Guiding Growth

Jonathan Buford is the CEO and founder of Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company. He grew up in Ohio and moved to Arizona in 2002, when he drove his rusted-out 1988 Chevy Nova out West to explore the vast Arizona landscapes. He launched his first business, a window cleaning company, out of his garage in 2006. In 2010, while backpacking through the Arizona wilderness, Jonathan was inspired to take his interest in craft brewing to the next level to start his own brewpub. He orchestrated a successful Kickstarter campaign to obtain the necessary capital and opened the Arizona Wilderness Brewpub in Gilbert, Arizona, in 2013 as the very first brewery in Gilbert.

Starting with just nine employees, Arizona Wilderness found quick success, growing rapidly and securing rave reviews from the likes of Esquire Magazine, The Phoenix New Times, Phoenix Magazine, Draft, Beer Advocate, and Sunset. Arizona Wilderness was even named “The Best New Brewery in the World” in 2013 by Ratebeer.com.

Today, Arizona Wilderness has more than 160 employees and operates the original Gilbert brewpub, a European-inspired beer garden in downtown Phoenix, and a warehouse production and barrel-aging facility. Arizona Wilderness continues to celebrate hand-crafted, artisanal beers that are inspired by the beautiful and diverse state of Arizona and is consistently rated the best brewery in Arizona and among the top 100 breweries worldwide (out of nearly 20,000 total breweries). Arizona Wilderness also receives regular acclaim for its food, including being recently named one of the top 100 restaurants in Phoenix by AZcentral.com.

In addition to providing world-class food and drink, Jonathan and his business partner, Patrick Ware, use their passion for the wilderness to continually drive improvements in Arizona Wilderness’ impact on its community. Jonathan and Patrick have driven initiatives to: (1) save huge amounts of water from the Verde River (more than 320 million gallons) by transitioning the brewery’s base malt to Sinagua Malt (which replaces heavy water use crops such as corn and alfalfa with barley in the Verde River Valley); (2) drastically reduce landfill usage by utilizing recyclable and compostable materials wherever possible; and (3) support local farmers and vendors by consistently seeking out local partners for all menu items, including exclusively offering 100% Arizona grass-raised and finished beef at the beer garden.

Jonathan is also pursuing a career in capturing Arizona landscape photography. He embarked on a project documenting all 90 Arizona Wilderness areas which will be published by Arizona Highways Magazine. He also frequently contributes to the magazine.

In the future, Jonathan looks forward to continuing to grow Arizona Wilderness to ensure a tangible, long-term, positive effect on Arizona.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Raised in Gilbert, AZ, Andi Ott has established herself as a dynamic business leader, blending her experience in both the healthcare and restaurant industries. With studies in Nursing at Grand Canyon University, nearly a decade of experience in healthcare, and early career experience managing restaurants, Andi has consistently demonstrated a strategic mindset and strong organizational skills. In 2019, she co-founded a Dog Haus Biergarten franchise with her husband, Damon, and quickly expanded their business across multiple locations in Arizona. Her leadership has been recognized with awards such as the Frank Zeolla Operator of the Year (2023) and Business Leader of the Year by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce (2024).

As she prepares to launch her new senior home care agency, The Next Chapter, this fall, Andi is excited to bring together her passion for business and her commitment to caring for others. Drawing on her diverse background, she is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality care to seniors in their homes, while continuing to empower and lead her teams toward excellence. Beyond her professional endeavors, Andi is actively involved in her community, serving on the Board of the Elite Business Alliance and enjoying outdoor activities with her family.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Dr Melody Medawar Rodarte is a double board-certified internist and obesity medicine specialist in Arizona. She was named one of Phoenix's Top Doctors in Obesity Medicine in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. She obtained her doctorate of osteopathic medicine from Midwestern University in 2002. She is also Certified in hyperbaric medicine, wound care and medical aesthetics, as well as bioidentical hormone replacement.

She absolutely loves personalized medicine and equipping her patients with tools to stay healthy as well as getting to the root causes of their illnesses.

She has been married to her husband Tony for 26 years, and they have 21-year-old twins. They love to travel the world and serve both their community and internationally. They formed a nonprofit called The Compassion Alliance to help support first responders.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Fran is the appointed President of For Our Town Gilbert, an organization that brings together the leaders of government, education, faiths, businesses, charities and more to focus on the community social uplifting needs like domestic violence elimination, mental health awareness-improvement, hunger, shelter, and many more. While this organization existed before she was asked to lead, it rarely had an impact on the town. During the first year of service the group grew For Our Town quarterly breakfast to over 100 participants, a food drive that has collected over 500K lbs of food; and thousands of school supplies.

She and her sweetheart of 36 years have 4 children (1 girl and 3 boys) and she has taught them the value of service and giving. She has one grandson with a granddaughter on the the way.

Before leading For Our Town, Fran helped to bring the JustServe initiative to Arizona. JustServe is a website that connects volunteers with non-profits to bring help to the heroes that lead these charities. www.JustServe.com She focused on Gilbert, the east valley of Phoenix to start. The initiative and website had zero volunteers and zero non-profits, and this was one of the first 5 cities to implement JustServe. She plowed the ground for future success and when she handed over the reins of the website/app it had thousands of volunteers and almost every charity in the area using it as their default volunteer connection site. You can now find JustServe in almost every city in the USA and in many other countries.

You’d think she didn’t have time for anything else, but she also is the co-Director of the Arizona Light the World GIVING MACHINES with her husband Steve. What is a Giving Machine? Well, they are vending machines that allow you to give to those in need by buying items for charities that are loaded in the machines. She manages the city leaders for seven cities in Arizona (Glendale, Gilbert, Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott, Gila Valley, and Snowflake). Each city has a committee of around 20 to 30 volunteers. The machines support 30 charities this past year and raised $1.5 million for the charities and ALL the donations (yes, 100% went to the charity). She’s co-led this work for 7 years and raised over $6M dollars total.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Lorraine Bergman is President and CEO of Caliente Construction, an award-winning, woman-owned company, continually recognized for its dedication to safety, exceptional construction services, and building strong relationships with clients. Under her leadership, Caliente has grown into Arizona’s 28th largest commercial building contractor and its 5th largest woman-owned company. AZ Big Media ranked Caliente #1 in the General Contractor category five out of six years between 2017 and 2023. Lorraine’s passion is serving her industry and her community.

Among Lorraine’s notable accomplishments are serving as the past President of the Arizona Builders Alliance, State Director for the Association of General Contractors, President of the Arizona Center for Job Order Contracting Excellence, and co-founder of Gilbert Leadership, Positive Paths, and Arizona State University’s Advancing Women in Construction. She is a two-time Athena Award nominee and winner of the ACE Most Admired CEO award, the ASU Spirit of Enterprise award, and the Construction Financial

Management Association’s Construction Executive of the Year award. Lorraine is currently a member of CEOs Against Cancer, AZ Builders Alliance Life Director, Northern Arizona University’s Women Taking Charge Initiative, Women Business Enterprise National Council, and TGEN Ambassadors. Lorraine has two children, and she is a devoted grandmother of five.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Originally hailing from San Diego, Cortnie's career in the hospitality industry began with a remarkable 12-year tenure at Starbucks Coffee Company. It was here that she developed a profound passion for creating an incredible company culture. Leveraging this passion and knowledge, she embarked on a new venture in San Francisco, managing the only Nespresso flagship location on the West Coast.

Her journey then led her deeper into the world of hospitality, managing one of San Francisco's most iconic and historic bars. In 2020, she relocated to Phoenix to take on the role of Director of Operations for Barter & Shake Creative Hospitality, an award-winning company renowned for its innovative approach.

During her tenure with Barter & Shake, the team has achieved significant accolades, including winning Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2023 and being listed as one of the Top 50 Bars in North America for two consecutive years. Cortnie's career is driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a dedication to fostering exceptional experiences in the hospitality industry.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Cynthia Dunham grew up the daughter of a Green Beret, and her upbringing took her from Utah to North Carolina, to Germany, and then to Washington. She returned to Utah as a college dance major, but life and love led her to Arizona, where she transitioned into accounting, eventually founding her own firm. Her journey into public service saw her elected as a council member and then as Mayor of Gilbert, where she championed sustainable neighborhoods and balanced growth. Her tenure saw Gilbert grow from a town of 100,000 to 170,000 residents, all while fostering community engagement and collaboration. She and her husband have together raised four children and are the proud grandparents to seven.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

2024 CANDIDATE EDITION

Monte Lyons is a USAF veteran and has worked in the aerospace industry for over 40 years. He holds three degrees with a Masters in ADR. His career in aerospace included roles in manufacturing, quality, facilities, tooling, biz ops, flight test, and operations. 

Monte has been married to his wife of 40 years, they have 7 children, and 7 grandchildren together. They have lived in Gilbert since 2019.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

Aaron was born in Southern California and raised in a military family who was transferred around the country. He was primarily raised in Southeast Virginia and ended up attending the College of William and Mary. He graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor's of Business Administration, with an emphasis in accounting. Upon graduation, he worked for Ferguson Enterprises for 17 years as a buyer, branch credit manager, branch operations manager and regional purchasing manager. From there he took a few years to work in an area that he has been passionate about for most of his life and worked for the Catholic Church as a liturgical director. Once he accomplished his goals in this time of service, he returned to the business world. During the past 7 years he has worked for a small family business in the east valley, Poco Verde Pools & Landscaping, and serves as their Construction Manager.

Aaron has been married to his wife Christine for 24 years, and they chose to move to Gilbert, Arizona 17 years ago to raise their three children. He is a devout Catholic and regularly attends St. Anne's Catholic Church in Gilbert.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy

2024 CANDIDATE EDITION

Natalie Di Bernardo, a proud Arizona native, epitomizes the spirit of community engagement and entrepreneurial drive. As a devoted mother to teens, she understands the importance of building a thriving environment for future generations. Natalie's journey in entrepreneurship has equipped her with invaluable experience in turning visions into successful actions. Her tenacity and collaborative approach have served as an example of what is required to be a leader within her community.

She is deeply committed to local politics, recognizing the significance of ensuring that the voices of her community are heard and represented. She wants to see our town foster a transparent environment where every individual feels empowered and represented.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Modern Moments. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://modernmoments.com/privacy