BrandBuilders

Branding and design are important elements in getting your message across as a business, but are you doing that in a sustainable way? Our guest today on the BrandBuilders Podcast can perform the soup-to-nuts of your branding, packaging, and print in a socially conscious way. After all, why not leave the world a little better than you found it? Rachel Martin is the founder and design director at Mi...

Returning to the office should feel like working from home — except maybe cleaner and less noisy. In other words, your workplace should feel comfortable, approachable, and productive. It should reflect the company brand, your professional values, and how you feel about the work you do. That’s a tall order for a designer or architect, but also a mission for today’s guest on the BrandBuilder P...

Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast wears a lot of hats. We mean that literally — David Shaffer started as a Junior Golfer in the American Junior Golf Association, then became a collegiate golfer at Northwestern University. From there, he joined the business world … using his talents and love of his sport to sell apparel used in the game. Now, literally — as we said — he...

These days of staying home A LOT have led a lot of us to feel — well, less put-together on a daily basis than we used to. But ladies, I know the desire is still there to dress up with just the right touch of casual-yet-elegant. Your jewelry is one way to make that happen, amiright? Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast knows how you feel. Erin McDermott designs and creates beautiful ha...

“Office Space” is more than just a movie… it’s a place where we work, or now in a lot of cases, USED to work and would like to someday work again… Soon! COVID has changed our idea of a workspace — both at home and at the office — as companies adapt to keeping people safe. One company that specializes in great interior spaces has its sight on helping people return to offices safel...

We’re checking in today with one of our favorite charities in Charlotte… dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancers, and helping families along the way. The Isabella Santos Foundation has already raised and invested more than $4 million dollars in pediatric cancer research locally and nationwide and has spent another half-million dollars supporting families whose children are fighting that...

We don’t have to explain the need for Healthcare Heroes right now. Doctors, nurses, PA’s, and other frontline healthcare workers have been running full speed since the COVID pandemic first surfaced here in March. The need is great. Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast was way ahead of this game before 2020. In 2017, Trey Ennis created a website and app, called HireMe Healthcare, to connect...

If there’s a bright spot in business this year at all, it’s that businesses who helped people out in the pandemic were able to thrive. Now, we understand it’s a weird year to talk about success – but if you’re helping people get outdoors to stay healthy and sane in a year like this, more power to you. Ben Cooley at Bicycle Sport is one of those businesses, as demand for bikes soared during stay-at...

Professional cameras all seem to have one thing in common – like cars 100 years ago, they are available in any color you want, as long as it’s BLACK. But most photographers we know are pretty colorful people – people who see the world differently, and have an innate ability to capture the angle through their lenses. So why shouldn’t their camera’s style reflect their personality? I mean, everyone...

Okay, listeners – raise your hand if you struggled with eating healthy last year – Now raise your hand if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to eat better – If your hand is up, your resolution is also the number one resolution made by folks every January, along with exercising more. (You can put your hands down now.) The big question is HOW.  You’re also not alone if you’ve run out of creative...

Hitting the road this weekend? Along the way, you will see some of the most creative advertising work around…. on billboards. Adams Outdoors is one of the largest billboard advertising companies in the country and they have an office right here in Charlotte. Gale Bonnell and Jason Brannon from Adams are joining us today on the BrandBuilders Podcast.

A lot of us already belong to a business networking group, which means we’ve attended some happy hours, met people, collected business cards, and…. moved on. One professional networking group, though, wants you to put your time and talents to work for a good cause NOT necessarily related to your business – to help you grow personally and professionally. The Charlotte Business Group calls itself th...

When you have kids, you work hard to keep them active. In addition to “go play outside,” you also want them involved in some sort of coached sport so they learn good fundamentals of hard work and fair play. How do you do that, especially when they’re young? Well first, you emphasize the fun, because kids learn best through play. Our next guests on the BrandBuilders Podcast know that too, because t...

Getting new tires is probably not high on everyone’s list of ‘fun things to do.’ And you know who else noticed that? The manager of a tire store. Paul Hosage became an area manager of a tire chain, but he noticed along the way that customers, while happy to have new tires, almost universally did NOT enjoy sitting in the waiting rooms of tire stores. So he and his brother Alex came up with an idea:...

If you’ve ever been to summer camp – or even recess at school – you’ve probably grabbed a ball and dashed towards the pavement with the big painted square divided into four parts. Yes, foursquare. And as you grew up, you progressed to friendly games of volleyball at your company picnic or the beach. But what if you could combine the two? Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, someone did. Three chi...

Finding the right strategy for business is like standing at a 5-point intersection and wondering which turn will take you where you want to go. The smartest thing to do is ask someone who’s been there before, and follow their directions. Thinc Strategy is that partner who will guide you down the path to make your business successful. Their Founder and CEO, Cindy Anderson followed her own path of b...

Could you use a little motivation right now? Is month after month of working at home, kids learning at home, and cooking at home, left you feeling in a rut? We’ve got the guy who can help. Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast is someone who can look deep into your story, ask the right questions, and tell you exactly how to lift yourself up and get going. Jeff Nischwitz is owner/founde...

Our country is looking for ways to safely return workers to offices and keep businesses open, even as a second surge of COVID threatens to set us back. Employee health surveys are one way, but wouldn’t it be easier to have a data-driven way for employees to test their own health before they leave home? Well, yes – and there’s an app for that! A Charlotte-based app developer has created a way for w...

It’s no secret this has been a tough year for breweries. Along with the rest of the restaurant business, breweries are under strict limits about how many people they can serve indoors. Now imagine you are building out your lifelong dream of opening your brewery when COVID hits – and you have to call an audible. That’s exactly what Petty Thieves Brewing did, and still opened in September just north...

Construction is booming in Charlotte, and there are plenty of companies around to choose from — but only one with a dog in its logo. Tyler 2 Construction has one of the most recognizable logos in town because, frankly, it’s cool to have a dog on your official brand and no one expects that from a construction company. (The Charlotte Observer even did a story about the dog logo!) Tyler 2...

No one likes for their hands to get cold or for their beer to get warm, and Kenny Ramsey has come up with a solution for that. It’s not your normal can koozie though… it’s the culmination of 10 years of thermodynamic technology at work. Kenny is the creator of 22below.. maker of the “subzero” koozie.. which is based in Charlotte and Made in the USA.

Whatever your product or service is, you depend on marketing to sell it. We have a thriving marketing talent pool in Charlotte, and The Creative Group is that agency that matches talent to the companies where they can fit in and shine the best. Ashley Porto is Division Director at The Creative Group – a division of Robert Half agency – and she’s also the incoming president of the...

As long as there is business, there will be consultants creating ways to make it faster, more efficient, and more profitable. LeapPoint is a consulting firm for finance, HR, IT, marketing, and government… to name a few. And in 2018, it was named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms — a high honor! That same year, LeapPoint also acquired JumpSeat, a...

There is a lot that goes into building a new home from the ground up, but to build a brand new home that matches the look and feel of an older neighborhood is a real gift that requires some homework. That’s what we’re seeing right now in some older Charlotte neighborhoods like Enderly Park, and that’s where our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast is hard at work. Jeff Chance is a custom builde...

Right now, a spa day sounds good. Maybe a deep-tissue massage, a body wrap, or a facial? It’s been a while for some folks, because of COVID-19. And if you’re in the spa business, it’s been a tough time… especially if you opened the door on your brand new salon on March 1 st ! Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast did just that. Palestra Spa moved into its new location off Providence Road in...