Episodios

  • Silicon Ranch CEO Reagan Farr on Solar, Rural Economic Development & the Stockton Project

    Silicon Ranch CEO Reagan Farr on Solar, Rural Economic Development & the Stockton Project
    Apr 9 2026
    Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO of Silicon Ranch, shares his background from Louisiana to Nashville, early lessons working at a Baton Rouge drugstore, and how his tenure in Tennessee state government led to founding Silicon Ranch in 2011. He explains what shaped the company's strategy as they started during the 2008–2010 downturn. Farr addresses community concerns and pushback around the Stockton, Alabama project, citing a similar experience in Bacon County, Georgia and emphasizing safety, wetlands avoidance, tax benefits, local jobs, and agrivoltaics with sheep and cattle. ** Show note: Apologies about the sound. We had an issue that meant the audio was not as good towards the end but we felt strongly enough about putting the episode out that we are releasing it.
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    48 m
  • Navigating Life's Turns: Joe Carlisle's Story of Comedy, Adventure, and Business

    Navigating Life's Turns: Joe Carlisle's Story of Comedy, Adventure, and Business
    Mar 26 2026
    In this podcast episode, Joe Carlisle, founder of Vision Handyman and Window Tinting, shares his life story and entrepreneurial journey. Born in Oxford, Mississippi and raised partly in Dallas, Joe worked in his dad's restaurants, then spent years with Best Buy in retail and home theater installation, learning hands-on skills that later shaped his career. After his younger brother died, he moved to Mobile to be near family, later bouncing between Hattiesburg, New Orleans, Dallas, and even New Zealand. He pursued standup comedy seriously in Austin before returning to Mississippi later relocating to Mobile and facing major challenges rebuilding Vision Handyman. 00:00 Meet Joe Carlisle 00:35 Growing Up Dallas Mississippi 01:22 Best Buy Years And Loss 02:28 New Zealand Reset 03:23 Austin Standup Grind 04:37 Starting Handyman Business 05:20 Moving Markets And Google 07:12 Window Tinting Listing Fight 08:17 Life As An Expat 12:11 First Jobs In Food 14:24 From AV To Trades 20:07 Advice For New Owners 20:51 Passion vs Career Cars 22:27 Elite Pressure F1 Jobs 23:22 E-Myth Systems Mindset 26:15 Take Care of People 28:58 Mobile Comedy Scene 33:36 Rapid Fire Favorites 35:16 Family Gratitude Outro
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    40 m
  • Water, Work, and Wisdom: A Conversation with Thomas Irving

    Water, Work, and Wisdom: A Conversation with Thomas Irving
    Mar 18 2026
    Thomas Irving, owner of Pool and Spa Superstore, joins the podcast to share his background and how he entered the pool industry, helped grow a distribution/retail business, bought the retail business, and built a customer-focused company centered on education and stress-free pool ownership. He discusses treating "sales" as educating customers, and emphasizes building relationships because Mobile runs on word-of-mouth. He also highlights the importance of a strong team, consistency, and shares personal interests like cooking and travel.
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    41 m
  • Art, History, and Life Lessons with Trey Oliver of Lupercalia Art Society

    Art, History, and Life Lessons with Trey Oliver of Lupercalia Art Society
    Mar 16 2026
    Trey Oliver, co-owner with his wife Laura Kennedy of the Lupercalia Art Society, shares his background growing up in Jackson and Mobile, serving four years in the Coast Guard in North Carolina during marijuana-smuggling days, and completing a 47-year public safety career culminating as warden of the Mobile Metro Jail before retiring three years ago. He recounts early jobs, joining the junior volunteer fire department, and working nights as a dispatcher and jailer in high school. Oliver explains how walking the beach Dauphin Island and seeing the driftwood inspired him to create driftwood assemblage art. He describes Lupercalia as an art society with a gallery that is focused on providing top notch customer service.
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    53 m
  • Behind the Scenes with Sock Cop: A Decade of Puppetry and Creativity

    Behind the Scenes with Sock Cop: A Decade of Puppetry and Creativity
    Mar 6 2026
    Jason Cooper, is the Mobile native behind the sock-puppet character "Sock Cop." Jason shares his background growing up in Saraland, graduating with a degree in communications, earning a master's in digital marketing during the pandemic, and working in local news and marketing. Now a stay-at-home dad to a six-year-old, he explains how Sock Cop began as a solo creative outlet using a sock, police hat, sunglasses, and green screen, evolving into a live, community-driven act focused on "catching speeders." as Sock Cop likes to put it. Jason discusses perfectionism, the importance of shipping work before it's perfect, and how livestreaming on Periscope—and now primarily Twitch—helped build an audience and led to merchandise sales. Sock Cop joins for rapid-fire favorites and reiterates his strict anti-speeding message. Sponsored by Blue Fish.
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    47 m
  • Success Behind the Lens: A Conversation with Jon Jeffress

    Success Behind the Lens: A Conversation with Jon Jeffress
    Mar 5 2026
    Jon Jeffress, owner of Deep South Focus Photography, shares his background from Tampa to Mobile, attending Davidson High School, starting college with plans for architecture, and choosing entrepreneurship instead. He reflects on his first job at Little Caesars, and discusses lessons about leadership and client service. Jon explains how Deep South Focus began in 2012 with automotive photography at car shows using an on-site mobile print and framing setup, then expanded into real estate media in 2019 and commercial work. He emphasizes the power of professional photos and video in home marketing, the value of repeat business, and key business principles like taking care of employees, avoiding micromanagement, offering benefits, and pricing appropriately to maintain cash flow.
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    15 m
  • Entrepreneurial Journey: A talk with OpenTruck's Founders Cole Howard and Camp Campbell

    Entrepreneurial Journey: A talk with OpenTruck's Founders Cole Howard and Camp Campbell
    Feb 26 2026
    In this podcast episode, Cole Howard and Camp Campbell, co-founders of Open Truck, share their backgrounds and how they came to start OpenTruck. Cole and Camp discuss early job lessons, and reflect on entrepreneurship as a discipline built through effort and failure. They explain Open Truck's origin: a need for one place to find any food truck that is located near you. It will also tell you their hours, menus, and specials and you won't have to rely on scattered Facebook posts. The iOS app launched January 27 and reached nearly 800 local users in about a week, with an Android version targeted for April 1. You can find the app at getopentruck.com. Sponsored by Blue Fish & Landshark Promotions
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    37 m
  • Building Dreams: A Conversation with Chris Cockrell of Cockrell Contracting

    Building Dreams: A Conversation with Chris Cockrell of Cockrell Contracting
    Feb 26 2026
    This week on the podcast, we sit down with Chris Cockrell, owner of Cockrell Contracting, LLC, to hear how a Mobile, Alabama native went from studying civil engineering at Auburn to finding his passion in construction through insurance restoration work. Chris shares lessons from early mentors, why fighting insurance estimates pushed him toward home building, and what he believes new entrepreneurs need most—bulletproof contracts and a strong team (including bankers and attorneys) before problems arise. He also talks about the importance of disconnecting from work to prioritize family, how he unwinds outdoors hunting and fishing, and gives quick favorites in a rapid-fire round. Chris closes with practical advice for would-be custom home clients: start by finding a plan online and send it in for a free proposal. Sponsored by Blue Fish.
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    19 m