The LoCo Experience Curt Bear

Dr. Katie Foster booked time with me out of the blue last spring (which never happens), and brought cookies and we shared a very enjoyable coffee and conversation.  She was weeks away at the time from opening her business, Timnath Kids Dentistry, and was exploring the business community at large and curious about LoCo Think Tank.  She’s not a member at LoCo - yet - but she’s our kind of people.  When she can carve time away from a young business and two young children we’ll be ready to find a great chapter for her!  
Before this conversation, I had no impression of what the world of a pediatric dentist would be like - but now I know it’s not so different from any other business, especially in health care.  Exercise patience, show love, build a caring team - and most of the other stuff will come together!  Katie grew up in the Reno, Nevada area, and she started playing the violin at an early age, and was also a competitive swimmer.  She was inspired to be a dentist whilst still in grade school, and if you listen to this conversation, and you have young children - you’ll probably want her to be their dentist - just sayin’.  
This episode is not a paid ad, even though it may seem that way - just a fun and open talk with a smart and fresh kid dentist - so I hope you enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Dr. Katie Foster.  
The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I was introduced to Micah Johnson by Jeffrey Beyle, one of my guests during Season 1 of The LoCo Experience (Episode 29 if you wanna check it out), and one of my spies in the Boulder area.  By spies I mean those who think of me when they meet someone with an interesting business journey to share, and a lot of value to share with the business community through a podcast conversation like this one!  
Micah is what most would call a serial entrepreneur, with multiple starts and exits, and some failures.  Micah’s largest business venture to date was GoFanbase, Inc., a social media marketing and community-building strategy firm based in Nashville, which focused on multi-location businesses such as auto dealerships and restaurants.  After growing his team to over 100 employees, he and his wife Alane made the decision to exit and search for a next chapter.  After years of focus on efficiency and teams and automations at GoFanbase  (and a choppy merger integration) the pair was left with skill sets essential to their current venture - Workday Ninjas!  
Workday Ninjas helps their agency and B2B service business clients remove roadblocks to scaling through tools like Monday.com, Asana, and ClickUp.  Having utilized Monday.com for the past 3 years, and currently undergoing a database conversion to the CRM tool offered by Monday, this was an intriguing opportunity for me to learn more about the kinks and capabilities of the platform from an expert - and ultimately uncover principles of efficiency, communication, and building high-functioning teams.  I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun, and I’m confident that you will enjoy my conversation with Micah Jonnson.  
The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Diana Rogers Jaeger joined me for an uplifting conversation and shared her fascinating life and career journey that led her to Northern Colorado in 2022.  Diana is the founder and owner of Love to Appreciate Consulting, and recently released a new book - “Let Go of the Rope - Create Unlimited Confidence”.  Love to Appreciate was founded in 2017, and is focused on helping companies keep their best and brightest.  Initially Diana was particularly focused on creating a work environment that Millennials would be attracted to and wish to remain a part of.  Over the seasons, Diana has developed her practice to become a “cultural designer” who helps companies design an integrated and appreciated workforce.  
Diana and her siblings have a fascinating life story, beginning in the Philippines as the children of an American father and Filipino mother.  As they were preparing to move to America, their father was murdered - and their mother was a prime suspect!  The murder remains unsolved, and the children never saw their birth mother again.  They departed the Philippines to move to America as a set of five, initially moving in with their aging grandparents - and eventually all being adopted into a previously childless family in the community - and living and learning a life of outdoor adventure and can-do attitude from their adoptive parents.   
Diana is a dynamo - all the energy and smarts and wit you could find in a 5’ 1” package, and she shares abundantly from her topical expertise in appreciation and confidence cultivation. She is a great representative of one of Northern Colorado’s strongest import markets - smart, capable, and purpose driven individuals working hard to make their corner of the world a better place.  So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Diana Rogers Jaeger.  


The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I was introduced to Peter Yu by a mutual friend, as the liberty-minded person’s best pick for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.  Peter has a great record of success in both big and small business, fell just short in his race for Colorado’s 2nd District in 2017, and has remained active in the political sphere since his first run.  Peter is the first American-born child of a Chinese family, who arrived together in 1969 with six children, no money, and no English skills. They lived in cramped conditions, often with other families, and worked entry-level roles in food and hospitality until a turn of fate brought their family to Loveland in the mid-70’s, as owner-operators of the only Chinese restaurant in town at the time and for many years. 
Hard work (and underpaid child labor) kept the restaurant alive through some of the lean years, and though Peter’s parents never tasted financial fortune they saw 5 of their 7 children finish college, and all 7 build successful businesses and careers - truly their American Dream.  Peter mostly grew up in that restaurant, and has a unique perspective as the often only Asian kid in every class or school.  He was a star football player in his day, but his stature and the laws of physics made a pro career impossible!  
Peter is in a crowded field for this primary race, a group of 11 that includes the (in)famous Lauren Boebert, who is attempting to move over from the more-competitive 3rd District.  Peter is a great interview and has my endorsement.  He’s a fast thinker, has dug into all the essential issues of our region and our time, and is a great conversationalist.  Further, he’s fully invested in the causes of liberty and the American Dream, and I know you’ll enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Peter Yu. 


The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Tim and Danielle Jordan joined me in The LoCo Experience studios on March 5, 2024 - just 4 days removed from concluding the sale of a pair of legacy businesses in Northern Colorado - Palmer Flowers and Paul Wood Florist, locally owned since 1976 and 1933, respectively.  They sold to one of the largest flower enterprises in America - Family Flowers, a privately owned company that operates legacy flower shops all across the country..  
I met Tim in the spring of 2015, soon after he and Danielle had purchased the majority stake in Palmer Flowers from its founder, Spiro Palmer.  Spiro became one of my first banking clients when I moved to Fort Collins in 1999, and I was initially shocked that he’d pass his legacy along to such a young guy!  The more I got to know Tim however, the more I came to understand what a fine decision Spiro had made, and I’ve kept a patient but consistent bug in Tim’s ear about how much he’d love to be in a LoCo Think Tank chapter!  This last fall when we caught up over lunch, Tim shared that it was probably never going to happen - as he and Danielle operate the businesses in a tandem effort, and if he was in a peer advisory chapter he’d feel off-balance with her and what has worked for them for since they started their first business together while still in college.  
Disappointed but charmed by his respect for his partner, and intrigued to get to know Danielle a bit more, we scheduled a podcast conversation.  After a postponement due to illness we landed in this timely spot, just days removed from their biggest business transaction to date.  Tim and Danielle have been together since high school in Albuquerque, NM, and came to Fort Collins to attend CSU.  Tim is full of business ideas and marketing talent, and Danielle keeps a sharp eye on the numbers, and together they’ve run as many as 5 businesses at a time!  They’re also kind and charming, smart and savvy, and I know you’ll enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Tim and Danielle Jordan.  


The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Justin Follin came all the way from Austin, Texas to Fort Collins a few weeks ago - not to be on the show, but to visit his younger brother Sean - my guest on Episode 134, who introduced him to me as a potential guest.  Both brothers are in the strategic planning industry, which I found fascinating, and Justin had a fresh book out in 2023 - titled as you might guess - Be a Better Team by Friday.  The book brings together strategic planning and high performance coaching and psychology, and does it all in a readable and actionable 200ish page format.  
While Sean has been in the strategy planning industry almost since he entered the workforce, Justin’s route to the calling has had more twists and turns.  He earned his BA in Philosophy from UNC Chapel Hill, and there witnessed high performance coaching in action for the first time, with Roy Williams quickly turning around the UNC men’s basketball team in his first year on staff.  Justin has pursued journeys in music and music production, teaching children and directing theater for The Khabele School, and high performance coaching - initially with musicians, poker players and other various misfits as a way to pay the rent while also playing music.  As his reputation grew and referrals abounded, he found the complexities of business to be more intriguing, and the budgets more robust, and he co-founded BLUECASE in 2016.  
I’m honored to have longform conversations with incredibly talented, interesting and abundance-minded individuals, and my conversation with Justin was no exception.  Please join me in learning a spoonful of “Be a better team by Friday” and much much more, with my guest and new friend, Justin Follin.  
The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain