Patrick Werrlein and his Team Won Business Alabama Magazine’s Best Places to Work in Alabama

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Patrick Werrlein said his company could not have won this award six years ago. The company culture needed a big overhaul. He’s president and owner of a Swagelok sales and service center in Birmingham, Alabama. Once he got the right team together and became clear about “who we are and what we do,” he went to work on the culture. The strategy? Simple, says Patrick – empathy, care, concern, spontaneity and some fun. Patrick offers a list of tactics that any business leader can apply.

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Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

Persons Service Corp

Roy Lewis Construction

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Mel Washington And I Discuss What It Takes to Start Well and Survive as a Small Business

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Mel Washington is Regional Director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of South Alabama. He coaches and consults and guides small businesses as they work to become stable, viable businesses. He and I discuss what it takes to get started and where many errors are made by small business owners. If you’re thinking of becoming and entrepreneur, this episode offers simple recipees that will mitigate your failure risk. If you’re trying to grow to the next level, this episode offers thoughts for how to target the next level and how to pursue it.

Show Sponsors:

Persons Services Corp

E3 Termite & Pest Control

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

United Bank

Roy Lewis Construction

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

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Buddy Persons Runs a Multi-Faceted Commercial Construction and Disaster Recovery Business That Started Long Ago as a Plumbing Company

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Buddy Persons has never seen as much property damage from a hurricane than what he saw in south Florida after Hurrican Ian. He was there representing the disaster recovery division of Persons Services Corp, of the several divisions of his company. Buddy’s background includes such work in Haiti, Albania and Hondurus to name but a few. The company began years ago with his father’s plumbing business and Buddy has grown it tremendously. Hear his remarkable story and meet this humble entrepreneur.

Show Sponsors:

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

E3 Termite & Pest Control

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

United Bank

Persons Services Corp

Roy Lewis Construction

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Cam a Guest on Tony Truitt’s News Radio

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It’s a fun experience being on the other side of the mic early Saturday morning for Tony Truitt’s News Radio show out of Birmingham. It was a quick chat in which he asked me to tell a bit of the story of my show. 

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Tulane Freeman School of Business Economist and Professor Peter Ricchiuti Tells Us What the Year Will Bring

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All the talk of recession pushed me to reach out to friend of the show Peter Ricchiuti to get his take on things. Always a very entertaining guest, Peter gives us a sense of what to focus on, what “tea leaves” he’s reading, and perhaps most importantly, he tells us what the businesses he and his students study do when recession looms on the horizon. The businesses are a part of Burkenroad Reports which has brought him and his classes wonderful acclaim over the years. Want predictions for the economy in the new year? Start here.

Show Sponsors:

E3 Termite and Pest Control

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

United Bank

Persons Services Corps

Roy Lewis Construction

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Lauren Weber, Emmy-Nominated Producer, Sees Stories All Around Her Newly Adopted South Alabama Home Town

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Lauren Weber left LA for LA (lower Alabama). She had a hunch this stretch of the Gulf Coast was home to some great stories that needed to be told. After renting a car in Pensacola, she eventually made her way to Fairhope looked around, and parked the car. Fairhope would become her new home. She relocated her production company, Tremont Road, to town, started meeting people, and eventually made a concept pitch based on what she saw to a well known streaming service. They bought it immediately. Today Lauren is finalizing the show, filming in Fairhope and shuttling to the other LA to work on editing. It’s “scripted reality TV” featuring women of various ages in various stages of relationships to begin streaming in the fall.

Show Sponsors:

E3 Termite & Pest Control

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

Bud-Busch Distribution

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

United Bank

Persons Services Corps

Roy Lewis Construction

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Troy Whetstone, CEO of The Modern House Coffee Shop, was called, obeyed, and now serves the homeless via nonprofit social entrepreneurship.

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Troy knew nothing of coffee when he heard a call from the Lord, obeyed, and now serves the homeless in Birmingham through his Modern House Coffee Shop (www.CoffeeAndCommunity.com). He employs them at the coffee shop and the profits go to support the homeless in the area. Troy is another example of someone who was guided by a higher power and is finding success much easier now that he’s doing was he was told to do. His growth plans include roasting his own coffee in the very near future. Troy is motived, is motivational, and is a great story for the final What’s Working episode of 2022.

Show Sponsors:

The Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) – Presenting Sponsor

E3 Termite & Pest Control

Persons Services Corps

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

Persons Services Corps

Bud-Busch Distribution

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

United Bank

Roy Lewis Construction

Get The Tea

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Jim Cox of Southern Napa Wine and I Chat Up this Year’s Wine Trends of the Holiday Season

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Jim Cox is a regular visitor to the show this time of year, bringing wine for us to tase (not drink, it’s a subtle but real difference) and discuss. He and his wife own Southern Napa Wine Store in Daphne, Alabama. Jim and I discuss the new popular wines that have emerged over the year (sauvignon blanc) and the soaring prices of Napa cabernets as well as some new “mocktail” mixes that are actually verty tasty – good news for the designated drivers and teetotalers. Jim is always a fun and loquacious guest. This is another of my favorite guests that come back each December. Cheers!

Show Sponsors:

Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) – Presenting Sponsor

Get The Tea

E3 Termite & Pest Control

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

United Bank

Burr Forman Attorneys

Persons Services Corp

Roy Lewis Construction

Bud-Busch Distribution

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Gabriella Saab Continues Gaining National Attention as a Historical Fiction Author

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Gabriella Saab knocked my socks off with her first book, The Last Checkmate. It was fantastic. Her second book arrives mid-January called Daughters of Victory. Another historical fiction novel, this one is set during the Bolshevik revoltuion and travels in time through to the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union. The books are meticulously researched and Gabriella will always feature a female protagonist. I catch up with her as a part of my December reconnects with previous guests. Buy The Last Checkmate. 

Show Sponsors:

Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) – Presenting Sponsor

Get The Tea

Roy Lewis Construction

Persons Services Corp

Burr Forman Attorneys

United Bank

Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty

Trey Langus – Transworld Business Advisors 

Allison Horner – State Farm Agent

E3 Termite & Pest Control

Bud-Busch Distribution

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