The Hatch Podcast

A year in Hawaii inspired a song that wouldn’t be released for another 24 years. Josh Lindsey joins Chris Estes to share the story behind “Alabama Road,” a song born after returning home to Alabama following a year living in Hawaii. What began as a campfire favorite eventually found its way into the Hatch Music Accelerator, where it was transformed into a professionally produced recording. Josh di...

What happens when a personal health challenge sparks a biotech startup? In this episode of Building Biotech in Lower Alabama , Stephanie Glines sits down with Hannah Keel and Brayden Gibson , co-founders of Southern Rooted, to discuss It's Better , an over-the-counter topical pain cream inspired by Hannah's own experience living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The conversation explores how...

Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare, but not in the way most people think. In this episode of Building Biotech, Stephanie Glines sits down with Vipul Kashyap , founder of Medhive.ai , to explore how AI can dramatically speed up the development of medical devices by reducing years of manual documentation and streamlining the path from research to patient care. Vipul shares his unique...

This week on Building Biotech, Stephanie Glines sits down with Michelle Scott, founder of Gulf Sterilization, to discuss how her company is transforming one of the most overlooked parts of medical device manufacturing. For decades, much of the medical device industry has relied on ethylene oxide sterilization, a process facing growing regulatory pressure and capacity constraints. Gulf Sterilizatio...

What if researchers could test new medicines on lab-grown human tissue before they ever reached clinical trials? In this episode of our Building Biotech in Lower Alabama series, Stephanie Glines sits down with Yuan Tian, founder of Vivosphere, to discuss how his company is developing artificial human tissue models designed to improve drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Yuan shares his journe...

What started as research at an Air Force laboratory eventually led David Nelson and his team to develop a new way to measure blood flow without needles, probes, or invasive procedures. In this episode of our Building Biotech in Lower Alabama series, Stephanie Glines sits down with David Nelson, founder of Spectratherm, to discuss REFLO, a technology designed to measure microcirculation using low-p...

In this episode of the Hatch Podcast: Building Biotech, Stephanie Glines sits down with Marlo Young, founder and CEO of New Mindset Consulting and creator of Mentalocity, a platform designed to help people turn mental health awareness into daily action. Drawing from her background in counseling, psychology, education, and mental health advocacy, Marlo shares how she created Mentalocity to help peo...

In this episode of the Hatch Podcast: Building Biotech, Stephanie Glines sits down with Dr. Shiva Sharareh, founder and CEO of Rekovar, a company developing AI-driven technology designed to improve neonatal and maternal care. After witnessing the devastating effects of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) on a close friend’s family, Shiva became determined to improve how fragile newborns are monitor...

What separates systems that scale from systems that fall apart? For Jeff Butler, it starts with understanding the problem before writing a single line of code. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast, Jeff shares how a self-taught path from building simple websites in the ‘90s turned into a 30-year career working with large-scale systems, infrastructure, machine learning, and AI. Along the way, the c...

The first Hatch Music Accelerator just wrapped… and it gave local artists something a lot of them don’t usually get. Not just time in the studio. Not just help writing songs. But a clearer understanding of what it actually takes to move a song forward… from idea to recording to release. In this episode, we go backstage at Dauphin Street Sound in downtown Mobile, where 11 artists came together for...

Meet the first face of Hatch. Producer Tim Scott sits down with Hatch director Keith Glines and the newest team member, Sydney Davis, to talk about what’s happening behind the scenes at Hatch. Sydney shares how she went from student entrepreneur to becoming the first official team member at Hatch, what drew her to the entrepreneurial path, and what excites her most about being part of the communit...

This episode is something a little different. We’re calling it Inside Hatch — a quick, in-the-room snapshot of what’s been happening across the Hatch community. Instead of a traditional interview, this one is built from real moments at recent meetups and events — talking with people, capturing conversations, and getting a feel for what’s actually happening on the ground. I n this episode, we drop...

What does it take to bring a medical device from concept to the operating room? For Endeavor Orthopedics, it starts with solving a problem surgeons face every day. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast, CEO Greg Parranto and CTO Ryan Stafford share how they developed a new approach to treating avulsion fractures—one of the more difficult injuries to repair—and how their technology is already delive...

What happens when businesses rush into AI without a clear strategy? For Max Hansen, the issue isn’t the technology—it’s how it’s being used. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast, Max shares what he’s seeing on the ground working with businesses implementing AI in real time. While the tools are powerful, most companies are approaching them the wrong way—treating AI like a shortcut instead of a stra...

Starting a business comes with a lot of unknowns, especially when it comes to the legal side of building and growing a company. In this episode of the Hatch Podcast, Stephanie Glines sits down with Adam Chronister and Laura O’Connor to talk about the Legal Technical Assistance Program (Legal TA) , a new initiative designed to help entrepreneurs understand the legal foundations of starting and runn...

What happens when someone commits to showing up online every day—even when no one is watching? For Ben G. Kaiser, it started before sunrise. Recording videos early in the morning before heading to a full-time job, experimenting with gear, ideas, and formats while slowly building momentum. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast: Around the Table , Tim Scott sits down with Baldwin County creator Ben G...

What happens when a founder hits the point where hustle alone isn’t enough? For Forrest Derr, it starts with a simple shift: structure doesn’t slow a company down—it helps it run further and faster. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast: Founders Series , Forrest shares how nearly three decades inside growing companies led him to become a fractional COO and EOS® Integrator, working alongside founde...

What does it take to guide economic development in Baldwin County, Alabama — one of the fastest-growing regions in the country? Baldwin County is experiencing record population growth, business expansion, and infrastructure investment. But long-term economic development doesn’t happen by accident. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast, we hear from Lee Lawson, President and CEO of the Baldwin Count...

What happens when real community problems meet builders willing to jump in and try? Hatch-a-thon brings together founders, students, technologists, and community members for a two-week build focused on solving real challenges submitted by local organizations. Demo Night is where those ideas come to life. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast, we take you inside Hatch-a-thon Demo Night. Recorded liv...

What if the most important creative decisions on your record are made before you ever hit record? In this episode of The Hatch Podcast: Music Accelerator , host Chris Estes breaks down the often-overlooked but critical role of pre-production in the recording process. From refining arrangements and locking in tempo to clarifying creative direction before studio time begins, pre-production is where...

What if the most advanced medical imaging could go anywhere it’s needed, without sacrificing quality?  In this episode of The Hatch Podcast , we explore how Patifina is redefining how healthcare is delivered by bringing hospital-grade imaging and diagnostics to hospitals, rural communities, disaster response settings, and beyond. Hosted by Stephanie Glines , the conversation features Damon Burrows...

The Hatch Podcast is a show about people building things. Each episode features honest conversations with founders, creators, and builders working on ideas that are still taking shape — from startups and bioscience to technology and music. The podcast is connected to Hatch, an innovation hub on the Gulf Coast supporting founders and creators across Lower Alabama, but the stories go beyond any one...

What do Randy Owen , Jamey Johnson , Jimmy Buffett , and Lionel Richie  have in common? They all trace their story back to Alabama. In this episode of the Hatch Podcast Music Accelerator, Hatch producer Tim Scott reaches back into his radio archives to curate rare audio and conversations with artists from different generations and genres, all shaped by the same place and the same foundation. From...

What does innovation actually look like on the Gulf Coast and across lower Alabama? In this episode of the Hatch Podcast, we’re taking a look back at some of the conversations that shaped 2025. Rather than a highlight reel, this episode offers a snapshot of the kinds of discussions we’ve been having on the show, across business, bioscience, healthcare, development, and the creative economy. These...

What does it look like to build technology outside a traditional tech hub? For Kai Gray, it starts with a simple belief: you don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to build something that matters. In this episode of The Hatch Podcast: Founders Series , Kai shares his journey from major tech markets to Fairhope, Alabama, where he’s building both a company and a growing technology community. As founder...