The LoCo Experience

I popped into William Oliver’s Publick House a few weeks ago at the end of the day, to grab a quick beer and a snack - and ran into the owner whom I remembered from their early days - Ryan Wallace.  William Oliver’s had been a regular lunch-spot for me when I worked at Capital West Bank - a top choice because the staff was always great and they served locally sourced fare in a non-pretentious fash...

In today’s episode of The LoCo Experience podcast, I had the pleasure of getting to know Kevin Fiske and Brittany McCahan from Fiske Electric.  Fiske is an electrical design and contracting business with a homebase just outside Loveland, and clients all across Northern Colorado, the Western US, and occasionally, internationally.  They have a highly diversified service offering, ranging from adding...

By scanning Jill Simonds’ LinkedIn profile, one can see that she is achievement-oriented.  Coordinator to Manager at her first career stop, and then Manager to Director at the next, and then Director of Marketing & Operations to Chief Operating Officer & Integrator.  That last stop is where Jill earned her EOS stripes and Integrator Certification, and in 2023 she started her own firm, Savvy Strate...

I met Max Mackey soon after he opened Moto Haus Coffee in South Fort Collins off College Avenue.  I’d recently become the proud owner of a 1976 BMW R75/6, and the former owner told me of a group of old (and some younger mostly BMW guys that met regularly for evening coffee and riding.  It was the coolest spot in town for the riding community for several years, but was ultimately killed by the Grea...

In April of 2020, in the early days of the lockdowns and pandemic threat response - we got new neighbors. Days after, we invited them to our then-12th annual backyard Cinco de Mayo party. Thinking “Oh, great, we’ve moved in next door to crazy people” they politely declined our invitation, but did accept some leftover pork carnitas and cilantro-lime coleslaw I set on the fence. But after eating tha...

This week on The LoCo Experience, we welcomed back Aaron Everitt, our sponsor through his business, Logistics Co-op, and regular guest of the show for real estate updates and real talk on national and local politics.  Aaron has been creating content on X the past year or so as @loanly_hipster, some of which has been supportive of RFK’s Presidential run, and he caught the attention of the campaign...

A few years into their marriage, Autumn Fleck and her husband, Trevor, made the decision that they wanted to budget well, save hard, and retire early so they could travel the world and live a life set apart.  And then one day - she had a cockroach run down her arm! - and the next day she found a cockroach in her daughter’s bed! - and of course informed her husband they needed to call for pest cont...

Diego Rago Vega is a chef, a writer, a philosopher, and a permanent resident here on political asylum - but he came to America long before it was trendy.  He and his family operated an import/export business in Venezuela, and as the nation’s economic fortunes crumbled under first Chavez and then Moralez, the enterprise became unsustainable - in part because the family wasn’t aligned with the gover...

I first learned about Toddy, LLC circa 2013, during the twilight of my banking career.  The story I heard was that the owners of a local marketing agency, Clay Pot Creative, had purchased a manufacturing business in Texas, and moved it up to Loveland!  The company made cold brew coffee systems (whatever that was), and seemed to have a strong product in a niche market - a banker’s dream client!  I...

I got acquainted with Todd Brooker through LinkedIn, where we follow some of the same voices, and learned last fall that he spends a lot of time in Fort Collins - where his daughter Libby Brooker is a goalie on the CSU soccer team!  It took us a minute, but this spring we finally got properly acquainted over lunch, followed by a long-form conversation in The LoCo Experience studios.  Todd is the s...

Duane and Chad Stroh are the father and son that lead the team at Healthy Harvest in Berthoud, CO, which also includes Duane’s wife and Chad’s sister, and one red-headed step-child in a key operations role.  They were initially involved as investor-partners of the business, but as partners departed and their market awareness grew they pivoted the company to specialize in production and wholesale d...

In today’s episode, I was honored to be joined in studio by Ed VanDyne, one of the most fascinating guests we’ve had on the show.  When you look up serial entrepreneur in the dictionary, you’ll find Ed’s smiling face, and the ideas that have sprouted his various companies are consolidated from ideas and learnings from previous chapters, including a lengthy season managing the MIT Racing Team, and...

Dr. Katie Foster booked time with me out of the blue last spring (which never happens), and brought cookies and we shared a very enjoyable coffee and conversation.  She was weeks away at the time from opening her business, Timnath Kids Dentistry, and was exploring the business community at large and curious about LoCo Think Tank.  She’s not a member at LoCo - yet - but she’s our kind of people.  W...

I was introduced to Micah Johnson by Jeffrey Beyle, one of my guests during Season 1 of The LoCo Experience (Episode 29 if you wanna check it out), and one of my spies in the Boulder area.  By spies I mean those who think of me when they meet someone with an interesting business journey to share, and a lot of value to share with the business community through a podcast conversation like this one!...

Diana Rogers Jaeger joined me for an uplifting conversation and shared her fascinating life and career journey that led her to Northern Colorado in 2022.  Diana is the founder and owner of Love to Appreciate Consulting, and recently released a new book - “Let Go of the Rope - Create Unlimited Confidence”.  Love to Appreciate was founded in 2017, and is focused on helping companies keep their best...

I was introduced to Peter Yu by a mutual friend, as the liberty-minded person’s best pick for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.  Peter has a great record of success in both big and small business, fell just short in his race for Colorado’s 2nd District in 2017, and has remained active in the political sphere since his first run.  Peter is the first American-born child of a Chinese family, who...

Tim and Danielle Jordan joined me in The LoCo Experience studios on March 5, 2024 - just 4 days removed from concluding the sale of a pair of legacy businesses in Northern Colorado - Palmer Flowers and Paul Wood Florist, locally owned since 1976 and 1933, respectively.  They sold to one of the largest flower enterprises in America - Family Flowers, a privately owned company that operates legacy fl...

Justin Follin came all the way from Austin, Texas to Fort Collins a few weeks ago - not to be on the show, but to visit his younger brother Sean - my guest on Episode 134, who introduced him to me as a potential guest.  Both brothers are in the strategic planning industry, which I found fascinating, and Justin had a fresh book out in 2023 - titled as you might guess - Be a Better Team by Friday. ...

My guest today was Shani Canillas, Owner and Editor of The Scout Guide Fort Collins.  The Scout Guide is a visually appealing coffee table kind of book, featuring classy storytelling pictorials of gold standard local businesses.  It’s a franchise that has a strong foundation in the Southeast part of the country, but is increasingly spreading west.  Shani picked up her first guide in Bozeman, Monta...

If you tuned in for our bonus episode last week, you’ll know that today’s episode is a bit of a change-up from our normal routine.  I met Viktor Bjerre a few weeks back, while recording the bonus episode on Greenheart Exchange, and he later followed up with an expression of interest to learn more about podcasting.  This led to a get-to-know phone call, and soon after an invitation by me to him to...

Many who know me in Northern Colorado know that my wife and I have a fondness for hosting exchange students, and for the past 2 years, our outlet for getting these students has been an organization called Greenheart Exchange.  I’m joined today by a Regional Manager and the Regional Director of the organization, Lisa Melville Peterson and Lasha Crowell Seaman - and they also brought along several e...

Aaron Everitt was back in the studio for our quarterly check-in, fresh off a trip to Boston visiting a college with his son.  We started our conversation with a whiskey taste test, featuring Blanton’s Bourbon gifted me by Mat at Wilbur’s, Smoke Wagon Uncut the Younger Bourbon, and Stellum Rye Whiskey.  We talked about Boston and some Founding Father stories, we talked about the border crisis and U...

Mandy Mullen’s previous episode (Episode 91) is The LoCo Experience podcast most-listened episode!  It’s an inspiring journey of a chubby post-college wife, then mom, growing her passion for running and fitness and community until it sprung forth as Run Windsor, a community-driven race series in the Windsor, CO region.  At the time of that recording, she was just sealing the deal to buy a pair of...

I was introduced to Ian Simkiss at a very interesting time in his career journey - as the soon-to-be-announced and newly appointed Executive Vice President of Centennial Management, Inc., overseeing Centennial Leasing & Sales locations in Windsor and Englewood in Colorado and in Phoenix, Arizona.  They also offer fleet leasing and sales operations nationwide, and a relationship buying services to...

I met Mike O’Connell in the fall of 2013, early into his final career stop, when he became Director of the Larimer Small Business Development Center in Fort Collins - and soon before I left my banking career!  The organization had struggled for all the years of my volunteer involvement going back to 2008, and Mike was the 3rd or maybe 4th Director to serve.  From July 2013 through December of 2021...