Elliot is an educator and friend who has done it all when it comes to education. In Denver, he was teaching kindergarten, and after meeting his future wife, they spent time overseas teaching in Korea. The couple moved back to the US and ended up in Minnesota, where Elliot and his wife are both educators. Elliot has transitioned from teaching to an administrator and, during this podcast, provides honest and constructive thoughts on the industry.  I truly appreciated his candor and transparency within the industry many people hold dear, and hopefully, we can have more open and honest discussions like this. We discuss many topics, such as a push for more educational equity, how our system is not geared towards drop-outs, and so many other tough topics. 

Marvin is a special guy, and you would never think that he is 91 talking with him. He is one reason I became involved with our veteran group in Denver, and I am happy to know these guys with every interview a little more. Marvin, originally from Chicago, dropped out of high school and joined the service on the tail end of World War 2. He enlisted in the Army, and when he left, he separated from service in the Air Force and worked in the admin department. Marvin then attended the University of Denver, where he received his undergrad, graduate, and doctorate in special education. He worked in the Denver public school system and trained other teachers on how to best care for kids with disabilities in the city. He was also involved in several Jewish nonprofit entities such as Bnai Brith,  the local Federation, and many more. Marvin gives his take on the world and is still a staunch believer in the nation and a true mensh. 

Matt is one of the OGs when it comes to the food truck world in Denver. He successfully has run two food trucks simultaneously for a span of eight years, and his partner in crime, Holley, runs the events business. We do a deep dive into the small business world, the down and dirty on the food truck scene in Denver, and the constant struggle of dealing with employees, competition, and general stresses of the business. 

Originally from Ohio, Matt moved to Chicago after culinary school and worked at some fine dining establishments throughout the city. After working in the scene for a few years, he needed a break and moved to Wisconsin and Minnesota to manage a few restaurants and catering gigs. He finally settled into Denver and got an adult job within IT sales. However, the service industry was calling him back as he was still side hustling with catering gigs and such. He then bought into a food truck and pivoted his career back into the game. Today, he still manages two concept trucks, PB & J and also Meatball. Be sure to check him out when he is in your neck of the woods. 

Steve is a Denver native who grew up near the Hilltop area of town and served in the US Army after being drafted. He is part of the Jewish War Veteran Post, and we had an interesting conversation about growing up in Denver in the 1960s and getting drafted for the service during the Vietnam war. Steve returned from being stationed in Okinawa, began working in Real Estate, and still owns several properties. I really enjoyed our conversation when he began to give perspective on the country's current political climate and how it has differed from the past. He expressed a lot of insight on how to move forward, what was wrong with the GOP and why he switched over. I truly enjoyed talking with him and what he had to say. 

Noushig is a friend and originally from Syria but of Armenian descent. The minority group migrated south to the desert after the establishment of what is modern-day Turkey under Attaturk. In this region, the community began to build their life up in the Arab world, and some like Noushig even assimilated into the culture and speech of the region. In 2011 during the times of the Arab Spring, the world looked on as regimes around the region were toppled. Syria was different in that its leader would do whatever it took to remain in power. Most Syrians, including Noushig, did not believe that the Arab Spring would reach their country.  This podcast is a personal account of grit and determination to get out of a civil war in a country at all costs. Noushig traveled from Aleppo to Damascus and into Lebanon, finally ending up in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraq of the Kurdish people. Little did she know that ISIS was now on the move from Syria, where they established themselves and pushed into the city of Mosul in 2014. This story is one of the best I have had on the podcast and a true inspiration to folks feeling down and out on their luck. Good things come to those who wait. 

David Wallack is originally from NY and grew up in the Bronx near Yankees Stadium. He attended Columbia University in NYC and then was drafted as a Doctor for Vietnam under the Barry program.  After going through Officer Basic Course in San Antonio, Texas, David was assigned the Air Cav in Vietnam in 1968. After a year in Vietnam, David was assigned to West Point Military Academy to finish his two years of service. David slowly made his way to Denver, Colorado, in 1971 and has worked in internal medicine ever since. He has three daughters and six grandchildren and enjoying his life with the family. 

Mike and I span a friendship since the late '90s, and we have seen our careers take some very sharp pivots due to many factors. I wanted to talk with Mike because he is at the forefront of many situations living in the Bay area of California. On the one side of the Bay is SF and Silicon Valley, the epicenter of tech and innovation within the US. On the other side of the bay in Oakland and Berkeley is the battleground of inequality. The ever-growing disparity of wealth and opportunity right in front of your doorstep. Policies to hinder the equality gap has begun to affect all parties involved, and people are torn about what to do. We dive into that and move onward to a national level of discussion as well. It was a candid conversation with an old friend that I hope you enjoy. 

Bob is an underachiever if I ever met one. Originally from North Chicago, Bob was accepted to MIT for electrical engineering but, after a few years, opted to switch his career field to medicine and moved back to Chicago to attend Northwestern since MIT at the time didn't have the field of medicine to study. After finishing his medical degree, Bob was drafted into the US Air Force and became a flight surgeon. Meanwhile, he was on active duty and applied for flight school, and was actually accepted. He graduated with honors and was off to Vietnam to work at a military hospital. Bob walks into the hospital, and there is no slot for him, so he walks down to the base's aviation wing and asks if they need an extra pilot. He actually flew two types of planes in Vietnam and was also able to practice medicine when he was not flying. 

After his service, he became an anesthesiologist and worked as such from 1972 to 1988. Bob began to volunteer over in Israel quite a bit, helped the government's geological survey department, and assisted in installing the system that monitors earthquakes. He contemplated moving to Israel, but his family was starting to grow with grandchildren. He wanted to be around for that part of his life and opted to stay in the US. Bob is still an avid flyer even in his 80s and still involved in the veteran and Jewish communities in the Denver metro area. 

Ben Stein was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Westport, Connecticut as a teenager with his family. He found out he didn't do so well on a boat at the Naval Academy and opted to try out for the Marine Corp and went through Officer Candidate School (OCS). While serving on active duty, he was assigned to Okinawa, Japan, and was an Air Controller and also Maintenance Officer. After the service, he went to UT Austin for a graduate degree and opted to give the Reserves a try since they paid for tuition. After grad school, Ben moved to Denver to assist with a family business but opted to continue the Reserves simultaneously. A stint in Denver had Ben looking for other options, and he ended up in Chicago and assigned to Great Lakes. Eventually, he finished his multiple assignments at Great Lakes and moved back to Denver, CO with his wife, and began working with Mike Coffman, the former Congressman for the Aurora area. Ben has since retired from his military service but is consulting and spending time with his family. 

Jack is Program Director/Professor for DU's Supply Chain Program at the Daniels College of Business and the Denver Transportation Institute. Our focus is the development of the 21st Century Supply Chain that focuses students, companies, and industry on structured problem solving, eliminating waste, and disruptive innovation to solve the greatest challenges in the world.

The research is focused on creating future models for distribution, closed-loop systems for plastic waste that achieves high recycling rates, lean healthcare, Smart Cities and Final Last Mile, blockchain in transportation, and market-based community supply chains for disadvantaged US cities and the third world.

Jack and the university are partnering with companies, communities, and researchers on the greatest challenges on the planet. My recent book, Peak Plastic is the first end to end supply chain critique of how to address the plastic crisis facing our planet in a market-based solution.

During the podcast, Jack goes over 2020 for supply chain as a nation and we cover a myriad of questions from who were the winners and losers regarding supply chain management, vaccination implementation, along with some Q+A from friends of the show.