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Nothing sticks in your memory like the scent of perfume. It’s right up there with the smell of fresh-cut grass, flowers in spring, or baking cookies. And the perfume business is worth more than $31 Billion dollars globally! Wow! But in a world of fragrances, how do you find just the right scent for you?

Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast has the answer: She makes them! Katrina Sellers is a self-proclaimed “perfume nerd” who started her own custom fragrance business, Jules & Vetiver, right here in Charlotte. And unlike those super-secret big companies, Katrina lets you know exactly what’s in the bottle, and helps you choose it. It’s become a pretty cool business and she joins us now to talk about it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:51 — 26.0MB)

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Unless you’re new in town or hiding under a ROCK, you know real estate is hot right now. So SO hot. The inventory is at historic lows and the prices are through the roof. The median home price is in $400,000 range. We’ve got someone here in the BrandBuilders Studio right now who’s in the business of selling homes to talk us through what this means.

Steve Lonnen is a Licensed Realtor with Costello Real Estate and Investments and he’s joining us now to talk about a lot of things, not just home sales.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 20.0MB)

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If you’re a woman, or married to one, you probably know about purses. There are probably at least a half dozen (or a few dozen!) in your closet or around your house. And don’t say each one isn’t important – their size, style, and color all have different functions for a day at the beach or a night out on the town. But for most of them, you handle them lightly and store them carefully because they’re just not built to be a durable, one-size-fits-all option.

Welcome to Moost Bags. Durable, colorful, and interchangeable for any outing – and washable in your kitchen sink! Yes, you heard that right. You can build your own and make it uniquely yours, and change up pieces when you want. If this sounds pretty cool to you, you’ll love our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast – the creator of Moost Bags, Austin Applefield.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:13 — 26.3MB)

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Creativity has always been a valuable commodity in business and marketing, but what that looks like has changed over the years. It’s not enough to go from mailers to TV to social media… you have to make your work stand out in whatever channel you’re using.

Lee Calderon is a classically-trained artist and architect who knows how to “build” marketing from the inside out – starting with great visuals and connecting them to great ideas. He has lent his colorful touch to several campaigns in his work on the West Coast, and now he brings his edgy work to Charlotte as he teams up with his daughter Sophia at Arthur Elliott.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:32 — 23.1MB)

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If you’ve been in Charlotte for a few years, you’ve probably heard about the social mobility study that ranked the Queen City 50th out of 50 metropolitan areas for upward mobility. In other words, if you’re born poor in Charlotte, you’re likely to remain poor your whole life if you stay here. It is distressing, to say the least.

Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast is part of a collaborative effort to change that statistic. Mark Talbot is Director of Economic Development at Freedom Communities – a nonprofit that’s more than a think tank – it immerses itself in the west Charlotte corridor with tools to change lives. With a resume in commercial real estate and ministry, his experience is the one-two punch Charlotte needs to tackle its social mobility problem.

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This is a great time to be a builder in Charlotte. But before any structure can be used, it has to be certified as safe and sturdy. We can thank our engineers for that! And making sure you bring the right engineer to the project is an essential part of doing the job right. That’s why we’re glad to have Mike Iosue with us today on the BrandBuilders Podcast – he’s the guy who connects the right engineers to the right projects.

Mike is the Director of Business Development for Ellinwood + Machado – structural engineers who make sure buildings go up safely and remain sturdy for years to come. He’s also the founder of Carolina BUILT, an organization of builders and related industries who come together to help nonprofits across the area.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:37 — 25.2MB)

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Right now we are all filled with the spirit of the season, or as a lot of people like to say, “The Reason for the Season.” But the reason goes beyond the season, and our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast is living that every day with his nonprofit for children with incarcerated parents.

Cyril Prabhu started Proverbs 22:6 because he saw that prison was breaking families – not just breaking them up, but breaking them. And that children of incarcerated parents had a more than 80% chance of someday being incarcerated themselves. And that the way to break that cycle was through reconciliation of parent and child – and that’s what he set out to do. His own story is incredible, too – and we’re excited that he’s joining us to tell us all about who he is and what he does.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:16 — 23.6MB)

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Remember the good ol’ days? Yeah, we all do. Maybe you’re living them now! And maybe you have some great memories from your high school or college days that you love keeping around. For more than a few of us, there’s that T-shirt that brings back the good times, and we don’t hate feeling that vibe again.

That’s the idea behind Glory Days Apparel – streetwear that feels good and makes us feel like we’re living the glory days, even if those days are right now. JD Harris is the guy who made his favorite high school T-shirt into an entire business with a shop in South End, and this stuff is pretty cool. He’s joining us now on the BrandBuilders podcast to tell us how he took his communications degree- to a career in finance- to his own business with a distinctly Charlotte feel.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:03 — 25.5MB)

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What are your methods for finding the best employees for your company? Recruiting services? Job postings? A Hail Mary pass to the end zone that you hope gives you a game-winning touchdown employee? Say it with me, ‘There must be a better way.’

Kelly Venable knows that too. As Founder and President of “Your Hiring Coaches,” she likes to “Put Aces in their Places” – as she likes to say. Why take chances on your next hire when data can point you in the right direction, to fill in gaps on your staff and create the energy and culture you want in your office? Sounds like a great idea, and Kelly and her Director of Recruiting Laura Stephens join us today on the BrandBuilders Podcast to tell us how they do it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:08 — 19.4MB)

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Staying sober during the holidays can be hard. Everywhere you go, there are parties and cocktails… and more parties. What can you do?

Our next guest is not a recovering alcoholic but just decided to stop drinking and pursue life sober. Molly Ruggere is a certified life coach and alcohol freedom coach who leads a club for people who want to be active and do fun things that don’t include alcohol. Simple, right? She’s joining us on the BrandBuilders Podcast just in time for New Years, to give us ideas on how to have fun that doesn’t require drinking.