A few years into their marriage, Autumn Fleck and her husband, Trevor, made the decision that they wanted to budget well, save hard, and retire early so they could travel the world and live a life set apart. And then one day - she had a cockroach run down her arm! - and the next day she found a cockroach in her daughter’s bed! - and of course informed her husband they needed to call for pest control. “What are we going to cut from our spend so we can fit that in the budget?” was hubby’s response. “I dunno - but we need pest control - stat!”

Autumn had been working in the wine industry for years, and enjoyed it - but Covid changed her job and industry dramatically, and she had been furloughed to two days per week during the pandemic. She took a loan signing course, got her Notary Public, and marketed herself to 50 local real estate, mortgage, and title offices. It was the height of the refinance boom, and in her first month - working 3 days a week at around $100 per loan closing - she made $10,000! The next month, she made $17,000! Pest control budget solved! - and wine career officially over!

Autumn founded Precision Signing Agency in November of 2020, and within 12 months she transformed the business from herself as an Independent LSA (Loan Signing Agent) to the CEO of a high-growth national signing agency! In 2023, Autumn and Trevor moved their family to Fort Collins (which she had dreamed of for years) and she has continued to grow her client base and HQ team and her network of professional loan signing agents nationwide. She’s had quite a journey - at one point losing over 50% of their revenue overnight - but has grown herself and her company to become one of the fastest growing in her industry and in our region!

She’s also smart, sassy, funny, and overall - my kinda people. So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Autumn Fleck.

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Diego Rago Vega is a chef, a writer, a philosopher, and a permanent resident here on political asylum - but he came to America long before it was trendy. He and his family operated an import/export business in Venezuela, and as the nation’s economic fortunes crumbled under first Chavez and then Moralez, the enterprise became unsustainable - in part because the family wasn’t aligned with the government, or willing to be compromised.

Diego’s business is Obsidian Atlas, and he provides strategic marketing consulting and full-spectrum marketing activities - mostly for B2B small businesses. He was a top producing marketer for Madwire and other agencies in previous chapters, but branched out to start his own firm so that he could give individualized attention to his clients. Diego’s business is early stage in America, but his philosophies and experience run deep, and the journey he shares in our conversation - along with about a third of a bottle of bourbon between us - will please and inspire the hearts and minds of our long-form conversational podcast listeners. And - this is a long one, but full of the good stuff - so please enjoy - as I did - my conversation with Diego Rago Vega.

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I first learned about Toddy, LLC circa 2013, during the twilight of my banking career. The story I heard was that the owners of a local marketing agency, Clay Pot Creative, had purchased a manufacturing business in Texas, and moved it up to Loveland! The company made cold brew coffee systems (whatever that was), and seemed to have a strong product in a niche market - a banker’s dream client! I failed to connect but tried again to reach them a few years later as I was growing LoCo Think Tank - but little did I know that they were in the midst of a family move to Denver, to stay close to a child fighting for his life at Children’s Hospital.

I’m an easy grace kind of guy though, so when Julia reached out this spring with a “We’ve heard from friends that we should be on your podcast” email, I was quick to book them and eager to share their story. I didn’t know the half of the trials and tribulations they’d journeyed through, and their story is an inspiring one for any entrepreneurial couple who wants to keep family values first AND build a successful business enterprise.

Today, Toddy holds a strong market share in the commercial cold brew systems marketplace, and their business has grown as more and more coffee chains and independents embrace the unique flavor profiles of cold brew. Toddy also has a sound consumer product set, including a roastery and a selection of cold-brew specialty coffees, cold-brew filters, and a tasting room in Loveland - and their home-use equipment is increasingly entering households - and they’re soon to have a system at Walmart!

Through it all, this pair now finds themselves in a great spot, with a strong business, relationship, and family dynamic, and I very much enjoyed - as you will each of our listeners - my conversation with Julia and Andy Leach of Toddy, LLC.

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

I got acquainted with Todd Brooker through LinkedIn, where we follow some of the same voices, and learned last fall that he spends a lot of time in Fort Collins - where his daughter Libby Brooker is a goalie on the CSU soccer team! It took us a minute, but this spring we finally got properly acquainted over lunch, followed by a long-form conversation in The LoCo Experience studios. Todd is the second Texan I’ve had on the podcast, and the second from Austin - apparently the Fort Collins of that state. I’m hoping for Joe Rogan or Lex Fridman as my third such citizen - intros welcome!

Cawley, Gillespie & Associates (CGA) is a 60+ year petroleum engineering, geology, and valuation firm that Todd has worked at for 32 years, and been President of for more than 10 years. The firm has ~35 employees in two offices, and is something of a boutique firm in the industry. Owners of oil wells all over the nation - and beyond - hire CGA to evaluate potential acquisitions or support creation of audited financial statements to comply with Sarbanes Oxley. I wanted to bring Todd onto the show because he knows a lot of things about a lot of things, especially as it pertains to the oil and gas industry in our nation.

Todd is a proud dad, loving husband, and VP and Board Member of the Town & Country Optimists Club in Austin. He’s a part-time Fort Collinsian now, and fits right in - and when he moves here full-time in the future I’ll try to snag him for the Breakfast Rotary Club and maybe as a LoCo Facilitator - he’d be great. So please join me in enjoying my conversation with oil industry expert and my new friend, Todd Brooker.

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Duane and Chad Stroh are the father and son that lead the team at Healthy Harvest in Berthoud, CO, which also includes Duane’s wife and Chad’s sister, and one red-headed step-child in a key operations role. They were initially involved as investor-partners of the business, but as partners departed and their market awareness grew they pivoted the company to specialize in production and wholesale distribution of non-GMO cooking oils across Colorado - and entering new markets across the American West. They also offer nationwide direct-to-consumer oil sales through their website and on Amazon.

In a previous chapter, the family operated a conventional grain farm and feedlot near Holyoke, where Duane was also the wrestling coach for many years. When Duane met a man with a persistent infection caused by exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria on a hog farm, he started investigating the drug and chemical-laden conventional farming industry. And - when his brother died at an early age of lymphoma, he remembered how that brother was the one responsible for spraying Roundup around the farmyard and mixing the sprayer tanks. And long story short - the family decided to sell out of their farm and feedlot and change their business as a result of this change in perspective.

What I love about Duane is that he’s a lot like my dad - the secret to success in farming or in business is math! And what I love about Chad is that he is focused on the impact of marketing, technology, and relationships to build long-term business value. Together, they’re a formidable pair, and I’m excited to see their business continue to grow and help more and more non-GMO farmers share their Healthy Harvests with the world. So please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Duane and Chad Stroh.

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In today’s episode, I was honored to be joined in studio by Ed VanDyne, one of the most fascinating guests we’ve had on the show. When you look up serial entrepreneur in the dictionary, you’ll find Ed’s smiling face, and the ideas that have sprouted his various companies are consolidated from ideas and learnings from previous chapters, including a lengthy season managing the MIT Racing Team, and spinning a technology company out of Woodward, VanDyne SuperTurbo! The innovative sails for Tetrahedron Racing boats, for example, are the same shape as the molecules of ammonia created through Plastic 2 Green’s innovative processes!

Plastic 2 Green is the star of this show, however. Ed has developed an innovative process to turn waste plastics into market-competitive carbon rods, carbon black, and ammonia - plus more - using plasma to break down plastic molecules, and science to send the resulting molecules to the appropriate containers. Future cargo ships will burn an ammonia / diesel blend, and in Ed’s opinion, ammonia is the best and most-stable way to move toward a hydrogen-powered economy.

The smoke in the studio during this podcast wasn’t from herb, it was my little brain overheating trying to listen and think and process and ask good questions! I think I did a pretty good job of it, for a country kid, so please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Ed VanDyne.

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Dr. Katie Foster booked time with me out of the blue last spring (which never happens), and brought cookies and we shared a very enjoyable coffee and conversation. She was weeks away at the time from opening her business, Timnath Kids Dentistry, and was exploring the business community at large and curious about LoCo Think Tank. She’s not a member at LoCo - yet - but she’s our kind of people. When she can carve time away from a young business and two young children we’ll be ready to find a great chapter for her!

Before this conversation, I had no impression of what the world of a pediatric dentist would be like - but now I know it’s not so different from any other business, especially in health care. Exercise patience, show love, build a caring team - and most of the other stuff will come together! Katie grew up in the Reno, Nevada area, and she started playing the violin at an early age, and was also a competitive swimmer. She was inspired to be a dentist whilst still in grade school, and if you listen to this conversation, and you have young children - you’ll probably want her to be their dentist - just sayin’.

This episode is not a paid ad, even though it may seem that way - just a fun and open talk with a smart and fresh kid dentist - so I hope you enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Dr. Katie Foster.

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I was introduced to Micah Johnson by Jeffrey Beyle, one of my guests during Season 1 of The LoCo Experience (Episode 29 if you wanna check it out), and one of my spies in the Boulder area. By spies I mean those who think of me when they meet someone with an interesting business journey to share, and a lot of value to share with the business community through a podcast conversation like this one!

Micah is what most would call a serial entrepreneur, with multiple starts and exits, and some failures. Micah’s largest business venture to date was GoFanbase, Inc., a social media marketing and community-building strategy firm based in Nashville, which focused on multi-location businesses such as auto dealerships and restaurants. After growing his team to over 100 employees, he and his wife Alane made the decision to exit and search for a next chapter. After years of focus on efficiency and teams and automations at GoFanbase (and a choppy merger integration) the pair was left with skill sets essential to their current venture - Workday Ninjas!

Workday Ninjas helps their agency and B2B service business clients remove roadblocks to scaling through tools like Monday.com, Asana, and ClickUp. Having utilized Monday.com for the past 3 years, and currently undergoing a database conversion to the CRM tool offered by Monday, this was an intriguing opportunity for me to learn more about the kinks and capabilities of the platform from an expert - and ultimately uncover principles of efficiency, communication, and building high-functioning teams. I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun, and I’m confident that you will enjoy my conversation with Micah Jonnson.

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain