it was more, it’s trust, “I’m either going to just stay at Northwestern, which is the devil I know or it’s what I’ve known where I’ve been successful, or I’m going to go to the individual that I trust and forget about all the other noise.” Kevin Spahn: Well, Andy says things, but I know they’re true because I’ve seen him at work. I’ve seen how he’s acted. I’ve seen how he interacts with people. But here’s an example. He cares about the people that are at his firm. He says that, but I know it’s true because I see it. I’m the same. I really care about the people in my firm. So as I think about, well, what about the future of two groups, my clients, but also the people that work in my firm? They’re going to be around long after I am. Well, I don’t want myself to retire someday, get a big check, because there’s all sorts of options to get a check. If I get a check and then my client’s scatter to the wind, and my employees don’t really have a future and they just have to go and find their own way, that wasn’t attractive at all to me. So one of the things that I really appreciate about this opportunity is that there is a plan for both my clients and my employees or the younger team members at formerly Spahn Financial, where I feel very good about the fact that they have a solid, secure future in an industry that they’ve all grown to love without them having to go out and make their own way. Louis Diamond: Makes sense to me. We noted a couple of times in this interview, you talked about equity, partnership, both of you have. So Kevin, for you, what did it mean differently for you to become a partner and get equity in a larger firm rather than, we’ll say, the less risky move of just taking everything in cash? Why was that an important distinction for you? Kevin Spahn: For many years, when I left law and came into this business, I didn’t have any money at the time. I was just starting to make money as a lawyer. It takes a while. I started low. I got trial experience working for the government, so they didn’t pay much. That was three years. Then I was at a firm, and I was just starting to make more money. Then I made this big shift into a career tha

In 1990, a cable access station in Northern New Jersey aired "Cardboard Dreams," a documentary about the booming baseball card hobby. Come for the bad hair, stick around for a documentary that was eerily prescient about where the hobby was headed. The guys are joined by Jeff May (Jeff Has Cool Cards on YT) . Watch Cardboard Dreams here

In this episode of That's Total Mom Sense – Home Sweet Home Series, Kanika Chadda Gupta sits down with Jay Feingold, owner of PremierGarage of Northern New Jersey, to explore how transforming one overlooked space—the garage—can completely change the rhythm of your home. From cluttered chaos to streamlined systems, Jay shares expert-backed strategies for creating functional, beautiful storage solutions that actually work for busy families. We dive into the emotional side of organization, how it impacts parenting, and why your garage might be the missing piece to a calmer home.Whether you're drowning in sports gear, seasonal clutter, or just need a reset—this episode is your roadmap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine working full time — maybe more than full time — and still not being able to cover the basics. No luxuries, no savings. Just housing, food, childcare, healthcare, and transportation. For nearly 40% of New Jersey households, that's not a hypothetical. It's daily life.The problem, in part, is how we measure hardship. The Federal Poverty Level — the number that determines eligibility for food assistance, housing vouchers, and more — was created during the Johnson administration and has never been fundamentally updated. In New Jersey, it sits at roughly $29,000 for a family of four. But the actual cost of meeting basic needs in the Garden State? More than $111,000. That gap is where ALICE lives.ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — is a framework developed right here in New Jersey that gives a name and a measure to the millions of working households who earn above the poverty line but still can't make ends meet. More than 1.3 million Garden State families fall into this category.In this episode, host Aaron Turner sits down with Dr. Stephanie Hoopes, one of the architects of the ALICE framework, and Justin Kiczek of the Kirby Foundation to explore what the data reveals — and what it demands of employers, policymakers, funders, and all of us in response.Learn more: State of ALICE Report: https://unitedforalice.org/new-jerseyUnited Way of Northern NJ: www.unitedwaynnj.org/aliceFM Kirby Foundation: www.fmkirbyfoundation.org

On today's show, we're looking at the industrial real estate outlook across the Northeast corridor.Marcus & Millichap recently published its 2Q 2026 industrial forecasts for 36 metropolitan markets across the United States. Today, we're going to focus on six of them: Boston, New York City, Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.These markets are connected geographically by the I-95 corridor, but they are not all moving in the same direction.There is, however, one common theme.The wave of new construction that affected industrial markets over the past several years is beginning to recede.------------**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

Dr. Jennifer joins Dr. Thema to provide practical strategies for decolonizing our nervous system. Rooted in culture, somatics, and psychological science, the resources she provides empower us to reconnect and come home to ourselves. Dr. Jennifer Mullan, PsyD is a founder, speaker, and best-selling author. As the founder and CEO of The Center for Decolonizing Therapy and author of the best-selling book, Dr. Mullan, known as “the Rage Doctor,” is a bold, leading voice in reimagining mental health through the lens of colonization, generational trauma, and systemic harm. Her work is both embodiment and invitation—awakening the wisdom of sacred rage and ancestral healing through somatics, neuroscience, and psycho-spiritual practice. On a mission to radicalize and democratize mental health, it is Dr. Mullan's life's work to support individuals and communities in reclaiming their wholeness. She lives on Lenape land in Northern New Jersey and is the author of the forthcoming book Sacred Rage. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com

His mission is to help 100,000 families just like yours achieve financial clarity. As a husband, father, coach, and active community volunteer, he understands the freedom that comes from sound financial planning.Over the past 15 years, he worked his way up from intern to CFP® Financial Advisor, eventually becoming a firm owner before the age of forty. He shares the financial education he was fortunate to receive through podcasts, his book "The Financial Pinwheel," and a variety of online resources.Growing up in Northern New Jersey, he saw firsthand how many people commuted into New York City, working 80-hour weeks in pursuit of financial security—often at the expense of their well-being. He once expected to follow the same path, until a college professor introduced him to a guest speaker who called himself a Financial Planner. This encounter opened his eyes to a career dedicated to helping every day, middle-class families—people just like him.During his internship, he offered to create a financial plan for his mother, a single parent who had returned to work to support their family. Witnessing the relief and confidence his plan gave her; she danced in his office—confirmed his calling. From that moment, he knew he wanted to help others experience the same sense of security and hope. https://www.thefinancialpinwheel.com/abouthttp://www.yourlotandparcel.orgSupport the show

Travie and Guy chat backstage before Guy's live performance at Flyfish Club in NYC. Hailing from Northern New Jersey, just outside of New York City, Guy is celebrating the release of his debut album, And Then There's You. His music combines hip-hop, R&B, alt-rock, and much more into a style that has been turning heads and trending all over social media.Travie and Guy discuss how living in a musically rich area inspires and influences Guy's personal musical journey, as well as how energy flows form NYC to NJ and back again. Guy also gives listeners a peek behind the curtain and explains meanings behind some of his most loved songs. Guy's Links:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imguyfromnj/?hl=enSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6H4mdpDWq7Gyu0RiYcjuF8Merch: https://imguyfromnj.com/Flyfish Club: https://www.flyfishclub.com/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-06-29/ceo-behind-knicks-flyfish-club-afterparty-on-what-s-next-videoNEW Fired Up Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firedupwithtravie/Fired Up Theme: IAMNAXVoiceovers: Brian Fanzo, Riddles

I begin this podcast episode by talking about my own trips to Action Park. I was so excited to go as a kid when I visited and got to go because it was close to where my uncle lived in Northern New Jersey. My mother was not a big fan of amusement parks unless they were connected to Disney, and she had started reading enough about Action Park to be worried. My uncle did not have the same concerns, so he took me there and I had a great time. I rode what I could, brought home brochures, talked about it all summer, and assumed I would keep going back. That didn't happen. Then I talk about how Action Park came to be. The story starts with Gene Mulvihill, Great Gorge, Vernon Valley, and the problem of what a ski resort is supposed to do when the weather gets warm. The Alpine Slide came first, and from there the place kept growing into something much larger. Action Park was built around participation, which meant you were not simply strapped into a ride and moved along. You had some control, or at least the feeling of control, and that was a big part of what made the park so exciting. Of course, that same idea also made the place dangerous. In the episode, I get into the rides people still talk about, including the Alpine Slide and the Cannonball Loop. I also spend time on the wave pool, Motor World, and some of the other attractions that helped make Action Park feel less like a normal amusement park and more like its own strange world. Looking back now, it is much easier to see how quickly excitement could turn into something else. The darker part of the Action Park story is impossible to avoid. I talk about the deaths and injuries connected to the park, along with the lawsuits and insurance problems that followed it for years. Some of what happened there is shocking even if you already know the general reputation. The park has become famous as a place that probably should not have been allowed to operate the way it did, and there is plenty of truth in that version of the story. But I did not want this episode to be only about the worst things that happened there. For a lot of kids from New Jersey and the surrounding area, Action Park was a summer trip people talked about afterward. It was a place that felt enormous, especially if you were young enough to believe you could eventually get to everything. The danger is part of the story, but so is the memory of wanting to go back. That is what makes Action Park such a strange subject for me. The stories about the park are real, and some are worse than I understood when I was young. At the same time, my own connection to the place is still tied to being a kid who thought he had found the most exciting park in New Jersey. My last trip there had already happened before I knew it, which may be part of why the place stayed so large in my mind. Action Park does not fit neatly into one version of itself, and that is why it still feels worth talking about.

#realconversations #actor #screenwriter #director#GoldenGirls CONVERSATIONS WITH CALVIN — WE THE SPECIESHosted by Calvin SchwartzMeet Jacqueline (Jackie) Letkowski: Actually, Jackie and Iliterally met walking into the Garden State Film Festival last year as herfilm, ‘Cecelia's Ship' was screening. I interviewed her a few days before. Whatwas observed last year still resonates and then some. Jackie is talented,enigmatic, energetic, brilliant, and passionate about film. If you fall underthe film umbrella in any capacity, then this is a special interview. Jackiedoes it all. A middle-aged woman (we talk about the age thing. Remember GoldenGirls?), a mother, screenwriter, director, actress, businesswoman, founder ofFilm Nerd Pictures. As customary in my brief introductory words, here are theessences of Jackie's thoughts and notions. “I'd rather have someone hate mywork rather than be indifferent”. Often, she said these words. Resilience, thestory, and funding. Powerful words. Love is the most important currency.Contests? Depending on who is judging. Took an acting class to improve herdialogue. Her best work is under pressure. Dark comedy. She laughed when almostassaulted while walking the streets of NYC. Hard stop. I could go on and onhere. Best to watch Jackie's interview. An old Reader's Digest ongoing articleseries. “The Most Unforgettable Character I've Ever Met.” Jackie Letkowski is.Calvin

Dr. Devorah Segal earned her MD and PhD in Neuroscience at Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She completed her pediatrics and pediatric neurology training at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and then completed a fellowship in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at NYU Langone Medical Center.  She is a pediatric neurologist and neuro-oncologist at NYU Langone, where she is associate director of the Neurofibromatosis Center. She treats children with brain tumors and patients of all ages with neurofibromatosis, schwannomatosis, and other brain tumor predisposition syndromes. She also leads several clinical trials treating pediatric brain tumors, neurofibromatosis, and other genetic disorders with neurologic components. She lives in Northern NJ with her husband and 5 kids, all of whom were born during medical school. CONNECT WITH DVORA ENTIN: Website: https://www.dvoraentin.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dvoraentin YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@misconceptionspodcast  

WINSTON MEIKLE is a veteran nurse, educator, and healthcare entrepreneur with more than 40 years of clinical and academic experience. He is the founder of Loving Care Partners, a healthcare advocacy company rooted in a love-centered nursing philosophy, and COO of Mobile Lab Techs, a mobile phlebotomy and diagnostic service across the NY Metro and Northern NJ region. Winston is the author of the forthcoming "The Power of Love: A New Model for Self-Healing and Wellness", along with its doctoral-level companion, "The Power of Love: A Nursing Theory". His work weaves together quantum physics, consciousness studies, spirituality, and Caribbean ethnobotanical traditions into a unified framework for whole-person wellness. Winston brings warmth, scientific depth, and decades of bedside wisdom to every conversation — offering listeners practical tools to transform their health, relationships, and sense of purpose.  

Rich Lauretta has been building Spectrum Painting in Northern New Jersey since 1989 and recently made the boldest move of his career: hiring a Director of Operations, HR Manager, and Field Supervisor all at once to push the business toward a $10 million goal. In this episode, Rich gets candid about what it really takes to hire senior leaders, lead them effectively, and finally get out of the day-to-day. Honest, practical, and packed with insight for any owner ready to scale.

In this episode of the Shift AI Podcast, Kurtis Kemple, Senior Director of Developer Relations at Slack (Salesforce), joins host Boaz Ashkenazy for a wide-ranging conversation on how Slackbot is evolving into a full agentic platform for human-AI collaboration in the flow of work.Kurtis shares his extraordinary personal journey, from growing up in poverty in Northern New Jersey, dropping out of school, struggling with addiction, and spending over six years incarcerated, to teaching himself to code in prison with nothing but a textbook and a computer with no internet. From there, he built a career in tech that has taken him to one of the most prominent roles in developer relations at Salesforce.The conversation dives deep into how Slackbot is becoming far more than a simple assistant. Kurtis demonstrates how skills, canvases, and MCP connectors transform Slackbot into a powerful orchestration layer where multiple agents and humans collaborate in threads, channels, and workflows. He explains how Slack is positioning itself as the interface for agentic AI, whether that means connecting to Agentforce, GitHub, PagerDuty, or custom-built tools.Boaz and Kurtis explore the concept of bounded autonomy, the idea that agents should earn expanded capabilities through demonstrated consistency, much like onboarding a new employee. They discuss how ambient agents, gamified learning experiences, and personal productivity skills are already transforming day-to-day work for teams using Slack internally at Salesforce.This episode is essential listening for developers, team leads, and anyone building or deploying AI agents who wants to understand why the orchestration layer matters more than any single model, and how the future of work is being shaped inside the tools we already use every day.Chapters[00:00] From Poverty to Prison to Tech: Kurtis's Journey[04:28] Learning to Code Behind Bars with No Internet[06:39] Landing at Salesforce and Second Chances in Hiring[07:11] First Job: The Kemple Kids Shoveling Snow[08:48] The Role: Slackbot, DevRel, and the Agentic Platform Vision[11:35] Multi-Party Collaboration: Agents and Humans in Threads[12:43] Why Slack Is the Orchestration Layer for AI[15:25] Skills Deep Dive: Building and Using Custom Skills[18:32] Context from Conversations: Slack as a Living Repository[20:29] Canvases, Writing Styles, and Seamless Workflows[22:08] Customer Success Stories: Linear, Engine, and Design Partners[25:22] Human-Agent Orchestration vs. Agent-to-Agent Orchestration[28:45] Ambient Agents: The Tidy Skill and Chief of Staff[33:06] Building Trust Through Bounded Autonomy[34:22] Design Partners: Linear, GitHub, and Graceful Degradation[39:11] Slack Platform Power Up: Gamified Learning with Skills[42:37] The Future of Work: Boundedness and Agency[45:04] AI for Everyone: Small Models, Big Access, Edge Intelligence[47:08] What's Next: Slack Developer Day (May 20) and BeyondConnect with Kurtis KempleLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtiskemple/Email: curtiskemple@gmail.comGitHub: https://github.com/kurtiskempleConnect with Boaz AshkenazyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boazashkenazy/Email: info@shiftai.fm

Mike and Trey Farley host the Luxury Outdoor Living Podcast and interview Sean of Deck Remodelers from Northern New Jersey about his background from an Irish carpentry family through construction and culinary school to specializing in high-end decks since 2007–08. Sean describes winning 70+ national design awards, focusing on team-building, and advising homeowners to start with an honest budget rather than bidding games, then vet contractors by details and materials (steel framing, premium PVC, fewer posts, better beams). He explains his in-house architects and exterior-focused interior designers, custom fabrication and board bending for curved decks and stairs, full-yard design/GC scope, VR walkthroughs, and standardized training via “Deck Remodelers University.” Topics include fire features and clearances, covered spaces, lighting and electric infrared heaters (Infotech), under-deck drainage (Haven Under Deck), code/climate considerations like frost depth, and common remodel failures from inadequate blocking. He also discusses NADRA's education/community, his book and favorite book “Die With Zero,” and a road-trip ride to Niagara Falls.   Discover more: https://deckremodelers.com/ https://www.farleypooldesigns.com/ https://www.instagram.com/farleydesigns/ https://www.instagram.com/luxuryoutdoorlivingpodcast/   00:00 Welcome to the Podcast 01:17 Meet the Hosts and Guest 01:34 Spring Weather and Busy Season 02:01 Why the Name Deck Remodelers 02:24 Origin Story and Early Carpentry 05:35 From Culinary School to Construction 06:49 Deck Medic to High-End Decks 08:20 Awards and Building a Team 09:08 Homeowner Mistakes and Budget Talk 12:08 In-House Designers and Architects 13:46 Curved Decks and Board Bending 18:08 Fire Features and Material Safety 18:48 YouTube Experiments and 50 Cal Test 19:50 Full Backyard Design and GC Scope 20:38 Standardizing Quality with DRU 22:44 Service Area and Expansion Plans 25:05 Climate Loads and Louvered Roofs 27:04 Designing Transitions and Materials 28:56 Tough Home Styles and Review Boards 30:32 Writing the Book and Going Full Service 31:38 Grand Staircases and Glue-Lams 32:45 Heaters and Lighting Expertise 36:58 Frost Lines Steel Framing and Durability 40:02 Designing for Function and Furnishings 41:02 Making Under-Deck Space Usable 42:38 Waterproofing Done Right 43:38 Details That Add Value 46:15 Cover It For Comfort 47:46 Building Docks On Ice 50:17 Lifestyle Upgrade Mindset 51:39 Football Fan Banter 53:51 Master Planning Backyards 57:24 Gunite And Clay Engineering 01:01:20 Contractor True Crime 01:05:14 NADRA And Community 01:09:26 Fire Features Under Roofs 01:11:23 Rapid Fire Favorites 01:17:15 Wrap Up And Mission  

Passion & Provocation: Selected Poems by Judith Partelow https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Provocation-Selected-Judith-Partelow/dp/B0CVQ8WBNR Judithpartelow.com “With this collection of selected poems, Partelow has taken the threads of woman's existence and woven them into a vivid tapestry of a life richly lived, poetry that is poignant and passionate, revealing and brave.” -Anne LeClaire, author of Listening Below the Noise, The Halo Effect, and Entering Normal “Here are poems for the people, reflections of deep sorrow and joy that cover the spectrum of a lifetime—a distillation of passion and pain. Judith Partelow speaks from the heart, shines a light into the soul, captures the fragility of life, and conveys complex emotional experiences with clarity. This collection is truly a treasure.” – Lily Poritz Miller, author, former editor at The Macmillan Company and McGraw-Hill, senior editor at McClelland and Stewart. “Judith Partelow's poetry collection, Passion & Provocation, is a must-read for any woman who has lived and loved. Her voice will sound as familiar as your own with its yearnings, triumphs, regrets and humor, a voice that speaks from the ‘inside out’ about a woman's life today.” – Nancy Rubin Stuart, author, POOR RICHARD'S WOMEN: Deborah Read Franklin and the Other Women Behind the Founding Father “Passion and Provocation is a rich compilation of poems about the many phases of womanhood. Partelow uses musical language that sings her emotion: “Tropical ma-an/pulsates to a calypso beat.” In a tender moment, the author ponders the life of a mother: “an endless tune/we dance to all our lives.” She chronicles past relationships, old loves and new, while drawing the reader in with sensual images that celebrate her children and her own younger self. These are poems to savor for their astonishing beauty and contemplative vision.” —Robin Smith-Johnson, Author, Dream of the Antique Dealer's Daughter, and Gale Warnings Passion & Provocation is an invitation to explore the many colors of Judith Partelow's poetry; a tapestry of threads woven through tender longings and joyful celebrations of love, friendships, marriages, family bonds, the soul, and other themes of a life well lived. About the author Originally from Northern New Jersey, Judith Partelow has been a resident of Cape Cod, MA for over forty years. Inspired by her chapbook of the same name, in 2017 she wrote her first play, A Woman's Heart, created entirely from her poetry. It was then produced six times to standing ovations on Cape Cod. Her play was taught as a course as part of the Academy of Lifelong Learning. Her next chapbook of poems was Carry Me Back, A Woman's Life in Poetry. Her latest book of poems is a comprehensive compilation that spans over 40 years of writing, Passion & Provocation, Selected Poems by Judith Partelow. This latest collection is an invitation to explore the many colors of Judith Partelow's poetry; a tapestry of threads woven through tender longings and joyful celebrations of love, friendships, marriages, family bonds, the soul, and other themes of a life well lived. She has been a featured poet on many occasions and has won several awards over the years. She is also an actress and director who has appeared in theatrical productions, readings, cable tv series and films. She has also developed a play in collaboration with others of diverse racial and religious backgrounds entitled NEIGHBORS! on the impact of racism in our community and society. It is available to be used by schools, churches and any other organizations wanting to stimulate discussion on this very difficult topic.

In Episode 82, our host Captain Ricky Wheeler talks with Mike Zajac, a gentleman who truly worked his way on up through grit, work ethic, and pure passion for offshore fishing. He has so much time offshore fishing out of Northern New Jersey in the Canyon Runner Program, which is now the Fortuna Runner Charter Program. His passion shines through in this podcast, as well as his sense of humor. Quite a few great stories in this one, as well as some excellent tuna fishing insight.If you would like to fish with Mike Zajac and the Fortuna Runner Program on a 60' Custom Sportfishing boat out of Point Pleasant, NJ, you can reach them at https://fortunarunner.com/If you would like our host, Ricky Wheeler, to help you sell your boat/yacht or help you with searching for and buying a boat/yacht, please email: RickyWheeler@UnitedYacht.comSaltwater Euphoria Podcast Sponsors:+Saltwater Euphoria - https://www.saltwatereuphoria.com/+Euphoria Sportfishing - https://www.euphoriasportfishing.com/+Billfish Gear - https://billfishgear.com/ +Cape Maritime Consulting - https://www.capemaritimeconsulting.com/For online fishing courses, go to our website Courses.SaltwaterEuphoria.comFollow the following on Instagram: CaptainRickyWheeler: @CaptainRickyWheeler Saltwater Euphoria: @SaltwaterEuphoria Euphoria Sportfishing: @EuphoriaSportfishingBillfish Gear: @billfishgearIf you like this podcast, please be sure to click that FOLLOW button and also spread the word by sharing this episode with your friends or whatever social channels you are on and/or leaving a great review.  We appreciate your support.

In this episode, Dustin M. Riccio, MD, MBA, President and CEO of St. Joseph's Health System, shares how he is leading strategic growth, strengthening culture, and amplifying the organization's voice across Northern New Jersey. He discusses balancing rapid change with operational excellence and investing in both community care and team engagement.

Episode 520: Insert Beatles Song Here This week host Dave Bledsoe woke up, got out of bed and dragged a comb across his head. (At roughly 3 PM because he slept off his hangover.  Again.)  On the show this week we examine the very loud phenomena of young women screaming over four British dudes, we talk about Beatlemania! Along the way Dave waxes rhapsodic over Phil Collins. (Again) Then we dive into the first singer mania to sweep America, we talk about Frankie. (Sinatra, not goes to Hollywood) Then we met up with lads from Liverpool who like American music. (The Merseybeats.  That joke never gets old.) We follow their rise from Liverpudlian obscurity, to German prominence to the biggest fucking band in the entire Universe.  (Take THAT Jesus.)  Finally we try to explain the almost inexplicable reaction that young people, primarily young women, had to The Beatles all the while not playing any actual Beatles songs. (The rights holders are QUICK with a copyright strike!)  Our Sponsor this week is A Day In the Death, the premier Black Metal Beatles cover band in Northern New Jersey.  We open the show with the Fab Four arriving in America and close with Werna Wolf saying aloha! Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/I-Y6rUM1DgM?si=tIxn7wBMPLY-XTJh Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Sinatramania takes hold at the National Museum of American History https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/11/25/sinatramania-takes-hold-at-the-national-museum-of-american-history/ Frank Sinatra and the 'bobby-soxers' https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/Story/0,,127764,00.html The Beatles Were Louder Than a Jumbo Jet At Shea Stadium, Data Reveals https://www.newsweek.com/louder-beatles-fab-four-made-more-noise-jumbo-jet-data-reveals-498285 10 Facts About The Beatles's 'The Ed Sullivan Show' Debut https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/music/the-beatles-ed-sullivan-debut-facts Why did the Beatles Stop Touring? https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/beatles-blog/why-did-the-beatles-stop-touring Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join us for this episode of Civic Warriors, where we speak with Jason Shames, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. Jason will discuss his professional background and journey to the Federation, as well as his personal connection to its mission. He will highlight key programs and their impact on the community, share what a typical day looks like as CEO, and emphasize the importance of strong board and staff support. Jason will also explore how he builds and cultivates leadership within his team, offer his top management insights, and reflect on what lies ahead for the Federation's future.Support the show

Deborah Visconi, CEO of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center was one of the first healthcare CEOs to sign the Heart of Safety Declaration of Principles, which expands the definition of care team safety to include psychological and emotional safety, dignity and inclusion, and physical safety. In this episode of Caring Greatly, podcast host Liz Boehm talks with Deb about what it means to lead across the three pillars of care team safety at the fourth largest publicly owned hospital in the United States. For Deb, it starts with human-centered leadership that creates a culture of transparency and trust. For more than 30 years Deb has provided visionary leadership to hospitals and healthcare systems across the New York and New Jersey metropolitan region. In 2017, she joined Bergen New Bridge and has transformed the 933-bed acute and long-term care hospital into a community asset and destination medical center in New Jersey. Deb is a visionary leader with a passion for elevating patient and care team experiences, leading with a focus on compassion, consistency and quality. Her entrepreneurial style and strategic planning expertise has enabled her to navigate highly complex environments with creativity and poise to expand programs, improve services and enhance provider relations.   As a Latinx hospital leader, Deb understands the unique issues and needs of underserved communities, which she has prioritized in the hospital's community health needs assessment process and its ongoing outreach efforts. This work led to the hospital's development of the first LGBTQ Wellness Center in Northern New Jersey. And in 2018, to increase care access to the 20,000 Bergen County veterans, the medical center became a Veterans Community Care Provider. Driven by service, Deb is an active community volunteer and board member, serving on several local, state and national boards for healthcare associations, executive leadership organizations, universities and more. Her leadership skills, stewardship and numerous accomplishments have earned her and Bergen New Bridge many awards and industry accolades.  Deborah Visconi is a leader who cares greatly. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Stryker. The provided resources may contain links to external websites or third-party content. We do not endorse, control or assume any responsibility for the accuracy, relevance, legality or quality of the information found on these external sites. 

What a fun podcast this was to record! Thanks to the Jersey Girls for taking time to chat with me!   Irene Hurley Designs Instagram: @irenehurleydesigns Interior Couture for Cottage and Castle Irene Hurley Designs is a boutique design and sewing studio offering custom window coverings, interior accessories, and artisan quilts.   Sue Berry - Designer and fabricator in business for 13 years Sew Stylish Designs Llc www.sewstylish.org   Diana Nolan Diana Nolan Custom windows LLC Instagram  @dianadnolan Diana is a drapery workroom both retail and to the trade for 25 years in southern New Jersey.   Suzy Daruwala Sew Bella Home www.sewbellahome.com The skilled hands at Sew Bella Home create beautiful, fine window coverings, pillows, custom bedding and accessories using couture methods while keeping your specific requests in mind. Our designs are all about you and the feeling you want your home to evoke.     Kelley Garfield, Owner Kelley's Custom Home Interior's LLC Website:  http://www.kelleyscustomhomeinteriors.com Instagram: @kelleyscustomhomeinteriors Over 20 years in the window treatments and soft furnishings business, adding the "jewelry" as I like to call it, to your spaces one stitch at a time!   Robin Matthews Seams Sew Right - soft furnishings workroom since 1999/2000.  Mostly to the trade Website: seamssewright.com FB: Seams Sew Right Insta: @seamssewright   Kate Winton Kate Winton Designs Designing and fabricating visual delights kwdesigns@comcast.net https://www.instagram.com/katewintondesigns/   Cathy Cohane Curtain Cathy is a custom window treatment design, fabrication and installation company, in business over 25 years.  We love making houses homes. Find us @Curtain Cathy on Instagram   Rosemarie Garner, owner of R Garner Custom Designs in Northern NJ, a To The Trade custom workroom, specializing in detailed custom fabrication of Roman shades, draperies and all soft treatments.   The Sew Much More Podcast is sponsored by;     Klimaka Studios   The Workroom Channel   Scarlet Thread Consulting   The WCAA   The Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library   National Upholstery Association   Workroom Tech    

Do you find flow on the tennis court?Eric, the 4.5 singles national champion, is back to discuss finding flow and what he loves about the game of tennis!Eric is from Long Island New York. He currently plays in leagues, and trains in Naples, FL for most of the year, while living in Northern NJ during late Spring/Summer. He returned to competitive recreational tennis after a 35-year hiatus.We would greatly appreciate a 5 star rating wherever you listen to podcasts! Please contact us - Website: secondservepodcast.com Instagram: secondservepodcastFacebook: secondservepodcast Use our referral link to get a FREE Swing Stick ($100 value) with your first year of SwingVision Pro. The bundles are only $149.99 (previously $179.99). This is a limited time offer that you won't want to miss! We are excited to team up with Michelle from Tennis Warehouse and her "Talk Tennis" podcast to bring you a "TW Tip of the Week!" Use the code SECONDSERVE to get $20 off clearance apparel when you spend $100 or more.

In this episode of The Girl Dad Show, Young Han sits down with Scott Doty, founder and CEO of BrainStorm Tutoring & Arts and a devoted father of two, for a thoughtful conversation on parenting, purpose, and building a life aligned with your values. Scott Doty grew up in Ramsey, New Jersey, where he balanced sports, music, and academics before attending Tufts University and earning his Master's degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Along the way, he became a National Merit Finalist, a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, and a member of Mensa. In 2006, Scott and his wife Ashley founded BrainStorm Tutoring & Arts, which has grown into Northern New Jersey's premier academic mentoring network. Today, BrainStorm employs over 60 people, has won Best in Northern New Jersey seven years in a row, and was named One of the Most Innovative Companies in America by Entrepreneur Magazine. Scott has taught on five continents and is a sought-after performance coach specializing in college admissions, test prep, purpose-led life design, and productivity. He also advises startups on brand strategy, company culture, and client relationships. Scott shares his journey as an entrepreneur who intentionally built flexibility into his work so he could remain present at home. Together, he and Young explore what it means to raise grounded, curious kids in a fast-moving, hyper-digital world. Scott opens up about his parenting philosophy, including his no-cell-phone rule, how he thinks about protecting children's mental health, and the balance between exposing kids to the real world while still creating a safe foundation. This episode dives into education, intentional parenting, and the responsibility of helping children become confident, capable humans. It's a conversation about slowing down, leading with values, and creating impact both inside the home and beyond it. ✨ All episodes of The Girl Dad Show are proudly sponsored by Thesis, helping founders go further together.

THE LATINUM GIRLS. Bryan and Katie livestreamed this month's animated spotlight as part of Geekscape's fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Jersey. Come take a listen to their thoughts and judgment on the midway point of Lower Decks' fourth season. Some bawdy Betazoids fluster the crew of the Cerritos in "Empathological Fallacies." Later, a trip to Ferenginar proves overwhelming for Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Mariner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BONUS FEED DROP! This is the audio for a video featuring James from the Monster Rally Podcast and both Jacki & Marissa from The Jersey Ghouls that was originally aired during the 6th Annual Geekscape Livestream-tacular on YouTube, which was raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Coastal & Northern New Jersey. We hope you enjoy this bonus episode about an exceptionally sweaty premise. It's not too late to donate to BBBS here. Check out the Jersey Ghouls here & listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Get all things Monster Rally here. Part of the Geekscape Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TEATIME WITH MISS LIZ — DECEMBER LINEUP December 9th, 3 PM ESTFeaturing: JANE RUBIN — Two-Time Cancer Survivor & Award-Winning Historical NovelistTeatime with Miss Liz Serves: Jane Rubin — Award-Winning Historical Novelist Illuminating the Grit, Courage & Medical Heroes of World War IWhere history meets humanity — and courage becomes legacy. Miss Liz doesn't serve a beverage — she serves real-life changemakers. This December, she serves Jane Rubin, a two-time cancer survivor, bestselling historical novelist, and fierce advocate for honouring medical workers, women's rights, and forgotten chapters of history. Jane's award-winning Gilded City trilogy — Threadbare, In the Hands of Women, and the newly released Over There — brings to life the extraordinary worlds of late Victorian America through World War I. Her latest novel, Over There, shines a powerful spotlight on the heroic surgeons, medics, nurses, and families whose sacrifices shaped the course of The Great War. Called “compelling, disturbing, and historically rich” by Kirkus Reviews and praised by bestselling authors worldwide, Jane's work blends meticulous research with emotional truth. Her storytelling honours the real people who lived through trench warfare, early reconstructive surgery, battlefield medicine breakthroughs, immigrant experiences, and the profound impact of war on families — especially children. A woman of grit, gratitude, and unstoppable courage, Jane writes from lived truth and historical fascination, turning pain into purpose and research into riveting fiction.Watch LIVE or catch the replay on all Miss Liz Teatime platforms. Miss Liz will pour a cup of courage, legacy, and historical truth with Jane Rubin, a two-time cancer survivor and award-winning historical novelist whose work illuminates the overlooked heroes of The Great War. Jane's latest novel, Over There, completes her Gilded City trilogy and transports readers from New York City to the battlefields of France. Through four unforgettable medical professionals, she reveals the rise of modern battlefield medicine, the origins of plastic surgery, the cost of trauma, and the bravery of those who served on the front lines and at home. Her earlier novels, Threadbare and In the Hands of Women, blend research, personal heritage, and fierce compassion, honouring the real struggles of women, immigrants, midwives, obstetricians, and families navigating poverty, discrimination, and rapidly shifting medical practices. Jane's own life — marked by survivorship, leadership in healthcare, and deep gratitude — empowers her writing with authenticity, tenacity, and purpose. We will enter a world of history, heroism, humanity, and the stories that refuse to be forgotten. Teatime with Jane Rubin will be a conversation that will bring honour, heart, and historical truth to the forefront. Jane will remind us that history is not just dates and battles — it is the courage of medical workers, the resilience of families, the price of war on children, and the grit of those who fight for survival on and off the page. Through her trilogy, she gives voice to those who lived, sacrificed, healed, and rebuilt. Jane's tenacious spirit, her mindful and grateful heart, and her commitment to historical accuracy poured depth into every moment of today's conversation. Thank you, Jane, for your courage, your storytelling, and your dedication to preserving truths that matter. And thank you to everyone watching live or catching the replay — you continue the ripple of awareness and healing. Jane Rubin is a two-time cancer survivor and award-winning historical novelist whose Gilded City trilogy brings to life the medical heroes and immigrant journeys of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A former healthcare executive, she blends meticulous research with powerful storytelling from her home in Northern New Jersey. #TeatimeWithMissLiz#JaneRubin#HistoricalFiction#WomenInHistory#GildedCityTrilogy

This week I'm looking at some UFO sightings in New Jersey, specifically near Vasa Park, Budd Lake, and Mount Olive in Warren and Morris Counties! A few weeks ago, we camped at Gormanudur Viking Fest, held at Vasa Park. It was a beautiful event with good people, good food, and good times. But there have been some interesting UFO sightings right in the area. Stories this week include: two friends see a yellow, teardrop-shaped object near their apartment building; a witness see what he thinks is a satellite, until it grows bright and changes direction; two men have car trouble near a field and spot a large, black, triangular UFO hovering above; some coworkers relaxing in a field see a large disc-shaped craft silently gliding over the treetops; and a bright white light is seen rising over a general store and then zipping off into the sky at incredible speed. What do you think about these UFOs in the Garden State?Chapters:1:29 - Gormanudur Viking Fest - A Viking Harvest Festival5:42 - Vasa Park, dedicated to celebrating Nordic (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish & Icelandic) heritage6:51 - Teardrop UFO near Budd Lake10:13 - Bright light changes directions13:03 - Huge triangular UFO hovering over a field 21:23 - Disc-shaped UFO hovering over the treeline25:08 - White light rises above a store and the treetops#ufosightings #newjersey #uap #gormanudur Links!Follow us on Social media!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddanduntold/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddanduntoldWebsite: https://www.oddanduntold.comEmail me! : jason@oddanduntold.comMerch Store: https://oddanduntold.creator-spring.comUFO Encounter in the Mohawk Valley, New York: A Listener's Story: https://youtu.be/oRnASwJbzxk?si=sRxtidMuUpKGJxV8Bigfoot in Northern New Jersey: https://youtu.be/WWKhlkzgHng?si=lN0rMj6ojWL3qo3NThe Sandy Hook Sea Serpent | Hoppie of Lake Hopatcong New Jersey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA2cI9f11N0&list=PLNvcUb_Ry1wmiwr6DOG79cKNrIXZHihFU&index=1Vasa Park, NJ: https://www.vasaparknj.com/Gormanudur Viking Fest: https://www.gormanudur.com/NUFORC Budd Lake NJ: https://nuforc.org/subndx/?lat=40.8712101&lon=-74.7340523Mount Olive Sighting #1: https://nuforc.org/sighting/?id=182482Mount Olive Sighting #2: https://nuforc.org/sighting/?id=188053Check out Riversend, the band behind "Moonlight," our awesome theme music!Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1yIwfeu2cH1kDZaMYxKOUe?si=NIUijnmsQe6LNWOsfZ2jPwRiversend Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiversendbandRiversend Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riversendband/

John Chang breaks down the Urban Land Institute and PwC 2026 Emerging Trends report and what it means for commercial real estate investors. He walks through ULI's top ten markets to watch, including Dallas, Miami, Houston, Northern New Jersey, Tampa, and Phoenix, highlighting where overdevelopment, insurance costs, and local policy risks could pressure performance versus where solid job and demographic trends still support growth. John also explores why he favors sectors like seniors housing, medical office, workforce apartments, necessity-based neighborhood retail, and small bay industrial over buzzy data centers, especially given AI's long runway and the heavy power demands of server facilities. He wraps up by explaining why today's combination of compressed lending spreads, elevated cap rates, and a coming construction slowdown could set investors up for strong risk-adjusted returns over the next three to five years if they position carefully now. Alternative Fund IV is closing soon and SMK is giving Best Ever listeners exclusive access to their Founders' Shares, typically offered only to early investors. Visit smkcap.com/bec to learn more and download the full fund summary. Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It's free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at ⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠ Podcast production done by ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 127: Crystal Wisdom with Krista Mitchell Krista N. Mitchell, a "deep healer of the soul," is the acclaimed author of Crystal Reiki and Change Your Energy: Healing Crystals for Health, Wealth, Love, & Luck. As the founder of Istaria Crystallis® School of Crystal Healing and Mediumship, she offers private services and training in transcendental crystal medicine: channelling crystalline energy and consciousness, dragon spirit medicine, and galactic frequencies; helping individuals clear dark energy, overcome blocks, and achieve a higher state of consciousness. I've been following Krista for the better part of 10 years by now. She is a very informed energy healer and crystal teacher. I loved speaking w her about how her journey in business has evolved as a crystal practitioner over the years, and of course I love the magic of crystals which predate this history of our Earth! So mindblowing! Hope you enjoy this conversation! learn more about Krista here To learn more about me (Karen) and the work that I do, go to rebalancewithreiki.com - if you are local to Northern NJ and you'd like to check out my store front you can visit my page moonmagicwellness.com. For more information about my online course Spiritual Seekers 101 go here. For more info and to book a distance healing session with me go here.  

Episode 126: Astrology with Ally from Witchy Hunch Allyson Makuch of Witchy Hunch has been in private practice as an astrologer for 5 years, giving hundreds of astrology readings to clients from around the world. Her readings are down-to-earth, direct, and practically useful, focused on helping you understand and accept yourself in order to find greater balance in your life. I started following Ally on Instagram in the past like 6 months and she regularly cracks me up with how she impersonates all the different astrological signs. We had such a fun and easy time talking, from goofing around, talking shop and getting serious about the state of the world. She is fun, smart and just cool all around. I was so grateful to connect with her! Find Ally on Instagram Her website ​Watch here To learn more about me (Karen) and the work that I do, go to rebalancewithreiki.com - if you are local to Northern NJ and you'd like to check out my store front you can visit my page moonmagicwellness.com. For more information about my online course Spiritual Seekers 101 go here. For more info and to book a distance healing session with me go here.

This episode features poet Lynne Shapiro (0:2:29) of Hoboken, New Jersey, who speaks with Ann about her collection To Set Right, published in 2021 by WordTech Editions, and about her work in progress. Lynne's work holds space for the life we can and cannot see. She talks with Ann about the importance of returns, learning to see, and the persistence of nature, and reminds us that, to truly know a place, we must look upward and study the sky.In this Ask Randi segment, Dr. Randi Eckel (0:33:10) answers a question from Eilika about native alternatives to the ecologically harmful Barberry (Berberis thunbergii), particularly options that still provide distinctive purple or burgundy foliage with vibrant red stems. Later, we debut our new segment, Five Questions With. Kim sits down with Chris Martine, (0:45:35), who is the President-Elect of the Botanical Society of America and the David Burpee Professor of Plant Genetics and Research at Bucknell University. He shares stories behind his newly re-published field guides from the NJ Forest Service, Trees of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States, and Shrubs and Vines of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States. In our final segment, Kim and Ann talk with Jean Epiphan, (1:03:05) Associate Professor of Ecology at Rutgers University and the newly appointed arborist on the NPSNJ board. Jean reminds us that the future of our forests begins in our own backyards, underscoring how true forest stewardship starts with the everyday choices we make as caretakers of our own land. Jean is also a Coordinator for Region 1 (Northern NJ) for the Rutgers Environmental Steward program with an extensive background in forestry, ecology, and landscape restoration, as well as garden design, landscape management, tree care, and land stewardship.

Recently, we visited a shopping mall (yes, they still exist) near where we live in Northern New Jersey, only to discover that a space that had formerly been a major department store is now a business called “Dopamine Land,” a special drug-free multi-sensory experience dedicated to increasing happiness.  In fact, from indoor skydiving to escapeRead More The post How Can You Keep the Impact of Special Experiences Alive? appeared first on Business Advancement.

Episode 125: That Witchy One Amy Smith Amy is fellow witchy soul sister. I only just came across her Instagram this summer, I felt a complete and deep resonance with her. From her mannerisms and expressions to her attitude and how she carries herself. I was stoked to connect with her for a reading just 2 weeks ago. We work very similarly with how we receive information for energy healing work. I asked her soon afterward if she'd come be a guest here just to shoot the spiritual shit and was so happy she agreed! I hope you enjoy getting to know her and listening in on two witches talking shop.  Find Amy on Instagram Here ​​WATCH ON YOUTUBE To learn more about me (Karen) and the work that I do, go to rebalancewithreiki.com - if you are local to Northern NJ and you'd like to check out my store front you can visit my page moonmagicwellness.com. For more information about my online course Spiritual Seekers 101 go here. For more info and to book a distance healing session with me go here.  

Investing in older, infill markets that are being repositioned and growing can be a recipe for huge appreciation. Over the past decade, several cities in Northern New Jersey with easy access to transportation have seen explosive growth in values. Gentrification has led to changes that have made these areas desirable to live in for upscale demographics. Aaron Fragnito, Co-founder of People's Capital Group, is an apartment syndicator who invests in smaller apartment buildings in Northern New Jersey and rehabs them to optimize their full potential. Aaron is a buy and hold operator who achieves return-of-capital via refinances. 

How do you react when the ground shifts under your feet? In early August, we had two minor earthquakes here in Northern New Jersey. We experienced them as noisy bumps that felt like a big bookcase had toppled over. However, as we spoke with friends and family afterward, we found that some people felt andRead More The post Leading When the Ground Shifts Under Your Feet appeared first on Business Advancement.

In LGBT and Christian communities, Ron Koustas has seen a lot. When his longtime partner was diagnosed with AIDS—in the early years before life-saving medications were available—Ron became his partner's caregiver. As he revisited the Christian faith of his youth, Ron eventually joined and then served in ministries to gay folks in New York City. He's seen ex-gay churches try to help people “become straight.” He's seen churches love gay people well, and also poorly. He's been part of several close “chosen families.” He's been asked hurtful questions, been defended by church people, been asked to defend himself, and has continued to serve and support fellow believers through the process.We are fascinated by Ron's story over the years and encouraged by his continued, joyful pursuit of Jesus and his church.★ About Our GuestRon Koustas, now retired from federal service, has spent over 30 years leading AIDS outreach efforts in NYC and Northern NJ churches, including playing a pivotal role in Hope For New York's AIDS Ministry. His ministry has been featured in Christianity Today's Leadership Journal and Michael Slaughter's book unLearning Church. More recently, prompted by pastoral encouragement, Ron has embraced the Side B community and now actively engages with younger members through his NJ Revoice Chapter. He continues to serve as a breakout speaker at the annual Revoice Conference.—Note: This episode uses the terms “Side A” and “Side B” (and X, Y) as shorthand quite a bit. If you're new to the conversation, you might find it helpful to check out episode #3, where we talk through the four “sides”: ⁠#3 - A-B-Y-X | 4 Sides on SSA/Gay Sexuality⁠—★ Timestamps(00:00) #67 - Ron Koustas's Testimony of Staying: Caregiving and Church Ministry in the AIDS Crisis(01:42) Ron's story: supporting his gay partner with AIDS(21:07) "Ex-gay" church ministries: "Are you gay or a Christian?"(30:42) Moving out of ex-gay spaces and into Revoice circles(45:15) What is good (still?) about loving your partner?(52:28) Joining a new church: "If you're gay, what are you doing here?"(57:21) Advice for feeling settled, chosen families—★ Send us feedback, questions, comments, and support!Email: communionandshalom@gmail.com | Instagram: @newkinship | Substack: @newkinship | Patreon: @newkinship—★ CreditsCreators and Hosts: David Frank, TJ Espinoza | Audio Engineer: Carl Swenson, carlswensonmusic.com | Podcast Manager: Elena F. | Graphic Designer: Gavin Popken, gavinpopkenart.com ★ Get full access to New Kinship at newkinship.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 124: The Schumann Resonance with Erin Brown Erin is a Frequency and Clarity Coach with over 25 years of experience in both the medical and metaphysical fields. She is a certified spiritual life coach, energy channel, and intuitive guide who helps clients attune their personal frequency, offering clarity and insight to those seeking answers and alignment in their lives. With her unique background and holistic approach, Erin empowers others to find clarity, raise their frequency, and step into their fullest potential. I discovered her from her TikTok page, @ConsciouslyErin where she speaks daily on the Schumann Resonance. I find her teaching and approach very grounding, clear and helpful. We had a fun conversation. I was grateful she took the time to connect and share what she knows as well as some of her story! To learn more about me (Karen) and the work that I do, go to rebalancewithreiki.com - if you are local to Northern NJ and you'd like to check out my store front you can visit my page moonmagicwellness.com. For more information about my online course Spiritual Seekers 101 go here. For more info and to book a distance healing session with me go here.

Episode 123: Abandonment, Public Execution and Strangulation - Past Lives Revealed In the past few months I have a few past life stories bubble up to the surface to be examined and cleared from being stabbed with a sword in my torso, to being paraded around in shackles prior to a public execution, to strangulation at the hands of my husband. It's all so fascinating and interesting how these things come up when digging deep to unlock whatever it is that is blocking us from soul growth! To learn more about me (Karen) and the work that I do, go to rebalancewithreiki.com - if you are local to Northern NJ and you'd like to check out my store front you can visit my page moonmagicwellness.com. For more information about my online course Spiritual Seekers 101 go here. For more info and to book a distance healing session with me go here.  

Send us a textThe unexpected journey from non-hunter to passionate outdoorsman lies at the heart of our conversation with Joe Arabia from Northern Jersey Outdoors. Having only started hunting six years ago at age 30, Joe offers a refreshing perspective that breaks from the typical "lifelong hunter" narrative that dominates outdoor media.Joe's story begins with a surprise 30th birthday gift – apprentice hunting permits from his cousin who had been trying to get him into the woods for years. That first hunt, watching a doe approach through lightly falling snow, his heart pounding so hard he could barely hold his shotgun steady, changed everything. "It opened up a different part of my brain," Joe explains, "I can't picture living without it anymore." This transformation from complete novice to successful trophy hunter provides a roadmap for late-blooming outdoorsmen everywhere.We dive deep into the unique challenges of hunting Northern New Jersey, where mature bucks are scarce, predator pressures are high, and deer populations are concentrated in suburban areas where hunting isn't permitted. Joe shares the thrilling story of his 133-inch buck, taken during the rut after calling in the dominant deer who came charging in to chase off a younger rival. The conversation flows through tactical discussions about saddle hunting versus traditional tree stands, the effectiveness of different hunting strategies in the Garden State, and the complex relationship between hunting pressure and deer behavior. Whether you're hunting the crowded Northeast or just curious about regional differences in deer patterns, Joe's insights reveal how adaptability and persistence lead to success.Ready to elevate your hunting game? Subscribe to the Garden State Outdoorsman Podcast for more authentic conversations with hunters who understand the unique challenges and rewards of Eastern whitetail hunting. Follow Joe's adventures on Instagram at Northern NJ Outdoorsman, and join us at our upcoming summer archery event to continue the conversation in person!Support the showHope you guy's enjoy! Hit the follow button, rate and give the show a comment!Ghillie Puck- https://www.ghilliepuck.com?sca_ref=6783182.IGksJNCNyo GP10 FOR 10% OFFGET YOUR HECS HUNTING GEAR :https://hecshunting.com/shop/?avad=385273_a39955e99&nb_platform=avantlink&nb_pid=323181&nb_wid=385273&nb_tt=cl&nb_aid=NAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bdhunting/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZtxCA-1Txv7nnuGKXcmXrA

Epsidoe 122: Spirituality with Sam Sam Simmons is a spiritual coach, intuitive channel, and your go-to guide for merging the woo with your human. Through her platform, Spirituality with Sam, she helps people connect with their spirit guides, clear shadows, and raise their frequency — all without taking it too seriously. She's here for the cosmic downloads and the human experience, and believes personal growth should feel expansive, empowering, and definitely a bit fun. I first discovered Sam back in like February or so. I found her take on the current political energies of our country very refreshing. She reads the energy of what we are swimming in and helps to create clarity from the chaos. What I like most about Sam is her encouragement and support of her community to listen within and trust themselves, encouraging their own discernment and discouraging them of giving their power away. I find Sam to be a fellow lightworker who's got a very similar mission as mine and I appreciate her matter of fact way and down to earth approach and casual nature. Find Sam on YouTube here Find Sam on TikTok   To learn more about me (Karen) and the work that I do, go to rebalancewithreiki.com - if you are local to Northern NJ and you'd like to check out my store front you can visit my page moonmagicwellness.com. For more information about my online course Spiritual Seekers 101 go here. For more info and to book a distance healing session with me go here.

Matt Walker MA, is a dedicated men's psychologist and international mountain guide based in Washington, USA. With a mission to help men navigate mid-life challenges, Matt empowers his clients to define success, align their values with actions, and live unapologetically. Through 1:1 coaching, group programs, immersive retreats, and transformative climbing expeditions, Matt creates opportunities for growth, adventure, and community. His work is rooted in fostering clarity, boldness, and a life lived in alignment with personal values. Matt lives in a mountain town in Washington State with his two children and balances parenting with a full workload which includes coaching individual and groups, leading climbing expeditions both professionally and personally Matt Walker Vroom Vroom Veer Show Summary Matt's Balancing Act and Life Shifts Matt discusses his work as both a mountain guide and a psychologist, supporting men through major life transitions. He is excited about the balance in his calendar between traditional coaching and field work in the mountains. Matt mentions he has a new book coming out after a 10-year publishing hiatus. He also reflects on how his values and priorities have shifted with age, emphasizing the importance of embracing these changes rather than judging oneself based on past expectations. Skepticism and the Shaping of Belief Matt and Jeffery discuss their approaches to knowledge and belief. Jeffery describes himself as highly skeptical, avoiding absolute certainty and viewing most things on a spectrum of probability. Matt agrees with this perspective, sharing an example from a memoir that acknowledged multiple viewpoints of the same experience. They discuss the unreliability of memory and the impact of mentors and teachers in shaping their worldviews. Matt reflects on how early influences expanded his understanding of career possibilities beyond his suburban upbringing. Mountain Climbing and Post-Military Life Matt shares his experience of moving from Northern New Jersey to Washington State after high school, motivated by his desire to be in the mountains following an Outward Bound course. He became involved in the climbing community, joining a group of experienced climbers and participating in significant expeditions. Matt later pursued a degree in philosophy but ultimately worked as a full-time mountain guide, leading international expeditions including the Seven Summits. Jeffery, in contrast, completed a bachelor's degree in psychology using his GI Bill after retiring from the Air Force, but chose not to pursue a career in that field. Matt's Approach to Existential Crises Matt discusses his approach to helping clients who are experiencing existential crises. He explains that he combines his background in psychology with outdoor experiences, particularly mountain climbing, to create a more effective therapeutic environment. Matt emphasizes the importance of having a guide during these experiences, comparing it to psychedelic journeys with proper set and setting. He notes that the most powerful moments for clarity and transformation occur during the descent from a summit, before transitioning back to everyday life. Matt sees his role as a supportive guide rather than actively doing the work for his clients. Challenging Experiences and Personal Growth Matt and Jeffery discuss the transformative power of challenging experiences, particularly in the context of personal growth and self-awareness. They explore how these experiences can lead to clarity, alignment between values and actions, and a sense of awakening. Jeffery shares his recent experience with a meditation app called "Way App," which he finds more effective than typical meditation apps due to its foundation in authentic Zen practices. They both agree that consistent, thoughtful practice can lead to gradual but meaningful increases in awareness and personal growth.

This week on That's Total Mom Sense, we're kicking off our Design Series with Julie LaFranco, Owner and President of California Closets of Northern New Jersey, who shares how her family-run business helps parents transform everyday chaos into calm through smart, functional home design. From streamlining morning routines to creating personalized storage solutions, California Closets is all about designing with intention to make life easier for busy families. Sponsored by California Closets, this inspiring episode is packed with real-life stories, expert tips, and design insights to help you create a space that truly works for your lifestyle. Tune in now and start your journey toward a more organized, harmonious home. MEET MY GUEST: Website:  https://www.locations.californiaclosets.com/nj/northern-new-jersey  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/design_nj/p/DBHILoCpEOJ/ SPONSORS: California Closets  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Salvigsen is based in Northern New Jersey where he specializes in medical retail and retail strip centers. On today's show we are talking about market selection and tenant selection in growth markets. To connect with Stephen, you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensalvigsen/ or at his company https://sagesquarecapital.com/----------------**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

On this episode, we're going to talk about using the letter form (epistolary) and specifically not telegraphing. If you don't know what telegraphing is, don't worry. You will after you hear our discussion at the end. The story in this episode is written by one of our favorite students, Danielle Huggins. This is the 4th time Danielle's been featured on the podcast but the first time she's joined us in the virtual studio. We are recording for the podcast as usual and you can also watch us on YouTube. Danielle's essay is titled A Letter to My Sister: I'm Sorry. Danielle Huggins is a writer from Northern New Jersey. She has been published in the Washington Post, Mutha Magazine, and GoMAG.com. She is a frequent contributor to Writing Class Radio. Danielle has taken First Draft, Second Draft, Final Draft, and Memoir. She is currently working on a memoir and attends First Draft Class as often as she can. She is on TikTok under @bipolardanielle and lives with her husband, daughter, mother, a wire fox terrier, and Sadie Cat. If you loved this story and want more, you can listen to Episode 105: Teach us Something We Don't Know. Episode 139: This is What Mania Looks Like. And Episode 152: How Music Inspires Storytelling. If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.