The LoCo Experience Curt Bear

I got acquainted with Todd Brooker through LinkedIn, where we follow some of the same voices, and learned last fall that he spends a lot of time in Fort Collins - where his daughter Libby Brooker is a goalie on the CSU soccer team!  It took us a minute, but this spring we finally got properly acquainted over lunch, followed by a long-form conversation in The LoCo Experience studios.  Todd is the second Texan I’ve had on the podcast, and the second from Austin - apparently the Fort Collins of that state. I’m hoping for Joe Rogan or Lex Fridman as my third such citizen - intros welcome!  
Cawley, Gillespie & Associates (CGA) is a 60+ year petroleum engineering, geology, and valuation firm that Todd has worked at for 32 years, and been President of for more than 10 years.  The firm has ~35 employees in two offices, and is something of a boutique firm in the industry.  Owners of oil wells all over the nation - and beyond - hire CGA to evaluate potential acquisitions or support creation of audited financial statements to comply with Sarbanes Oxley.  I wanted to bring Todd onto the show because he knows a lot of things about a lot of things, especially as it pertains to the oil and gas industry in our nation.  
Todd is a proud dad, loving husband, and VP and Board Member of the Town & Country Optimists Club in Austin.  He’s a part-time Fort Collinsian now, and fits right in - and when he moves here full-time in the future I’ll try to snag him for the Breakfast Rotary Club and maybe as a LoCo Facilitator - he’d be great.  So please join me in enjoying my conversation with oil industry expert and my new friend, Todd Brooker.  
The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Duane and Chad Stroh are the father and son that lead the team at Healthy Harvest in Berthoud, CO, which also includes Duane’s wife and Chad’s sister, and one red-headed step-child in a key operations role.  They were initially involved as investor-partners of the business, but as partners departed and their market awareness grew they pivoted the company to specialize in production and wholesale distribution of non-GMO cooking oils across Colorado - and entering new markets across the American West.  They also offer nationwide direct-to-consumer oil sales through their website and on Amazon.  
In a previous chapter, the family operated a conventional grain farm and feedlot near Holyoke, where Duane was also the wrestling coach for many years.  When Duane met a man with a persistent infection caused by exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria on a hog farm, he started investigating the drug and chemical-laden conventional farming industry.  And - when his brother died at an early age of lymphoma, he remembered how that brother was the one responsible for spraying Roundup around the farmyard and mixing the sprayer tanks.  And long story short - the family decided to sell out of their farm and feedlot and change their business as a result of this change in perspective.  
What I love about Duane is that he’s a lot like my dad - the secret to success in farming or in business is math!  And what I love about Chad is that he is focused on the impact of marketing, technology, and relationships to build long-term business value.  Together, they’re a formidable pair, and I’m excited to see their business continue to grow and help more and more non-GMO farmers share their Healthy Harvests with the world.  So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Duane and Chad Stroh.  


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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

In today’s episode, I was honored to be joined in studio by Ed VanDyne, one of the most fascinating guests we’ve had on the show.  When you look up serial entrepreneur in the dictionary, you’ll find Ed’s smiling face, and the ideas that have sprouted his various companies are consolidated from ideas and learnings from previous chapters, including a lengthy season managing the MIT Racing Team, and spinning a technology company out of Woodward, VanDyne SuperTurbo!  The innovative sails for Tetrahedron Racing boats, for example, are the same shape as the molecules of ammonia created through Plastic 2 Green’s innovative processes! 
Plastic 2 Green is the star of this show, however.  Ed has developed an innovative process to turn waste plastics into market-competitive carbon rods, carbon black, and ammonia - plus more - using plasma to break down plastic molecules, and science to send the resulting molecules to the appropriate containers.  Future cargo ships will burn an ammonia / diesel blend, and in Ed’s opinion, ammonia is the best and most-stable way to move toward a hydrogen-powered economy.  
The smoke in the studio during this podcast wasn’t from herb, it was my little brain overheating trying to listen and think and process and ask good questions!  I think I did a pretty good job of it, for a country kid, so please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Ed VanDyne.  



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

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.  


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Music By: A Brother's Fountain