Business. Casually. artwork

Business. Casually.

61 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratings

These are conversations with the movers and shakers of the greater Grundy County (IL) area. I'm Jim Ludes, a real estate broker for over 15 years in the community, and the current Managing Broker at Lori Bonarek Realty. We are a small collection of communities but even so, I feel that we don't necessarily get to know the people in our community like we would have in a bygone era. This podcast hopes to solve that problem or at least bridge the gap. We talk business, but....casually, just like the name suggests!

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Episodes

Turn the Page: December 2021

November 30, 2021 15:00 - 7 minutes - 5.23 MB

Cindy Starks from the Coal City Public Library District is back to tell us all about the goings on of the library for December 2021. Spoiler: it's a lot, like always, but she lets us know in under 8 minutes!

Turn the Page: November 2021

October 30, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 3.71 MB

Cindy Starks of Coal City Public Library is back to talk all the November 2021 happenings!

Turn the Page: October 2021

October 01, 2021 16:00 - 7 minutes - 5.09 MB

Cindy Starks of Coal City Public Library District is back for her monthly visit to talk all the ongoings at the library!

Turn the Page: September 2021

September 02, 2021 15:00 - 7 minutes - 4.96 MB

Cindy from the Coal City Public Library District is back with all of September's happenings!

Turn the Page: August 2021

July 28, 2021 19:00 - 6 minutes - 4.75 MB

Cindy Starks from the Coal City Public Library District is back with all the news and happenings of the CCPLD for August, 2021!

Nick DeRango

July 08, 2021 11:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MB

I had a chat with Nick DeRango of Vizimage. We talked business, of course, learning about his path to co-owning a photography/videography company. We also touched on his cool attitude, fatherhood, baseball contracts, and more!

Turn the Page: July 2021

July 02, 2021 23:00 - 7 minutes - 5.41 MB

Cindy Starks of the Coal City Public Library District is back to talk all about the July happenings at the library.

Chuy Reyes

June 10, 2021 11:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MB

I sat down with my new friend, Chuy Reyes of CR Films to talk Rockdale, social media, photography, filmmaking, the pressure of naming a kid Jesus, and my trip to Mexico. 

Turn the Page: June 2021

June 01, 2021 23:00 - 9 minutes - 6.24 MB

The latest installment of the CCPLD monthly edition with Cindy Starks. Find out about COVID vaccines, summer reading program, movies at the library, a theatre trip and more!

Amanda Hiller Returns!

May 20, 2021 11:00 - 37 minutes - 25.5 MB

Amanda Hiller has returned; this time as a member outreach director for the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce! We talked about what the job entails, the upcoming Family Fest (June  26th), and had a little fun to boot. 

Angie Solis and Mike Liacone

May 13, 2021 11:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MB

I'm joined by owner/founder Angela (Angie) Solis and clinician Mike Liacone of Crossroads Counseling Services. We chatted on most things therapy including breaking stigmas,  tele-heath, favorite practices, etc. And I once again try to get some people to agree that Saint Francis is the Stanford of the midwest.  

Turn the Page: May 2021

May 03, 2021 22:00 - 8 minutes - 6.07 MB

Cindy from the Coal City Public Library is back for our monthly installment. Find out all the haps at CCPLD including upcoming COVID vaccinations.

Turn the Page: April 2021

April 06, 2021 23:00 - 8 minutes - 5.9 MB

Cindy is back with all the Coal City Public Library happenings in under 9 minutes! Check it out and support the CCPLD!

Turn the Page: March 2021

March 01, 2021 22:00 - 4 minutes - 3.09 MB

Cindy Starks from the Coal City Public Library District is in to talk about all the ongoings for March!

Turn the Page: February 2021

February 02, 2021 22:00 - 8 minutes - 5.54 MB

Cindy Starks is back to talk about the on goings at the Coal City Public Library for February 2021! Find out all you need to know in fewer than 8 minutes. 

Oscar Luevano

January 21, 2021 12:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MB

I had the pleasure of chatting with Oscar Luevano. Oscar is the co-owner of Luevano's Barber Lounge in Morris. We talked about barber school, playing in a band, quitting cutting hair and re-finding his passion, opening his own shop, social media, and a really really cool reason he was drinking a lot of water (moms, get your tissues). 

Christy Lister

January 14, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 41.4 MB

This week's guest is Christy Lister. Christy is a mortgage originator with FNB. Today we talked about an interesting hospital admission, how she got into banking and ultimately mortgage lending, which two local famous baseball players she nannied for, having a child born the day after 9/11, and her volunteer work with Blue H.E.L.P. This is as open and honest as an interview I've done and gets a little heavy in spots. Do yourself a favor and check her out if you're thinking about buying or re...

Jill Breneman

January 07, 2021 12:00 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MB

This week's guest is Jill Breneman. Jill is a REALTOR at Lori Bonarek Realty. Today we talked about growing up in Joliet, becoming a cosmetologist, moving to Coal City, and becoming a REALTOR. We also chatted about what the best food in a food fight would be, scary movies, and I drop some (potentially false) allegations about the star of her favorite Christmas film. Jill was a great sport to come in on short notice and do me a favor. Do yourself a favor and check her real estate pages on fac...

Danielle Diamond

December 31, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 49.7 MB

Danielle (Dani) Diamond was born in San Mateo, California but quickly moved to Coal City where she has lived for most of her life. We chatted about her days studying Poli Sci at Bradley University, her days as a youth services librarian, but mostly we talked about her role as a NASA-JPL ambassadorship.  Check her out here: https://www.facebook.com/spacetalkwithdani.  

Stacey Legg

December 17, 2020 12:00 - 37 minutes - 25.9 MB

Stacey Legg is a photographer/artist that owns Artistic Perceptions Photography. She's also a board member and social media manager for The Exhibit Fine Arts Gallery in Morris! We chatted about photography types, art forms, and just what goes on at the gallery. 

Turn the Page: December 2020

December 11, 2020 12:00 - 10 minutes - 6.97 MB

Cindy Starks of the Coal City Public Library District is back to talk about the happenings at the library for December 2020!

Jodie Luke

December 10, 2020 12:00 - 56 minutes - 38.8 MB

This week's guest is Jodie Luke. Jodie is a loan officer with CMG Financial and a hair stylist at Roots Hair Studio. Today we talked about those two things, of course, but also the University of Saint Francis (and JJC), our brief teaching careers, pondered if we were sales people, and talked Cubs/Sox and Michigan/Ohio State rivalries.  We also spoke at length about COVID and mask wearing, which in hindsight becomes comical since I tested positive- but not for lack of precaution. Wear your ma...

Nick Galvan

November 19, 2020 12:00 - 59 minutes - 41.2 MB

Today’s guest is Nick Galvan. Coach Nick runs Grundy County Boxing which is what brought him into the hot seat. Today we learn about him growing up in Joliet, why he started training, coaching experiences, differences of training to be healthy and training for competition, childhood bullying, a Tyson vs Jones prediction and much more!  Check out Grundy County Boxing at https://www.facebook.com/Grundycountyboxing/

Turn the Page: November 2020

November 03, 2020 22:00 - 8 minutes - 5.98 MB

Cindy Stark from Coal City library is back with news on all the happenings at the CCPLD for November 2020. Find out all of what's going on in under 9 minutes!

Jeff Brown

October 29, 2020 20:00 - 1 hour - 59 MB

Hey folks, today we have in Jeff Brown, candidate for Grundy County State’s Attorney. We talk about what that position entails and why Jeff thinks he’s the right man for it.  To scope our Jeff on the web, head over to www.brownforgrundy.com or his facebook page! Note: Jason Helland was also invited to come chat about the upcoming election.

Mary Rossio

October 29, 2020 11:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MB

Mary Rossio is the Director of Business Development at Joliet Area Community Hospice and Palliative Services, primarily working in community outreach and establishing relationships with other health care professionals. Much of Mary’s time includes educating the community on all things hospice and she really shines doing that today.  I got a great education on the basics of what the Joliet Area Hospice does and geography covered, and totally schooled on palliative care. We did get to dive in...

Turn the Page: October 2020

October 05, 2020 22:00 - 7 minutes - 4.9 MB

PR Director for the Coal City Library, Cindy Starks, is back with our fastest podcast about the ongoings at CCPLD. Cindy highlights the upcoming events and programs for the month of October. You're in and out in under 8 minutes again! Check out and register for events at ccpld.org. 

Turn the Page: September 2020

September 01, 2020 22:00 - 7 minutes - 5.5 MB

PR Director for the Coal City Library, Cindy Starks, is back with our fastest podcast to date about the ongoings at CCPLD. Cindy highlightes the upcoming events for the month of September. You're in and out in under 8 minutes! Check out and register for events at ccpld.org. 

Turn the Page: August 6, 2020

August 06, 2020 18:00 - 14 minutes - 9.75 MB

My friend, PR Director for the Coal City Library, Cindy Starks, is back with another quick  podcast about ongoings at CCPLD. Listen in for news about the new onlune chat on ccpld.org, what's happening for adults, events for kids, the CCPLD Card Rewards program, and more! 

Turn the Page 7/3/20

July 03, 2020 14:00 - 12 minutes - 8.31 MB

My friend, PR Director for the Coal City Library, Cindy Starks, is back with another quick-hitting podcast about ongoings at CCPLS. Cindy does a great job highlighting the upcoming events and procedures the library has. You're in and out in 12 minutes that never slows down. Check them out at ccpld.org. She also talks again about the importance of taking the census. Please, please do that for your communities!

Sarah Ezell

March 26, 2020 11:00 - 38 minutes - 26.6 MB

Today’s guest is Sarah Ezell. Sarah is a mental health therapist at Grundy County Health Department and an adjunct professor at Governors State University. Today we talk a bit about what she’s doing in quarantine, a little about teaching college students, mostly about her role at Grundy Health Department and available services, what the best part of being in a relationship is, and if she’d be a Jedi or a Sith.   And if you’d like a link... https://www.grundyco.org/health/services/#behavior...

Coal City Public Library (TBD Title)

March 16, 2020 22:00 - 19 minutes - 13.8 MB

We're back for season 2! Our friend, PR Director for the Coal City Library, Cindy Starks, had a great idea to do a regular (perhaps monthly) quicker hitting podcast for the local library. This is the first of those episodes. It's a little overshadowed by news that the library will be closed for the next two weeks BUT Cindy does a great job highlighting the 24/7 materials that the library has. Check them out at ccpld.org. She also talks about the importance of taking the census. You're in an...

Bill & Teresa Bradley

October 10, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 72.6 MB

This week's guest was Bill Bradley. And he showed up with his wife (the actual business owner). And then I freaked because I'm not really set up for a two person interview. And then we made it work. Anything we lack in audio quality (passing a mic back and forth) we make up for in awesome talk. These two talk about the path that led them to attend the same college (and meet there), marrying, joining the service, opening up a reptile business, and so much more. I'm 98% sure that Bill is a sup...

Sarah Peterson

October 03, 2019 11:00 - 58 minutes - 39.9 MB

Today's guest is Sarah Peterson of Sarah R Peterson Photography in Morris. We chat about what led her to opening up a photography business and I ask a bunch of silly questions about weddings and couples fighting. We do a Disney World/ Disney Land comp and I tell my Disney New Year's story. Speaking of stories- she gives me a hard time about having only three that I recycle. I also find out a trait Sarah most values in a friend.

Brian Galbreath

September 26, 2019 11:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MB

Today I chat with Brian Galbreath of Unpossible Mead in Dwight. Brian's a Coal City guy who went to school for radio and television, ended up substitute teaching and working on tow boats, and ultimately opened a really unique business. We chat all things mead....this is like a 101 course that might leave you with as many questions as answers. You find out that I don't know who wrote Right Field but DO know the bassist from Weezer (albeit a guess). Enjoy!

Denise Gaska

September 05, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 42.2 MB

Denise Gaska is the Rapid Re-housing Director at Grundy Area PADS. We talk not only about the work she does helping place the area's homeless in safe, stable living situations, but also some of the instability she had in her youth, what she went to school to for, local speech rivalry, and I find out what she's absolutely unapologetic for. 

Matt Fritz

August 29, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 44.4 MB

Matt Fritz is the village administrator in Coal City. We chatted on his beginnings in military school, his days in college at North Central, what he wanted to do after, his model United Nations experience, mosquitos, and more!

Jamie Frazier

August 22, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 52.8 MB

Jamie Frazier is a first grade teacher in Coal City. She's also a yoga and dance teacher at Broadway Dance Center, also in Coal City. We chat about her childhood in Coal City (and hobbit house). I was floored to hear that she didn't always want to be a teacher. I get majorly schooled on yoga- including for the second straight week trying to get to the bottom of goat yoga. And she makes me cry (well, technically tear up).

Blair Soto

August 15, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 50.3 MB

Blair Soto is a REALTOR with 2 Get Moving Realty in Minooka. 4 years ago she was Three Rivers Association's Rising Star, now she's just a star. We chatted about growing up in Campus, how a bet led her to cheerleading, how she got into real estate, yoga, fitness, and more!

Melissa Hansen

August 08, 2019 11:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MB

Melissa Hansen is the owner of Hustle & Hunee Boutique in Coal City. Today we talk about her athletic background, her career in project management, and empowering women. We also nerd out (though not too badly) on data analysis stuff (saving most of that for the after-chat) and we spoil the Bachelorette finale.

Jack Micetich

July 25, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 46.3 MB

Jack Micetich is a teacher at Coal City High School but also the founder of Small Town Theatrics. Jack and I are friends and former co-coaches with the Coal City Speech team. Today we chat about his latest production, Hairspray which OPENS TONIGHT, how he got into theater, what role I can play in a potential upcoming musical, but we also get a little deep as we talk about mental illness.  Check out the episode- it's a can't miss. And check out Hairspray this weekend at the Coal City Perfor...

Riley Nevin

July 24, 2019 11:00 - 25 minutes - 17.7 MB

Riley Nevin will be a Junior at Coal City High School where he plays football, runs track, and participates in Footnotes, Madrigals, plays, and musicals. He plays Link Larkin in the upcoming Hairspray and was recently cast as Radames in the 2020 All State Production of Aida. We chat on each of those roles, his dream role(s), and what he's planning to do after high school.

Josh Lacy

July 23, 2019 11:00 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MB

Josh Lacy is the youngest guest to date. I had the pleasure of coaching this young man in speech (though the episode will reveal that I’ve forgotten for how long). Josh has been in 8 Small Town productions to date. We talk about that, secondary math, his thoughts on the Beatles, and his amazing body transformation. And I lie to his face about the podcast not picking up trains (which it definitely did on this recording day).

Ann Gill

July 22, 2019 11:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MB

Ann Gill serves on the Board of Directors for Small Town Theatrics. You may also know her as the Editor for the Coal City Courant. She talks about how she came to be a Small Town board member as well as a journalist (fun fact- it’s not what she started school to be). This is a great mini-Small Town Theatrics history lesson and we find out what Ann’s favorite musical is! …...we also get some of the loudest Coal City trains captured on the podcast to date and I try to take credit for the inven...

Cindy Starks

July 11, 2019 11:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MB

Cindy Starks is the PR director for Coal City Public Library. Today we talked about how she placed in the state shorthand competition in high school, how she got into and worked 28 years in the law field, many of the awesome things the Coal City Library has going on, and about her Cinder Ridge hole-in-one!

Gideon Blustein

June 27, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 48.1 MB

Gideon Blustein is the Member Outreach Manager and Local Governmental Affairs Director for our local association of REALTORS but more than that is a wealth of knowledge on so many things. He is vitally important to my career and an awesome, humble advocate of all of us (property owners and renters). In a new longest episode-to-date we chat about his beginnings, some of the unique jobs he has held, businesses he created, rehabbing homes, and so many other things. Gideon is someone you can tal...

Tabitha Boshears

June 20, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MB

Tabitha Boshears is an Independent Living Advocate with Disability Resource Center in Joliet. Tabitha, a Coal City native and resident chats about wrestling in a school as a girl, the advocacy and teaching she does for Disability Resource Center, and we get sidetracked for too long talking rock music. Also, we hit on her weight loss, slight fear of flying, and one word to describe her sense of humor in what is to date, by far the longest episode.  

Amanda Hiller

June 13, 2019 11:00 - 29 minutes - 13.4 MB

Amanda Hiller runs MYLA (Morris Young Leaders in Action). Today she chats with me about some of the good the organization is doing currently as well as an outlook for the future. She also chats about the cute inspiration for a tattoo, I diagnose how she got to naming her sons, she plugs Hot Springs, Arkansas, and shares what she deplores about herself.

Ryan Bonarek

June 06, 2019 11:00 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

This week’s guest is Ryan Bonarek of Lori Bonarek Realty. Ryan filled in on the fly for an illness cancellation and didn’t disappoint. We chat on growing up in Coal City, what it’s like to be a newer REALTOR in Grundy county (and work with your mom), organ donation, and why he’s afraid of birds. This was possibly the most casual of all Business Casually chats to date (including a moment where I remember that Roald Dahl wrote James and the Giant Peach but forgot Charlie and the Chocolate Fact...

Elena Cabral

May 30, 2019 11:00 - 39 minutes - 18 MB

Elena Cabral is the Executive Director for the Grundy-Three Rivers Habitat for Humanity. We chatted about what work Habitat does locally, about next Thursday’s Radio-a-thon (DONATE!), motorcycle riding, and her love of haunted elevator videos (and a creepy exchange with a ghost). She almost slipped out of here without telling her can’t-miss story of how a brain aneurysm led to her volunteering with Habitat. This is a must listen.