No Bed of Roses

Goodwin Recruiting, Founder and CEO, Eric Goodwin is our guest today. This was not an easy session to schedule - Eric and I have been trying to make this happen since October of ’21. Crazy. Goodwin grew up in a restaurant family and, typical to that lifestyle, didn’t see his dad very much unless he worked back of house with him - yep, he really started his career as a dishwasher. Eric was determined not to have that kind of life for his own family, which he’ll touch on today. Once he got into multiple-units, Eric quickly saw an opportunity for competent, effective, and communicative recruiters and Goodwin Hospitality, eventually to become Goodwin Recruiting, was born. Having launched a few different businesses over the years, Eric is a bit of a serial entrepreneur, and if that’s not enough, he’s also a restaurant operator with The Friendly Toast throughout, MA, Portsmouth, NH, Burlington, VT, and coming in September to Portland, ME.  He's also involved in NOBL Coffee also in Portsmouth and NOCA Beverage Company. To round it all out, Donut Love will be opening in August. Portsmouth, Bedford NH now  with Concord and Salem NH June 2023 Boston Back Bay Mass, Burlington Mass, Danvers Mass, North Andover Mass, Chestnut Hill Mass Harvard Square, Dedham at Legacy Place Mass https://www.goodwinrecruiting.com/ https://thefriendlytoast.com/ https://noblbeverages.com/ https://drinknoca.com/

As a 13 year old dyslexic student struggling through school, and of course not knowing he was dyslexic, Bobby Stuckey started bussing tables at a Greek restaurant in Phoenix. His journey continued, with Bobby working his way up from dishwasher to management and taking a path through The Little Nell restaurant in Aspen in 1995, as sommelier then in 2000, onto Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Napa where Bobby’s team won the James Beard Foundation’s Award for Outstanding Wine Service and where Bobby met his present day business partner, Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson. In 2004, Bobby earned his Master Sommelier Diploma. He and his partners opened Frasca in Boulder, CO where Stuckey and his team again won the Beard award for Outstanding Service, later changed to Outstanding Hospitality, at Bobby’s suggestion. In 2007 Stuckey and Mackinnon-Patterson launched Scarpetta Wines. Today, the partners own and operate Frasca and Pizzeria Locale in Boulder and Tavernetta and Sunday Vinyl in Denver. Ok, so who’s hungry..? https://www.frascafoodandwine.com/

How many times have you had a super-frustrating experience and thought, “Man, somebody should invent something that…” Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Frustration like that has been the impetus for innovation throughout the ages and today’s guest, Aidan Fitzpatrick, CEO of London-based Reincubate, shares a few stories of his journey, leveraging his varied frustrations into a company that has twice won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, Britain’s highest business honor. Reincubate No Bed of Roses

Melissa I. Strong is aptly named and I think you’ll agree once you’ve listened to some of her story.  Along with being a writer and photographer, Melissa is a passionate and skilled rock climber, hospitality pro and restaurant owner/operator in Estes Park, Colorado, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. You can read more about Melissa at her personal site, melissaistrong.com You can find out more about Bird & Jim, Melissa’s restaurant at birdandjim.com

A Break In The Action - Thanks for showing up for what should have been a new episode.  Instead, we loaded up the fam into the mini van and drove 1,200 miles, one way, to see Grandma!  Yay vaccines!!!

Anthony Poon, is an award-winning American classical pianist, mixed-media artist, published author, interior designer, guest lecturer... oh yeah, and he's an architect. A really talented one. Anthony and I first met back in 2008 on an exciting restaurant project in downtown Los Angeles just as the downtown scene was about to go from zero to crazy. Anthony's book, Sticks and Stones / Steel & Glass: One Architect's Journey is available at Amazon. You can also visit the site for his design firm, Poon Design at poondesign.com Instagram - Anthony Poon Design

Ali Tetrick, world class pro cyclist, scientist and entrepreneur is as comfortable in a clean and pressed lab coat doing research as she is covered in mud after a 155 mile gravel event where she burned 5600 calories just crushing it. Ali joins us to share her story from cowgirl to Olympic hopeful and then some. Learn more about Ali at alisontetrick.com Ali on Instagram

Alison Matz and Linda Sawyer, childhood besties and co-founders of SkuraStyle have built the solid foundation for their disruptive business upon the humble, potentially dangerous, but mostly mushy, sponge. You can see pics of Alison and Linda, then and now, and shop for their products at skurastyle.com Instagram - Skurastyle

Jeep Collins, jewelry designer and newly published author of “Enid,” joins to share the story of his artisan and entrepreneur parents, Frederick and Enid Collins, a wonderfully American journey of two craftspeople with a dream, full of passion and driven to make something special happen. Jeep’s book can be seen, appreciated and purchased at enidcollinsstory.com and his jewelry and Paul Newman pic can be seen at jeepcollins.com The new iteration of the Collins of Texas company’s website is collinsoftexas.com Laura Richardson has a ridiculously comprehensive and well done web site cataloging the 742 copyrighted designs of Frederick and Enid Collins called collectingcollins.com Instagram - Jeep Collins

Tom Gonzales, Public Health Director for Larimer County - Public Health is defined as “the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society” (Acheson, 1988; WHO). Here in Larimer County in Northern Colorado, the man leading the crusade to beat back this pandemic, along with his incredibly dedicated and passionate team, has found unexpected strength, grit, agility, innovation and adversaries. Instagram - Larimer Health LinkedIn - Tom Gonzales