Going Deep with Aaron Watson

Bobby is the CEO and cofounder of Thrill Mill, Pittsburgh's premier early-stage incubator/accelerator for entrepreneurs looking to turn that great idea into the next big thing. Thrill Mill, a non-profit organization, accepts applications annually, awarding a minimum of $5,000 per startup in exchange for 1% equity. Startups, which come from all industries and all growth models (including non-profits), are selected through the competitive application process gain access to first-class programming, mentorship, advisors, and broad networks to refine business models, reach target customer audiences and fund startups through their growth stages.

He is also a "reformed lawyer" and unapologetically Pittsburgh-proud. He is focused on the present and future of his city. He also created Thrival Festival, a music and innovation festival, to shine a national and international spotlight on the beautiful, creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial city that Pittsburgh has become.

Bobby’s Challenge; For a week, smile as much as possible and always say “please” and “thank you”. Focus on your people skills and let Bobby and Aaron know your results!

Articles
Urban Innovation Exchange

Connect with Bobby
Twitter @bigzintheburgh
@thrivalfestival
@ThrillMillPgh
LinkedIn
Thrill Mill
Thrival

Tim DeByl started the Madison Radicals franchise in the AUDL in 2012 and has coached the team to the championship game of the AUDL playoffs twice. He has leveraged his experience running a marketing and design company for  over a decade to make the Radicals one of the marquee teams in professional ultimate.

In episode thirty-nine, Tim and Aaron discuss the expansion of the league, wearing multiple hats for the Radicals, and Tim’s hope for the future of the sport.

Tim’s Challenge; The next time you are in a heated conversation with someone, take the time to really listen to what they are saying and not just waiting for your turn to speak.

Connect with Tim

Twitter

LinkedIn

Website

email; [email protected]

Dan McCoy was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect caused by the incomplete formation of vertebrae, and hydrocephalus, a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the brain. He’s never let those conditions stop him from becoming an athlete, though, as he started playing sled hockey at age five and even served as goalie for his high school’s junior varsity lacrosse team for a season.

He helped Team USA earn a Gold Medal at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. As a member of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, he has played in three International Paralympic Committee Ice Sled Hockey World Championships (gold – 2012, 2015; silver – 2013) and six World Sled Hockey Challenge tournaments.

Dan McCoy’s sled hockey career began with the Pittsburgh Penguins Sled Hockey Team in 1999 and continues to play with that same team today. He made his first U.S. National Developmental Sled Hockey Team in 2008. Following an outstanding 2010-11 debut with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in which he was tied for the lead among Team USA rookies with eight points (5-3) in 13 games, McCoy was named 2011 Rookie of the Year.

McCoy is currently a student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is pursuing a degree in Communications and Sports Medicine.

Dan’s Challenge; Do something to jumpstart your heart rate every day.

Articles

Team USA profile

Pittsburgh Tribune Live

Connect with Dan

Twitter

Instagram

Jennifer is the owner and founder of Blue Ridge Hiking Company. The speed-hiker set a new overall thru-hike record on the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail by completing it in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes. It was the quickest recorded completion of the iconic East Coast trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. Davis began her journey from Mount Katahdin in Maine, the trail’s northern terminus and ended at Springer Mountain, Georgia on July 31, 2011. To break the record, Davis hiked an average of almost 50 miles a day, camping along the trail

Founded in 2008, Blue Ridge Hiking Co. is committed to getting people outdoors on their own terms. By providing custom trips and individualized itineraries, they create trips for a backpacking novices or groups seeking a challenge.

Jen’s adventures have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. She has appeared on national television shows such as CNN Headline News, Fox and Friends, the CBS Early Show and the 700 Club. Jennifer has been named Blue Ridge Outdoors Person of the Year and a National Geographic Adventurer of the year. Her Appalachian Trail record was voted Ultrarunning Magazine’s Female Performance of 2011.

Jenn’s Challenge; Go outside and spend 20 minutes alone in nature.

Jen’s Books

Becoming Odyssea: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail

Called Again: A Story of Love and Triumph

Articles

Backpacker Q&A

Connect with Jen

Twitter @jenpharrdavis

@blueridgehiking

Instagram

Facebook

Website

Sophia is the CEO and co-founder of Trusst Lingerie, a company that has reengineered the bra for larger-busted women. She left her job as a product manager in August of 2014 to co-found her company and enter the AlphaLab Gear accelerator in Pittsburgh.

Sophia comes on the show and discusses launching her first product, running a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $80k with just a $25k goal, and building her team.

Trusst’s first product launched in October 2015 and will be delivered in the spring. Check it out!

Sophia’s Challenge; Track your fitness for 100 days. 100 day challenges will help you build new effective habits.

Articles

Today feature article

Connect with Sophia

Twitter

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

Trusst Lingerie Website

Email; [email protected]

Barry L. Ritholtz is the founder and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Launched in 2013, RWM is a financial planning and asset management firm, with over $175 million in assets. The firm offers a variety of services to the investing public, including LiftOff — a low cost online-only investment site.

In addition to running a wealth management and financial planning firm, Ritholtz is a frequent commentator on many financial topics. He was named one of the “15 Most Important Economic Journalists” in the United States, and has been called one of The 25 Most Dangerous People in Financial Media. He writes a daily column for Bloomberg View and a twice monthly column on Personal Finance and Investing for The Washington Post.

His book Bailout Nation became the best reviewed book on the bailouts, with NYT calling it “an important book about a complicated subject, and yet you could still read it at the beach.” It was named “Investment Book of the Year” by Stock Trader’s Almanac.

Ritholtz hosts a series on Bloomberg Radio, called Masters in Business. He also authors The Big Picture — a leading financial weblog, generating several million page views per month. The Big Picture covers investing, trading, macroeconomics, and much more. The blog has amassed over 130 million visitors. TED named TBP one of top 100 Websites You Should Know and Use and numerous traffic sites rank The Big Picture as one of

Want to learn about the photography business? What about a creative foundation aimed at empowering women and sharing impactful stories? Meet John Craig.

 John has been a photographer for over 25 years and has photographed everything from weddings and portraits to landscape photography and corporate gigs. John likes to keep tons of side projects going to keep the machine oiled and as such has an incredible "Pittsburgh at Night" collection that has been on display in several gallery shows throughout the 'Burgh. Also pretty savvy with the film side of a camera, John has a pretty impressive portfolio of films for local events, small business commercials, special interest projects and random awesome people (like his wife).

John started The Beauty Within Foundation with his wife Elizabeth. The foundation’s mission is to inspire and empower women to not only recognize their outer beauty through photography but also their beauty within through storytelling. The project aims to reach women that have survived, achieved or triumphed over difficult circumstances that challenged their self-confidence, their sense of self or their power and are utilizing those experiences to inspire and empower other individuals or communities.  

Their site is a collection of these stories and photos that can be viewed, shared and used as a resource of strength and inspiration with the hope that women from all around the world will read these stories, see these photos and realize, no matter what they are going through, they are not alone.

John’s Challenge; Go on a walk and take 5 pictures of things that go unnoticed

Connect with John

Twitter

LinkedIn

Photography Business

Beauty Within Foundation

Scott Wolovich started New Sun Rising to help incubate social enterprises and artists in the greater Pittsburgh area. The organization’s mission is to empower creative projects in the Pittsburgh region through fiscal sponsorship, mentoring, and community building.

New Sun Rising ignites, launches, and grows impact throughout the social innovation ecosystem. Their programs operate at the intersection of people + place + innovation. They also help non-profits and for profits build, test, and implement plans that funders love.

We discussed non-profits v. for-profit organizations, courting investors and much more.

Scott’s Challenge; Carry a notebook to get ideas out of your head and into the world.

Recommended Media

The Do Something Principle - Mark Manson

“Ah, so you run a lifestyle business?” - Happy Startup School

Social Enterprise: An Idea Whose Time Has Come - British Council

Connect with Scott

Twitter @newsunrisingpgh

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

Mark is a partner at a public relations and advertising agency based in Pittsburgh. He helps clients achieve results in a multitude of difficult environments. In episode 30, he talks about running a boutique advertising and public affairs firm that specializes in political campaigns and issue advocacy.

His company was named to on of Inc.’s 1000 fastest growing companies in the country by helping candidates, causes, and corporations achieve their goals through television, radio, print, digital, grassroots, and earned media.

Book Recommendations

On Advertising by David Ogilvy

Confessions of an Ad Man by David Ogilvy

The Real Mad Men: The Renegades of Madison Avenue and the Golden Age of Advertising by Andrew Cracknell

Mark’s Challenge; Take someone that you haven’t seen in awhile out to lunch.

Connect with Mark

Twitter @markdharris

@coldsparkmedia

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

Erik Kulick is the owner, founder and chief instructor of the True North Wilderness Survival School. He drew upon his passion for the outdoors and his almost thirty years of teaching experience to found True North in 2011. Growing up as a backpacker and paddler, Erik has taught for regional and national outdoor programs, including the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery School. He has spent the last ten years focusing his training on wilderness survival in various programs and has studied under Byron Kerns, a former US Air Force SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) instructor.

Erik also works in emergency medicine as a National Registry Emergency Medical Technician, a Wilderness EMT, and a Pennsylvania certified EMS Instructor.  He is also a Wilderness Emergency Care Instructor for American Safety & Health Institute, and a BLS Instructor for the American Heart Association.  Erik teaches at the Center for Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  He runs a series of programs which trains EMS providers, physicians, and law enforcement in wilderness medicine and survival skills.  Erik is a member of the National Association of EMTs and the Wilderness Medical Society, where he is also a candidate for Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM).  Erik also actively serves in the Allegheny County EMS system helping the residents of various communities.

With a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Masters in Business from Duquesne University, Erik draws upon his experience from the corporate world to help individuals and organizations maximize their potential. Erik is a registered Merit Badge Counselor with the Boy Scouts of America serving the Laurel Highlands and Westmoreland-Fayette Councils.

Erik’s Challenge; Push yourself beyond your boundaries and acquire a new skill, be it wilderness survival related or otherwise.

Articles

CNN Interview

The Guardian

CBS

Connect with Erik

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website