Hub & Spoke

Inside Supperland’s large and airy interior, you’ll meet Jeff Tonidandel ‘98 and Jamie Brown ‘99 who are the founder and owners of the successful Charlotte restaurant. After quitting their jobs and traveling around the world, the Davidson couple found their passion and got to work. Listen in to this episode of Hub & Spoke to learn about their paths from Davidson, how Supperland got started, how they maintained a restaurant during a global pandemic, and more inside information.

After a tumultuous freshman year at Davidson College, Sarah Woods began to question her place in the Davidson community. While she considered transferring out, she decided to give Davidson one more semester. That year, Sarah started working for Summit Coffee Co. and found the community and purpose she had been missing. Now, Sarah is the general manager for Summit’s Basecamp Café and the opportunities are just starting to unfold. Listen into this episode of Hub & Spoke as Liz Brigham sits down with Sarah to learn more about her experience with Summit during her time at Davidson College and now as her full-time job.

On the first day of his new job, Frank Myers ‘82 was touring the office when he spotted a table full of screens and boxes. He pointed and asked, “What’re those?” “Oh those?” said his boss, “They’re PCs, no one knows what they’re used for.” Little did Frank know he would soon move into the world of tech and make a career out of it.

This week on Hub & Spoke [SPARKS], host Jared Herr ‘22 sits down with Cynthia Beiler, the owner of Leverage Mind Consulting. From revenue to sales operations, to finding investors, Cynthia is focused on helping her clients and removing hurdles from the sales process. Learn more about Cynthia’s opinions on the power our minds have over our behaviors and her advice for all students entering the workforce.

Coming from a family comprised of half law enforcement and half entrepreneurs, Lee has been two things throughout his career.

An investigator and a formally trained investigator at that – allowing him to take problems and break them down into their different pieces.

An entrepreneur – with several small businesses, and learning how to navigate both failures and success throughout those lessons

One of Lee’s crowning achievements in his career took him over to Singapore where he co-founded and ran a cybersecurity company called “Horangi.” Like many, Lee’s plans were disrupted by COVID and he moved back to the United States to be near his wife and stepped away from day-to-day operations at Horangi. Back in the US, Lee took on coaching small businesses as a virtual start-up advisor. Most recently, Lee joined Corvid Cybersecurity as their general manager. Corvid is a US defense contractor, solving the Department of Defense’s hardest problems.

Lee’s career thus far has taught him many things, most notably: being your authentic self is what will get you far. Being honest about what you’re good at and what you may look is the kind of transparency that’s appreciated in a work environment. Similarly, for budding entrepreneurs and start-ups, Lee follows the Jim Collins line of thinking: “you can only grow your company, as fast as you can find good people.” Surround yourself with good people and you will grow with them.

As the youngest of four, Brian was always looking for ways to become his own person, rather than the carbon copy that could have formulated from watching his siblings. Growing up, sports journalism called Brian’s name, so after college, he jumped in. For four years, Brian pursued his dream journalism career until he had, what he calls, “a sliding door moment.” After applying and not receiving the lead editor role for a new ESPN gig, Brian’s brother, Tim Helfrich ’00, invited him into the folds of Summit, which changed everything.

Tim was the owner and operator of Summit when Brian joined the team as an employee. Soon Brian became a partner and then eventually took over from his brother, becoming the owner and CEO. Brian is in charge of all the different businesses and lines that Summit runs, from coffee roasting, to cafes, to franchises – making sure every part of the business supports each other is a major key to Summit’s success.

Besides the general overseeing, one of Brian’s biggest jobs is consistent storytelling. As a creative writing major at Davidson, Brian learned about the adaptability of stories and how mediums and audiences shift how the story is told and received. Not only that, but Brian has come to recognize the importance of different perspectives when storytelling, especially in making sure that Summit has the best people expanding their story.

To close, Brain leaves Davidson students with two pieces of advice:

Find out, at your core, what’s important to you. Whether that’s financial security or maybe it’s happiness. Pursue that.

You’re never too old to change directions or restart your career. Just because you chose a major at 19, doesn’t mean you have to follow that set path. Be nimble, be curious.

Michelle Lim Warner '02, CEO of DCANTER, joins host Liz Smith Brigham '04 to talk about her career journey.

Ever heard of Alimentation Couche-Tard? Maybe you’d recognize Circle K, which they own and operate? Circle K has 17,000 stores in 26 markets around the world, and Kevin Lewis leads Circle K’s marketing charge as their Chief Marketing Officer. On this episode of Hub & Spoke [SPARKS] join host, Jared Herr ‘22 as he sits down with Kevin and talks about everything from innovation to advice to their former distaste for country music, well at least Kevin’s former distaste.

Mike Tattersfield, CEO of Krispy Kreme, joins Jared Herr '22 to talk about a wide range of topics, from his personal career journey to what innovation means to him.

Hub & Spoke SPARKS, a spin-off of our flagship program Hub & Spoke, provides short, bite-sized interviews with a variety of personalities, with the aim of sparking some inspiration in your career or even your day-to-day life.

A production of the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson College