Becoming a parent can be the most fulfilling, stressful, heart-warming, and chaotic time in your life. Your whole world, or at least a very big part of it, becomes centered around your kids.  Every parent wants the best for their children, the best food, the best schools, and the best future! But for some families that future is cut terribly short.

Our next guest has turned their personal tragedy into a blessing for so many others, throughout the Charlotte area. Today we are talking to Rachel Lee, philanthropist, wife, and mother who along with her husband Andy Lee started Madelyn’s Fund to help families with babies receiving treatment in the NICU throughout Charlotte.

When most people or partners start a business, they’ve usually got an incredible idea, product, or service to bring to the marketplace. What they generally don’t have is all the info or the experience to manage the “business” of owning or starting a business.

You know what we mean. The accounting, bookkeeping, taxes and such aren’t the tasks most business owners love to tackle. And it’s precisely how businesses that DO focus on those services provide solutions to companies of all sizes.

Gordon Hippe from Smart Financials Accounting is the kind of guy you want on your team when accounting and taxes and stuff AREN’T the reason you got into business in the first place!

It was very big news when Food & Wine named Charlotte one of its next great food cities. With new restaurants openings, award-winning chefs, and a world-renowned faculty at Johnson and Wales all getting regular attention… it seems like the options and opportunities are everywhere.

With all that, most of our audience – and probably many folks in Charlotte — aren’t worrying about where their next meal is coming from. But there’s a significant number that does. And thankfully, there are folks working to help them bridge that gap. Danielle Moore is the community outreach director for Loaves and Fishes/Friendship Trays and joins us on this episode of the BrandBuilders podcast.

It would be hard to argue that Charlotte isn’t a bike town. From the world-famous Myers Park Booty Loop, Orr Road, miles of greenways, and successful charity rides, and great bike shops, to boot.

And, even if you know cycling, you may not know that one of the sports internationally-known brands is right here in Charlotte. The name Giordana is synonymous with top-of-the line cycling clothing and accessories. Seriously, this is great stuff.

Arguably, no one loves coffee like our guest host here. BUT, our guests on this episode are real professionals. Let’s set the stage here: two successful Charlotte coffee shop owners decide they’ll try their hand at a JOINT venture in the local coffee space. Enter: Night Swim Coffee.

James Yoder and Todd Huber met up at a coffee convention – how do we get a ticket to THAT show – and hatched this plan that is now four full-service cafés and a roastery. And all of those locations have come online in less than a year.