Toro Town Talks
12 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsMost people are categorized through a professional title, whether it's graphic designer, songwriter, or CEO. But behind every easy or not-so-easy categorization, there's a human being with a unique take on the world, with stories to share – and dreams, visions, and values for other people to be inspired by. With any guest, the aim of the interview is inherently to uncover, if not all, then at least new aspects of whomever this human happens to be.
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Episodes
Episode 12: Beth Katz, director, Food Insight Group
October 08, 2019 02:29 - 17 minutes - 39.8 MBBeth Katz has dedicated her professional life to doing work that benefits the common good. With Durham Bowls, she’s an integral part of an innovative initiative to improve school food for Durham Public Schools. With Upstream Works, she’s founded a new and amazing way to support the building of equitable communities. She’s one of the directors of Food Insight Group, whose motto even is “Good Food. Common Good.” Beth holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition Intervention and Policy from UNC Chapel Hill, an...
Episode 11: Sean Doyle, author and lawyer
April 26, 2019 21:00 - 20 minutes - 47 MBThe day job of Sean Doyle is to be a lawyer, and throughout his career he has resolved roughly 10,000 disputes. However, he is also an author within the poetic nonfiction genre, and his current book is entitled Mud and Dreams: Essays on falling more deeply in love with life. In the introduction to the book, Sean writes: “I passionately believe there is beauty all around us and reason for hope. I am confirmed in my faith, again and again, in the goodness of people, and that we have at our fin...
Episode 10: Candy Carver, artist
February 19, 2019 17:29 - 42 minutes - 98.4 MBCandy Carver is without a doubt one of Durham’s most prominent visual artists. Her vibrant style is unique, powerful and easily recognized as truly her own. In this interview, Candy talks about her fundamental motivation to create art at all – and ponders the classic topic of how to make a living as an artist. She shares insights into her artistic process, gives her best advice to any aspiring full-time artists, and she discusses whether or not doing commissioned work affects the artistic as...
Episode 9: Robbie Roberts (Joe Van Gogh) & Leon Grodski de Barrera (Cocoa Cinnamon) (Part 2)
December 18, 2018 22:43 - 19 minutes - 44.4 MBIn this second part of the exclusive interview with Leon and Robbie, they share their perspectives on a variety of topics: The so-called Third Wave of coffee, the important inspiration from Italian espresso culture, single origin coffee versus blends, and what Robbie describes as the macho approach to espresso. They also share their impressions on each other's businesses while revealing their most favorite coffee shops in all of America.
Episode 8: Robbie Roberts (Joe Van Gogh) & Leon Grodski de Barrera (Cocoa Cinnamon) (Part 1)
December 11, 2018 21:34 - 17 minutes - 39.2 MBIf you live in Durham and you like a good cup of coffee, you've undoubtedly visited both Cocoa Cinnamon and Joe van Gogh. The latter was founded by Robbie Roberts in 1991, and he now owns three Durham locations as well as one in Chapel Hill, and he’s taken over two Green Bean coffee houses in Greensboro. Behind Cocoa Cinnamnon you’ll find Leon Grodski de Barrera and his wife Areli, and their coffee adventure had its beginnings a decade earlier. After humble beginnings in the Asheville Mall...
Episode 7: Conor Oberst, singer, songwriter & recording artist
December 19, 2017 02:48 - 23 minutes - 31.9 MBStarting in 2013, a gloomy chapter was added to the story of Conor Oberst. All of a sudden, Oberst was falsely accused of having raped a fan at a show at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina, ten years earlier. The interview you’re about to listen to, however, does not deal with the details of the accusation, the libel lawsuit that followed it, or how it affected the record sales of Oberst. Suffice to say that Oberst was undoubtedly innocent, and that his accuser completely retracted he...
Episode 6: Gabriel Eng-Goetz, founder and creative director, Runaway (Part 2)
October 23, 2017 03:22 - 14 minutes - 19.9 MBThe second part of the interview with Gabriel Eng-Goetz, the founder of Runaway. In this part, you can hear Gabe share fun stories about getting a visit from Chris Rock in the flagship Runaway store, about a design of Gabe's that simply turned out to be a dud – as well as what he would think of someone wearing a Runaway shirt and a “Make America Great Again” hat. Gabriel Eng-Goetz is part of American Underground in Durham, North Carolina, also known as the start-up capital of the South. Thi...
Episode 5: Gabriel Eng-Goetz, founder & creative director, Runaway (Part 1)
October 16, 2017 03:06 - 15 minutes - 20.7 MBGabriel Eng-Goetz is the founder of Runaway, the coolest and most visible local brand of apparel in Durham. His iconic design featuring a bull and the letters D-U-R-M almost seem like an unofficial logo for the city. Runaway is much more than apparel and its flagship store on Main Street, however. It’s a lifestyle brand that also embodies art exhibitions, concerts and filmmaking. In the first of this two-part interview, Gabe tells the story behind his iconic design, which he was actually not...
Episode 4: Megan Hannay, CEO & co-founder, ZipSprout
October 08, 2017 18:59 - 11 minutes - 16.1 MBMegan Hannay is the CEO and co-founder of ZipSprout, a company that matches businesses with local marketing opportunities. She’s also a columnist for Marketing Land as well as the host of her own podcast, The Zip. Megan is a true liberal arts major – having combined English, French and Creative writing – but a large share of her colleagues is made up of developers from the tech world. In our conversation, she talks about what it’s like for a liberal arts major to work with developers. And s...
Episode 3: Kate Godly, founder & owner of Primitive Energy
October 02, 2017 03:27 - 12 minutes - 17.2 MBKate Godly is the owner of Primitive Wellness, a family practice and yoga studio. One of her main focus areas as a medical professional is lactation – helping mothers with the crucial task of breastfeeding. Before starting her own business, Kate worked at a clinic, where she would see an average of 19 patients a day. There, she felt like she was simply sticking a band-aid on the patient’s problem, rather than giving them the best possible care. This proved to be an all-important part of th...
Episode 2: Adam Pyburn, motion graphics specialist
September 25, 2017 07:52 - 11 minutes - 16 MBAdam Pyburn is a creative professional with a wide range of skills. If you’ve got a project or a business that you’d like to wrap up in all kinds of cutting-edge visuals, Adam could probably do it all. But after a long time of casting a wide net to capture clients, he has decided to narrow things down and focus his business on one main thing: Motion graphics. In my conversation with him, he talks about the process of narrowing down what services you are offering as a business, and what the b...
Episode 1: Tatiana Birgisson, CEO & founder of Mati Energy
September 18, 2017 15:36 - 16 minutes - 22 MBTatiana Birgisson is the creator of Mati Energy, the sparkling tea drink that you may have read about in Forbes Magazine or bought at Whole Foods. In our conversation, we take a step further in exploring the well-known story of Tatiana founding Mati while suffering from depression. It might seem like a case of “something good coming out of something bad”, but, as Tatiana explains, there’s more to it than that. She also talks about how running a business is a little like being back in school...