All Episodes

AJ Fountain & JJ Fountain are Band Managers, Songwriters and Bandmates in A Brother's Fountain - a popular "Campfire Folk Music" band based in Fort Collins, Colorado, as well as the Founders and Producer / Director / Videographers for Stoked Ember Productions, a Videography company built to stoke the embers of passion-first businesses through video and story production. The intro and outro music for the LoCo Experience Podcast is borrowed with permission from the song "Soul" from ABF's 2017 deb...

Katie Straubel is the Founder, Owner, and Queen Bee at Clean Bees, a residential and commercial cleaning service business she founded as a side-business while in college. Katie left her native Orlando and a career in fine dining to follow her partner Mike back to his native Colorado, attended CSU toward a History degree and found no fine dining jobs to be found. After subbing for her friend's cleaning business to cover for a personal medical leave, Katie went on to found Clean Bees only months l...

The City of Fort Collins Mayoral race features three candidates on the ballot, and April 6, 2021 is Election Day. LoCo Experience Episode 16 featured current City of Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell, and his endorsed candidate, Molly Skold. This episode features the other two candidates in the race, Jeni James Arndt and Gerry Horak. Both of these candidates have a rich history of public service, and colorful and impactful journeys that inform their perspectives. Jeni currently serves as the Stat...

Tyler Brooks founded Analytive in 2015 as a digital marketing agency focused on driving meaningful revenue growth for clients through strategic and measurable campaigns and SEO optimization. This episode takes listeners through an interesting life journey with Tyler as he departs his native Indiana and finds his career footing in video production and digital marketing before founding his own agency. With a diverse team of creatives all around the nation and the world, Tyler and his team consider...

The ideal client is one you can drink beer and eat pizza with, right? Erik Cox, Owner of Wise Ape Design Marketing, shares his business journey of moving back to Fort Collins after a decade working in creative agencies in San Francisco and Chicago. He decided to bring his years of experience to a place he grew up to help local businesses level up their creative assets and stand out in reaching their customers. Going at this alone isn't always easy and Erik shares challenges he faced as a one-man...

In this episode, Curt dialogues with City of Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell, and his lifelong friend Molly Skold, one of three candidates in the mayoral race to be decided on April 6, 2021. Curt digs into Wade's journey through academia and business, and more recently, government, and unfolds his underlying principals around economics and creating a great place to live and do business. A Ram through and through, Wade earned his BS, Masters, and PhD's from Colorado State, (where he was also a s...

Darren Murphy is the Founder and President of PUSH Industries, the manufacturer of the best mountain bike suspension in the world! PUSH suspension systems are 100% American made, manufactured at their Loveland, Colorado headquarters, and sold through distribution outlets throughout the US, Asia, Australia, and Europe. In this episode, Curt gets deep with Darren on his life story, digging back to his early years in Maine for the roots of his passion for bikes. Darren shares how the loss of his f...

Did you set ants on fire with a magnifying glass when you were little? In this Shorts episode with Candyce Edelen, President/CEO at Propel Growth, she shares many elements of business growth through sales and marketing, including the time she realized that finding a niche and walking away from potential clients & industries was the only way to grow her business. She says you should think of your offerings as a magnifying glass focusing on one area small enough that the magnifying glass can start...

In this special Experience episode, guest host and LoCo teammate, Rory Schaar interviews Curt Bear, LoCo Think Tank Founder. This month marks the 7th year of LoCo being in business! Curt looks back on his business journey, from working in banking to starting a food trailer, a season in financial services, and the development of LoCo Think Tank - a peer advisory group model built to help business owners learn from each other. During his banking years, he'd noticed that his most successful clients...

Rina Jean Bindi is the Founder and CEO of Tipping Point Digital - a Digital Marketing Strategy firm based in Loveland, Colorado. Tipping point helps their clients be found (and trusted) on the internet by focusing on positive reviews and SEO optimization. She also serves as a marketing strategist for her sister's company, ZuGo Pet, and hosts the Point Taken Podcast - supporting positive business mindset and educating on alternative health practices. Rina was the founder and operator of RJ's Ama...

Seth Silvers is the Founder and CEO of Story On Media & Marketing based in Fort Collins, Colorado, and also the creator of The Small Business Storytellers Podcast, and is preparing to launch a new podcast focused on Authentic Marketing. Seth and his team develop marketing campaigns and outreach built on storytelling - helping their client's customers see and hear and know the stories that reveal the value and values of the business in the community. They help business owners create and distribut...

How do you see new opportunities as an entrepreneur? Nick Armstrong, Geek in Chief at WTF Marketing (and lead organizer of Fort Collins Startup Week and Comic-Con) shares his journey of finding countless ways to create something unique to give back to the community. This includes his newest endeavor, running for City Council! In this Shorts episode, get inspired to work beyond your business and find ways to identify needs in the community–and fill them! Nick’s strong aptitude for relationship b...

Abbie Stout is the owner/proprietor of the Edwards House Inn, a boutique hotel, conference, and special event center in Old Town Fort Collins, Luz en el Cielo, an Eco-B&B / Hostel in Montezuma, Costa Rica, and Cedar & Sage Mercantile, a sustainable hone products company operated by the Edwards House staff - and she is also a LoCo Think Tank member! Abbie started her business journey as a school project the summer before her final year of college, when she wrote a business plan for an eco-lodge ...

John Shaw is the Founder and the Conductor of the Orchestra at DaVinci Sign Systems located in Windsor, Colorado. DaVinci specializes in the creation of custom sign systems for businesses, communities, schools, churches and organizations of all kinds. John founded the company in 2004 in Fort Collins, and has over 30 employees on the "E-Team" - everything about them is positive, and they work hard and always together - to make their client's custom signage dreams a reality. John's entrepreneuria...

How do you feed a community during a pandemic? FOCO Cafe's Executive Director, Mallory Garneau, shares her bigs wins and key challenges 2020 brought for their non-profit. Learn about the creative adjustments Mallory and her team put in place to continue feeding the Fort Collins community, all while achieving record-breaking fundraising! FoCo Cafe’s mission is to build community by providing nutritious and delicious meals to the people of Fort Collins regardless of their ability to pay while usi...

Becky Lauridsen is the Founder of IOME - Guilt Free Self Care. IOME is a membership organization that provides access to a supportive community in the areas of Mind, Body, and Soul, with plans that include access to discounts with community partners, monthly therapy/coaching session, and monthly small group engagements. IOME provides the therapy/coaching/small groups, and partners provide an array of discounted services to members, including but not limited to massage, chiropractic, nutrition, y...

Historical fiction writer, award-winning author of eight books, and speaker + blogger, Teresa Funke, shares the business life of a creative. Through the trying times of the pandemic, she shares the importance (and how-to) of keeping creativity up while adapting to new business ideas. Teresa talks about the challenges and big opportunities that come with being a solopreneur, including her guiding question: “Do I believe it’s true?” In this LoCo Shorts episode, you’ll learn how to lean into your...

Greg and Drew Yancey represent the 3rd and 4th generations of leadership of Yancey's Food Service - a family-owned Northern Colorado enterprise that began in 1940 and sold to FSA in 2012. Greg served as CEO and Drew as Director of Strategy at the time of exit, and Drew stayed on as President of a spin-off enterprise not included in the sale. Greg currently serves as full-time Grandfather/Husband and part-time Pastor at Mountain View Community Church. Drew is an Advisor at InCite Performance Grou...

Turning your craft into a business isn’t always smooth sailing, but as Mitch Holmes, owner of MitchCraft Tiny Homes experienced, build it and they shall come! In this LoCo Shorts episode, Mitch shares with us how he turned his love for minimalism and quality production into a somewhat unplanned, step-by-step successful business journey. Of course, this isn’t without learning some key lessons, so listen in to hear about scaling, growing a team, troubleshooting customers, and even being on Tiny H...

Karen Fournier is the Founder and Owner of Starstream Productions in Loveland, Colorado. Her entrepreneurial journey began with a volunteer documentary short about a local non-profit, and she has served the non-profit and educational communities for over 13 years, winning several national awards. She has interviewed over 600 individuals to help draw out stories of impact and learning, from which she develops everything from non-profit benevolence videos to educational training courses. In 2020,...

Learn how working for a visionary, like Elon Musk, can prep you for business entrepreneurship! On this LoCo Shorts episode, we dig in deep with Jeremy Lasman, Co-Founder of Star Systems, Conscious Leadership Network, Creator or Mania Comic, and Technologist with SpaceX, to explore his business journey. Jeremy candidly shares the steps from his self-discovery, business creation, technology experience, and understanding of high-efficiency performance in business which led him to help business own...

Camron Lente founded NG Companies in 2009 at the age of 20, leaving a six-figure oilfield industry job to sort through dumpsters at rig sites looking for recyclable materials to help his clients reduce waste and save money. After a few years of finding its footing, the company moved into construction and infrastructure focused on the same industry and has now evolved into a service and infrastructure business that serves a broad market of clients with many services. Ben Gates is a career small b...

How does being a philanthropist relate to being a business owner? In Mel Ulle’s case, owner of Philanthropy Expert, it’s all about having a plan, passion& impact, leaving a legacy, and having the right team (and heart) behind all you do. From politics to the Denver Art Museum, to even a show on the Travel Channel, Mel unpacks her career in entrepreneurship. Listen in as Mel describes more about the business side of giving back to communities through philanthropy and how she created her rocksta...

Mike Gugliotto was a gifted writer since his youth, and attended Colorado State University as a Journalism major. Constant curiosity and an intrinsic love for people and business carried him to greater and greater responsibilities, culminating as the President and CEO of Pioneer News Group in Seattle, WA - a group with at one point more than 1,000 employees and operations in 24 communities! Mike shares stories of navigating the intrinsic challenges of business while facing declining revenues and...