184: Erin Santos – ISF

184: Erin Santos – ISF

We’re checking in today with one of our favorite charities in Charlotte… dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancers, and helping families along the way. The Isabella Santos Foundation has already raised and invested more than $4 million dollars in pediatric cancer research locally and nationwide and has spent another half-million dollars supporting families whose children are fighting that difficult fight.

They have an important milestone coming up on March 9th… the 16th birthday of their founder-in-spirit, Isabella Santos. Our community has a chance this month to keep her fight going — to beat cancer for other kids — with ISF’s Star Light, Star Bright memorial. Isabella’s mom and valiant cancer warrior Erin Santos is joining us now on the BrandBuilders Podcast to tell us how we can take part.

183: Trey Ennis – Hire Me Healthcare

183: Trey Ennis – Hire Me Healthcare

We don’t have to explain the need for Healthcare Heroes right now. Doctors, nurses, PA’s, and other frontline healthcare workers have been running full speed since the COVID pandemic first surfaced here in March. The need is great.

Our next guest on the BrandBuilders Podcast was way ahead of this game before 2020. In 2017, Trey Ennis created a website and app, called HireMe Healthcare, to connect nurses with jobs they were looking for. It’s not an employment service – it’s a way to speed up the process for nurses looking for employment, and healthcare agencies and companies looking to hire nurses. Trey joins us now on the podcast to tell us more about his company – and his past year.

182: Ben Cooley – Bicycle Sport

182: Ben Cooley – Bicycle Sport

If there’s a bright spot in business this year at all, it’s that businesses who helped people out in the pandemic were able to thrive. Now, we understand it’s a weird year to talk about success – but if you’re helping people get outdoors to stay healthy and sane in a year like this, more power to you.

Ben Cooley at Bicycle Sport is one of those businesses, as demand for bikes soared during stay-at-home orders. It required some flexibility to stay safe and give his customers what they needed, but Ben and crew did it. Ben is joining us on the BrandBuilders Podcast now to share how.

181: Colin Dougherty – CAMSKNS

181: Colin Dougherty – CAMSKNS

Professional cameras all seem to have one thing in common – like cars 100 years ago, they are available in any color you want, as long as it’s BLACK. But most photographers we know are pretty colorful people – people who see the world differently, and have an innate ability to capture the angle through their lenses. So why shouldn’t their camera’s style reflect their personality?

I mean, everyone has a phone case that says a little about who they are, so why not professional photographers? Colin Dougherty thought the same thing and came up with CAMSKNS – colorful, protective cases for your “good” camera (you know, the one that’s NOT in your phone). Colin joins us now on the BrandBuilders Podcast to give us a glimpse through the lens that led him to create his colorful product.

180: Matt Dengler – RxRD Nutrition

180: Matt Dengler – RxRD Nutrition

Okay, listeners – raise your hand if you struggled with eating healthy last year –

Now raise your hand if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to eat better –

If your hand is up, your resolution is also the number one resolution made by folks every January, along with exercising more. (You can put your hands down now.)

The big question is HOW.  You’re also not alone if you’ve run out of creative ways to create dinner while only going to the store once a week. Our next guest on BrandBuilders Podcast can help – Matt Dengler is a Registered Dietitian, owner and founder of RxRD Nutrition, and he’s made a pretty good business out of telling people in very simple terms, how easy it is to eat right and take care of yourself. Welcome, Matt!

179: Gale Bonnell & Jason Brannon – Adams Outdoors

179: Gale Bonnell & Jason Brannon – Adams Outdoors

Hitting the road this weekend? Along the way, you will see some of the most creative advertising work around…. on billboards. Adams Outdoors is one of the largest billboard advertising companies in the country and they have an office right here in Charlotte. Gale Bonnell and Jason Brannon from Adams are joining us today on the BrandBuilders Podcast.

178: Robert Hackney – Charlotte Business Group

178: Robert Hackney – Charlotte Business Group

A lot of us already belong to a business networking group, which means we’ve attended some happy hours, met people, collected business cards, and…. moved on. One professional networking group, though, wants you to put your time and talents to work for a good cause NOT necessarily related to your business – to help you grow personally and professionally.

The Charlotte Business Group calls itself the largest business networking group in the Greater Charlotte area, founded in 2017 on 3 basic principles—and first among them, is PHILANTHROPY. Their founder, Robert Hackney, is a volunteer at Loaves & Fishes food bank, a boys basketball coach at church, and a crew leader for Habitat for Humanity… and he serves in the National Guard Reserves. When does he sleep? We don’t know, but we’re happy to welcome him to the BrandBuilders Podcast.

177: Matt Uher & Mike Stiner – Soccer Shots

177: Matt Uher & Mike Stiner – Soccer Shots

When you have kids, you work hard to keep them active. In addition to “go play outside,” you also want them involved in some sort of coached sport so they learn good fundamentals of hard work and fair play. How do you do that, especially when they’re young?

Well first, you emphasize the fun, because kids learn best through play. Our next guests on the BrandBuilders Podcast know that too, because the organization they own has become a household name for anyone with kids who want to learn soccer. Soccer Shots has become a Charlotte youth institution, offered at dozens and dozens of schools, parks, and preschools around the region. If you ever played soccer or have kids, please welcome Matt Uher and Mike Stiner from Soccer Shots.

176: Paul Hosage – Tread Connection

176: Paul Hosage – Tread Connection

Getting new tires is probably not high on everyone’s list of ‘fun things to do.’ And you know who else noticed that? The manager of a tire store. Paul Hosage became an area manager of a tire chain, but he noticed along the way that customers, while happy to have new tires, almost universally did NOT enjoy sitting in the waiting rooms of tire stores. So he and his brother Alex came up with an idea: Let people sit at work or at home, or doing what they need to do, while we install new tires on their cars with a mobile tire installation van.

175: Chris Meade – CROSSNET

175: Chris Meade – CROSSNET

If you’ve ever been to summer camp – or even recess at school – you’ve probably grabbed a ball and dashed towards the pavement with the big painted square divided into four parts. Yes, foursquare. And as you grew up, you progressed to friendly games of volleyball at your company picnic or the beach. But what if you could combine the two? Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, someone did. Three childhood friends, in fact, created a quick set-up game of volleyball four-square called CROSSNET.