Fun with Failure

Dr. Shante Williams earned her MBA from Queens University of Charlotte and her Ph.D. in biomedical science & neurological surgery from Ohio State University. As a healthcare Venture Capitalist, she has over 13 years of experience in Biotech & Pharmaceutical...

Garth Moulton co-founded Jigsaw and later sold it to Salesforce about about $140 million. In this episode, he explains how it started it and why he felt “displaced” after it sold. He wasn’t planning to start a new company immediately after the sale, but in 2011, he...

Keith Luedeman is an active venture investor in the Charlotte Region. He's also the Executive Director of Innovate Charlotte and the Board Chair of the Queens University Entrepreneurial Leadership Circle Advisory Board. Keith’s business experience began with IBM where...

Greg Brown is President and Owner of Cardinal Finance which provides fractional CFO and other financial advisory services to small and mid-sized businesses. He is also the Administrator of Charlotte Angel Fund, one of the most active angel investor funds in North...

Rob Cummings is the Managing Director & CTO at Falfurrias Capital Partners, a Charlotte-based, private equity firm that acquires or invests in middle-market businesses. At Falfurrias, he provides management oversight and guidance to their portfolio companies, and...

Haley Bohon is the founder and CEO of SkillPop. SkillPop hosts in-person, pop-up classes in the Southeast taught by local professionals and experts. The courses range photography & gardening to sales, marketing, and more. Skillpop has hosted over 2500 classes and...

Meggie Williams is the Founder & CEO of Skipper — a tech-driven, pet care service for busy people who love pets. She's the recipient of Charlotte Agenda's “30 Under 30” Award and Charlotte Business Journal’s “40 Under 40 Award.” In this episode, she shares how...

Samantha C. Smith. Sam is the founder and CEO of Vishion. In this episode, she talks about dropping out of business school to become an entrepreneur. And, she shares a simple mathematical formula to help you recover from failure. Vishion is a color search engine for...

Davita Galloway is an artist, a public speaker, influencer, and a doer of all things dope. She is the co-owner of Dupp and Swat, a creative boutique and event space in Charlotte, North Carolina. She earned her Master’s in Public Health from UNC-Charlotte and was a...

Alexis geeks out with her “lil’ baby cousin” Mat Santos, the bassist for the indie band Ra Ra Riot. The band just finished touring with Third Eye Blind and are about to embark on a global tour to promote their new album, Superbloom. They talk about music, sports, family, life, death, and what it’s like to throw up backstage at Conan O’Brien.

Rick Thames is the former executive editor of the Charlotte Observer and charlotteobserver.com. He shares a very funny failure story about Barbara Bush (and her body parts) and reveals how he feels about the future of journalism. The Observer received numerous...

Alesha Stegemeyer is the owner of Little Spoon, a Myers Park neighborhood breakfast and lunch spot in Charlotte, North Carolina. At Little Spoon, they’re serious about two things: serving great food and having fun. In this episode, we discuss her background in fashion...

Jeff Dugdale is the Head Swim Coach at Queens University of Charlotte and a five-time NCAA Division II Coach of the Year. In addition to working at Queens, in 2012 Dugdale started as the Director of High Performance for SwimMAC Team Elite. He assisted in placing five...

Brian Formato shares one of the best failure stories ever. He's the founder and principal at Groove Management, a human capital consulting firm focusing on organizational and talent development. He also created LeaderSurf, a professional development program that...

Kelly Finley is the Founder and Executive Director of Girls Rock Charlotte. Girls Rock is a global, non-profit that empowers girls to find their voice through music. They host camps where girls (who typically have never played an instrument before) get together, start...

Bruce Clark is the Executive Director of Digital Charlotte -- an organization committed to empowering organizations to provide digital inclusion resources to their communities. In this episode, he opens up about his work on the 2008 Obama campaign, the 2012 Democratic...

Husband and wife team Emmanuel & Adrienne Threatt are #relationshipgoals. They're funny, charming, and clearly best friends. They also Co-Founded Hope Vibes, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless in Charlotte, North Carolina. They're raising...

In the year 2000, Chris Elmore started AvidXchange -- a leading FinTech provider of accounts payable and payment automation now valued over $1 billion. In March 2019, CB Insights listed it as a “Global Unicorn” for the 3rd Year In A Row -- making it one of only twenty...