Akane Matsumoto

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Akane Matsumoto, founder of Chubby Rice, a Tallahassee pop-up serving Japanese rice balls. Akane grew up outside Chicago in a tight-knit Japanese community, raised by parents who built a karate studio from nothing and taught her what it means to work hard for something you believe in. She tried a few paths before finding her footing – pastry school, a corporate customer service job, and years building a following in social media that gave her the skills to eventually tell her own story through food. Her husband's career eventually brought them to Tallahassee, a big change from the food scene she grew up around. Rather than settle for what was missing, she decided to build it herself. Chubby Rice blends the recipes she grew up on with new flavors shaped by the community she now calls home. Akane talks about family, reinvention and what it looks like to turn a lifetime of varied experience into something entirely her own. _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 24 guest Marsha Doll. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Marsha and Dave listen to her answer from 2021, and she thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today. Spoiler alert: Life granted her biggest wish, Dean married her again (and again) and she learned a surprising lesson about just how unpleasant grown people can be sometimes. If you have not already, please also listen to Marsha's original episode. It will put some context to this conversation and add additional insight into her journey. Thank you for supporting this podcast and connecting with your community. _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

Host Dave Fiore talks with Patrick Barineau, president of Barineau Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., a Tallahassee company that carries a family name going back more than 50 years. Patrick grew up riding in his dad's work truck, watching a family business operate up close and taking his time deciding if he wanted to be part of it. He worked his way through a string of teenage jobs before his dad finally told him to show up at the office. He did, and it stuck. What followed was years of learning the business from the ground up, discovering that his real passion was not HVAC as much as the strategy behind building something meaningful. He now runs a company expanding beyond Tallahassee, built around a family-first culture and commitment to unwavering customer service.   His passions are FSU football, playing the drums and his family — his wife Amanda and their two sons. Patrick talks about legacy, leadership and what it means to carry a name that was already worth something before you showed up. Contact Information Barineau Heating and Air Conditioning Website _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 22 Guest Dale White. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Dale and Dave listen to his answer from 2020, and he thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today. Spoiler alert: Things rarely go exactly as planned! If you have not already, please also listen to Dale's original episode. It will put some context to this conversation and add additional insight into his journey. Thank you for supporting this podcast and connecting with your community. _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Tracey Cohen, president and owner of Target Print and Mail. Tracey grew up between two parents, two cities and two very different ways of moving through the world. She is a UNC graduate and a former market researcher who once spent hours observing patron's paper towel habits in a casino bathroom. She plays competitive tennis, is a sourdough baker in progress and a mom who lights up talking about her two daughters. She also happens to run a company she had a complicated relationship with as a child that is now thriving under her leadership. At her side every step of the way is her husband, Jeremy, who she met apartment shopping her senior year of college.  Tracey is deeply involved in the Tallahassee community, committed to the people she works with and thoughtful about how she spends her time and energy in all areas of her life. Doing things on her own terms while honoring what came before her is a thread that runs through it all. They talk about family, balance and what it looks like to build a life that is about more than work. Contact Information Target Print & Mail Website Connect on LinkedIn Stuff Paige Makes Tallahassee Tennis Association _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Ja'Baree Allen, founder of Phusion AI, a Tallahassee-based tech company helping small businesses put artificial intelligence to work in practical, meaningful ways. Ja'Baree grew up in Perry, Florida, navigating racism in a divided small town, being the smart kid on the bus who learned early that standing out can cut both ways. He had a gift for words, a photographic memory and an entrepreneurial instinct he couldn't quite explain. Music gave him a voice and a professor at FSU's Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship gave him something he had never had before — someone who truly believed in him. These days Phusion AI is an Anthropic and NVIDIA partner bringing serious technology to local businesses that would not otherwise have access to it. Ja'Baree will tell you God opened every door and that he continues to walk in faith right through them. Dave and Ja'Baree talk about opportunity, community and what it really means to build something bigger than yourself. Contact Information Phusion AI Website LinkedIn _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Sue Semrau, the winningest women's basketball coach in Florida State history. Coach Sue will tell you the wins were never really the point, but they gave her the capital to keep doing what she was really passionate about – teach. She grew up in Seattle, the daughter of two schoolteachers, and arrived in Tallahassee in 1997 to take over a program that had gone 5-22 the year before. Twenty-four years, 492 wins, three Elite Eights and a National Coach of the Year award later, she retired in 2022 — partly because the game had changed and partly because her mother needed her. Both were enough. Along the way she turned down opportunities to leave, including a chance to go back home to Washington, because Tallahassee had become something she wasn't willing to walk away from. Since retiring she has helped found the First 12, a local initiative built around one simple idea — get the people and organizations serving the city's most vulnerable neighbors into the same room and let the relationships do the work. They talk about coaching, community and what it looks like to build something that outlasts the final score. Contact Information LinkedIn _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Host Dave Fiore sits down with Jim Hunt, founder of Serve Strong and a familiar presence in Tallahassee's business and civic community for nearly three decades. Jim will tell you he is a relationship person first. The job titles just kind of followed.  Jim grew up a military kid, moving every four or five years before his family settled in Melbourne Beach. He came to FSU planning on law school and took a part-time teller job at Capital City Bank that turned into a career that lasted two decades. Then one thing led to the next — the commercial internet before most people knew what a website was, time in marketing at the Moore Agency and 223, and even a stint helping bring cloud computing to Tallahassee. Along the way he chaired United Way of the Big Bend, led Leadership Tallahassee and served on boards across the city. Not because it was good for business, but because he watched his parents serve their community growing up.  Last year he launched Serve Strong, a leadership and strategic advisory, and landed his first client before he had told anyone what he was doing.  Dave and Jim talk about service, community and what it looks like to build a career around other people and then figure out what comes next.  Contact Information Serve Strong Website LinkedIn _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube  

On this mini-episode of How I Got Here: 5 Years Later, host Dave Fiore catches up with Episode 21 guest Mike Goldstein. At the end of each original episode, Dave asks his guests the same question: Where do you think "here" will be for you in three to five years? Mike and Dave listen to his answer from 2020, and he thoughtfully shares how his predictions compare to life today. If you have not already, please also listen to Mike's original episode. It will put some context to this conversation and add additional insight into his journey. Thank you for supporting this podcast and connecting with your community. _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Host Dave Fiore sits down with Nicole Everett, creator and host of "Conversations with Nicole" — a Tallahassee-based show on YouTube that started as a series of weekly lunches with photos posted on Facebook. It grew into a platform with a Roku channel, a local TV run and an audience that has followed her through every evolution. Nicole has spent most of her adult life in rooms where people needed someone to really listen. Fifteen years at the Tallahassee Lenders Consortium helping first-time homebuyers get mortgage-ready and into their first homes. Seven years at Florida Housing Finance Corporation overseeing three statewide foreclosure programs. And a decade of sit-down conversations that have a way of going places guests never quite expected. She grew up in North Dade County — the first Black family on her block in a neighborhood that turned out to be as diverse in culture as it was in cuisine. FAMU brought her to Tallahassee, but her career and the community she experienced here made it home. "Conversations with Nicole" found her during a quieter season — after her son left for college and she started exploring, taking classes, going to poetry shows and just figuring out what came next. The answer was 10 seasons of the show and counting with episodes that impact the dialog in our community. Dave and Nicole talk about community, mental health, homeownership and what it really means to hold space for people — because for Nicole, the show was never really about production. It was always about the conversation. Show Notes Website LinkedIn YouTube Facebook Spotify Apple Podcast  _________________________________ Thanks for listening to Tallahassee's Podcast. Enjoying the conversation? Please share this episode. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  About the Podcast: How I Got Here is hosted by Dave Fiore and features Tallahassee leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers sharing the experiences and pivotal moments that shaped their journey. The show is produced by Fiore Communications, a Tallahassee-based strategic marketing firm that helps businesses build trust with the audiences that matter most. Visit hightlh.com for more great episodes and to suggest a guest or sign up for email updates.  Connect with Dave Fiore: LinkedIn Explore more local podcasts: Tallahassee Podcast Network Follow or Subscribe to How I Got Here Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube