We talk a lot of business here on the BrandBuilders Podcast, and we love it –but our next guest is like “going out to play” for us. Jamey Boiter from BOLTGROUP is a specialist in building brands. Yes, like the name of our podcast. BOLT works with clients from Ryobi tools to Chick-fil-A to Coca Cola to Speedo swimsuits. And we are excited to talk shop with him about brand building. Welcome Jamey.

Media and marketing companies all want to make a “buzz” in the marketplace, but one local company takes it to the next level by actually putting the “buzz” in their name. Spiracle Media is literally named after the part of the bee that makes it buzz. (Also fitting for a town whose NBA team is the Hornets and whose town logo that shows a hornet’s nest!)

The aptly-named company kicked off to a fast start by representing and working with local athletes, which is not surprising since the founders were all previously sports reporters on local TV.  But they also do more. Welcome Jarod Latch and Tim Baier.

Charlotte has a LOT of breweries… but Pineville…. has. just. ONE. Now, while other places in Pineville serve craft beer, only one had to go to the town council to get some rules changed to brew beer in town limits. Spoiler alert: they got it. And we can thank three people for that… 3 people who wanted to open a brewery, and realized Pineville didn’t have one… and therefore needed one. (Makes sense!) And what better place to open that brewery than a place with a view — especially if that view is an old par-3 course and driving range.

“Genius!” you say. Yes, and Michael Smoak from Middle James Brewing is here on the BrandBuilders Podcast to tell us how it’s going.

No matter who we are or where we come from, we all know at least one person with a substance abuse problem. It can be alcohol, street drugs, or even prescription drugs — which we’re seeing with the spike in opioid addictions and deaths in the last 5 years. The latest numbers from drugabuse-dot-gov say, more than 23 million Americans suffered addiction to alcohol, marijuana, or prescription drugs in 2017.

But we also know from those same government statistics, that only 2-1/2 million people are getting proper treatment for those addictions. That’s quite a gap. Our guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast today is one person in Charlotte doing something about that: Ward Blanchard founded the Blanchard Institute Substance Abuse Treatment Center in Charlotte and is here to give us some insight into his center’s important work.

Which day is wash day in your house? Mondays? Sundays? Only when absolutely necessary? Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast knows how you feel and we figure he’s probably had days he didn’t feel like doing laundry, too.

But the difference is that Alex Smereczniak now does laundry for a living — sort of. He’s half of the start-up, 2ULaundry, that does YOUR laundry… washed, dried, and delivered to your door the next day. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Yes it does. So good, that in just four years the Charlotte-based company has expanded and secured $6 million dollars of investments to go nationwide.

Veterans Day is coming up November 11th, and if you want to celebrate and thank our veterans — and enjoy some tasty food while supporting them too — we know where you can do that. The city of Huntersville is hosting its 4th annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony in downtown, and it includes a food truck rally to benefit a group called Veterans Motorsports. We wanted to hear the scoop, so we found Steve Morgan and Carla Schwartz-Morgan to give us details on this episode of the BrandBuilders Podcast.

This is a great time to be a beer lover in Charlotte. We have so many craft beers and breweries to choose from, no matter what we’re in the mood for. But while so many of them are going bigger, our friends at Lower Left Brewing are starting small. Tim Curtis and Alex Shoenthal, self-described “hop heads,” found the perfect location with lots of good company in LoSo, and have rolled up their garage doors on their new, 900-square-foot space with a patio. They’re joining us on the BrandBuilders Podcast to tell us about their a-ha moment.

We love when a local group from Charlotte has such a good idea, it goes national. One of those ideas that’s been incredibly popular both locally, and now nationally, is Girls on the Run. The afterschool program started more than 20 years ago in Charlotte with 13 girls and now counts more than a MILLION girls who have participated in all 50 states! Joining us today on the BrandBuilders Podcast are the local director and program manager for Girls on the Run Charlotte, Maghan Knight and Mary Stuart Fountain.

A good reason you probably know the name of “Make-A-Wish” is because of the sheer number of good deeds they do for children with chronic or terminal illnesses. Behind the scenes, there are teams working hard every day to make those wishes happen. Logistics of a magical day are one thing, and fundraising to make wishes come true are another. Pitchin’ For Wishes is coming up soon in Charlotte. It’s sponsored by Andrew Roby – the general contractor and real estate company. Christian McCall from Andrew Roby is here with Chris Weber from Make-A-Wish to tell us about it.