Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Luxury awaits you at Culture A Day Spa in Frisco. Holiday specials, like the Arctic Berry and Peppermint Facial, are a perfect retreat for yourself or to give as a gift to someone who could use pampering.  In this episode, Katelin Schebler talks to us about what’s different about Culture A Day Spa and what they do to keep you relaxed, comfortable, and safe. Katelin is an involved local business owner, to say the least, greeting customers, booking appointments, and even providing treatments alongside her fantastic team.  Enjoy this episode as you hear about Culture’s divine treatments, including the Illuminating Diamond Facial, the Couples Retreat, and the Meridian Massage.  Don’t miss these HOLIDAY SPECIALS: Artic Berry and Peppermint Facial: 80 minutes $200 Hot Stone Peppermint and Citrus Massage: 80 minutes $185 SHOW NOTES: [00:34] What is Culture A Day Spa? [02:02] Unique experience Katelin envisioned [03:36] Involved Local Owner [06:09] Changes 2020 brought [10:37] Favorite Treatments [20:35] Holiday Specials LINKS & RESOURCES: Culture A Day Spa on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. Today, we’re talking skin and spa with Katelin Schebler, owner of Frisco’s Culture A Day Spa. Welcome, Katelin, how are you? I’m doing well, Kelly. Thank you for having me. Excited to talk about Culture A Day Spa because I have, um, visited there now several times recently. And so, I want to share that with other people. For those who haven’t visited yet, can you just tell us a little overview about what Culture A Day Spa is all about? Yes, of course. So, we are a locally owned, small business. And we are located in Frisco, Texas at the corner of Warren and Parkwood. And we are a five-star luxury spa. So, we focus on luxury massages, facials, body treatments. We’re very much, um, focusing on the experience for our guests. We want to be an escape and a retreat for everyone here in Frisco, Texas. And so, when our guests come in, they get provided a private locker room in either our men’s locker room or women’s locker room. We have showers, all of our guests go into robes and slippers and they get to really enjoy their time with us. We also feature a relaxation lounge where everyone can relax before and after their treatments. Currently, we’re serving a White Riesling, hot tea, bottled water, chocolates, and mints for everyone to enjoy. We also have seven treatment rooms for massages and facials, a beautiful couples suite with an oversized hydrotherapy shower, and we offer private dining for our guests, as well, where we can cater up to a three-course meal for a group of either one to our up-to six. Wow. So those are a few examples of different unique things that make Culture A Say Spa different from, um, I don’t know, just many of the other spots that people might have been in. So as, as this is, you know, your, your baby, your idea that was brought to life- and happy two-years, by the way. Thank you so much. We’re so excited. So, how did you envision this? ‘Cause some of these things that you mentioned seem very intentional when you’re in there, like, so well thought-out and mapped out. So is, you know, talk about how you planned for that to make this feel so unique and luxurious. Well, you- and you were absolutely correct. Everything is very intentional, very purposeful. I always believe that the beauty is in the details and we really strive to make those details perfect for our guests. So I hand-picked and selected everything in the spa. Our layout is unique as well. We custom-designed our layout. All of our treatments are custom and unique, as well. And I’ve been in the industry for 14 years and have always been in the luxury-spa industry. So, when my husband and I moved to Frisco about 7 years ago, we really felt the need for luxury spa, where our guests have a beautiful experience. And also that employee experience is very important to us where we can have the best-of-the-best team members and give them a place to be successful and grow in their career. And that is really what we wanted with Culture, which is why the name Culture A Day Spa became about because we believe in changing the culture of the industry – not only from our guests’ experience and guests’ perspective, but also from our employee experience and employee perspective. I love that. And speaking of employees, your employees are awesome. Um, when you walk in, they’re, they’re so great when they greet you with that awesome, um, big rotunda, you have at the front there. But, you’re also often there. And I love that, too. I love that you’re the local business owner. Um, but, that you’re in the business on a day-to-day basis. Now, maybe it’s just every time I’m there, you’re there. I’m not sure. But, what is your involvement on a day-to-day basis? Yes. So, I am very passionate about, um, Culture. And I am- for the last two years, I have been there every day. Um, I absolutely love what I do. I love our guests. I love my team and I’m really want everyone to enjoy their experience. So, I am at the front sometimes, greeting and checking in the guests. I manage, I train the team, I hire the team. But as a licensed aesthetician, I also have clientele of my own. So, I’m often in the treatment room, performing treatments in addition to everything else that I’m doing on a daily basis. So, it’s fun every day. Every day is very different, as well. And it really, everything I do comes out of passion and I love it. I wouldn’t change anything. So, you’re in the rooms …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this episode, we catch you up to speed on what’s happening at Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway in Frisco. Manager Nick Williams explains the differences in carts, namely the ages and speeds for each type of cart, as well as the leagues, specials, and other activities besides cart racing. Did you know they have virtual reality and a STEM station? So many ways to participate with or without your foot on the pedal. Nick fills us in on the safety measures Kartland takes to keep you distanced and sanitized during your experience. Whether you are racing solo, enjoying a birthday party with friends, competing with your family on game night, or bonding with your teammates or colleagues, there’s plenty of fast fun to be had by all at Kartland. SHOW NOTES: [01:09] What to expect at Kartland and what’s different [03:49] COVID-19 Safety Measures [05:24] Kinds of activities and parties [07:13] Go-Karts speeds and ages [11:56] STEM and Leagues [15:50] All You Can Race [17:26] Family Owned [18:36] Where to find Kartland LINKS & RESOURCES: Kartland on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. Today we’re talking Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway. We have the guy who runs the place, Nick Williams, on Zoom with us. So, Nick’s going to give us a rundown of what’s going on over there at Kartland. Welcome, Nick; how are you? I’m good. I’m good. Just holding down the fort. It’s a lot of fun. Um, pretty fast. We’ve been doing this now, guess, Kartland since 2018, February, 2018. So, this upcoming February will be three years, um, of just letting everybody experience the rush. And I’m sure, I’m sure you guys plan really perfectly well for 2020, right? Nothing’s changed. Oh, yeah. Perfect. Perfectly. We’ve been going- actually, so, we opened up back again. Um, I think it was May 1st when everything was kind of allowed to start reopening. And since then, um, at each month keeps getting better. That’s fantastic. Good deal. Okay. Well, I want to talk to people about, um, you know – in general, people haven’t been in there yet? Why Kartland- maybe why it’s different from others? What they can expect when they go in. Let’s start with that. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, right now everything’s kind of COVID; it’s 2020. So, um, we recommend everybody wear masks when they come in. Um, once they get racing, we do require head socks, which are just- we sell them for $2 or you can bring in your own helmet if you don’t want to use one of our rental helmets right now. Okay. Um, um, we walk in the door and have y’all registered. Get y’all set up, um, on that. If you’ve been here before, great. But if you haven’t, we’ll get you on little waiver. Get you inside. Get you set up for the races. Give you your head sock. Get you on a little safety video. Teach you about the karts cause they are a lot different than your normal pop-up karts. They’re not your normal pop karts. Um, you’re going 45 miles an hour here on our indoor facility. You’re an inch off the ground and you’re racing. So, they are a lot different. We’re going to tell you everything. If you have any questions, my team’s awesome. They’ll take care of your racing line. If they see something that you can do a little bit better, be going faster, we’re definitely gonna help you out with that. Oh, cool. So, some of the stuff you mentioned, you probably can do online before you get in there too, right? Like registering and doing waivers. Some of that stuff could help, um, reduce the amount of, you know, waiting and or contact you have with folks when you get in there. Right? Exactly. Exactly. So, we actually now do online booking, so you can entirely book your race online. Um, that- just go to our website, go to “book now;” set you up right there. Select, uh, all your different race packages. Um, there are some that you can do in store that gets you a little bit of a better deal. Um, but our most popular items are all right there online. You can also, if you just want to get yourself registered so you don’t have to use the iPads when you come in, which are cleaned between every use, you can register online at that registration or register online link and sign your waiver. Uh, just come to the cashier when you’re ready and we’ll get you in your races. Okay. Okay. We keep mentioning the online. So, I just want to take that chance to say that it’s Kartland with a K kartland.com is where you can go to look at that stuff. And then I also want to make sure and call out – in August, we, um, did an article. So, lifestylefrisco.com, You guys can go look for an article entitled Kartland Waves The Green Flag on Indoor Fun. It’s a fun article so you learn even more than you’re going to learn from us probably here today. Um, so some different stuff. So go check that out. All right. So you mentioned about, um, ways online that we can register and maybe prevent some of the contact, but what are some of the other COVID related safety measures that you guys have going on? Yeah, obviously we’re- with the state mandate, you have to wear a mask whenever you come in. Um, we do now require a $2 head sock which covers your face. You’ll wear it. It’s a full-face or a full-head, head sock. So, it covers your hair, covers your head. Um, and you’ll wear it up over your nose just kind of like a ski mask. Um, you’ll …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Dawn Rice is in the business of teaching people to write. Write On! Creative Writing Center opened in March 2020 and learned quickly how to explore new formats, opportunities, and ways to serve the writing community for both kids and adults. What originally started from her teaching experience in the classroom, then moved to camps and workshops in her home, is now an amazing center just off of Main Street and 5th Street in The Rail District of Frisco, Texas. Writers at Write On! get the tools to feel confident about their writing process. From prompts to camps and workshops, anyone can unleash their imagination at Write On! Creative Writing Center. SHOW NOTES: [00:16] Write On! Background [02:56] How To Start Writing? [07:36] Write On! Workshops and Services [12:48] Dawn Rice’s First Writings [14:25] Dawn Rice’s Education Experience [18:42] More About Write On! LINKS & RESOURCES: Write On! on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And today we are chatting with Dawn Rice from Write On! Creative Writing Center in Frisco. Dawn, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It’s good to have you here. I am thrilled to chat with you today because, as you know, writing is a big part of what we do at Lifestyle Frisco. We have some very creative writers that come up with some wonderful ideas and concepts in the things that they do and you guys are in the business of teaching people writing and creative writing. And, um, so I’m just kind of fascinated by you and your story. What made you start this business? And, uh, how’s it going so far? I know you guys opened up back in March. So, kind of give us the background. Well, and as you said, back in March, we opened up and then everything went crazy right after we opened our doors. But, it gave opportunity for a lot of things that we wouldn’t have expected. And, um, and we’re going to chat about that a little later. But like, with zoom and, and, um, just being able to, um, you know, explore things and offer opportunities that maybe we might not have otherwise. But I’m a little background on Write On! is, um, as an educator, I, um, loved bringing writing to my students and, um, through some opportunities that I had, I was trained and, um, gained skills to make writing more exciting and fun for my, my students that I was teaching. And rather than have it just being, you know, one time per month that we would visit a writing piece, we made writing part of our day every day. And, um, so through that process, I was so excited that I could see the results of these, these students go from being reluctant, um, writers or struggling writers to being passionate writers and excited about it. And those who were already somewhat proficient, just growing in their skills. And so, um, when I moved here to Texas, Write On! was born in my home and I had writers come for camps and workshops. And again, just being able to share that experience and seeing the benefits of it in trans- you know, seeing how it translated into their school writings. And, um, it just was very exciting. And I’m sure very satisfying to watch them grow as writers and get better at what they do. Yes, yes. There’s nothing better than having a writer come to a workshop and being very apprehensive and really myself, not thinking, wow, not knowing where they’re going to be able to go that day. And then having a time where we call Author’s Chair and having the writer share and just being like, you know, shocked in a positive way to see the results. And I’m, that’s probably one of the most fulfilling things is just to see what writers come up with no matter what their skill level. So, when somebody comes to you and I’m sure heard this before, and they say, well, I’m not a natural writer. I’m not a talented writer, uh, or they just haven’t really done much writing in the past: how do you get somebody started? Like how do you see them with the right ideas or the right motivation to sort of dive in and start putting words to paper? Because I will admit, there are times, you know, I do most of my writing online, but opening it up to write a post for Lifestyle Frisco, go for example, um, you know, that blank page can be kind of daunting – whether it’s a piece of paper or, you know, on your screen. So, how do you, how do you get them moving in the right direction? No, I, that’s a great question. And, and really what we do is I think the approach is the best way I could put it. Um, if somebody comes in and tells me that they’re, you know, not a good writer or they’ve had negative experiences, or they don’t know where to start, really one of the, the phrases to live by is “the more you write, the better writer you become.” And that doesn’t mean you have to be writing essays to be a better writer. Um, you actually, any kind of writing. If you’re journal writing, if you’re writing to prompts, if you’re writing just fun stories or just letting your thoughts flow, you are writing and therefore becoming a better writer. So when writers come here to Write On! uh, we always start our workshops with a writing prompt, and they really aren’t connected necessarily to our lesson that we’re going to do that day; but, they are very easy to respond to prompts no matter what …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Charlie Wendell fills us in on what’s new with Melody of Hope, like transitioning from a Gala to a Music Festival. On November 6th, 2020, headliner Abby Anderson leads a roster full of talent for Melody of Hope’s Encore! Drive-in Music Festival. The Festival starts at 5pm at Verona Villa. Attendees will have designated tailgate space with 6-foot buffers for some built-in social distancing. Car passes are available at www.melodyofhope.org/musicfest. In addition to the music, you’ll also find food trucks, a silent auction PLUS a broadcast option too, for those of you who aren’t able to get tickets. Let the music bring hope, Frisco! For additional fun details about the event, read: A New Melodic Twist of Hope on an Old Classic in Frisco SHOW NOTES: [1:10] What’s changing with Melody of Hope [4:30] Artists coming to Frisco [7:00] How will the music festival look in 2020? [8:46] Event details [11:24] Additional ways MOH is helping in the community [14:08] Overview on updates for the nonprofit LINKS & RESOURCES: Melody of Hope on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Encore! Drive-in Music Festival Website Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Scott: Welcome to The Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And this episode, we’re chatting again with Charlie Wendell from Melody of Hope. Charlie, how are you? Charlie: Hey, Scott. I’m doing great. Thank you all so much for having me Scott: Glad to have you back on the podcast. And we’re going to talk about some of the changes to what’s happening with melody of hope and your events, and what’s been happening around town, but, where do we find you right now? Are you working from home or are you able to get out and about a little? Charlie: Yeah, it’s kind of, it’s both, you know, but even before COVID I worked out of my office and I joke that that’s how melody of hope is able to provide so much more funding towards our events and nonprofits is because I don’t have an office rent and I work from home. So it’s been great. Um, I’ve definitely been out and about, a lot of our networking groups have still been meeting and I’ve been meeting a lot of people on zoom as well. So it’s been kind of a hybrid for us over here. Scott: Very good. We’re glad to hear you’re staying safe and doing well. Um, so let’s talk a little bit about what’s coming up this year because the last time you and I actually had a chance to speak was almost a year ago at your big gala last year, hard to believe it’s already been that long. Um, but you guys are making some changes to how you operate and how you do things. So why don’t you kind of walk us through what’s going on? Charlie: Yeah, it’s crazy how fast a year goes by? I mean, I remember we recorded the podcast probably a year ago today, and then the gala was about 10 months, 11 months ago. So, um, yeah, we’ve been making a lot of changes. Our, our board decided even before all the COVID stuff happened that we wanted to kind of shift away from a gala. The gala’s been a really sweet spot for us and just a great event, but we, um, you know, it costs us about 40, 30 to 40 grand to put the gala on and, you know, all that’s on the cheaper side, we just thought maybe that would be that money could be used towards maybe hiring a big headliner or a big talent to come in and maybe do a music festival. And so we were already thinking about this idea of transitioning from a gala to a music festival as our big, you know, our signature event and just to help, you know, I think that would help bring tourism and, you know, bring people from all over the North Texas area to come into our city and to help that. So, yeah, we’ve, we’ve been transitioning to a music festival before COVID. Scott: Okay. Well, certainly for anybody that’s ever put on an event, like the gala that you guys were doing knows how much work and how expensive those can be. So I commend you guys for that decision. Um, it’s funny because I remember several years ago, uh, when Wendi and I were here in Frisco, there weren’t really any events happening or very few, you know, where you would kind of get dressed up and go out and go to, you know, a nice event like that. And now it seems like there’s a lot of them happening, especially around this time of year. So it’s interesting to hear how you guys are differentiating yourselves. Charlie: Yeah. It was also interesting because, you know, they’re, you know, the 90 10 rule, there’s like 10% of people that do 90% or go to 90% of events. And so we felt like we were maybe pulling from the same, you know, group of people and, you know, that’s expensive if you’re one of those, you know, 10% that goes to everything that gets kind of expensive to go to galas and, you know, while it’s helping good causes, we just thought maybe we’ll just bring the community together and have cheaper tickets, but still have a really big event. And so that’s kinda what, another reason we decided to switch to the festival. Scott: Yeah. And then the music festivals, a neat idea too, because it’s not really something we have in Frisco. I mean, there’ve been a couple of big, you know, um, Edge Fest and things that have come through town, nothing that’s local and, and focused on what you guys do. Charlie: Yeah. We had noticed that too. We did a little bit …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Let’s talk health and fitness. In this week’s episode, we chat with Beth Crain, owner of BEYOND Pilates Frisco, where she and her team work with clients from ages 16 to senior citizens. Pilates is a mix of resistance and strength training in a low-impact environment. The signature class at BEYOND features their reformer to help work all major muscle groups in a 45-minute format. Listen as we talk about the sweat-drenching challenge of the various types of classes and the ‘work zones’ within them! We also learn about the journey Beth is on adapting to the necessary changes due to COVID-19, including crafting a safe reopen plan with a consultant after being closed for 11 weeks in the late spring of 2020. BEYOND Pilates Frisco is growing! Hear about the new store coming to west Frisco! SHOW NOTES: [00:40] Intro to Beth Crain [1:56] How Beyond is different [4:45] Full Body [6:00] Changes due to COVID-19 [12:23] Gyms may be safer than you think [15:15] Pop Up studio (Legacy & Lebanon) and future studio (Lebanon & 4th Army) [19:10] Fall Challenge LINKS & RESOURCES: Beyond Pilates on Lifestyle Frisco | Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Kelly (00:06): Welcome to the Frisco podcast and welcome to Beth Crain with BEYOND Pilates. We’re talking health and fitness today. Welcome Beth, how are you? I’m good. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thank you for joining us. So we have talked to you before on The Frisco Podcast, but a lot has changed a lot has changed in everybody’s lives, but I want to learn to see what’s changed and how things have evolved over at beyond since we last talked to you here. Um, so can you just kind of get us started with sort of the basics, first of all, who you are and introduce yourself to us and how you’re connected to BEYOND. Beth (00:40): Absolutely. Well, I am Beth and I am the owner of BEYOND Pilates here in Frisco. We opened at the very end of 2017. So we’re coming up on our third birthday, which we’re super excited about. This year we’re celebrating by adding our second studio in West Frisco. So I think we’ll talk about that a little later in the podcast. Anyways, I have an amazing, amazing team of instructors and studio staff and an on-staff nutrition coach over at BEYOND. Um, and we just, we work with men and women from like 16 to senior citizens every week. And, um, just help everyone get stronger and stay healthy. Kelly (01:22): Well, one of the people that you have worked with is me recently. So, um, one thing I, I guess, you know, to communicate to the audience, a couple of words that, that remind me of being in there, so work zone. So these teachers get you in these positions and you work really specific muscle groups, and then they, then they hit you with the surprise that you’re about to get into a work zone. And, you know, you’re going to hold, so do the, do these other movements. So, um, I feel those four days and I love that feeling sore. You feel like, you know, you can tell you did something good. So give me sort of the philosophy on these moves and how this, how going to BEYOND is different than, um, maybe hitting a yoga yoga studio or doing just hit classes at a gym or all the other things that people do for fitness. Beth (02:10): Yes. So people walk into the studio all the time and are like, I need to do Pilates that I need to stretch. And our first reaction is always like, Oh, well, we’re not exactly a stretching studio. Um, you do work on your flexibility while you’re there, but really by nature, Pilates is meant for strength training and, um, resistance training and a low impact environment. So you’re not like jumping up and down and pounding on your joints, which gets important as we get older. So our classes are 45 minute format, always, using equipment. So you’ll either be using our Pilates reformers, which have been fully customized to the way that we run our classes at BEYOND, or the Pilates chair. Um, and then we throw in a little, some other accessories to keep it interesting. Um, you’ll always get a full body workout. So you’re going with the reformer studio, our signature 45 minute class. You’re going to get upper body, lower body and core every time you go beyond. Um, and then we also have a studio that’s more like Pilates interval training, which combines Pilates chairs with kettlebells for like an amazing calorie torching 30 minute session. Um, and that is either your abs and arms format or abs and ass. Um, and that one is just like drenching, sweat. I don’t think you were able to do it when you were in the studio this month, but. Kelly (03:30): Well, just because I didn’t do that one doesn’t mean I wasn’t drenching sweat. I was drenched with the basic class, so I love it. Beth (03:37): And it’s not, I mean, it’s not basic. And I think what’s amazing about the way we teach our classes at BEYOND, um, one what I found cause I was a client at the Dallas studio before, um, we talked to the woman who created it and we’re able to bring it up to Frisco. So, um, I loved that everything was set to music. It’s like a rhythm based Pilates class kind of like, I don’t know, soul cycle. Exactly. Even though we were in Dallas before SoulCycle was so credit to Brandy Marino for creating our concept. The classes fly by because of the music. And like, even if you’re in the worst of it, like, you …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, let’s debunk the notion that only wealthy people can make a difference in their community. We discuss some of the things the Communities Foundation of Texas is doing to serve our communities, including their notion that every person is a philanthropist. Educate Texas, Working Families Success, the W.W. Caruth Jr Fund, and North Texas Giving Day are just a few of the huge ways they spread the love and give back to those in need. CFT manages more than donor-advised funds and agency funds focused on trying to better the quality of life of residents in Collin County.   SHOW NOTES: [00:45] History of CFT & Programs [7:55]  Expanding in Collin County [10:10] COVID-19 North Texas Cares Fund [11:14] North Texas Giving Day [17:10] How to get involved LINKS & RESOURCES: NorthTexasGivingDay.org | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Website: Communities Foundation of Texas Communities Foundation of Texas on Lifestyle Frisco Email Sarah Beeks Humphrey: [email protected] Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Kelly: Welcome to today’s episode of the Frisco podcast. Sitting in for Scott Ellis today I’m your host Kelly Walker. We’re talking nonprofits and community giving today. We have Communities Foundation of Texas with us and joining us with Communities Foundation of Texas. We have Sarah Beeks Humphrey. She is the Director of Charitable Giving Collin County and Jeri Chambers, the Donors Relations Officer Collin County. Welcome ladies. How are you guys doing today? Thank you, Kelly. It’s a pleasure to be here today. Thank you for the opportunity. Yeah. We’re excited to tell our audience about what you’re doing over there at Communities Foundation of Texas. So to give us just sort of a little history, can you, um, can you give us a brief history and what Communities Foundation of Texas is? Sarah: Absolutely. Communities Foundation of Texas is the largest community foundation in the state of Texas. We were founded in 1953 and we were founded by a number of philanthropic families that saw the need and certainly the benefit of a community foundation to serve the nonprofits and the individuals and the businesses to really match the needs that are in the community with the philanthropists and those that want to have life improved in DFW and in North Texas. So we started our community foundation as the Community Chest Trust, and that was back in 1953. So we’ve been in operation here in DFW and North Texas for a good number of years. We run several programs in house, such as our Educate Texas program, which is a statewide program, transforming public K through 12 and higher education systems across the state of Texas, really trying to improve every student’s chance for success through our programs that we run our partnerships that we have with a number of foundations and individuals and corporations across the United States and our policy work. So we have staff in Dallas and in Austin working with the state legislature on policy issues for education. And then we also have staff in the Rio Grande Valley working with very at risk youth in working to get resources for them, for improvement of the education system in the Rio Grande Valley. Kelly: We probably, um, with Educate Texas, it wasn’t something I was very familiar with before, you know, learning about you guys. That’s probably something that touches, like you said, all over Texas. Many of us that have school age children sounds like it reaches everyone K through 12. That’s probably something that you guys are impacting, you know, our daily lives and we not even know it. Sarah: That’s exactly right. That’s exactly right. Our partners are the school districts, the colleges, the universities across the state of Texas, obviously the businesses and the workforce organizations working on workforce development, many philanthropic agencies and foundations across the country, as well as the state of Texas. And of course the state agencies and policy-making organizations to really change the trajectory of how like education going forward. So we work with foundations, corporations, the Texas education agency, as well as the Texas workforce commission to really make education a priority in the state of Texas. Kelly: That’s a big one. What are some other initiatives that you guys have? Sarah: Yes, indeed. We also work with the Working Families Success model, and that is an economic security for working families. It is providing a framework for nonprofits to deliver key services and financial support, to low income families using an integrated approach for many nonprofit agencies working together in three core services. So we work with employment services to provide skill assessment, job training, and job search and placement assistance. We also work with businesses and corporations on income support or benefits, screening applications, assistance, um, housing assistance, tax prep, and such. And we also provide an opportunity for the third area, which is the financial coaching. So it provides financial education counseling access to financial services. So that is a another really important program that our philanthropic team are really in charge of and make sure that they are addressing the issues in the low income families so that we can provide some additional assistance and provide resources to help them, their families going forward. Kelly: Can you tell me about the WW Caruth Jr. Fund and what that is? Sarah: Yes. The WW Caruth Jr Fund is one of our large, uh, supporting organizations that is administered through CFT., WW Caruth Jr and his family set up the fund with CFT back in 1974. And the thrust of this fund was to provide transformational multi-year grants in the areas of education, health, and scientific research and public safety. So it’s a large portion of our asset base. Communities Foundation of Texas, $1.2 billion under management assets under management. And that includes over a thousand donor advised funds …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Texas WealthWave Senior Marketing Director Bryan Linder is here to discuss how his financial service company aims to help educate families and businesses in Frisco with financial management, and his advice for financial planning during the COVID-19 pandemic. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introduction [02:15] What makes Texas WealthWave different? [04:00] Current events and current conversations [06:37] What common questions are people are asking now? [08:50] Available resources Texas WealthWave offers [13:10] Bryan’s advice in the current climate [15:00] How to get in touch with Texas WealthWave LINKS & RESOURCES: Texas WealthWave on Lifestyle Frisco Texas WealthWave Website Texas WealthWave: Instagram | Facebook Bryan Linder: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast I’m your host, Scott Ellis, and today we are hanging out with Bryan Linder from wealth wave. Bryan, welcome to the show. Hey, thank you so much. I’m excited to talk to y’all. Appreciate you taking the time to join us. I want to dig in and talk a little bit about what you guys do because I think people have known you for a couple of things around Frisco, but we really want them to understand what WealthWave is and what you guys do. And I think from that we’re going to spring forward into some, some current event conversation around that as well. But why don’t you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and the story of WealthWave. Yeah, I appreciate it. That’s good. Yeah. You know what happens is funny, whenever I go somewhere they’re like, Bryan, we see you all the time, but what do you really do for a living? What do you actually do? And so, you know, I, I do want to let people know, you know, I’ve been in the financial services industry, uh, 17 years. I’m going into my 18th year and I’ve owned and operated, uh, an independent agency of my own starting in ‘07. So the first part of that I was corporate and the rest of it, I’ve owned my own business, central Texas, and it’s grown to over 2000 agents across the United States at this point. But we just moved our headquarters to Frisco last in September. So we operate right there out of the Star, right in formation. And so we’re excited about expanding there. And so I guess to kind of wrap it up in a real quick nutshell, I mean, when you think of financial services, you think of companies like Merrill Lynch and Edward Jones and New York life and Fidelity and some of these bigger firms. And basically that’s what we do in one place. So we’re a brokerage within wealth way. We can represent about 300 different companies to help individuals, families, families, businesses, really with anything financial related between budgeting, debt management, college savings, retirement, estate planning, all those things. We do all that right there in Frisco. I didn’t realize you guys were quite that big. 2000 agents? Yes. Yeah, we, you know, we started with just a couple. We expanded across a course, a bulk of them. They’re in Texas, probably about 1200 here in Texas. The other 800 are spread out throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Okay, very good. So one of the first questions that comes to my mind is how is, how, how, what makes you different with respect to how working with um, you know, kind of mid middle tier clients rather than going to the really high end stuff. Like how does that, how is that different for people like us, for families and Frisco? Yeah, that’s a great question. You know, my dad started in the industry back in 1979 he actually opened up out of his Purina feed store right there in downtown Austin where the convention center is now today. And back then, you know, he started the company in a, in a vision that a business could create, could be created in our industry where instead of the wealthy being served by these financial advising firms, that everybody, the normal person, the coach that he coached with, the people that he sold cattle feed to get access to that type of management. But for them and for their own households, even though they didn’t have 200 300 $500,000 to invest, all they had was maybe 50 bucks a month. And so fast forward now 40 years later. And that’s really what separates us from most of the big firms and wire houses is I talked to people on a daily basis that can save $10 a month, some of them, some of them $500 a month. And now some are very wealthy clients. Of course it runs the gambit. But where we have our strength is we can sit down for free with a client or a family and we get fully on in involvement in their financial household to deliver a strategy that doesn’t cost a dime for the information. And so I think that’s one of the benefits that we offer is I’ll, I’ll spend hours and hours developing a strategy and the client doesn’t have to pay me anything and I’m just there to provide that service and education. All right, that’s good to know. So, and I think, you know, kind of spilling over into current events, probably good timing for a lot of people because there’s, there’s a lot of folks that I know are feeling a lot of financial uncertainty right now and it’s probably a more important time than ever for people to have a chance to sit down with somebody to chat about what’s happening right now, how their finances are and, and having a game plan, I would think to deal with that. Are you guys having conversations with people around everything …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this episode, Frisco resident Lisa Stubbs talks to us about MONAT – the first in its space to offer naturally based products, focused on scalp health. She educates us on dry shampoo, styling tips, and more to help us get to a healthy head of hair. We also learn about Lisa’s own story to get to healthy hair AND financial health through MONAT. She’s proud to work with the number one premium hair care brand in the world! MONAT offers safe and sustainable hair and skin products for men, women, kids – and even pets now! SHOW NOTES: [00:48] MONAT: Modern Nature [02:25] Dry Shampoo Tips [06:37] REJUVENIQE™ Oil Intensive & Scalp Tips [07:50] Lisa’s Story of healthy hair and helping others [15:15] New and Notable MONAT News [19:00] How to find Lisa (972.693.3432) LINKS & RESOURCES: Lisa Stubbs on Lifestyle Frisco Lisa Stubbs Monat Website Monat Hair Quiz Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the new Frisco beauty podcast with Lisa Stubbs. Just kidding. It’s still the Frisco Podcast show, but I’m Kelly Walker and I’m sitting in today with our friend Lisa Stubbs of Monat. Hi Lisa. Hey, how’s it going, Kelly? It’s going really well. So thanks for jumping on with us today. I’m excited because you know, I’m a customer now of yours and so I’m like was excited to sit down and talk hair with you. I’m excited to be here and I know that you’ve talked to our audience before. Um, but for those who might be hearing your voice for the first time, I definitely want to start off with kind of a brief overview, like what is Monat? Sure. I would love to share. So money, it actually stands for modern nature, so it’s pronounced magnate if you’re curious. And we are actually focused on anti-aging. We are the first really in this space to offer naturally based products for both hair and skin, but most known for our shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and the focus or the focal point is on scalp health and it’s for men, women, and children. And we’re actually now officially the number one premium hair care brand in the entire world. So that is a huge bragging, right. Yes. And we use active cellular renewal, so it preserves natural or artificial color and is safe for hair extensions and any way we’re toxin-free vegan, gluten free leaping bunny certified, which means that we don’t do cruelty like animal testing and leaping bunny. That’s, yeah. Leaping bunny certified. It’s a big deal and it’s super expensive and we actually clinically trial every product and with thousands of choices. I don’t know any other brand that can offer all of that. So it’s pretty impressive. It is. It’s just to me, feels like it’s all, all of the stuff you just said to wrap it up. It’s like the healthy way to treat your hair. That’s how I feel like now that I, I mean it’s been a few months now since I’ve been one of your customers. I’m proud of that. Um, and because I’m a customer, I wanted to say that, um, I love the way my hair looks. Of course. I feel like it’s healthier than ever. But what I like about, um, getting to know you and work with you with my hair is that you educate me. I think it’s cool that, um, you help me understand like specific products that are best for me. For example, and you can, you can better explain this, but like you taught me about, um, like dry shampoo tips. Do you want to tell us about that? Sure. So one of the best things that I’ve learned is that if you will shake up the bottle until it’s cold, so you shake, shake, shake till it’s cold to the touch, and then when you spray it on, it’s best to do it at night if you’re shampooing in the morning. So that way the dry shampoo, ours is actually a conditioning dry shampoo, which sounds like an oxymoron, but it moisturizes the scalp because it doesn’t have a talk or a butane base. And so as your oil might start producing overnight, the dry shampoo is soaking that in. And so let’s say you hold it too close to the scalp and you get like a white residue by morning, you’re not going to see that right? So it’s pretty sweet that way. Yeah, it’s, I don’t know, I guess it’s the, no talc and no butane that you mentioned that’s different from some of the other dry shampoos I use. I jumped on the dry shampoo bandwagon a little while back, but it was always using a grocery store, bought dry shampoo, right. Kind of, I’m a cheap person so like I would buy like the cheaper versions of whatever. Um, and then once I switched over to using Monat, like it’s a totally different feel in my hair with the cheaper grocery store stuff I call it. I know you probably hate me saying that, but um, my hair, my fingers would get like kind of stuck in that, that dry shampooed hair. But now it’s still like a smooth, now that, that I do the tips that you just pointed out, like dry shampooing before bed, it’s a smoother hair the next day, dry shampoo and night brush it out, sleep on it, and then it just feels like a fresher head of hair that’s not like a clumpy with a bunch of weird products in it in the morning. Yes. It’s not suffocating your follicles and your scalp. Yeah. Another tip that you gave me and taught me about my hair is this whole four inches of your hair being alive, but so can you educate us real …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Guest Host Nicole Barron is back in the studio with Ann Anderson of Anderson Insurance Agency to discuss a wide variety of topics related to insurance, raising a family in Frisco, and the many seasons of life. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introduction [01:15] What’s new with Ann and her family [03:10] When kids go off to college and insurance questions [05:00] Seasons of life [08:30] Before Anderson Insurance Agency began [10:35] What people may forget or don’t consider when it comes to insurance [13:15] How people can reach Ann LINKS & RESOURCES: Ann Anderson on Lifestyle Frisco Anderson Insurance Agency Website Ann Anderson Business Page Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your guest host today. Nicole Barron, sitting with Ann Anderson of Anderson Insurance here in Frisco. Hi Ann. Hi. How are you Nicole? Good. It’s always a pleasure to see you. We got to do this together a year ago and at that time we had your lovely husband with us as well to chat and um, our relationship with you is so wonderful. You’re one of our favorite clients because you’re so fun to work with. You bring great content for us and the community adores you. Oh, thank you. Well, I love our community, so it makes it easy and it’s always been a great relationship with Lifestyle Frisco, so. Well thanks. I appreciate that. So you and I were chit chatting beforehand and trying to catch up personally a little bit and it was fun to talk about where your kiddos are now and how things have changed for your family in the last one, what would you say? 10 to 15 years. How long have you been here again? We just had 15 years. Yes. Years. So long. And we won’t, we won’t do the cliche. Oh, back when it was fields on La Hacienda Ranch, we’ll just breeze past that. Thank you. By the mall. Dirt roads. It’s been said. It’s been said. Um, so what is new with your family? How are things going? So I think a year ago our daughter was in college in North Carolina, but now she’s done a semester at Disney in an internship there with their college program, which was amazing. Also gave her some clarity and time to look back and think. So she’s moved home and is doing Collin for a semester. So our, our college junior is home, which is different dynamic. And our youngest is about to graduate from Frisco High School. So we’re um, he is very clear he’s going to go to Collin for a couple of years and then to Texas Tech. That’s been, he said that for years, uh, our, but now we’re looking at colleges again cause our junior needs to transfer, so to finish up somewhere. So we’re, we’re back at that kinda stage, but she’s, she’s very level headed and she has a much better idea of what she’s, where she wants to be. So good. We have such good options here. Do you do that? Play the parent card, like, you know, you could go to UNT and just the around the corner. Are you comfortable with them going off and being wherever they want to be? You know, she just did, you know, five, six months in Orlando without a car figuring it out. She only asked us for money once. She lived in an apartment with five other girls and have the most amazing time of her life. And I think she wants to go work for Disney for the rest of, for every forever. Right. She’s like a Disney fiend now. But um, so I don’t worry so as much, you know, um, we are, we are definitely looking at Texas colleges though she’s, she’s kind of put that like, I want to stay in Texas. It’s easier. It, you know, it’s not so far away. It’d be nice to kind of finish and then, and then we’ll see where life takes her. So, you know what, that’s a unique segue into what you do professionally and are so good at is insurance. And I have to wonder because I have little kids, we’re all very just living the Frisco life. Haven’t had to give thought to like the future future quite yet. From an insurance perspective, when you’re sending kids off to college in state, out of state, what do you have to think about? What are the, I mean that’s a giant question. It’s a huge question, you know, and I will tell you that, you know, we have attorney friends there. Of course, there’s so many things that they, they remind us of, you know, make sure you have a powers of attorney you have, there’s a number of legal documents when our kids turn 18 they immediately are not our children anymore. They’re adults in their own right. And so there’s a lot of legalities around that and being able to even just have access when you go. Okay. The first rude awakening was at the college when we went to, it was called one-stop and that’s where kind of the offices are. And you just went in and we wanted to find out some information about paying. We knew we wanted to pay them and they were like, we’re sorry. Do you have the code that your student would have given you to access her account? I was like, I want to give you money. I kid, she’s my kid. But those are real things and I, and I, I really understand the reasons for it. So, um, so yeah, even in insurance then we think about, well we need to make sure that, you know, she set up with insurance for her dorm room, …

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Buddy and Robyn from Visual Learning Solutions discuss how their business has evolved and how they have developed a novel solution to the challenges leaders often face with content development and distribution of training programs. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introduction [01:10] What is Visual Learning Solutions [02:45] How Visual Learning Solutions began [04:00] Services offered at Visual Learning Solutions [07:15] Content development in training courses [10:40] Benefits of using Visual Learning Solutions’ studio space [22:30] What questions should people ask Visual Learning Solutions [27:50] Where to find Visual Learning Solutions online LINKS & RESOURCES: Visual Learning Solutions on Lifestyle Frisco Visual Learning Solutions Website Visual Learning Solutions on Facebook Visual Learning Solutions on Twitter Visual Learning Solutions on LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And today we’re hanging out with Buddy and Robyn from Visual Learning Solutions. Guys, welcome to the show. Thank you very much Scott. It’s good to have you here. Visual learning solutions, I’m guessing you help people teach. Well are it’s, it’s visual because I’m a visual learner and uh, obviously we wanted when we pick the brand years ago and we wanted it to be in the name, you know what we do. So, uh, we designed training for the visual learner to be consumed as most people do now on some type of device. Uh, that’s really kind of where we started was picking a lane on, on how we’re going to deliver training. So it’s training, development, basically if you like most people have taken some type of online training, you’ve consumed, say a e-learning or watched a training video, that is what we do. Gotcha. Um, so just so I know kind of who we’re talking to here, if I’m going to teach a course, I wanted to develop a course that’s going to be out online in somehow consumed through devices online. Do I come to you to help me produce and develop that is, does that what I understand correctly then? Yes. So I, so I’m Buddy Broyles, I’m the CEO of the company. I’m the, I’m the uh, chief creative if you will, but I’m, I’m, I wear a lot of different hats and of course my business partner, Denise Broyles, she’s the operations manager in Robin’s seated to my right. She’s the senior creative editor and other things. But as when we’re approached and when we’ve talked to new customers, our goal is to understand basically from concept delivery and where they are in that cycle. So if you, for example, if you are a, uh, a typical trainer that is like instructor led, you lead courses, you talk in front of people in front of a room, maybe with a PowerPoint or something like that, we would want to understand, you know, what are your goals and who’s the greater audience you’re trying to reach for our co, our corporate customers, they will reach out to us and say, well buddy, we have instructional designers. People that understand how people learn and that are trained in that area. They’ve written a script or they have some type of content already created. We, we need your help fulfilling that either it’s video production or it’s a e-learning design or graphic design or even help designing the brand of that training. What does it look like? How, you know, what’s the user experience? How are people consuming that? So we can answer a lot of different questions based on whatever the need, whatever you bring to me as the, uh, even as someone who doesn’t know how people learn, but you know that you have a topic that you need them to consume. Then we just start the conversation there. Gotcha. So I’m curious what, uh, what was it that got you guys into this business and wanting to help develop courses and training and education for online consumption? Well, Robin, if you don’t mind just kind of start with your history. Well, I’m like Buddy, I’m a visual person. You know, I’ve always been a visual storyteller and a, I started out in the industry, you know, working TV and, and corporate stuff. And then I went into teaching for a while and I was in public education. And teaching is something that came very naturally to me. And so when I got out of education and came back to the, uh, production industry, I, you know, met up with Buddy. I, uh, knew him while I was teaching. He actually came and talked to my classes. Um, but it was a perfect fit for me because I could utilize my education background and my visual storytelling strengths and marry the two together. It’s kind of a management and have an Arthur. Yeah, for sure. Good deal. So I’m kind of curious when, when you’re putting together or helping somebody to kind of come up with a look in the field and in developing that, that online training, um, is it, are we building things that are not only maybe somebody on camera whiteboard stuff, but also graphics, infographics and kind of motion graphics and things like that, incorporate it into, do you guys do all that stuff? We do it all. And so as I’ve mentioned before, or possibly it’s concept to delivery, so, um, we’ll first, uh, we’d like to host what it’s called a discovery sessions, very similar to the marketing, uh, life cycle. So it’s essentially bringing all of the stakeholders together, even if it’s just one person on the other side of the table with us and to understanding their brand, their goals, their audience. So that’s the discovery. And that usually results in a report that is, this is the roadmap for what the project should look like from a …