Ted Listens: Stories Behind the Businesses of Chicago

My guest today is Andrew Sargis, Director of Sales and Chief of Operations at both Chicago Water Taxi and Wendella Tours & Cruises. Family-owned and operated since 1935, Wendella is Chicago’s Original Architecture Tour, and offers the greatest variety of tours and cruises on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Wendella also owns and operates the Chicago Water Taxi, which provides transportation along the Chicago River.

If you’ve never taken one of their tours, buy a ticket.  If you have, buy a ticket. It’s easily one of the most Chicago experiences you can get and it’s different every time. My personal favorite is the Chicago River Architecture tour, but I’ll leave links in the show notes for you to check out all they have to offer.

In this episode Andrew not only shares insights on how a 90 year old business tied to the city’s history operates, I learned he is quite a historian himself as he dives into the history of the Chicago River and the role it continues to play in Chicago’s economy.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!

Link to show notes: https://www.tedlistenspodcast.com/

My guest today is Julie Drainville of Edlong Flavor Solutions.  This Chicago business has a global footprint and focuses on re-creating one of the most complex flavor profiles out there, dairy and dairy free.  

Julie is the Director of Global Sensory & Innovation for Edlong where she focuses on ensuring the flavor's Edlong develops for their clients will be enjoyed by consumers.  We learn how it’s not as simple as asking people if they like it, in fact she avoids that question altogether when conducting tests.

Her role made this conversation particularly interesting as she shares insights into the process and science of what it takes to create a flavor people will actually enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!

Show notes and links to learn more about this guest and business: https://tedlistenspodcast.com/

RevenueShift is a fast growing organization based in Chicago that's helping organizations sell better. They have a unique set of tactics that not only blend organizational design with incentive strategies... they bring focus to what they call the "data side of sales."

My guest today is George Lagone.  George is a partner at RevenueShift and has over 20 years experience in sales. In our discussion, he shares insights on the problems they solve for clients, what their typical customer looks like, and the people they hire.  I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

You can check out more about George and RevenueShift at https://www.tedlistenspodcast.com

In this episode, Jacob and I dive into the world of wireless charging technology. We learn how the Chicago-based NuCurrent came to be, and how their business is enabling some of the largest organizations to bring new products to market.

My guest today is Jeffrey Dirrenberger.  Jeffrey is the founder of Vault Innovation, an innovative software and mobile development agency.  But more than that, Jeffrey is what you might call totally immersed in Chicago’s startup and tech scene.  He’s a partner in multiple startups, investor in others, he’s highly engaged in the community…  We bump into each other all the time. 

In this interview Jeffrey shares insights on VAULT’s business model, the type of talent he hires, and the problems he and his team solve.  I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

In this episode, I interview Teresa Ging, the CEO and Founder of Sugar Bliss. Teresa shares insights on starting a business in Chicago, drawing from her experience launching Sugar Bliss bakery, expanding into big-box retail, and the lessons she learned along the way.