Zero To Ten: Recent Episodes
Hygge Coworking
Zero, and counting. You have ten minutes to learn from a hygge member. This is the hygge coworking podcast Zero To Ten.
We're very excited to introduce you all to the newest addition to our team, Joe Tortolon. Joe has a background in education and has been bartending in Charlotte for a few years now before joining hygge. He's now a community manager and is ready to make a friend out of anyone, even those who believe Australia is real (you'll need to listen in to get that refrence).
We're welcoming Jessica Lackey of Jessica Lackey Consulting to the Zero to Ten podcast. Jessica focuses on helping small businesses and solo entrepreneurs grow their businesses in ways that make sense for them - which might not always mean hiring more employees and growing to an agency level. She's a whiz at processes, revenue structure, CRMs and so much more, and we loved learning from her. Listen to the full episode to check it out!
We're sitting down with 24-year-old CEO Drake Gens, the owner of FinTeam Business Consulting. Drake purchased the business in May last year and now acts as a part-time CFO for small businesses as they work to achieve financial goals. We have a lot of great laughs and talk about everything from ice cream to books. Listen in for more!
We are so excited to introduce y'all to the newest member of the hygge team, Ashley Gamber! Ashley has worked with our friends at COhatch for a few years now but decided last year that she wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone and move to a new area. This lined up with when we were looking to hire a new community manager, and everything worked out from there. We chat with Ashley about her move to Charlotte, what she likes about the Queen City so far and more.
This episode we're talking with Corey Easterday, a hygge member doing entirely too much but we're here for it. In it we talk about his nonprofit initiatives, therapy, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, aspiring rap careers and more.
We're welcoming someone new to the hygge team this week! Teddy Johnson is the new community manager for our hygge camp greene and 3rd ward locations here in Charlotte. We learn more about her in this episode, and in particular talk through how she put herself out there and met people after moving to Charlotte 3 years ago at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with Hollywood writer Stacey Rose about her background in theater, her decision to go to graduate school in her mid-30s, how the writer's strike affected her budding career and what's next for her.
Teddy Fitzgibbons, founder of local tech startup StreetFair, joins us this episode to talk about his business, what it's like to work with a business partner and his passion for skydiving.
Meet Courtnie McIntosh, the founder and owner of Charlotte nonprofit The Academy of Goal Achievers, or TAOGA. Courtnie was inspired to found this youth leadership and mentoring program based on her own life experience. She believes no student or caregiver should feel alone when they are trying to figure out what comes next in their life. Listen in to learn more!
This week we're sitting down with local events planner Tara West, owner of Experience Bold. When you think of event planners, you might picture someone with an eye for decor or a wedding planner, but Tara is here to tell you that the side of events she loves the most are the logistics, and we can see why. Learn more about event planning, Tara's dream of going skydiving and her latest obsession over pour-over coffee by listening in.
We're sitting down with Andy Smith, publisher of Charlotte Magazine, to chat with him about his role, media in Charlotte and so much more.
This week we're sitting down with Richmond Brautigan, a member of the incredible Leading on Opportunity team here in Charlotte. Think of LOO as a think tank for nonprofits working toward different aspects of economic mobility. Richmond is taking us through how they use data to connect nonprofits over larger issues and make folks aware of where they can have the most impact.
And we mean that in the best way. We knew this local nonprofit organization had a lot going on, but sitting with COO Shelly Biby we truly learned how much time, energy and work they put into supporting Charlotte students. We loved learning more about the organization and how we as a community might be able to support them.
We're sitting down with Paul Reali, co-founder and executive director of Charlotte LIT, to learn more about the organization, how it was formed, what makes Paul passionate about it all and what types of programming they have coming up. If you also love to nerd out about writing and books, this episode is for you!
We're sitting down with the hygge team's newest addition, Bryan Archilla, to get to know him a little better now that he's been on the team for a few months. We talk about his background in video work, his time at a film school that ended up being a ponzi scheme, the podcast he hosts with two friends and seagulls. There's a lot about seagulls. Check it out.
We're sitting down with Garrett to talk all about the new partnership with Columbus-based COhatch and what it means for the business. We also get some tips about Milan, because that's just how Zero to Ten rolls.
We're sitting down with Jess Berresse, the better half of Seemingly Overzealous, a dairy-free ice cream shop coming to Camp North End in just a few weeks. She also just happens to be hygge coworking's owner, Garrett Tichy's, girlfriend. We learn about her favorite and least favorite flavors, get an update on the shop and talk about the difficulty of building a business with someone you also live with.
Meet Dylan Smith, owner of Current Nostalgia, one of the newest shops at Camp North End. Current Nostalgia is a streetwear boutique and brand which has been operating online since 2020 but just a few weeks ago opened its first physical location at Camp North End in Charlotte. We sat down with Dylan to learn about his journey, his dog and what exactly streetwear is.
We're catching up with Michelle Fernandez, owner of super popular Charlotte brand Limoncitos, which features handmade home goods made out of terrazzo and polymer materials. Michelle's whole goal with her business is to encourage people to find joy in their home or work spaces and to help them create an environment which reflects them. She's also finishing up her second masters degree program in counseling and hopes to help others process trauma and emotions through art.
We're so excited to introduce y'all to Eboni Huggins, the newest member of the hygge team. In addition to being a part time community manager with us, Eboni is also a small business owner, a writer, a podcast host and so much more. Wait until you hear about everything she's got going on.
On this episode of zero to ten we're chatting with Charlotte interior designer and business owner Cristy Montoya, who's run her business Factory of Spaces since 2017. She talks with us about her creative process, how her business did during the pandemic and what business ownership looks like now that she's a mom of a 7-month-old baby.
We're sitting down with the owner of Uptown Doula in Charlotte to talk all things pregnancy, postpartum and business ownership. Haley breaks down what exactly she does with us and we have some laughs along the way.
We're sitting down with the owner of Uptown Doula in Charlotte to talk all things pregnancy, postpartum and business ownership. Haley breaks down what exactly she does with us and we have some laughs along the way.
We're welcoming the owner of Pretty Honest Candles, aka the Charlotte candle business that is so popular even Beyonce knows about it to Zero to Ten in this episode! We chat candles, business ownership and babies with this brilliant entrepreneur.
We're welcoming the owner of Pretty Honest Candles, aka the Charlotte candle business that is so popular even Beyonce knows about it to Zero to Ten in this episode! We chat candles, business ownership and babies with this brilliant entrepreneur.
We're talking with Sam Hagy, assistant manager of FIT, hygge's group fitness gym, about her dive head first into a full time fitness career, her favorite parts of fitness and how she keeps herself motivated.
When we heard one of our newer members was a gay romance author, we knew we needed her on the podcast ASAP. If you're active at all on Book Tok, aka that nerdy space on Tik Tok where books are discussed, chances are you've heard of Onley James. If you haven't, you're in for a treat with this episode.
Executive Director of Trips for Kids Eric Supil has a passion for biking, something we don't quite understand but are definitely drawn to. He's taken that passion and translated it into a career of helping young kids explore the outdoors and find their own independence through biking in Charlotte.
It's time for our 6 month check-in with hygge owner Garrett Tichy. In this episode we dive into our recent acquisition of Advent Coworking, talk about reviving community and share what it's like to grow a small team quickly.
This week on Zero to Ten we sit down with hygge team member and local yoga teacher Ben Kalra to talk about finding your life's passion, representation in basketball and some fun recreational activities.
People don't like to discuss death, but it's a fact of life, and one that life insurance agent Bill Wormley tries to make less scary through his work. We sit down to talk with him about his business and his recent move to Charlotte.
Dave Butler is likely one of the coolest, most creative, most generous people we know. One of our favorite things about this episode is learning how he's been able to get involved in so many projects that all work together to further his life goals and mission.
We're finally getting the chance to sit down with hygge's director of membership Chloe Barksdale 9 months after she's joined the team to learn a bit more about her and what she does.
We're sitting down with local coffee roaster Chandler Wrenn, one of the owners of Hex Coffee, a former city planner and musician, and someone we think is pretty funny and cool, even if his kids don't think so.
In this episode you'll meet hygge fam member Haley Willis, a small business owner and an environmental compliance engineer here in Charlotte. We talk about everything from our candy hot takes, her work in environmental sustainability and owning a creative business on the side.
We're sitting down with #hyggefam member Bryce, who tells about his path to racial justice work, how he's breaking down a complex topic so it's approachable to folks and his history as a college athlete.
We sat down with hygge coworking owner Garrett Tichy to get a bit of a state of the union on business as the year begins. Hear what he's proud of over the last 6 months and where he plans to take the business this year.
Over a year ago, we sat with Courtney Estes, owner of Lincoln's Haberdashery, on one of the worst days of her life. She had just laid off most of her staff and had no idea if her restaurant would survive. In this episode we check in with her to see how Lincoln's is doing and what's next.
A lot has happened since we last spoke with Julia, personally and professionally. Even amid a pandemic, she's gotten engaged and married, has grown her team at Julia Fay Photography and is back at her pre-pandemic work level. Listen in for more deets on what running a photography business looks like in the current world.
Small business owner Erin Waters is not one to words, and we love her for that. As a massage therapist with a petite bodywork studio, she has been hit hard by the pandemic. In this episode, she'll share some of her frustrations struggling to meet ends meet while seeing people continue to gather maskless and spread the Covid-19 virus. Listen in for some refreshing tough love from one heck of a person.
Being a travel advisor in the middle of a global pandemic when many countries are limiting their travel is no easy thing. We sat down with Ashley to talk about how she handled everything, why she decided to jump into her business full time anyway, and what advice she has for others.
In this episode we're chatting with Jennifer Bishop, owner of local event company J. Leigh Events, about how she survived the pandemic and what she's doing differently now in the face of the Delta variant.
Founder and CEO of the American Pit Bull Foundation Sara Ondrako is sitting down with us to talk about how her nonprofit survived the pandemic, what long lasting affects Covid-19 has had on their funding and advice for other nonprofits facing the Delta variant.
Hygge's owner Garrett Tichy is taking over Zero to Ten to talk with Alyssa, the usual Zero to Ten host, about her used bookstore at Camp North End. Alyssa shares how That's Novel Books opened two weeks before the state shut down last year, what she did to survive as a business owner and what's next.
You'd be hard pressed to find a small business owner who didn't learn something throughout the pandemic, but for Olivia Wolff, co-founder of UpDog Kombucha, the lesson was a particularly hard one: she learned she was not the best person to be running her company. Listen in as she tells us about keeping the business afloat during 2020 and finding a buyer to take over.
Over a year ago, Garrett and George first on a podcast about how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected George's music lesson business, Bold Music Co. We're catching back up with this local entrepreneur to see how things are going and what's next.
We sat down with hygge's owner Garrett Tichy to get an update on business as coworking adjusts to life opening up after the pandemic. He shares more about what hygge coworking faced during the pandemic and how we are still working through it all now as a small team of three.
In this extra special episode, Garrett guest-hosts while we hear from Niché Faulkner, a Charlotte yoga trainer and the co-founder of SHAE Movement African Arts, on the state of the city's yoga community post-pandemic and the lack of diversity in yoga spaces.
Mental health and physical wellness often go hand in hand, both in good ways and bad. While physical wellness can alleviate symptoms of mental illness, there's a line that can be crossed. This week we're sitting down with hygge wellness's GM Jamie Horn to talk about her history with this and how hygge wellness tries to keep people well in the safest ways.
If you've been struggling with your mental wellness lately, you're not alone. For Mental Health Awareness Month we're sitting down with Dana Burbridge Pennington and Jenee Thorsell, the owners and therapists behind Starting Point Counseling and Wellness in Charlotte. We chat about changes in therapy over the past year, tips for finding the best therapist for you and other ways you can prioritize your mental wellness.
"Sometimes life is just more fun when you wing it." That's what we did for this week's Zero to Ten episode. Alyssa was in need of another guest, so she forced the unsuspecting Hannah Krueger to hop on the mic and participate with no preparation whatsoever. The result? Well... it's a weird, kind of awkward episode, we won't lie. We talk about things like pie, Pitbull, and her favorite take out spots in Charlotte. We still think it's a fun episode, though. Give it a listen.
When Stacy Cassio started Pink Mentor Network 4 years ago, she saw it primarily as a B2C company. She would work with local Charlotte women on creating a community that could learn from each other and lift each other up. The pandemic changed all of that, though, and Stacy has seen her business primarily switch to B2B. It's a journey she didn't expect, but is embracing wholeheartedly. We talk with her about that, the survivors guilt of seeing a business succeed while so many others have failed, and what's next for her on this episode.
"If you're not changing, you're dying," Meggie Williams, founder and owner of SkipTown, likes to say. It's an ethos she's always followed when it comes to her business, which started as Skipper, a dog walking business, and has now evolved into basically a country club for Charlotte's pooches. Change came fast for Meggie and her team last March when investors started pulling out of their SkipTown fundraising round and they lost 90% of their dog walking business within a week as folks started working from home.
A year later, SkipTown is wildly successful and looking to expand to new cities like Atlanta and Dallas. We hear about the wild journey on today's episode. Buckle up.
While the majority of the world shut down or hit pause during 2020 in the face of Covid-19, Charlotte's Camp North End team kept quietly working to continue to grow. The 76-acre revitalized industrial park managed to open 13 food, beverage and retail shops on its campus during the year and kept construction going to allow it to enter into Phase 2 of its 20 year project plan. In this episode, we chat with Camp North End's Varian Shrum to learn how her team adapted during the pandemic and what's coming next.
Here's the scoop: working a remote job doesn't mean the whole big shift to working from home over the past year has been any easier. Take it from Mark Shropshire, a longtime hygge fam member who's been working remotely for a company for 5 years now. You might think that would make the change to working from home full time easier, but it has not. He's coming in hot this week with some tips on how he's handling it all.
Anyone else get cold sweats just thinking about filing their personal tax returns, let alone their business ones? Add in a pandemic that has changed a whole lot of things financially for folks last year, and it's going to be a doozy of a few months. This week, we talk with local CPA Jason Ackerman (you may know him better as half of the popular food blog Scallion Pancake - he says he's the Pancake). He's going to give us some helpful tips on what businesses should be expecting this tax season, and how they can make it easier on themselves.
Charlotte's Janine Davis is an absolute hoot - something you already know if you listen to her radio show throughout the week on 1019 FM - and she definitely brings a ton of life to this week's Zero to Ten episode. We talk with Janine about her path to becoming a radio host as well as her work with Girl Talk Foundation Inc., a local nonprofit that provides a safe space for young women in the area to learn and talk about tough life lessons. Get ready to laugh and learn a lot.
"When you start to talk about stuff being really bad, I don't have a solution. I don't know what to do, and I don't know how to ask for help. I don't have a logical path forward because the landscape is changing every day."
We've shared often over the past few months how the pandemic has affected small businesses and nonprofits we love, but we haven't given a ton of details on how we've been affected as a coworking space. This week on Zero to Ten we've got an extra special, long episode with hygge's founder and owner Garrett Tichy, and we get into the nitty gritty of what 2020 was like for us. He'll talk about our losses, how the tumultuous environment has affected his mental health, the decision to take on debt or not, and share the pretty grim, frank reality that there is no telling what the next few months will bring and if our small business will survive. It's not the cheeriest episode we've ever published, but it is one of the most realistic.
Who would win in a fight, a honey badger or a beaver? These are the hard hitting questions we like to ask on Zero to Ten, and this week, Ady Rivas does not disappoint with her answer. Ady is a member at our Hill Street location and works for Best Cleanup, a Charlotte business that handles huge messes like when a pipe breaks in your home. And while that's cool, that's not at all what we chat with her about. Instead, we spent our time together talking about Ady's love of herbs, and how it's helped her get in touch with her heritage as well as helped her discover a love for cooking and truly perfecting complex dishes. We also get to hear some very interesting bird stories.... but you'll have to listen in to the episode to see what we mean there.
When we realized we hadn't had the dynamic Taylor Florio on the Zero to Ten podcast just yet, we knew we needed to rectify that situation. Taylor has been a long-time member and supporter of our hygge west charlotte location (#westsidebestside, she likes to say) and has become such a big part of the hygge fam that she actually handles all of our podcast trainings for us. This week we talk with her a bit about her job as a college recruiter and how the pandemic has affected younger kids, her podcast Malaprops and Moxie and her passion for her community.
This week we are talking with Adam Brundle about all things soccer in Charlotte. Adam is a part of Charlotte's chapter of ISL Agency and Futsal USA, which means he and his team are involved in training the next generation of soccer stars. They work with kids age 8 and up to teach them skills and send them to training programs over in Europe. On the episode we learn more about soccer and a super cool variation called futsal, which is an indoor, faster-paced and super exciting version of soccer with different rules. With Charlotte diving into soccer (hello Charlotte FC) we figure it's time to start learning more from the pros, like Adam.
This week on Zero to Ten we have the opportunity to chat with Jamie Horn, a local fitness guru, owner of StrongHER360 and the chick in charge over at hygge wellness. Between working with her and her Instagram, we thought we knew Jamie pretty well, but in this episode we learned so much more about her. Like did you know she's a vegetarian (yup, you can cut out meat and still get enough protein to grow those guns 💪) and that she has an autoimmune disease that affects the coloring of her skin? We also talk with her about her love for wellness and what's coming up at hygge wellness.
This week you'll get to hear from Gerard Littlejohn, easily one of the coolest guys we know. Gerard is insanely kind and compassionate and is basically helping to change the Charlotte community in a million different ways. He does this mostly through his role at the Steve Smith Foundation. In this particular episode, we wanted to hear more from him on education in Charlotte because that's been on a lot of our minds for the past few months as schools have grappled with inviting kids back in person or doing virtual learning. Listen to learn how Gerard is working to provide better education for disenfranchised children here in Charlotte.
It's voter registration deadline week! This Friday is the deadline to register to vote in NC, so expect a ton of info coming at you this week about how to register and why. In addition to talking about the importance of voting, Kamaria and Angel also break down what we can expect on the ballot this year, including some early voting, absentee voting and poll voting tips and tricks.
Meet Brent LeVasseur, VP of Propellant Media here in Charlotte. There’s one thing you should know about Brent: he has a lot of random thoughts. And this week’s episode of Zero to Ten is full of them. Like his idea for a new YouTube show: purchasing the entire discount cart you see at Food Lion’s and taste-testing each of the questionable alcohol placed inside. We also learn that one of Brent's 2020 goals was actually to stay up later (weirdo).
Even if you've never heard of or met Brian Mister, you've probably heard of the Around the Crown 10k, the monumental race that happened for the first time last September and shut down I-277. Just a few months away from their second race, we sat down with him on Zero to Ten to learn a bit more about him, and boy, did Mary Johnson deliver. On this episode we learned that Brian and his wife, Chelsea, have a goal to run a marathon in all 50 states. They've already knocked out 16, which if you ask us, is pretty damn good. They even make up their own marathons in some states, like Utah, where they charted out their own 13.1 mile run in the middle of the Arches National Park. Talk about running goals 🏃 want to learn more about one of Charlotte's most avid runners? Listen now.
"I think 2020 has a lot of bright, shiny things potential in the horizon but also has an incredible amount of work ahead of it for myself," he told host Mary Johnson. We recorded this episode a few weeks ago on Garrett's birthday, so we got to hear a lot of his outlook on the new year and on him turning 36. It's a damn good episode - and we're not just saying that because he's the one who pays the bills.
This week on Zero to Ten, we're catching up with hygge's director of marketing, Alyssa Pressler. If you've never met her, Alyssa is The Person (a title she got in this very podcast episode) at hygge west charlotte, and she's also the person you've probably interacted with on any hygge social media. (She's also the one writing this caption about herself, which yes, is very, very awkward).
On this podcast episode, host Mary Johnson asks Alyssa about her openness with her mental health struggles, her tattoos (including 2 that she's tattooed on herself), and why in the heck she's sniffing the microphones in the podcast studio (it's one of those 'you've gotta listen' things). It's a pretty fun episode (and I'm not just saying this because it's me, Alyssa, awkwardly writing this caption).
"If you keep happiness in the front of everything, or kindness, love, whatever it is that keeps you happy, that shifts your perspective."
This is just one of the incredible tidbits from this week's Zero to Ten episode with Megan Pastor, hygge's phenomenal Director of Membership Experience. If you've checked out hygge since March, chances are you already know Megan. She's our human confetti cannon on staff, spreading sunshine and rainbows and laughs and hugs like no one's business. But how well do you really know Megan? Like, do you know that she used to write cute notes for her grandpa for his lunch every day? Or that she was offered her job at hygge without even realizing she had been interviewing for it? On the latest podcast episode, we get to learn more about about Megan, how she stays so positive and where she got her incredible baking skills from (if you're ever the lucky recipient of a Megan Pastor baked good, be grateful). You can listen to the whole dang thing below.
This week, we're getting a bit of a deeper dive in the life of Tyler Ford, aka the guy who single-handedly started the coworking trend here in Charlotte with Industry Coworking in 2009. Tyler's history is a really cool one: after school he started out working for Tommy Hilfiger in various positions for 15 years (yes, he knows Tommy, he's kinda awkward; and no, he did not pay for clothes, which was a culture shock after he left). During that time Tyler and his wife moved to Charlotte, where, after leaving retail, Tyler started working from home on graphic and web design. You see where this is going, right? He did the work from home thing for about 6 months before he started going a little stir crazy. He and some other friends bounced around the idea of splitting an office space together... and from there, the idea for Industry Coworking grew. Then in 2018 he decided to join the #hyggefam.
"Most of us meet our friends at our workplace, our spouse at our workplace. When you don't have that at all, it makes it easier to be out there on an island."
You can hear more about Tyler's super interesting journey, along with some other tidbits (like he and his daughter's personal challenge to see 25 concerts together in 5 years and how he steals the bacon off of sandwiches) by listening below.
With coworking, ya never quite know what you're gonna get. For example, on a Wednesday at about 3:45 p.m., you may just randomly get approached by someone you've never met, Mary Johnson, and asked to be on the hygge podcast Zero to Ten. Ethan was kind enough to jump right in and talk about what it's like watching film when you work in the industry, what his favorite movie is, the garlic crusted lamb chop he just made recently. He also said probably the kindest thing about hygge we've ever heard: "The internet is good, the people are nice and the coffee is way better than you think it would be." (shoutout to @enderlycoffee, the coffee he's talking about)
Hey world, meet one of the newest members of the #hyggefam, John Tinkelenberg. John is the first employee of Brave New Word, one of the earliest businesses that we had in the hygge walls and the business owned by our podcast host Mary Johnson. In this episode of Zero to Ten, we're getting to know John on an even deeper level. For example, we found out he plays guitar and has actually cut together an album before - how cool. He's also been charged by an alligator and lived to tell the tale, he's an Eagle Scout, and he's basically Willy Wonka because he's worked at a chocolate factory before. So, long story short, he's a pretty cool guy with some pretty cool stories.
A lot of people know Greg Schermbeck, the guy behind education reform at SchermCo. For 5 years now, SchermCo has been specializing in strategic services for education reform initiatives across the country, particularly for K-12 students. Basically, he's a big deal, and he's been at it for a while now. But the best part about coworking isn't connecting with people about what they do... (okay, that part is a ton of fun, too). The best part about working alongside strangers is you get to learn some quirky things about them you may never have before - like that Greg used to play football, he grew up in a low-income area and he just recently hired his mom to help him out with his business (hey, mama Schermbeck!). This week on the Zero to Ten podcast, host Mary Johnson sits down with Greg to talk all about the things people might not know about him, and you can give it a listen by heading to the link in our bio.
"The reason I started doing burlesque and pole dancing is one of my friends was a dancer, and I went to see a showcase she was in and it was the first time female sexuality and performance had been presented as not for the male gaze. It just seemed so lovely to be in this environment where we could celebrate this on our own terms for ourselves rather than trying to impress someone else." For the first time ever, this is probably not someone you'll see at one of our hygge locations if you ever stop by. Meet Ruby Skyscraper, the burlesque alter ego of one of our #hyggefam. Ruby has been doing burlesque and pole dancing for a few years now. It all started when she was in Germany, but since then she's brought her performances here to the Queen City. We were lucky enough to have her on the Zero to Ten podcast with Mary Johnson to hear all about the burlesque community and how she got into it. As a woman in a male dominated industry, Ruby found burlesque - which is very, very different from stripping, btw - was a way for her to feel empowered as a woman and in touch with her sexuality.
Boy... this guy. DC is a firecracker, a force to be reckoned with, a true "party person," and an absolute blast to be around. He brings in an undeniable amount of energy to everything he does, and we truly love that he's a part of the fam it was only a matter of time before we had him on the Zero to Ten podcast so you all can see just what a fun guy he is. If you've never met him, DC is the founder and owner of Well-Run Media. He's also an avid runner - like, he runs 100 mile races. Yeah, crazy. It all started when he was in high school and it's never stopped. For him it's a great way for him to keep himself well, explore new areas of places he's living or visiting and meet new people. It's a way for him to unplug totally and be alone with his thoughts. In fact, he doesn't even listen to music or podcasts while he's running: "When you have that opportunity to spend some time in the outdoors like that and can appreciate what's all around you and that creation, it's like danggg, I am one lucky son of a gun to be out there."
LaNaria is the Director of Finance over at Love146, a nonprofit that is fighting to end child trafficking across the world. It's incredibly important work, and as the keeper of finances in the organization, LaNaria's role is crucial. "I'm at this point in my career where whatever I do, I want it to mean something," she says. "When I reconcile a bank account, I'm able to save a child, maybe not directly, but indirectly."
LaNaria is a numbers girl at heart - she's always loved them. She even loves excel... which is a thing pretty much everyone hates. She's always worked in accounting, but she says she's found something special with Love146 because it allows her to do meaningful work. This week on the Zero to Ten podcast, host Mary Johnson asked her about chicken salad, what she'd have as her last meal on death row, what child trafficking looks like in Charlotte, how running the finances for a nonprofit is different than a for profit business... a little of everything. You can listen in to the full, fun convo below.
Well, folks, this might be the first time we've ever had a dog as a podcast guest. If you've been around hygge jay street, you've probably met this friendly face. If not, this is Luka, one of the many #dogsofhygge who comes to work with his person, Kelly Koier, each day. Like many of us, Luka has a side hustle: he's officially a certified therapy dog as of just a few weeks ago This week on Zero to Ten, we get to learn a bit more about one of our favorite furry friends, as well as what it takes to be a therapy dog that does things like visits people in the hospital. Listen to learn more.
This week on Zero to Ten, we're getting real with ya and talking about a difficult topic: divorce. Shit happens, people grow apart and it's tough as hell, but it can force you to grow. Everyone, meet Melissa Brokaw, a member of the #hyggefam and half the team over at Well-Run Media. About two years ago, Melissa got divorced after nearly 20 years with her husband. It was a pretty dramatic change for her, and since then she's gone through a period of growth, to the point where Melissa says a lot of people don't even recognize her anymore.
Sales lead by day, farmer by night (and morning). World, meet Jacob Felts, a member of the #hyggefam who works remotely for Safewood Designs at our hygge jay street location. He does some pretty cool stuff at work, don't get us wrong, but we had him on the Zero to Ten podcast this week to talk about something different. A few months ago, Jacob and his wife decided to fulfill a dream that started out as a joke: buy a farm, homestead the land and grow/raise their own food. Totally cool, right?
That means Jacob starts his day out early with his farm chores, which include walking the goats to the pasture, feeding the laying chickens they have, taking care of the barn cats, feeding the rabbits and so much more, all before heading in to the office for a full day. Then, at the end of the day, he's back outside and doing more work, like fixing up the barn, clearing his acres of land, chainsawing trees... the list never ends. His story is cool as hell, though, especially because they've learned how to do every bit of it through YouTube. Head to the link in our bio to give it a listen and learn all about what goes into running a huge farm part time, and follow along with their progress at The Felts Farm.
Does anyone really know what they want to do when they grow up? Michael Trivette is on this week's Zero to Ten podcast with host Mary Johnson to talk a little bit about everything... what he wanted to do when he grew up and what he's doing now with College Transitions, the company he founded to help students through the college admissions process, the book he has coming out later this year, traveling, and so much more. There's a little bit of everything in this week's episode, so check it out.
"To be honest, I've never believed in something like I do us, myself and my brothers and our ability to make it happen." World, meet brothers Khaleel and Maleek Loyd, two of the three dynamic guys behind Loyd Visuals. The pair founded their company with their third brother, Najm a few years ago. If ya ask us, running a business with family would be tough, but not for these guys. The trio perfectly compliments each other to create incredible videos and run a successful gig. This week on Zero to Ten they're talking with host Mary Johnson about what it's like to be in business with your brother and what they're up to around the Queen City.
What happens when your wife calls you and says, "Guess what?! We're getting chickens!!" Well... you get chickens Sebastian Williams is on the Zero to Ten podcast this week to talk not about Skipper, which is the company his wife, Meggie, and he started years ago, but about their recent adventure into chicken farming in the city of Charlotte. They've got a handful of chickens (and an accidental rooster, #oops) that live in their backyard, and, honestly, it's a cool story.
This week on Zero to Ten, meet Jared McKiernan, an SEO expert and an avid table tennis player. He started out playing regular tennis when he was 6 and even went to @davidsoncollege to play on their tennis team. Then, when a friend told him about the local table tennis league and the rest is history. He's even played against some of the toughest table tennis players in the country right here in Charlotte. This week on the podcast he and Mary Johnson talk all about the intricacies of table tennis, what it's like to play against a guy who's won the U.S. title four times, and his table tennis nemeses. Give it a listen. 🎧
This is David Jessup, a major mover and shaker here in Charlotte. Four years ago he founded Digi-Bridge with the goal of bridging divides by fostering optimal use of tech in education. With the future relying more and more on digital advances and technology, the organization has done incredible work to get kids today interested in STEAM to help make a difference tomorrow. But a few weeks ago, David announced he's leaving Digi-Bridge to return to school.
It got us wondering - how do you make the decision to leave an organization you founded? How did Digi-Bridge come about, and what's next for David? Mary Johnson had him on the Zero to Ten podcast to talk about allllll of it.
For Zero to Ten this week Mary Johnson talked with Hannah Beavers about her transition into motherhood and her search for a new calling after having a child.
This is Beth Morrison, the executive director of @rebuildingtogetherclt, a nonprofit dedicated to repairing homes to keep people in safe, affordable housing in the greater Charlotte area. Beth is doing some incredible work with the organization, but she's also one of the kindest people you'll ever meet. When Honey Well said they wanted to help fund a larger project through Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte that would impact more people and help a neighborhood, Beth wanted to spread the love. Listen to learn more about Beth, her nonprofit, and how she's supporting the whole NPO community.
Have you ever been walking at a convenience store and wonder what playlist is playing? This is Steven Pilker. At the hygge 3rd ward location, he and his colleagues have a sticky note on the door saying they're working on a secret project, but today, we're not going to talk about that. Instead, on this week's Zero to Ten we're talking about how Stephen used to create music playlists for national brands. Basically, he'd develop playlists for everything from stores to campaigns. It helped him learn that there's good music in every single genre and figure out the best ways to find new music. Even now, he still goes to record stores like @tiptopmarketnc on bad days to check out new music and de-stress. It sounds like a damn cool job.
This week on Zero to Ten, we're hearing from Amy Jacobs with Share Charlotte who's talking all about nonprofits in Charlotte with Mary Johnson. You'll hear everything from how to choose what nonprofit is right for you to some of the more unexpected things a nonprofit might need.
Anytime you see Meg Seitz she'll likely ask you a simple question: what's the gossip? The whole idea is to get a more interesting response than if she were to ask "how are you doing?" Having been asked this question ourselves - it totally works. She'll also be rocking 3 different watches, one of which doesn't work any more, and several bracelets up the length of her arm, every single one has a story. This week on the Zero to Ten podcast, we're catching up with the incredible owner of Toth Shop, the second half of Toth and Fay and the very first ever member of the #hyggefam to learn a bit more about her idiosyncrasies - because honestly, they're pretty cool.
Our girl Raven Solomon is a self-diagnosed workaholic. We introduced you to her before, but let's recap: she's a badass keynote speaker, president of her own company, an expert in millennial and gen z leadership and a brand new author. All around she's crushing the game, and we were honored to have her on this week's Zero to Ten episode talking about what it's like to have to change her work process due to her epileptic seizures, her writing process and road blocks she faced during the marathon of writing and self-publishing her book Leading Your Parents: 25 Rules to Effective Multigenerational Leadership for Millennials and Gen Z.
A brilliant man (Michael Scott) once said, “Sometimes you have to take a break from being the kind of boss that's always trying to teach people things. Sometimes you have to just be the boss of dancing.” If Charlotte has one boss of dancing, it’s Aaron Dodge. On this week’s Zero to Ten, Mary talks to him about what it’s like to come out of your shell and upload videos of himself dancing on Instagram for the whole dang world to see, and also what it’s like to be the only guy twerking in chakti yoga.
Last year, Tommy of Woodward Homes decided to make 2019 the year he's worked harder than ever before: in his businesses and in life. It means he's working 12 hours a day, building in time to hang out with his dog Patton, and making sure he's being as efficient as possible. The goal: to feel like he's working at his fullest potential and that he did everything he could during his life. You can hear all about how it's going + why he decided to make this change on our latest Zero to Ten podcast episode with Mary Johnson.
On this week's episode of From Zero to Ten, Mary catches up with #hyggefam Hannah Beasley about what it's like to be one of the only female leaders at a tech company and then to become a mom who needs to take a maternity leave. Working at a small startup allowed Hannah the opportunity to really shape her maternity leave as one of the first women in the company to need it. Head to the link in our bio to give it a listen
It's fitting our first ever episode is about photographer extraordinaire Julia Murray - the person behind pretty much every hygge picture you see + the creator of the hygge jingle you'll hear at the beginning of every podcast. She sat down with our host, Mary about her singing (that's right, she used to do it professionally!) + talking about how narrowed her business to focus on what she wants to photograph vs. just saying yes to every opportunity. Basically, it's some good shit.