Passioners Podcast

We talk to Luca Lampariello, a polyglot who speaks English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Hungarian, and his native Italian. He is a language coach, blogger, YouTuber, and a lifetime learner. You can find his stories on various news platforms such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Babbel.

We talk with Christine Cotton, CEO of Porch. Porch is a volunteer, nonprofit hunger-relief organization that provides healthy food and other assistance to thousands of families living in poverty. Ms. Cotton started Porch in Chapel Hill and has now expanded it across the east coast. Listen to hear about Ms.Cotton's journey on expanding her act of kindness across neighborhoods.

We talk to Katie H. Hotze, founder of Grocery Shopii, a meal planning technology company that builds and orders customers’ shopping carts based on the recipes they want to make. Listen now to hear how she became a tech CEO after working years in a corporate marketing department.

We talk with Alex Brandwein about his transition from making six figures in investment banking to risking it all to create his bagel shop. Alex is a UNC alumnus who tells us about his journey and the tough decisions he had to make which ultimately led to his pursuit for happiness. Listen to hear about Alex Brandwein’s journey to find what matters to him.

We talk to Joe Puccio, co-founder of Coursicle, a website & mobile application that helps college students plan their class schedule and get into their classes by notifying them when a class they need has an available seat. Mr. Puccio doesn’t use superfluous jargon to present Coursicle, doesn’t shy away from money-related questions, and doesn't try to paint UNC better than his experience -- he is straight to the point. Listen now to hear his honest insights.

We talk to Jennifer Evins, CEO of the Chapman Cultural Center. She is in charge of the Chapman Cultural Center located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Listen to how one woman has been able to make an impact on her community.

We talk to Rob Taylor, a Senior Camera Journalist for BBC News. Based in London and part of the UK Operations team, he covers news stories in the UK, Europe, and around the world. Jennes Kang found Mr. Taylor in Forbes list 30 under 30 published in 2020. At the age of 22 (currently 23 years old), he became the youngest Senior Camera Journalist at BBC.

We talk to Simon Burgess, a long-time real estate multihyphenate. He is currently the managing director for Hotel Indigo located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Listen to how one man was able to go from having no college education & working for others to having others work for him.

We talk to Kirsten Baker, CEO, and Co-Founder of Jeenie. It won the Startup of the Year award by Established and US. Jeenie was co-founded by Kirsten Baker and her father, Richard Brecht. Its mobile platform connects users via video and audio calls with live, HIPAA-trained, medical interpreters from mobile devices or computers. Instead of paying $90 to $125 an hour for a professional interpreter, you can use Jeenie’s service for $1 per minute.

We talk with Tristen, Justin, and Baquir, co-founders of Triad Studios. Triad Studios co-founders consist of UNC-Chapel Hill alumni. Triad Studios creates strategic, cinematic video content for their clients to showcase their brands. They made $82,000 in revenue in their first year, but quadrupled in the second year and now are seeking to further expand their company. Listen to how 5 co-founders found each other to create content that complemented the group.