How I Got Here with Dave Fiore | Tallahassee's Podcast

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with  Episode 8 Guest Jami Coleman. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Jami and Dave listen to her answer from 2019, and she thoughtfully shares how her predictions compare to life today. Spoiler alert: Things...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Brad Buckenheimer, co-founder and CEO of Canopy Road Cafe. The Tampa native got his first taste of the hospitality industry as a country club cabana boy at age 14 and says he always had a job. His path to entrepreneurship, which includes owning 13 Canopy Road locations and being a partner in several other concepts including the popular Lemon & Thyme in Midtown, has had...

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with  Episode 7 Guest Bill Kelly. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Bill and Dave listen to his answer from 2019, and he thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today. Spoiler alert: Things rar...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Ricardo Schneider, executive advisor and recently retired president and CEO of Danfoss Turbocor. The Tallahassee-based company produces high efficiency, oil-free compressors for commercial air conditioning systems around the world. Ricardo's lifelong passion for improving the world through better refrigeration and air conditioning led him to a position with Danfoss in h...

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 6 podcast guest Drew McLeod.   At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years?   Drew and Dave listen to his answer from 2019, and he thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today.   Spoiler ale...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Susie Busch-Transou, founder and owner of Hearth and Soul and vice president/co-owner of Tri-Eagle Sales. Susie is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Adolphus Busch and Lilly Anheuser, and the daughter of August Busch III, who ran the iconic brewing company until 2002. She got her first tiny taste of Budweiser at the slightly less than legal age of 1 day old. After...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Katrina Rolle, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of North Florida. From her days as a varsity cheerleader and student government president at Miami Carol City High School to continuing her family legacy at Tuskegee University and working her way through the University of Florida Law School, even though it was against the rules, Katrina has always found a way...

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 4 guest Mickey Moore. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Mickey and Dave listen to his answer from 2019, and he thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today. If you have not alread...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with legendary FSU quarterback and community leader Charlie Ward. Charlie's resume also includes 1993 Heisman Trophy winner, 11-year NBA veteran, longtime high school coach and public speaker. But to the Thomasville, Ga., native, the roles of mentor, husband and father have always been most important. Charlie and his wife, Tonja, run the Ward Family Foundation and are curren...

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 2 guest Terrance L. Barber. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Terrance and Dave listen to his answer from 2019, and he thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today. Spoiler alert:...

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 1 Guest Kristine Dobosenski. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Kristine and Dave listen to her answer from 2019, and she thoughtfully shares how her predictions compare to life today. Spoiler aler...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Mike McCall, chief meteorologist at WCTV, a position he has held for more than 30 years. Mike caught the weather bug in 1977 at age 12 when a legitimate snow blanketed his hometown of Tampa, and he says everyone lost their minds. To encourage his interest, his mom arranged a trip to a local TV station where Mike met the man who would offer him a job a decade later after...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Kim Price, the general manager of TLH2, Tallahassee's Amazon Robotics Sortable Fulfillment Center. The graduate of Wakulla High School and former Miss Wakulla County is a wife, mom to three boys and talented musician who plays multiple instruments and has performed in Nashville. After earning an MBA from Florida State, Kim attended a campus recruiting event and was impr...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Ashlee Fontes, the owner and CEO of Tallahassee Reckoning, the region's first pre-professional women's soccer team. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the second annual Access Tallahassee YP Summit at the FSU Conference Center. Ashlee is a former Florida State soccer player, professional player and coach, a serial entrepreneur and one of the most i...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Alan Hanstein, the executive director of the Challenger Learning Center in downtown Tallahassee. Alan grew up in Rockland County, New York, a short drive from Manhattan that provided for fun and relatively safe teenage exploration – at least during the day. His life took a dramatic turn while headed home on winter break from The State University of New York at Fredonia,...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Anita Bushnyakova, chief financial officer at Kids Incorporated of the Big Bend. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Anita experienced very different sets of challenges as a child. First, it was enduring the turbulent years of the Eastern European country's shift from communist rule to fledgling democracy and then assimilation into American culture as a 13-year-old who didn't spea...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Charlie Strickland, CEO and co-owner of Talon Training Group. A native of nearby Marianna, Charlie shares his journey from the FSU Police Department and working on the family farm to building a reputation as the MacGyver of the Leon County Sheriff's Office. While climbing the ranks at LCSO, he earned an MBA from Florida State to bolster his resume for a high-ranking adm...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Chef Leon Brunson, owner of Leon's at Lake Ella. His journey to owning a restaurant has included working the line at his hometown Waffle House in Panama City, refining his skills at fine dining restaurants, being a private chef, and time at Kool Beanz Café, where he says he really learned to cook.    He describes himself as a Southern chef with international flair and l...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Gloria Pugh, the president and CEO of AMWAT Moving, Warehousing and Storage. Gloria was born in New York City and spent time in Colombia as an infant before moving to Miami with her mother and siblings at age 8. She soon became an entrepreneur, sewing Barbie clothes from leftover fabric and selling them to her friends for a few pennies. Gloria would later work at Publix...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Jeri Desloge, the owner of Jeri's Midtown Café (now Jeri's Eventful Kitchen), Jeri's Love on a Plate and Simply Entertaining by Jeri. And while that may seem like a lot for the popular restaurateur to keep up with, Jeri has spent a lifetime working hard, going the extra mile and doing whatever it takes to make people happy. The native of Clewiston, Fla., was raised in t...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Warren Cave, the founder of The Clean Start Initiative, a non-profit ministry to help those previously incarcerated and their families. Warren grew up in Coral Gables as one of 13 children and was an outstanding student and basketball player, despite the fact he would often be drunk and high before the first school bell even rang. He spent four years in the 10 th grade,...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Jeff Culhane, the director of broadcasting for Learfield's Seminole Sports Properties and the voice for Florida State football and men's basketball. Jeff brings 20 years of multimedia experience to the Seminoles, including broadcasting duties for Nebraska, West Virginia and North Dakota State. As part of his duties, he creates original video and audio content that highl...

This special episode of the How I Got Here podcast was recorded in front of a live audience at the 2023 Tallahassee Chamber Annual Community Conference in Amelia Island. The breakout session focused on women entrepreneurs and featured guests Kristi Kreitlow, founder and president of Quick and Clean; and Marina Lickson, Tallahassee programs manager at the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneur...

In this episode, host Dave Fiore is at the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in downtown Tallahassee. JMI Tallahassee Program Manager Marina Lickson invited past participants of JMI programs to showcase their business or organization, and as a graduate of the Small Business Executive Program Class II, Dave was...

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Chris Petley, founder and president of the Tallahassee Soccer Club and communications manager at Leon County Schools. Chris was born and raised in South Florida where he attended a technology magnet program and was captain of his high school soccer team. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Florida and volunteered for Al Gore's 2000 presidentia...