Self Made Strategies

Episode 062 with Jared Cannon, Founder + CEO at Simply Good Jars (www.simplygoodjars.com)

About Jared Cannon and Simply Good Jars:

Jared Cannon, is the Chef, Founder and CEO of Simply Good Jars.

Simply Good Jars' Mission is to make healthy choices easier and to foster a strong and critical connection between local growers, consumers, communities, and those in need.

They envision a world where each of us can create lasting impact in our communities, on our planet, and on each other by simply rethinking how we all eat. In 2004, Jared attended the culinary Institute of America in New York city. Upon graduation, Jared transitioned to Florida international university in Miami to continue his journey in hospitality management and finished his education at temple university's top rated Fox school of business with a master's in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Notably, Jared has led kitchens and teams with companies such as iron Hill brewery and restaurant. The Ritz Carlton hotels, Fs, food group, honey grow and Philadelphia's famed TRIA when forming Simply Good Jars. Jared took a risk leaving the traditional culinary world. However, his confidence continues in Simply Good Jars, mission to deliver healthy meals in an environmentally friendly manner.

He knows by staying true to the company mission, we can all help lead the fight on combating single use plastics and make meaningful impacts in our communities along the way.

You can visit simplygoodjars.com to get more information.

SHOW AGENDA

On today’s episode we will:

* Get to know Jared and hear about Simply Good Jars' mission

* Discuss strategies to grow a business rapidly

* Hear about why Jared chose to start Simply Good Jars to help the communities they are in

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE:

* How to use Social Capitalism (or a Triple Bottom Line structure) to create an organization that stands for more than just profits

* Why Simply Good Jars started as a direct to consumer organization, and eventually added technology

* Jared's approach to building a successful and empowered team

* The methods Jared has used to ensure his team is empowered to make decisions and stay loyal

* And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

The Self Made Strategies Hustle Story is a SoftStix Productions jawn.  Tony Lopes produced, hosted, and edited this episode.  This episode was recorded on location at the Simply Good Jars Offices.  Self Made Strategies is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

Make sure you subscribe to the Self Made Strategies Podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.  You can find us on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spreaker.

Do you want even more awesome Self Made Strategies content?  Make sure you follow Self Made Strategies on:  Facebook – Instagram – LinkedIn – Twitter

HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 060 OF THE SELF MADE STRATEGIES PODCAST:

Tony Lopes: [00:00:22] Welcome to a brand new episode of the self-made strategies podcast. I am your host Tony Lopes, and with me today is Jared Cannon, Chef, Founder and CEO of Simply Good Jars. You can visit simplygoodjars.com to get more information.

Welcome to Episode 061, of the Self Made Strategies Podcast, with Logan Sneed, of Fusion Lean, Fitpreneur Academy, and Author of the Book: "Thank You, Cancer"

Here's Logan's background from Episode 053 of our podcast, as well as Logan's YouTube channel:

Logan went from high school athlete and college freshmen to a stage four Glioblastoma patient overnight.  Essentially that’s brain cancer for those of us who are not doctors. Doctors told Logan he wouldn’t survive his diagnosis, and even if he did, Logan would never have the quality of life he wanted.  Logan refused to believe that. Each time someone told Logan he couldn’t do something, he used it as fuel to prove them wrong. Today, Logan is a 23 year old fitness entrepreneur making a six-figure income in remission and inspiring the world with this story of beating the odds in his new book: Thank you, Cancer: 30 Days to Realize Nothing Is Impossible, out NOW.  Logan challenges us to thank the obstacles that get in our way. In the book, he asks, could you write a letter to your weight, to your debt, to your business? Could you thank it for making you grow? Can you find room to become happier, to enjoy the present and to face the fear and doubt that has held you back by thanking our obstacles?

Logan says: we can become CEO of our lives and the best version of ourselves.

(Here is his YouTube video)

(Here is his Fitpreneur Academy video)

SHOW AGENDA

* On today’s episode we will:

* Get to know Logan and hear about how he has overcome many obstacles to become the entrepreneur he is today

* We will discuss Logan’s strategies for overcoming challenges in your daily life (like COVID-19)

* Logan will share his meditation practice with you

What you will learn on this episode:

* How we can become the CEOs of our own lives

* What happened to Logan when he went from college kid (visiting the gym to stay in shape), to having a seizure while driving, to being diagnosed with a Stage 4 Glioblastoma (that’s brain cancer)

* The types of meditation apps and practices that Logan uses to get into the zone

* Why now is the time to add value to your clients, and price your products and services accordingly

* Processes to gain control of your own life

* What it means to "slow down, but speed up": meaning slow down to understand where you are, and at the same time speed up in the sense of how much more you can go (all while enjoying the process)

* Logan will actually walk us through the meditation process Logan uses to gain a competitive advantage

* And so much more!

After you’ve listened to the episode, make sure you visit FusionLean.com (https://www.fusionlean.com/), and head over to Amazon to pick up your copy of Logan’s book: Thank You, Cancer: 30 Days to Realize Nothing Is Impossible (https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Cancer-Realize-Impossible/dp/1544505019).

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

This Self Made Strategies Podcast is a SoftStix Productions LLC jawn, made in collaboration with Fusion Lean (https://www.fusionlean.com/).  This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Tony Lopes, REMOTELY (because we are in COVID-19 isolation) in Philadelphia.  The Self Made Strategies Podcast is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

Follow us on:

• Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • 

Self Made Strategies Episode 060 with Jamie Shanker-Passero, of Temple University's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Founder of Philly Food Adventures

About Jamie Shanker-Passero

(Before we dive into Jamie's background) You can find more information about Temple University's Small Business Development Center here: https://www.fox.temple.edu/institutes-and-centers/small-business-development-center/

Jamie serves as the Associate Director for Temple's SBDC, overseeing the training, programs, workshops, incubator and marketing. Outside of the SBDC, Jamie has run Philly Food Adventures (http://www.phillyfoodadventures.com/), a Chinatown food tour company since 2014. Prior to joining the SBDC, Jamie managed a women's business center in Camden, New Jersey.

Jamie also worked with small businesses as the development director of the Philadelphia mobile food association and as the commercial Carter revitalization and business association manager from Mount airy USA community development corporation. That's a mouthful. She is an attorney and graduate of Temple University's Beasley School of Law where she focused on nonprofit law.

SHOW AGENDA

On today’s episode we will:

* Get to know Jamie and hear about her work with small businesses

* Discuss great resources that you should consider using for your business

* Hear about Jamie's own entrepreneurial journey

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE:

* Services that Temple's SBDC provides to startups (and likely an SBDC in your area does the same) and also how you can become a member of the SBDC

* Types of business courses can people take if they come to the SBDC, and the types of workshops do you offer through the SBDC

* The kinds of grants and loans that small businesses may qualify foor

* We also discuss Jamie's Food Adventures business

* And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

The Self Made Strategies Hustle Story is a SoftStix Productions jawn.  Tony Lopes produced, hosted, and edited this episode.  This episode was recorded on location at Indy Hall (www.indyhall.org).  Self Made Strategies is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

Make sure you subscribe to the Self Made Strategies Podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.  You can find us on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spreaker.

Do you want even more awesome Self Made Strategies content?  Make sure you follow Self Made Strategies on:  Facebook – Instagram – LinkedIn – Twitter

HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 060 OF THE SELF MADE STRATEGIES PODCAST:

Tony Lopes: [00:00:23] Welcome to a brand new episode of the self-made strategies podcast. I'm your host Tony Lopes, and with us today is Jamie Shanker-Passero. Jamie serves as the associate director for temple university's small business development center, but Jamie is also an entrepreneur who runs her own business, and that's Philly food adventures.

So we're going to get to know Jamie today. We're going to hear a lot about Temple's SBDC. And then we're going to hear about Jamie's own experience as an entrepreneur and her Philly food adventures. I'm a bit of a self proclaimed amateur foodie, so this should be fun. If nothing else, we'll get some restaurant tips,

Jamie Shanker-Passero: [00:00:58] Right? Yeah.

Want the TRUTH about COVID-19?  Listen to this episode of the Self Made Strategies Podcast

This episode is a special release meant to help flatten the COVID-19 curve in two ways: 

First, the main message of this episode is to follow the advice of your local government as well as that of Dr. Krys Johnson, an Epidemiologist who also worked in Polk County, Florida, during the Zika crisis. Secondly, we are trying to help flatten the curve of current COVID-19 pandemic MISinformation, to ensure that you are getting the true facts. 

About Krys Johnson

Krys Johnson joined Temple University in fall 2019 as an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She received her PhD in public health with a concentration in epidemiology from the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She earned her undergraduate degree in health education and promotion and her master of public health in epidemiology at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. She interned at the Georgia Department of Public Health and then served as an Emerging Infectious Disease Fellow at the Florida Department of Health, stationed in Polk County from July 2015 to August 2016, during the height of the Zika outbreak. 

Dr. Johnson's research interests are in mitigating health disparities through community-based participatory research and culturally appropriate behavioral interventions. Her teaching goal is to ensure that students understand the practical applications of epidemiology and biostatistics and can critically review news or journal articles. She seeks to motivate students to realize their own potential and to use that potential to positively impact the world around them.

SHOW AGENDA

On today’s episode we will:
• Ask Dr. Johnson for the factual information (the real facts) that we should know concerning COVID-19 
• Go through several statements, which have been going around the internet, concerning COVID-19 and set the record straight (these statements were also covered by factcheck.org in their recent interview of Dr. Johnson, which can be found here: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/viral-social-media-posts-offer-false-coronavirus-tips/?sf119120963=1)
• Discuss several recent articles covering the Imperial College of London's report entitled "Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand" and get Dr. Johnson's opinion on the report

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE:

• The real factual information about COVID-19 (and why the false statements you are reading on the internet are untrue)
• Why Dr. Johnson believes the measures we are currently taking are not enough
• Dr. Johnson's advise for protecting yourself and your loved ones
• How we can improve our responsiveness to COVID-19 by following Taiwan's lead  
• What we can expect in the coming weeks
• And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

This Self Made Strategies Podcast is a SoftStix Productions LLC jawn.  This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Tony Lopes, REMOTELY (because we are in COVID-19 isolation) in Philadelphia.  The Self Made Strategies Podcast is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

Follow us on:
• https://www.facebook.com/selfmadestrategies/ •
• https://twitter.com/SelfMadeStratGs •
• https://www.instagram.com/selfmadestrategies/ •
•

Want the TRUTH about COVID-19?  Listen to this episode of the Self Made Strategies Podcast

This episode is a special release meant to help flatten the COVID-19 curve in two ways: 

First, the main message of this episode is to follow the advice of your local government as well as that of Dr. Krys Johnson, an Epidemiologist who also worked in Polk County, Florida, during the Zika crisis. Secondly, we are trying to help flatten the curve of current COVID-19 pandemic MISinformation, to ensure that you are getting the true facts. 

ABOUT Krys Johnson

Krys Johnson joined Temple University in fall 2019 as an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She received her PhD in public health with a concentration in epidemiology from the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She earned her undergraduate degree in health education and promotion and her master of public health in epidemiology at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. She interned at the Georgia Department of Public Health and then served as an Emerging Infectious Disease Fellow at the Florida Department of Health, stationed in Polk County from July 2015 to August 2016, during the height of the Zika outbreak.

Dr. Johnson's research interests are in mitigating health disparities through community-based participatory research and culturally appropriate behavioral interventions. Her teaching goal is to ensure that students understand the practical applications of epidemiology and biostatistics and can critically review news or journal articles. She seeks to motivate students to realize their own potential and to use that potential to positively impact the world around them.

SHOW AGENDA

On today’s episode we will:

• Ask Dr. Johnson for the factual information (the real facts) that we should know concerning COVID-19

• Go through several statements, which have been going around the internet, concerning COVID-19 and set the record straight (these statements were also covered by factcheck.org in their recent interview of Dr. Johnson, which can be found here: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/viral-social-media-posts-offer-false-coronavirus-tips/?sf119120963=1)

• Discuss several recent articles covering the Imperial College of London's report entitled "Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand" and get Dr. Krys' opinion on the report

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE:

• The real factual information about COVID-19 (and why the false statements you are reading on the internet are untrue)

• Why Dr. Johnson believes the measures we are currently taking are not enough

• Dr. Johnson's advise for protecting yourself and your loved ones

• How we can improve our responsiveness to COVID-19 by following Taiwan's lead

• What we can expect in the coming weeks

• And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

This Self Made Strategies Podcast is a SoftStix Productions LLC jawn.  This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Tony Lopes, REMOTELY (because we are in COVID-19 isolation) in Philadelphia.  The Self Made Strategies Podcast is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

Follow us on:

• Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • LinkedIn

HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 059 OF THE SELF MADE STRATEGIES PODCAST:

Tony Lopes, Esq. - Self Made Strategies & Lopes Law LLC: [00:00:21] Hey everyone, this is Tony Lopes, host of the self-made strategies podcast, welcoming you to a special COVID-19 release,

Welcome to a very SPECIAL RELEASE of the Self Made Strategies Podcast.

This episode is particularly special for a couple of reasons:

First, despite the strangeness of current events, and the current state of the world, we need some positive and entertaining stories to keep us going.  Most importantly, we are all currently undergoing a very trying time (the COVID-19 pandemic and isolation of March 2020).  Stressful times like these call for, now more than ever, beacon's of light in the darkness.  Rob Lawless, and his quest to meet and share the stories of 10,000 new people, may be that beacon.

Secondly, it's actually the Self Made Strategies first anniversary!  One year ago, we launched our podcast, hoping to bring you engaging stories from amazing entrepreneurs and innovators.  We hope that you have enjoyed our show, and look forward to continuing to grow and bring you amazing entrepreneurial content.

We hope you enjoy his story, and message of overcoming adversity using a pragmatic approach and positive thinking.

About Robs10kFriends (From Rob's bio at www.robs10kfriends.com)

back in may of 2013 Rob graduated Summa cum laude from Penn state university with a degree in finance and minors in accounting and entrepreneurship. After graduation, Rob began his career with Deloitte consulting as a business analyst in strategy and operations.

It was his reach job at the time, but about a year and a half into it, Rob pulled the millennial move and took a large pay cut, left the PowerPoint decks in spreadsheets for the laid back $24 million venture funded RJ metrics while at RJ. Rob worked as a sales rep where he cold emailed people every day asking them to hop on the phone for 30 minutes to chat about their product.

His job being in sales, he often received responses like the following actual replies:

* “Take me off your mailing list, cockroach”

* “I understand that this is your job. This being said. If asking a girl out for coffee and she ignores you twice and finally says no, you do NOT ask whether this is a no just now or a now forever – and you certainly do not ask her why you are not her type” (Disclaimer: he has never used this strategy on girls)

* “Not interested (and you’re really starting to annoy me)”

So along with a bunch of those factors that Rob mentions in his first blog post, he started this project to see if he could meet with people to chat for an hour for absolutely no reason. And held his first meeting on November 11th of 2015 he was rejected way less. The responses were all positive and encouraging, and he's met some amazing people with incredible backgrounds.

Who would all consider themselves normal. On Monday, June 20th of 2016 RJ metrics was acquired by a larger company, which no longer needed Rob's position, so Rob dove in full time on his endeavor to meet 10,000 different people for an hour each. Since then, Rob's met over 3,200 people, as we said. As of right now, that's March of 2020 across 20 cities in the United States and Canada.

And has driven across the United States six separate times and has even been featured by some awesome press sources, including Ryan's Seacrest on his nationally syndicated radio show on air with Ryan Seacrest as well as your morning, a national Canadian morning show. Rob loves adventure and loves potential.

Over the last three and a half years or so, he's found this project to have had both, so he's been greatly satisfied with how it's gone so far and can't wait to continue giving it his 110% to see where it takes him in the future. The last thought is he's had great experiences meeting new people, so if you feel so inclined.

Give it a try and let him know how it goes for you.

You can also check out Rob's Instagram account, which is

SELF MADE STRATEGIES EPISODE 057 WITH LINDSAY MILLER OF HALF HITCH 3

About Half Hitch 3 and Lindsay Miller

IS YOUR 24/7 SALESPERSON WORKING PART TIME?

Your website is not only your number one marketing asset, it is also your number one salesperson. Quite often, it’s the first place customers go to research your business and it is at that time that they are formulating their first impression of you.

At Half Hitch 3, they take an intelligent approach to web design and development that serves to eliminate the headaches of traditional web design and drives optimal results using data.

With Half Hitch 3, your website will incrementally become stronger as we continue to measure, iterate and act – allowing your business to stay ahead of the curve.

Visit https://halfhitch3.com/ for more information.

Lindsay is a rock star web developer with over five years of web design and development experience. She is also a proud US military veteran who is passionate about helping new businesses get up and running online.

As well as helping established businesses improve their existing websites. She specializes in WordPress websites that are user friendly and fully editable. Once they are built, you can see her work on her site, halfhitch3.com. But you can also see the great work she did on both of my sites, lopeslawllc.com and selfmadestrategies.com.

SHOW AGENDA

On today’s episode we will:

* Get to know Lindsay and hear about her wonderful journey into entrepreneurship

* We will discuss best practices for developing your website

* Discuss how to protect yourself and your business from cybersecurity threats

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE:

* Why cybersecurity protections are more important now than ever

* How to ensure that your website stays up to date

* The importance of SSL certificates

* Why Wordpress sites may be the best option for your business

* And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

The Self Made Strategies Hustle Story is a SoftStix Productions jawn.  Tony Lopes produced, edited, and hosted this episode.  This episode was recorded on location at Indy Hall (www.indyhall.org).  Self Made Strategies is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

Make sure you subscribe to the Self Made Strategies Podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.  You can find us on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spreaker.

Do you want even more awesome Self Made Strategies content?  Make sure you follow Self Made Strategies on:  Facebook – Instagram – LinkedIn – Twitter

HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 057 OF THE SELF MADE STRATEGIES PODCAST:

Tony Lopes, Esq. - Self Made Strategies & Lopes Law LLC: [00:00:23] Welcome to a brand new episode of the Self Made Strategies Podcast. I'm your host Tony Lopes, and with me today is Lindsay Miller of Half Hitch 3. Hey Lindsay, how's it going?

Lindsay Miller (Half Hitch 3): [00:00:33] Good. Thank you for having me.

Tony Lopes, Esq. - Self Made Strategies & Lopes Law LLC: [00:00:34] Thanks for coming in. Lindsay is a rock star web developer with over five years of web design and development experience and is a proud us military veteran who is passionate about helping new busi...

WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER AWESOME SELF MADE STRATEGIES HUSTLE STORY

In this short podcast clip, you will get a short glimpse at just how awesome and knowledgeable Lindsay Miller is.  Lindsay also happens to be the awesome web dev expert that redesigned our kickass website).  Lindsay is a military vet and cyber security pro, with a passion for developing amazing and functional sites.  You can hear more with her on this week’s upcoming Self Made Strategies podcast episode.  Make sure you tune in this Thursday, wherever you listen to your podcasts, to hear Lindsay's episode.

About Half Hitch 3

Is your 24/7 salesperson working part time?

Your website is not only your number one marketing asset, it is also your number one salesperson. Quite often, it's the first place customers go to research your business and it is at that time that they are formulating their first impression of you.

At Half Hitch 3, they take an intelligent approach to web design and development that serves to eliminate the headaches of traditional web design and drives optimal results using data.

With Half Hitch 3, your website will incrementally become stronger as we continue to measure, iterate and act - allowing your business to stay ahead of the curve.

Visit https://halfhitch3.com/ for more information.

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

The Self Made Strategies Hustle Story is a SoftStix Productions jawn.  Tony Lopes produced, edited, and hosted this episode.  This episode was recorded on location at Indy Hall (www.indyhall.org).  Self Made Strategies is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

FOLLOW US ON:

• https://www.facebook.com/selfmadestrategies/

• https://twitter.com/SelfMadeStratGs

• https://www.instagram.com/selfmadestrategies/

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/self-made-strategies/

SELF MADE STRATEGIES EPISODE 056 WITH TONY LUKE, JR.

(NOTE: Listener Discretion is Advised - This Episode Contains Adult Content and Subject Matter That May Be Difficult to Listen to. We chose to maintain the integrity of Tony's message by minimally editing this episode, so use your discretion when listening. We hope you enjoy it!)

Anthony Lucidonio, Jr., better known as Tony Luke, Jr., is an American entrepreneur, restaurateur, actor, TV personality (way back on Prism), musician, media host and (NOW) an anti-addiction-stigma activist. Tony co-founded the cheesesteak and sandwich franchise Tony Luke's.

In the early 1990s Luke, his brother, Nicky, and their father bought a property near the expressway in South Philadelphia, where no one (at the time) wanted to build anything in that area, to open a small sandwich shop. To compete with other local businesses, the original Tony Luke's stand offered a more diversified menu, initially offering roast pork sandwiches, hoagies and other fare. Originally, there were no cheesesteaks, but as always Tony Luke gave the people what they wanted (eventually adding cheesesteaks to the menu). Soon thereafter, PhillyMag ranked Tony Luke’s as BOTH the best Roast Pork sandwich AND the best Cheesesteak in Philly. That doubled their business almost overnight and led to Tony Luke taking over the store's marketing.

Eventually, the business grew to include several locations in the Philadelphia area and a line of frozen sandwiches. Through a partnership with Rastelli Foods Group, the business now has several franchised locations worldwide, including in Bahrain.

Tony Luke’s would turn into a household name, and Tony Luke Jr would become the face of the franchise: starring in TV and radio commercials, facing off with Bobby Flay in a “Throwdown,” and even getting his own show on Spike TV (“Frankenfood”).

But, before his father even had the thought to build a sandwich shop, Tony Luke Jr had already lived multiple lives: from being a rough-and-tumble South Philly kid, to a budding Hollywood movie star in LA, to scoring a record deal as the crooner of an R&B band.

Tony Luke was born in South Philly and attended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in its first year (Tony was an “original”). Tony Luke credits CAPA as having saved his life. During his time at CAPA, Tony hustled his way into a cast party for Rocky II (in Philly).

Using methamphetamine and other drugs as a teenager, Tony Luke now uses that experience, as well as the fighting and hustling of his youth, to explain to kids that difficulties can be overcome.

SHOW AGENDA

On today’s episode we will:

* Get to know Tony and hear his amazing story

* We will discuss Tony Luke's strategies for maintaining your edge

* Discuss the benefits of collaborating to make magic happen

What you will hear on this episode:

* Why Tony believes that his gut leads him where he needs to be

* How every day in life, Tony tries to strengthen his weaknesses and tries every day in his life to share his strengths with other people to help their weaknesses become stronger (and why you should do the same)

* Why ego can never be a part of growth

* How Tony Luke, Jr., along with his father and brother, literally built Tony Luke's

* Why strategic marketing initiatives were at the core of making "Tony Luke" into a household name

* How a Heroin overdose brought Tony Luke to collaborate with several musicians to raise mental health and addiction stigma awareness

* Information about the Sound Mind Network and their initiatives to raise awareness

* How Tony Luke deals with competitors

* And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

This Self Made Strategies Podcast is a SoftStix P...

SELF MADE STRATEGIES EPISODE 056 WITH TONY LUKE, JR.

(NOTE: Listener Discretion is Advised - This Episode Contains Adult Content and Subject Matter That May Be Difficult to Listen to. We chose to maintain the integrity of Tony's message by minimally editing this episode, so use your discretion when listening. We hope you enjoy it!)

Anthony Lucidonio, Jr., better known as Tony Luke, Jr., is an American entrepreneur, restaurateur, actor, TV personality (way back on Prism), musician, media host and (NOW) an anti-addiction-stigma activist. Tony co-founded the cheesesteak and sandwich franchise Tony Luke's.

In the early 1990s Luke, his brother, Nicky, and their father bought a property near the expressway in South Philadelphia, where no one (at the time) wanted to build anything in that area, to open a small sandwich shop. To compete with other local businesses, the original Tony Luke's stand offered a more diversified menu, initially offering roast pork sandwiches, hoagies and other fare. Originally, there were no cheesesteaks, but as always Tony Luke gave the people what they wanted (eventually adding cheesesteaks to the menu). Soon thereafter, PhillyMag ranked Tony Luke’s as BOTH the best Roast Pork sandwich AND the best Cheesesteak in Philly. That doubled their business almost overnight and led to Tony Luke taking over the store's marketing.

Eventually, the business grew to include several locations in the Philadelphia area and a line of frozen sandwiches. Through a partnership with Rastelli Foods Group, the business now has several franchised locations worldwide, including in Bahrain.

Tony Luke’s would turn into a household name, and Tony Luke Jr would become the face of the franchise: starring in TV and radio commercials, facing off with Bobby Flay in a “Throwdown,” and even getting his own show on Spike TV (“Frankenfood”).

But, before his father even had the thought to build a sandwich shop, Tony Luke Jr had already lived multiple lives: from being a rough-and-tumble South Philly kid, to a budding Hollywood movie star in LA, to scoring a record deal as the crooner of an R&B band.

Tony Luke was born in South Philly and attended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in its first year (Tony was an “original”). Tony Luke credits CAPA as having saved his life. During his time at CAPA, Tony hustled his way into a cast party for Rocky II (in Philly).

Using methamphetamine and other drugs as a teenager, Tony Luke now uses that experience, as well as the fighting and hustling of his youth, to explain to kids that difficulties can be overcome.

SHOW AGENDA
On today’s episode we will:
• Get to know Tony and hear his amazing story
• We will discuss Tony Luke's strategies for maintaining your edge
• Discuss the benefits of collaborating to make magic happen

What you will hear on this episode:

• Why Tony believes that his gut leads him where he needs to be
• How every day in life, Tony tries to strengthen his weaknesses and tries every day in his life to share his strengths with other people to help their weaknesses become stronger (and why you should do the same)
• Why ego can never be a part of growth
• How Tony Luke, Jr., along with his father and brother, literally built Tony Luke's
• Why strategic marketing initiatives were at the core of making "Tony Luke" into a household name
• How a Heroin overdose brought Tony Luke to collaborate with several musicians to raise mental health and addiction stigma awareness
• Information about the Sound Mind Network, and what their initiatives are
• How Tony Luke deals with competitors
• And so much more!

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

This Self Made Strategies Podcast is a SoftStix Productions LLC jawn.  This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Tony Lopes,...