Next Up Podcast

Chef Jessica Tomlinson is the VP of Culinary at Ford's Garage. If you're unfamiliar with the brand, it's a 1920’s automobile themed restaurant full of recipes and decor as innovative, if not more so than the same Ford's automobile company that gave the full-service restaurant concept a license. Jessica has a background in baking, pastry, farm to table, and fine dining. Currently she is responsible...

When you look up the term “super natural strength” what you’ll find is a picture of Nathan Todd. Nathan has been to the lowest lows dealing with multiple health issues stacked up at the same time, mis diagnoses, and more. He literally found himself in a place of darkness and if it weren’t for his super natural strength fueled by his relationship with God he never would have made it out. Check out...

In this episode Marlon sits down with Dr. Katie Wilson, the Executive Director for the Urban School Food Alliance. Katie's list of accomplishments that led her to her current position at USFA is...extensive. Join Marlon as he learns more about Katie, her passion for innovation, disruption, and feeding children. All of which make her one of the best, if not the best in her field.

In this episode Marlon has the opportunity to sit down with Dan and Patrick from Polar King to learn about how they serve in the child nutrition segment as well as all of the other industries they also keep cool.

In this episode Marlon and Kaitlin discuss hydroponic farming and what it looks like to get units up and running, the benefits of having your own farm, and a ton more including future projects, innovation, video games, and Zumba, Chapters: 00:00:00 The Joy Of Networking At Conferences 00:02:49 Managing A Farming Project: Students And Lettuce At School 00:04:28 Misadventures With Mystery Peppers 00...

Welcome to the Next Up Podcast!  For this episode, I traveled to DeSoto County in Mississippi to visit with Alex Hallmark, their Director of Child Nutrition. Throughout the conversation, we discussed a wide range of topics relevant to school nutrition professionals from menu planning to community engagement. As well as some good ol Mississipi folklore having to do with bread crusts and learning ho...

Jazz, Blues, and BBQ…I must be in Memphis! In this episode of the Next Up podcast I hung out with Eugene Bradford, the Executive Director of Dining Services at Shelby County Schools in Tennessee. Eugene and I spoke about mentorship, district growth, why he introduced chef coats to his program, why he feels it’s important to encourage a shift from the traditional “cafeteria” experience to a more up...

Welcome to the Next Up Podcast! We traveled to Colorado for this episode to meet with Katie Cossette and Theresa Spires at St. Vrain Schools. We spoke about some of the innovative programs they’re implementing in their schools such as, the culinary arts degree students can receive at their Career Elevation Technology Center campus, their upcoming Farm Box program, their student-raised live stock t...

The Next Up Podcast is back! This time around we're on the search for influential innovative disruptors that are crushing it in their spaces. Join us as we travel coast to coast and speak with some of the best in the business.

Thanks for tuning in to the Next Up podcast! School Food Rocks was in the house today and I was lucky enough to catch up with my two good friends, Joe Urban and Lauren Couchois. We spoke about their passions, experiences, ethics, and what they are doing to help ensure School Food Rocks across the country. There might even be some firsts that were shared in this episode so make sure you tune in bec...

Thanks for tuning into the Next Up Podcast! For this episode I made the trip to Colorado to meet with my good friend, Shannon Soloman, of Aurora Public Schools . Our conversation included her winning the FES Top Achiever award, it being the first time someone from K-12 won, how and why K-12 operators need to tell their story, and some of the innovative solutions she’s providing her kids including...

Welcome back to  the Next Up Podcast! In this episode, I spoke with Scott Reitano, Principal of Reitano Design Group. We spoke about how Reitano went from being a Manufacturers Rep to a Client Advocate, how Reitano Design Group helps Districts and Food Service Directors understand they have a voice that needs to be heard, and the difference we're seeing with Gen Z and Gen Alpha in relation to...

Welcome back to another episode of the Next Up Podcast! In this episode, we connected with Shani Hall, General Manager of Student Nutrition Services at Hillsborough County Schools, Lori Drenth, Director of Food Services in Hernando County Schools, Conor Doyle, Marketing Manager at AmTab, and Steve Samikkanu, General Manager at Amtab. We spoke about increasing student engagement and participation,...

On this episode of Next Up, Marlon and Nisha meet with Fork Farms Co-Founder and President, Alex Tyink. We find out how Alex went from being an Opera Singer to discovering Hydroponics, and then creating Fork Farms as we know it today. He discusses the Flex Farm, how it works, and how they're giving children equal access to fresh food because of it. Tune in to this episode to find out more abou...

On this episode of Next Up, Marlon and Nisha meet with Deeply Rooted Farms Founder and CEO, Kayla Beyer. Kayla grew up on a dairy farm and currently owns and operates a working beef and crop farm with her husband and five children. They discuss Farm sustainability practices, Regenerative Ag Theory, the benefit of Cover Crops, and more! Kayla also gives us the origin story of Deeply Rooted and how...

On this episode of Next Up, Marlon and Nisha meet with Deeply Rooted Farms Founder and CEO, Kayla Beyer. Kayla grew up on a dairy farm and currently owns and operates a working beef and crop farm with her husband and five children. They discuss Farm sustainability practices, Regenerative Ag Theory, the benefit of Cover Crops, and more! Kayla also gives us the origin story of Deeply Rooted and how...

In this episode of Next Up, your host, Marlon Gordon, meets with USFA member San Diego Unified School District. He chats with Melanie Moyer, Diego Robles, and Janelle Manzano about the success they saw in their districts 200 schools for Plastic Free Lunch Day. Listen in to learn what tips and tricks they used in their district to make this day as successful as it was.

Thanks for tuning into the Next Up Podcast. This episode is the podcast conversion of our first ever live studio audience filming of Next Up at NxtGen Network’s event called Ignite. This episode is sponsored by LINQ and is the finale episode of the 4C’s behind the business of Child Nutrition… and the topic is “Courage”.

On today’s episode, we have Stefanie Giannini, Director of Food & Nutrition Services at Marquardt School District 15 in the Chicago land area and owner of IVATI where her mission is to inspire and cultivate every individual's identity & development as a leader through public speaking, consulting, and content creation. Along with Stefanie is Sandy Voss, the Director of Food & Nutrition...

Learn how you can transform your cafeteria into the dining space of your dreams with AmTab!  We've got James and Eve from AmTab and Scott Anderson from Madison County School District who walked us through his experience partnering with AmTab.

Leah began her career in university food service at Morehead State University. After spending the next six years in healthcare nutrition/food service, she decided to make the change to school nutrition. During her employment at Mayfield Independent Schools, she has co-coached a winning Kentucky Junior Chef team and held numerous positions within Kentucky School Nutrition Association and is current...

This is a four-part series that was inspired by a LINQ’D UP podcast featuring Shannon Solomon from  Aurora Public Schools. In this series, Shannon will be the guest host and will be joined by Jessica Shelly, Katie Cossette, and Roy Pistone where they speak about what it takes to successfully run your child nutrition program as the business it is.

Our friends over at Nation's Restaurant News , had a conversation about Wendy's entering the metaverse arena on an episode of the Extra Serving podcast . Being the techy futurists we are, we had to check it out! Join Marlon, Amanda, and Mike on their adventure to Wendyverse! Connect with NxtGen Network: Website: https://nxtgennetwork.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NxtGenNetwork365 Instagr...

In this episode of the Next Up Podcast, Marlon had the opportunity to travel to Bonita California to meet with Stella Ndahura, the Foodservice Director at Bonita Unified School District. Malissa Marsden from the Mushroom Council was able to make the trip as well, and as you can imagine the topic of the conversation was mushrooms. We spoke about benefits, recipes, and how to get the results you wan...

In this live talk show episode converted to podcast, we spoke about the things you can do to control the perception of your child nutrition program by using marketing and communication tools. Our guests on this episode include Tyson K-12, TITAN a LINQ Solution, and Alachua County Schools from Florida.   https://www.tysonfoodservice.com/your-channel/k-12  https://www.tysonmarketingbuilder...