The LoCo Experience

Today's episode features regular guest Aaron Everitt, along with his 17 year old son, Emerson, discussing the election coverage and election season of 2024.  We started at 7:30ish PM MT, and called it a night by 9:30 PM MT as it became obvious Trump was going to be #47.  

Aaron is a highly-acclaimed X.com creator of independent material, including a series of 100 essays on philosophical and economic topics, many of which supported the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  He and Emerson were able to spend an hour with the then-Presidential candidate in Denver, and we spent time talking about Aaron's journey going from frustration with the candidate Trump to optimism over the team of leaders who have joined his campaign.  

For your Host, I was a first-time Trump voter this year, after voting Gary Johnson and Kanye West the past two elections.  I voted for a major party for President for the first time with this vote, and did so both to acknowledge the coalition of leaders, and also to punish Democrats for obvious lawfare, suppression of free speech, and a very non-democratic primary selection process, including the black-balling of Kennedy, and the installation of Harris.  

Enjoy the perspectives, and thanks for listening!

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

In my early years of LoCo Think Tank, when I was just getting out of the mobile food catering game, everyone was talking about the wonderful new caterers in town, Juli & Juan!  Soon after, we had the chance to get acquainted, and they catered one of our most successful events during LoCo’s strongest expansion year of 2019 - Tips, Tacos, & Tequila - featuring business tips, a tequila talk and tasting, and tacos from Juli Y Juan’s Kitchen!  

The colors and flavors that Juli creates, and the sheer beauty of their catering displays, is truly next level, and over time they’ve shifted their business to premium events such as weddings, rehearsal dinners, and private chef engagements.  Juli polished her craft as Executive Chef at a resort in Playa del Carmen, where Juan was a leader in creating amazing guest experiences - the owners of which were from Colorado.  After a 10-year career, Juli made the decision to leave her job and go on a 3-month solo trek to her native Columbia - through Guatemala, Central America, and the Dorian Gap.  At the same time, Juan was involved in a shamanic study program, and through his meditations and reflections he discovered that though he might not yet know the question, Juli was the answer!

Their love and Juli Y Juan’s Kitchen sprouted soon after, and the couple made their way to Fort Collins to launch this new chapter of life.  We talked about food, love, and community, plus Colombian and Mexican culture, business lessons learned, working at a resort, shamanism, immigration, race relations - you name it, we touched on it - and we went over 3 hours!  Almost everyone who knows Juli and Juan loves them, and I know our listeners will enjoy - as I did - my conversation with Juli Trujillo and Juan Rodriguez, experience creators at and co-founders of Juli Y Juan’s Kitchen.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

The business journey we’re featuring in today’s episode started when Garrett fell in love with Andrew’s sister (and later married), and took a great leap forward during the Covid pandemic when Garrett became the owner-operator of a standalone Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta location in the Central Park area of Denver.  He was working a full-time job in the automotive industry, raising young children, and worked nights and weekends to quickly prove to be the most innovative, profitable and forward-thinking operator in the network.  

Though Anthony’s had been established 40 years ago, the brand had grown stagnant at 18 locations, and had inefficiencies in its supply chain and marketing functions.  Garrett proposed an acquisition of the franchise to Andrew and his partners at FR Companies, they eventually settled on terms with the franchise owner, and effective in February 2024, EPIQ Ventures, LLC was formed to make the acquisition.  

Much has happened since, including a new partnership to serve Anthony’s Pizza at Red Rocks shows, revenue growth and increasing happiness of franchisees, and a new location on Harmony Road in Fort Collins that was open for only a few days when we had this conversation. 

Today’s conversation reveals wisdom through story on business acquisition and finance, and the cultivation of relationships that tie it all together.  Northern Colorado has already seen a lot from FR Companies, but the best is likely yet to come, and Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta is a cornerstone venture for what lies ahead.  So please enjoy - and learn from - my conversation with Andrew Rauch and Garrett Brizendine.

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I met Christine Forster at a big fun business event of some sort (we both can’t remember!) - circa 2022 - and we had a short but lovely conversation, and she was super interested in what LoCo Think Tank was all about, and gave me her card with encouragement to connect.  And then - her card got lost in the shuffle and we didn’t connect proper until this podcast conversation!  

As much as I love sharing a conversation with someone I’ve known for years, it’s quite special to me when I get to know someone in the podcast studio.  Christine started her business in 2006 as My Big Day company, and their first events were imagined and created as a service to the community - not for clients!  Their very first event - The Adult Prom - was for adults of any age who missed out on prom in their high school years - or just wanted a redo - and where participants dressed in the fashion of their high school days.  The NOCO Easter Keg Hunt is an annual scavenger hunt that takes place in downtown Fort Collins and Loveland - and will continue in 2025 in its 17th year!  These early events were all about community - and grown ups acting how they feel inside!  

Christine was full-time employed in marketing and advertising for over a decade while she grew her business, and they did a lot of wedding planning and event execution in the early years.  My Big Day has grown steadily and transitioned to become Big Deal Company in recent years, and Christine has built a team of marketers and event planners that now put on over 100 events annually - and do full-service marketing for their events clients - and only do weddings on a very selective basis.  Christine left the security of her day job in 2022 for the joy of being a full-time entrepreneur, and hasn’t looked back.  

And - all these business facts don’t tell the tale of the person.  Christine and I went over 2 and a half hours in this podcast conversation, and we probably could have gone a couple more.  We talked business and ideas and chased squirrels and shared laughs and we drank 2 bottles of white wine.  I left the conversation more convinced than ever that she is indeed - and considers all of her clients - a big deal - and so I hope you join in and enjoy my conversation with Christine Forster!  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

John Arnolfo operated the Silver Grill Cafe for 42 years, and found his exit plan through my guest on Episode 143, Alan Jantzen.  John and partner Mike Gress purchased Silver Grill on Valentines Day of 1979 as an unheated one-room diner.  The business had been established by Leonidas “Flossie” Widger in 1933, and mostly served the blue collar workforce of early downtown Fort Collins.  Though the partners grew the business quickly, it remained too small an enterprise to support a pair of households, and Mike departed for other opportunities after only a few seasons.  

In the years to follow, John slowly grew the footprint of the restaurant - leasing and eventually acquiring vacant buildings to the west of the original location - and grew Silver Grill the 5-adjacent-units high-volume enterprise (& Fort Collins Icon) it is today.  John shares the story of how cinnamon rolls changed his business and client mix, and how the stars lined up for Alan and Jackie Jantzen to become the new operators in 2021.  As also shared by Alan, an introduction from their mutual banker turned into a conversation and then a transaction and now an enduring friendship.  

John needs no introduction in the world of Fort Collins restaurants, and I’m proud to share both the business journey and the sparkling personality behind the brand. We talk about the evolution of the restaurant industry, challenges and opportunities during covid, saltwater fly fishing, the gradual disappearance of the raisin cinnamon roll, and much more - so I hope you’ll tune in and enjoy my conversation with John Arnolfo.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Ben Aste is a conservationist, first and foremost, also an Eagle Scout and the son of a Swiss immigrant.  Ben started Uncle Benny’s Building Supplies from a small rented shed, because he couldn’t stand to see the waste in the lumber supply industry in which he’d been working for some years.  Uncle Benny’s grew quickly, and is growing still, despite an interruption in retail operations you’ll hear about in the business journey segment.  And - Uncle Benny’s will soon reopen bigger and better than ever, and fully under 2nd generation management, with Ben’s son Ben taking the reins.  

Because…Ben the senior expects to be busy.  My guest today is CEO of Uncle Benny’s, but also running for Larimer County Commissioner for District 3, a seat he ran for and narrowly lost (to the current occupant) last time around.  With many of the same philosophies as his building supply company, Ben is running on a platform of Reasonable, Affordable, and Sustainable, and you can learn more on his campaign page at Vote4Aste.com.  

I like Ben a lot, enough that I put a “Uncle Benny for Larimer County” sign up in my yard, and I even gave him a little chip-in on his campaign.  He’s a win-win-win-win kind of guy, and his combination of business sensibilities and conservationist principles should be (and is) appealing to voters of all stripes and flavors.  And - when I learned in this conversation how much Larimer County Commissioners make I wondered aloud - maybe I should be a Larimer County Commissioner!  Stay tuned on that topic! - and please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Ben Aste.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Noah and Alli Hutchison met during their college years at Baylor, and grew a friendship through their shared involvement in a church community - Antioch Waco.  Alli started doing interior design work for friends and their friends soon after college, and eventually they worked in church ministry, with Noah as the Childrens & Family Director.  They moved to Fort Collins in 2015 where Noah was the Executive Director for Antioch Fort Collins - basically leading the administrative function to allow the Pastors to focus on service and teaching.  

I first heard about Noah when he ran for city council in Fort Collins in 2019 as a relative newcomer to town - and fell just short.  Their season in ministry with Antioch ended about the same time, and Noah and Alli both went to work in construction, with Noah first as CFO and later President of Northern Colorado Construction Firm, and Alli as Lead Designer - and only for a few seasons.  Hutch Design Build was launched in April of 2022, and has already grown to a team of 7!  

Hutch Design Build offers design-first custom solutions for major remodels and additions, accessory dwelling units, and full-custom family homes - and as of a few days before this conversation Noah and Alli have secured the longtime coffee house location The Bean Cycle in Old Town Fort Collins - and have some amazing plans for the space.  

You’ll have to tune in to hear about those plans, and also to get to know an amazing couple, using their shared strengths to make client’s home and family dreams come true!  So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Noah and Alli Hutchison.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Julie Ulstrup began her career in admissions counseling, soon transitioned to school counseling, and was a School Counselor for Poudre School District for 13 years.  Like many of the purpose-driven, she began to experience burnout after about 10 years - and made a leap in 2016 - transforming her hobby business of photography into a vibrant full-time enterprise.  In just a few years, she had more than doubled her income, and saw transformative change in dozens of clients.  Her mix of photography talent and experience as a counselor helped her help clients not only look great - but feel great about the way they look - which makes the photos even better!  And, she even turned her learnings on the topic into a Ted Talk!

While she has continued to be in high demand for her photography, in the last few years Julie started coaching business owners and executives to excel in their current role - and to consider their next chapter.  Newly in 2024 her focus has narrowed even further - helping people like her - teachers, counselors, nurses, social workers, and more - that have found career success but are experiencing burnout - plan and execute their next chapter, usually as entrepreneurs!

Julie is a great conversationalist, a lifetime learner, and an adventurer.  Though acquainted for years, this is the first time we’ve really sat down together for an extended period - and I left the conversation with both my fondness and my respect increased.  So please join me - and learn lots of great stuff - about and from Julie Ulstrup, America’s Encore Career Strategist!  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Tom Trimmer, Jr. spent his growing up years in the Northern Suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and was disappointed when his father got rid of the family powerboat (about the time he was old enough to start skiing…) and bought a sailboat instead.  The sailboat sparked a love of sailing however, that carries through to today, and spurred Tom’s first significant entrepreneurial venture - Bachelorette Party Boat Tours departing the Chicago Yacht Club.  And - love of sailing led into his current business, Custom Marine Products - when he built a website to offer his father’s solar panel on a pole invention to the market - allowing live-on boaters to maximize their solar collection by adjusting the angle of the panel to be always-perpendicular to the sun.  

Custom Marine Products has been growing at a 40%+ growth rate for most of its 10-year history, and is beginning to broaden their product offerings beyond highish-end marine solar systems, controllers, and lithium battery systems. They are increasingly developing their camper-van market offerings, and introducing refrigeration systems and more in the seasons to come.  It’s an interesting business, with 3 - 6 month lead times for most of their products, and slow inventory turns.  

In Tom’s previous chapters, and still today to a lesser extent, Tom has been a finance entrepreneur - sourcing capital for day traders, identifying arbitrage opportunities in foreign exchange markets, and other brainy stuff - and he is also active as an angel investor.  Tom’s a brilliant guy, a world explorer, and a very entertaining guest - so please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Tom Trimmer.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Trish Bowen-Bannister started her career in education, grew quickly in the field, and spent many years as the Director of Education for Weston Distance Learning in Fort Collins - a role very similar to the role my wife currently fills for the same organization!  She later became Campus President of another local education organization, but was keen to leave after a new CEO created a less-than-enjoyable work environment.  Despite having no previous interest in running or owning a business, she found herself looking at the local Snelling Staffing franchise for sale, and with encouragement from her then-boyfriend (now husband) she took the leap and became the owner and President of Snelling Staffing of Northern Colorado in April of 2015.  

Trish’s previous work developing training and education plans helped to build a culture of service and learning in the organization, and many of her earliest employees are still there today.  Isaac Bowen (her son) started soon after the acquisition on a very part-time basis in a Recruiting Assistant role, but was mostly focused on his restaurant career.  However, when the Covid crisis hit the industry, and customer traffic (and personal income) fell off - he was eager to find a new challenge.  He quickly became one of the best recruiters and business developers to ever join the team (a role they had struggled with) and they’ve grown in size and scope since his full-time arrival.  Isaac has also been building an adjacent search business for specialty trades - Benchmark Search Group.  

Lots of good stuff in this one - team dynamics, cultural awareness, hiring trends, industry ethics, and generational opportunities and transition.  This mother and son have a great dynamic, each allowing and encouraging the other to do well what they do best, for the furtherance of their business, and the service of client needs.  It’s a peak behind the curtain of an often-misunderstood industry, so join if you will, and enjoy my conversation with Trish Bowen-Bannister and Isaac Bowen.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain