CREATE VIRGINIA

Episode 21 - George Garrett

January 14, 2016 09:00 - 52 minutes - 71.4 MB

This episode is with George Garrett, who is a furniture maker. He does extremely beautiful work and you should check him out at georgegarrett.com. This conversation is pretty wide ranging. We talk about his time as a musician with the Burnt Taters and about running sound at Ashland Coffee and Tea. And, as always, we dig into what led him into his current profession of making furniture. I had a great time hanging out with George at his shop in Hanover County. I hope it comes through in this ...

Episode 20 - Matt Paxton

March 18, 2015 11:00 - 1 hour - 54.5 MB

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 5 or so years, you have probably heard of the show, Hoarders. Our guest this episode is Matt Paxton, who serves as an "extreme cleaning specialist" on Hoarders. In addition to being a regular on Hoarders, Matt has written a book on Hoarding, run his own podcast (5 Decisions Away - iTunes or off his blog), and been interviewed countless times. He's been on Good Morning America, The Howard Stern Show, and Mohr Stories (Jay Mohr's podcast...

Episode 19 - Kay Landry

March 04, 2015 12:00 - 50 minutes - 45.8 MB

This episode has been a long time coming. I've wanted Kay Landry on the show for a long time, plus, I haven't been publishing shows recently. Kay is in charge of booking and production at Ashland Coffee and Tea. She is also the former owner, so she gives a great lesson on the history of music at Ashland Coffee and Tea. She talks about how she learned the process of booking acts and later how to even run the sound for the shows. I had a great time getting to know Kay, and I'm happy that ...

Episode 18 - Eric Martin

October 29, 2014 11:30 - 37 minutes - 68.1 MB

In episode 18, we visit with Eric Martin of 80amps. This is a very overdue episode, as we recorded this way back in the Spring. That speaks more to how busy I've been more than the quality of the episode. This was a great conversation, that I really enjoyed at the time and I had a great time revisiting it this week. During this conversation, Eric and I focus mostly on the origin of 80amps and its relationship to the Martin Agency. 80amps is using its experience with startup projects to ...

Episode 17 - Jeff Jefferson

April 03, 2014 14:24 - 33 minutes - 31.5 MB

I've been wanting to do this interview since we've started CreateVirginia. I've been friends with Jeff and his partner Sean Harrington for a long time (note: Sean was one of my college roommates and cross country teammates). Jeff and I sit down to talk about their experiences of creating a company called Easy Software Solutions and their product, TimeSheasy. Jeff gives an honest look at what it took for them to get started, to grow, to fight through adversity, and to ultimately sell the c...

Episode 16 - Kim Mahan

March 19, 2014 11:00 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MB

Episode 16 is a fun conversation with Kim Mahan of Maxx Potential. Kim has a lot going on. We talk in detail about Maxx Potential, which has an interesting value proposition for both customers and employees. We also talk about GLASSFIT, another venture of hers. This one involves Google Glass, so we got to talk about how she was able to get into Google's Glass Explorer Program. We also talk about her involvement with RVA Techsters, which is a great after school program for getting middle...

Episode 15 - Doug Orleski

March 05, 2014 12:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MB

For episode 15, we visit with Doug Orleski of RVA Coffee Stain. RVA Coffee Stain is a cartoon blog that celebrates life in Richmond. We talk about what inspires him to create his work, as well as his process of developing ideas and how he turns them into cartoons. We also talk about the history and evolution of his artwork and blog. Doug talks about his favorite and least favorite cartoons that made it through the publishing process. Another cool thing Doug does related to his art is Ar...

Episode 14 - Brian Lopez

February 19, 2014 12:30 - 30 minutes - 28.5 MB

The first episode of 2014 is with Brian Lopez of Glide Skateboards. We visit with Brian in his shop in Jackson Ward. There we discuss his shop, the philosophy of his work, the evolution of his business, and the influence of surfing on his designs. He has good stories about how he got into building boards, how he sources a lot of his material, and how he has gotten his boards in front of a lot of people. Don't just listen to us talk about it, please check out his facebook page and his sit...

Episode 13 - John and Sherry Petersik

December 18, 2013 13:07 - 50 minutes - 47.4 MB

Episode 13 has us visiting John and Sherry Petersik of the Young House Love blog. John and Sherry have a great story to tell. They started the blog as a way to show family and friends progress on a home project. From there, it has grown way beyond their expectations. They have been able to quit their jobs and run the blog as their primary business. It also led them to write a New York Times best selling book. They have received a lot of press and exposure, including being featured on t...

Episode 12 - Andy Stefanovich

December 04, 2013 12:00 - 31 minutes - 29.6 MB

We visited with Andy Stefanovich for a lively conversation at his home on Halloween. Andy has his hand in a lot of things: Chief Curator and Provocateur at Prophet (a strategic marketing and branding consultancy), author of Look at More, Curator of TEDxRVA, a partner with New Richmond Ventures, among many other things. For more details on each, please follow the links. This was a fast paced and fun conversation. Between Andy's high level of energy, the fact that we had a tight timeline ...

Episode 11 (part 2) - Josh Epperson

November 27, 2013 12:07 - 32 minutes - 30.3 MB

This is the second half of our conversation with Josh Epperson. We move on to his writing, particularly his work on medium.com. He also talks about some of his inspirations, including Tina Roth Eisenberg and Simon Sinek. He also talks about what motivates him to do some many different things. We cover his work with TEDxRVA, where he is a member of the creative team along with John Mills, Ed Trask, and Diane O'Neal. We also talk about the BootyJams podcast he does with Jett Harsh. Thei...

Episode 11 (part 1) - Josh Epperson

November 21, 2013 03:02 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MB

This episode, we visit with Josh Epperson at the Shockoe office of Prophet (which is not the best place for audio, sorry about that). We had a great conversation, and it ran so long we are going to split it into two parts. In this first part, we talk about Josh's work at Prophet and his involvement with FeastRVA. His Prophet work includes a lot of creative work, including bringing out the creativity of clients. FeastRVA is a great concept that you should check out. You can sign up for th...

Episode 10 - Data Field Technologies

November 06, 2013 12:00 - 33 minutes - 31.2 MB

For Episode 10, we visit with Mike Ogilvie and Matt Slatner of Data Field Technologies. We talk about the founding of their company, and the creation of their primary product, Peacock. We also cover how Richmond is a great place to live and start a business. Then we wrap up talking about where they see Data Field Technologies in the short and long term future. EDITING NOTE: with their focus on data transfer, in particular in the healthcare field, we may have recorded this episode too ear...

Episode 9 - Alex Kreher and Zoe Romano

October 24, 2013 13:45 - 48 minutes - 45.1 MB

In this episode, we visit with Alex Kreher and Zoe Romano. Zoe is well known as the first person to run the route of the Tour de France (see details here), raising money for the World Pediatric Project along the way. She has also run across the United States in 2011. Alex is a partner in Zoe's adventures by chronicling the runs with the documentaries Street Dreams and Zoe Goes Running (check out his other projects here). We talk about Zoe's preparation for the Tour de France run, the US r...

Episode 8 – Remo Kommnick

October 09, 2013 06:29 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MB

Remo Kommnick of TechHatch and INM United is our guest for Episode 8. Remo has great stories to tell. TechHatch is a program which offers high school students the mentorship and direction needed to launch a technology startup. He talks at length about why he and Joel Erb started TechHatch, along with the ups and ...read more

Episode 7 – Noah Scalin

September 24, 2013 21:33 - 34 minutes - 32.4 MB

Noah Scalin is our guest for episode 7. Noah is a prolific artist, designer, speaker, author, among many other things. My description won't do him justice, so please check him out at his website, Another Limited Rebellion's website, or check out the skull-a-day project (all of which will lead to many more things he has ...read more

Episode 6 – Justin Kauszler of Coffitivity

September 11, 2013 08:24 - 23 minutes - 22 MB

For this episode, we visit with Justin Kauszler of Coffitivity. We talk about what Coffitivity is and how it boosts productivity. We talk about where the idea came from and how they came up with the name. Justin has a great story on how it went from a relatively small launch to blowing up on ...read more

Episode 5 – Larkin Garbee

August 29, 2013 05:58 - 32 minutes - 30.6 MB

For Episode 5, we visit with Larkin Garbee of 804RVA. We talk about co-working in general and what makes 804RVA unique. She has great stories on the origins of 804RVA, her time running a tile company, and her entrepreneurial adventures earlier in life. We also cover how 804RVA is a hub for community building in ...read more

Episode 4 – Chris Gatewood

August 14, 2013 00:10 - 42 minutes - 39.8 MB

This episode we visit with Chris Gatewood, a lawyer for Threshold Counsel. Before you start on the lawyer jokes, you should give this episode a listen. Chris talks about his practice, which is focused on intellectual property, startups, and technology law. Along the way, he shares a great story of how he came to attend law ...read more

Episode 3 – The BIG SECRET Episode with Jason Lefton

July 30, 2013 22:35 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MB

In episode 3, I met with Jason Lefton of BIG SECRET. Jason shares with us how laser engraving became his hobby and later turned into a full time business. With a background in web design, Jason has developed a beautiful portfolio of work in the physical realm with laser engraving. In this episode we cover ...read more

Episode 2 – Scott Wayne

July 16, 2013 23:15 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MB

For episode 2, I met with Scott Wayne of The Frontier Project. Always engaging and never shy, Scott takes on the consulting and medical industries, global warming, and obesity. He also talks of his origins in England and time as a British diplomat. I had a blast recording and editing this episode, and I hope ...read more

Episode 1 – Spencer Ingram

June 24, 2013 06:59 - 33 minutes - 24.7 MB

For this first episode, I met with Spencer Ingram to talk about his exciting, unique project called HackCville. For more information on HackCville, you can go to the official site

Episodes