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#40 – Jill Sweet, RN, Public Health Nurse, Certified Child Safety Passenger Technician

The challenges for health care workers over the past three years have been well-documented. For public health nurses, the pandemic presented an entirely new level of responsibilities in, often, uncharted territory. Jill Sweet served as both a school nurse and the Public Health Nurse for Tri-Town Health and the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative during these years. Our conversation includes a look back at some of the policies that worked and some that didn’t, as well as a variety of other public health issues, including: Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses, food safety and the health of our senior citizens. In addition, Jill is a certified Child Safety Passenger Technician ushering in a program that helps families ensure carseats are installed properly. Further, the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative has a large supply of grant-funded carseats that are free for families that our income-eligible.

#39 – Leigh Davis, Vice Chair, Great Barrington (Mass.) Selectboard, Mother, housing advocate, changemaker

Leigh Davis is the rarest of elected officials. She was sworn-in and promptly made a measurable impact on the community she represents. Most recently, the short-term rental bylaw she spearheaded was approved amid a lively public debate that included defeating the likes of Airbnb and other powerful business interests. It was a win for those standing up for the character of residential neighborhoods and as a firewall in the evermore challenging effort to protect the already minuscule number of affordable housing units in a town like Great Barrington. In our conversation, we discuss the dynamics of the town meeting victory on short-term units in GB, the importance of developing a thick skin in the political arena, and the self-awareness to do what you believe is right in the face of sometimes harsh criticism and attacks. We also discuss her upbringing and her relationship with her late father, Lloyd Davis, who carved his own legacy in housing and civil rights in the US – and in particular – was instrumental establishing the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and carrying on his legacy. Leigh’s journey to Great Barrington was a long and winding one, starting at film school in Ithaca to a decade in LA, editing films for Dreamworks and Steve Spielberg, Law and Order and more. Then, right at the height of her career, she turned on a dime and moved to rural Ireland. Even finding her way to Great Barrington was serendipitous, as it began with getting stuck in the snow and unable to get out of town. The happy accident has led to this mother of three committing fully to strengthening the GB and southern Berkshire community. One day, she even dreams of opening a little establishment in town where people can gather, enjoy each other’s company and….dance (it would likely include a disco ball, which Leigh is clearly a fan of!). I hope you’ll enjoy my conversation with Leigh Davis. — Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-krol/support

#38 – Jim Bronson and Matt Mottor, Your CBD Store and Berkshire Culinary Group, respectively

These two have been through thick and thin and it’s a friendship that has added greater variety and flavor to the Berkshire business scene and our community. Jim Bronson and Matt Mottor met nearly 15 years ago and the instant friendship notably led to the creation of a wildly popular Beerfest, which crushed it with tens of thousands of attendees before the pandemic put a damper on it. The pandemic also led to the reinvention of Jim’s career. After his company of many decades let him go in the midst of restrictions and lockdowns, Jim launched into a franchise Your CBD Store. Similarly, Matt has evolved in his career moving into his own business Berkshire Culinary Group, notably, supporting Shire Breu House providing the food side of the operation. Jim chips in as well on trivia night, and all in all, these two are an inseparable team. Our conversation also includes: Jim and Matt meeting during their time at Sodexo, how the pandemic impacted them, the evolution of the cannabis industry, the particulars of the differences between hemp and marijuana, advertising limitations in the industry, the crushing challenge of inflation (particularly for restaurants), the economics of locally grown food and the tipping point of competitiveness due to inflation vs. imported corporate food, Matt making maple syrup as a child, *John not getting the joke on how many gallons of beer it takes to make a gallon of maple syrup, CBD for pets, Matt’s inspiration to become a chef, and much more!

I hope you’ll enjoy my conversation with Jim Bronson and Matt Mottor!

#37 – Matt Barron, political consultant, opposition research specialist, photographer

Who do candidates call when they want opposition research on their opponents? While you’re at it, you better do research on yourself as a candidate and face up to your own skeletons! Matt Barron has been lit up by politics ever since he canvassed for anti-Vietnam War congressional candidate Father Robert Drinan in 1970. Drinan won and made his mark on Capitol Hill and across the country, meanwhile, Barron has made his impact behind the scenes, working for countless candidates and causes over the past four decades. We unpack opposition research and how transparency typically benefits candidates, and how, most often, stubbornness does not benefit them. We take a look at the (to this point) extraordinarily quiet race for governor in Massachusetts, Maura Healey’s frontrunner status, and how she may break the electoral curse of the attorney general position in Massachusetts (the list of losses for higher office is long: Martha Coakley, Tom Reilly, Scott Harshbarger, etc.) We also cover the severe lack of transparency on Beacon Hill, a trend toward secret deliberations, and the authoritarian nature of the house speaker. In addition our conversation includes: the dwindling number of reporters covering politics and the negative impact to transparency and increase in puff pieces, the contrast between former Congressman John Oliver and current Congressman Richard Neal, Super PACs, an increasing number of Republican registrations in Massachusetts, National Democrats’ inability to connect with rural voters, the massive impact that inflation will have on the 2022 election cycle, the Fair Share effort in Massachusetts, how a lot of the joy has been taken out of campaigns because of the cutthroat nature of politics today on the national level, and we cover Matt’s exhibit of photographs of Northeast U.S. Post Offices taken from 1965 to 2021 now on display at the Spellman Museum in Weston, Massachusetts, and much more!

I hope you’ll enjoy my conversation with Matt Barron.

#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

#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!

#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.