All Episodes

In today’s podcast, I sat down with Chris Aronson and Jeff Fleischer, the Principals at VFLA in Fort Collins. VFLA has arguably been the leading architecture firm in Northern Colorado since its founding in 1986, and this year celebrates 40 years of service to the commercial and residential construction industries. My connection with VFLA goes back to my banking years in the late 90’s, but is personal because of the L that’s now missing. Justin Larson was my primary “highly-spirited canyon ridin...

In today’s podcast, I sat down with Sheri Ridgeway, CEO of Ridgeway Group Innovations (RGI for short), which she runs alongside her husband, Ross and she’s also the current Board Chair at the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce. RGI has two divisions - one, a contract provider of technical support services to government agencies - and the other, a consulting business helping other small businesses do business with the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world - the US Federal Govern...

Today I was honored to sit down with longtime LoCo Think Tank member Glenn Frank, the CEO of Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning, along with his key leadership team today and into the future - Anthony Taylor and Jesse Frank. Anthony serves as President & COO, and Jesse as Quality Assurance Supervisor. We spent some time on the evolution of the business in recent years - the addition of plumbing - and then electrical to the Fort Collins Heating & Air offerings - and the relatively recent lau...

In May, I got an email from Albert Wolfe, sharing that he’s travelling to Fort Collins area visiting family soon, from Guangzhou, China, and that he loves what I’m doing with LoCo Think Tank, and has been listening to and enjoying The LoCo Experience podcast - and would I be interested to have him on as a guest? Flattery will get you everywhere with me, so of course I said yes - and we had one opening during his stay here - the day before his departure. In the meantime, we shared a pair of lunc...

When Andrew Johnson was yet a pre-teen, his older sister started taking dance classes - and he’d be dragged along. Soon, there was the inevitable odd-numbered class, and Andrew was volunteered to be partnered up - and it was quickly apparent to all - that boy can dance! Soon after, Andrew was training with private tutors, and entering Pro-Am competitions around the country - and later, around the world! He was farming with his family as his primary income source, also teaching dance classes and...

I had a ton of fun in today’s podcast - kind of a get-to-truly-know someone you’ve known and appreciated for 25 years already - Kelly Sage - FKA Kelly Jones - FKA Kelly Peters when we first met circa 2001. Kelly has worked in economic development since I first moved to Fort Collins in 1999, and was instrumental in the launch of the Rocky Mountain Innosphere and the Warehouse Business Accelerator, she’s served on more boards than I can count on both hands - and she’s currently the President and C...

In today’s conversation, I sat down with Matthew & Quint Redmond - and learned that Quint is also Matthew - Matthew Cook Redmond the 5th as it were - and I can safely say that it’s the first time I’ve been in a room with a 5th and a 6th of a family name. Quint is the Co-Founder and CEO of Agriburbia (https://agriburbia.com/) - along with his wife Jennifer - which began as a leading-edge consultancy in the area of sustainable real estate development. Helping people and agriculture live together, so to speak, and enabling high-efficiency food production in urban and suburban environments - built into the development plan! Their mission is to help create and integrate 30 million successful urban and suburban farmers. Matthew the 6th is leading their design and technology division, and is likely their future CEO. He has been incorporating automations and AI to help their systems provide optimal production - and is supporting an intentional pivot from a pure consultancy to a product-based …

My guest for today’s conversation was Bob Schaffer, Headmaster of Liberty Common School in Fort Collins, and Chairman of Leadership Program of the Rockies. Bob presented to my Rotary club a couple months back, and was kind enough to share time with me on The LoCo Experience podcast! Long before his focus on education - because he had yet no children - Bob got into politics mostly as a writer. His first real job was as an Intern/speechwriter for the Republican caucus in Ohio - and he was good at...

On today’s episode of The LoCo Experience podcast, Kristin Todd returns to share some updates from the NoCo Foundation. Kristin was previously my guest on Episode 136 - when she was yet fairly new in the role - so listeners might choose to tune into that episode for the deeper dive into her life and career journey. The biggest news up front - is that yet another past guest of The LoCo Experience has started a podcast! The NoCo Voices Podcast (https://nocofoundation.org/noco-voices-podcast) offi...

In today’s episode, I sat down with The Mayorettes - which we’ll describe here as a lifestyle brand of sorts, focused on uplifting community through advocacy and connections in the small business and non-profit world of Northern Colorado. The Mayorettes is currently comprised of Kerrie Lugenbill, the very recently married Jackie formerly Christman now Stevens, and Giuli Diaz. Three full-time high-impact working professionals - sharing and combining their talents to move the needle toward generos...

In today’s conversation on The LoCo Experience, I was joined by Matt Ackerman, a Co-Founder of and Brand Ambassador for Meadkrieger Meadery in downtown Loveland, Colorado. Matt developed a taste for mead while exploring his passion for music, and was a semi-professional touring musician for several years before taking on a new challenge - imagining and creating a production meadery and tasting room experience fit for a king - or for a Viking! Matt shared some interesting stories from his metal-...

In today’s episode of The LoCo Experience, I welcomed back Clint Jasperson, Founder and Managing Partner of Purpose Driven Wealth, a Thrivent Financial wealth management office. Clint has been a member of LoCo Think Tank for nearly 5 years, and shared in part the blessing he finds there is a safe place for diverse opinions - rather than the crazies yelling at each other from the corners of the internet as we might believe if we spend too much time online. Clint and I spoke more about mindset th...

I was honored to share time in studio with Ryan and Sarah Woodland recently, and I’m proud to call Ryan a member of LoCo Think Tank, and a friend. In the 3+ years I’ve known Ryan, he’s grown his Woodland Home Marketplace from a $500K business into a ~$2MM / year and profitable operation - and largely worked himself out of a role for the company. And - he’s been developing his skills acquired from decades of contracting, fix and flips, and custom home building - and has been building his systems ...

I met Jeff Faust last summer, when I learned about and toured the bones of the Love FoCo Resource Center - and got to know him better at their benefit golf tournament last fall - which was my favorite “work” day of the year. Love Foco just held its ribbon cutting last month! In this podcast, Jeff tells the tale of securing the real estate by gift, and the special community efforts that were made to build out the space into a full-service community health and resource center. We also zoomed back...

When Pat Malloy was in about 6th grade, his mother noticed that the same genetic affliction that had struck his father had been passed down to him, and so when he was 15, she took a microcassette recorder into the local Department of Motor Vehicles, was walked through the eye test by the technician, and delivered the recorded cassette to Pat for memorization. Pat lived as a sighted person for nearly the next decade, despite not being able to read a Stop sign until he’s already parked at it - and...

Eric Goodman - Delivering Dollars and Enthusiasm for Great Causes - Founder and Owner of Your Fundraising Team - and Co-Host of the Hot Takes with Goodman and Haertl sports podcast I met Eric Goodman at a local non-profit event, when I happened to be seated at his table, and complimented him on an above-average performance as a volunteer emcee. We shared some fun banter, but during the paddle-raise it was more than obvious (which I already suspected) - that he was a pro - and a damn good one. ...

Mandy Mullen - Ultra-Runner, Entrepreneur, Podcast Co-Host, Wife & Mom - and lululemon ambassador! Founder & CEO of miles.Beyond, Owner & Race Director of run.Windsor and run.Colorado Relays Mandy Mullen returns for her third time in The LoCo Experience studio - check out our conversations on Episode 91 and Episode 155 for more of the origin story and setting the stage for what has become. Today we’re catching up on all the NEW stuff - the NOCO Urban Ultra, the upcoming Weld Your Mettle Running...

Steve Phillips, Co-Founder and Creator at GeekCast Radio Network, Author of Altered Audio, and Communications and Content Developer at Breeze Thru Car Wash Steve Phillips is a super-geek, and started podcasting a Transformers-themed show over 20 years ago. He Co-Founded GeekCast Radio Network, is an accomplished voice actor, and has been hosting the Altered Geek podcast series since 2012. And - he’s got a day job - Communications and Content Developer at Breeze Thru Car Wash. At Breeze Thru, he...

My conversation this week was with my good friend and returning guest, Aaron Everitt. Aaron was just returned from a panel discussion where he represented the MAHA perspective at the ASPPH Annual Meeting for Academic Public Health, with hundreds of public health educators in attendance. Aaron has been a regular guest on a podcast known as “Why Should I Trust You”, and is an avid freelance writer and creator. He’s also a longtime chapter facilitator at LoCo Think Tank! We discussed Aaron’s creat...

My conversation today was with James and Angela Mitchell, the Co-Founders and Relationship Coaches at Love Intentionally. Angela was a career counselor, working in schools, with depression and substance challenges, and eventually found her way to relationships. Meanwhile, James was the consummate entrepreneur - working in real estate but always trying new ventures - with widely ranging success. After years of taking intentional time throughout their marriage - every week, every month, and once-...

I had Joel Gustafson and Jess Gries into the studio last fall to talk about Seed & Spirit Distilling, and specifically the recent news of their expansion into what was the Funkwerks portion of the building on Lincoln Avenue in Fort Collins. We tasted lots of samples and the guys shared a lot of stories, but with the two of them, there really wasn’t time to do justice to the journey of either partner. In the meantime, we were honored to have Seed & Spirit partner with The LoCo Experience podcast...

My guest this week was Kyle Bentley, I connected with Kyle on LinkedIn back in 2019, and saw him growing his business - Bentley Welding Inc. through the years, and then more recently saw a new set of businesses arise - Coyote Tanks, Blue Northern Constructors, and Ceros Industrial - and Bentley Welding becoming Bentley Mission Critical. I thought he might have a problem, and so I reached out to see if he’d join me in studio for a conversation on The LoCo Experience! In studio, I found out he’s ...

In this episode of The LoCo Experience Podcast, I sat down with Dustin Peyser, the Founder and President of the Timnath Chamber of Commerce. Dustin shares how he co-founded the chamber alongside the early adopters and supporters, driven by his passion for local business and community building. We discuss the chamber's rapid growth to 55 members and his innovative initiatives like the 'Click Local' business listing platform. Dustin was inspired and supported throughout by his wife Crystal, a lik...

My guest on today’s podcast was Carolyn Johnson, Founder & CEO of GuardUs Innovations. A mechanical engineer with a background in biology and product development, Carolyn became fascinated by the wolf reintroduction in Colorado - and especially with the lack of success that livestock predation deterrents were having. The costs to the state of Colorado have grown well beyond projections already, and if the wolves are to grow in number the livestock encounters must become more rare or the project ...