May 2022 - The John Krol Show

May 31, 2022

#33 – Dan Joslyn – outgoing Program Director, Boys & Girls Club, Pittsfield, MA

How do you measure the impact one person has made. You may not ever be able to truly measure that now, or even in years to come. Dan “The Man” Joslyn has dedicated his career to being a mentor, a teacher, a safe haven to so many young people in their most impressionable years – instilling values, accountability and equipping with the invaluable tools needed to live one’s best life. As an adopted son and growing up in a household with 15 brothers and sisters, Dan’s understanding of being there for one another was innate. He has had incredible challenges and lessons, after a serious car accident left him with a traumatic brain injury and other serious injuries from the crash, Dan persevered through physical and occupational therapy to, ultimately, fully recover. And then, the unthinkable, his big brother, Ben, was killed in a car accident. In our conversation, we talk about how these experiences have shaped him as a man, and how Ben is still with him as he continues to learn lessons in life. As Dan moves onto his next adventure in eastern Massachusetts, we discuss his time as the program director at the Boys and Girls Club and more, including: instilling accountability in young people, providing a safe haven particularly during the pandemic and the lockdown, the power of small changes that lead to completely new paths in life, being present, outside validation on social media vs. self-awareness, understanding your true friends and a trusted inner circle, listening to listen vs. listening to respond, how just one coach and/or mentor can make all the difference, coaching AAU, the joys of T-Ball and Coaches Pitch baseball, the disproportionately large number of young people the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club serves every single day compared to other clubs around the country, the trend of specialization in youth sports and how we ought to rethink that to provide more well-rounded athletic experiences for kids, taking a chance like the Boys & Girls Club took a chance on him. I hope you’ll enjoy my conversation with Dan “The Man” Joslyn. — Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-krol/support

May 20, 2022

#34 – Sarah Real & Mike Dell’Aquila, Hot Plate Brewing Co.

The love of beer and the magic of the pub. Sarah Real and Mike Dell’Aquila have been together since their days at Penn State, and since, through their days in New York City, traveling around the world and now finding their ways to the Berkshires – they are now fulfilling their dream to open a brewery. Hot Plate Brewing Co. is expected to open on North Street this fall. Meanwhile, the couple is busy telling their story through community, creative social media content and, of course, developing exceptional brews. In our conversation we cover the early days and early inspiration in their days at Penn State, a cross country trip, speaking the language of beer internationally, the universal magic of the pub, making beer in a tiny New York apartment, the incredible origin story of the Hot Plate name, extract vs. all-grain brews, Sarah’s Mexican American heritage and its importance in this industry today, their journey to the Berkshires, falling in love with North Street, the business model for Hot Plate, documenting their journey, German Reinheitsgebot, craft beer as punk rock, beer bros., the three-tier distribution system for beer, shelf wars, quality control, beer telling the story of a culture, the visibility of the brewing process in downtown and an intuitive dog.

I hope you’ll enjoy my conversion with Mike and Sarah!

May 19, 2022

#35 – Matthew Chester, JD, CFP®, Tableaux Wealth

Taking the leap from being a successful attorney in the city to a financial advisor in the Berkshires would have daunting to many. But for Matthew Chester it was all about actually building a real relationship with his clients, something missing in the narrow focus of being a specialized financial attorney in New York City. As his career path shifted, so did his personal life, as he and his wife Catherine are raising two young daughters Leah and Zoe at home in Stockbridge. In our conversation we cover Matt’s decision to shift from law to financial advising, his time in Taipei, Mandarin as a second language, sunk cost, psychology in investing and finances, inflation, the housing market, the permanent and not-so-permanent changes post-pandemic, wages, labor vs. corporate profits, corporate responsibility, college planning, retirement, Malcolm Gladwell’s research of dynamics in elite colleges, 529 plans, the origin of the name: Tableaux, the Levi Strauss principle, growing up near Seattle, his pull to the East Coast, meeting his wife at Cardozo Law School in NYC, work/life balances in the Berkshires, fatherhood, the art of parenting, how financial advisors get paid, broker model vs. investment advisor, and more. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Matthew Chester.