The Creative Capital Show

What would happen if a coffee company decided to take a risk and conduct an experiment? The experiment, open a space combining the worlds of coffee, spirits, and cocktails, and see if the space can satisfy audiences of all three, while creating a new audience of it's own. If you're wondering what kind of coffee company would do such a thing, and what kind of person would manage such a space? Well...

Almost 30 episodes in and it's been quite a ride. Throughout the course of this show I have met artists, entrepreneurs, creatives, business owners, founders, operators, and anything and everything in-between. With that being said I have noticed that sometimes the older episodes of a podcast can get lost in the shuffle, which is a shame, because the older episodes of this podcast have some incredib...

Imagine growing up wanting to be a chef, but then at 12 you realize you need to make money so you decide to major in food science. Now imagine you're in grad school you realize you hate being in labs, oh and your school loses your research grant. So then you find a job in collegiate athletics administration and you love it, but then your mother has a stroke so you take a sabbatical. You try to get...

Fashion and style.  One is a form of self expression, while the other is a combination of distinctive features. Then there's the fashion industry, and while this industry has made clothes more affordable than ever before and at a blindingly fast pace, there is a cost.  The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s w...

Some say to be successful in business you have to separate the business and its decisions from yourself and your emotions, others have said that to be successful in business you need to have high emotional intelligence, and that your business should be a representation of you. For this episode's guest Julia Broome, she chose the latter as a strategy for success. Julia is the owner & founder of...

Musician, label owner, photographer, residential real estate developer, these are just some of things this episode's guest Jason Shechtman has done throughout his life. Jay's past is an interesting one, much like the past of his current business Courtland Club. During a chance real estate deal Jay dug through the state archives to look up the history of a building he would purchase, what he found...

This episode I get to talk with a guest about a subject I'm really passionate about, the art of DJing. But this episode is not about me, its about my guest Sega Genn.  In the span of a few years Genn has already become a sought after DJ within Providence RI with an eclectic blend of house, hip-hop, and genres from all over the globe.  We talk about her first rave experience, having her o...

Lets talk about sex. Did that phrase get your attention, or did it make you feel uncomfortable? Either way you may want to listen to this episode's guests Shannon and Christine Curley. Shannon and Christine are a Mother/Daughter duo that decided to start their own podcast called Sex Ed Debunked. In this episode Shannon and Christine talk about how they started their show, why they wanted to talk a...

Spread love its the...PVD way. It's interesting that so many things get talked about in business but love is not always one of them. Rarely when you hear entrepreneurs speak about what it takes to be successful is the word love a part of the conversation. This episode's guests Jason Almeida and Sabrina Chaudhary love for their city, their culture, their ideas, their friends & family, their sup...

Polymath its an interesting word, one with varying definitions. One of those definitions states that a polymath is a person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge. When it comes to a person that fits this definition, I can't think of anyone better than this episode's guest Gibran PVD. Gibran has broad and extensive knowledge from working in the worlds of  modeling, music, fash...

In the second half of this two part episode Kyle Therrien talks about how his aspirational dreams of the music industry changed, and how those changes led to him starting his own business, Railroad Park Recording Company.  Kyle's new dream of starting his own business has had its challenges however he was able to learn from the mistakes of others, as well as using his own experience within th...

What happens to a dream deferred?  Well if your Kyle Therrien the answer is...alot.  Kyle is a producer, engineer, musician, and last but not least, owner and founder of Rail Road Park Recording Company. Kyle in his early days developed a love for the grind and the journey rather than the destination, and that journey took him to some pretty interesting places.  In this episode Kyle...

How does one become a successful designer? How do you turn your skills and work into a business? Is there a clash between practical design vs conceptual design? How do you take your influences, culture, and its references, and leverage them for success within your work? Can you design the life you want to live? Or even just what is design exactly? If you have ever asked yourself any of these quest...

Marketing, when you think about the word what comes to mind?  For some its the romanticized world of the tv show Mad Men, for others its the groundbreaking work that Widen & Kennedy have done for Nike, or maybe you're like the late great comedian Bill Hicks and think, marketers are the spawn of Satan, and if you thought that I don't think anyone would blame you. Go on any social media pla...

There are people out there who choose the business they want to start or be a part of, but what happens when the business chooses you?  And what happens what that business, is the family business?  That's the story of this episode's guest Mikey Phenglee.  Mikey is the manager of Asian Bakery and Fast Food, a family run business with an interesting name and an even more interesting h...

What is art? Well the dictionary defines art as "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects", and it's the second half of that definition the production of aesthetic objects, that this episode's guest founded a business upon. Tracy Jonsson-Laboy is the co-founder of Luna Loggia, a mom & pop business that focuses on sourcing and curatin...

Food, passion, and service, these are the words that describe this episodes guest Deena Montanez. From an early age Deena had a passion for food, so much so that she would sneak into her family's living room late at night to watch the food network. While studying to be a chef Deena realized she loved something else as much as food, and that was interacting with guests. This led to numerous positio...

The hotel and hospitality industries have changed a lot over the years, and one of those catalysts of change is this episode's guest, Everett Abitbol. Everett, along with his wife Valerie and creative director Shannon Maldonado, have redesigned what a hotel is, and what it can be, through their company The Deacon Hospitality group. Everett realized a hotel could be more than just a place to rest y...

Family, food, and heritage, three words that for this episode's guest Joaquin Meza are deeply interconnected.  Joaquin is the owner of Dolores, a family run restaurant that focuses on Mexican cuisine, specifically from the Mixteca region of Puebla and Oaxaca. While Joaquin is the owner, the real star of the show is his mother, Chef Maria Meza who some consider the Queen of Mexican cuisine in...

When you go out for a drink at the bar what do you think about? If you're having a cocktail do you think about the type of spirit in that cocktail?  How about the grain that makes up that spirit? Where did that grain come from, did it came from a family farm? What about the bottle that the spirit comes in, do you think about the artwork and who designed it? Do you look around the bar and wond...

User experience design, open source, the 1970s, strip malls, town council meetings, community, and...craft beer?  I know it sounds like I just listed off a bunch of random topics, however for Efren Hidalgo they are all interwoven in the fabric of his business, The Providence Brewing Company.  The story of Providence Brewing Company is an interesting one, it's chapters include what user e...

Imagine a life where you are equal parts researcher, businessperson, accountant, educator, bartender, creative, curator, and finally a manager of people and relationships, oh and multiply all this times two.  That is the life of this episode's guest Jen Davis.  Jen got her start bartending at 18 and has tended bar in nightclubs, biker bars, restaurants, and cocktail lounges.  She ha...

Cocktails and dreams.  This episode is not about some 80s movie, it's the real life story of this episode's guest Michael Silva.  When Michael started bartending he noticed a problem in the cocktail scene, his fellow bartenders and his guests, didn't look like him.  From his parent's basement he started serving his friends and created his own scene called BaS, a roaming premier cock...

Leadership, brand, and culture, those are the three things Aarin Clemons specializes in as a consultant. Aaron has a passion for helping a person recognize and grow their skillsets so to say Aarin is a people person is an understatement to say the least.  In this episode I talk with Aarin about his early days or wine years at the Ace Hotel, how he developed his love of leading and building up...

When this podcast started I had a co-host, my good friend Moses Sium.  After episode one things changed and I'm now running this podcast solo.  In this episode I sit down with Moses to talk about the how and why of starting The Creative Capital Show, the difficult conversations you have to have when you go into business with friends and/or family, and that no matter how well planned your...