If you’re close enough to the resources and you’re close to the community, I command you to be the bridge.

– Philip Cooper

Philip is the coordinator of a non-profit program called UpSkill WNC, where he helps citizens who have recently been released from prison to reenter the workforce and find their voice in the world again. Philip also does group facilitation and motivational speeches through his consultancy, Change Agent Cooper.

During the interview, Philip, full of charisma and positive energy, tells us his personal story of reentry after residing in prison for three years and how he is harnessing his past experience to help others reenter the community. He also shares his opinions on how we can make change happen in our communities.

“If we really want to have an impact on the community, we’ve got to make sure people from that community…can identify who their champions are and have those people at the table whenever we make decisions about people in those communities,” says Philp.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in this Episode

  • Philip’s story of how he is making it in Asheville
  • Burn out vs. burning it down
  • Causes of and solutions for opportunity gaps
  • How Philip is helping to educate employers about their implicit biases when hiring
  • A non-traditional definition of entrepreneurship
  • The power of relationships
  • The key to making changes happen in your community, according to Philip

Show Notes

UpSkill WNC provides comprehensive community-based peer support for justice-involved citizens who are reentering the workforce with an emphasis on those who have been released from prison within the past year. They assist low-income individuals with acquiring skills that local employers require, and connect them to employment that will provide self-sustaining wages. Connect with them via their Facebook page.

Businesses, Organizations, and Groups:

Shows

People

*This post contains Amazon and East Fork Pottery affiliate links. Which cost you nothing to click but, should you buy something after clicking, we’d be paid a small commission. We appreciate your support!

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

People read things and they have great ideas, but they never do anything…that’s the difference between people who have their own business and the people who don’t. You need to take action if you want things to happen.

– Kyle Brown

In this episode, we interview Kyle Brown, the founder of Clawhammer Supply. Clawhammer manufactures and sells home brewing and home distilling equipment online, directly to consumers.

The idea for Clawhammer was born out of Kyle’s own curiosity and love of “tinkering.” He has always loved building things from scratch and learning the inner workings of how seemingly complex processes occur.

“The thing about this story is that I’m just a guy who was just making stills in the basement and one day a lot of people wanted to buy them. I don’t have any formal business training,” says Kyle.

But, as you’ll hear more about in the episode, the key difference-maker that helped Kyle grow his business into one of the largest home-brewing and distilling equipment companies in the world was the guts to take action.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • The story of how Clawhammer Supply got its start
  • How Kyle used Google Ads to test the viability of his product
  • The strategy and tactics Kyle employes to scale his business
  • How Kyle leveraged organic content and email marketing to grow his business sustainably
  • Tips for coming up with new content ideas
  • Fun facts about beer, homebrewing, and distilling

Show Notes

Clawhammer Supply manufactures and sells homebrewing and home distillation equipment online direct to consumers. They were kind enough to offer us an affiliate link so anything that you buy at Clawhammer by clicking this link pays us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting our podcast and our guests’ businesses!

Connect with them via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Books:

People:

Podcasts:

Shows:

Places

Kickstarter.co

 

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

I truly believe that your place in the community is as valuable as anybody else’s. Your gift is really important and we can’t function without everyone being invited to the table to do what they came here to do.

– Gareth Higgins

In this episode, we interview Gareth Higgins, a storyteller, writer, and founder of the Movies & Meaning festival (among many other projects).

Unlike most of our other podcast interviews, this episode focuses more closely on universal themes such as human connection, loneliness, and community. It extends beyond what it means to be a better entrepreneur to what it means to be a better human being.

But, as you’ll hear, the two overlap nicely.

We stumbled upon Gareth through the Movie & Meaning festival website. Little did we know that this Irish-born man would have so much to say about life and how to live it in the best way possible. Gareth is deeply empathetic, spiritual, and joyful —qualities that we think you’ll enjoy experiencing while listening to this episode.

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • What inspired Gareth to become a “storyteller” and why he fell in love with cinema
  • How the meaning of stories can change based on how someone tells the story
  • How you might examine your own life and tell better stories about yourself
  • Gareth’s take on the antidote for loneliness
  • How to build a better community, both in the world and right here in Asheville
  • And a simple, but meaningful, challenge help you get to know your neighbors

 

Show Notes

Gareth Higgins was born in Belfast in 1975, grew up during the Northern Ireland Troubles and now lives in Asheville, NC. He writes and speaks about our connection to the earth, storytelling, the power of dreams, peace and making justice, and how to take life seriously without believing your own propaganda.

He founded the Wild Goose, New Story, and Movies & Meaning festivals (happening the weekend of Feb 24th in downtown Asheville). He also leads retreats in North America and Ireland and edits The Porch Magazine. Connect with him and his work at GarethHiggins.net (click here to visit his website).

Check out the show notes below where we list the various movies, books, places, concepts, events, and more mentioned during the episode.

Asheville Places & Events

Movies

People

Books & Reads

Concepts

Music by Commonwealth Choir

Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

“The idea just wouldn’t leave me alone.”

– Kaye Bentley, Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours

In this episode, we interview the founder and owner of Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours, Kaye Bentley.

A former postal service worker, Kaye founded Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours in July of 2018. The idea came to her just a year before she retired from the postal service. “I knew that eventually, I would retire from the postal service, but I just thought I would volunteer for some organizations and possibly travel,” she says.

Of course, as we now know, things didn’t exactly go the way she thought they would.

One day while at work, Kaye asked a colleague if she wanted to go out to some rooftop bars around town. As she was planning the bar route, she thought to herself, “If there was a tour for that, I would totally take it.” But there wasn’t anything like it out there.

On a whim, she called GoDaddy that day and bought the domain for Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours thinking that eventually “somebody will want to use this.”

She didn’t think that that “somebody” would be her. As time went on, Kaye continued thinking about the idea. “I kept taking notes and audio voice memos on my phone saying someone could do it like this and do it like that. And then I realized after about two or three months that that ‘someone’ was me. The idea just wouldn’t leave me alone.”

For the rest of the story, you’ll have to tune in to the podcast!

Here’s What You’ll Learn in this Episode

  • How Kaye started and developed Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours
  • The steps she took to get her idea off the ground, from developing the branding and website to building relationships with rooftop bars around town and getting her first customers
  • Kaye’s marketing strategies
  • Challenges of growing the business — especially for Kaye who didn’t come from a business background
  • Why moving to a co-working space has changed Kaye’s work-life balance
  • A glimpse of Kaye’s postal service career
  • What’s coming up for Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours


Show Notes

Asheville Rooftop Bar Tours is a unique way to experience Asheville from above. They offer exciting guided tours in the heart of downtown Asheville, taking featuring award-winning rooftop bars, spectacular views, history, and a driver! Connect with them via their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Business resources mentioned during this episode:

Asheville History resources mentioned during this episode:

Miscellaneous:

Kaye’s Favorite Things to Do & Places in Asheville:

Music by Commonwealth Choir

 


 

Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

Slow and steady wins the race. Instant gratification, unrealistic aspirations is just not going to cut it, at least not in a post 2008/2009 recession…we saw that, and that was our approach.

-Dean Peteet

In this episode, we uncover the story of the founders and creative minds behind Atlas Branding.

When Lisa and Dean Peteet moved to Asheville in 2008, they didn’t think they were ready to start their own design agency. Lisa felt like she still wanted 10 more years of experience working under someone else’s creative direction, while her husband Dean knew more about playing the guitar than he did about branding.

But what they soon realized is that there was no one else to work for, nowhere else to get the kind of experience they wanted in the creative world here in Asheville. So, they started building a business plan. Step by step, they took on client after client. They saved money and said “yes” to just about everything.

Since its founding, Atlas Branding has worked with many different Asheville-based businesses and events, including Chow Chow Asheville, Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn, Ginger’s Revenge, High Five Coffee, Form & Function Architecture, and many more. And now, over 10 years later, they are considered one of Asheville’s top design and branding agencies.

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • The story of how Lisa and Dean founded and grew Atlas Branding into one of Asheville’s top branding and design agencies
  • How Lisa and Dean think about branding, design, and naming
  • The two things that helped them work together as a married couple
  • Lisa’s opinion on what it takes to be a relevant, successful designer in today’s world
  • Dean’s thoughts on how not following your passion can be equally as fulfilling
  • Their favorite places and things to do in Asheville

We hope you enjoy this episode with Lisa and Dean Peteet of Atlas Branding!


Show Notes

Atlas Branding is an Asheville-based branding and design agency. They specialize in helping food and beverage companies, restaurants, consumer product businesses, and artisans with web design, graphic design, packing design, and social media branding. Connect with them via their website, Instagram, Pinterest, and Vimeo.

A few of Atlas’s clients mentioned during the episode:

Books mentioned during the episode:
(Disclosure: The links below are Amazon affiliate links. We will earn a small commission if you purchase through these links. We appreciate your support!)

Favorite restaurants and places to go in Asheville:

Miscellaneous:

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

You just gotta keep doing it —if that’s what you feel called to do as a person and that’s what you want to do in the world We all got rent, we all got mortgages, and we all gotta eat, so at some point, you gotta monetize it, but that can’t be the reason you’re doing it. ‘Cause you’ll stop doing it and you’ll go find something else.”

—Myles Alexander

In this episode, we interview Myles Alexander, the founder of Form & Function Architecture in Asheville, NC.

From a young age, Myles knew he wanted to be an architect. He chose to start his own firm, Form & Function, here in Asheville because he loves helping people to solve design problems.

Over the last 10 years or so, he’s worked on just about everything. He’s built restaurants out of shipping containers, helped a family build their own home, and worked on a number of Buncombe County schools and public facilities.

But it hasn’t always been easy. In fact, this is the first year that Myles would go so far as to say he thinks he’s “doin’ okay-ish in Asheville.” You’ll hear him say that he wishes he had just become a “pediatric orthodontist.” According to him, it would have been easier and he would have made a lot more money.

Although he jokingly says, he wishes he was “the first billionaire architect,” you can tell that Myles is happy with what he has and what he’s built.

We don’t want to spoil the entire episode, but what we will say is this. Be warned: Myles Alexander is one funny guy. You’re guaranteed to giggle a lot during this episode.

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • Myles’ journey to becoming an architect and starting his own firm in Asheville
  • A behind-the-scenes glimpse of Smoky Park Supper Club’s architectural design completed by Myles
  • Insight on what it’s like to work with an architect
  • Inputs vs. outputs
  • Doing what you love versus what other people love
  • Tips for smoking meat
  • Myles’ favorite places to eat in and around Asheville

Show Notes

Form & Function Architecture is an architecture firm that specializes in commercial, residential, state and municipal architecture in North and South Carolina. Connect with them on their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Vin-Yet Architecture is a collaborative studio that specializes in commercial and residential architecture throughout the Carolinas.

Sand Hill Kitchen – Restaurant in a gas station on Sand Hill Road that “has a bangin’ fried chicken sandwich”

Philip Johnson Quote – “Architects are pretty much high-class whores. We can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we’ve both got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business.”

Atlas Branding – did F&F’s website and design

Smoky Park Supper Club is a restaurant and event space in the River Arts District. Form & Function designed their space from a shipping container.

Architect things referenced during the episode:

  • Falling Water is a house built over a waterfall in Pennsylvania. It was designed by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. “It’s beautiful, but leaks like hell,” says Myles.
  • Louis Sullivan – “Form follows function”
  • Greene & Greene

Good, Fast, Cheap Triangle: You can’t have it all. You can have it good and fast, but it won’t be cheap. You can have it good and cheap, but it won’t be fast. You have it fast and cheap, but it won’t be good.

Asheville Trout Company

Knuckledeep BBQ Competition

Myles’ Favorite Restaurants in Asheville

  • JD’s Smoke Shack – favorite BBQ spot in Connelly Springs
  • The Rhu
  • Sovereign Remedies
  • Copper Crown
  • Mela – for the lunch buffet
  • Asiana Grand Buffet – “You can, on your birthday, eat for free…it hurts.”
  • And more… “I eat everything!”

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

I feel that to really contribute to the art world, to make art that is pushing boundaries, you can’t be making art for the sake of making money. You have to just make art for art’s sake.

— Garnet Fisher

Born and raised in Asheville, NC, Garnet Fisher is known for her minimalist, abstract giclee paintings.

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • The story behind how and why Garnet (aka “Nettie”) started painting and how she developed her own signature style
  • The history of the “Weird Bad Art Machine” (which we think is genius)
  • Garnet explains the process and meaning behind her paintings
  • The difference between discipline and curiosity (as an engine for creation)
  • Nettie’s opinion on “working from a place of enough” (and practicing non-dualism)
  • What art vs. design means for Nettie
  • Trail etiquette and leaving a place better than you found it


Show Notes

Garnet Fisher is a designer and artist of many things. Connect with her on her website and Instagram page. You can also buy her prints at Old North on the corner of Walnut and N. Lexington.

@weirdbadartmachine is an Instagram account that Garnet started as a way to showcase her artwork without the pressure of calling it “good art.”

Ensō – Garnet references Zen technique — “a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.”

Salad for President by Julia Sherman (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link.) – Inspirational cookbook with salad recipes and quotes from artists. Nettie references a quote by Tauba Auerbach from this book.

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

“The times I’ve been happiest in life have been when I felt like I had a vision or a purpose — something to chase and I went for it. And when you’re going for it, there’s not really a better feeling. Taco Billy has definitely been one of those times.”

—Hunter Berry, Founder of Taco Billy

Hunter Berry identifies as a “feeler.” When he left Texas in 2014 to build a new life in Asheville, he ended up taking his own advice. “I always told friends who were leaving Texas to open up a taco shop and spread the good news of breakfast tacos.”

So that’s what he did, feeling his way through the process. The rest, they say, is history —and an interesting one at that. If you want to learn the story behind Asheville’s iconic taco shop, then this episode is for you.

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • The story behind how Taco Billy got its start
  • How Hunter developed the Taco Billy name and branding
  • Marketing strategy: How word of mouth and branded stickers have played an important role in promoting Taco Billy (and why it’s not for everyone)
  • Future projects for Taco Billy
  • Earthships: what hunter was building before he was building tacos


Show Notes

Taco Billy is a West Asheville eatery renowned for its breakfast tacos, cozy vibes, and fresh ingredients. Connect with them on their Website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Hornaday Design – an Asheville-based design agency that created the Taco Billy’s logo

Everything is Unfolding Perfectly Sticker – Hunter mentions how he loves this sticker of a man sitting backward on a horse with the phrase “Everything is unfolding perfectly.” The sticker is displayed in the kitchen at Taco Billy. We did a little research and found out that it’s sold at Horse & Hero if you’re interested in getting your own!

Business Model Canvas – the method that Hunter used to build his business model.

Rob Foster at Blue Ridge Restaurant Equipment – The company that helped Hunter design a layout for the Taco Billy kitchen

Mountain Biz Works – Hunter attended a Business Planning Workshop here

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link.) – We mention this book when talking about what good, real food is.

Earthship – “is a ship that will keep you afloat on the seas of tomorrow.” It’s a type of “passive solar house that is made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires, pioneered by architect Michael Reynolds.” Before moving to Asheville, Hunter spent about a decade in solar energy and a year building Earthships.

Pickleball – a sport similar to tennis that we talk about during the episode.

Hunter’s go-to Asheville spots:

  • The Wedge (Original location)
  • Little Bee Thai
  • Wild Ginger – for their Pork Bahn Mi
  • Hot Springs and the Laurel River
  • Star Diner in Marshall

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • Why New Year’s Resolutions often fail and how you can prevent it from happening
  • M.A.T.A. – Our system for setting meaningful, intentional goals for the New Year and sticking to them
  • How to decide what your goals should be
  • Tips for creating small wins and holding yourself accountable
  • Sneak peek into what’s to come in Season 3


Show Notes

M.A.T.A. is the acronym we use to set meaningful year-long goals and achieve them. It stands for Meaningful, Actionable, Time-Constrained, and Accountable.

Start With Be is a concept we discuss in great detail during our second podcast episode. It comes up again as we discuss setting Meaningful goals that can be distilled down to a single word and then used in a “Be-statement.”

13-Hour Offsite is a retreat format we developed as a way to take a digital detox and check-in quarterly (or every 13 weeks) with ourselves. Learn how it works and how to host your own 13-Hour Offsite in our blog post here: 13-Hour Offsite: How to Decide What To Do With Your Life 13 Weeks at a Time.

We built a worksheet you can use to follow the M.A.T.A. framework. Click here to download the FREE M.A.T.A. worksheet!

Explore all upcoming events, including the next Monday Maker Mixer networking event.

Music by Commonwealth Choir


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast

We know that listening to every single one of our one-hour-plus long episodes can be a challenge. Think of this episode as your sampler plate: get a taste of each episode before you listen. Then, go back and tune in to your favorites. We won’t hold it against you if you don’t listen to them all (but we think you might be pleasantly surprised by some episodes!).

Here’s What You’ll Learn

  • Listen to a short sound bite from each of the Season 2 podcast episodes
  • Hear what we loved most about each episode


Show Notes

Curious to learn more about one of these episodes?

Check out our Season 2 Podcast archives page to learn more about our guests and get links to each recording.

Music by Commonwealth Choir.


Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.


We appreciate your support!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribelikereview, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.

To recommend an interviewee, visit MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast