The LoCo Experience
The LoCo Experience is a long-form conversational podcast that dives deep into the journeys of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers in Northern Colorado. Hosted by Curt Bear, Founder of LoCo Think Tank, the show brings real, raw, and unfiltered conversations—where guests share their successes, struggles, and lessons learned along the way.
LoCo Think Tank is Colorado’s premier business peer advisory organization, founded in Fort Collins to help business owners gain perspective, accountability, and encouragement to grow both personally and professionally. LoCo chapters bring together business owners at all stages of the journey into professionally facilitated peer advisory chapters, led by experienced business veterans. These groups provide a trusted space to share challenges, seek advice, learn togethter, and support each other’s success.
The LoCo Experience Podcast extends this mission beyond the chapter meetings— bringing the wisdom, insights, and stories of local business leaders to a wider audience.
Our triad mission with this podcast is simple:
Inspire through real stories of resilience and success.
Educate by sharing valuable business insights.
Entertain with engaging, unfiltered conversations.
If you love “How I Built This” and the free-flowing style of Joe Rogan - but with a Northern Colorado focus - you’ll enjoy The LoCo Experience! Our closing segment, "The LoCo Experience," asks guests to share their craziest stories — and we get some doozies!
It’s a passion project with purpose, and we invite you to listen, follow, and share, and maybe consider sponsoring. Know someone with a great story? Nominate your favorite business leader for an episode!
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 99 minutes
- Episodes
- 269
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
EXPERIENCE 216 | Teamwork Makes the Dream Work - if the Beer Tastes Great! Josh & Angie Grenz, Owners of Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project in Loveland, and Verboten North Brewpub in Fort Collins.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work - if the Beer Tastes Great! Josh & Angie Grenz, Owners of Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project in Loveland, and Verboten North Brewpub in Fort Collins.
I met Josh and A…
EXPERIENCE 215 | Igniting Passion for Business through DECA with Edward Rinehart - Graduating Senior at Rocky Mountain High School and Future Business Leader
I met Edward Rinehart at my Rotary Club, where he was sharing his journey with DECA - Distributive Education Clubs of America - an organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in mar…
EXPERIENCE 214 | Building Teams & Community, One Scoop at a Time - Jessica Dizmang, Owner of Ben & Jerry’s Fort Collins, Denver, and Boulder Locations and 2024 Operator of the Year
This week, I was pleased to be joined by Jessica Dizmang, the Owner/Operator of the ONLY three franchised Ben & Jerry’s locations in Colorado, with scoop shops located in Fort Collins, Denver, and Bo…
EXPERIENCE 213 | Zak George, Head Coach and Owner at Zak George Landscaping
My guest today was Zak George, Founder and Owner and Head Coach at Zak George Landscaping, LLC. ZGL - as the trucks around town say on the side - is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year! Zak …
EXPERIENCE 212 | Jack & Ginger Graham - Owners of Ginger and Baker, Veteran CEO’s Building Northern Colorado Community - Together
Ginger Graham returns to The LoCo Experience studio, and this time brings her hunky husband, Jack!
Jack Graham came to Fort Collins to play quarterback for CSU, and was drafted into the NFL for the …
EXPERIENCE 211 | Following the call into new chapters - Pete Gazlay - Founder and Former Owner of Total Facility Care - and our newest LoCo Facilitator!
I met Pete Gazlay late in my banking career, as one of my colleagues was pursuing a banking relationship with the owner of a young but rapidly growing janitorial company - Total Facility Care. Pete …
EXPERIENCE 210 | Alex Raymond - Serial Entrepreneur, Techstars Alum and Mentor, Founder of the Conscious Entrepreneur Summit and Host of the Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast
Alex Raymond is a 3x tech startup founder and entrepreneur who made the journey up from Boulder to The LoCo Experience studio to share his journey and some wisdom he’s learned along the way. He was …
EXPERIENCE 209 | Scott Kissel - Executive Director of Sky Corral Ranch - Raised in Small Business, Educated in Ministry, Experienced with All of The Above
This week, I was pleased to spend time with Scott Kissel, Executive Director of Sky Corral Ranch - located near the top of the full-year drivable portion of Old Flowers Road in Bellvue, Colorado. Lo…
EXPERIENCE 208 | Superconnector in a Small Package - Ann Baron, Founder and CEO of Northern Colorado Community
Ann Baron is the Founder and CEO of Northern Colorado Community - an events and networking and business support organization with members across Northern Colorado - as the name would imply!
Ann has …
EXPERIENCE 207 | Garage Operation to 20,000 Square Feet - Phillip Gottula, Co-Founder and Owner/Operator at FLEXX Productions - Leading the Northern Colorado Event Rental Industry in Service and Technology
Phil Gottula was my first guest to bring in a charcuterie plate - and we shared a beautiful bottle of white wine he also brought in - and we talked about the business of event rentals. Specifically,…
EXPERIENCE 206 | Harpist to a King and Winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2011 - Meredith McCrindle and Jai McDowall drop by The LoCo Experience podcast!
Harpist Meredith McCrindle was in Northern Colorado for a few weeks this winter, visiting her parents on an extended trip away from her transplanted home in Ayr, Scotland. For a portion of the trip,…
EXPERIENCE 205 | Dain Johnson - Founder & Owner of Rev 0 - Engineer turned Organizational Psychologist turned Coach for Engineers turned Managers, Leaders, and CEO’s
Dain Johnson was a high-level mechanical and industrial engineer for a decade, during which time he worked under some great managers - and some terrible ones! He developed a keen interest in psychol…
EXPERIENCE 204 | Building Health on a Strong Foundation - Jane Brewer, Upper Cervical Chiropractor and Owner of Precision Chiropractic
Jane Brewer grew up in a diverse neighborhood in the heart of New York City, with a constant heart for people and service and adventure. She signed up for AmeriCorps to work in support of Habitat fo…
EXPERIENCE 203 | Intrepreneurship in Action - A Conversation with Cole Shrehlow, CEO of The Flyover and Chief Musician at The Crossing Church
I became acquainted with Cole Strehlow circa 2012, when my wife and I first began attending The Crossing Church in Fort Collins, where Cole still serves as Chief Musician. He was a gifted writer wit…
EXPERIENCE 202 | Rick Gardner - Bull Rider, Roofer, Rocket Scientist, Professional Walleye Fisherman, Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Hub Founder, and EOS Implementer
Rick Gardner is an EOS Implementer in our Northern Colorado region. He grew up in Leadville, Colorado, and had his dreams of a long professional bull-riding career ended by injury. He’s gone on to …
SEASON 4 RECAP | Meet Ava Munos, our new Producer for The LoCo Experience + Season 4 Recap + Thanks Alma Arellano!
In today’s conversation, I’m joined by longtime Producer of The LoCo Experience, (and continuing as Operations Manager of many hats at LoCo Think Tank) Alma Arellano, along with our newest employee a…
EXPERIENCE 200 | Nate Hines - Philosopher, Historian, and President of Hines, Inc. - Sustainable Design Solutions for Water and Life and Business
Nate Hines is the President of Hines, Inc., a global leader in design solutions for irrigation water management. He is a husband, father, armchair historian, philosopher, and business enthusiast. H…
EXPERIENCE 199 | Healthy Relationships, Thriving Workplaces, and Lens Neurofeedback with Becky Lauridson, Founder of IOME
Becky Lauridson is the Founder of IOME Self Care, a LoCo Think Tank member, a fan of Lens Neurofeedback, a wife, mother, and elk hunting guide on her family ranch near Craig, Colorado.
The LoCo Experi…
EXPERIENCE 198 | Creating a Vibrant Business from an Innovative Product in Hibernation - Ryan Reed-Baum with TruLog, Maintenance Free Steel Siding
My conversation today was with Ryan Reed-Baum, CEO and Owner of TruLog, a company founded by his father, Ted, but that Ryan basically re-launched years later. To set the stage, we need to add some c…
EXPERIENCE 197 | Anti Work Girl Boss and Real Estate for Good - Gabrielle Judge & Matthew Fugate on The LoCo Experience!
I met Matthew Fugate circa summer 2017, when LoCo Think Tank was really starting to become a thing, and Matthew was a fresh-in-town Realtor. I remembered him well for two reasons 1) He was enthusias…