BrandBuilders

If you’ve been in Charlotte for even a few months, listening to the radio or watching local TV, or whatever… you’ve likely heard an ad for one of the Keffer Auto Group’s 8 car dealerships like Hyundai, Jeep, Volkswagen, or Kia – and many more.  What you may not know is that the Keffer family has a long, local history of putting people behind the wheel here in the Charlotte area....

Over the years we’ve had lots of new and emerging brands, products, and service providers appear here on The BrandBuilders Podcast. Each of them is unique, but the common thread they share is this: they all recognized there was something missing in the marketplace.  And as they say in science class, nature abhors a vacuum. For the makers, creators, and entrepreneurs that “vacuum” means opportunity...

Most every parent tries to share some wisdom with their kids; some of it about life, some of it about business. Our next guest here has a real gem from his father. It goes like this:  “… after attending UNCW and working 3 jobs throughout college, I thought my dad would hire me in the family business. Instead, he told me that I needed to first learn the business on someone else’s dime.” Now T...

You’ve likely heard this one before: Charlotte IS Creative. Just look around and you’ll see artists, musicians, chefs, actors, muralists, sculptors, poets, and more that prove the point.  And there folks working in front of and behind the scenes to help those artists connect, be seen — and more importantly – make a living. Matt Olin is one of those people.  Matt is Co-Founder of Charlotte Is...

A New York Times article from this summer pointed out what a lot of us probably know already. Social media is a lot less ”social” these days. Between the political commentary and all the ads… many brands are struggling to connect – or reconnect – with their audiences. People and brands are once again seeing the value in creative and engaging IN REAL LIFE events. They key to their success, of cours...

Data released this summer shows that the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast predicts a 20% increase in nonresidential building spending this year — a surge not seen since pre-Great Recession boom times.  Spending increases are anticipated across manufacturing, commercial, institutional, and industrial construction – but will it, or can it last?  If you look around the Carolinas, there seems...

Parks  provide real life environmental, aesthetic, and recreation benefits to everyone. They’re some of THE most-requested amenities in most any community. And for good reason: they enhance property values, increase municipal revenue, they bring in homebuyers, create a sense of community… the list goes on!  But, parks can’t do it on their own. It takes folks in the community – and businesses and c...

In the more than 300 episodes of the BrandBuilders Podcast, we have had some heavy-hitters here on the program. This is one of those episodes…  Very few people PERIOD can boast of a resume that includes: D1 collegiate athletics, modeling, law school, politics, entrepreneurship – work in the US Senate, entertainment, tech, programming, public affairs, advocacy…  And this man is FAR from riding off...

Fall means football, the eventual end to major league baseball, NHL and NBA preseason… and soccer!  Despite Americans playing soccer for over 100 years, it’s only recently started to really gain real traction. It’s now one of the fastest growing sports in the US. As of Q4 2022, soccer is the 4th most followed sport in the country.  Not sure if “Ted Lasso” had anything to do with that or not…   We...

If you consider yourself a dog “parent,” rather than a dog “owner,” then It’s pretty safe to assume you’re a REAL dog person. If movies like “A Dog’s Purpose,” “My Dog Skip,” or “Marley and Me,” have you clutching the kleenex… well, we have found your tribe.  “Paws Social Club,” bills itself as the social club FOR DOGS – and the humans who love them. They host dog-friendly events all over town, an...

LOTS of folks have hidden or underutilized talents. I’ll bet most of our listeners probably don’t know my co-host also plays guitar. Or, that our engineer is also a woodworker… go ahead and let that settle in.  Well, not everyone considers themselves creative. Either they never got the opportunity to “get creative,” don’t have the time, or maybe they just never found the right medium to work with....

Charlotte’s got a lot, as the marketing campaign says, and it’s enough to keep drawing people to town. In fact, more than 100 people are moving to town each and every day – that’s great for business and our national reputation, but there’s a yin and yang to everything, of course.  More traffic, less affordable housing, fewer seats at your favorite restaurant, longer lines at the grocery store… all...

George Carlin said it best: “All you need in life, is a little place for your stuff…  This is my stuff, that’s your stuff, that’ll be his stuff over there. That’s all your house is– a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time. Think about it.. A house is just a pile of your stuf...

“Music With Friends” a unique membership that bills itself as a, ”one-of-a-kind experience, centered on legendary musical acts performing in intimate, acoustically superb venues.” The artists they book are based the acts their membership wants to see, in settings that promise no bad seats in the house. Plus, pre-show cocktail parties and afterparties for every show – AND, members can attend meet &...

If your back hurts, everything hurts. And if you’re one of 65 million Americans who suffer from back pain, you know how important it is to get relief. A chiropractor can help! Whether you’re a serious athlete, a weekend warrior, or somewhere in between, your back is the the foundation of your health and fitness. Dr. Doug Bradberry is a chiropractic physician at Greenapple Sports and Wellness. He’s...

Whether people are coming to visit family, see a ballgame, take in a show, or stay for a convention —  tourism means big money. In North Carolina, total domestic and international visitor spending reached over 33 billion dollars in 2022. That is up 15 percent from 2021 according to the CRVA. The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance says that this year alone, the leisure and hospitality indus...

Choate Construction Company was founded in 1989, as the economy headed into recession. Talk about great timing, right? Construction projects were few and far between, the team was small, and their “fleet” was just one old truck. But they went ahead with it anyway. Now, they’ve got 6 regional offices, nearly 500 employee-owners, and experience in all kinds of construction. That’s one heck of a foun...

Let’s talk about hair. Everybody’s got it. Some have a ton of it, others not so much. Over a lifetime, we wash it, dry it, style it, cut it, let it grow – or not. And, every one of us loses some of it every day. And for some of us, we lose it faster than it grows back. Hair loss can be scary, traumatic, or depressing for lots of people. The good news is, there are LOTS of solutions for thinning ha...

Whether you’ve read it or not, you probably know the book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Steven Covey authored that one along with LOADS of other best-sellers about people, work, and productivity. Covey’s books are as quotable as the movie “Caddyshack,” and packed full of “bottom line” insights like this quote: “So often, the problem is the system, not the people. If you put good people i...

For a lot of people, one of the best things to come out on the other side of the pandemic… was the return to in-person events. The virtual thing was unique for a while, but we’re social beings. We WANT to be around each other and collaborate, congregate, and celebrate. But, getting back to whatever normal looks like has presented plenty of challenges for people who work in the events space. Those...

There was a commercial a few years back about a company that said they, “quote,” they make a lot of the things you know “better.” Truth is just about ANY product you use is PACKED with pieces and parts. And there are companies that may have never heard of that make those pieces and parts. One of those companies is Sur-Seal. They engineer, design, and manufacture ALL kinds of parts for all kinds of...

Garage bands, listen-up! Charlotte has a NEW place to play for musicians and creative noise-makers of all types. No, it’s not a storage shed or your mom’s basement… it’s called Jambox. Jambox is more than 2000 square feed of rehearsal rooms and event space for music videos, photo shoots, meetings, parties, and more. You can even rent amps, sound equipment, and other gear so you and your band can r...

If you’ve been following us here at the Dunstan Group for any time, you know we’re big into working with folks who do great things in the community. One of those groups we’ve been working with for a looonngg time is the 24 Foundation. Since its inception in 2002, 24 Foundation has raised over $26 million to support cancer navigation and survivorship programs through local and national beneficiarie...

It’s probably more than fair to say that “traditional media,” like the kind our parents used to know, is a thing of the past. Newspaper subscriptions have dwindled for years… TV news is a shell of what it was in its prime. And car makers may not even include the AM band on the radio. Sorry folks, your Facebook news feed is NOT the actual news. And what’s left of the “news” is arguably entertainmen...

For some people, the idea of running a marathon is just plain crazy. For some, it’s a bucket list item, and for others, it’s something they do over and over again! No matter where you are on that list, one thing’s for sure: running a marathon is a big deal. It takes time and training, and it also takes a team committed to doing the work to put on an event that has tons of moving parts. Charlotte i...