The Charlotte Ledger Podcast

The Charlotte Ledger
The Charlotte Ledger Podcast

We talk with Charlotte leaders about important and interesting issues, with an eye toward making you smarter, telling you things you don’t know and introducing you to people with insights about trends in Charlotte. charlotteledger.substack.com

  1. Catering to change, with Melissa Sutherland of Best Impressions Caterers

    OCT 19

    Catering to change, with Melissa Sutherland of Best Impressions Caterers

    In 2019, Melissa Sutherland made a dramatic career shift, leaving her role as a bank executive at Bank of America to join Best Impressions Catering as the company’s chief operating and financial officer. Her move from a global financial institution to a small catering business offered her the chance to take her expertise to a new industry, she says, helping the company expand from a single location in Charlotte to three, including Raleigh and Charleston. But just as she was settling into her new role, the Covid pandemic hit. Facing a sudden halt in operations, Sutherland and her team pivoted to launch "Table & Twine," a home delivery service that helped keep staff employed and kitchens running during the shutdowns. Today, Table & Twine remains a successful arm of Combined Caterers, showing how innovation during a crisis can create lasting change. In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, Sutherland talks with host Steve Dunn about the transition from a big banking job to a small catering company, the challenges of navigating a small business through the pandemic, what she learned from watching Hugh McColl, former CEO and president of Bank of America, and more. Sutherland was a recipient of The Ledger’s 40 Over 40 Award in 2024. The awards celebrate often unheralded people over the age of 40 who are making important contributions to Charlotte. This episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast is presented by Trinity Episcopal School, marking 25 years of creating scholars, nurturing spirituality and embracing diversity in Charlotte's center city. Trinity offers a unique K-8 curriculum with a focus on critical thinking, curiosity about the world around us, and service to the community. Learn more about the admission process for the 2025-26 school year and register for an open house at TESCharlotte.org. For more information about The Charlotte Ledger, or to sign up for our newsletters, visit TheCharlotteLedger.com. This episode is part of a series in which we interview winners of The Charlotte Ledger 40 Over 40 Awards, which honor people aged 40+ who are making our community a better place. Find out information about those awards at Ledger40Over40.com. This podcast was produced by Lindsey Banks. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit charlotteledger.substack.com/subscribe

    27 min
  2. Leadership lessons from Hugh McColl

    SEP 27

    Leadership lessons from Hugh McColl

    Hugh McColl Jr. is a Charlotte household name. As the former chairman and CEO of Bank of America, McColl was a major player in consolidating the banking industry in the 1980s and 1990s that has transformed Charlotte into the financial hub it is today. He was also apart of the group of influential Charlotte leaders that pushed to improve the arts and revitalize uptown. On September 17, 2024, McColl, 89, was interviewed in front of an audience at Queens University of Charlotte at an event called “Legacy of Leadership: A Conversation with Hugh McColl.” The Charlotte Ledger received permission from Queens to share the audio of the 30-minute conversation on this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast. At the event, McColl discussed his background, his leadership style, what it was like running one of the country’s biggest banks and his advice for success. He was interviewed by Will Sparks, who is the Dennis Thompson chair and professor of leadership at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte. McColl spoke on the occasion of the launch of a newly designed MBA program from the McColl School of Business. The school describes the McColl MBA as a “dynamic program tailored to meet the evolving needs of Charlotte’s professional community,” and one that offers “unparalleled flexibility, field-based consulting experiences, networking opportunities and a strong leadership focus inspired by McColl himself.” You can find out more about it at www.queens.edu/mba. (Photo on podcast: courtesy of Queens University of Charlotte) This podcast was produced by Lindsey Banks. For more information about The Charlotte Ledger, or to sign up for our newsletters, visit TheCharlotteLedger.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit charlotteledger.substack.com/subscribe

    32 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

We talk with Charlotte leaders about important and interesting issues, with an eye toward making you smarter, telling you things you don’t know and introducing you to people with insights about trends in Charlotte. charlotteledger.substack.com

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada