The LoCo Experience

We're sharing  Curt's blog from November, which is titled Grateful for a Great and Full 10 Years, a. k. a. The Loco Think Tank Story. "Last month marked the 10th anniversary of the last paycheck that didn’t come from my own business account, and of my first days as an entrepreneur. " We hope you enjoy! Read the Blog Check out LoCo Think Tank The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: ...

For almost 30 years, Alan Jantzen was the man behind the scenes for what became one of the Fort Collins restaurant industry’s most dominant organizations - Hot Corner Concepts.  Featuring amazing brands including Moot House, Austin’s American Grill, Big Al’s Burgers & Dogs, and Comet Chicken, Hot Corner Concepts set the standard for quality and consistency in our region.  Along the journey, Alan w...

Today we welcomed Aaron Everitt back to The LoCo Experience studios for our Northern Colorado real estate and water update, and as usual we got into all kinds of additional topics.  Aaron had recently been a part of a historical tour of sorts, and we had some discussion about the history of Fort Collins, and the many subdivisions that his family enterprise built throughout the last 50+ years -, an...

Jake Jorgovan is a serial entrepreneur and podcast industry expert, whom I first met at a Colorado Podcasters gathering in 2022.  He’s the Founder of Content Allies, a B2B podcast strategy, production, and promotion agency, and the owner of Listen Network, a targeted podcast promotion and cross-promotion network.  He’s the co-host of Leaders of B2B Podcast and A Guide to B2B Podcasting.  Jake has...

I met Dr. Heather Rubin at the Innovation Showcase Event held at the Warehouse Innovation Hub in Loveland in late August.  Heather took home 2 of the 4 awards presented that day - the Most Disruptive Business Model and the People’s Choice Award!   Heather’s journey is an inspiring one, and I was struck throughout how her focus on collaboration was the key to unlocking this potentially disruptive j...

Marc Torres started his journey with Cheba Hut in perfect “cheba” fashion - a failed drug test foiled his job prospects with the City of Fort Collins, and a snarky friend said “you should go work at Cheba Hut, I bet they don’t drug test!”.  Marc started on the front line (and claims he remains an excellent sandwich maker) and worked his way up in the ranks to store manager, and eventually became t...

Greg Roeder is a 2nd time guest on The LoCo Experience, and was my guest with then-partner and co-founder Josh Guernsey of Waypoint Real Estate, in Episode 45.  They were celebrating their 5th anniversary and had already grown to a staff of over 30 - focused on commercial brokerage, market data, and property management.  Greg, however, was increasingly focused on residential real estate, and provi...

I was introduced to Cameron Singh by our mutual friend, Fort Collins Mayor Emeritus Wade Troxell, and we’ve enjoyed some wonderful conversations in the few short weeks since.  During the first, Cameron shared his experiences in the aviation industry, how he’d come to Northern Colorado, and the vision of creating a world-class private plane services company with Discovery Air - a Water Valley Compa...

Kristin Todd joined the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado in April of 2021, continuing a career of impact in the realm of philanthropy.  Prior to joining the Community Foundation, she spent over 15 years with Daniels Fund based in Denver but serving much of the Rocky Mountain Region, and before that was with El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs.   In this episode, you will learn all abo...

Matt Gettig is my neighbor of 14 years, and his home at the corner of Whitcomb and Laporte in Fort Collins is the epicenter of a neighborhood phenomenon known as Lightning Mini Golf.  During the summer of 2020, Matt and his son, Ray, built a mini golf hole on a hard-to-grow section of his lawn, set it up with putters and balls and signage welcoming players - and within days found lines of people w...

Sean Follin is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Encounter Strategies, based in Fort Collins, Colorado but serving clients nationally, and occasionally internationally.  He’s a great example of Fort Collins as a choice city - if you can choose to live anywhere, where do you choose?  (It turns out - in my neighborhood!)  Sean is a remarkably experienced strategic planner for his age, and work...

Jennifer Lewis grew up in West Loveland in an entrepreneurial family and started her career with Mr. Neat’s Formal Wear when she was 15 years old. She excelled in sales and relationship building, and became a store manager and part of the leadership team at the age of 19!  She took classes at UNC and quickly shifted from a medical track to a business track in her education - and stayed on with Mr....

Colin Jones and partner Neil Fisher founded WeldWerks Brewing Company in 2014 in a long-vacant property just off Highway 85 in Greeley. Neil had been a talented homebrewer for years, and Colin was the Director of Technology at Flood and Peterson Insurance prior to the founding.  Soon, both were full-time and more at Weldwerks, and they buckled up for a high-growth journey from there - growing prod...

Hope Hartmann, Kat Hart, and Lisa Hudson are the leading ladies, respectively, at the Larimer Small Business Development Center, Loveland Business Development Center, and East Colorado Small Business Development Center.  These regional SBDC’s in cooperation with other partners will bring us the Unstoppable Women’s Conference on October 10, 2023!  Hope has been on the podcast previously (Episode 93...

Dan Garvin is the President of Colorado Iron & Metal, one of our region’s largest metal recycling centers with locations in Fort Collins and Loveland.  This was my first time really digging into the industry, and I was surprised by both the complexity of the operations, and the similarities to an industry I grew up around - grain elevators. They take in various commodities, sometimes clean it up o...

Jen Henderson is the Founder and CEO of Tilt - a SaaS platform and team that provides companies with professional, consistent, and compliant leave management.  As with many founding stories, Jen’s mission developed from her own experience.  A fast-rising manager with Starbucks and later Noodles & Company, she had promotions and trajectories twice interrupted by the birth of her children, and decid...

Nathan Scott is arguably one of Fort Collins most interesting people, and this podcast episode was spawned, in part, by Nathan’s introduction of so many inspiring guest candidates!  He’s one of the show's biggest fans, and he’s journeyed a fascinating career from impact role to impact role.  Nathan spent time in the Navy after high school, and after a tour with Americorps, he landed a leading...

Dr. Kristen Truman-Allen is the Founder and Chief Experience Officer at PULP Leadership Coaching, and a LoCo Facilitator for the Catalyst Collective chapter, a post she’s now held for about 8 months.  Kristen founded the business and began coaching soon after her first experience being coached, during a time when she was balancing working as an ER Nurse, obtaining her first graduate degree, and ra...

Aaron Everitt is back in The LoCo Experience studio for our quarterly-ish real estate update, where we always remember - there’s opportunity in every market!  We talk about current interest rates and inventory especially, along with longer term forecasts and trends you’ll want to be aware of.  We also get into the dark horse candidacy of Robert Kennedy Jr., the still unreleased files surrounding t...

During Dr. Trevin Cardon’s residency with Poudre Valley Hospital, he determined to follow a less-traditional path. He and his wife Allison founded Hometown Family Health.  A Direct Primary Care (DPC) office, Hometown Family Health offers a monthly membership whereby patients receive regular check-ups, discounted testing and blood work, and most importantly - a relationship with their doctor!   Thi...

Tim and Ami Lindgren started Lindgren Landscape while they were engaged to be married, and still in college at CSU.  They’ve been building the best backyards in Northern Colorado ever since, and have also developed a substantial commercial maintenance division.  They employ more than 80 full time employees at peak season.   Tim & Ami share a business journey that overlays the entirety of their rel...

Dan Bennett is in his second season with Lightning eMotors, previously known as Lightning Hybrids, and has had a front row seat to the evolution of a significant local enterprise, now employing over 200 as the anchor tenant at the Forge Campus in Loveland.  Initially offering hydraulic-hybrid drivetrain modifications to enhance fuel efficiency, Lightning Hybrids subsequently shifted its entire bus...

Rayno Seaser founded The Egg & I in 1987, as a breakfast and lunch restaurant in what is now mid-town Fort Collins.  Before long, additional regional locations were added, and though a franchise was never the plan - the market demanded it.  Rayno grew the enterprise to around a dozen locations before selling 90% of the franchise company, and then watched The Egg & I grow to over 100 locations befo...

Warren Yoder is the CEO of the Yoder Family of Companies, which includes numerous Weld and Larimer County enterprises - namely Weld County Garage, Yoder Chevrolet, ABRA of Fort Collins and Greeley, The Carriage Shop, Kayman Direct, Iron Clad Manufacturing, Truck City, Drivewise, and Driven Financial.  All are in the automotive industry and adjacent, and Warren has spent his whole career in the aut...

Sean Fox and his partner Zac Horton founded Mjolin Technology in 2018, after working together at Greystone Technology.  We might call it a boutique IT agency, named after Thor’s hammer!  Sean’s family has a long banking heritage, and before getting into technology, he was a Loan Officer / IT Administrator for their family banking organization - and he remains CTO today!   We talk about a lot of ne...