The LoCo Experience

I was joined by my longtime friend Jennifer Watson in studio this week, while she was in Colorado for the first stop of her Chemistry of Resilience Fall Tour.  It’d been a few years since we’d seen one another, as Jennifer moved to Greenville, South Carolina to be closer to her twin sister and growing family a couple years back.  

Jennifer’s journey is inspiring in both achievements and authenticity.  An All-American athlete during her college years, she also battled depression and anxiety for years, and through a journey of exploration she began to tie together physical wellness and athletic performance to mental and emotional health.  She built a physical therapy business early in her career, and grew her coaching business on this foundation of physical well-being.  

Jennifer is an accomplished speaker from the stage, and at times I think she forgot it was just the two of us in the studio.  She used the words “you guys” enough times I couldn’t help but call her out - and if you close your eyes and listen, you can imagine her on a TedX stage.  And - Jennifer shares abundantly from her journey and learning, and there are a good many nuggets in this one.  So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Jennifer Watson.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Amber Quann joined me in the studio this week to share her business journey, which started at the age of 13 after she’d built notoriety since she was 10 by winning many local and regional competitions in the 4 H community for her dog training skills!  Several neighbors and family friends got puppies around the same time, and so Amber started group training lessons in her front yard!  She’s been training dogs ever since, eventually founding Summit Dog Training 9 years ago - and in the last few years she’s scaled the business, built a training team with specialization, and recently moved to a larger location with property!  

We talk a lot about Tucker in this one - my 11-year-old Schnocker - and Amber shares abundantly with me and our listeners about how dogs (and people) think and learn, and especially about how to create better behavior for your dog - even as a self-implementor.  Don’t teach your dog not to bark when there’s a knock on the door, for example - that’s really hard.  Instead, teach them to go sit on their sleeping pad and be ready for an introduction. Give them something to do - not something not to do.  

A propellant to Summit’s recent growth has been her “Drink with Your Dog” training program, which brought Amber to national attention - DWYD is a program centered around creating dog-friendly breweries, and brewery friendly dogs.  The growth of the business has required Amber to spend less time training dogs, and more time working on the business and becoming a capable CEO.  We talk a lot about that journey, her hopes and plans for the future, and about those who’ve been a part of her journey so far.  She’s perhaps the most smarty-pants about dogs person I’ve ever met, you’ll learn a lot and love her personality, so please enjoy my conversation with Amber Quann.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Don’t judge her for it, but Kelly Evans is and will forever be a Jayhawk.  Born and raised in and around Lawrence, Kansas, Kelly got her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Kansas and soon after began a front-line role with a local non-profit.  Two-and-a-half years in, the board made the decision to depart the Executive Director, and asked Kelly if she would take the job!  Kelly is a natural leader, and a lover of nature, and her dreams of moving their family near their favorite vacation spot in Colorado (Poudre Canyon) came true when she and her family moved to Fort Collins in 2012.

Kelly came to town for a big job - to turn around longtime housing focused non-profit organization Neighbor to Neighbor, which had grown out of a grassroots movement in the 1970’s but had suffered through the real estate doldrums of the Great Recession.  She did just that, growing to a sustainable revenue model and a staff of nearly 20 before the Covid pandemic response flooded the organization with resources - with expiration dates! - and they grew to over 60 employees by 2022 - and then had to shrink back down to a stable(ish) staff of 30.  How does a compassionate leader downsize with prudence and justice and empathy? - just ask Kelly - as I did.  N2N is in a great place and still offers a dozen programs ranging from home buyer preparedness training to rent assistance to homeshare programs and much more.  

Kelly is cheerful and open and kind, and one of the most empathetic and intelligent people I’ve ever met.  And - she’s a freethinker and a person I can cheerfully disagree with and challenge without risking a friendship!  So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Kelly Evans.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Don Cooper was referred to me by a mutual friend, Carolyn Strauss, in my search for a chapter speaker who would bring an innovative approach to sales training.  He brought his most popular workshop, The Myth of Price, and got great reviews from every attendee.  And - thankfully for our listeners, he made time to come by The LoCo Experience studios and share some of his principles for creative thinking about sales, and ultimately to break some of the psychological barriers for sales professionals - and clients - to get to win-win-win and YES!  

Don’s sales career began in middle school, when he started buying candy in bulk and selling to kids - and sometimes teachers or admin staff - but not competing with the brands the band or cheer squad were selling for fundraisers.  He was a socially awkward kid, and endured an abusive and isolating relationship with his mother for much of his childhood.  Eventually finding success and social skills through speech and debate, at one point Don imagined a life in conservative politics.  After growing disenchanted with politics, however, Don built his sales skills and programs, and came to Colorado as part of the Gorilla Group in the early 2000’s.  When he was laid off during the post 9/11 dip, Don launched his independent sales training business in 2001 and hasn’t looked back.  

Don is the Sales Heretic - and a heretic in general he would say.  He’s an eccentric genius - my favorite kind - and he shares very abundantly from his sales and training toolkit in this conversation.  So please enjoy getting to know and learn from the Sales Heretic, Don Cooper.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I met Matt Heath at our LoCo Social at Cheba Hut in April, where he had just finished up meeting with Marc Torres, Cheba’s  CEO and my guest on Experience #139.  We had an awesome and interesting conversation, which led to a zoom and then booking this podcast, and I look forward to the day when LoCo Think Tank can hire his creative team to create a clever campaign - as their stuff is just so fun! 

Matt founded Party Land in the Los Angeles area in 2018, and moved the HQ office to Fort Collins for a change of scenery not long into the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and beyond.  He has had an incredible career journey, working with some of the fastest growing and most innovative marketing agencies in the industry, and leading campaigns for Arby’s (We Got the Meats), Buffalo Wild Wings, and Netflix - among others.  His first big client after launching Party Land was Liquid Death, and if you’ve noticed that Men’s Warehouse is moving back into cultural relevance - that has Matt’s fingerprints on it too.  

And - Matt’s earlier chapters of life were no less incredible.  His grandfather and family were effectively marijuana kingpins of Eastern Oregon, with multiple grow ops, sophisticated processing, and a significant dealer network.  Going to grade school with grown-up secrets was emotionally challenging, and Matt struggled for years before finding a creative outlet in music - initially jazz, and then punk.  He tried to sign up for the Air Force when he was 17 to escape his town and home life, but his parents wouldn’t sign the paperwork - and that launched him on a 10 year professional music journey!  A music festival allowed the band a window into the next level of success - and they didn’t want it!  And the advertising career began.

Warning:  This Episode is a world-class ADHD squirrel chase with a pair of goofs, and you can basically hear us becoming friends during this conversation.  So please join me in getting to know the Founder and Chief Creative at Party Land, Matt Heath, on The LoCo Experience. 

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

A few weeks ago, longtime friend and local musician Max Mackey joined me in studio for a wonderfully authentic conversation (Episode 174), and afterward he mentioned that I really should have his girlfriend on my show because she’s so smart and experienced and I would just love her - and she was coming to visit in a couple weeks!  And so I did - and I’m smarter for it, and glad to add another friend.  

The entrepreneurial journey for Chantill Lopez seems to have started with a move to Hawaii, when she and her partner went there to be part of the crew on a start-up mushroom farm.  With the farm caught up in red tape for over a year, Chantill worked odd jobs including a snack shack before re-finding her love for Pilates from high school, and soon after becoming a Pilates teacher.  

A fateful statement from a friend that “you’ll never make any money teaching Pilates” preceded her own business launch, and she went on to prove them wrong, and with a partner built a highly successful group of studios in the Napa Valley region.  She continued from there to build a teacher training business, and further studied both business practice and neuroscience - on top of her body-focused foundation - and with a Co-founder built The Embodied Business Institute to provide business training, coaching, and education focused on health businesses - yoga studios, physical therapists, gyms, pilates studios and more don’t need to be in it for the passion - they can also make money - and here’s how!  

I learned so much in this conversation, and we laughed a lot and I asked a few dumb questions - but I came away very much understanding why my friend Max loves this woman - and you will too. So, please join me in getting to know a new friend, Chantill Lopez.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I popped into William Oliver’s Publick House a few weeks ago at the end of the day, to grab a quick beer and a snack - and ran into the owner whom I remembered from their early days - Ryan Wallace.  William Oliver’s had been a regular lunch-spot for me when I worked at Capital West Bank - a top choice because the staff was always great and they served locally sourced fare in a non-pretentious fashion.  After leaving the bank and becoming Old Town centric in my consumer behaviors though, William Oliver’s fell from my rotation for many a season.  

But now - it’s back on! - even if I have to go out of my way.  When I asked Ryan about being on the podcast, he said “only if we can drink too much bourbon” - and I knew we were going to have a fun time.  What I didn’t know is that William Oliver’s now has additional locations in Windsor and Lafayette, and that Ryan is not only an incredible spirits expert and armchair historian - he’s also a very-business-savvy CEO!  

Ryan’s journey into founding William Oliver’s is all about “why wait?”.  He’d been working in various contracting and consulting roles, fell in love with Publick Houses during a stretch in the UK, and had a dream of “someday” opening a pub in Fort Collins.  His wife Tiffany asked the question “why wait”, and a year later they took over a tiny space that had been vacant for years, in the King Soopers center off Drake and Timberline.  They worked evenings and weekends building out and then staffing the kitchen and the bar (and raising a family) for many a season before they could depart their day jobs. But the concept caught strong from the start, and the location was soon expanded, and later, more locations added!  

William Oliver’s is a story of passion, smart business, employee engagement, and why wait - and Northern Colorado is richer in deed and in spirit for it.  So, please join me in enjoying my conversation with Ryan Wallace.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

In today’s episode of The LoCo Experience podcast, I had the pleasure of getting to know Kevin Fiske and Brittany McCahan from Fiske Electric.  Fiske is an electrical design and contracting business with a homebase just outside Loveland, and clients all across Northern Colorado, the Western US, and occasionally, internationally.  They have a highly diversified service offering, ranging from adding a new outlet in the garage for a homeowner, to residential subdivisions to commercial and tech installations, and also have a large presence in the agricultural sector, having recently completed work on the largest robotic dairy operation in the US!  

Kevin is the third leader of Fiske Electric, which was founded by his uncle Virgil in 1977.  Kevin moved to Colorado from Alaska in 1984 to join the team - and soon after became a partner, and the business was subsequently managed by Virgil’s son Clifford beginning in 1996.  Kevin ascended to leadership and majority ownership in 2016, and Brittany joined the company in 2019.  In 5 short years, she has been key to modernizing Fiske’s image online, renovating their HR functions, and maintaining a culture of excellence and integrity while growing their team in a challenging labor market.

Today’s conversation explores what it takes for a business to ascend to middle market scale - over time - and what it means to be a part of a multi-generational family enterprise.  Brittany’s status as heir-apparent was earned not granted, a fact that became increasingly obvious as we continued the conversation, and pride in both father and daughter in being a part of this legacy family enterprise is pronounced throughout the conversation.  And so, please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Kevin Fiske and Brittany McCahan. 

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

By scanning Jill Simonds’ LinkedIn profile, one can see that she is achievement-oriented.  Coordinator to Manager at her first career stop, and then Manager to Director at the next, and then Director of Marketing & Operations to Chief Operating Officer & Integrator.  That last stop is where Jill earned her EOS stripes and Integrator Certification, and in 2023 she started her own firm, Savvy Strategic Partners.  

Savvy helps EOS-implementing(ed) firms build their leadership team, by serving in the role of fractional Integrator, and sourcing and managing fractional C-Suite roles in Finance, Marketing, and Sales.  For those small businesses trying to make the journey from small to middle-market, Savvy can often be a medium or longer term part of the team.  

Jill grew up in Colorado Springs, with parents she described as very Irish, very Catholic, and very high-functioning alcoholics.  She’s been strong and largely self-sufficient all her life, met her now-husband early in their stay at UNC, and brings a lot of power in a small package!  In addition to all the above, Jill has built and sold an e-commerce business, operated a part-time photography business, earned a Masters in Organizational Leadership from CSU Global - and is a proud wife and mother!  She’s smart and savvy, has a wonderful smile and an inspiring journey featuring hard work, constant learning, perseverance, and strong relationships.  

I know that listeners will enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Jill Simonds.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I met Max Mackey soon after he opened Moto Haus Coffee in South Fort Collins off College Avenue.  I’d recently become the proud owner of a 1976 BMW R75/6, and the former owner told me of a group of old (and some younger mostly BMW guys that met regularly for evening coffee and riding.  It was the coolest spot in town for the riding community for several years, but was ultimately killed by the Great Recession.  I kept the R75 for over 10 years, and she served me truly, upstaged in most parking lots only by Max’s earlier-model` R75/5 with a chrome toaster tank!  

The closure of Max’s coffee shop led to a long-term chapter with Coda Coffee in Denver, and lots of music, especially as guitar and vocals with the band Thunk - for 16 years!  In 2018, after his girls were out of the nest, Max took the leap into full-time music - playing everywhere he could make at least $100 plus tips.  His growing popularity led to an album effort based in California, but Covid delays interrupted the album, and then a tragic motorcycle accident flipped the script and shattered his knee and sent him into a tailspin.  Many months and much pain and physical regression later, Max went into a surgery not knowing if he’d lose his leg below the knee or not.

Max came out of that surgery with a new mechanical knee, and a new lease on life.  His music career caught fresh fire, and turned into a trio, and then into a band, and now he’s a “what size do you need?” original music plus great jam covers offering to the Colorado community.  This was an intensely personal conversation re-getting to know a friend from long ago, and I’m certain you’ll enjoy my conversation with Max Mackey.  

Look for Max’s new album coming soon - Eyes on the Road - and check out Max’s upcoming dates and more here

July 3rd - Penrose Taproom | Fort Collins CO. 6:00-9:00 pm

July 6th - Panhandler's Pizza | Fort Collins CO. 7:00-9:00 pm

July 7th - St Julien Hotel | Boulder CO. 12:00-3:00 pm

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain