Fresno's Best

Today, we have Patrick Burriel on the show. Patrick is a Client Advocate with My Time Recovery and runs a sober living community with Next Door Ministries. Patrick is an incredible person and has a lot of deep wisdom to share. This podcast is deeply personal for me as I have watched family members struggle to work through addiction and I know a lot of people have family members or friends who have struggled with this issue, and perhaps you have struggled with it as well. This podcast is for all of you.

My Time Recovery Website

Next Door Ministries Website

Books:

Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century Napoleon Hill 

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Robert T. Kiyosaki 

Today, we have Kaysha Rajani on the show. As the Founder and Creative Director of Curated Giftables, Kaysha Rajani is passionate about building and strengthening relationships through gifting. After enjoying a fifteen-year career in marketing and communications, she launched her company that specializes in large-scale, custom gifting for businesses and events, primarily serving California’s Central Valley. 

Kaysha is actively engaged with every part of her business operations from client communication to designing and assembling gifts. Her expertise in curating products that are thoughtfully chosen to fit a brand aesthetic or event theme, paired with her creative eye for design result in beautifully presented gifts that leave a lasting impression.

 As a graduate of the University of Alabama, Kaysha loves to cheer on the Crimson Tide! When she isn’t tying bows, you can find her enjoying the local restaurant scene and indulging in craft cocktails with friends, or exploring new cities and cultures with her husband.

Curated Giftables Website 

Instagram and Facebook: @curatedgiftables

Books:

How to Win Friends & Influence People Dale Carnegie 

Today, we have Keith Newton on the show. Keith has been a woodworker since his early teens. Over the course of a lifetime, he has honed his skills. He always strives for harmony with the wood and the piece the wood finally becomes. Keith chooses his logs carefully and orients them on the sawmill for the maximum benefit the log will yield. The cut slabs dry for three and a half years. Logs are urban salvage and farm field pull-outs. It is important to him that the wood he chooses has been saved from a trip to the biomass plant.

Always driven to try new things, he taught himself to make violins. It was in that self-imposed tutelage he perfected his finishing techniques. Over the course of many years, Keith has accumulated many machines and tools instrumental to his woodworking. Sanding and surfacing machines, elbow grease, and a fortune in sandpaper are the formula behind his smooth finishes. Keith also has outstanding veneer and pressing capabilities for lovely panels, chests, and cabinets. His work predominately incorporates live edge.

He is inspired by the beauty in nature and wants to bring that natural feeling that the outdoors brings.

Keith works from his studio/shop on 2.5 acres in Fresno, CA. His many dogs are his constant companions and will greet you at the gate.

Keith's Website

Books: 

Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology R. Bruce Hoadley 

Diego Arambula is transitioning into the role of Vice President of Educational Transformation at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, following over five years as a Managing Partner at Transcend, where he collaborated with educators nationwide to reimagine learning environments. His journey in public education began in 2005 at Summit Public Schools, where he served in various capacities including classroom teacher, founding principal, and Chief Growth & Innovation Officer, driving the school's shift towards personalization and scalability. Additionally, he founded GO Public Schools Fresno, an advocacy nonprofit focused on innovative school models. Diego's commitment to educational change extends to his volunteer roles on several boards, including the California State University system and Summit Public Schools. With a background in politics and degrees from Harvard and Stanford University, Diego resides in Fresno with his wife and two daughters, actively contributing to educational transformation in his community.

We discuss status in education, Teach for America, teaching social science, how much time administrators should spend in classrooms, summer break vs year round school, reducing teacher turnover, offramp schools, poverty’s role in educational outcomes, expensive education consultants, The Orange Theory, Flipped Classrooms, whether Fresno Unified is too big, and much more.

Books: 

The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness Todd Rose

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Jonathan Haidt 

The Name of Wind Patrick Rothfuss

Today, we have Isabel Dieppa on the show. Isabel is a journalist, roller skater and performing artist. She founded Fresno Skate Party in 2021. When she is not roller skating Isabel spends her time cosplaying and dancing. You can follow her on Instagram, and Tik Tok @isabelsdieppa

Use the code frensoskateparty people can get %5 at Pigeon Roller Skate Shop (link here)

Books:

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 

Be Water, My Friend Shannon Lee

Today we have Arthur Moye on the show. Arthur is the CEO of Full Circle Brewing, Co. in Fresno, California. Formerly a CalCPA Chapter President, after 15 years of homebrewing, he went rogue and sold his CPA practice to purchase Fresno’s longest running brewery. With a background in accounting, he took a leap of faith to see how he could extend his experience with numbers to drive his passion for craft beer. From 2016-2024, he increased Full Circle Brewing's production by 25,000%, and expanded from a 7.5BBL brewhouse with a local footprint, to a 30-barrel brewhouse with packaging and distribution throughout the United States. These numbers continue to grow to this day. Additionally, as a black entrepreneur and brewer, Arthur is proud to have Full Circle Brewing, Co. contribute to the 1% of black majority owned craft breweries in the United States. Arthur is originally from the Bay Area and is an alumnus of San Jose State University. He has chosen the Central Valley as his home to raise his family and grow and his businesses.

Books:

The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level Gay Hendricks

StrengthsFinder 2.0 Don Clifton

Today, we have Enrique Meza on the show.Enrique is the founder and creative director of Meza Studios. He was born and raised in California’s Central Valley. He is a proud son of immigrant labor workers. Connection is a recurrent theme in his creative work, and deriving human emotions is what challenges him. His goal is to leave his audience with a sense of connection and adoration for its subject while maintaining the human element. His craft has granted him the opportunity to travel all over the world, in turn inspiring him to convey that message through his work. Enrique started MEZA in 2003. Since then, he has built a forward-thinking business using creative concepts, campaigns, and collaboration with both traditional marketing agencies and mid to large-sized companies. Enrique’s favorite part of the job is working with different industries and meeting various people from all walks of life. Outside the studio, Enrique loves to hang with his family, travel, hike, and explore the local food scene wherever he might be.

Books: 

Creative Calling: Establish a Daily Practice, Infuse Your World with Meaning, and Succeed in Work + Life Chase Jarvis 

Nat Strafaci is a licensed therapist, clinical supervisor, psychic medium, and spiritual herbalist living and working on Lenape and Yokuts land. Their private practice centers the healing of Queer and Trans People of Color at the intersection of spirituality and mental health. They are a graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work and the Sacred Vibes Apothecary Spiritual Herbalism Apprenticeship Program. Informed by almost 15 years of school and community-based work, Nat also provides consultation and training to groups and organizations seeking to deepen their understanding of gender, sexuality, pleasure, trauma, and intuition.Nat offers tarot, mediumship, and consultation sessions at En Las Nubes Spa in Tower District.I really enjoyed talking with Nat and love that they have relocated and will share their knowledge and experience with us.

Books

Mean Miriam Gerba

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma Stephanie Foo

Sour Heart: Stories Jenny Zhang 

Today, we have Alison LeClair on the show of the Breadroom Bakery. Alison made her first loaf of bread in 2008, while studying speciality cake baking. Almost 10 years later and still thinking fondly of that first Pullman loaf, she began keeping a sourdough starter and casually baking with it in 2017. It wasn’t long before she realized that baking bread for people was a very cool way to spend her time. She continued to bake for her community while transitioning to a new city in 2020, where she left her moving boxes full of baking supplies, labeled “the bread room”, sitting around long enough that there was no choice but to call her workspace Breadroom Bakery. Alison (and the breadroom) reside in a 100+ year old house in a very charming part of Fresno, CA, with a porch just big enough for a few dozen loaves of bread (sometimes sourdough cookies) to be picked up by friends and neighbors every week. To her, baking bread as an occupation feels like commitment to a lifelong discovery of people, relationships and of the romance of food that we can all be partaking in a bit more often than we do. She hopes to help offer those moments of discovery to everyone she connects with through breadroom.

Books: 

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking Samin Nosrat (Author), Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrator)

A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison 

Tartine Bread Chad Roberston

Today we have Elliott Balch on the show. Elliott is the president and CEO of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, which is a 501(c) 6. The Partnership is leading downtown Fresno toward its future as a vibrant hub of business activity by promoting downtown’s image; supporting physical improvements and development; advocating for merchants; and hosting special events that bring new life to the historic core of our city. We discuss a lot in this conversation including Public Private Partnerships, signage, parking meters, Chukchansi Park, police presence and the benefits of bicycle patrols, the homeless issue, Christmas Tree Lane, Oppenheimer, Peeve’s, Gentrification, Noise Ordinances, and so much more.

Books:

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World Henry Grabar

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck