Podcasts about Southwest Philadelphia

Full episode now on Patreon. In the summer of 2002, CURVE suffered a fall in Southwest Philadelphia that left him in a coma for 6 weeks. Recovering from the traumatic brain injury took a full year, it onvolved CURVE relearning how to walk and dealing with the accompanying emotions. He spoke to Living Proof in an honest fashion of the experience. http://patreon.com/livingproofnewyorkhttp://livingproofnewyork.com

In this special interview episode, Sam and Gabe are joined by Will Caverly, author of Tinicum & Eastwick: Environmental Justice and Racial Injustice in Southwest Philadelphia.When plans to overhaul Southwest Philadelphia in the 1950s scheduled both the integrated neighborhood of Eastwick and the ecologically valuable Tinicum marshes to be razed, two grassroots movements took up the cause—battling eminent domain in the name of environmental conservation and economic injustice.Get the book:https://www.brooklinebooks.com/9781955041140/tinicum-and-eastwick/www.willcaverly.comSupport the showwww.laborjawn.com

We re-air an interview originally broadcast in August of 2024.In 1988, 5-year-old Marcus Yates was caught in crossfire inside a corner store in Southwest Philadelphia. While the deaths of children to gun violence have become tragically commonplace, Marcus's death at that time galvanized the city and inspired me and many others to work to end gun violence. Over three decades later, the family took a courageous step toward healing by meeting with the men convicted in the shooting. In a surprising turn, the family concluded that while Ike Johnson admitted to being involved, citing self-defense, Michael Gaynor was wrongfully convicted. The Yates family has committed to proving his innocence. I spoke to Marcus's mom, Shelly Yates Whittington, and her two sons, Tony and Malcolm Yates, about their journey of healing and reconciliation. Here is a link to a follow up interview with Inquirer Reporter Barbara Laker who wrote a powerful six part series about evidence that Gaynor was not at the scene of Marcus Yates murder and the family's efforts to work for Gaynor's release.  The Wrong Man – The Philadelphia Inquirer Series

We re-air an interview originally broadcast in August of 2024.In 1988, 5-year-old Marcus Yates was caught in crossfire inside a corner store in Southwest Philadelphia. While the deaths of children to gun violence have become tragically commonplace, Marcus's death at that time galvanized the city and inspired me and many others to work to end gun violence. Over three decades later, the family took a courageous step toward healing by meeting with the men convicted in the shooting. In a surprising turn, the family concluded that while Ike Johnson admitted to being involved, citing self-defense, Michael Gaynor was wrongfully convicted. The Yates family has committed to proving his innocence. I spoke to Marcus's mom, Shelly Yates Whittington, and her two sons, Tony and Malcolm Yates, about their journey of healing and reconciliation. Here is a link to a follow up interview with Inquirer Reporter Barbara Laker who wrote a powerful six part series about evidence that Gaynor was not at the scene of Marcus Yates murder and the family's efforts to work for Gaynor's release.  The Wrong Man – The Philadelphia Inquirer Series

Stephen oversees Baldi Management Group (BMG), an airport concessions and management consulting company that manages restaurants in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport and Dulles International Airport. Established in 2008, BMG operates various food and beverage outlets, including franchises like Dunkin’ Donuts, Potbelly, and Smashburger. Stephen is an alumnus of Georgetown University, where he was a Community Scholar and student-athlete. He attributes his success to mentorship and now mentors young people, aiming to provide growth opportunities within his company. As founder-led company, Stephen has formed connections with other DC-based founder-led restaurants like Founding Famers and Timber Pizza as well as with larger national brands. About 15-20% of BMG's customers are employees from the airport itself. Stephen is a strong advocate of mentorship and helping employees grow and advance within an organization, even if it means the employee leaving the organization for a better opportunity. QUOTES “My commitment to making meaningful connections with people comes from way back then when I was forced to do it, not only because of who I am but my circumstances and I've tried to carry that out through my career and my life.” (Stephen) “There's something different about a founder-led company, because you've built it.” (Stephen)“Airports are a wonderful place to work. Once you end up in this ecosystem, it's hard to walk away.” (Stephen)“(In airports), the passengers are dynamic. We get to meet and connect with them all. We have the privilege of participating in whatever journey people are on every day and the following day, we get a whole new group of people.” (Stephen) “The (airport concessions and restaurant industry) is about an $8 billion a year industry nationally but the industry is controlled by about 20 key companies. It's a small ecosystem.” (Stephen) “Operating a streetside restaurant versus a restaurant in an airport is a completely different sport. The speed, the requirements, the logistical challenges (of being an in airport), all of our crewmembers have to go through background checks. Unless you're a serious player, you're not trying to participate in airports.” (Stephen) “We encourage our crewmembers just to meet people where they are. It may be the 50th time you've welcomed someone to our restaurant but it's the first time you've spoken to the person in front of you. You should be additive to their experience and not add additional stress or complications.” (Stephen) “We welcome the chaos. When it's raining and snowing outside and your flights are delayed, we kind of welcome that because that means we get to hang out with you a little bit longer.” (Stephen) “If I bring in someone as a front line worker who's pouring coffee, if they're still pouring coffee in three years, both them and the organization has done something wrong. We want to scale people up.” (Stephen)  TRANSCRIPT 00:01.9900:01.99vigorbrandingHey folks, welcome to Fork Tales, and I’m excited. Today’s guest is Stephen Baldi He’s the founder and president of Baldi Management Group. Baldy Management Group is an airport concessions and management consulting company. It’s a mouthful there. ah Manages concessions in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport, and Dulles International Airport. Stephen, welcome to Fork Tales, and thank you so much for joining us.00:25.82Stephen BaldiMichael, thank you for having me. I’m looking forward to the conversation.00:29.01vigorbrandingSo for those that don’t know, all of these are located in the sort of DC Metro, Baltimore or down at DC Metro area, right?00:36.21Stephen BaldiCorrect.00:37.04vigorbrandingYeah.00:37.19Stephen BaldiYeah, even though Philadelphia is my hometown, I’ve been in Washington DC for almost 30 years. um So this is home base for us.00:46.37vigorbrandingyeah Well, you you you know, I have a little trick question because that was going to be my first question. Are you still a Philly sports fan? I mean, do you bleed Eagle Green?00:53.03Stephen Baldiif If you cut me, it would be nothing but green. I live in Washington, DC.00:56.48vigorbrandingOK, beautiful.00:57.88Stephen BaldiMy heart is in Philadelphia.00:59.81vigorbrandingBeautiful, beautiful. Wow. There’s, there’s guys, I don’t even know what they call themselves these days. these’s The commanders, the Washington football club.01:04.91Stephen Baldioh The Washington football team, they’re all.01:05.40vigorbrandingI mean, they’re just, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just, it’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant.01:10.11Stephen BaldiYeah, Michael, my family would disown me if anything other than my ah zip code changed as far as my hometown affiliation.01:10.06vigorbrandingSo that’s fantastic. Hey, it’s awesome. You got to bring, I had a gentleman come in, uh, from, uh, Oregon last week to speak to a bunch of advertising agencies from North America. We hosted them in Philadelphia and this guy was so excited. He was, he, he, he came from there, but he was Philly through and through. So everything in his presentation tied back to a Philly icon, something about Philadelphia that was iconic. And, you know, ah in our company, we’re,01:44.34vigorbrandingWe’re very proud that we’re an independent advertising agencies. We have an agency called Vigor and an agency called Quench. Vigor’s restaurant branding. Quench is food and beverage marketing. And the whole thing was around independence and how it’s how important it is.01:57.06vigorbrandingAnd he had all these great icons from like Nick Foles to, ah you know, ah Mike Schmidt to the Fanatic to, I mean, Will Smith.02:07.11vigorbrandingI mean, he just went through all the Philadelphia stuff, you know, the Liberty Bell and everything else. and So it was cool. It was cool.02:11.77Stephen Baldium I love it. I’ll tell you an interesting story about Nick Foles. So I had a really good feeling about our Super Bowl run, even though you know Carson Wentz, who was leading as the MVP that year, went down. And the Friday before the Super Bowl, something told me to go online and buy a Nick Foles autograph helmet.02:33.57vigorbrandingWow.02:34.10Stephen BaldiAnd I did. Now, I did not expedite the shipping, Michael. So it was not in my possession on Monday after we had won the Super Bowl. And many of my friends said that helmet’s never going to show up, but it did.02:47.65Stephen BaldiSo I bought it for $99.02:47.77vigorbrandingThat’s awesome.02:49.77Stephen BaldiAnd I can tell you, it’s it’s worth a lot more than that.02:51.92vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Yeah, it’s worth a lot to people in Philadelphia. So it’s fantastic. And the pride of that city runs deep. So alright, so tell us about Baldy enter Management Group and what it does what inspired you to get into the airport concession games. I mean, you started I think in residential property, right?03:06.90Stephen BaldiI did. I started in residential property management in 2002. And I started in airports in 2005. And it was all kind of serendipitous. I had a really ah prickly history before starting in 2002.03:23.22Stephen Baldiat Kettler Management, which managed tax credit properties, but also Class A luxury communities.03:29.04vigorbrandingOkay.03:29.23Stephen BaldiAnd I had a tenant coming to my office. And she said, Steven, I see you engaging with the residents and how you handle issues. And I think you should be doing more. And I thought to myself, like this woman doesn’t know me.03:39.92Stephen BaldiYeah, I just fixed her fireplace. But who are you to come in my office and tell me what I should be doing? And at the time, I was making $22,000 a year with a Georgetown degree. And the job that they wanted me to interview for paid $85,000 a year.03:54.21vigorbrandingwow03:54.39Stephen BaldiSo as you can assume, Michael, goal I took the interview, I got the job. And so for three years, I worked in development for Westfield, which most people know as shopping mall developers, they have an airport division.04:05.82vigorbrandingHmm. Ah.04:07.99Stephen BaldiAnd so I was responsible for the redevelopment of national airport here in Washington, DC from 2005. to 2008. And then I leveraged a relationship with OTG Management, which has a very large presence at Philadelphia International, um into a joint venture relationship and actually launched the company, BMG, in 2008. And two thousand and eight and it’s we’ve not looked back since.04:31.36vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. you know It’s funny. I really i don’t know you. we’re We’re really talking for the first time. I can tell right away, like youre you have a positive attitude, and I can tell you’re engaging. And so I could see how someone would see you in action and be like, hey, you know you you could do more. like You can be a part of something bigger. And it’s obviously what’s happened, which is it’s awesome. I’m a big proponent of attitude. I mean, i I love to know where people went to school. I mean, if you if I interview you, I want to see your brains on the table.04:58.39vigorbrandingBut I really want to know what your personality is like. I want to know about your attitude. I want to know ah how ah how much of a ah person you are that wants to win and be engaging and help people. And it’s ah like it comes through with you right away.05:09.91vigorbrandingAnd that’s ah it’s cool.05:10.18Stephen BaldiI appreciate that.05:11.03vigorbrandingnow it’s it’s05:11.32Stephen BaldiYeah, i’ll I’ll take it back if you if you want me to. So ah back in 1988, I was turning 13 and I begged my mom for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers.05:24.58Stephen BaldiAnd you’ll remember when Gordon’s first came out, ah they were the first shoe over a hundred dollars.05:25.72vigorbrandingOh, yeah.05:29.85vigorbrandingOh, yes, they were.05:30.36Stephen Baldiyeah I grew up in a upper lower class household and it was a stretch for my mom to purchase these shoes.05:31.49vigorbrandingYep.05:37.09vigorbrandingMm hmm.05:38.21Stephen BaldiBut I begged her and I begged her and I begged her and and she ended up buying them for me. And she said, you know, I just want you to be safe. Well, you probably can assume where the story goes. Within like a month of getting these sneakers, I was an attempted robbery, and I acted very violently to defend myself, and it resulted in me getting expelled from the school that I was at.05:59.94Stephen BaldiAnd as a punishment, ah rather than letting me play basketball for the entire summer, my mom forced me to go to the reading math and basketball clinic at Friend Central, which is a very prominent independent school on the main line of Philadelphia.06:14.39vigorbrandingMm hmm.06:14.96Stephen BaldiAnd that decision changed my life. um I went from living in a predominantly all-Black neighborhood to a private school that I was the only Black male in my class.06:25.11vigorbrandingWow.06:25.74Stephen BaldiAnd what it did was it changed my perspective of what was accessible. like I had never seen a computer before.06:31.75vigorbrandingRight.06:32.14Stephen BaldiAnd at this school, there was in a computer lab where we could sit down and navigate things.06:34.40vigorbrandingYeah.06:36.15Stephen BaldiAnd so going to Friends Central, having my mom make that leap of faith changed my trajectory in many ways. I matriculated from there to Georgetown University here in Washington, DC, which is how I got.06:48.20Stephen Baldito Washington DC. So I am a super Philadelphia sports fan, because not only am I from Philly, but Allen Iverson was my classmate at Georgetown University.06:51.93vigorbrandingThat’s awesome.06:55.50vigorbrandingIs that right?06:56.61Stephen BaldiYeah, we were the same class.06:56.89vigorbrandingWow.06:57.61Stephen BaldiAnd so, yeah, very cool.06:58.33vigorbrandingThat’s so cool. Yeah.07:00.38Stephen BaldiAnd so maya my commitment to making meaningful connections with people comes from way back then when I was forced to do it, not only because of who I am, but my circumstances.07:00.74vigorbrandingAI. It’s legendary.07:12.75Stephen BaldiAnd I’ve tried to carry that out through my career and my life.07:15.84vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. what a great That’s great. That’s a great story. you know it’s like It’s funny that on the Air Jordans, at that time, when they came out, and I can follow you on that. i know you You nailed it. You said the first sneaker that was over $100. My dad had ah this like mom and pop retail sporting store. We sold mostly like hockey stuff. We were from Hershey, Pennsylvania.07:35.39vigorbrandingAnd I was working in a store in in Camp Hill and outside of Hershey. It’s up in the West Shore, they call it. Anyway, long story short, I was in the mall and we sold some sneakers and the Air Jordans came out and we had them on the wall.07:48.37vigorbrandingAnd it was like, it was insane. $100 for a pair of sneakers.07:52.08Stephen BaldiYeah.07:52.28vigorbrandingAnd I mean, like, whereas I’ll say the average then was probably like on the high end was probably like 50, 55.07:57.40Stephen BaldiYeah, for sure.07:58.58vigorbrandingAnd this went right to 100. And it was funny, my dad, maybe that’s where I started learning about, and I really did learn a lot about marketing, working in retail, because you have to talk to people, you have to sell. And I think that’s the most important skill a person can learn. Communicating with people and learning how to sell, like, you know, at least present yourself, right? So I put these sneakers at the very top. I said, dad, you know what? ah I said, everybody wants the Air Jordans. Most people can’t afford them.08:21.42vigorbrandingbut everyone wants to come and look at it. So I always sell them the white, the white, men’s the body they’re like but you know, so for every one Air Jordan, I saw, I used to sell like 30 other pairs of shoes.08:25.49Stephen Baldiah yeah08:30.65vigorbrandingYou know what I mean?08:31.05Stephen BaldiIt’s been up in the store. It’s like a newspaper. People don’t necessarily want just the newspaper, at least the retailer does it, but they come in to buy the newspaper and then they buy the water, the soda, the candy.08:33.13vigorbrandingThat’s right.08:39.73vigorbrandingThat’s right. yeah I lured them in with the Air Jordans. I think we had like five parrot the most. I mean, we couldn’t afford, you know, it’s a little mom pop store.08:46.41Stephen BaldiProbably two sizes.08:47.56vigorbrandingYeah, right. That’s exactly right. So that’s funny. So okay, you talked about sports and and and you know, Philly and all that you you pride yourself on um being a local company and playing in front of the home crowd.08:58.99vigorbrandingTalk a little bit about the the local connection in DC that you have.09:02.34Stephen BaldiYeah, so I’ll tell you, when you fly into most airports, what people don’t automatically see, but being a former developer, I understand that any airport authority, when you land in their airport, they want you to know what city you are in.09:18.24Stephen BaldiSo national brands are extremely important. So you’ll have your Dunkin’ Donuts. You’ll have your Pop-Belly’s, which are ah franchises that we operate.09:22.12vigorbrandingMm hmm.09:25.89Stephen BaldiBut every airport wants you to have a sense of place. So when you fly into Philadelphia Airport, you’ll have a Jim Stakes, because that’s you know historical to that region.09:34.38vigorbrandingYeah.09:34.93Stephen BaldiWhen you fly into National Airport here, or Dallas International, you’ll have your South Blocks, which is an ASE base. com concept here in the DC.09:45.49Stephen BaldiYou’ll have Ben’s Chili Bowl, which has been around since the 60s.09:45.90vigorbrandingMm hmm. Mm hmm.09:49.41Stephen BaldiAnd so we’ve prided ourselves from identifying and connecting with other founder-led brands, because I’m a founder. And nothing against a hired gun.09:56.93vigorbrandingMm hmm.09:58.81Stephen BaldiI know they are often effective at their job. But there’s something different about a founder-led company because you’ve built it.10:06.95vigorbrandingYeah.10:07.27Stephen Baldiit probably has more ah meaning to you behind just the bottom line um results that you drive. It’s personal.10:15.52vigorbrandingYeah.10:15.69Stephen BaldiAnd so we’ve developed very deep relationships with companies like founding farmers, with timber pizza, who are all local based companies here. And we expect to continue to grow it, not just in this region that we’re in, but as we grow into other markets to do the same.10:30.68vigorbrandingYeah, that’s that’s fantastic. And you nailed it. I mean, like, I’m a founder, I’m an entrepreneur. And you know, and ah again, wonderful folks that that work with me, I’m very, very, very lucky. But you know, for for most people, it’s their job, you know, their career, and and hopefully there’s a sense of of a family and a real relationship.10:49.53vigorbrandingBut for me, it’s my life. I mean, i am I am defined personally by this, which is probably pretty shallow.10:51.05Stephen Baldiright10:54.86vigorbrandingI mean, i mean look, um I love my daughters. I’m a dad. I’m ah a husband. I love my family with all my heart, but I feel like I’m defined by my company and the what I’ve built. and and all of that And I just, you know, so again, I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing or whatever, but it’s just, it’s ah it’s a lot deeper, right?11:11.93vigorbrandingWhen you found something and ah it’s it’s a lot deeper, everyone thinks it has to do with like money and stuff, and it really doesn’t.11:12.49Stephen BaldiRight. For sure.11:17.73vigorbrandingIt’s a it’s really about, you know, sort of like your life’s life’s work. and You know, you know, I get I get the most excitement out of seeing the growth of the folks in the company. ah It’s great to see the brands grow and the companies grow.11:30.42vigorbrandingBut I really get a kick out of of seeing the folks that have been here a long time and and all that. So anyway, that’s just that’s me.11:35.91Stephen Baldiright11:36.26vigorbrandingBut I just I totally I totally concur with what you’re saying as far as the founder led. I mean, that’s that’s fantastic.11:41.40Stephen BaldiYeah, at some point as a founder, you most likely had to put something at risk that meant something to you.11:47.14vigorbrandingYeah.11:47.50Stephen BaldiWhether it’s personal guaranteeing, first leverage to build the company or, you know, having to bail it out because you run into a pandemic, which we all face back in 2020.11:47.75vigorbrandingOh, yeah. Yeah.11:55.18vigorbrandingAll right.11:57.80Stephen Baldium Oftentimes you can’t just walk from that business and matriculate to another W2 position because this is yours. And so I love when I can connect with founders.12:04.69vigorbrandingYeah.12:07.41Stephen BaldiI’ll work with non-founders also, but there’s something unique about the journey we’ve all been on.12:09.54vigorbrandingSure.12:11.88vigorbrandingYeah, absolutely. So let’s let’s talk a little bit. I just so folks know, I mean, what’s really cool about this conversation is I, ah you know, with vigor, we work with restaurant brands, right?12:22.32vigorbrandingSo we’re very familiar with restaurant brands. And you you have brands like Potbelly, Smashburger. You said founding farmers soon to come. ah Timber Pizza, Dunkin, I mean, some some household names.12:33.94vigorbrandingI don’t know if I’m um yeah any ants.12:34.26Stephen BaldiOn the end, don’t forget on the end, this is what else we have.12:35.99vigorbrandingNo, I can’t actually. Yeah, we actually worked on any answers. We have an agency called quench that a branding agency, Food and Beverage, that that actually worked with Auntie Anne’s because they started here in Lancaster.12:40.96Stephen BaldiOkay.12:45.88vigorbrandinghu Yeah, and I got to meet Anne Byler in the beginning.12:45.98Stephen BaldiThey did.12:48.81vigorbrandingSo, Auntie Anne is actually a person and she’s a wonderful lady and It was a really really awesome to meet her and and and what a she was so she’s a very philanthropic lady very very ah ah Generous and very successful very so she’s got a phenomenal story as well. But so yeah, I certainly won’t leave the auntie hands out But you so you have all these great brands um Talk a little bit about I mean, you know, you said somewhere founded by they you know the founders and all that what’s it like to to manage all these different brands and13:18.00Stephen BaldiI’ll tell you, it’s a dynamic environment. Airports are a wonderful place to do business. Again, I share with you briefly how I matriculated into them, but once you end up in this kind of ecosystem, it’s hard to walk away.13:33.35Stephen BaldiWe get the privilege of serving the traveling public every day. And what’s special about that are the passengers are dynamic. There are people who are going on business trips. There are people who are going on vacations. There are people who are going to be celebrated and there are people who are going to, you know,13:51.28Stephen Baldiusher people off into a transition of life. And we get to meet and connect with them all. And so I tell our crew members that we have the privilege of participating in whatever journey people are on every day.14:03.68Stephen BaldiAnd then the following day, we get a whole new group of people coming through.14:06.48vigorbrandingyeah yeah14:07.36Stephen BaldiSo that’s dynamic in the industries are small. I will tell you it’s about a $8 billion industry nationally in the United States, food and beverage and airports.14:14.57vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah.14:19.40Stephen BaldiBut the industry is really controlled by about 20 key companies. And within those 20 companies, you probably have 50 total key players.14:23.32vigorbrandingyeah14:27.50Stephen BaldiAnd so we know each other. you know You typically don’t leave the industry. Your business card may change. So you may go from company to company, but it’s a small ecosystem. And so I’ve enjoyed being in the industry now.14:40.58Stephen Baldi18 years. I started when I was two. ah But it’s a buy it’s been an extraordinary 18 years, except for some of the challenges like COVID. But you know for the people who were able and blessed to push through it, I think we have a different perspective on what we can be and what we should be in the businesses that we lead. To your point,15:00.50Stephen Baldium being defined by your business is not necessarily shallow, but there’s levels, there’s there’s depth to what we do.15:08.62vigorbrandingYeah.15:08.91Stephen BaldiAnd I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to swim in those depths ah for many years.15:14.41vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. We’ll get to COVID in a second, but I want to go back to airports. ah I’ll say, fortunately or unfortunately, I’m a customer. I’m in an airport every single week. So when you’re describing the people you see there, it’s like, yeah.15:21.70Stephen BaldiAwesome.15:24.71vigorbrandingI mean, you know there’s it’s every single walk of life. Everyone seems to have a higher level of stress.15:30.65Stephen Baldiyeah15:30.77vigorbrandingEveryone’s in a hurry, even when they’re not, or even worse, if someone’s really not in a hurry and they’re walking slow in the airport, that can actually be more frustrating and stressful. but ah So how do you how do you deal with that chaos? I mean, you got all these people that are amped up and nervous and they have anxiety or whatever, and then all of a sudden you’ve got to serve them and take them, you know, and represent these great brands and and and actually make the stuff and and in a and a fast time because they’re always running late, even if they’re not, they just think they’re always stressed.15:56.04Stephen BaldiRight.15:59.20vigorbrandingTalk about airport concessions. Talk about that chaos.16:02.08Stephen BaldiYeah, so you meet people where they are. And I will tell you, operating a street-side restaurant versus an airport, it’s a completely different sport.16:09.79vigorbrandingI cannot imagine.16:10.73Stephen BaldiI tell ah these founder-led companies when they’re thinking about matriculating in the airports, I tell them you know it’s like playing high school varsity basketball.16:10.80vigorbrandingyeah16:19.70Stephen BaldiAnd then you get drafted to the and NBA, like the speed, the requirements, you know, we have to go through the logistical um challenges of having every box that comes into your restaurant scan.16:20.40vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. Yeah.16:31.21Stephen BaldiLike Cisco’s not pulling up to our back door and delivering our ground beef for Smashburger.16:31.53vigorbrandingYeah.16:34.05vigorbrandingRight.16:35.85Stephen BaldiLike it’s going through an X-ray, just like your luggage is.16:38.86vigorbrandingYeah.16:39.39Stephen Baldium All of our crew members have to go through a 10 year federal background check.16:44.03vigorbrandingSure.16:44.19Stephen Baldium There’s complexities to the business, which are to our challenge. But to me, it’s also kind of to our benefit, Michael, because it reduces my competition. Because unless you’re a serious player, you’re not trying to participate in airports.16:54.14vigorbrandingMhm.16:56.81Stephen BaldiAnd so for me, understanding those barriers and be able to navigate them are great. But from a day to day operation standpoint, We encourage our crew members just to meet people where they are.17:07.93Stephen Baldium It may be the 50th time you’ve welcomed someone to our restaurant, but it’s the first time you’ve spoken to the person that’s in front of you. And again, you don’t know if they’re going on vacation or they’re going to a celebration of life to send a family member home.17:16.31vigorbrandingright17:22.96Stephen BaldiRegardless, you should be additive to their experience and not adding additional stress or complications. Just try to deliver them fast, friendly, exceptional,17:34.09Stephen Baldiservice because that’s our standard. That is our vision for the company, which is being exceptional is our standard. It’s not something that happens intermittently.17:42.84vigorbrandingAll right.17:44.59Stephen BaldiIt happens all the time. And so we welcome the chaos.17:45.78vigorbrandingYeah.17:48.05Stephen BaldiYou know, when it’s raining and snowing outside, even though your flights are delayed, we kind of welcome that because that means you get to hang out with you a little bit longer.17:54.78vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah.17:55.63Stephen BaldiSo as long as we’re not canceling flights, if they’re just delayed, that’s kind of our sweet spot.18:00.01vigorbrandingThere you go.18:00.65Stephen BaldiSo we welcome it all.18:02.58vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. You know, you you said something really interesting. So as I mentioned, Vigor is our agency that that does branding and marketing for restaurants. I know, and it’s not, you know, it’s common knowledge that turnover and and employees in the restaurant industry is like the biggest hassle, right? and Everyone’s dealing with that that turnover. But you just said something. they They have to go through this long, arduous process to get through. So do you find that you have, I’ll say, maybe better better qualified, better quality,18:32.38vigorbrandingah team members in your restaurants?18:34.64Stephen BaldiI would tell you that our hourly and even our salary leadership ah on some levels, they’re more committed because it is a personal investment to get through the process.18:39.98vigorbrandingMm-hmm.18:45.54Stephen BaldiAnd so, you know, typical food and beverage turnover is anywhere from 100 to 150%. And only ours is closer to like 30.18:51.64vigorbrandingRight.18:54.91vigorbrandingthat’s hey That’s fantastic. I never thought that that would have never dawned on me that that would be ah an unfair advantage. you know It’s funny, like yeah I was telling someone the other day, you know the higher the barrier to entry in business, actually the better the business is because you don’t have just everybody and anybody competing.19:12.66vigorbrandingSo you you have a higher barrier of entry.19:13.25Stephen BaldiCorrect.19:15.58vigorbrandingum And with that, you have you sort of have ah have a capture to a degree ah group of people, right? ah But the one thing that is interesting, I think if I remember correctly, I think there’s like 30%, I’ll say of ah if it’s a Dunkin Donuts on the street corner, 30% of their their ah customers will probably repeat, right?19:35.43vigorbrandingah you You are not, I mean, you know you might have the same business guy that flies every Thursday out to you know wherever,19:37.58Stephen BaldiNo?19:40.80Stephen Baldiwe have We’ll have our Michaels.19:41.81vigorbrandingYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.19:42.16Stephen BaldiWe have our Michaels.19:43.59vigorbrandingI’ll hit your place and at the airport get a coffee on the way out, but that’s it. Yeah, that’s it. So that’s.19:48.43Stephen BaldiI will tell you, though, we do have outside of the the traveling public, we do have recurring customers who are the people who work at the airport. I mean, at National and Dulles Airport, you get anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand employees that are there every day.19:56.97vigorbrandingNo, that makes sense. Sure.20:03.65Stephen BaldiAnd so ah they are also extremely important to us.20:03.75vigorbrandingMm hmm. Hey, they got to eat and drink, right?20:07.86Stephen BaldiThey got to eat and drink and they have to do it fast.20:09.70vigorbrandingRight. That’s right.20:10.84Stephen BaldiWell, we have different incentives to get them in and out, but they are our recurring customers and they’re about 15 to 20 percent of our business.20:15.10vigorbrandingYeah, that makes sense. Hey, going back to the old mall days that I was talking about the sneakers, I sold a lot of sneakers to people that worked in the mall, not many Air Jordans, but a lot of the, you know, a lot of the lower end sneakers.20:22.26Stephen BaldiYeah, for sure.20:27.36vigorbrandingSo, we talked to you hit on earlier and I know we, we inevitably, hopefully one day we, we don’t, and we don’t have to talk about, we always go back and talking about COVID and, uh, you know,20:35.54Stephen BaldiOh, yeah.20:37.21vigorbrandingOne of our companies and our holding company is a company called Varsity. And Varsity does retirement communities around the country, we market retirement companies. Well, that that industry shut down. I mean, no one was going, no one was visiting, and people were sick. It was bad. Restaurants, another one of our our agencies, right? We marketed restaurants. No one was going. It was basically shut down. you know Your hospitality Uh, and your restaurants, I mean, and your travel, I mean, you’re, you’re combining it all and how, talk about that a little bit.21:06.75vigorbrandingI mean, you were hit from both ends.21:07.11Stephen BaldiOh, I had the privilege of double dipping.21:11.81vigorbrandingYeah.21:11.93Stephen BaldiSo we were in hospitality beverage, but we were also in travel.21:12.41vigorbrandingIn turmoil.21:15.47vigorbrandingYeah.21:16.03Stephen BaldiAnd so I remember very specifically on March 11th, 2020, President Trump came on television and he announced a 30-day travel ban to Europe.21:27.16vigorbrandingMm-hmm.21:28.65Stephen BaldiAnd at the time, ah most people only thought about the impact of air traffic travel to Europe, places like London, Paris.21:37.58vigorbrandingright21:38.31Stephen BaldiBut I anticipated that this was really the big moment for our industry.21:43.00vigorbrandingRight.21:43.21Stephen BaldiI know a lot of people associate kind of their aha moment with COVID becoming a significant thing when the NBA shut down and more importantly, when the NCAA tournament shut down.21:53.85Stephen BaldiBut that announcement on March 11th signified for me that things were about to change for my business.21:58.60vigorbrandingYeah.21:58.72Stephen BaldiNow, I didn’t know it was going to be 18 months.22:02.21vigorbrandingRight.22:02.55Stephen Baldium But within about two weeks, we lost 85% of our top line revenue. And so on March 18, we shut the company down for 18 months. um And it was a challenge to what we talked about earlier, where a lot of my identity was tied up in this company that I built.22:20.39Stephen BaldiWell, there was no company to have an identity he tied to. And so for me as a leader, It really pushed me during that time to redefine who I was in that moment and who I was going to aspire to be if we were privileged enough to come out of it. And we did. We’ve come out very strong, stronger than actually we went in. um We actually sold 35% of the business last year to some strategic, but then also some individual investors. And so I’ve had the privilege of surrounding myself where before I was the only voice in the room and now there are many.22:55.69vigorbrandingRight.22:55.77Stephen BaldiAnd it presents some unique challenges, but also some extraordinary opportunities for me to low to learn and grow from other individuals and institutions that have built companies to scale, not all in food and beverage, many not.23:10.17Stephen Baldium But it’s really given me the opportunity to become a better leader um and to take our company into the next five to 10 years of what we will be.23:20.35vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. you know i the the The COVID obviously affected everybody. It affected everybody in different ways. and like For us for a business, it was and it was really interesting in that you know because we have several different agencies in our holding company, it was sort of a little bit of a like a mutual fund where one or two stocks could be really down, but then others can be up. Our CPG agency, Quench,23:40.72vigorbrandingyou know we’ We’re doing we’re doing brands national brands like you know Sunmade Raise and Stark Institute. To me, COVID, to to that to that company and those brands, COVID was like the greatest sampling program in the history of Earth. i mean If you put it in a package back then, it was on a shelf. People bought it. They stuck it in their pantries. They ate it. They bought more of it. i mean They couldn’t get enough of it. i mean It was just ah an insane time.24:01.94vigorbrandingfor those companies. and then the other the The negative side obviously was the restaurants and everything else. i mean It’s a really interesting time. and and you know You said about how you it can define things. the other thing One of the other things we did was we took adversity. We had all these CEOs that were like, what is everyone doing? i mean like you you know This just happened. It was unprecedented. What is everybody else doing? so We thought, well,24:23.89vigorbrandingAll right, we’re not making i mean and and again it’s not we’re not making revenue businesses down, but we still have these relationships. They’re our clients. So what can we do? So it wasn’t my idea, but one of our guys said, hey, let’s create sort of a round table. of that And our agency is called Varsity. So we called it the Varsity Round Table. So we got all these CEOs that were just like,24:41.34vigorbrandingWhat’s everyone doing? And they were able to talk and it was so successful that we did it the next week. And then they talked more and then more and more CEOs jumped in. They weren’t even our clients and became this open source sharing that has now been, we are on about, I think it’s like 250th.24:58.49vigorbrandingroundt We’ve been doing them every week since the first month of COVID.25:04.38Stephen BaldiWow, impressive.25:05.19vigorbrandingAnd what’s done for a company, for us, i mean again we don’t make any money from it. And it wasn’t about that. It was just a place for people to really vent and help. And now we have speakers come in and talk, and everyone’s obviously well beyond COVID.25:16.71vigorbrandingBut it’s really allowed us to be a thought leader and assist these folks. And you know at the end of the day, it’s what it’s all about. And I know a big thing for you is is mentorship, right? I mean, you know talk about giving back. you want you Do you want to talk a little bit about that?25:27.81Stephen BaldiYeah, I’ll talk about that but I’ll also talk similarly to your roundtable so in February of 2020 I had the privilege of joining the organization YPO, which is Young President Organization, which is very similar to what you define there’s 35.25:42.82Stephen Baldi1,000 YPO members globally. And it’s really for business leaders who have decided that they want to walk towards betterment as a person, as a leader, as a family member, as someone contributing to their community in partnership with other leaders.25:58.55Stephen BaldiAnd so I am in the Washington DC Baltimore chapter here ah in the region.25:58.93vigorbrandingMm hmm.26:04.18Stephen BaldiAnd I’m in leadership. And I can tell you that organization was really critical in me navigating everything that I had to go through ah during COVID.26:14.98Stephen BaldiNow, we didn’t we didn’t meet weekly, um but we do meet monthly in a small group of seven to 10 people, and we have forum.26:15.26vigorbrandingSure.26:19.82vigorbrandingMonthly forum.26:22.81Stephen BaldiAnd, oh, there you go.26:22.85vigorbrandingI didn’t know I’m i’m YPO, too. I didn’t know your IPO. Yeah, I’ve been.26:25.92Stephen BaldiYeah!26:26.21vigorbrandingYeah.26:27.01Stephen BaldiSo YDO is really what sustained me during COVID.26:27.03vigorbrandingSo Oh.26:29.86Stephen Baldium And I’m privileged to be on the ladder now in leadership.26:32.72vigorbrandingDo for you.26:35.01Stephen BaldiAnd so, yeah, as far as mentorship, when I started the company, you know it was a priority for me to give opportunity to underrepresented populations. um Now, as I started to grow the company, my focus started to turn inward, Michael, if I’m being honest. And you know the beginning of 2020, it was difficult for anybody to tell me that I wasn’t the shit. I built this company from zero to something much larger than I had ever aspired to as a young person.27:04.34vigorbrandingRight.27:06.68Stephen Baldium But COVID took all of that away.27:08.81vigorbrandingYeah.27:09.14Stephen BaldiAnd so what it reminded me of is that there was a mission that I started this company with. And it was something that I needed to recommit to when we reopened.27:19.90Stephen BaldiAnd so now um we’re really pouring into our crew members um When I hire someone, specifically, let’s take Dunkin Donuts.27:30.76Stephen BaldiIf I bring in someone as a frontline worker that’s pouring coffee, if they’re still pouring coffee for us in three years, both them and the organization has done something wrong.27:34.59vigorbrandingMmhmm.27:41.17Stephen Baldium We want to scale people up. It is not cost effective for us to have people in the same position for multiple years. So if we’re not scaling someone up to take on additional responsibility inside our company and sometimes even outside of our company, then we’ve done something wrong. you know My mentor told me a good leader ah expects or wants people to leave. A great leader expects them to.28:08.64vigorbrandingYeah.28:09.01Stephen BaldiAnd so either they’re leaving the position that we’re hiring them for or they’re leaving to go to another organization. But either way, we have to invest in our hourly crew members because we can’t afford not to.28:20.86vigorbrandingYeah.28:21.76Stephen BaldiAnd so that’s something that we really communicate out and share out. to our community and our organization and people know that we’re gonna invest in them in ways that other companies might not to and we feel like that gives us a competitive advantage and as a leader it makes me feel a good about not only our bottom line results but also the success that we can feel. I have a manager who’s been with us for eight years.28:46.57Stephen BaldiHer name is Marta. And she started as a single unit manager. And now she’s a multi-airport director.28:53.24vigorbrandingawesome.28:53.39Stephen BaldiAnd to see her growth and to understand the impact that that has has had on her family is tremendous. And I want to do that a hundred times over.29:00.50vigorbrandingSure.29:00.79Stephen BaldiAnd I have the privilege of being able to do that as a leader of our company.29:01.01vigorbrandingYeah.29:04.70vigorbrandingand And think of it this way, I mean, and that’s what’s so great about this country, I’ll say is like, you were making whatever $22,000 a year, I think you had free room or board or whatever you were managing, right?29:12.60Stephen BaldiI did.29:13.65vigorbrandingSo you you’re probably like, I’m getting by, this is okay. And look, you and you know, obviously, you’re you’re very well educated, you have a great drive and personality, but you you created a a huge company. And that’s, that’s, that’s really super cool, really super cool.29:25.90Stephen BaldiWell, Michael, I can tell you specifically in that first year, 2002, I made $19,117 and 43 cents. I can tell you that specifically because that W2 still sits on my desk.29:36.80Stephen BaldiI have it framed.29:36.84vigorbrandingYeah, yeah.29:37.68Stephen BaldiI look at it every day just to remind me of where all of this started and where now we’ve grown the company to I’m, I’m extremely proud.29:45.15vigorbrandingYeah. And you know, you mentioned YPO and I’ve been very privileged to be in that organization for, gosh, I think at least 20 some years.29:53.06Stephen BaldiSo you joined when you were 17.29:54.45vigorbrandingYeah, no, but yeah, it’s one of those things, is we you know, it used to kick you out when you’re 50. In fact, I did, I got the rocking chair and showed up at the front door.30:02.59Stephen BaldiOh, there you go.30:03.68vigorbrandingYeah, that was the thing. And then they decided to have YPO Gold, WPO and all that. stuff So I stayed in and now we’re like a forum for life. So my guys, we meet once a month and we are together. ah we A lot of it’s virtual because these guys, a lot of it, we’re retired and stuff.30:15.91vigorbrandingSo um I’m old. I mean, the it’s YPO o Gold, but I always say it’s Silent G, you know, YPO old. So, but it’s a, it was the greatest thing I’ve ever done for me.30:26.29vigorbrandingMaybe a better husband, better father, better businessman, a better employer, better ah a friend. I mean, and I i mean that.30:32.27Stephen Baldiand human30:33.29vigorbrandingYeah. It’s just a better human. And I think a lot of people see it from the outside and think it’s all, it’s a bunch of guys didn’t talk about how many cars they have and where they want vacation. It’s not that at all.30:40.24Stephen BaldiIt’s not that it’s a transformational community, you know, having a high trust network is invaluable.30:40.92vigorbrandingYou know, it’s, you know, it’s a, it is, it is.30:47.41vigorbrandingYep. Yeah. Someone’s got your back, right? You can always pick up that phone and call your, one of your folks and just, they got your back. No, that’s yeah.30:54.39Stephen BaldiAnd it’s nobody, and it’s nobody, nothing, never. And to have that level of confidentiality is special.30:57.03vigorbrandingThat’s right. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. That’s all good for you. I had no idea. That’s fantastic. um So, but now I’m going to do a little ploy here. You got to go and you should go to Austin this year to the food and beverage round table.31:10.60vigorbrandingI mean, if you can check it out, it’ll be, I think it’s in in January, you know, I’ll probably be speaking there, but you should go.31:14.55Stephen BaldiOK.31:16.84vigorbrandingI mean, you know, I’d love to meet you in person. It’d be fantastic.31:18.67Stephen BaldiYeah, I’d love that.31:18.88vigorbrandingAnyway, so could we do,31:20.42Stephen BaldiMaybe we’ll be celebrating a Phillies World Series by then.31:22.74vigorbrandingOh man, you’re making me nervous. um I hope so. I hope you’re right. I hope you’re right. But our company, we do it we do an annual food and beverage trends report every year. We’ve been doing them for like, jeez, 15, 16 years. And so a lot of times we launched it at the food and beverage round table. So it’s always really cool stuff.31:40.96Stephen BaldiAwesome, send me an invite and I’ll be there.31:41.00vigorbrandingum Yeah. All right. Well, definitely. I’ll make sure you get it after this, after our conversation here. So, okay. When you go to a restaurant, you you have a choice between human interaction or self ordering kiosks. I know that, you know, you guys need to be really ah high speed, efficient and all that. What what do you, what do you prefer?31:58.57Stephen BaldiWell, it depends, right? Deploying technology is a strategy that ah should be done with intention and asking the question, and then what, right?32:12.55Stephen Baldium I will tell you a story. So the first time we experimented with self ordering technology was in 2008 at JFK airport terminal five.32:24.65Stephen BaldiAnd we deployed at the time iPads um at our Dunkin Donuts because we thought, you know, technology is moving in this way and it’s fun and it’s cool, but nobody wants to walk up to a counter and order a coffee by pressing buttons.32:29.75vigorbrandingMm-hmm. Yep.32:39.85vigorbrandingMm-hmm.32:44.46Stephen BaldiYou know, communicating to a cashier, ah medium cream and sugar takes about 15 seconds. When you are forcing someone to press hot coffee, then medium, then sugar, then extra sugar, like that’s just, we found that that was a ah strategy that wasn’t ah successfully deployed at that time.32:58.57vigorbrandingwho33:05.34Stephen Baldinow That was back in 2008. I will say trends have matured since then and so there is an opportunity to have self ordering technology at a place like Dunkin Donuts and people have learned to navigate it quickly. um You have hot buttons for certain high usage items and so I say to people all the time because my friends question me, whenever they see an iPad, they assume that that means that that technology has taken someone’s job. And what I try to educate people on is that you know if you deploy technology in a intentional way, in a smart way, it allows you to redirect33:45.29Stephen Baldiwhat you would have otherwise spent on front of house and the back of house.33:46.57vigorbrandingMm33:49.72Stephen BaldiOr maybe you’re deploying it at a ah leadership level that’s multi-unit capable.33:49.78vigorbrandinghmm.33:55.24Stephen BaldiAnd so it’s not necessarily ah replacing jobs, but allowing savvy business leaders to take that investment and redeploy it in other ways. I will tell you that the benefit is you know technology doesn’t call out. Sometimes you have to reboot the system, but it always upsells. It always asks you if you want a dessert and always ask you if you want to package your burger with fries. And so to be able to grow your top line ticket, ah that’s only going to drive bottom line outcomes, which allows a business owner like me to look at expansion, to go into other cities, to be able to bring other people along with us because the business is growing. And so there’s opportunity beyond just taking someone’s order. And so34:40.31Stephen BaldiTechnology is something you have to look at in parallel kind of decision making. But I enjoy it. There’s some concepts that it resonates more significantly than others. But I think there’s a balance and there needs to be a balance of both going forward. I don’t think we’re ever going to have an industry that is exclusively technology or self ordering driven. um And I think you go in with a bunch of assumptions, you understand how your customers respond to it, and then you be agile enough to adjust appropriately.35:08.96vigorbrandingYeah, I mean, it makes a lot of sense. And i I concur. I mean, you know, I don’t want to wait in a massive line, especially from an airport. But, you know, just ordering, pre-ordering and all that kind of stuff isn’t all that funny either.35:19.32vigorbrandingSo it’s just you with that happy balance. You know, I do like talking to somebody and, you know, because I talk a lot, I guess. But plus, I always ask for some ice in my coffee just a little bit. I don’t want nice coffee.35:27.30Stephen BaldiThere you go.35:27.67vigorbrandingSo it’s a little tough to explain to an iPad, you know, so very soft.35:31.57Stephen BaldiTo drop it into a couple of cubes, yeah.35:32.20vigorbrandingWhoops. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t want to burn my, burn my mouth. So now I know you have at least one daughter, correct?35:38.70Stephen BaldiI’d have two daughters and a son.35:39.87vigorbrandingTwo daughters. right All right. Sorry. There we go.35:41.61Stephen Baldi26, 25, and eight.35:41.75vigorbrandingThis will be great then. Wow. Wow.35:45.67Stephen BaldiI started over, Michael.35:45.74vigorbrandingA little gap here.35:46.59Stephen BaldiI started over.35:47.16vigorbrandingYou had a little gap here.35:48.55Stephen Baldihad I had a couple of gap years.35:48.93vigorbrandingA couple of gap years. i well so I have two daughters, 26 as of last week and coming coming up on 29. The reason I bring up these families is you know we all know we love all our kids the same.36:01.78Stephen BaldiNo, we don’t.36:01.79vigorbrandingBut on any but okay but on any given day on any given day, depending on the phone call, depending on the visit, there’s certainly ones that we like other better than others.36:02.97Stephen BaldiNo, we don’t.36:09.94vigorbrandingMichael Alex, it happens it back and forth all the time, just in case you’re listening. Those are my daughters. um36:14.34Stephen BaldiLove it.36:15.04vigorbrandingso you know, we talked about pot belly, we talked about smash burger, we talked about dunking, we talked about timber, we talked about founding farmers, am I missing any any ends?36:25.21Stephen BaldiThere you go.36:27.03vigorbrandingWhich one?36:27.28Stephen BaldiIt’s the end. Yeah.36:27.84vigorbrandingWhich one’s your favorite? What’s your favorite kid there?36:29.64Stephen BaldiMy favorite. Wow. You’re going to force me to say that.36:33.77vigorbrandingYeah, yeah.36:34.15Stephen BaldiWell, I will tell you, because I don’t know if any of our franchisors are going to listen to this part. I love them all equally, and I am privileged to be able to operate them. I will tell you the one that probably um sits deeply in my soul as a person ah is probably Dunkin’ Donuts.36:55.45vigorbrandingNice.36:55.85Stephen Baldiand And I’ll tell you Dunkin’ Donuts because when I was growing up ah in Southwest Philadelphia off of Cobbs Creek Parkway, I had family that lived out by the airport. And in order to get into that area of the city, you have to travel on Cobbs Creek Parkway.37:11.63Stephen BaldiAnd there’s a Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Cobbs Creek Parkway and I can’t remember the cross street, but it’s been there for close to probably 30 or 40 years. I’m 48 and I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there. And I remember seeing that Dunkin Donuts and thinking how rich that franchisee must be to have that score.37:30.65Stephen BaldiNow I know that owning a single franchise is not necessarily a path to generational wealth, but it did, that Dunkin Donuts did put in my mind like what was possible.37:40.22vigorbrandingYeah, that’s cool.37:40.70Stephen Baldium And so to be able to be now a 14 year franchisee of that brand, um which is our longest franchise relationship, it’s pretty special.37:46.48vigorbrandingSuper.37:50.20vigorbrandingThat’s cool. And you know, I’ll say this from the, from the branding side of the world. Uh, what a phenomenal job. I mean, Duncan’s been around forever. I mean, at one point time it was getting a little tired. It was sort of just fading in the woodwork.38:01.35vigorbrandingAnd we know, I mean, all these brands, I mean, they come on strong. They’re, they’re always started somewhere. There’s this regional thing. And then they become these big brands and is they, they struggle to stay relevant.38:10.04Stephen BaldiRight?38:12.62vigorbrandingRight. And I think Duncan has just done a remarkable job.38:16.08Stephen BaldiWe have, yeah.38:16.24vigorbrandingof staying relevant i mean from their graphic design from their marketing their branding to their advertising and all the cool stuff they’ve done that you did you did they blew it away they they absolutely did and yep38:22.42Stephen BaldiI mean, we had the best Super Bowl commercial in my opinion. I mean, Ben Affleck and J.Lo, they did their thing. And Mark Wahlberg, it like it was it was a beautiful commercial.38:33.65vigorbrandingYeah, and you know, it just shows like when you have passion for something, and those guys certainly have passion for for for that part of the world and ah from the Boston area. I just think it’s it was exceptional. In fact, ironically, we have at at our holding company level, Pavone Group, we have the longest running, okay, this is no kidding, the longest running Super Bowl commercial voting mechanism called spotbowl.com.38:56.66vigorbrandingSo every year we get38:57.28Stephen BaldiOK.38:59.26vigorbrandingyou know, thousands and thousands and thousands of votes from around the world, and people vote for their favorite Super Bowl commercial as it’s being played, as the game is being played. And then the the national media outlets reach out to us, and then we tell them the results.39:13.08vigorbrandingAnd Dunkin Donuts was was certainly a stellar winner.39:13.26Stephen BaldiOK.39:16.02Stephen BaldiIt was and had to be at the top.39:17.26vigorbrandingYeah, it was awesome.39:17.88Stephen BaldiCome on out. Tell me Michael it was at the top.39:19.04vigorbrandingYeah, yeah. It was, well, I’m looking over here at my guy that runs it. it was It was the top one. Yeah, it was, it definitely was.39:24.42Stephen BaldiIt was, it I thought it was.39:25.10vigorbrandingOh, yeah, yeah, yeah.39:25.89Stephen BaldiThere you go. Thank you for, thank you for phoning your friend and getting confirmation.39:26.59vigorbrandingIt was it was awesome.39:29.55Stephen BaldiIt was a pretty special advertising.39:31.41vigorbrandingYeah.39:31.85Stephen BaldiAnd yeah, I didn’t get a chance to order my Duncan jumpsuit, but I’m sure it’s in the mail somewhere.39:36.72vigorbrandingYeah, there you go. there That’s that that everything.39:38.41Stephen BaldiMaybe Duncan corporate will see this and they’ll send me one.39:38.96vigorbrandingAlthough. yeah Yeah, all the merch, everything they did around that was super cool. and the take the outtakes from the39:43.99Stephen BaldiSuper cool.39:46.35vigorbrandingyou know It’s funny too because when it comes to this marketing stuff, like it used to be just a TV spot. and The reason I looked over to ask Dave, Dave’s the guy you spoke to. He’s the one that that kind of heads up this podcast. He’s also the one that really runs Spopple. We’ve been doing this so long that In the beginning, we didn’t know anything.40:03.48vigorbrandingIn other words, they would the game it was all about the game. The game was played. And then people realized, well, people love the commercials. So we never knew, like like you and everybody else, we just sit there and watch the game, cut the commercial. Oh, it’s a commercial for fill in the blank.40:15.61vigorbrandingNow, they release the commercials to us ahead of time.40:15.73Stephen BaldiYeah.40:18.45vigorbrandingThey tell us what it’s about. They send us outtakes. They give us information. Because they realize it, because it’s a couple million dollars for 30 seconds, that they need to get as much juice out of the you know squeeze as much juice out of this as possible so they want to know they put stuff online they do teasers and it’s it’s turned into a an event unto itself and uh we’re really proud to have been a part of it so it’s kind of funny that you brought that up that’s cool stuff all40:39.58Stephen BaldiYeah. Now I will tell you my all time favorite Super Bowl commercial.40:44.35vigorbrandingright uh40:45.67Stephen BaldiNow I remember the star, but I don’t even remember the brand.40:49.95vigorbranding-oh40:50.06Stephen BaldiRemember the the commercial with the kid and the Star Wars mask and he was going around zapping things and he went and he zapped the car and the car started.40:55.24vigorbrandingVolkswagen. Yeah. Yeah.40:58.28Stephen BaldiThat was my all-time favorite more commercial.40:58.46vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. That was ah that was a Volkswagen spot. That was a fantastic spot.41:03.91Stephen BaldiFantastic commercial.41:03.93vigorbrandingIt was a fantastic. You know, I’ll i’ll tell you mine next. i’m I’m a simp and I, you know, ah the Budweiser commercials and41:11.83Stephen BaldiOh yeah.41:13.17vigorbrandingThere was one though in particular where the guy, you know, he raises these horses and it goes on to be a Clydesdale and it it takes off and the horse leaves and there’s a parade. And I almost get choked up thinking about it.41:24.28vigorbrandingIt was so well done. There’s a parade, the guy standing there to parade and the horse sees him, breaks away, chases him down on the road. Oh my gosh. It was, it was, I had to do a live TV commercial. I had to do a live segment on the news about the the best TV spot and and they they, you know, they played it and I wasn’t expecting them to play it.41:40.60vigorbrandingI’m like, I had tears going down my face.41:42.56Stephen BaldiOh, you got emotional.41:42.51vigorbrandingI’m like, That’s my favorite.41:43.64Stephen BaldiOh, look at you.41:45.41vigorbrandingI still get emotional. i think but i think it I think it was the best all-time i mean story. It was just cute. so anyway That’s right, man.41:50.70Stephen BaldiAnd the best story always wins, Michael. Best story always wins.41:53.25vigorbrandingThat’s right. right yeah Yeah, you know, we always tell people a brand is a promise, ah but you have to tell a story. You have to draw a motion, make them laugh, make them cry, make them feel something about your brand. And that’s how you break through. And it’s always important, you know, a lot of times clients will say stuff, um you know, hey we just want to sell more, we got to do this, we got to do that. And and really it comes down to ah the fact that you’ve you got to do great creative to break through to get people’s attention.42:19.09vigorbrandingSo, well, I have a couple more questions for you and I want to hit them for sure.42:21.03Stephen BaldiOkay.42:22.25vigorbrandingSo now look, ah we talked about the airports you’re in, in the in the in the greater DC area, some of the most, I mean, they’re they’re busy, they’re they’re important, they’re huge. Other airports, I mean, you have great concessions in those airports.42:34.37vigorbrandingOther airports that you think have great concessions in the country?42:37.16Stephen BaldiYeah, I will tell you, Atlanta, one of the busiest airports in the world, definitely in this country.42:42.95vigorbrandingOh yeah, oh yeah. yeah42:45.86Stephen Baldium And then Houston, Orlando, Chicago, Charlotte, these are all markets that we kind of look at.42:49.80vigorbrandingMm hmm. Oh yeah.42:54.54vigorbrandingMassive hubs.42:56.51Stephen Baldium It’s important for us to be in high demand airport systems, because you never know how the world’s going to,43:02.80vigorbrandingYeah.43:05.21Stephen Baldirespond. And Morgan Hausl is one of the people who I look to for kind of strategic direction.43:12.04vigorbrandingMm hmm.43:13.49Stephen BaldiI’m thinking about my business. And one thing he always says is that as a business leader, if you’re only planning for the risk and threats that you can predict, you’re probably missing the biggest one.43:24.90vigorbrandingOh, yeah.43:25.41Stephen Baldium And so how we kind of shelter ourselves from that is we go into high demand markets. So even if an airline, a legacy airline like an American or United or a Delta or a Southwest ah decides that they no longer want to operate in that market, there’ll be another legacy carrier chomping at the bit together.43:44.09vigorbrandingSure.43:44.40Stephen BaldiAnd so that’s one of our strategy when we’re looking to grow nationally is to look at high demand airport markets.43:44.77vigorbrandingSure. Mm hmm.43:51.29Stephen BaldiAnd those are just a few that I named.43:53.58vigorbrandingI’m a big fan of Morgan has effect. We have him speaking at our, at our YPO. He’s, he’s one of, I think he might even be next month’s speaker. So I’m really, really, are you really, that’s all his book.44:00.64Stephen Baldiah We’re bringing them in on the 13th of November. Yeah.44:04.00vigorbrandingHis book’s incredible. Incredible. I made my daughter’s read it. So, um, what’s next for balding management group. And mean we talked about in other airports. What’s, what’s next for you? What’s what’s your vision? Where are you were are you hoping to go?44:13.26Stephen Baldimy My vision is to grow the tent and plant trees that I may never even know their shade, um because that’s when I think a community and when a business is thriving is when you’re willing to do things that you might not be able to see to fruition. And so we’re trying to build a company, not trying, we are building a company that will rise the tide for all the boats. I want to create another 20, 25 stories just like mine.44:41.46vigorbrandingYeah.44:41.62Stephen Baldium I can invest and grow my company so that it’s beneficial and creates generational wealth for me, but I also have the opportunity to listen to the individuals whose stories might not necessarily be taken to the top because they’re not fully formed or well articulated.44:59.34Stephen BaldiI try to look for those people, because I was once that person.45:00.66vigorbrandingyeah45:02.15Stephen BaldiI was the property manager in the office, and Cynthia Garber came and tapped me on the shoulder, which she did not have to do.45:02.50vigorbrandingyep45:08.96Stephen BaldiAnd so I’m trying to identify those voices in our companies, the people in leadership, but also the people who we don’t necessarily identify with immediately, because a lot of our workforce our ESL where English is a second language.45:24.24Stephen BaldiAnd so verbal communication is a challenge, but I don’t want that to get in the way of us knowing or ide

On this newest episode of New Faces, the boys sit down with rapper & creative director/event producer of The Free Library Foundation: The Bul Bey! We discuss growing up in Southwest Philadelphia, his newest project “Depth Before Height”, his affinity for film, the 10 year process of making music & the value of Philadelphia. Check us out on all streaming and social media platforms and get ready for the weekly content to roll in!!!0:00 Introduction0:55 The Bul Bey Name4:25 Becoming our roommate 11:40 Growing up in Southwest Philadelphia 15:40 Gentrification in Philadelphia21:51 Culture of West Philadelphia26:01 The start of music journey 30:33 Shaking Hands & Kissing Babies album34:53 Going Back To School36:37 Connection to Film and Music41:25 Affinity For Film48:24 The Bul Bey's Creative Process50:10 10 Year Highs & Lows54:47 Handling Relationships in Music56:16 Weathering The Storm59:17 Dreaming Big1:03:30 Abbott Elementary Placement1:06:35 Flying To South Africa1:08:24 Inspirations in Music1:11:42 Depth Before Height album1:22:11 The annoyance of moving1:25:15 Switching Jobs 1:32:14 Art in Philly1:34:44 Listening Party at Johnny Brenda's January 31st1:36:16 Pick A: 1:39:56 Can I Get Your Autograph

In this live-stream, John and Patrick follow up the week's earlier episode with a summary of their visit to America's oldest Botanical Garden. Bartram's Garden is a 50-acre public garden and National Historic Landmark in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, situated on the banks of the Tidal Schuylkill River. Founded in 1728 by botanist John Bartram (1699–1777), it is the oldest botanical garden to survive in North America. Join us in this episode for a walk through history. Join the History of Fresh Produce Club (https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/) for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Mont Brown is the definition a Philadelphia success story. Hailing from Southwest Philadelphia, he has beat in the odds in every way imaginable. He joins us today to talk making the transition from artist to manager and executive, getting a street named after him (55th & Chester Ave is now Mont Brown Way), how getting Reco Havoc a deal in 90 days changed both of their lives, and how he separates real from fake in the music business. He drops untold stories about meeting a young Jack Harlow sleeping on the floor in DJ Drama's studio, how he connected with Pusha T and Jermaine Dupri, and the joint tape of Reco Havoc and Roddy Ricch that never released. He also walks us through his life as an A&R and which legendary execs gave him the best advice along the way. All this and more on the 327th episode of The Realest Podcast Ever.  For more exclusive content and resources subscribe to us on Patreon FOR FREE and follow us on social media. Click the links below: •Patreon: https://patreon.com/officialtrpe  •New Merch Available NOW: https://www.teepublic.com/user/trpe?ref_id=12031  •YouTube: https://youtube.com/TheRealestPodcastEver   •Twitter: https://twitter.com/stilltrpe   •Insta: https://instagram.com/officialtrpe  •FB: https://facebook.com/TheRealestPodcastEver 

In 1988, 5-year-old Marcus Yates was caught in crossfire inside a corner store in Southwest Philadelphia. While the deaths of children to gun violence have become tragically commonplace, Marcus's death at that time galvanized the city and inspired me and many others to work to end gun violence. Over three decades later, the family took a courageous step toward healing by meeting with the men convicted in the shooting. In a surprising turn, the family concluded that while Ike Johnson admitted to being involved, citing self-defense, Michael Gainer was wrongfully convicted. The Yates family has committed to proving his innocence. I spoke to Marcus's mom, Shelly Yates Whittington, and her two sons, Tony and Malcolm Yates, about their journey of healing and reconciliation.

In 1988, 5-year-old Marcus Yates was caught in crossfire inside a corner store in Southwest Philadelphia. While the deaths of children to gun violence have become tragically commonplace, Marcus's death at that time galvanized the city and inspired me and many others to work to end gun violence. Over three decades later, the family took a courageous step toward healing by meeting with the men convicted in the shooting. In a surprising turn, the family concluded that while Ike Johnson admitted to being involved, citing self-defense, Michael Gainer was wrongfully convicted. The Yates family has committed to proving his innocence. I spoke to Marcus's mom, Shelly Yates Whittington, and her two sons, Tony and Malcolm Yates, about their journey of healing and reconciliation.

Join us on a profound journey with Khrystine, a mom turned advocate, who shares her personal and empowering story of raising two children with autism. In this episode, Christine opens up about the rollercoaster of emotions, challenges, and the pivotal moments of diagnosis, delving into the complexities and triumphs of motherhood. Beyond her story, Khrystine unveils her vision to create an autism-certified childcare center in Southwest Philadelphia, aiming to provide inclusive and supportive resources for families navigating autism. This episode sheds light on the importance of community support, mental health for caregivers, and the transformational power of turning pain into purpose. Connect with Khrystine -Website: http://parentingtwopointzero.com/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khrystine_2.0/ Don't miss out on future episodes! Make sure to subscribe! -Website: https://www.autismforbadassmoms.com/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theabmpodcast/ -Facebook: https://facebook.com/theabmpodcast/

This episode was by far one of the most surprising! T.H. Moore is a Southwest Philadelphia native who relocated to Camden, New Jersey at the age of ten. He's an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University. His career as an Information Technology Consultant and Real-Estate investor has afforded him the opportunity to travel to many countries all over the world as well as most of the United States. Blending experience with imagination helped formulate the basis of, and inspired him to write his first novel, “The End Justifies the Means”. His second novel, “The Devil's Whisper”, is uniquely creative fiction that ventures away from the inspiration of his own life experiences. In The Devil's Whisper, he dives into a darker set of dual protagonists whose sole objective is to survive the circumstances of the world they live in. In his third novel “I AM…” T.H. Moore plays clairvoyant and without apology release the wrath of American citizens targeted by police brutality. T.H. Moore is the proud father of one son, Jason, and currently resides in Baltimore where he is completing his first nonfiction work titled “Ghetto B*****d: A memoir”. In this book he takes an honest audit and chronicling of his life traumas and the decisions resulting from them and how they shaped his life both good and bad. He shares how acknowledging his flawed behavior ultimately led to resolving them with the help of therapy. Now, emotionally free and at peace, he shares his journey for the first time with readers.

One of the real pleasures of this job is helping people doing good tell their stories. Today I have two inspiring stories to share. I met Rashawn Alexander aka Uncle Wood first behind the walls of Graterford Prison. His story is the journey of an incarcerated 16-year-old and the man he's grown into with the help of mentors he met along the way. Uncle Wood is out after 20 years and he's doing good – mentoring and speaking to young people and starting a nonprofit.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodgraon/ We begin with the re-airing of an interview I did last year. Reducing violence in the city can seem like an impossible job but there are people doing great work. I'll be telling you about a program called YEAH Philly co-founded by Executive Director Kendra Van de Water. This is a Black-Led, Community-Based Nonprofit that works with teens and young adults in West and Southwest Philadelphia ages 15 to 24 who have been impacted by violence.https://yeahphilly.org/

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday that a man accused of murdering a biker gang prospect has been found guilty. Michael DiMauro, 50, was convicted on all charges in the killing of 33-year-old David Rossillo Jr. Investigators say DiMauro, a member of the Warlocks motorcycle gang, dumped Rossillo's body in a crypt at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Southwest Philadelphia. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/motorcyclemadhouse/message

Our days as school counselors are busy! Regardless of what grades we work with, how many students are on our caseload, or how perfectly planned our schedule is, school counselors have a lot on our plates. My guest today, Laurel Whitehead, is giving us a glimpse into what her days look like as a 6-8 school counselor.           Laurel is making a huge impact on her middle school students! She starts her days by greeting students at the door and is seeing them individually and in small groups as much as her schedule allows. In this episode, Laurel is sharing her journey to her current position, why she loves making connections with her students, the frustration that comes with lack of understanding of the school counselor role, and what her typical day looks like this school year.          Laurel Whitehead lives in Hamilton, NJ and is currently the Middle School Counselor at a Charter School in Southwest Philadelphia. She is in her 2nd year at her school placement but has a background in working with students from K-12 for over 5 years. Laurel has been passionate about School Counseling since High School due to the amazing School Counselor she had and she has always wanted to give back. When she is not at school, she enjoys spending time with her adorable niece and nephew, going on adventures with her boyfriend, and working out on her peloton bike and treadmill!       *     Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/life-of-a-school-counselor-laurel           *     Resources Mentioned:         Sign up for The New School Counselor Bootcamp: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/bootcamp        Mastering Data Collection to get the Recognition You Deserve: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/blog/mastering-data-collection-to-get-the-recognition-you-deserve        Essential Data Tools for School Counselors: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/blog/essential-data-tools-for-school-counselors          Join the IMPACT 2.0 membership for ongoing support and access to 300+ resources: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/impact       Enroll in the Stress Free School Counseling Course: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/enroll         *     Connect with Rachel:     Shop: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bright-Futures-Counseling     Blog: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/     Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightfuturescounseling/     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2473191466030095     If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/school-counseling-simplified-podcast/id1534494971

Melina Palmer is the founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes worldwide. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 170 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics to many universities and businesses. She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab and writes a column on behavioral economics for Inc Magazine. Her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, was published in May 2021 and was a finalist in two categories of the International Book Awards. Her second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, is out now! Find out more at thebrainybusiness.com. Christy Ford is the co-founder of The Scout Guide. She started her career as a photographer and later moved to Charlottesville, opening a Georgian antique and home store with her mother. As the business grew, Christy realized there was a lack of successful advertising opportunities for local small businesses. She was driven to find a solution, so The Scout Guide was born. Today she and her partner have more than 79 cities where their franchise publications are printed and shared to support the local business community. Christy leads creative direction and branding across the business. For more information, you can check out TheScoutGuide.com. Tracey Gordon has served as a pillar of change for Philadelphian constituents for over 20 years. Her organizing and legislative success as a block captain and committeewoman in her modest Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood have propelled her from the ranks of local grassroots leadership and advocacy to an established city-wide activist. Now she serves at Philadelphia's first African American Register of Wills. To learn more, go to phila.gov/wills. Three amazing guests – Melina Palmer, Christy Ford, and Tracey L. Gordon – join me simultaneously for a fun, lighthearted, rapid-fire round of my favorite business questions.This week on SmallBizChat Podcast:Our guests' favorite podcasts.Their favorite business app.Their favorite old-school marketing tip.Plus a few other questions about great resources for up-and-coming business leaders.Resources Mentioned:BossQuiz: https://bossquiz.com/ SmallBizLady University: https://smallbizladyuniversity.com/ Podcasts Mentioned:The Brainy Business PodcastNegotiate Anything by Kwame ChristianHow I Built ThisMillion Dollaz Worth of GameApps Mentioned:FacebookInstagramCanvaBooks Mentioned:A More Beautiful Question by Warren BergerPowerNomics by Dr. Claud AndersonThe Success Principles™ by Jack CanfieldDisrupt You! by Jay SamitConnect with Melina Palmer:Website: https://www.thebrainybusiness.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebrainybiz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melinapalmer/ Connect with Christy Ford:Website: https://thescoutguide.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-ford-0101578b/ Connect with Tracey L. Gordon:Website: https://www.phila.gov/departments/register-of-wills/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mstraceygordon YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYfWw8B1hPs2vYIDe-tzEag

Tracey Gordon has served as a pillar of change for Philadelphian constituents for over 20 years. Her organizing and legislative success as a block captain and committeewoman in her modest Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood have propelled her from the ranks of local grassroots leadership and advocacy to an established city-wide activist. Now she serves at Philadelphia's first African American Register of Wills. Her tireless efforts have resulted in election protection laws, city-wide neighborhood clean-ups, advocacy for seniors and youth, property value increase, and protection. As the Register of Wills, Tracey Gordon continues her selfless service to Philadelphia constituents by implementing comprehensive probate reform and increasing diversity within Philadelphia's public offices. Register of Wills Tracey Gordon and her entire office work to fix our Tangled Title Crisis and improve Philadelphia's quality of life. To learn more, go to phila.gov/wills. Today, we discuss protecting your business and securing your assets to pass down to future generations with Register of Wills Tracey L. Gordon. “You don't make a will when you get older. You make a will when you get an asset.” – Tracey L. GordonThis week on SmallBizChat Podcast:What it means to be the Register of Wills.There is no automatic transfer of wealth. Why you want to have a will and when you should prepare it. The importance of transferring generational wealth. Best practices for creating your will. Talking to an attorney to avoid unnecessary probate and inheritance fees. Making a will gives you a say in what happens after you die. Resources Mentioned: SmallBizLady University: https://smallbizladyuniversity.com/ Connect with Tracey L. Gordon:Website: https://www.phila.gov/departments/register-of-wills/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mstraceygordon YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYfWw8B1hPs2vYIDe-tzEag Want to Sign Up for the 12 P's of Running a Successful Business Webinar?Register here for the 12 P's of Running a Business Webinar, Thursday April 20th @ 2 PM ET and find out how NOT to become a slave to your business!

Hillary Raining is integrating her spirituality research. What does it look like to lead change at the start of a reformation? The Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining is reclaming her indigenous spiritualities, placing them at the forefront of her research in spirituality and trauma. She is asking tough questions about power, agency, racism, and colonialism of Anglican Spirituality and The Episcopal Church, all while loving it fiercely and getting good sleep for Christmas! Original broadcast from uncommon Good Check out Hillary's online community: The Hive Apiary: www.thehiveapiary.com Instagram: @thehiveapiary CONTENT WARNING: academic discussion of truama, blood memory, deep dive into Christian systematic theology.(un)common good with pauli reese is produced in Southwest Philadelphia, on the unceded land of the Lenni Lenape tribe and the Black Bottom Community. Check us out on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok: @uncommongoodpodwe chat to ordinary people doing uncommon good in service of our common humanity. thanks for joining us on the journey of (un)common good!

Reducing violence in the city can seem like an impossible job but there are people doing great work. I'll be telling you about a program called YEAH Philly co-founded by Executive Director Kendra Van de Water. This is a Black-Led, Community-Based Nonprofit that works with teens and young adults in West and Southwest Philadelphia ages 15 to 24 who have been impacted by violence.https://yeahphilly.org/ We all know about First AID for physical injuries and ailments but what about Mental Health First AID? The Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services has a training that gives everyday citizens the tools to identify, understand and respond to signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance use challenge. I speak to Malik Gray, Health Program Analyst Supervisor, for the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services about the trainings.https://healthymindsphilly.org/mhfa/

A 41-year old man was reportedly shot and injured as he was driving in Southwest Philadelphia last night. #philadelphia #southwestphilly #thompsonavenue --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nayze-media/message

On the day that 36-year-old Delaware County musician Keith Palumbo went missing from his Drexel Hill home, he was driving in his mother's silver Subaru with two other men when he got a call from alleged Warlocks Motorcycle Club member Michael DeLuca, telling him to go to DeLuca's Southwest Philadelphia apartment. 00:00 The Pied Piper comes calling 01:30 Mike Deluca accepts his responsibilities 04:19 Keiths Mothers Video 05:35 Message to guy giving this family heartache 08:45 How do you wake up in the morning 11:51 It's a coward --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/motorcyclemadhouse/message

An unidentified, 36-year old man, was reportedly shot and killed in Southwest Philadelphia last night. #philadelphia #southwestphilly #baltimoreavenue --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nayze-media/message

A police officer is reportedly recovering in the hospital after being involved in a head-on collision in Southwest Philadelphia last night. #philadelphia #southwestphilly #kingsessingavenue --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nayze-media/message

Still Excellence! Today we're revisiting Bino lltimes Cobb. Bino is an American Rapper, Emcee and Lyricist from Southwest Philadelphia. Hear through his music his love for his family, his children and growing up in a neighborhood, that shaped his music into the hits they are today

#philadelphia #news #southwestphilly #carrollstreet A 47-year old, contracted mover who was helping an elderly woman move, was reportedly shot and killed during an argument with a gunman in Southwest Philadelphia on Monday evening. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nayze-media/message

We're less than a month away from the 2022 AACR Philadelphia Marathon. During the weekend of November 19-20 there will be marathon, half marathon and 8k - which is what I'm running. I pledged to raise a thousand dollars for the American Association for Cancer Research the oldest and largest cancer research foundation funding scientists making the big breakthroughs in cancer cures. I'm happy to say over the course of two days I'm nearly there - just short 175 dollars away from my goal - so thank you! if you'd like to contribute you can go to my Instagram @loraineballard. you can also contribute by going to www.aacr/org/runners for research. p.s. an update. I've exceeded by goal raising $1025.00!!What if you are in a non-science related field but you've always dreamed of a career in STEM? That dream can come true for Jamal Barksdale, Sr. Quality Control Tech- Research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Clinical Vector Core thanks to a program sponsored by the University City Science Center. Building an Understanding of Lab Basics (BULB) not only provides workforce development skills training but networking that lead to job placement. https://sciencecenter.org/linkedin.com/in/jamal-barksdaleReducing violence in the city can seem like an impossible job but there are people doing great work. I'll be telling you about a program called YEAH Philly co-founded by Executive Director Kendra Van de Water. This is a Black-Led, Community-Based Nonprofit that works with teens and young adults in West and Southwest Philadelphia ages 15 to 24 who have been impacted by violence.https://yeahphilly.org/First - there's a great resource at our fingertips that offers resources to increase the peace. I speak to Mike Waller, Community Outreach Manager for United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey about the Violence Prevention Hotline which provides help with conflict intervention, or youth violence prevention, or neighborhood crisis mediation - among many other services – call 2-1-1, press option 3, and a trained counselor will help you.www.unitedforimpact.org

Episode 83 – Originally Released August 2019 Incorporated in 1855, Mount Moriah Cemetery sat high up on a hill next to Cobbs Creek at the edge of Southwest Philadelphia. Like Laurel Hill Cemetery in the 1830s, the location of Mount Moriah was chosen for it's distance from the busy city, the pastoral setting and beautiful … Continue reading "Mount Moriah Cemetery" The post Mount Moriah Cemetery appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

#philadelphia #news #southwestphilly Don't forget to like & subscribe to our Youtube Channel --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nayze-media/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nayze-media/support

In just about 8 years in the industry, John Petty III or JP as EVERYONE calls him has solidified himself as a legend in the world of advertising, marketing & digital media by sticking to his home grown ethics and immersing himself in “the culture.” The Southwest Philadelphia native (55th St to be exact) has gone from the block to the boardroom and in the process has solidified business relationships with companies like HBO, Budweiser & McDonalds along the way. His work in pairing Travis Scott with McDonalds is literally the stuff that legends are made of and has forever changed the way multinational companies look at brand partnerships. In a short time, JP has moved from an ad exec with Steve Stoute's Translation (yes THAT Steve Stoute) to Head of Social at Wieden+Kennedy NY to Executive Creative Director at their Portland HQ. As JP continues to leap the corporate ladder he never forgets his purpose, where he came from or the fact that he has to set the standard for black & brown people everywhere to know that they can do more than dribble a ball or drawl lyrics!! Our conversation with him was so genuine and transparent that it easily makes for one of the best in TRPE history. A lot of game and life lessons are woven into this episode like the finest of fabrics you've ever seen. Handle this episode with care because its a SPECIAL CLOTH ALERT

Our first case is about the Staten Island John Doe is the nickname of an unidentified teenager or young man who was discovered on January 17, 2021. According to NCMEC, the John Doe was either Asian or Hispanic. His hair color and his eye color are unfortunately unknown. We do know he was between 5'0 and 5'4, so he was on the shorter side for an older teenager or a young male. Our second case is about a young man who was found on February 3, 1989 along the Cobbs Creek Parkway in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This area is fairly close to downtown Philadelphia, a 20 minutes drive. This young man was likely dead for two days before he was found. The young man was likely between 17 and 21 years old at the time of his death. He was African American and he was 5'9 or 71 inches and was 139 pounds. He had black hair, medium-length curls. He also had brown eyes. His nickname was likely Dallas and was from New York. Affiliate Links: Jovi: Save 10% https://meetjovi.com/?afmc=DOEIDENTIFY&utm_campaign=DOEIDENTIFY&utm_source=leaddyno&utm_medium=affiliate or use the promo code “Doeidentify” at checkout. Knix: Get $15 off your first bra - http://rwrd.io/l9f3h20?c Chewy: Save 30% on your first autoship - https://prf.hn/click/camref:1011lfMao/creativeref:1011l28403 Hunt a Killer: 30% off your first box - https://fbuy.io/hak/doeidentify Flutter Habit: 10% off your first order - http://rwrd.io/9s7kbkn?s Learn a language with me for free with Duolingo! https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTGX6VDE3HKARVA Get your pet's DNA tested with Wisdom Panel! https://share.wisdompanel.com/doeidentifypodcast Did I miss something during my research? This is a one-woman show, so thank you for letting me know. Please report it here: https://forms.gle/CjGoQQxmz3iLjgeh7 The Doe Identify Podcast is a https://podmoth.network podcast. Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b5Iav4cVfGssZtnbWynl4jKE1WvqTGnYT56rab6bNb8/edit?usp=sharing --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/doe-identify/support

Our next guest is Dr. Sheena Howard. Sheena is an award- winning author, filmmaker and scholar. In 2014 Sheena became the first Black woman to win an Eisner Award for her first book, Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation (2013). The Eisner Awards are considered the ‘Oscars of Comics'. She is also the author of several critically acclaimed books and comics books. In 2017, Sheena published the Encyclopedia of Black Comics, which is the first book of its kind, profiling over 100 Black people in the comics industry. The Encyclopedia of Black Comics was named the 2018 American Library Associations' Outstanding Reference Source. Sheena was born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia. She now has one child, is a Professor at Rider University in the Department of Communication and Journalism. Outside of her full-time job, Sheena spends time writing and speaking to organizations and educational institutions on a variety of topics including social justice, diversity, and representation. In episode number 225 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out why Dr. Howard chose Iona College for her undergraduate studies, tips on how independent scholars can raise their profile and gain major media coverage, what is so special about comic books as a form of media, the findings from her documentary called "Remixing Colorblind", what is special about working as a professor at Rider University in the Department of Communication and Journalism, what we can learn from Black Panther's portrayal of a culture virtually untouched by white supremacy, what we can learn from T'Challa's nuanced identity and eventual shift from nationalism to globalism, how Sheena finally took control and set out on her journey of self-empowerment after being in an abusive relationship, and what she learned from her mom. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VT_oy7_blw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VT_oy7_blw

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Woman being assaulted by a man with gun into Southwest Philadelphia 7200 Elmwood Ave. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/oss2389/support

CardioNerds (Amit Goyal and Daniel Ambinder) are joined by Dr. LaPrincess Brewer and Dr. Norrisa Haynes for a Narratives in Cardiology episode, with a special introduction by Dr. Sharonne Hayes. They discuss health inequities especially in communities of color, impact of projects utilizing community based participatory research (including FAITH! and SHARP founded by Dr. Brewer and Dr. Haynes respectively), and their experiences as underrepresented minority women physician-scientists. This special discussion is brought to you in collaboration with the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC). The ABC's mission is to “Promote the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease, including Stroke, in Blacks and other Diverse Populations and to Achieve Health Equity for all through the Elimination of Disparities.” You may join and support the ABC at abcardio.org. Claim free CME just for enjoying this episode! Cardionerds Narratives in Cardiology PageCardioNerds Episode PageCardioNerds AcademyCardionerds Healy Honor Roll Subscribe to The Heartbeat Newsletter!Check out CardioNerds SWAG!Become a CardioNerds Patron! Show notes for Health Equity, Community Based Participatory Research, & Underrepresented Minority Women Physician-Scientists 1. What healthcare disparities exist in communities of color? The life expectancy of black Americans on average is 3.4 years shorter than that of white Americans. CVD is estimated to explain over 32% of the mortality difference between AA and white men and 43% of the difference between AA and white women. Together these conditions contributed to > 2 million years of life lost in the AA population between 1999-2010. (1)The impact of COVID-19 on minority communities has caused disproportionate morbidity and mortality and devastating health and financial hardship. According to the CDC, black Americans are 1.9x as likely as whites to die from COVID-19. (2) Additionally, at the beginning of the pandemic, a staggering 41% of black owned businesses closed due to COVID-19 as compared to 17% of white owned businesses. (3)  2. Community engagement & Community based participatory research (CBPR) - what is it? CBPR often has a public health bend that focuses on and attempts to address social, structural and environmental inequities through active involvement of community members in all aspects of the research process (from conception to implementation). Community partners provide their unique expertise to enhance understanding of the community and facilitate implementation. (4) 3. What is FAITH!? The Fostering African American Improvement in Total Health (FAITH) program was started by the phenomenal Dr. LaPrincess Brewer. FAITH is a cardiovascular health and wellness program that uses a CBPR approach to promote heart health in the African American faith-based community.Participants in the FAITH program have shown significant improvement in heart health knowledge. Participants have also had improvement in key heart disease risk factors such as blood pressure. The FAITH app was created in collaboration with community members to achieve easy access and easy usability. It provides vital information and a community network that provides support and motivation for participants.  4. Specifics of SHARP? SHARP stands for Safe Haircuts as We Reopen Philadelphia. SHARP was started to assist local barbershops and salons implement proper COVID-19 safety practices to keep their businesses, clients, and staff safe.  In partnership with community members, a safety blueprint was created to meet CDC and Philadelphia Health Department guidelines.  Through donations from UPenn and Accenture, SHARP was able to distribute a significant number of PPE items to 30 businesses in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Additionally, due to the financial toll that the pandemic has had on small businesses, SHARP organized grant writing sessions through the Netter Center at Penn to...

In this episode, join us as I sit down with Real Estate Investor Maurice Demosthene for a Q&A to answer your most pressing questions on how to start investing in real estate and how to develop bank relationships to fund your real estate rehab and acquisition. Maurice is a Haitian immigrant who quit his job and pursued real estate investing after proposing to his now-wife. He has been in the industry for 16 years now with a 30 unit portfolio in Southwest Philly and has come to a point where they can buy property whenever they want. We talk about different strategies to start investing in real estate, how he flips properties, ways to look for deals, and how to manage your own team. We also talk about the key things of success while answering your questions. Sit back, relax, and listen here for this informative Q&A with Maurice! In This Episode:  [06:13] Our guest, Maurice Demosthene's introduction. [09:44] A wedding doesn't have to be lavish. You can use some of the money from it to invest.  [14:57] Which is better when you start investing in real estate, flipping or purchasing? [17:55] Maurice's wholesale business. [23:39] The strategy for finding deals in Multiple Listing Service (mls.com). [36:28] How to effectively delegate tasks in your business.  [42:26] What's the cost like for Maurice's largest building deal, the process, getting a lawyer, and how he got approved. [50:23] Developing relationships to use a bank that can fund your property rehab in acquisition. [51:50] Recommendations on which areas in Philadelphia to start your first project in. Takeaways:  Figuring out what is the best way for you to start your real estate investment.    Strategies to build relationships and find deals that you can close. Onboarding the right people in your business and delegating tasks effectively can significantly help you in the long run.  A flipping strategy can be great for you if you love the process of property rehabilitation. Ultimately, discovering what kind of investor you are and who you want to be in the business, will help you figure out where you need to start your real estate project. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurice-demosthene-42a06733/ - Maurice Demosthene's LinkedIn https://twitter.com/RealEstateRico - Maurice Demosthene's Twitter http://www.mrdhouses.com/ - Maurice Demosthene's Company Website Guest Bio: Maurice Demosthene came from a family of Haitian immigrants and is now a husband and father of two children. He graduated from Temple University and has been a real estate agent at Realty ONE Group Legacy since 2005. He has been invested since 2010 and has a 30 unit portfolio in Southwest Philadelphia.  Maurice's mission is to help buyers and sellers make educated decisions about real estate. As someone who has been in the industry for 16 years, Maurice has extensive experience buying and selling real estate in the City of Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. Connect with Better Than Success  Learn more about Better Than Success Real Estate League at www.betterthansuccess.com/btsrel Sign up to attend our Real Estate Q&A live at www.betterthansuccess.com/events Get access to our FREE Real Estate Beginners Class at www.betterthansuccess.com/freecourse 

We had the privilege this month to have Rev. Aisha Brooks-Johnson (Brooks-Lytle at the time of this recording) with us in the “recording zoom”. We were also blessed to have one of our students, Claire Rowcliffe, (Emory Univ. Masters Student) along for the conversation as well. Sadly, our first recording didn't work, so you won't be able to hear Claire's “wisdom nuggets”. but we hope you enjoy our follow up conversation with Aisha!The Reverend Aisha Brooks-Johnson is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Central High School (Class of 251) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Music from Temple University ('99). After spending a significant time as youth director at Wayne Presbyterian Church, she obtained a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary ('05). She served various other churches in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and surrounding areas through her music ministry and in her ministry of preaching, teaching, and pastoral care before returning to Wayne Presbyterian Church in February 2013. Aisha served as the mission pastor for Wayne Presbyterian while she was also serving as the Organizing Pastor for The Common Place, a faith-based arts and education center in Southwest Philadelphia. In 2018, Aisha began her role as the Executive Presbyter for the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta serving 86 congregations and encouraging 26 new worshipping communities. She is honored and overjoyed to serve as an encourager to the congregations and leaders within a presbytery filled with a deep cultural diversity and a vast theological landscape. She believes that it is her part of her call to support healthy and vital congregations and to equip healthy and innovative leaders to live into their passion and purpose as the people of God. Aisha is blessed to have her mother, Deborah, and her son, Ellington, join her for this adventure in the Greater Atlanta region. Aisha gives thanks to God for her recent marriage to the Rev. Dr. Alonzo T. Johnson who serves as the Coordinator for the Self Development of People for the Presbyterian Church, USA headquartered in Louisville, KY.

Though gun violence has drawn a lot of attention to Southwest Philadelphia recently, that should not be what defines her community, says Phyllis Walker. For decades, she and her neighbors have been working together to improve the neighborhood.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In conversation with Michael Smerconish Five-time Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year, Ray Didinger covered the NFL for The Philadelphia Bulletin and the Philadelphia Daily News for over 25 years. He has authored or coauthored 11 books about sports and sportswriting, including The Eagles Encyclopedia, which he cowrote with the late Robert S. Lyons. The ''definitive book for any Eagles fan'' (Philadelphia Daily News), a revised and expanded edition was published in 2018 to reflect the 87-year-old team's victory in Super Bowl LII. Didinger currently hosts a talk show on 94 WIP Sports Radio and serves as a football analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia. Didinger's new memoir explores his childhood in Southwest Philadelphia, his five-decade career covering a wide variety of sports across multiple media platforms, and the art of balancing being a long-suffering Eagles fan and an objective journalist. Michael A. Smerconish is the host of The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM POTUS Channel 124, the host of CNN's Smerconish on Saturday mornings, a Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, and a New York Times bestselling author. Books with signed book plates available through the Joseph Fox Bookshop (recorded 5/26/2021)

The first Thursday of each month--except when it's a special day like Maundy Thursday this year, in which case it gets bumped back a week--the guys & gals in the WFIL audience square off in a battle of wits never seen anywhere else...on WFIL...it's called "Trivia Thursday" and the rules are simple: 1) Listeners are invited to call 1 800 560-WFIL (9345) (and sometimes use the text line at 610-500-DOVE (3683) to answer various & sundry trivia questions we toss out. If you call and guess an answer correctly, you score a point for your team. Congratulations! You've helped your team, now have a seat and let someone else shine :) (no "Jeopardy James"-types here). 2) If you call and give an incorrect answer, no worries. You don't cost your team any points, and you're allowed to try again--on a subsequent question. 3) If it's a multiple-answer question (such as taking guesses as to what's on a Top 5 or 10 list), if your first guess is correct, you can take a second guess...and if that one is correct too, you can give a third guess. Maximum points you can score is three, otherwise known as "The Barry Rule." [On a previous show "Barry from Southwest Philadelphia" called and named a then-legal six answers on a question about Eagles starting quarterbacks since 1980 (this is when Jalen Hurts was named to start in place of Carson Wentz). The next contestant, about to go on the air, heard her guesses being taken and was bummed about it and hung up...so to minimize that happening in the future, we thought adjusting things to a maximum of three might be a good idea :)] Presented herein the podcast today, a semi-epic, back-and-forth struggle for championship-ness...and a result we haven't seen in a long time, if ever... Thanks to Bernard (Philadelphia), Kathy (Plymouth Meeting), Bob (via the text line), Steve (MontCo), Barry (SW Philly), Gail (Philadelphia), Annette (Norristown), Leona (Philadelphia) and Ann (Oaklyn/Audubon) for chiming in as the hour unfolded. Special props to Leona for nailing a clutch three (we'll leave it there...details in the podcast :))   Featured music: Better Than I Found It / PHIL JOEL   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the March episode of Philly Liberation Radio, co-hosts Adiah Hicks and Jasper Saah are joined by Talia Giles, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and member of West Philly Neighbors for Healthy Community Development, and Christina Jackson, a professor of sociology, author, community advocate, and member of the Gentrification in Kingsessing community meeting. In our newest episode, we discuss the ongoing gentrification of West and Southwest Philadelphia, and how community members can organize our neighborhoods against gentrifying developers.

In the last episode, we spoke to two distinguished professors of economics at Heinz College, doctors Lowell Taylor and Martin Gaynor, to explore the economics of how a company like Amazon could grow so quickly to control half of the US online retail market, what the consequences could be for consumers, and whether we should be worried about a complete monopoly. Today, we will explore how existing anti-trust laws could be maneuvered to deal with Amazon and other tech giants. We spoke with Attorney Michael A. Finio, and Prof. Ari Lightman from Heinz College. Ari is a Distinguished Service Professor, Digital Media and Marketing at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Ari is an internationally recognized expert in digital transformation and technology disruption focusing on online communities, digital collaboration, information dissemination and content analysis. He has worked with organizations across entertainment, technology, manufacturing, Consumer Packaged Goods, finance and healthcare.   Mike hails currently from Camp Hill, PA where he and his wife Amy live with their two dogs - Newfoundland Harper, and hound mix Ollie. After spending his formative years in Southwest Philadelphia and Springfield (Delco) PA, he went to the University of New Hampshire, in Durham, NH and then the (Penn State) Dickinson School of Law, in Carlisle PA. He’s been practicing law since 1983 and over his 38 years at the bar, he has from one client matter to the next over time increasingly focused on antitrust, merger review and control and other competition matters, and those things now occupy almost all of his lawyering time. He’s also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson, where he teaches Antitrust Law.  

Charlie Reeves grew up in public housing in South Philadelphia near the oldest and largest oil refinery on the East Coast, the Point Breeze Refinery, later owned by Sunoco and then Philadelphia Energy Solutions. Back in the 1970s, his father led public protests at City Hall and Sunoco headquarters over what he was convinced was toxic air pollution from the plant that was harming his family’s health. But authorities dismissed the protests and assured the neighborhood that everything was fine. Those reassurances didn’t ring true – especially when Charlie, his mother, and several neighbors were diagnosed with cancer, and Charlie’s mother died. But the neighborhood could not do anything to stop the refinery, because they had no evidence. Finally, the refinery closed on June 21, 2019, when a massive explosion and fire at the plant sent a fireball into the sky and rattled windows for miles around. To Charlie Reeves, the most devastating fact was what he learned six months later, when the Environmental Integrity Project, working with NBC National News, revealed that air pollution monitors ringing the refinery had registered benzene – a known carcinogen — at the plant’s fence lines at concentrations averaging more than five times the federal limit (EPA’s “action level” for benzene) for an entire year. That meant that local residents like the Reeves family could have been exposed to excessive cancer risks for a long time – including months after the explosion, and potentially months or years before the fire. Charlie is determined to use the new benzene air monitoring data collected by the Environmental Integrity Project to fight for environmental justice for his lower-income neighborhood. Southwest Philadelphia is one of 13 communities across the country that face potential cancer risks from excessive benzene air pollution detected at the fencelines of nearby oil refineries, according to EPA data produced for the first time in 2019 because of a lawsuit filed by the Environmental Integrity Project and allies to help protect communities in Texas and Louisiana.

I am at Longstreth Elementary School in Southwest Philadelphia preparing to vote. There are literally people who have been in line since 5:00 am this morning waiting to vote in this 2020 election. My husband and I as well as you should be excited and ready. It is time for a change for the better. I will take tons of work to get this back in shape. So, let’s all stand together in unity to make a change.

Southwest Philadelphia

Audra Russell chats with author T.H. Moore about his book, I AM.T.H. Moore is a Southwest Philadelphia native who relocated to Camden, New Jersey at the age of ten. He’s an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University. His career as an Information Technology Consultant and Real-Estate investor has afforded him the opportunity to travel to many countries all over the world as well as the majority of the United States. Blending experience with imagination helped formulate the basis of, and inspired him to write his first novel, The End Justifies the Means.We talk about his book, I AM, which deals with police brutality as well as the current state of race relations in the U.S.This episode pulls no punches. So grab your favorite beverage, sit back, and listen. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=29642304)

Palumbo, 36, a Delaware County musician and artist, was reported missing by his family to Upper Darby police in February. The whispers about Keith Palumbo’s whereabouts kept leading his worried relatives to Mount Moriah Cemetery in Southwest Philadelphia. If he ever were to go missing, Palumbo once told a relative, start the search there. Today's show we have special guest Kevin Ryan- Missing Persons Investigator on the case --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/motorcyclemadhouse/message

4.20.20. This week our Executive Presbyter, Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle, offers the proclamation of the word based on Galatians 6:1-10. In that passage of scripture, the Apostle Paul encouraged the early church to not grow weary and to work for the good of all, especially in the family of faith. Even in the midst of difficulty, division, and a pandemic, Aisha encourages us to do the same. The Reverend Aisha Brooks-Lytle is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Central High School (Class of 251) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Music from Temple University (’99). After spending a significant time as youth director at Wayne Presbyterian Church, she obtained a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary (’05). She served various other churches in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and surrounding areas through her music ministry and in her ministry of preaching, teaching, and pastoral care before returning to Wayne Presbyterian Church in February 2013. Aisha served as the mission pastor for Wayne Presbyterian while she was also serving as the Organizing Pastor for The Common Place, a faith-based arts and education center in Southwest Philadelphia (thecommonplacephilly.org). In 2018, Aisha began her role as the Executive Presbyter for the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. She is honored and overjoyed to serve as an encourager to the congregations and leaders within a presbytery filled with a deep cultural diversity and a vast theological landscape. She believes that it is her part of her call to support healthy and vital congregations and to equip healthy and innovative leaders to live into their passion and purpose as the people of God. Aisha is blessed to have her mother, Deborah, and her son, Ellington, to join her in this adventure in the Greater Atlanta region. (atlpcusa.org)

Tina Halladay looks like the modern-day rock star, which like so many other things in our society, destroys the stereotypes of old. She is the lead vocalist of Sheer Mag, which formed in Philadelphia right after all of the members left college in New York and decided to move here. The band is a hard rock time machine that updates the stadium rock of the 1970s and 1980s without sounding outdated or artificial. Tina invited me to the Sheer Mag practice space in Southwest Philadelphia, which is a rectangular-shaped storage room filled with musical instruments, merchandise, personal belongings and a can of Coors Light or two. We talked about what drew the band to Philadelphia, how people react to her appearance and how she deals with it, her musical tastes growing up and the realization that other girls in the audience sometimes look just like her. Recorded in Southwest Philadelphia on March 9, 2020. In this podcast: Excerpt of the Sheer Mag song "The Killer" (00:05), how I first heard about her band (3:50), being a throwback band with sincerity (4:55), if being a female lead singer is a big deal anymore (6:29), why employees at venues mistake her for a "merch" person (7:00), what it's like proving yourself over and over again (8:15), the stereotypes of the music industry (8:55), how a Long Island girl ended up in Philadelphia (9:53), why she's glad she ended up in Philadelphia (11:10), trying to categorize her band and "acid jazz" (11:55), what I hear when I listen to Sheer Mag (12:55), where Tina's musical tastes began (14:30), how she ended up becoming a vocalist (15:50), growing up hanging out with a "pack of weirdos" (16:30), her looks (17:10), the difficulty of finding clothes (17:45), seeing other girls dressed just like her (18:29), if she feels she is putting a dent in stereotypes (19:45), the band's connection to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (20:25), the importance of "DIY" culture with the band (23:31), why they want to own their music (25:09), releasing their music on vinyl (25:45), her vocal style (27:17), singing about her turbulent history with her late father (29:17), why it was important to seek therapy (30:30), the art of coming up with stage banter (32:30), winning over the crowd (35:35), other Philadelphia bands she listens to (39:15), where she hangs out in the city (40:15), the track "Steel Sharpens Steel" from the latest Sheer Mag album "A Distant Call" (42:37).

This year, 2020, marks the fifth anniversary of the Jumpstart Germantown program. What originally started in Ken Weinstein's Philly Office Retail location with two participants as a crash course introduction to residential real estate development has blossomed into a citywide movement with Jumpstart affiliates in Kensington, Tioga, Hunting Park, North Philly West, West and Southwest Philadelphia. In less than five years, Jumpstart Germantown has graduated 685 aspiring residential developers, and provided $15.9 Million in loans to finance the acquisition and renovation of 150 abandoned or neglected properties.Now we're expanding the Jumpstart concept again, this time to erase urban blight along Philadelphia's commercial corridors. We're calling it Jumpstart 2.0 CRE. It will continue the spirit of collaboration that Jumpstart is already known for, and will use a framework similar to what we've successfully deployed to spark redevelopment of single family houses.Jumpstart 2.0 will be aimed at helping residential developers make the transition to small scale commercial real estate development in Philadelphia. The program will consist of a 7-week, 21 hour curriculum to be conducted in person at Jumpstart Germantown Co-Working Community (4701 Germantown Avenue). The program will begin March 18. Application deadline is Feb. 9. You can learn more and apply at the Jumpstart Philly website. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 115 Incorporated in 1855, Mount Moriah Cemetery sat high up on a hill next to Cobbs Creek at the edge of Southwest Philadelphia. Like Laurel Hill Cemetery in the 1830s, the location of Mount Moriah was chosen for it’s distance from the busy city, the pastoral setting and beautiful views. Originally 54 acres, the … Continue reading "Mount Moriah Cemetery & the Friends of Mount Moriah"

Rhea Hughes has been a part of the 94WIP Morning Show for 22 years. She grew up in a Southwest Philadelphia household with eight siblings! In this episode of Wired This Way, Rhea talks with Andrew Porter about her childhood, her path, her career, and the challenges she has faced from being a woman working in the sports media. 

Steve Kuzmicki is the Economic Development Project Manager at the Southwest Community Development Corp in Southwest Philadelphia. Steve has worked in the community development field in three major metropolitan areas, including Brooklyn, NY, Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE. He has been involved in the development of many housing and economic development projects and is a part of the Jumpstart Real Estate network because he’s leading the Jumpstart group in Southwest Philly. And joining Steve is Mark Harrell. Mark is a longtime community activist with an extensive resume. He is a neighborhood block captain and community activist with the Southwest Community Development Corp. For more information: Southwest CDCJumpstart Southwest Philadelphia See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this segment of Exchanging Stories, we are chatting with Abu Fofanah, also known as, The Man Behind The Brand! With experience working with Fortune 500 companies and having clients featured in Essence, Cosmopolitan and so much more, Abu shares his journey as a founder, how his upbringing has had a major impact on where he is today and some of the BIGGEST misconceptions about being an entrepreneur vs startup vs a big business!    Abu is teaching everyday entrepreneurs the step-by-step on how to build profitability! From refugee to entrepreneur, from Sierra Leone to Southwest Philadelphia, his journey teaches that who you are as a person impacts your business. Take the time to invest in YOU + get right within! 

In episode 116 of the Better Than Success Podcast Nicole Purvy interviews real estate developer Rodney Ross.  Bio Rodney is an award­winning realtor working out of the Keller Williams Realty office in Center City, Philadelphia. Being a Philadelphia native and coming up on his 7th year anniversary in the real estate business has aided Rodney in developing a deep knowledge of both the real estate sales and development process. Rodney is not only a top agent, but an active investor as well. ​His first investment purchase was in 2009 with a single family residential home in Southwest Philadelphia. Since then, Rodney has bought and sold over 50 single family and multi­family properties throughout the city. Outside of his business, Rodney enjoys staying fit through cycling, weightlifting, and jumping rope. He believes in giving back to others and supports several nonprofits including the American Cancer Society, the KW Cares Fund, and Drexel University financially and through participation and organization of events. Rodney graduated from Drexel University, located in Philadelphia, PA with a degree in Business and Engineering. He applies the systematic problem­solving engineer mindset to his real estate business and his life. How I Won a Bid from the City of Phila to Develop 36 Properties for 36 Bucks Rodney tells the story of how he was able to get 36 properties for 36 bucks.  During this interview Ross gives a little background on the project and what it is exactly. The name of the project is called Osage Pine. The Osage Pine project consists of a community of 36 homes on the 6200 blocks of Osage Avenue and Pine Street in West Philadelphia. Back in the 80’s these blocks were bombed which forced a lot of people out of their homes. The city either gave people the option to leave or stay after a little rebuilding of the houses. After the bombing the community was destroyed and a lot of people decided to take the money from the city and move elsewhere. The City of Philadelphia then sat on these houses for years and finally decided to put a bid out of these 36 properties. This is where Ross and his team decided this would be a great project for them. Learning later in the episode there was only one other offer for this project and the city made their decision based off of what developer was financially stable to rebuild these homes. Although there were a lot of stigmas, Ross and his team won the bid at $1 per house… which equals out to 36 homes. Yes, the houses were $1 per home, but that does not include the cost of construction and how long each house would take to reconstruct Ross explains. This turned to be a phenomenal project for Rodney and his team in the long run. Of course he explains some hardships along the way such as the city watching everything they do to these properties, permit processes etc. Rodney then moves on to sharing his real estate journey has reach 8 years of experience. Contact Information: For more information on the Osage Pine Project: http://osagepine.com IG: phillyrealestateboss  

Bino lltimes Cobb is an American Rapper, Emcee and Lyricist from Southwest Philadelphia. Hear through his music his love for his family, his children and growing up in a neighborhood, that shaped his music into the hits they are today.

The evening of March 6, 1990, seemed ordinary for single mother Donna Willard. Her three children went to bed and her fiancé Tom Tyrell planned to come over later that night. But when a knock came at the front door of her Southwest Philadelphia home, she found herself instead face to face with a hooded gunman. He shot Donna twice, killing her instantly, with her twelve-year-old son witnessing the murder from the top of the stairs. For months, the hunt for her killer led investigators to a maddening series of dead ends until months later, when the case broke in an astonishing direction. Loraine Ballard Morrill speaks with TRUE CONVICTION host and undefeated homicide prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi about her travels to key locations in the case to reveal how prosecutor Lee Dobkin and lead detective Lt. Lee Witte untangled the truth about who killed Donna, and to retrace step-by-step the journey to justice for her family.

American Rapper/Songwriter whom performs under the sobriquet, Reek I’van. Hailing from the streets of Southwest Philadelphia, Reek quickly captured the attention of industry enthusiasts with his fiery lyric presentation and diverse flow style. Once known as Khaos in the DVD ERA, he won every battle that came his way.  At the age of 18, Reek was arrested on serious charges facing hefty time while in his freshman year in college.  After a couple years in State Road Prison, he felt robbed of his basketball career when he lost scholarships due to his incarceration.  After finalizing his case, he immediately enrolled back into a community college and was able to walk on a as new recruit. Subsequently a great basketball season at Montco, Reek dropped out. He had to make some brash decisions with the parentage of his daughter, Maui.  Reek began building his entertainment company London Boy Ent, which has a ferocious lineup of lyricists waiting to be unleashed. While working and co-writing alongside of notable artists, Reek was able to gather valuable experience in songwriting. These experiences include writing with The Underdogs, performing at The Fame Tour Miami, performance at A3C in ATL and SXSW in Texas, as well as his role in Jay Z's I Got the Keys video.  He attributes his undeniable stage presence and appeal to the fashion industry where he is a published international model, receiving tons of offers for notable campaigns.  “In modeling… you exist to be judged on your looks, so when it came time for me to actually showcase my talent (rap) I had no fear, only fire. - @REEK.IVAN

On this week’s Technicolor Jesus, Matt and Adam welcome Aisha Brooks-Lytle,  Minister for Mission at Wayne Presbyterian Church and the organizing pastor at the Common Place in Southwest Philadelphia, to talk about the little known but incredibly prescient movie, The Last Supper. The Last Supper, directed by Stacy Title, takes place among a group of liberal Iowa grad students  kill their neo-nazi dinner guest. After the initial shock  of the murder wears off, the group eventually decides that they’ve done the world a favor. So begins a scheme wherein every week they invite some radically conservative activist into their home for dinner and  murder before burying them in the backyard underneath the tomatoes. The Last Supper provides the backdrop for a lively conversation about the failure of political binaries, the dangerous call to follow Christ’s model, and the ways in which the pursuit of redemptive violence harms the perpetrator before it changes the world. In response to this week’s lectionary passages, the crew spends time debating the idolatry of the Israelites and  takes turns trying to discern Jesus’ difficult parable about the wedding banquet. So, this week, pull up a chair at our dinner table The food is delicious, the conversation scintillating, and we promise not to poison you.

A monologue about a young black woman who is expelled from school for standing up to racism starts a conversation about the high expectations and double standards imposed on students of color in majority-white institutions. Featuring an interview with Angela Antoinette Bey, whose life growing up in Southwest Philadelphia looked very different than the private high school she attended, and an honest conversation with two mother/daughter duos who share the experience being de facto representatives of diversity in mostly white spaces. Click here to read a transcript of this episode. “Dear Black Girl: You’ll come to this private institution with stars in your eyes. You’ll be fooled, used, and abused, so long as you can stand it. And when you finally speak out, you’ll be disappointed.” — from "Pedestals" by Angela Bey  * * * In a perfect world every child would receive a quality education. Instead, our nation continues to face an outstanding achievement gap between white and non-white students. For decades, the children of poor minorities have been expected to attend their respective neighborhood public schools without choice. These schools are historically known to have less than their private counterparts. Less resources, less rigor, lesswhite students and less opportunity for future upward mobility. Upward mobility is the explanation for why many minority parents who have accumulated more wealth and education tend to choose private schooling for their children over public schools, often with the aid of vouchers and scholarships offered by the private institutions. Many of these families eventually discover that these allocations come with a great cost. There are current inquiries to determine the true design of opportunities for students of color to attend private schools. Were these opportunities created to benefit these students or to use them as adornments? It is hard to believe the answer not to be the latter when these institutions continue to fall short at supporting minority students both emotionally and socially. Getting faces of color to fill private school classrooms is only half the battle. Real work and genuine interest are needed in order to stop the ultimate outcome of students of colorlosing out when attending private schools. the conversation Nola Latty (left) is a senior at Friends Select School, where she is an active member of the theater program and numerous other clubs and activities. Her play "Y2K" recently won the Mary Margaret Longaker '27 Playwriting Competition. This fall, Nola will attend the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University to study acting.  Yvonne Latty is a producer and host of Mouthful. She is an award-winning journalist and documentarian. Her documentaries Sacred Poison and Home have been screened internationally. She is the author of We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, f__rom World War II to the War in Iraq (Harper Collins/Amistad 2004) and In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive (Polipoint Press 2006). In Conflict was developed into a successful Off-Broadway play. She was an award-winning urban reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News for 13 years.   Olivia Haynes (right) is a senior at William Penn Charter School. As a filmmaker, Olivia has worked with the Scribe Video Center, the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, and the Blackstar Film Festival. This fall, she will attend Goucher College to study art history and anthropology. Lisa Nelson-Haynes is the Executive Producer of Mouthful and Executive Director of Philadelphia Young Playwrights. Before joining Young Playwrights in 2016, Lisa was the associate director at the Painted Bride Art Center, where she ran the Center’s educational outreach and residency programs, marketing and communications departments and managed contractual relationships with artists. She is also a nationally recognized expert in digital storytelling through her work as a facilitator with Storycenter, which uses the art of first-person narrative as a tool for education, advocacy and community-building. Further reading & resources Check out this video put together by Olivia Haynes and a number of her classmates at William Penn Charter that digs into her black male classmates' experiences at school. Click here to learn more about Philadelphia Young Playwrights. "Pedestals" was performed by Nia Benjamin under the direction of Steve Gravelle Anne Hoffman helped produce and edit "Pedestals" Digital content support from Kiarah Cannady

  “The Dedan Tolbert Show” is back LIVE TONIGHT at 9:00pm EST to continue the discussion on Race Relations in America. To hear my thoughts on the Black Lives Matter vs All Lives Matter movements, Bloods and Crips uniting in protest, the three young black men who were shot this week in Southwest Philadelphia and lack of media coverage/outrage surrounding them, Wendy Williams vs Roland Martin, The proposed boycott of Target & Coca Cola, Prayer vs Protest/ battle between good and evil… plus MANY other topics, call 646 200 0366 or listen LIVE online worldwide at www.dedantolbertshow.com... “REAL Radio that Matters” #RRTM  

Qool DJ Marv's I Can Imagine Show 85 - February 25 2015 on WURD900 Philadelphia - "Yes, Quincy," said Clark | American Masters | Keep, Keep, Keep On Keepin' On | Imagination x 88 Gazillion Hour 1 Get Up - Blaze (Abbreviated) Nature Boy (with Orchester Peter Herbolzheimer) - Clark Terry Stardust - Clark Terry Misty (with Orchester Peter Herbolzheimer) - Clark Terry Yesterdays (with Orchester Peter Herbolzheimer) - Clark Terry Deep Purple - Charlie Barnet Orchestra with Clark Terry Ask Me Now - Clark Terry, John Campbell, Lewis Nash & Red Holloway Impulsive - Clark Terry It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) - Red Mitchell & Clark Terry Imagination - Clark Terry, John Campbell, Lewis Nash & Red Holloway Ellington Rides Again: Don't Get Around Much Anymore/Perdido/I'm Beginning to See the Light - Clark Terry Mumbles - Oscar Peterson & Clark Terry One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie & His Orchestra with Clark Terry Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better) - Clark Terry Moanin' - Quincy Jones & His Orchestra with Clark Terry Hour 2 In Orbit - Thelonious Monk & Clark Terry Quartet Straight No Chaser - Clark Terry & Bob Brookmeyer Take The "A" Train - Clark Terry's Big-B-A-D-Band Globetrotter - Clark Terry Over the Rainbow - The Clark Terry Big B-A-D Band Electric Mumbles - Clark Terry Keep, Keep, Keep On Keepin' On - Clark Terry Do Nothing 'Til You Hear from Me - Clark Terry Willow Weep for Me (with Orchester Peter Herbolzheimer) - Clark Terry Come Sunday - Clark Terry Skylark - Bob Brookmeyer, Clark Terry & Mel Lewis Thank You for Everything - Red Mitchell & Clark Terry Here in this one hundred and seventieth hour of I Can Imagine, over a song called Imagination, I am pleased to announce that this episode, as you can imagine, is all about Clark Terry...who passed away on Saturday February 21st 2015. The short version of the story is that by virtue of his virtuosity, Clark Terry was chosen by both Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Further on down the line, Clark Terry chose to help and mentor Miles Davis and Quincy Jones. I can stop there. But I am going to keep on keeping on, do you know that Keep On Keeping On is the name of a documentary that just came out this year, that is about Clark Terry, still mentoring, late in his life. The film chronicles him and time he spent with a blind pianist who is about 1/4th his age. Interested and teaching until the very end, my friends. I like the saying, Keep On Keepin' On. My 1st memory of it was hearing my Dad's father say it - his name was Reverend Hiawatha Coleman, the pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church on 50th & Woodland in Southwest Philadelphia, from 1955 until 1986. Keep on keeping on was on the wall in that church and it may still be until this day. http://articles.philly.com/1989-12-04/news/26158432_1_pastor-emeritus-doctor-of-divinity-degree-churches-and-four One day, I named my son, Thelonious Hiawatha Coleman. In the very near future, like in the 2nd hour, you will hear a collaboration between Thelonious Monk and Clark Terry followed by Clark's rendition of Thelonious Monk's Straight No Chaser. I wondered while doing this show, if it is possible that one person fully represents the full spectrum of Jazz? The style, the grace, the happiness on the face. Able to go any place, and any place you go, people are glad to see you, happy to have you and eager to hear you. That Jazz life. I like that life. Possibilities seem endless. Endless opportunities to enjoy life and what you do seem possible. If you've never given Jazz a chance, here's your chance. This is my chance to do what I can to keep on with the keeping on of something genius, elegant and far reaching. This is Qool DJ Marv Wishing you steps forward, lots of love truth and hope, and imagining good tidings for all. Thank you for listening to I Can Imagine, the middle car on the soul train that is the Rhythmic Caravan here on WURD 900am, Philadelphia. http://clarkterry.com/ http://keeponkeepinon.com/ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/movies/keep-on-keepin-on-a-film-on-the-jazz-great-clark-terry.html?_r=2 http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/sound-musical-joy-clark-terrys-trumpet http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/arts/music/clark-terry-influential-jazz-trumpeter-dies-at-94.html ________ The show is called "I Can Imagine" and airs on Wednesdays from 7pm-9pm on WURD, 900 on your A.M. dial or by internet from http://900amwurd.com/ Photo: http://digital.vpr.net/post/friday-night-jazz-clark-terry-special https://www.facebook.com/QoolMarv http://djqoolmarvsounds.podomatic.com/

It's THE FLIP SIDE where our young men have the mike. The LOL Boys from the 'Ville (Southwest Philly's Bartram Village projects) interviews active activist, motivational speaker, gang prevention specialist, mentor... Ted Sutton, who's also the inspiration for the characters on HBO's The Wire. Mr. Sutton is devoted to uplifting the lives of young men in Baltimore and beyond who find themselves hopelessly lost in gang life. "In speaking to people you either speak life into them or death into them." CALL IN (646) 716-7994 The LOL Boys from the 'Ville are talking gang violence, peer pressure, education, what we can do and achieving through adversity. The LOL Boys from the 'Ville are a group of young men, dancers ranging in age from 11 years old to 16 years old, who came to Mrs. Rashida Jabbar (J&R Grassroots) via her godson seeking help in having a better life and staying out of trouble. So, Mrs. Jabbar helped them formalize their dance troupe, provided mentors, and a safe haven out of the 'ville. The LOL Boys debuted in April 2011 at Legs Against Arms Celebration of Youth in Philadelphia. The 'Ville represents Bartram Village projects in Southwest Philadelphia.