Stories from the Center of the Universe

Part 2 of a 7 part series on small businesses in Ashland, VA (each business is part of the Downtown Ashland Association).  Dawn Beninghove started her nursing career forty years ago and started her own business in Ashland in 2003.  Dawn is from Florida, but said she is an “Ashlander” because she and her family have lived here for 36 years. Dawn talked about her wonderful team at Companion Extraord...

Paul Cormier grew up all over Virginia, but he spent his teen years in the Center of the Universe. Paul and Kevin talked with Paul C. about his work life from high school into adulthood, his musical tastes past and present and his many, many tattoos. They also discussed with Paul C. the world of professional wrestling and how he’s been a fan since he was a boy.  They finished by talking about what...

Part 1 of a 7 part series on small businesses in Ashland, VA (each business is part of the Downtown Ashland Association).  Chris Ray is a former Major League Baseball player and he and his brother opened the Center of the Universe Brewing Company in Ashland in 2011.  Paul and Kevin talked to Chris about his baseball career and they also discussed the COTU Brewery and how it came to be a reality. C...

Shawn Gallagher has led an interesting life.  Shawn grew up in Colorado and North Carolina and set state and national records as a high school baseball player. He was recruited to play in college and was also drafted to play professional baseball. Shawn decided on and discussed with Paul his journey in professional baseball and then his transition out of baseball and into college at the Massachuse...

Tina Ramirez joins the podcast courtesy of Jennifer Stevens (Episode #101). Tina grew up in Powhatan, Va. until she was 8 and then she and her family moved to California.  Her dad’s family was from California and she attended middle and high school while there. Tina said she was church kid growing up and participated in a lot of service oriented activities. She continued this service oriented life...

Jennifer Stevens was born and raised in New Orleans and has fond memories of growing up there.  She stated that she came up in the criminal justice system because her dad was a judge and her mom worked in a District Attorney’s office. Jennifer had a fun time in high school and also did  so well that she was able to skip her junior year. At sixteen, Jennifer emancipated herself from her parents. Sh...

The Superfan (Roger Lee), the Scribe (Rob Dull) and the Occasional Co-host (Kevin Flippen) look back at the first 100 episodes (Episode 0 + 1-99) with Host, Paul Gilman. If you're looking for a decently quick way to learn the top 10 episodes according to the Superfan and the Scribe, this is your episode.  We can't believe we've done 100 episodes. Thanks to Daniel, Katy, Rob, Kevin, Roger and our g...

Pedro Arruza is the Head Football Coach at Randolph-Macon College.  Pedro was born in Spain and lived in England and Mexico before settling in West Palm Beach, Florida.  He convinced his mom to let him play football in 7th grade and he was hooked. Paul asked Pedro why football became a career and Pedro stated it was the impact that his coaches had on him that paved his path to being an educator an...

Lyndee Cabo used to work with Paul and has wanted to be on the podcast since we first started.  Lyndee stated she is from Virginia, but told Paul that she moved around a lot due to her dad being in the U.S. Navy.  She moved around the states and also spent some time in Japan which she loved.  Lyndee spent the most time in Virginia, went to high school in Chesapeake and said she was a handful for h...

Caroline joins Paul this evening.  Paul and Caroline work together and she also works with Andrew Ting (Episode #40). Caroline was born in NC, but grew up in Beaufort, SC.  She talked to Paul about all the things she and her friends did and how she now realizes how incredible her childhood/teen years were because of where she grew up. Caroline talked about the first vehicle she had and how she wen...

Today, Paul is talking to Jeremy Moulder.  Jeremy is from Pensacola, FL where he grew up fishing, going to the beach and learning woodworking with his grandfather. He played football in high school which was the same school that Emmitt Smith attended.  After high school, Jeremy tried junior college while he was also getting trained as a fireman and EMT. Jeremy decided that JUCO was not for him and...

TJ Gwynn was born in Chapel Hill, NC and grew up in Burlington, NC which is in Alamance County.  Basketball was the only organized sport he played until he got to middle school.  He started in recreation and then started playing AAU when he was 10 years old. In high school, TJ also played football and track, but he said that was mainly so he could hang out with his friends.  He did mention that it...

Joining the podcast is Maggie Longest who is the Director of the Downtown Ashland Association (DAA).  Paul and Maggie discuss the role of the DAA and how the organization brings local businesses, citizens and the town government together.  They talk about the history of Ashland, the present and future opportunities for businesses in Ashland and the relationships with major stake holders such as Ra...

Joining the podcast is Phil Stinnie.  Phil is a former VCU basketball player and was connected to Paul through another VCU player, Lionel Bacon (Episode 81.) Phil talked about the bond that is formed by VCU players and how Lionel is his “little brother.” Phil is from Charlottesville, Virginia and he discussed how his Mom had him when she was only 14 years old.  He was an only child, but they had a...

Jay Strath joins the podcast thanks to a connection with guest host Kevin Flippen … they married into the same family! Paul, Kevin and Jay started off by talking about Jay growing up on a farm in eastern Henrico.  Jay said he worked on the farm a lot with his dad.  He said there was only one reason that his dad let him out of that work and that was sports. Jay discussed with Paul and Kevin the cha...

David Thach (pronounced Tot) joins the podcast because of his relationship with Paul. Dave has been Paul’s barber for over a decade. Dave grew up in Maryland, but has called the Richmond area home for about fourteen years. Dave’s parents are Cambodian, but Dave considers himself Vietnamese. Dave spoke in Vietnamese and even taught Paul and Kevin a word or two in Vietnamese during the podcast.   Da...

Joining us from Australia is Frederick James ‘Jimmy’ Koch.  Jimmy and Paul were connected through John Watts who was the guest on Episode 50 of the podcast. Jimmy is a professional actor, musician and dancer.  Jimmy was born in Sydney, but currently lives in Melbourne. Jimmy tells us about growing up in the “bush” of Australia. He recalls one particular encounter with a deadly brown snake during a...

Mila Liakhovitser comes to the podcast by virtue of working together with Paul.  Mila was born and raised in New York City, and though she was born on Long Island and lived for a brief time in Queens, she is a Bronx girl through and through!  She is also a long suffering NY Jets fan. From the beginning, Mila was recognized as very intelligent and gifted.  She attended math camps after school for m...

Andrew Slater joins us for the podcast today.  Andrew is the Head Baseball Coach at The Collegiate School.  Paul and Andrew have known each other since they were both at St. Christopher’s though Paul is a few years older.  Andrew attended St. Christopher’s through 6th grade and then went to Collegiate where he graduated in 1996.   Andrew talks about getting a football scholarship to the University...

Trip Chalkley is the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Hanover County, Virginia.  Trip has known Paul since he was a kid through Paul’s dad Larry.  Both Larry and Trip went to the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and worked together in Hanover County. Trip talks about growing up in Richmond, attending John Marshall High School and how he almost didn’t go back for his second year...

Lynne Hughes joins us this week.  Lynne , with the help of others, runs Comfort Zone Camps.  CZC is a camp for people who are grieving.  It started out for kids and has now expanded in many ways. Lynne has personal experience with the grieving process.  Lynne, who has 3 brothers, lost her Mom when she was 9 and her dad when she was 12. She lived at various places until she graduated high school an...

On this episode, we have Kevin Flippen who is a previous guest (Episode 32 with Al Lester) and now doubles as an occasional guest host. Kevin aka Flip, and Paul have been friends for over 28 years.  Kevin talks about a myriad of subjects including being adopted by awesome parents and all things sports from being a long suffering Padres fan to wiffle golf.  Kevin also discusses the tragic death of...

This week we welcome Chase Miffleton.  Chase grew up in Powhatan and played baseball and also competed in cross country and track.  Chase gets his running genes from his grandma who has run quite a few marathons.   After graduating high school, Chase attended Va Tech. Influenced by a family member, Chase applied for and got a unique job on campus as an equipment manager for the Hokie Football team...

This week’s story is told by Ilona Levine.  Ilona was born and raised in the Moldovan part of the Soviet Union.  When Ilona was 13 years old, the Soviet Union collapsed and she witnessed her native Moldova begin its journey to becoming a sovereign nation.  Ilona grew up in an apartment and usually climbed the 15 flights of stairs rather than take the elevator due to the unreliable supply of electr...

Bobby Alirezai, AKA DJ Oso Fresh, fled his native Tehran as a child when the Shah of Iran was exiled in 1979. In this conversation, he tells us about his story of moving to America, having to learn English from scratch, and the passions he has found joy in, including breakdancing, graffiti art, and DJing.  He is the brother in law of Tim Clark, whom we interviewed on this podcast in episode 69.