CY6 - Check Your Six

Episode 139 of the Check Your Six podcast brought James Gies with Zoom Room Dog Training into the GRP Studios to talk about his business as a franchise owner of Zoom Room. He shared his story of growing up in Michigan, making the decision to go to that school in Ann Arbor for his BS(appropriate for a degree from that institution) then the wiser decision to get his Masters from Michigan State, Go Sparty! He speaks German, Russian and talked about his time in Moscow and the impact that the woman that housed him and several other individuals who had been a survivor of Communism taking over in Russia and the challenges that she and her parents faced. Her attitude and outlook was something that shaped James for much of his adult life and how he approached challenges. His time with the restaurant industry, his claim to fame working at the Apple Store in the Florida mall, opening his business just before Covid, some of the challenges he faces and how he operates his business. Great conversation with someone that truly enjoys what he does and it pretty good at it!!

Episode 138 brought a little bit of the northern states flavor into the podcast when we went on location to the old RDV Complex, which is now the Genesis Healthclub Sportsplex, to chat with Central Florida Warrior Hockey members Nick "Millsey" Mills, Anthony "Pop" Popkowski and Mike "Just Mike" Eidelstein about Warriors Hockey. All three of these gentlemen are veterans and we talked about what Warriors Hockey was about, why it was so important to have something like this for veterans and growing this to become the league for veterans, as well as other individuals, throughout the US. Nick had taken a pretty nasty fall so he was probably suffering from a little bit of concussion symptoms but still talked about why he is involved and what it means to him to be a part of it. Always love it when I can have a couple of other veterans on the show, it just makes it feel like home some ways!

Episode 137 of the Check Your Six Podcast brought Seminole County Public Schools into GRP Studios. We have done quite a bit of work with SCPS from a video standpoint but this time I had the pleasure of having Kristin Thole in the studio. She is one of the facilitators for the CTE Business Partnership Programs that they have at SCPS and some of the things that it offers. She explained about what the CTE Programs are all about, how they can tie in with the business's in Seminole, the recent spring Expo that they had showcasing the businesses looking might be looking for summer interns for their business. There are a lot of people and businesses that work with SCPS in a variety of ways to help promote their business but to also help grow the students that are coming through the school system. People like Sean Esler with Edge Consulting, Tony Boni with Be The Change Today Foundation, Debbie Rodriguez with iBuild, Michael Janerio with Gizmo Productions and Jennifer Englert with The Orlando Law Group are just some of the people that continue to pour into providing help and resources that allow for the best potential for students!! The ability for a student to graduate from one of the Seminole County Public Schools with an AA degree already completed is amazing and just another example of what if available to our kids!! You can check out more of what Kirstin was talking about here. https://www.scps.k12.fl.us/cms/one.aspx?portalId=1854109&pageId=2057984

We talked hoops, gyms and Kayla's Korner when Cynthia Wyatt dropped by GRP Studios to chat on the Check Your Six Podcast. Cynthia is the Owner/CEO of In The Paint Gymnasium and In Kayla's Korner, Inc that was created in memory of her daughter Kayla. Cynthia has used her love of basketball to perhaps take a little bit of a different approach to some of the challenges to kids that want to be in sports but might not have the opportunity. It is called "In The Paint Gymnasium" because it was simply a dream to start with to set up a pole barn and have a place that kids could come to play hoops. It has morphed into something much larger now with the potential desire for the development of leagues, a facility that can also house a school and things way beyond the scope of the initial vision. It all comes from the directive of In Kayla's Korner, Inc that is a program that looks to bring together sports and education for underprivileged kids to uplift, empower and provide opportunities to engage in sports activities while simultaneously prompting their educational development. You can find out more about In Kayla's Korner, Inc here to see what it is all about. https://inkaylaskorner.org/

For Episode 135 of the Check Your Six podcast, Land Buying guru Brent Bowers called in and talked about his journey into buying and selling land. A Florida born native, 8 year Army Veteran that turned from buying and selling homes through Zach Buys Homes(interesting story on that name) to focusing on the purchasing and selling of land nation wide. He talked about some of the early stages in his home buying and selling stage of life, the transition into land buying after listening to a podcast ironically, and now providing a great way for others to do the same. He talked about not being able to do EVERYTHING as a business owner, fighting your ego, advice from fractional CFO's, hiring talent that allows you to do what you are good at, the benefit of having an executive assistant, the need in his industry for a good real estate attorney and a lot of other information. He provides all kinds on information on his website and YouTube channel and has helped countless others find their way in the industry of buying and selling land!! You can check him out on his YouTube channel to see what he does!! https://www.youtube.com/@brentlbowers

Jacqui Williams and Andria Estrella-Roa, came back into GRP Studios to talk some more about Veteran mental health on the Check Your Six Podcast. This time around Jacqui and Andria talked about changing the narrative about suicide, no longer "committing" suicide, it is death by suicide. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, behavioral reactions to feelings, as well as what Little "T" and Big "T" represent. Veterans that are getting out of the military and those returning to active combat situations are approached differently in therapy. Survival brain vs learning brain for veterans while in service or in a civilian setting and that it is not a light switch you can turn on and off. Their recognition that they can't save everyone in their field, they just need to help as many as they can. You can go to www.golfyankeesix.com to see more about what they do and the resources that are available!!

Honored and proud to have two young ladies, Jacqui Williams and Andria Estrella-Roa, stop by GRP Studios to talk about Veteran mental health on the Check Your Six Podcast. Both Jacqui and Andria are licensed marriage and family therapist, they have know each other for years and have recently joined forces to create Golf Yankee Six which focuses on the issues and challenges that veterans and their families face when they are returning from combat situations or redoing civilian life after the military. Great conversation today about those 22 vets per day that are taking their lives and looking at a very permanent solution to a temporary problem. The resources that are available from GYS and other organizations that they partner with, the new 988 crisis line that is available and when it is called and the #1 is pressed, it takes you to veteran specific counselors that can help. They also talked about some of the groups and companies that they work with like the Camaraderie Foundation here in Central Florida as well as C&D Printing that provides all of their printed product. You can go to www.golfyankeesix.com to see more about what they do and the resources that are available!!

Episode 132 of the Check Your Six podcast brought some Jamaican flair into the GRP Studios when Shannalee Millsap, aka Chef Shanna dropped in for the podcast. Jamaican born and raised, she is now living in Central Florida and giving us all a "taste" of what Jamaica is like. She starting her love for cooking with her grandmother, Mama Shirley, and took that love and turned it into the business she has today, JamRockEatz. She talked about learning to cook without a recipe, washing meat before you season it, tasting the food before it is cooked so you will know what it tastes like when it is cooked. She also talked about her lessons learned from YouTube about starting her business, learning about servant leadership from mentors, what integrity means and using a brand consultant to help identify her brand. Great conversation and you can find out more about her here...https://jamrockeatz.com/

Kenneth "PK" Clark spent some time in the GPR Studios talking about Vibrant Families, Inc on the Check Your Six podcast. PK is the Founder and Executive Director of Vibrant Families and is looking to make a change and impact the lives of young men in Central Florida that are part of a single parent family. PK shared his background of growing up without a father, living life as a young African-American male where the only role models are the drug dealers and gang bangers. He shared about his transition to a family that adopted him, even though his mother still stayed close by, that experience opened up a whole new world to him. What Vibrant Families is starting to do through the Seminole County Public School system is amazing and I look forward to seeing more of what they can do in helping to build brighter futures for underserved communities, at-risk youth and fatherless boys. You can find out more about them here at: https://www.vibrantfamilies.org/

Episode 130 of the Check Your Six podcast brought Ed Zausch into the GRP Studios to talk about his two business ventures, Daddy's Chicken Shack and The Vitamin Shoppe. Ed already had a successful business in Indiana that he expanded in Florida but like many businesses, the events in 2020 had a serious impact on his business. He closed the Florida expansion but decided against going back and forth to Indiana every week and looked into opening a new business venture in Florida. Today focused mostly on the Daddy's Chicken Shack franchise that he has opened but did also cover The Vitamin Shoppe, his son's fight back from an auto accident, the different styles of the franchise business models for Daddy's Chicken Shack and the The Vitamin Shoppe as well as a look at hiring staff and other challenges of owning a franchise business. You can check out Daddy's Chicken Shack here, https://daddyschickenshack.com/locations/7025-county-road-46a-lake-mary-florida/ to see what they have to offer!!

Chip Colandreo from Lake Mary Life Publishing stopped by the GRP Studios for his recording of the 129th episode of the Check Your Six Podcast. A Florida boy from Niceville that grew up in Lake Mary, graduated from Lake Mary High, became a UCF Knight and now is helping to run and publish the currently 4 publications for Lake Mary Life Publishing. We talked a lot about the print media industry, the challenges of a media heavy society that may not read like it used to, engaging people where they are at in their information consumption stage and creating fantastic stories. Chip shared a a couple of up coming articles for the March publications that showcase what the magazines are all about. He talked about the way that they give back with a strong presence in the way they promote local non-profits and why it is so important to do that. He also talked about our joint participation in the newly formed Longwood Rotary and the Be The Change Today Foundation, both giving into the strong arm twisting from our(I could not say honorable because there is supposed to be truth in advertising) current Mayor Tony Boni!! All in all, it was great hearing what Lake Mary Life Publishing is doing for the Central Florida Community. You can find them at https://www.lakemarylife.com/ and discover who they are!

Episode 128 of the Check Your Six podcast brought Doug and Katie Nutaitis into the GRP Studios to talk about both of their businesses, Crown Trophy in Orlando and Mighty Dog Roofing in Altamonte Springs. Both are born and raised in the desert of Arizona, ASU grads, that decided to move to Florida after a very abrupt end to careers that they had planned on having in Arizona. They both talk about the challenges of opening a business, what they were looking for in a new business adventure and why they did it as well as the decision to add another business to the mix. Like most of first time small business owners, and we have mentioned it a lot on the show, you don't know what you don't know until you realize you don't know it!! Great having them in the studio and telling me all about what they are doing. You can find them here for Might Dog https://www.mightydogroofing.com/north-orlando-florida and here for Crown Trophy https://www.crowntrophy.com/?fbclid=IwAR0Zo3zJZ_rJ9Q4Bdv05fEgFYUoRN75iwtWnys4k09qIn53N61SHezvwuHY

Retired Air Force CMSgt Greg Bicknell stopped by the GRP Studios for his session of the Check Your Six podcast. Greg is now part of the Center For Independent Living(CIL) here in the 7 county Central Florida area and we has able to correct a lot of the thinking that I had, as well as many others, about exactly what it is that the CIL does for people. I always thought it was a place that people could go to live that needed assisted living and it really isn't that at all. He talked about the programs like the Family Disability Navigator, Workforce Transition, Aspire to Hire, Foundations to Freedom and several other programs that CIL provides to anyone that has a need. He talked about what it is like to see those that are recipients of these programs and how it impacts them, and those that provide the service. Great talking with another Air Force brother that loves what he does. You can check them out at https://cilorlando.org/ and find out more about all of the programs and services they provide!!

Episode 126 of the Check Your Six podcast had a very unique aroma when Raul Pabon, with Smart Scoops, stopped by the GRP Studios for his recording. Raul is truly the example of a new business owner, he and his partners opened this in December of 2023 so his is still getting his feet wet(pun totally intended). We have seen some of the marketing they have been doing locally with road sights that tell exactly what the business does, "We Scoop Poop", so as you can imagine, this was fun. Raul is a fantastic young man and it was a pleasure having him in the studio having him walk me through, well not actually, more like guide me through the poop scooping business. They are doing their best to clean up this town, one yard at a time!! You can see more of what they do at their website, https://smartscoops.com/ and get the details about the process and services.

Episode 125 of the Check Your Six Podcast had Rebecca Waldron stop by the GRP Studios to talk about running multiple business locations and really two totally different business models. Jack The Dipper Ice Cream "Parlor" and the Revive Hair Collective are the two businesses that Rebecca runs out of locations in Longwood Florida and she talked about some of the challenges she has for both of these businesses. Finding stylists that are a compliment to the studio and have the same work patterns and trust levels, balancing the required details for each business of inventory levels for products, her community involvement and how they give back with the Jack The Dipper location to local non-profits and a lot more!! You can find out more at https://www.jackthedipper.com/locations-hours and at https://www.revivehairorlando.com/. #icecream #hairstylist #smallbusiness #grpstudios #checkyoursixpodcast #podcast

Jennifer Englert with The Orlando Law Group made another visit to the GRP Studios for Episode 124 of the Check Your Six Podcast to deliver a Christmas present from the US Government! Jennifer had sent out one of their weekly emails about the new Corporate Transparency Act from 2021 that is supposed to take effect on Jan 1st 2024 and will require BOI or Beneficial Ownership Reporting for almost all small business entities. We had a lot of fun talking about this, like we usually do when Jennifer is in the studio but also talked about what this might mean to a lot of us small business owners. Of course, we all probably agree that most Government programs are a complete successes, so we can imagine that a program that is supposed to be up and running on 1-1-24 that does even have anywhere to report this information will be a tremendous success. You an check out more about The Orlando Law Group here, http://www.theorlandolawgroup.com/ so when you have questions, you can call them and then can help you out!!

Episode 123 of the Check Your Six Podcast brought 3 lovely ladies into the GRP Studios to talk about Exit Global Realty. Wendy Wagner, Kristina Peacock and Alena Rivera all joined me today and explained how a meeting that may or may not have included wine and napkins resulted in them joining forces and becoming a part of what is Exit Global Realty. These ladies obviously love what they do, they love the clients/customers that they deal with on a regular basis and they love giving back to the community in both personal and professional ways. We talked about competition, (or is it really competition), how they are different from some of the other realtors in the industry, how they approach business, the ability to work 24/7 and how a rising tide lifts all of the boats!!! Great time with these ladies, love their passion for what they do. You can check them out at https://www.exitglobalrealty.com/

Andrew Brainard with Trans-Med Care Long Distance Medical Transportation paid a visit to GRP Studios to record Episode 122 of the Check Your Six podcast. Andrew and I have talked on a couple of occasions and were finally able to connect and get him in to talk about what he does. First he helped me understand the operation of non-emergency medical transport, how he serves the public, the safety measures he takes, the care they give to those that are being transported and a variety of other parts of his business. We talked about finding workers for the transport vans, the concerns that some family members might have about using Trans-Med Care, which I was surprised to discover the top concern as well as the way that Trans-Med Care gives back to the community with organizations like the Alzheimer's Association. He talked about non-emergency transport being somewhat like the Wild West with little to no regulation or oversight and how he is helping in creating those guidelines. Love what they do and their passion for people. You can find out more about them here..https://trans-medcare.com so check them out if you need to transport anyone in a non-emergency condition just about any distance.

Episode 121 of the Check Your Six podcast brought John Blum into the GRP Studios representing Five Star Claims Adjusting. Being a homeowner is a great position to be in but sometimes as we have said on the program before, "you don't know what you don't know until you realize you don't know it". John talked a lot about so many things that Joe Average homeowner or business owner(who leases) may not realize about their homeowners insurance policy. Things that may be covered or may not be covered, changes in the law and regulations that can impact what you can claim. The need for a Law & Ordinance Provision in your insurance policy that covers things somewhat like replacement value for a car insurance policy does. Asking for the license when an adjuster shows up to provide that assessment of you home, why you need a claims adjuster and so much more!! Still have a lot to learn about why claims adjusters are so valuable. You can check them out at https://www.fivestarclaimsadjusting.com

I had the pleasure of having Eric Hale stop by the GRP Studios today to record his session about DreamQuest Tiny Neighborhoods Inc. Coming from a small town in Southern Idaho(they didn't have a traffic light) and working his way through the construction industry, facilities management and seeing all of the things that are done wrong from a construction standpoint, he decided to do something to address the affordable housing issue starting in Florida. This was not at all what I expected whenI invited him on the podcast a month or so ago, I did not expect someone that was passionate about solving a real problem with some outside the box, or house, thinking. I am excited to see where he ends up taking this and what kind of an impact he can make!! You can check out more of what they do on the website...https://dqtn.org