Ankeny Podcast

Ankeny Podcast

By Tony GuerraBusinessEducation
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Ankeny Podcast episodes

  • Ep 9 - We Dont Know You Are Open - Ankeny Podcast

    I'm Tony Guerra, a professor at DMACC, and I wanted to share some of the places we're going to in trying to support local businesses. In this episode, I highlight DMACC, Trail Point, North Ankeny CrossFit, Magees Irish Pub, Main Street Cafe and Bakery, The Outside Scoop, Tropical Smoothie Cafe and more. If you have an open business and want to send me a 1 to 2 minute mp3 file, I can publish it in the next episode, no charge. Send the file or a link to Dropbox, etc. [email protected] 

    10 min
  • Ep 8 What is the CrossFit Open? North Ankeny CrossFit

    Bringing back the Ankeny Podcast as the Ankeny Fitness Podcast with best practices and best places to get in shape and stay in shape. I'm going to start off by talking about the CrossFit Open at my box, North Ankeny CrossFit, you can learn more about them here:

    https://www.northankenycrossfit.com/

     

    6 min
  • Ep 7 Youth Sports with i9 Sports Program Director Jenner White

    Jenner White is the Program Director of i9 sports offering youth sports programs in Ankeny, Des Moines, Johnston, Urbandale, and Waukee. 

    As an i9 Sports Program Director, his goal is to provide a well-organized, entertaining, and educational coed sports program for Des Moines area kids ages three and up. With a Bachelor's Degree in Sports Administration from Simpson College, youth sports have always been a passion of his. He believes that participation in an organized youth sports activity is about more than just kids playing sports; it's about creating an unforgettable experience in organization, convenience, instruction, and fun. Here at i9 Sports – Greater Des Moines they are committed to not only providing your child with a terrific sporting event, but he is also committed to delivering a superior customer service experience to the parents. I would love it if you and your family chose to join our i9 family!

    Office: 515-987-4750 / Weather Hotline: 888-867-2055

    Email: [email protected]

     

    18 min
  • Ep 6 Ankeny Podcast Medicap Pharmacy Jennifer Meurer PharmD

    Jennifer Meurer has been an Ankeny pharmacist for almost a decade at Medicap just off of 1st and Delaware. I talk to her about becoming an independent pharmacist, the joys she has in serving the Ankeny community, and the unique services her pharmacy provides. 

    https://www.mymedicappharmacy.com/ankeny

     

    31 min
  • Ep 5 Sara Volkmann Owner Cafe Diem

    I interview Sara Volkmann, one of the owners of Cafe Diem in Ankeny Iowa. Cafe Diem is in Ankeny and Ames and Cafe X and Campus grounds are two satellite locations on the DMACC campus. Say hi to Sara as you go in for your workout at Trail Point Aquatic and Fitness Center. 

    http://cafe-diem.com

     

    14 min
  • Ep 4 Leadership in our Ankeny Schools

    Jobs and schools are two primary reasons people choose to move into a community. Northeast elementary students show what they've learned in leadership with the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Kids. I thought this podcast would be mostly about business owners, but really it's just about ordinary Ankeny people doing extraordinary things. 

    15 min
  • Ep 3 Wees Tees President Randy Wee

    I sit down with business owner Randy Wee of Wee's Tees to talk about his entrepreneurial journey. 

    https://www.weestees.com/

    PHR 185 Pharmacology at DMACC now has a 2nd section as we quickly filled the first section. It's completely online, a 10-week course, and you can find more information here:

    https://www.dmacc.edu/programs/pdp/pre-pharmacy/Pages/online-pharmacology-class.aspx

    Trail Point is opening a number of new sessions for summer, check them out here:

    http://www.mytrailpoint.com/Pages/programs.aspx

    Full Transcript:

    Welcome to the Ankeny Podcast I'm gonna be talking to Randy Wee of Wees Tees in

    just a minute, but before that I just want to let you know that we opened up a

    second pharmacology section PHR 185 Pharmacology for a 10-week summer class, so if you know someone that's pre-nursing, pre-med, or pre-pharmacy or is going to PA school and is really concerned about pharmacology class that's usually who we get in the class so we've opened up another section, classes start in just a week and a half here at DMACC but that class is fully online and ten weeks long. Trail Point has just sent out their new email so I know they have a number of summer programs that are just opening up they changed the way they do swim Academy though so just to let you know they change from seven weeks sessions to two week sessions Monday through Friday or Monday Friday and then Monday Thursday same time every day but you can go to their website to check the swim Academy offerings and then also all the other programs they have over summer they have nanny passes available so if your nanny needs to take the kiddos down to trail point and it's relatively inexpensive I think it was like 60 bucks and then as far as the summer basketball league I think they're still registration closes May 20th so you just register either online or at the membership desk.

    They are open on Memorial Day 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and then the Kids Zone is open 8:00 a.m. at 12 p.m. in the competition pool 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. there will be a full closure notice or they're closing the leisure pulled the family pool in the back from Saturday, May 19th to Sunday

    June 3rd for maintenance but I think the competitive pool still be open so if you want to do and things like that that's still a possibility and then they posted their summer hours all right well I don't want to belabor that but I just want to let you know about those updates with trail point and then again pharmacology class and then if you want to take chemistry with me I'm also

    teaching two sections in Ankeny and fall one section in Newton and I also teach pharmacology and fall so just get in touch with me at [email protected]  and now let's get started with the show.

    Okay, well welcome to the Ankeny Podcast I am here on South Ankeny Boulevard with the owner of Wees Tees Randy Wee and I just want to say first welcome to the Ankeny Podcast. Well, thank you very much. I'm excited to be a part of this and I'm looking forward to being involved. So, let's start with your entrepreneurial journey everyone's entrepreneurial journey is a little bit

    different most people start with maybe a job and then they end up working for themselves tell me a little bit about your transition um mine was kind of accidental actually I used to coach college baseball and in-between jobs at UNI and Northern Illinois I took a job selling screen printing and athletic clothing for a company called Kraft Cochrane and then I left that continue college coaching and then after I left education in 2008 I worked for a non-profit and work from home and I had a lot of downtime a lot of time to hate to figure out what I was gonna do so my

    boss would always tell me to take walks but instead I wanted to figure out a way to make money. Okay, so I started selling athletic clothing and team clothing out of out of my house and going around visiting people and did that for a couple years and just took off okay well what was your mission at the outset you know in terms of so did you just want to work focus on high school teams college teams how did you decide what you're gonna do local how did you kind of decide what your niche was initially my niche was just dealing with with youth teams okay and then some of my friends that coach high school baseball ideal some of their stuff but then it really took off when I did the season finale shirt for the University of Northern Iowa baseball they dropped baseball. I did their last ever shirt for their program and business kind of took off and you know and then I had a friend it kept saying I went on a screen printing shop Karl Chambers my business partner he kept saying you bug me for two years okay let's see what we can do okay okay I'm from the East Coast so I'm used to going down to Ocean City and every year they would obviously have you know spring break or you know this year this summer it would be twenty well back then it would be like 1984 1985 1986 so what other I guess in terms of businesses did you have any business experience before you started Wees Tees because the failure rate on businesses is like you know after a year it's like one survives out of ten and then five years later another one ten percent of those survive how did you do so well so quickly well I think there are several factors one it's just dumb luck I had no business experience I had never taken a business class okay I was in education I so I think luck was one two there was a demand for it there's a huge demand for a custom clothing in a lot of different areas in the metro and then I think three I hired really good people and you know I like to say we scared more business away our first couple years by not knowing how to do things oh and so the last four years four and a half years has been awesome for us with the right staff with the right process with good customer service.

     

    But I'm

    serious I feel very lucky too

    we borrowed credit cards I stole from my

    personal savings and we started a

    business and it was very very lucky okay

    okay well everyone once you become a

    business owner in town people think it

    was all pretty easy

    [Laughter]

    oh it all worked out now that your your

    great success you know I see you're

    building the golf course in the back

    yeah

    but what what was the biggest challenge

    that you had cuz most entrepreneurs if

    they can survive that big challenge

    there's usually one thing or one day or

    one week or one month that just was wow

    that was just that was really rough and

    we made it you know the biggest

    challenge honestly was not knowing what

    I need to know okay so many times I

    would not know what to do and tell the

    situation arose go I never thought that

    situation ever gonna arise you can't

    write a business plan about what you

    don't know yes and I wrote them things

    and we've plans of things but you know

    how to handle different situations and

    we made lots of mistakes we booked

    equipment in and inside on a bunch of

    equipment for a year we you know we've

    made some bad decisions but I've got a

    you know I survived because of our staff

    because of our customers and all because

    I've I have a really intelligent and

    kind business partner Karl Chambers who

    helps me figure things out on a regular

    basis okay well most of the great

    companies do have business partners and

    I don't want to put you into tech but

    you know Microsoft there was really two

    or three of them you know Apple same

    thing there's two of them and and what

    is your role the when partners come

    together usually one has one as I don't

    say more outgoing but one tends to talk

    with the public one tends to like to be

    more behind-the-scenes where are you and

    what is your favorite role as part of a

    business well I coral is a silent

    partner he comes and we meet once or

    twice a week doesn't really have

    anything to do with the business except

    provide advice and give suggestions and

    be a sounding board and then I run the

    day-to-day operations and do a lot of

    the sales so I'm the one that's actively

    involved okay and then how many

    employees do you have

    we fluctuate between six and eight okay

    depending on the season okay and then in

    terms of you know what products you

    offer its customer but for example I I

    was doing the markets market relay

    actually we're doing market to market

    relay in 48 hours we're gonna be getting

    up at four o'clock went up to Jefferson

    coming down 75 miles and it's our third

    year doing it but my one of the guys

    said oh I want to do the t-shirts I want

    to do t-shirts then three weeks before I

    was like so to do the t-shirts as I can

    I didn't call me back so I said all

    right well now I know a guy hey you need

    to you need to call him you know we've

    got three weeks till it starts tell me a

    little bit about how would someone refer

    you like when you say okay I do custom

    team equipment that's a huge range like

    for every sport for high school sports

    where would you even start is there a

    catalog we have a lot of different

    suppliers we have hundreds and hundreds

    of suppliers so it's really tough to get

    everything in front of everybody we're

    trying to work on our website now to do

    that but it's our main area is custom

    clothing whether it's it's clothing you

    wear on your body or on your head

    whether it's a team uniform for a

    business or for a team for a high school

    or college or youth team for sports and

    then equipment that goes around around

    that area and we do decoration in

    towards a screen print embroidery and

    then the advertising products the

    promotional products that go with that

    so we was a singing poster banner a

    poster pens koozies you know window

    clings you know the chargers for your

    phones you can travel and I mean

    anything you could put a logo on week

    and some things but most things we do

    in-house but a lot of things we also do

    outside the shop from people that

    actually produce those promotional

    products but all our decorations grand

    printing embroidery heat set is done

    in-house but usually the person ordering

    these things is not being paid usually

    they're a volunteer or maybe they're a

    parent maybe they're a coach maybe

    they're with a school how what's the

    process for someone that comes in with

    maybe hey my we need uniforms for the

    whole team and then how do you take care

    of them during a whole season because my

    wife is just commenting on the NBA

    season being like 15 months long or

    something like that where it's just on

    and on and on how do you work with

    somebody through the season and then

    into the next season typically at the

    high school season it's usually six

    months ahead when they're doing things

    for the teams for the booster clubs it's

    usually a month to two months ahead and

    then for the elementary schools it's

    usually a month ahead for their further

    you know their spirit water for their

    school but typically people call up

    start up with a phone call or an email

    and kind of give us an idea what they

    want or they stop in and we try to

    explain to them that the process is

    they need to have an art idea they need

    to have a type of clothing idea and once

    we have what an idea whether right

    before we can put that down and approve

    for them and send them out approvals for

    the art health sighs them for their

    uniform or their clothing for their

    whether it's a t-shirt or a baseball or

    softball uniform and and then decorate

    the garment in depending on what you do

    the process can be a week two up to six

    to eight weeks you know because there's

    four heat setting something it's a lot

    quicker then it is if we're getting a

    sublimated uniform which can be okay now

    you're talking you're talking jargon

    yeah

    let's start with the difference what's

    he'd say well heat set is a vinyl

    product you put on your on your clothing

    it's usually people think of their name

    or numbers is okay but you can also do a

    custom decoration find all my girlfriend

    in high school I earn my Jersey and I

    lost a letter then you have screen

    printing which is an ink that you you

    press on with the screen printing

    machine it's it's squeegee done and you

    can do from one color up to depending on

    what shop you're at up to 12 or 15

    colors and that is typically what people

    think of when they think of custom

    shirts

    there's also transfers that look like

    screen printing but they're also iron-on

    but they look more like a screen print

    then then there's embroidery which is

    what you're wearing right now with your

    d-mac honors program it's actually

    thread that we're sewn onto the shirt so

    so as soon as you see someone is the

    first thing you look at whatever they

    got that shirt oh they printed it and

    then even in this cool thing that's

    going on right now at the industry

    there's their sublimation - which is

    actually you get it at a uniform or a

    shirt and it's printed out on a roller

    and it's dyed into the fabric okay yeah

    so it's on the shirt so you can have as

    many colors on it as possible but those

    machines are so expensive that a lot of

    times those are done by the manufacturer

    today

    and that's a really cool process I know

    a lot of times I'll do a race and before

    they give me the shirt I'll feel it and

    if it feels too raised I won't take it

    just because I know it'll

    my skin yes so that's the kind of thing

    you're talking about where it's just not

    gonna bother you you know it's part of

    the fabric yeah and then yeah it's but

    they're more expensive in the process

    the production time of those is anywhere

    from 4 to 16 weeks depending on where

    you get it from okay all right how did

    you decide to be here so I think you

    said we're in an old shirts I'm I'm new

    to Ankeny I've only been here ten years

    so but my wife has been in Ankeny all

    her life so 35 years but you started

    back in 11 what made you choose here in

    the middle of you know on Ankeny

    Boulevard well we wanted somewhere with

    high traffic flow okay and we also

    wanted something that was cost-effective

    being a new business and this meant both

    those requirements ideally it's not a

    great great spot because it's four

    different levels okay that's got the

    right square footage we have we want but

    it's I mean it met those requirements we

    have a lot of traffic Luther people

    drive by on a regular basis I'm in a

    Ridge we're also gonna be able to put a

    sign up originally but they turn that

    down after the fact that there's no sign

    there but you know right now we're out

    of space and we're not in really good

    functional space all right you're

    looking to move and be in more uptown

    and I'm Ankeny between the clipper and

    and Bryan how long have you been in

    Ankeny I grew up here okay and I

    graduated in 87 I went to college and

    moved away until the fall of 2000 we

    moved back from Illinois so can you tell

    me a little bit about what's going on

    with Uptown because it seems like

    there's a resurgence it it was it was

    probably pretty well attended when you

    were back here in the early eighteen L

    [Music]

    it seems to be there's some some bit of

    resurgence coming back fire trucker I

    know is a staple there or so certainly a

    place that you can hear say okay well

    it's this place from fire trucker and I

    know that they're there building down

    there what makes you decide to come down

    to Uptown I keep wanting to call it

    downtown anytime in North Ankeny so it's

    downtown for me but it's uptown well

    for one it's personal for me growing up

    here I think it's an area that needs to

    be rejuvenated sure I'm also on the

    Uptown Association Board of Directors

    okay so uh it's it's a natural fit I

    think it's a growing area with the bike

    trail with with the pavilions with fire

    truck or leading towers up there Walnut

    Street gallery uptown food and beverage

    the Clipper I mean I there's many more

    stores that are really popular there but

    they're also doing some new development

    in regards to housing and also new

    business development that's gonna make

    it a lot more attractive area for people

    to visit okay well tell me a little bit

    about your so is the business just local

    so local teams are you statewide are you

    national are you international just

    always curious to see how far you reach

    because obviously it seems like you've

    outgrown your space you've it's you've

    only been bit I want to say only been in

    business seven years but you've

    experienced a lot of growth what where's

    your market um it's mainly in Polk

    County but we do work throughout the

    state of Iowa and we also do some orders

    in Illinois Missouri Minnesota and even

    as far west as California okay but it's

    not a predominant part of our business

    the only thing internationally do is we

    have a couple followers on Facebook

    internationally okay website they're

    trying to figure out the sublimation

    thing oh yeah it looks really cool it's

    really cool okay what do you think is

    unique about your business you know I

    thought about this because there's it

    there's thousands of screen printers

    decorated across the country and one of

    the reasons I opened my business up was

    I used to contract printout people okay

    as the coach no is it well no like when

    I was selling out of my house okay I had

    to find printers to print my stuff for

    people

    okay and the thing I was really

    frustrated with was when something went

    well I people told me thank you but I

    didn't really do it then when something

    went wrong I had to take responsibility

    for it and it wasn't my funds but most

    the time things went wrong I didn't get

    something I didn't got something on time

    they would lose my product so I think

    our on-time percent for screen printing

    is over 99%

    I mean we we just deliver really yeah I

    mean we're really good I mean we don't

    we do insult you but that's just

    just really high we because it's always

    been delayed now if something's late

    it's because something's backordered

    okay or in the production process we

    damaged the government and we get

    everything done and then we Reaper the

    other government later okay that but I

    mean we get everything done on with

    screen printing in the things that will

    delay screen printing or if somebody

    can't give you sizes okay or if they

    don't approve art you know so any of

    those things to think those things

    happen it really delays a process but

    once arts approved we're always

    delivering you're the person that does

    that keeps after them all right you need

    to call them again

    find out if they approve the artist

    doesn't collection manage it follows up

    on our artists and also follows up with

    other customers and then yeah but ii

    think the most unique thing about us is

    I think our staff is very stable you

    know there's a ton of turnover in this

    industry we've had Eric that's been or

    six years Jake that's been in six years

    Riley and Mike been or two and a half

    years Sarah was here for six and a half

    years and just left that's a really long

    time yeah I know so I think that's

    unique about our business as we know our

    customers and our customers know us okay

    so what you mentioned a little bit of

    involvement in the Ankeny community tell

    me a little bit more about how you're

    involved and how it fits in the business

    talking about maybe a little bit more

    about uptown or other places that you're

    involved so I mean it could be as little

    as as much as you know coaching your

    kids teams or whatever it is yeah I get

    mention I'm in the Uptown Association

    I'm also in a BNI group I'm in a another

    Power Group that there's business owners

    it meets every other week and then I'm

    involved in Kiwanis and I try to stay

    involved some of the school functions at

    the high school level and elementary

    level to stay involved with what they're

    doing in regards their fundraising and

    their booster clubs and then like you

    mention I do code I've coached my kids

    okay youth teams over the years is that

    so just this is no just a personal

    question not not with the business I

    really struggle to coach my own children

    cuz when they when something goes wrong

    it's really tough for me to be the

    person talking to him do you have an

    assistant coach that's like oh this

    one's my kid all right can you talk to

    him or do have any strategies for that

    because I know many parents have to

    coach their own kids and it's sometimes

    a little bit that's sometimes very tough

    you know that was really difficult for

    me I've always been one that

    my kids gonna play less it'll be harder

    on my kid unless everybody else can see

    that there's so much better than

    everybody because usually most people

    coach League right kids get a play all

    right so my daughter really struggled

    that she said I don't get a coach

    anymore for like three years and I

    understood that my son is like I don't

    care just do what you need to do it's

    been it's actually been a struggle

    because I I don't think my own kids have

    been able to enjoy athletics with me

    coaching as much as a lot of people

    coach them yeah same with my dad I was

    always a midfielder with soccer because

    well you can't be the forward because

    then I'm showing favoritism yes you'd

    have to be all the way in the back so

    let's put you as a midfielder that way

    you can you can get a goal if you really

    struggle but you can't be up front you

    know just hitting the easy one unless

    you're so much faster but yeah you know

    you're putting luck but that didn't

    happen that way yeah yeah so well they

    say that the entrepreneur is someone who

    works 80 hours so they don't have to

    work 40 hours for someone else and and

    sometimes that's in the pejorative

    sometimes it's it's just how it is you

    just enjoy what you do but what advice

    would you give to maybe someone who

    who's like you know I just I just don't

    like working for other people I would

    prefer to work for myself I'd prefer to

    do things my way

    what's the biggest piece of advice you

    would give them um first thing is take

    more time to plan before you open up you

    know plan and then plan and then over

    plan again and then also make sure you

    have more money than you think you

    really need okay and then the last thing

    is on the thing I was unprepared for as

    a college in high school baseball coach

    I thought about baseball all the time

    but for the time I woke up the time went

    to bed what I could do differently

    better how I could you know whether it

    was recruiting whatever as a business

    owner I've taken it I also find that to

    case what bit business I might not be

    physically at work or working from home

    but my mind is always on the finances

    employees customers short long term

    goals and so somebody that wants to open

    a business they need to be prepared for

    at times being very distant from other

    parts our lives because your mind will

    not get off their business yeah okay all

    right well what's the best way for

    someone to contact you they can contact

    me at Randy at wheeze teas calm and that

    is spelled w E

    tea EES calm or they can call us at 517

    927 well thanks so much for being on the

    Ankeny podcast thank you support for

    this episode comes from the audiobook

    memorizing pharmacology a relaxed

    approach with over 9,000 sales in the

    United States United Kingdom and

    Australia it's the go-to resource to

    ease the pharmacology challenge

    available on audible iTunes and

    amazon.com in print ebook and audiobook

     

    23 min
  • Ep 2 Ankeny Appliance Recycling Day, Getting Rid of Ants, and Local Jobs

    I highlight a number of local Ankeny Businesses, People, and Events. Here are some links from this week's episode. 

    TrailPoint Aquatics and Wellness 

    http://mytrailpoint.com/Pages/programs-youth.aspx

    http://mytrailpoint.com/Pages/employment.aspx

    Ankeny Appliance Recycling Day 

    https://www.ankenyiowa.gov/our-city/city-calendar

    Got ants?

    https://www.bobcatpest.com/

    Cafe Diem/Cafe X

    http://cafe-diem.com/

    TNT Landscaping 

    https://www.tntlandscaping.com/

     

    Full Transcript:

    Hey, welcome to the Ankeny podcast I'm Tony Guerra Ankeny nonfiction author college professor and triplet dad and I am bringing you the people places and events in Ankeny Iowa broadcasting from the trail point aquatic and Wellness Center on DMACC's Ankeny campus right next to Cafe X I'm especially interested in hearing entrepreneurial stories so if you are an author a solopreneur a manager and are passionate about your book or business I'd love to put your story on a podcast episode there's never a charge to come on it's just my knee my way of networking with other successful Ankeny professionals so reach out to me at TonyPharmD1  on Facebook Messenger or [email protected] 

    you can find  past podcast episodes and links at Ankeny podcast.com and here's the show alright so starting off so we're at where am I Cafe X is part of Cafe Diem  so you know Cafe diem which is on Ankeny Boulevard just across from the DMACC Ankeny campus and then if you come to trail Point Aquatic Center right across from that Cafe X is open Monday through Friday all summer long so let me talk a little bit about trail point it really the one thing trail point did that we really needed an Ankeny would have opened up more opportunities for swimming or swimming lessons and my daughter just had a great experience and I just wanted to share that so I have triplet daughters for those of you that don't know me and while they all may be turning 7 in July they are completely different the easiest way that I explained how different they are is that I went to daddy daughter's dance at hope up here in Ankeny and the one daughter wanted to draw the whole time the other daughter wanted to talk to her friends the whole time and then the other one wanted to dance the whole time so they're completely different and then with their abilities one of the daughters really just didn't want to swim and was just kind of nervous so we got her private lessons at trail point and this was the very first time that she would blow bubbles this is the very first time she would put her head under the water so it's just a fantastic place if you're looking to get swimming lessons the trail point swim Academy and again having you know one daughter that can you know do the backstroke all the way across the the pool 25 yards and then having another one that that won't put her head underwater again sometimes those individual lessons are important and then there's other ways as well so definitely want to refer them in terms of summer programming I know that they're having a basketball league that's starting up and then there's a number of employment opportunities there's a position for lifeguards swim instructors personal trainers aquatic fitness instructors group fitness instructors I think there's a birthday special events attendant and then a kid's own attendant so if you're looking for something to do over the summer or full time I would definitely go to my trail point.com okay let's see so Cinco DeMayo is coming up this is Friday May 4th so Cinco DeMayo and it's a really weird weekend the Kentucky Derby are on the same day so kind of an interesting mix there and we'll be celebrating out there or bond delay with our friends who have a kentucky derby party every year but what's happening in Ankeny is the big and it's just from 8:00 to noon tomorrow morning is the Ankeny recycling or a plot appliance an electronic recycling day so it's it's 8 a.m. to 12 noon at the Prairie Ridge Aquatic Center so 1/2 to 0 Northwest Prairie Ridge Drive if you want an address to put in your GPS you have to be an Ankeny resident and there's only a fee if you have like monitors or televisions based on some kind of size or something like that you can read all the items that are accepted but I mean it's the big things like the air conditioners dishwashers fax machines grocery carts freezers do people have VCRs anymore I don't know if you have one they'll take it let acid batteries only dryers furnaces printers riding lawnmowers and that's what I need to get rid of is a push mower we now have three wheels on one of our push mowers and need to get a new one stoves washers the whole list you can find at Ankeny Iowa gov and that's tomorrow 8 a.m. to 12 and then there's the other spring clean up and tree and branch recycling which is two weeks away on the 19th and 20th those hours are much much longer but again the appliance day is tomorrow on Saturday yoga in the park starts again so first yoga in the park starts from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and that's going to be at the Ankeny beg van shell in Wagner Park every Saturday May 5th through September 29th from 8 to 9 a.m. everybody's welcome and then there's an instructor schedule if you have a personal preference they're the Ankeny dog let me see if I get this right because it's a literate 'iv Ankeny dog park pooch potty so PA wty corner of Southwest Ankeny Road and Southwest Goodwin's Street so as from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Cinco DeMayo as well and there's some specifics about the dog park so you do want to go check out the website first in terms of who can be in the the fenced area and things like that ok each week or when I get a chance I want to also interview that's kind of the foundation of the pharmacy leaders podcast which is my other podcast is interviewing local businesses or businesses that serve Ankeny and today I just wanted to talk about Bobcat wild and pest while and past Heeia Jean Spaulding came out he's helped us before and we had ants and I don't know if any of you guys are running into ants but it's just disgusting and you're like why are these guys coming in and the way that they came in was through the pipe under the sink and so they came into the sink but then my wife is not happy about this they were in the master bath in the master bath sink like what that is so weird why are they in these two places and nowhere else in the house so I had him he came over this morning and he really helped us out and what I love is when a business owner kind of explains things as well as you know does what they need to do to help us out so I just wanted to talk to you about some of the you know kind of the the backstory to what was going on with it so first of all how did he get involved in the business he was in the Army and then he had an archery business was doing just fine but then after 9/11 his clients went overseas so he was able to sell that business and then had a friend who said well I'm really need some help I'm got this business where you know I'm catching squirrels and so forth that are getting into houses and he started that up but he just had such an entrepreneurial Drive and just recognized also by the owner of that business like man you got to just start your own business out so you know after that I asked you know about the ants I've got three girls that are you know gonna be turning seven in July so I wanna know is it's safe for my kids and so there's only three ml's of product that goes into the water into the toxin and it affects enzymes that the insect has that humans don't and as a pharmacist that made a lot of sense to me because I understand that penicillin for example affects cell walls and bacteria have cell walls and humans don't so aside from the rash and things like that that penicillin causes it makes a lot of sense to me you know and that was you know nice that I could could basically understand how the thing works but why are they coming in and what they were doing was following the moisture looking for protein so it kind of makes sense that they would come in the sink and the walls but then to understand that well hair has protein - so they're kind of following that as well and so he put the spray in and took care of the sinks and then sprayed outside as well so it was as far as you know how does it you know get the rest of the ants though so you know we got the ants that we you know know we're gonna be there but the ants come and they they come after the oleic acid and so they're trying to carry their ants other ants away but then in trying to do that then they're also affected by the toxin so just he's not although he's out in red field he really works the Des Moines metro and there's certain days it'll come out to Ankeny but I definitely refer Jean Spaulding with Bobcat wildlife and pest I think it's 505 a 2 2 4 3 4 8 Bobcat pest calm and he didn't pay me or anything for this you know no ty just just a you know really happy client testimonial he doesn't know that I have you know a social network and all of that stuff so I really appreciate what you did this morning and there's nothing better than when you have like a two-hour window like 10 to 12 and then he shows up at 10:15 it's just such a such a great victory for the day but anyway I wanted to share that story and those are the kinds of stories that I want to share with other Ankeny residents I think you know so many you know great things that businesses and Ankeny do for us go unsung and I wanted to make sure to thank gene in his business but also other businesses so that also reminds me thanks again to TNT landscaping who are on I want to say it's magazine it's that curved road that goes past the the police station thanks again for for having us that free lunch last Saturday was a Saturday or Sunday last weekend I got to bring the kids out and saw my father-in-law and mother-in-law there as well but that was really kind of nice and we used them too we had a bunch of rocks that just always kept you know sprouting weeds or whatever so they just kind of just we got rid of everything just put sod over it and they did a great job and that was really appreciate TNT landscaping as well okay so that's it for this weekend but anyway if you want to be on the Ankeny podcast you have a business or you manage a business in town or you serve the Ankeny population in town or you were an author local author in Iowa we'll be happy to talk to you just get in touch with me on Facebook at Toni farm d1 or by email a a gue AR RA @ DM acc edu I can come to you that's usually cooler if I get to see the business kind of gives a setting to the to the podcast episode or we can just meet over at rail point where you know right right on 2006 south d-mac boulevard it's right by where I work so I can just take a you know a lunch hour and come on over so thanks again for listening and we'll talk to you next week should be coming out every Friday so Thursday or Friday always before the weekend I'll make sure to have an episode all year long support for this episode comes from the audio book Memorizing Pharmacology: A Relaxed Approach

    with over 9,000 sales in the United States United Kingdom and Australia it's the go-to resource to ease the Pharmacology challenge available on audible iTunes and amazon.com in print ebook and audiobook

     

    13 min

About Ankeny Podcast

From the publisher's feed

The Ankeny Podcast highlights the people, places, and events in and of interest to those that live and workout in and around Ankeny, Iowa. I'm Tony Guerra, your host, an Ankeny author and pharmacist,…