Struggletown

In this episode, hosts Phil Eich, Ryan Short and Jeff Siegler discuss the following: 

-Contributor Ben Muldrow's piece on the importance of community branding and how when completed with everyone in mind, everyone can benefit; 

- The Burleson Block Party Trailer and why cities would be wise to consider the social lives of residents'; 

- Contributor John Paget's piece on how effective storytelling can act as a vaccine against apathy. 

This week, hosts Phil Eich, Ryan Short and Jeff Siegler discuss the theory of "all growth is good growth" and how this failed municipal strategy has destroyed the countryside while also wrecking cities. We get into the weeds on how a city can grow and still preserve its character and foster pride. You can check out the episode HERE. All previous episodes of the Pod Places Podcast are available on Apple and Spotify.

This episode also features a bonus interview with Allan Branch. Allan started his career in software development, but sold his company in pursuit of more meaningful work. He turned his eye towards his hometown of Panama City, FL and renovated an empty downtown warehouse for his family's new home. Most recently, Allan opened History Class Brewing. In one project, he renovated a blighted building, introduced a much needed business to downtown, added a social spot, and is highlighting his communities history. 

This week, we spoke with Lacey Reichwald in Whitewater, WI about her efforts to bring a much needed grocery store to her community. We discuss the important connection between people and their food, the structure of the grocery co-op, and how the process is changing the community. 

Lacey Reichwald is the founding member and board president of Whitewater Grocery Co., a cooperatively-owned grocery store startup in Whitewater, Wisconsin. In addition to her roles within Whitewater Grocery Co., she is a marketing mentor, travel enthusiast, and owner of two small businesses in Whitewater: The SweetSpot Café and The SweetSpot Bakehouse. 

Building a cooperatively-owned food store involves a broad range of skills that include community building, fundraising, research, marketing, and leadership. Lacey credits her experience as a small business owner in helping develop these skills. Additionally, support from other food co-ops and from industry consultants and mentors have been invaluable to the growth of Whitewater Grocery Co. 

In this episode, we are joined by Ben Muldrow to discuss what he learned about community from his experience of the weekly church potluck supper and why you shouldn't bring more mac and cheese. 

Ben Muldrow is a talented graphic artist who has been designing for over 25 years with experience in a wide variety of marketing applications. He provides community identity and branding services for communities across the United States. Ben has worked on a number of projects specializing in the development of city and neighborhood identities, wayfinding strategies, and promotional marketing material.

This week, we are joined by Ryan Short to discuss his recent video, Ten Signs of a Proud Place. We talk about why parking minimums are stupid, why breweries matter and how Instagram is more important to your town than you might think.

Ryan Short is the CEO and co-founder of CivicBrand. Ryan is also the host of the Eyes on The Street podcast. He has been published on Forbes.com and is a contributing partner of Proud Places. 

In this episode, we are joined by Storefront Mastery founder, Jaime Izurieta to discuss the importance of beauty and why cities would do better to cultivate quality appearances. Followed by, A Curated Experience founder, Diane Larusso-Sharp. Diane leads us in a discussion on the importance of events, the price of bad events, and how we can manage events in the age of Covid.

Jaime J. Izurieta-Varea  is a town planner, urban designer and architect, based out of Montclair, New Jersey. He is the founder and principal of the firm Storefront Mastery and helps business districts and business owners create quality storefronts.  

Diane Lurusso-Sharp owns and operates A Curated Experience, a full-service event and hospitality company offering a wide array of planning, coordination and guest management services to help you impress with ease and confidence.

This week on the Pod Places podcast, we discuss the reasons a mayor should not refer to his city as a butthole, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's epic trolling of the president and what exactly "defund the police" means for communities. 

In our first episode of Pod Places, hosts Jack Storey, Phil Eich and Jeff Siegler give a brief introductions of themselves and the show before recapping the Three Day Bender phenomenon, the devastating Michigan floods and how bad municipal codes are killing local shops.