Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy

Born to blue collar workers in rural Illinois, Peggy McCall-Robertson inherited a strong work ethic, and from her father gained a love of tinkering and learning how things work. Peggy served as a Youth Director for the Methodist Church in central Arkansas for nearly 20 years, followed by retail work that gave her the experience needed to develop a business plan of her own. The first Miracle League...

Susan Altrui has worked for the Little Rock Zoo since 2005, but it wasn’t until director Mr. Mike Blakely announced his retirement in 2020 that she moved from head of marketing to become the acting director. Later she cemented her role when the late City Manager Bruce Moore promoted Susan to the full-time position of Arkansas’s Little Rock Zoo director. Little Rock is lucky to have such an accredi...

Witty actor and singer Jacob Keith Watson is making waves on the Broadway stages. He appeared as Enoch Snow in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Carousel. Jacob has also been seen on Broadway in Hello, Dolly!, Brian Crawley’s Violet, Craig Lucas’ Amélie as Joseph Buquet, Monsieur Reyer in The Phantom of the Opera, Robert Livingston in the acclaimed Encores! revival of 1776, as well as Amos Ha...

This week we revisit Kerry's two prior interviews with Arkansan painter and sculptor, Kevin Kresse. Kevin has exhibited his work around Arkansas, New York, Washington DC, Memphis, and Atlanta. His work has been featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Arkansas Times, Soiree magazine, and more, and he has been featured in pieces produced by local affiliates of ABC, CBS, and PBS television, as...

Spring is finally here and there's no better way to kick-start the season than by hanging out with landscape designer and entrepreneur, Chris Olsen! He and Kerry talk all about his time at Oxford University, the challenges of running a seasonal business, and his renovation of the historic Edgemont House in North Little Rock.

Keith Jackson was born April 19, 1965 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He began playing football at the age of 9 with the Sunset Tigers in his hometown. His love of the game continued throughout junior high school on into high school at Little Rock Parkview, where he was Parade All-American and three-sport letterman. While in high school, Keith played the cello in the orchestra. Upon graduating from Park...

Roy Dudley is one of those fortunate people that found his passion early in life. He was a mere boy in elementary school when he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and began treasure hunting at garage sales and reselling his finds in Aunt Hazel’s perpetual yard sale. Hear how Roy took his aunt’s sage advice and parlayed it into a successful business called Roy Dudley Estate Sales. When asked wh...

Who doesn’t know the name Dale Carnegie, founder of the Dale Carnegie Courses? Born 1888 on a farm in Missouri, this farmboy-turned-salesman-turned-actor, teacher, author, and self-help guru has helped thousands of people through his teachings, and 100 years later, they are still relevant, and we are still remembering him. Part of the Dale Carnegie legacy are Mr. Jerry Wilson and Ms. Jessie Wilson...

Virgil Miller, Jr. has a long track-record of integrity and hard work across multiple banks, including Worthen Bank, Bank of America, Metropolitan National Bank, and more. As of 2024, Miller fills the role of Community Reinvestment Officer for Arvest Bank, where he works to meet the credit needs of low-income communities. Virgil's career in the banking industry dovetails well with his long-time co...

Originally Aired 6/24/2022 This week on Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy, we interview Mr. Arlo Washington, president of PEOPLE Trust Loan Fund, a financial institution offering small loans to neighbors in need. Arlo is a self-made man with a Cinderella story. He is the epitome of a hardworking, creative entrepreneur, who sees opportunities and listens to where life leads him, all with the hea...

Jim Guy Tucker, Jr was born on June 13, 1943, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to James Guy and Willie Maude (White) Tucker. His father was one of the first 50 employees of the newly formed Social Security Administration in February,1936. His family moved to Little Rock in February of 1945 when his father was relocated as the manager of the Arkansas Social Security Administration office. Jim Guy was ed...

John Cain is program director of community radio station KABF-FM 88.3 and host of KUAR's 52nd Street Jazz for more than three decades. He has been on the air in some capacity for "51 years and counting." Cain got his start in the early 1960s working as an engineer and overnight disc jockey at Little Rock R&B station KALO-AM 1250. It was there that Cain developed his program niche. Cain said, “I fe...

Ann McCoy really needs no introduction because everyone knows her as either the successful million dollar club (when that meant something) real estate agent, or as the Governor’s Mansion Administrator for Governor Clinton, or as the Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Social Secretary and Director of Personal Correspondence for President Clinton’s administration. There was a time when she c...

Born in Gould, Arkansas, Janis Kearney was one of eighteen children of parents Ethel V. Kearney and James Kearney. After graduating from Gould High School in 1971, Kearney attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, earning a B.A. in journalism in 1976. She continued on with her education while working, earning thirty hours towards a M.P.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock....

Originally from Oklahoma, Carlton Saffa fell in love with northwest Arkansas, graduating from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He currently lives in Little Rock with his wife and children, and serves as the chief market officer for the Quapaw Nation's Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff. Saffa was Saracen’s first employee and oversaw the licensure of the enterprise in all forums, includ...

Originally from Oklahoma, Carlton Saffa fell in love with northwest Arkansas, graduating from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He currently lives in Little Rock with his wife and children, and serves as the chief market officer for the Quapaw Nation's Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff. Saffa was Saracen’s first employee and oversaw the licensure of the enterprise in all forums, includ...

On this episode we look back at Kerry's interviews with guests who moved to Little Rock, fell in love, and chose to make the Natural State their home. For some it's the southern cuisine; others the rich ecosystems. Folks may stay for the bounty of history or for the earnest communities that thrive here to this day. Whatever the reason, plenty of people find cause to build a life here in central Ar...

Ruebel Funeral Home, the oldest funeral service establishment in the city of Little Rock, had its beginning in early 1901 on the corner of Sixth and Main Street. For over a hundred years, Ruebel Funeral Home has continually offered services of its facility, equipment and staff for immediate response to central Arkansas families of every religion preference, race and socioeconomic circumstances. Ge...

Billy Mitch Chandler, Jr, was born in Little Rock, AR and raised in North Little Rock. Like his doctor father, Mitch is smart. But unlike his father, Mitch has been unable to settle on one career. In school he studied many areas of interest. In work, the same. In chronological order: His beginning career, and longest, was as program director and producer for local and regional TV news stations. Ne...

Kerry McCoy will speak with New York advertising executive Madonna Badger, creator of the We Are #WomenNotObjects ad that debuted at Cannes Film Festival and has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube. Badger left the advertising industry for more than a year after a tragic house fire on Christmas morning that claimed the lives of her three young daughters and both her parents. After the...

Born in Maryland, Colin MacKnight is an organist who has been described as "a stunning player of exceptional ability" by composer/conductor Bob Chilcott. A skilled composer and conductor in his own right, Colin learned his trade at The Juilliard School in New York, receiving a bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree and writing a prize-winning dissertation on Johann Sebastian Bach's "Art of Fugu...

Arkansan native John Steven Clark was raised in Leachville, Arkansas watching his father dabble in local politics and decided early in life that he wanted to be a politician as well. He graduated from ASU and attended Law school in Fayetteville. In 1973, Clark became assistant dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law. It was there he met and became friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton. In...

You could call today’s show a “second coming” because this will be the second time Reverend Dr. Chris Keller has appeared on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy. Dr. Keller, III, is an Episcopal priest and theologian who, through his ministry and life, has blended scholarly pursuits with pop culture knowledge into an innovative leadership style. I liken him to EF Hutton because “When he speaks, p...

Born and raised in Pine Bluff, Trey Reid is the Assistant Chief of Communications for the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. His primary role is executive producer and host of Arkansas Wildlife TV, the AGFC’s weekly television show that documents The Natural State’s many outdoor recreational opportunities and AGFC’s myriad conservation work. Additionally, Trey is editor of Tail Fly Fishing Magazine...

This week on Up in Your Business I had the pleasure of interviewing (to quote from the Dos Equis ad campaign) “the most interesting man in the world,” Mr. Bob Traylor. If you are from North Little Rock, you will know exactly who and what I am talking about. My friend, Bob, is a 96-year-old man who sired 7 children, held the office of Arkansas state representative in 1971, made a living in real est...