Finding Asheville Podcast

Long time friends Jason Istvan and Caleb Autrey have one goal in mind with their new local business: to make people happy. Although their new ice cream shop has only been open three weeks, their dreams have come true while serving delicious, freshly made soft service ice cream to happy customers. "Ice cream is such a happy food, and we just want to make people smile," the friends told us right before they opened up shop on Patton Avenue. 

We sat down with co-owner Jason this week and talked about Asheville, ice cream, delicious food, and much more. Opening up a new business is always a frightening and exhilarating endeavor, but a frozen treat shop in November is quite the leap of faith. Despite the chilly fall season, Frostbite and their employees have remained steadily busy. In addition to ice cream, freshly made beignets, funnel cakes, and coffee can be procured from the store. Customers can even stay in the comfort of their own car and take advantage of the convenient drive through. 

Learn how one of Frostbite's most popular menu item, the salted caramel coffee float, came to be. Listen in to hear what exactly makes Frostbite's soft serve ice cream different than traditional soft serve from chain restaurants. Pull up a chair and get ready to become hungry while listening to this week's Finding Asheville. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

Jenna Yarosh of Patton Avenue Pet Company and Sheryl Mann of Flying Dogs Photography have come together to create a new local nonprofit organization, the Asheville Animal Rescue Foundation. We sat down with both small business owners to talk about their individual businesses, and the formation of their new joint venture. Asheville Animal Rescue Foundation, or AARF, is a not for profit entity that aims to help underfunded or emergency based animal efforts. Yarosh and Mann aim to financially assist in trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs, spay and neuter programs, veterinary research, and emergency medical bills. 

AARF will be funded through the sale of merchandise. Flying Dog Photography is responsible for the first newly released product, 5 whimsical and funny holiday cards featuring both dogs and cats. Christmas cards and Hanukah cards are available for sale at both locations of Patton Avenue Pet, and the duo plans to have additional stores carrying the AARF merchandise soon. All proceeds from AARF related merchandise goes directly into the foundation, to be donated to various local animal efforts as deemed necessary by Yarosh and Mann. 

Chris Neumann is a local filmmaker who displays a variety of popular and quirky interests. From hosting the Asheville Hiking Group, to producing television show Stashers and Cachers, Chris is a busy and interesting local flavor.

Stashers and Cashers is a reality television show concept dreamed up by Neumann, who enjoys geocaching as a hobby. Geocaching is likened to a high tech treasure hunt chase, where cachers are given coordinates to clues and hidden objects. There are various levels of geocachers, and some like Chris enjoy setting up elaborate stages that challenge an individuals smarts and stamina while embarking on their challenging quest.

While he is not staging elaborate geocaching missions, and leading hikes, Chris enjoys doing film work. One of his most recent projects was participating in the Doritos Crash The Superbowl Challenge. Chris led a small team to film their 30 second commercial in the waters of Lake Lure. Check out their hilarious entry here, and take a moment to rate it. 

Learn more about Chris, geocaching, filmmaking, doritos, and more by listening to the most recent episode of Finding Asheville now.

Chung Do Kwan, created by Won Kuk Lee in 1944, is the first of nine schools or kwan teaching what came to be known as taekwondo. Porter Hughes is the co-founder of Jung Kwon Martial Arts Academy in West Asheville and a third degree black belt. His passion is in teaching people of all ages the true art of self defense. While his students compete and succeed in national and international competitions, for Hughes it is not about the awards or recognition. Instead, he takes satisfaction in knowing that his students cannot only perform the moves stoutly and reactively, but right handed, left handed, in the dark, from behind, and much more.

Small class sizes with knowledgeable, dedicated instructors who do not upsell black belts, uniforms, or pressure students to compete is what Porter Hughes strives for with Jung Kwon Martial Arts Academy. Porter runs the successful academy with his wife.

Learn more about Jung Kwon, karate, taekwondo, and how all the martial arts are connected by  listening to this week's episode of Finding Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

For over a decade, Orbit DVD has steadily grown from a small movie rental store to one that boasts retro video games, comics, books, t-shirts, pop culture items, and more. Marc McCloud sits down with Emily Trimnal and Benny Whitaker to discuss what it is like to be one of just over 1,000 independent video rental shops in the country. McCloud is a self professed spaghetti western junkie and horror film fanatic, so in keeping with the season, our hosts and guest discuss must watch scary movies for the upcoming Halloween holiday.

Listen to Marc, Benny, and Emily discuss the 'STD scary movie', the now iconic 'sexual sloth' mural, and what is in store for Orbit, as Marc wisely makes moves to ensure that the store will keep up with the digital age.

Orbit DVD is located at 781 Haywood Road, in the heart of booming West Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

On September 19th, the Asheville community was set aback when misogynistic blogs, podcasts, and a tweets were discovered to belong to the owners of Waking Life Espresso. Waking Life has been a staple in the West Asheville community since the doors to the upper class coffee shop opened six years ago.

We sat down with Mikki Fox, creator of the active online Facebook page West Asheville Exchange, lovingly referred to as WAX. Mikki was the first to organize an impromptu protest outside of the doors of Waking Life the day the story broke. Misti McCloud, a concerned Asheville transplant, was active during the protest, lending her expertise from her days in government and living in Washington DC to the cause.

Your new hosts Emily Trimnal and Benny Whitaker talk to Misti and Mikki, discussing the feelings that surfaced when the community learned of the news. We also talk about how the city of Asheville handled the situation, the amazement when the story went national, and then international. How Asheville handled this scandal has impacted people globally - how do we continue to use this story for good, and bring education and awareness to not only our city, but beyond?

All of this is covered and more in the latest episode of Finding Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

Know limitations, ask questions, trust with Chef Katie Button

Nathan sits down with chef Katie Button of Curate and Nightbell for the 84th episode of the Finding Asheville podcast. They chat about growing up in South Carolina and New Jersey, how one can get stuck in a particular career path despite being unhappy, how one gets the courage to leave such path, why despite being successful, Katie Button would not recommend opening your own restaurant after only two year’s of cooking experience, how she learned from her experience at El Bulli that structure could pave way for creativity, what lead to the perfect storm of marketing for Curate’s first year success, and why the key to success is understanding your limitations and being courageous enough to ask questions.

This episode was mixed at Mojo Coworking at 60 North Market Street in Downtown Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

Respect Culture, Craft, Product 

Nathan sits down with chef John Fleer of Rhubarb for the 83rd episode of the Finding Asheville podcast. They chat about growing up in Winston Salem, how a graduate school discussion about craft lead to a transition from academia to the kitchen, how Asheville chefs can help build a food system that will eventually benefit the food insecure, who can’t afford to dine at farm to table Asheville restaurants now or buy local produce, how a stint running the Culinary Institute of America’s restaurant completely changed how he viewed his career, why perceived ownership of one’s work whether in fact he or she is the owner of such work is key to being successful in one’s career, and why respecting each person for who they are shaped his own personal success.

This episode was mixed at Mojo Coworking at 60 North Market Street in Downtown Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

Nathan sits down with chef Joe Scully and co-owner of The Corner Kitchen and Chestnut and Corner Kitchen Catering for the 82nd episode of the Finding Asheville podcast. They chat about growing up in Demarest, New Jersey, why show business was his first career passion, the benefits of attending the Culinary Institute of America even for cooks who have years of experience in a kitchen, the importance of ‘pre-meal’ in determining success of Asheville restaurants, and why Joe and his business partner Kevin Westmoreland’s approach to conflict resolution has been key to the growth of The Corner Kitchen.

This episode was mixed at Mojo Coworking at 60 North Market Street in Downtown Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

Why rush in figuring it out?

Nathan sits down with Celeste Adams of The Burger Bar and Sadie Mae's Mobile Boutique for the 81st episode of the Finding Asheville podcast. We chat about growing up in Asheville, N.C., why the service industry is a haven for those that can’t decide what is the optimal career is for them, why learning to follow through on commitment no matter what that commitment may be helps you later on in life especially in business, how a brainstorming session for possible business ventures lead to Sadie Mae’s Mobile Boutique, why saving the Burger Bar was so important for Asheville versus just starting over with a new concept, why owning a bar is not the optimal career people necessarily dream about when wanting to own a bar, and what may be next for The Burger Bar.

This episode was mixed at Mojo Coworking at 60 North Market Street in Downtown Asheville.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!

Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.