May 7, 2026 • 40 mins
Aaron Noddle has done a lot in his short life as a professional. His family's business, Noddle Companies, has been a major part of the development of Aksarben Village and a lot of Aaron's life experiences have helped make it feel like home for people of multiple generations. He shares his personal story and what the future looks like for one of the most exciting places in Omaha.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's the Emory Sunger Podcast live on the free iHeartRadio app.
Thank you for listening, as always, talking about things in
and around Omaha that are fun, exciting and everything in between.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And I have a very special guest joining me.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Here is a person where I think there's an exploration
into even what this guy does. His name is Aaron Noddle,
and he is sitting in the studio with me. Great
to see my man. Thanks here, Thanks for coming in.
I think this that your last name is familiar for
a lot of people, especially in the Darbon Village area.
They see all these signs like nodls in like the
(00:41):
the signs of like the people that are developing all this. Yes,
that's actually exactly what that that is. So how about
we start there? Right, So Nodel as like a company,
and that's from my understanding, your family and yeah you're
your father, Like let's just start there, and how you
(01:03):
like like your family is so entrenched in Omaha right now?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean I think you got to go
back pretty far. You got to go back to when
Jay's dad, my dad, Harlan started the company. We're turning
fifty five this year actually, Yeah, so there you go
pretty crazy when you think about it. But no, my
(01:29):
you know, my grandpa, he started the company as a
real estate and development firm and it's grown into something
way more than that. When he first started out, he
was really focused on making grocery anchored shopping centers all
(01:54):
the way from like San Antonio, Texas to a Story
of Queens, oh wow. And there were different like, there
were different things that we that he also did, Like
he also worked with CBS and Walgreens a little bit
as well to do some stuff in the on the
Upper East Coast, but that was really the bread and
butter of the business for quite a long time. He
(02:17):
had a few partners as well well, before me, I
was even a thought. Yeah, a couple of generations away. Yeah, yeah,
for sure. And then my dad Jay, he went to
Denver University and he got his start in the office
kind of the office real estate industry out there. His
(02:40):
niche was brokerage as well as like single tenant office buildings,
so you know, he was rocking and rolling with that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It's a very different vibe than yeah, with grocery anchor,
the grocery anchored shopping centers where yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, definitely different. But you know, I think definitely played
a big role in how the company evolved. So he
got his start kind of back in the eighties and
didn't start working with his dad, Harlan until around the nineties.
(03:18):
Really quickly, my dad became Harlan's kind of main client
for brokerage services. Go figure. You know, how cool is that? Yeah, yeah,
I think that was that had to have been pretty
cool for the both of them. Yeah, Harlan passed away
in like two thousand and six, so I didn't get
a lot of time with him. But be that as
(03:41):
it may, my dad took the firm over really when
Harlan passed, and that was right around the time the
Exarbon Village development got like everything there. Yeah. Yeah, and
I think, you know, it's a bummer that Karlan wasn't
able to see how that area has evolved. But you know,
(04:08):
one thing that I've learned really since moving back home,
and we can dig into that in a minute, is that,
you know, stewarding a neighborhood forward is never done. It's
like constant work, it's constant evolution, and it's been interesting
to see and to just really learn how to do
(04:28):
that firsthand with some of the community programming that we do,
whether it's through run Club or whether it's through Sunnies
or stuff at Stinton Park, the stat and the third,
I'm still really green to all this. Man, I'm twenty seven,
Like I'm still trying to figure you're a young man
trying to figure all this out. Dude, Well let's just
go ahead and start there. This is a neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I moved to Omaha in twenty twenty three, and while
I knew the Omaha move was imminent, the first thing
you do is like, well, where do I want to live? Like,
what's the neighborhoods that are going to fit my family,
my family's lifestyle, what we want to do, and what we.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Want to live.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
And Xarbon became the top of our list pretty quickly
after touring a lot of different places around town, and
it had everything to do with when you're in the
Xarbon village area. Yes there's a college campus there, and
yes there's a big arena over there, but there's something
about it that felt uniquely small town and welcoming for
(05:30):
people who are from places like where we're born in
Southeast Stile, where there's you know, you don't have to
travel downtown, I guess is the moral of that story
and feel like you're around a really fascinating and fun
pulse that exists there. So the Gxarbon Village, for anybody
doesn't know, right like that was a race track. There
(05:53):
are a lot of racetrack kind of illusions in the area,
which I absolutely love horse related. But this this whole
thing came from scratch within the last couple of decades.
Ye kind of crazy to think about you. So from
your vantage point now again still a young man, but
from your vantage point, you're there all the time. I
(06:14):
see social media, you're very active in promotion of you know,
the run club is how we met, and what a
great addition honestly to a community for what you're doing there.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's been a lot of fun. That's a fun project.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
So with that being said, what is that element of
neighborhood building kind of like you mentioned, and how that
kind of strip of area has become so vital to
the health and the excitement really for anybody living within
like a three mile radius.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
I think a lot of it stems from well, I
think there's several factors off top. I think a lot
of it depends on like a merchandising plan, which is
like a development plan, so like where certain buildings are
going to go, where streets are going to go, where's
you know, what's the the the mix between office, retail,
(07:06):
multi family, green space that's super important, restaurants and you know,
bars and whatnot. That's what creates a vibrant neighborhood. And
what was nice about the x starbon or what is
nice about the Xtarbent location is it's adjacent to a
university there, so it can be you know, it has
the it has the potential to be somewhat of an
(07:28):
incubator for students if they're looking to you know, stay
in Omaha. I think a lot of it also has
to do with the mission and the vision and the
positioning for the neighborhood itself. That's been something that has
(07:49):
been a pretty big focus for us within our company.
You know, how do we think about how to position
a neighborhood to attract the the tenants that we want
to have and the people who will enjoy those tenants
and just the overall vibe there. So I think it's
a mixture of both. Like it's it starts pretty high
(08:12):
level and then it you know, you try and figure
out ways to to bring it down from fifty thousand
feet if that makes sense for sure. I think when
you think of Xarbon specifically, or really any neighborhood that
we're working in, wellness is a huge component, and that
can look like several different things. You know, that could
(08:35):
be like a run club, that could be having just
a nice, clean, green space for people to gather, a
couple of bars, some nice restaurants, some dry retail, and
then you know, you need that mixture of office and
multi family. You gotta. It's hard to do something like
(08:57):
Xarbon when you don't have all of that mixture.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Well, it's cool for people, and I know a lot
of people in the Omaha area who would be listening
to this. A lot of people are going to be thinking,
you know, well those tenants right that exist there there.
I mean it's diverse, it's very diverse, but it's always like,
well there always seems to be one of those spots
opening up. Well, notice that when that happens, somebody is
(09:22):
always wanting to move in. It really is kind of
an interesting concept for any burgeoning and successful area is
that it is a competitive but be it's super diverse
and you have to lean into kind of your own
identity if you're going to outshine anyone else within a
(09:42):
small amount of space. And that's it really is a
small amount of space. But all the successful businesses are
very different than one another.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Yeah, you know, it's it's it's interesting. You know, credit
to the leasing team. They work real hard. You know,
there's it's a small group of folks, but they are
on it. They're on it, and it's easier or it's
it's easier said than done. Least things hard. Oh man,
(10:12):
I couldn't imagine. It's not like when I first moved
back home to learn the family business. That was like
kind of the pathway I had to. I wanted to
be in the leasing department to understand it. It was
also pretty required for me to understand that learned that
it wasn't necessarily for me. But you know, it takes
(10:33):
a discerning person. It's a negotiated deal, regardless of the
scale of it, whether it's you know, a vacant space
and one of the buildings in Excarbon or an office deal.
You know, it's it's challenging, it's tough.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Well, I just want to extend this conversation. We keep
talking about run Club because that's where we met and
I love it. It really is just such a fun thing
to do, and it is completely related to wellness, and
I always feel better about myself after I've been there
and you meet new people. We've met new people. Gosh,
what do you think the number of people on a
(11:13):
typical Wednesday is these days?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
You know, on a good day when the weather's nice,
call it anywhere from one hundred and fifty people to
two hundred people.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
I was going to guess close to two hundred. It's
crazy how many people are there. And it's a testament
to what this is and the movement that this has become.
And I know you and I have talked about this before,
but it was something you knew should exist, and you
felt like the elements existed to host it and house
(11:47):
it right there at Sunny's or Inner Railsarb and so
tell us about the genesis of how the organization of
run Club, and then how you guys have really leaned
in a very unique way of how you market run Club,
because it's not like you have this extravagant marketing plan.
You have an active Instagram account and people bring their
(12:08):
friends it really is how it's grown is.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Word of mouth. I think, you know, to speak on
the genesis of run Club, I didn't start it. It
wasn't me. It was Sam and his two friends. Sam's
my brother. Sam's a huge runner. He's done a couple
ultra marathons, done a couple of marathons.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
He's one of those crazy guys.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
He's he's the man. He's he's big bro. You know,
he's gonna push me like no one else will. And
I respect him for that, I love him for that,
and you know that's carried into my habits now. Running
is definitely one of those for sure. But you know,
it started with Sam and his two friends, Spencer and David,
(12:50):
And at the time, I think run Club is like
going on four years now, three or four years. But
it started really as a result of what Sam was
seeing when he was living in Florida. They were becoming
really popular on the coasts and that hasn't slowed down. No.
(13:12):
You know, with things in the Midwest, we kind of
get things a little late, and I think we were
we were an early adopter in this case where you know,
we were we developed the neighborhood where we're entrenched in
the neighborhood we operate Sunnies, and it kind of just
it just made sense. I think he knew, he knew
(13:35):
it would work, and I think, you know, it started
before I moved home, and then it kind of grew
beyond him because he was trying to do other stuff
related to the company, and at the time, I was
still trying to figure out what exactly, you know, where
(13:55):
was my where where did I fit, you know, within
the company? And I think it's just it just kind
of made sense, you know. The time. I think, to
your pointing is a lot of timing. I think we
looked outside of Omaha for specific references that resonated with us.
(14:18):
And what I mean by references like aspirational peers, like
who who was doing what we thought a good job
of capturing, like the vibe that was needed, like on
social media, from like a branding and positioning standpoint. Yes,
And I was doing a little bit of work outside
(14:40):
of a starbon run club on a separate project that
I was doing with my friends in San Diego, So
that was like I was able to take that experience
kind of apply it to run club, and you know,
I'd be remorse to say that like, it's you know,
something like that is a is a team effort, you know,
you know obviously, you know, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
She's she's amazing Emma Allison.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And you know it's not even just run Club, you know,
I see her, you know, helping promote and get the
word out about a lot of businesses down there in
the Exarbant village. But there is a tone to the
exarbon run Club social media that makes it feel attractive.
It is not overwhelming, it is not intimidating. It really
is just kind of like, hey, look at how much
(15:24):
fun we're having and here are some really cool, vintage
looking photos, and everybody's welcome to come and enjoy themselves.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, one of my hobbies is film photography. I wish
I could do it a little bit more often, but
that's how we capture our content if we're not doing
like a reel or like an Instagram reel or like
a video or something. But you know, I think that
film does a good job of just capturing the rawness
(15:53):
of it all. And it's it's easy, it's simple. It's
like you take a photo, you're not you're not gonna
know what it's gonna look like until you get it developed,
and you know, some don't turn out great, some turn
out awesome, and you know that's kind of how running
is sometimes, like sometimes you don't want to get out
there and do it, but sometimes yeah, when you do
(16:14):
do it, it feels great.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
But yeah, I think like ARC has been a great project.
ARC has been a great project. I think it's only
scratched the surface of what it can do. For Omaha,
I think we have some some specific goals that I
don't necessarily want to share now, but for growing it
(16:39):
a little bit specifically outside of Sarbon.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
It's the first thing to me that comes to mind
is it's the Wednesday Night Sunny's chapter of a Jarbon
run club, because I'm gonna call it that because the
way that you guys do this business, if on Tuesday
or Thursday there was a different group somewhere else in town,
if you're operating the way you're operating, it is going
(17:05):
to just grow, and it's going to outgrow just one
single space on Wednesday nights.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
It really will.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
And there are run clubs that have popped up in
the last few years that I can absolutely tell that
they are looking at what you guys have done and
you know, you know, in Iowa where I'm from, I'm
seeing different run clubs popping up and they're doing a
lot of the same stuff and the way they're promoting
and they're growing because it works. And I think it's
such a great thing for a community to have, is
(17:31):
this outlet not just for fitness, but for welcoming people
who may not feel like a run club would be
something they're interested in, but then everybody feels so welcome,
and then the socialization afterwards you get with a place
like Sunni's are in a rail at people can just
hang out for a while and enjoy happy hour drinks.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
What an amazing touch.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And we've met multiple people that we're not runners.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Garbon run Club comes around arc is.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I use ARC and Star around club interchangeably. But ARC
is like it's like reverse engineering the dating app, you know.
It's it's like it's just like a social experiment, but
it's it's not supposed to be transactional. It's supposed to
provide for the neighborhood. It's supposed to improve the the
(18:25):
local economy for the surrounding businesses. And one of the
more fun things for me selfishly is getting to do
some collaborations with different brands, like the shoe demos are
sick gear guy like, yeah, that's kind of why I
like running is just just try all the gear. And
you know when we do a shoe demo. Last yesterday
(18:46):
we did one with with On. It was the first
time I ever tried on. It was great running those shoes. Yeah,
they were, they were phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I landed on Hookah from a demo.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah, you know that's what it's for. You know, It's
like it's it's supposed to just be easy. You don't
have there's no and you don't have to pay for that. Yeah,
you don't have to pay.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Just show up and get get your size of shoe.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
And literally all you gotta do is show up. You
don't even have to run. You could walk like you
can go however far you want, you can go. We
started Sunny's and then we go up sixty seventh. The
main route is from Sunny's to Dodge and back, which
is like a five k like three point things a
little over a five k like three and a half if.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
You do the loop, yeah, the little loop at Dodge.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, I've been trying to go up into Memorial more often,
which some.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Of your Saturday guys you love doing that.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Yeah, I mean it's it's a little bit more elevation
and there's it's about a mile and a half longer,
so it's like it's like just right on five miles.
So that one's that one's fun. But yeah, man, you know,
arc is ARC is just supposed to be easy. ARC
is supposed to be easy, and I think it has
(19:57):
the potential to grow beyond run and we've experimented with
that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, like volleyball, Yeah, we.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Have the Sad volleyball courts there. We've done a couple
of same volleyball tournaments. I know, we got a few
more planned for this summer. And then we have that
movement space, the ARC Movement Space, which was a fun
project as well. I was actually my first like call
it development project. Boy was that humbling for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well it's interesting you can see the difference in its
use because there were a couple of things that people
could you know, do stuff on it. It was in like
tall grass and it was probably tough to manicure. You
laid out like nice flat turf, you put multiple levels
worth essentially for people of different sizes and ages to
come and utilize and I see people there all the time.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yeah, I think it's it's a significant improvement from what
was there. What was there was calisthenics equipment like pull
up bars, push up bars that were just not intentionally
well placed. It served a purpose, but it wasn't no
one was using it. Like there was a pull up
(21:10):
bar on top of a sprinkler head that was like,
no one was gonna use that, you know. But and
we we we were thank god, you know, we were
self aware enough to understand that. And you know, back
to a timing thing there. You know, I have a
Sam and I we have a friend tour. I'll call
her a friend tour. Her name is Molly, incredible, incredible person,
(21:37):
does some insane stuff, like I think right now, she's
she's not from Omah. She's bounced around. She's a little
older than me. But at the time she was studying
to get her master's degree and Arts and Cultural enterprising.
So she was doing that at USM Central Saint Martin's
(21:58):
out in London, which is wow, a world renowned design school.
She's super smart and her thesis was about how calistenic
parks can stimulate a neighborhood socially and economically, and we're like, oh, well,
this is this is great. So her thesis was that
was the movement space, and you know, like the movement
(22:24):
space kind of like Sonny's was in. I think it's
intentionally designed to evolve over time. Sonny's has evolved over
time season after season, and I think that kind of
helps play into the hype a little bit of Sonny's
and as well as ARC would be nice to operate
(22:44):
at year round, absolutely, but I think that break really
allows to have like a special moment to cherish the
presence there and the experience of both of those things
a little bit more, probably more so than if they
were to be open year round.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
A hundred percent agree. Yeah, And how can I miss
you if you're never gone? You could take for granted
some of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
That distance makes art grow fonder and.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
We can talk about this.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
You know, you're making such a great point about like
how that space and you get like eight or nine
months of the year to really utilize.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
It if we're lucky.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, And it's like the people of Omaha don't take
it for granted because of that, Yeah, And it seems
so intentional the way that you've designed it to make
sure that people don't get sick of it or take
it for granted. Because every year when spring comes around,
people are counting down the Sunny's opening day.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You know, yeah, for.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Sure, for sure Sunny's will Sunny's is going to continue
to evolve. I'm super super excited to see how Sunnis
will evolve, and I know the team is working day in,
day out to make sure that people enjoy it to
the best of their ability.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Well, for sure, you mentioned your world travels a little bit,
like the fact that you traveled and then moved back
and you're only twenty seven, So people are like, Okay,
well how much could you possibly have done and seen
in that amount of time.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
But so I I'm from Omaha. I grew up in
the West Side District District sixty six. I went to
elementary school at Oakdale and then switched to Rockbrook, and
then I went to Westside Middle and then West and
High school. Played soccer for twenty years club soccer played
(24:33):
a little bit, had a small stinton college at Nebraska Wesleyan,
and then quickly realized I did not want to play
soccer in college and transferred to san Diego State. And
you know, San Diego State for me was awesome. It
is freaking awesome. I met some of my best friends
(24:55):
ever out there. A few specific people come to mind,
and that really allowed me to get out of my
bubble a little bit and just learn more about myself
and what passions I didn't know I had for certain things,
like you know, skateboarding or clothing or music. The nice
(25:23):
thing about San Diego is it's a huge like what's
the word, It's a.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Like a melting pot.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, exactly, thank you. It's a massive melting pot of
different cultures and different people, and you know, talk about
a super wellness focused city, like everybody's always active. And
you know, I remember my first I remember a lot.
I remember everything about San Diego State. It was great.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Like how many years I was there?
Speaker 3 (25:52):
From January of twenty eighteen to August of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Okay, so so during COVID, during COVID, but also a
significant amount of time. This was not like I was
there for six months and yeah, really felt like it
romance to me.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yeah, I mean, you know that's where I went to school.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
You you matured an adult, an adult there which you know,
I visited San Diego and one of the most beautiful
places in the world bar none, but I find it fascinating. Right, So,
how do you land on that place? How did you
land that that was the spot you wanted to go?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
I think it was my senior year of high school
and I was playing on a travel soccer team. There
was this tournament called the Surf Cup, which is hosted
in the Del Mar Polo Fields right right next door. Yeah. Yeah,
you know, thirty minute drive from campus, just up the coast.
And for those who don't know, San Diego State is
is a little bit inland. In San Diego. It's like
(26:54):
right in between El Cahone and which is even farther inland,
Alkohola and uh oh man, I'm blanking on the name
like Bankers Hill area. Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, For anybody who doesn't know southern California, these names
may not mean nothing, but you've gone there. These are
important spots to remember because it's actually way bigger of
a geographical area, and Diego is more of a county. Yeah,
it's a way bigger geographical area than you think when
you're looking at it on a map.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah. I so easiest way to explain where San Diego
is or San Diego State is is. It's it's just
south of the eighth like about twenty minutes east of
the coast. So it's it's you know, it's it's.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Kind of not just waking up on the beach every day, yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Exactly, Like to get to the beach, you kind of
you know, you gotta have a car, you gotta have
you gotta be mobile. So you know, I wasn't going
to the beach super often. But I think, dude, I
tangent in where what was your question?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah, so it's like, how did you so you're at
a oh yeah, a soccer tournament.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah, seeah, I was at a I was at a
club soccer tournament, and we were doing some college visits.
I was out there with my dad and uh, you know,
I remember walking through campus and I I, you know,
at the time, I was a big stoner, you know,
just like you're you're in high school and you know,
that's what you do. And I remember smelling that smell
(28:19):
that smells smelly as I was walking through campus, and
I was I looked at my dad and I smiled,
and he's you know, he looked back and He's just
like he could tell that I you know, that this
was going to leave an impression on me, and it did.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Yeah, I mean it's not like San Francisco in the sixties,
but I mean it's basically like that for millennials and
gen zs you know out there.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
And yeah, you know that was at that time. The
plant was a huge part of my life and no
longer is at this moment, this point in my life.
But you know that, you know the plant, you know, dude,
it sold you, It sold me, and you know, it
allowed me to establish friendships and kind of going back
(29:02):
to what I was talking about, like burst my bubble
a little bit and just like allow me to be
in situations where I wanted to learn more about things
that I didn't know, whether like I was saying, like
whether it was skating or music, djaying, so on and
so forth.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
And culture is just so different out there.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, man, it's just vastly different. It's vastly different. And
I'm so thankful for that experience.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
So so San Diego State.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
And then you finish up there, what was like the studies,
Like what did you cause I know, like, you know,
you have this family business and your brother's involved, and
your dad is second generation. You would be third generation.
But you know, was there an interest of something else
that you wanted to get Eduard, I.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Didn't know what. Candidly, man, I didn't know what I
wanted to do. I went there and I declared my
major as real estate. Go figure, I mean it makes sense. Yeah, yeah,
And then I was just like, I don't I just
remember being like, I don't know if this is what
I want to do. I'm not sure. You know, I
was a little I was a little I don't think
(30:11):
I was as confident as I am today in like
my path because I just didn't know. And you know,
COVID was going on, and you know, the world stopped
for a little bit and.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Not great at time to be in real estate the first.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
I mean, it's a really weird time to just in
just to be twenty years old, twenty one years old. Yeah,
and going through school it was it was crazy. But
I ended up switching my major to business management I
think around my junior year, and you know, just kind
(30:48):
of coasted through school, got decent grades, got my got
my degree, and you know, I wasn't thinking about the
future that much. And then after I graduated. One of
the things I really wanted to do while I was
in school that I didn't get an opportunity to do,
which is solely on me, was study abroad. So after
school I went on a little three week vacation to
(31:12):
Europe and it was all solo. Just went myself. Yeah,
I went by myself. There were a couple of friends
that from from STSU that were out there studying abroad
and met up with them and I just kind of
bopped around Europe on my own. It was tie. I
was studying Italian at the time, and I really wanted
(31:33):
to go live in Italy. My favorite favorite sports team
of all time is a Cimalan. Been watching their games.
He needs to score goals, he needs to score some goals.
But you know, I I just was so fascinated by
that city. I wanted to go see it. I remember
when I was younger, we went on a family trip
(31:55):
to Italy and I remember going to see San Sero
and I was just I was like ten years old.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
I was like, bro, just like Italy, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
This is with history in that stadium is insane. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Well, but I mean we live in a country in
the United States that we're celebrating our two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary essentially of independence. Man, we're talking thousands of
years of history existing in Italy. Yeah, just across the
board in different ways, you know. And the culture reflects
that in a lot of ways for sure.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
And it's just different. It's like a different world over there.
And you know, it's good to go and get that
perspective of what life is like in different places. And
you know, it's good to understand what resonates with you
positively and negatively. And you know, the unique thing about
not all companies is we're in a position to to
(32:51):
bring new things here to Omaha. And and it doesn't
even need to be inspired by a place like Italy.
It could be inspired by a place like Miami. You know.
Sam's a great example of that. Sunny's is a great
example of that. Yeah. And you know, so going back,
like I didn't really know what I wanted to do
(33:14):
in school. I knew I wanted to like start a
brand whatever that was. I wanted to start a cannabis
brand really really bad. Yeah at that time, and tried
it realized that wasn't for me, I think I was.
I just didn't know what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Man, well, and welcome to you know, twenty twenties America,
where you know, you we are so exposed as young
people to so many different things, with the Internet the
way that it is now, on social media, the way
that it is now. I mean, I was in school,
I thought I knew what I wanted to do also,
and I'm a little older than you, and I went
(33:55):
and got my sports administration degree because I thought I
was gonna coach and be like a you know, an administrator,
like an athlete director or something.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
And that sounded like fun to me.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
And then sure, yeah, and the classes, honestly, like, I
enjoyed it, and I liked the classes. The classes were
a lot of fun, you know, learning about how to
manage camps, learning how to you know, yeah you had
to do some business on the side, and accounting classes
and HR classes at all.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Yeah, kids not.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Some of that stuff was a little tougher for me,
but I generally enjoyed it. But then the radio thing
kind of started as a part time gig midway through college,
and when I realized that I was actually pretty good
at this, my thought changed, and my sports administration degree
all due respect to my great instructors, and the time
I put in it means nothing to me right now.
(34:45):
You know, it's like I went in a completely different
direction because you don't what a crazy thing to ask
a twenty two year old to do is like, hey,
what do you want to do for the next sixty years?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
It's like, how am I supposed to have the answer
to that?
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yeah, you know, I was thinking about this podcast over
the last week, and I was curious to see what
questions you're gonna ask me. But one of the things
that I was thinking about a lot over the last
couple of days. It took you know, it took me
twenty six years to figure out what my purpose was. Yeah,
it took me a long time. It took me my
whole life. Yeah, I'm just twenty seven now, and you know,
(35:22):
my purpose is to continue my family's legacy in whatever
way that that it looks. It's on me to dig
into that. And it's you know, that's.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
And that could change. That could change a year or
two from now, that could look completely different.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
One And I'm so thankful that I don't have to
do it alone. You know, I don't want to do
it alone. I gotta. I got the best friend and
mentor that I could ever ask for, and and my
older brother, and you know, I get to learn a
lot from him for sure. And you know, it's nice
(35:59):
to not have to do that alone, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Well, and especially putting the pressure carrying a family legacy,
especially as you know, I don't have that pressure, and
I don't feel like that's my purpose. But I can
understand how somebody in your situation, when you're trying to
lift that up, that would be a daunting task, especially
like it's already there's some pressure to it. But the
idea that you're sharing that with somebody you truly love
(36:23):
and care about is the best way to go through life.
I will finish up with this, I know, and we could.
There's a bunch of stuff that we didn't get a
chance to talk to today we can talk about. But
I guess my question to you would be for anybody
who's listening, whether they're twenty years old, whether they're seventy
years old, what is the biggest takeaway that you feel
like your travels, your exposure to all of this, you know,
(36:49):
these different cultures. Why did you come back to Omahon?
Why is this still home for you?
Speaker 3 (36:55):
I came back to Omaha because I knew that it
was going to be the best thing for me long term,
and I think that is you know, all I can
do at the end of the day is take what
I've learned and pay it forward. That's what my dad did,
That's what Harlan did, and that's that's the example that
I need to set for myself. And I think that
(37:21):
moving back home it was hard decision. It was tough.
I didn't I didn't want to, but I knew it
was the right thing to do. And more often than not,
you know, doing the right thing can be painful. Yeah,
so there's a little bit of suffering in that. But
you know, I think I've gotten to be in situations
(37:42):
that I wouldn't have dreamed of otherwise. I mean, I
could go on and on, you know.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
You know, there's just something about home that hits differently
for different people.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
And yeah, the.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
I mean the question honestly answered itself when you said
I feel my purpose is to carry my family's legacy.
I mean that says it all right there is your
family is incredibly important to you, and what your family
generations before you has built and where you fit into that.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
That speaks volumes to what.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Your mindset is as a young professional in the world today.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
So how can people learn more about what you do?
Speaker 1 (38:23):
How can people find some of the stuff that you
guys are working on down there, because it's a never
ending growth project down there in the Xarment village.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
I'm there pretty often. I am. I operate a clothing
store as well with my brother and a few other partners.
It's called a Priori. I'm usually usually there a couple
times a week. You can find me there. We've got
some sick stuff. I'm a little biased, but I think
it's fire and so you can find me there, and
then you can find me at a Sarvign run Club
(38:53):
on Wednesdays and on Saturday mornings at ten thirty. And
then I'll also do I have a monthly residency at
Oto the Hi Fi Lounge, which we've talked about before.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Great new spot, really awesome, very very unique vibes.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, yeah, playing usually play there every second weekend, either
on a Friday or a Saturday night, So I think
this week is Saturday.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Yeah, Well, hopefully people come see you follow Exarbed Run
Club and all this stuff that's happening in Exarbed Village.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Very active on social media.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Everybody down there is, which really makes it feel like
a community honestly, and it's very welcoming and it's just
going to continue to grow the way that it's growing
thanks to Aaron Nodle his family, not all companies. And
this was not a commercial. This is me being curious
about this young man's life and they see him every
week a run club among other places.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
This was cool, man, Eric, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
This was awesome and thanks for being so vulnerable with us.
We'll have to do this skin sometime.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Yeah, let's do it all right.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
This is Aaron nol by the way, great guy. You
need to go check out everything they're do in Exarbant
Village and if you want to hear from him again
in the future, just keep listening to this podcast. The
Emy Songer podcast page will continue to have great guests
for you into the future.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
So thank you so much for listening right here on
the free iHeartRadio app.
It's the Emory Sunger Podcast live on the free iHeartRadio app.
Thank you for listening, as always, talking about things in
and around Omaha that are fun, exciting and everything in between.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And I have a very special guest joining me.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Here is a person where I think there's an exploration
into even what this guy does. His name is Aaron Noddle,
and he is sitting in the studio with me. Great
to see my man. Thanks here, Thanks for coming in.
I think this that your last name is familiar for
a lot of people, especially in the Darbon Village area.
They see all these signs like nodls in like the
(00:41):
the signs of like the people that are developing all this. Yes,
that's actually exactly what that that is. So how about
we start there? Right, So Nodel as like a company,
and that's from my understanding, your family and yeah you're
your father, Like let's just start there, and how you
(01:03):
like like your family is so entrenched in Omaha right now?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean I think you got to go
back pretty far. You got to go back to when
Jay's dad, my dad, Harlan started the company. We're turning
fifty five this year actually, Yeah, so there you go
pretty crazy when you think about it. But no, my
(01:29):
you know, my grandpa, he started the company as a
real estate and development firm and it's grown into something
way more than that. When he first started out, he
was really focused on making grocery anchored shopping centers all
(01:54):
the way from like San Antonio, Texas to a Story
of Queens, oh wow. And there were different like, there
were different things that we that he also did, Like
he also worked with CBS and Walgreens a little bit
as well to do some stuff in the on the
Upper East Coast, but that was really the bread and
butter of the business for quite a long time. He
(02:17):
had a few partners as well well, before me, I
was even a thought. Yeah, a couple of generations away. Yeah, yeah,
for sure. And then my dad Jay, he went to
Denver University and he got his start in the office
kind of the office real estate industry out there. His
(02:40):
niche was brokerage as well as like single tenant office buildings,
so you know, he was rocking and rolling with that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It's a very different vibe than yeah, with grocery anchor,
the grocery anchored shopping centers where yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, definitely different. But you know, I think definitely played
a big role in how the company evolved. So he
got his start kind of back in the eighties and
didn't start working with his dad, Harlan until around the nineties.
(03:18):
Really quickly, my dad became Harlan's kind of main client
for brokerage services. Go figure. You know, how cool is that? Yeah, yeah,
I think that was that had to have been pretty
cool for the both of them. Yeah, Harlan passed away
in like two thousand and six, so I didn't get
a lot of time with him. But be that as
(03:41):
it may, my dad took the firm over really when
Harlan passed, and that was right around the time the
Exarbon Village development got like everything there. Yeah. Yeah, and
I think, you know, it's a bummer that Karlan wasn't
able to see how that area has evolved. But you know,
(04:08):
one thing that I've learned really since moving back home,
and we can dig into that in a minute, is that,
you know, stewarding a neighborhood forward is never done. It's
like constant work, it's constant evolution, and it's been interesting
to see and to just really learn how to do
(04:28):
that firsthand with some of the community programming that we do,
whether it's through run Club or whether it's through Sunnies
or stuff at Stinton Park, the stat and the third,
I'm still really green to all this. Man, I'm twenty seven,
Like I'm still trying to figure you're a young man
trying to figure all this out. Dude, Well let's just
go ahead and start there. This is a neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I moved to Omaha in twenty twenty three, and while
I knew the Omaha move was imminent, the first thing
you do is like, well, where do I want to live? Like,
what's the neighborhoods that are going to fit my family,
my family's lifestyle, what we want to do, and what we.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Want to live.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
And Xarbon became the top of our list pretty quickly
after touring a lot of different places around town, and
it had everything to do with when you're in the
Xarbon village area. Yes there's a college campus there, and
yes there's a big arena over there, but there's something
about it that felt uniquely small town and welcoming for
(05:30):
people who are from places like where we're born in
Southeast Stile, where there's you know, you don't have to
travel downtown, I guess is the moral of that story
and feel like you're around a really fascinating and fun
pulse that exists there. So the Gxarbon Village, for anybody
doesn't know, right like that was a race track. There
(05:53):
are a lot of racetrack kind of illusions in the area,
which I absolutely love horse related. But this this whole
thing came from scratch within the last couple of decades.
Ye kind of crazy to think about you. So from
your vantage point now again still a young man, but
from your vantage point, you're there all the time. I
(06:14):
see social media, you're very active in promotion of you know,
the run club is how we met, and what a
great addition honestly to a community for what you're doing there.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's been a lot of fun. That's a fun project.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
So with that being said, what is that element of
neighborhood building kind of like you mentioned, and how that
kind of strip of area has become so vital to
the health and the excitement really for anybody living within
like a three mile radius.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
I think a lot of it stems from well, I
think there's several factors off top. I think a lot
of it depends on like a merchandising plan, which is
like a development plan, so like where certain buildings are
going to go, where streets are going to go, where's
you know, what's the the the mix between office, retail,
(07:06):
multi family, green space that's super important, restaurants and you know,
bars and whatnot. That's what creates a vibrant neighborhood. And
what was nice about the x starbon or what is
nice about the Xtarbent location is it's adjacent to a
university there, so it can be you know, it has
the it has the potential to be somewhat of an
(07:28):
incubator for students if they're looking to you know, stay
in Omaha. I think a lot of it also has
to do with the mission and the vision and the
positioning for the neighborhood itself. That's been something that has
(07:49):
been a pretty big focus for us within our company.
You know, how do we think about how to position
a neighborhood to attract the the tenants that we want
to have and the people who will enjoy those tenants
and just the overall vibe there. So I think it's
a mixture of both. Like it's it starts pretty high
(08:12):
level and then it you know, you try and figure
out ways to to bring it down from fifty thousand
feet if that makes sense for sure. I think when
you think of Xarbon specifically, or really any neighborhood that
we're working in, wellness is a huge component, and that
can look like several different things. You know, that could
(08:35):
be like a run club, that could be having just
a nice, clean, green space for people to gather, a
couple of bars, some nice restaurants, some dry retail, and
then you know, you need that mixture of office and
multi family. You gotta. It's hard to do something like
(08:57):
Xarbon when you don't have all of that mixture.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Well, it's cool for people, and I know a lot
of people in the Omaha area who would be listening
to this. A lot of people are going to be thinking,
you know, well those tenants right that exist there there.
I mean it's diverse, it's very diverse, but it's always like,
well there always seems to be one of those spots
opening up. Well, notice that when that happens, somebody is
(09:22):
always wanting to move in. It really is kind of
an interesting concept for any burgeoning and successful area is
that it is a competitive but be it's super diverse
and you have to lean into kind of your own
identity if you're going to outshine anyone else within a
(09:42):
small amount of space. And that's it really is a
small amount of space. But all the successful businesses are
very different than one another.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Yeah, you know, it's it's it's interesting. You know, credit
to the leasing team. They work real hard. You know,
there's it's a small group of folks, but they are
on it. They're on it, and it's easier or it's
it's easier said than done. Least things hard. Oh man,
(10:12):
I couldn't imagine. It's not like when I first moved
back home to learn the family business. That was like
kind of the pathway I had to. I wanted to
be in the leasing department to understand it. It was
also pretty required for me to understand that learned that
it wasn't necessarily for me. But you know, it takes
(10:33):
a discerning person. It's a negotiated deal, regardless of the
scale of it, whether it's you know, a vacant space
and one of the buildings in Excarbon or an office deal.
You know, it's it's challenging, it's tough.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Well, I just want to extend this conversation. We keep
talking about run Club because that's where we met and
I love it. It really is just such a fun thing
to do, and it is completely related to wellness, and
I always feel better about myself after I've been there
and you meet new people. We've met new people. Gosh,
what do you think the number of people on a
(11:13):
typical Wednesday is these days?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
You know, on a good day when the weather's nice,
call it anywhere from one hundred and fifty people to
two hundred people.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
I was going to guess close to two hundred. It's
crazy how many people are there. And it's a testament
to what this is and the movement that this has become.
And I know you and I have talked about this before,
but it was something you knew should exist, and you
felt like the elements existed to host it and house
(11:47):
it right there at Sunny's or Inner Railsarb and so
tell us about the genesis of how the organization of
run Club, and then how you guys have really leaned
in a very unique way of how you market run Club,
because it's not like you have this extravagant marketing plan.
You have an active Instagram account and people bring their
(12:08):
friends it really is how it's grown is.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Word of mouth. I think, you know, to speak on
the genesis of run Club, I didn't start it. It
wasn't me. It was Sam and his two friends. Sam's
my brother. Sam's a huge runner. He's done a couple
ultra marathons, done a couple of marathons.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
He's one of those crazy guys.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
He's he's the man. He's he's big bro. You know,
he's gonna push me like no one else will. And
I respect him for that, I love him for that,
and you know that's carried into my habits now. Running
is definitely one of those for sure. But you know,
it started with Sam and his two friends, Spencer and David,
(12:50):
And at the time, I think run Club is like
going on four years now, three or four years. But
it started really as a result of what Sam was
seeing when he was living in Florida. They were becoming
really popular on the coasts and that hasn't slowed down. No.
(13:12):
You know, with things in the Midwest, we kind of
get things a little late, and I think we were
we were an early adopter in this case where you know,
we were we developed the neighborhood where we're entrenched in
the neighborhood we operate Sunnies, and it kind of just
it just made sense. I think he knew, he knew
(13:35):
it would work, and I think, you know, it started
before I moved home, and then it kind of grew
beyond him because he was trying to do other stuff
related to the company, and at the time, I was
still trying to figure out what exactly, you know, where
(13:55):
was my where where did I fit, you know, within
the company? And I think it's just it just kind
of made sense, you know. The time. I think, to
your pointing is a lot of timing. I think we
looked outside of Omaha for specific references that resonated with us.
(14:18):
And what I mean by references like aspirational peers, like
who who was doing what we thought a good job
of capturing, like the vibe that was needed, like on
social media, from like a branding and positioning standpoint. Yes,
And I was doing a little bit of work outside
(14:40):
of a starbon run club on a separate project that
I was doing with my friends in San Diego, So
that was like I was able to take that experience
kind of apply it to run club, and you know,
I'd be remorse to say that like, it's you know,
something like that is a is a team effort, you know,
you know obviously, you know, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
She's she's amazing Emma Allison.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And you know it's not even just run Club, you know,
I see her, you know, helping promote and get the
word out about a lot of businesses down there in
the Exarbant village. But there is a tone to the
exarbon run Club social media that makes it feel attractive.
It is not overwhelming, it is not intimidating. It really
is just kind of like, hey, look at how much
(15:24):
fun we're having and here are some really cool, vintage
looking photos, and everybody's welcome to come and enjoy themselves.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, one of my hobbies is film photography. I wish
I could do it a little bit more often, but
that's how we capture our content if we're not doing
like a reel or like an Instagram reel or like
a video or something. But you know, I think that
film does a good job of just capturing the rawness
(15:53):
of it all. And it's it's easy, it's simple. It's
like you take a photo, you're not you're not gonna
know what it's gonna look like until you get it developed,
and you know, some don't turn out great, some turn
out awesome, and you know that's kind of how running
is sometimes, like sometimes you don't want to get out
there and do it, but sometimes yeah, when you do
(16:14):
do it, it feels great.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
But yeah, I think like ARC has been a great project.
ARC has been a great project. I think it's only
scratched the surface of what it can do. For Omaha,
I think we have some some specific goals that I
don't necessarily want to share now, but for growing it
(16:39):
a little bit specifically outside of Sarbon.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
It's the first thing to me that comes to mind
is it's the Wednesday Night Sunny's chapter of a Jarbon
run club, because I'm gonna call it that because the
way that you guys do this business, if on Tuesday
or Thursday there was a different group somewhere else in town,
if you're operating the way you're operating, it is going
(17:05):
to just grow, and it's going to outgrow just one
single space on Wednesday nights.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
It really will.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
And there are run clubs that have popped up in
the last few years that I can absolutely tell that
they are looking at what you guys have done and
you know, you know, in Iowa where I'm from, I'm
seeing different run clubs popping up and they're doing a
lot of the same stuff and the way they're promoting
and they're growing because it works. And I think it's
such a great thing for a community to have, is
(17:31):
this outlet not just for fitness, but for welcoming people
who may not feel like a run club would be
something they're interested in, but then everybody feels so welcome,
and then the socialization afterwards you get with a place
like Sunni's are in a rail at people can just
hang out for a while and enjoy happy hour drinks.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
What an amazing touch.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And we've met multiple people that we're not runners.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Garbon run Club comes around arc is.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I use ARC and Star around club interchangeably. But ARC
is like it's like reverse engineering the dating app, you know.
It's it's like it's just like a social experiment, but
it's it's not supposed to be transactional. It's supposed to
provide for the neighborhood. It's supposed to improve the the
(18:25):
local economy for the surrounding businesses. And one of the
more fun things for me selfishly is getting to do
some collaborations with different brands, like the shoe demos are
sick gear guy like, yeah, that's kind of why I
like running is just just try all the gear. And
you know when we do a shoe demo. Last yesterday
(18:46):
we did one with with On. It was the first
time I ever tried on. It was great running those shoes. Yeah,
they were, they were phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I landed on Hookah from a demo.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah, you know that's what it's for. You know, It's
like it's it's supposed to just be easy. You don't
have there's no and you don't have to pay for that. Yeah,
you don't have to pay.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Just show up and get get your size of shoe.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
And literally all you gotta do is show up. You
don't even have to run. You could walk like you
can go however far you want, you can go. We
started Sunny's and then we go up sixty seventh. The
main route is from Sunny's to Dodge and back, which
is like a five k like three point things a
little over a five k like three and a half if.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
You do the loop, yeah, the little loop at Dodge.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, I've been trying to go up into Memorial more often,
which some.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Of your Saturday guys you love doing that.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Yeah, I mean it's it's a little bit more elevation
and there's it's about a mile and a half longer,
so it's like it's like just right on five miles.
So that one's that one's fun. But yeah, man, you know,
arc is ARC is just supposed to be easy. ARC
is supposed to be easy, and I think it has
(19:57):
the potential to grow beyond run and we've experimented with
that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, like volleyball, Yeah, we.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Have the Sad volleyball courts there. We've done a couple
of same volleyball tournaments. I know, we got a few
more planned for this summer. And then we have that
movement space, the ARC Movement Space, which was a fun
project as well. I was actually my first like call
it development project. Boy was that humbling for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well it's interesting you can see the difference in its
use because there were a couple of things that people
could you know, do stuff on it. It was in like
tall grass and it was probably tough to manicure. You
laid out like nice flat turf, you put multiple levels
worth essentially for people of different sizes and ages to
come and utilize and I see people there all the time.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yeah, I think it's it's a significant improvement from what
was there. What was there was calisthenics equipment like pull
up bars, push up bars that were just not intentionally
well placed. It served a purpose, but it wasn't no
one was using it. Like there was a pull up
(21:10):
bar on top of a sprinkler head that was like,
no one was gonna use that, you know. But and
we we we were thank god, you know, we were
self aware enough to understand that. And you know, back
to a timing thing there. You know, I have a
Sam and I we have a friend tour. I'll call
her a friend tour. Her name is Molly, incredible, incredible person,
(21:37):
does some insane stuff, like I think right now, she's
she's not from Omah. She's bounced around. She's a little
older than me. But at the time she was studying
to get her master's degree and Arts and Cultural enterprising.
So she was doing that at USM Central Saint Martin's
(21:58):
out in London, which is wow, a world renowned design school.
She's super smart and her thesis was about how calistenic
parks can stimulate a neighborhood socially and economically, and we're like, oh, well,
this is this is great. So her thesis was that
was the movement space, and you know, like the movement
(22:24):
space kind of like Sonny's was in. I think it's
intentionally designed to evolve over time. Sonny's has evolved over
time season after season, and I think that kind of
helps play into the hype a little bit of Sonny's
and as well as ARC would be nice to operate
(22:44):
at year round, absolutely, but I think that break really
allows to have like a special moment to cherish the
presence there and the experience of both of those things
a little bit more, probably more so than if they
were to be open year round.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
A hundred percent agree. Yeah, And how can I miss
you if you're never gone? You could take for granted
some of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
That distance makes art grow fonder and.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
We can talk about this.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
You know, you're making such a great point about like
how that space and you get like eight or nine
months of the year to really utilize.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
It if we're lucky.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, And it's like the people of Omaha don't take
it for granted because of that, Yeah, And it seems
so intentional the way that you've designed it to make
sure that people don't get sick of it or take
it for granted. Because every year when spring comes around,
people are counting down the Sunny's opening day.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You know, yeah, for.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Sure, for sure Sunny's will Sunny's is going to continue
to evolve. I'm super super excited to see how Sunnis
will evolve, and I know the team is working day in,
day out to make sure that people enjoy it to
the best of their ability.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Well, for sure, you mentioned your world travels a little bit,
like the fact that you traveled and then moved back
and you're only twenty seven, So people are like, Okay,
well how much could you possibly have done and seen
in that amount of time.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
But so I I'm from Omaha. I grew up in
the West Side District District sixty six. I went to
elementary school at Oakdale and then switched to Rockbrook, and
then I went to Westside Middle and then West and
High school. Played soccer for twenty years club soccer played
(24:33):
a little bit, had a small stinton college at Nebraska Wesleyan,
and then quickly realized I did not want to play
soccer in college and transferred to san Diego State. And
you know, San Diego State for me was awesome. It
is freaking awesome. I met some of my best friends
(24:55):
ever out there. A few specific people come to mind,
and that really allowed me to get out of my
bubble a little bit and just learn more about myself
and what passions I didn't know I had for certain things,
like you know, skateboarding or clothing or music. The nice
(25:23):
thing about San Diego is it's a huge like what's
the word, It's a.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Like a melting pot.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, exactly, thank you. It's a massive melting pot of
different cultures and different people, and you know, talk about
a super wellness focused city, like everybody's always active. And
you know, I remember my first I remember a lot.
I remember everything about San Diego State. It was great.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Like how many years I was there?
Speaker 3 (25:52):
From January of twenty eighteen to August of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Okay, so so during COVID, during COVID, but also a
significant amount of time. This was not like I was
there for six months and yeah, really felt like it
romance to me.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yeah, I mean, you know that's where I went to school.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
You you matured an adult, an adult there which you know,
I visited San Diego and one of the most beautiful
places in the world bar none, but I find it fascinating. Right, So,
how do you land on that place? How did you
land that that was the spot you wanted to go?
Speaker 3 (26:30):
I think it was my senior year of high school
and I was playing on a travel soccer team. There
was this tournament called the Surf Cup, which is hosted
in the Del Mar Polo Fields right right next door. Yeah. Yeah,
you know, thirty minute drive from campus, just up the coast.
And for those who don't know, San Diego State is
is a little bit inland. In San Diego. It's like
(26:54):
right in between El Cahone and which is even farther inland,
Alkohola and uh oh man, I'm blanking on the name
like Bankers Hill area. Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, For anybody who doesn't know southern California, these names
may not mean nothing, but you've gone there. These are
important spots to remember because it's actually way bigger of
a geographical area, and Diego is more of a county. Yeah,
it's a way bigger geographical area than you think when
you're looking at it on a map.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah. I so easiest way to explain where San Diego
is or San Diego State is is. It's it's just
south of the eighth like about twenty minutes east of
the coast. So it's it's you know, it's it's.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Kind of not just waking up on the beach every day, yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Exactly, Like to get to the beach, you kind of
you know, you gotta have a car, you gotta have
you gotta be mobile. So you know, I wasn't going
to the beach super often. But I think, dude, I
tangent in where what was your question?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah, so it's like, how did you so you're at
a oh yeah, a soccer tournament.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah, seeah, I was at a I was at a
club soccer tournament, and we were doing some college visits.
I was out there with my dad and uh, you know,
I remember walking through campus and I I, you know,
at the time, I was a big stoner, you know,
just like you're you're in high school and you know,
that's what you do. And I remember smelling that smell
(28:19):
that smells smelly as I was walking through campus, and
I was I looked at my dad and I smiled,
and he's you know, he looked back and He's just
like he could tell that I you know, that this
was going to leave an impression on me, and it did.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Yeah, I mean it's not like San Francisco in the sixties,
but I mean it's basically like that for millennials and
gen zs you know out there.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
And yeah, you know that was at that time. The
plant was a huge part of my life and no
longer is at this moment, this point in my life.
But you know that, you know the plant, you know, dude,
it sold you, It sold me, and you know, it
allowed me to establish friendships and kind of going back
(29:02):
to what I was talking about, like burst my bubble
a little bit and just like allow me to be
in situations where I wanted to learn more about things
that I didn't know, whether like I was saying, like
whether it was skating or music, djaying, so on and
so forth.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
And culture is just so different out there.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, man, it's just vastly different. It's vastly different. And
I'm so thankful for that experience.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
So so San Diego State.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
And then you finish up there, what was like the studies,
Like what did you cause I know, like, you know,
you have this family business and your brother's involved, and
your dad is second generation. You would be third generation.
But you know, was there an interest of something else
that you wanted to get Eduard, I.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Didn't know what. Candidly, man, I didn't know what I
wanted to do. I went there and I declared my
major as real estate. Go figure, I mean it makes sense. Yeah, yeah,
And then I was just like, I don't I just
remember being like, I don't know if this is what
I want to do. I'm not sure. You know, I
was a little I was a little I don't think
(30:11):
I was as confident as I am today in like
my path because I just didn't know. And you know,
COVID was going on, and you know, the world stopped
for a little bit and.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Not great at time to be in real estate the first.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
I mean, it's a really weird time to just in
just to be twenty years old, twenty one years old. Yeah,
and going through school it was it was crazy. But
I ended up switching my major to business management I
think around my junior year, and you know, just kind
(30:48):
of coasted through school, got decent grades, got my got
my degree, and you know, I wasn't thinking about the
future that much. And then after I graduated. One of
the things I really wanted to do while I was
in school that I didn't get an opportunity to do,
which is solely on me, was study abroad. So after
school I went on a little three week vacation to
(31:12):
Europe and it was all solo. Just went myself. Yeah,
I went by myself. There were a couple of friends
that from from STSU that were out there studying abroad
and met up with them and I just kind of
bopped around Europe on my own. It was tie. I
was studying Italian at the time, and I really wanted
(31:33):
to go live in Italy. My favorite favorite sports team
of all time is a Cimalan. Been watching their games.
He needs to score goals, he needs to score some goals.
But you know, I I just was so fascinated by
that city. I wanted to go see it. I remember
when I was younger, we went on a family trip
(31:55):
to Italy and I remember going to see San Sero
and I was just I was like ten years old.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
I was like, bro, just like Italy, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
This is with history in that stadium is insane. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Well, but I mean we live in a country in
the United States that we're celebrating our two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary essentially of independence. Man, we're talking thousands of
years of history existing in Italy. Yeah, just across the
board in different ways, you know. And the culture reflects
that in a lot of ways for sure.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
And it's just different. It's like a different world over there.
And you know, it's good to go and get that
perspective of what life is like in different places. And
you know, it's good to understand what resonates with you
positively and negatively. And you know, the unique thing about
not all companies is we're in a position to to
(32:51):
bring new things here to Omaha. And and it doesn't
even need to be inspired by a place like Italy.
It could be inspired by a place like Miami. You know.
Sam's a great example of that. Sunny's is a great
example of that. Yeah. And you know, so going back,
like I didn't really know what I wanted to do
(33:14):
in school. I knew I wanted to like start a
brand whatever that was. I wanted to start a cannabis
brand really really bad. Yeah at that time, and tried
it realized that wasn't for me, I think I was.
I just didn't know what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Man, well, and welcome to you know, twenty twenties America,
where you know, you we are so exposed as young
people to so many different things, with the Internet the
way that it is now, on social media, the way
that it is now. I mean, I was in school,
I thought I knew what I wanted to do also,
and I'm a little older than you, and I went
(33:55):
and got my sports administration degree because I thought I
was gonna coach and be like a you know, an administrator,
like an athlete director or something.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
And that sounded like fun to me.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
And then sure, yeah, and the classes, honestly, like, I
enjoyed it, and I liked the classes. The classes were
a lot of fun, you know, learning about how to
manage camps, learning how to you know, yeah you had
to do some business on the side, and accounting classes
and HR classes at all.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Yeah, kids not.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Some of that stuff was a little tougher for me,
but I generally enjoyed it. But then the radio thing
kind of started as a part time gig midway through college,
and when I realized that I was actually pretty good
at this, my thought changed, and my sports administration degree
all due respect to my great instructors, and the time
I put in it means nothing to me right now.
(34:45):
You know, it's like I went in a completely different
direction because you don't what a crazy thing to ask
a twenty two year old to do is like, hey,
what do you want to do for the next sixty years?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
It's like, how am I supposed to have the answer
to that?
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yeah, you know, I was thinking about this podcast over
the last week, and I was curious to see what
questions you're gonna ask me. But one of the things
that I was thinking about a lot over the last
couple of days. It took you know, it took me
twenty six years to figure out what my purpose was. Yeah,
it took me a long time. It took me my
whole life. Yeah, I'm just twenty seven now, and you know,
(35:22):
my purpose is to continue my family's legacy in whatever
way that that it looks. It's on me to dig
into that. And it's you know, that's.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
And that could change. That could change a year or
two from now, that could look completely different.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
One And I'm so thankful that I don't have to
do it alone. You know, I don't want to do
it alone. I gotta. I got the best friend and
mentor that I could ever ask for, and and my
older brother, and you know, I get to learn a
lot from him for sure. And you know, it's nice
(35:59):
to not have to do that alone, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Well, and especially putting the pressure carrying a family legacy,
especially as you know, I don't have that pressure, and
I don't feel like that's my purpose. But I can
understand how somebody in your situation, when you're trying to
lift that up, that would be a daunting task, especially
like it's already there's some pressure to it. But the
idea that you're sharing that with somebody you truly love
(36:23):
and care about is the best way to go through life.
I will finish up with this, I know, and we could.
There's a bunch of stuff that we didn't get a
chance to talk to today we can talk about. But
I guess my question to you would be for anybody
who's listening, whether they're twenty years old, whether they're seventy
years old, what is the biggest takeaway that you feel
like your travels, your exposure to all of this, you know,
(36:49):
these different cultures. Why did you come back to Omahon?
Why is this still home for you?
Speaker 3 (36:55):
I came back to Omaha because I knew that it
was going to be the best thing for me long term,
and I think that is you know, all I can
do at the end of the day is take what
I've learned and pay it forward. That's what my dad did,
That's what Harlan did, and that's that's the example that
I need to set for myself. And I think that
(37:21):
moving back home it was hard decision. It was tough.
I didn't I didn't want to, but I knew it
was the right thing to do. And more often than not,
you know, doing the right thing can be painful. Yeah,
so there's a little bit of suffering in that. But
you know, I think I've gotten to be in situations
(37:42):
that I wouldn't have dreamed of otherwise. I mean, I
could go on and on, you know.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
You know, there's just something about home that hits differently
for different people.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
And yeah, the.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
I mean the question honestly answered itself when you said
I feel my purpose is to carry my family's legacy.
I mean that says it all right there is your
family is incredibly important to you, and what your family
generations before you has built and where you fit into that.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
That speaks volumes to what.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Your mindset is as a young professional in the world today.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
So how can people learn more about what you do?
Speaker 1 (38:23):
How can people find some of the stuff that you
guys are working on down there, because it's a never
ending growth project down there in the Xarment village.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
I'm there pretty often. I am. I operate a clothing
store as well with my brother and a few other partners.
It's called a Priori. I'm usually usually there a couple
times a week. You can find me there. We've got
some sick stuff. I'm a little biased, but I think
it's fire and so you can find me there, and
then you can find me at a Sarvign run Club
(38:53):
on Wednesdays and on Saturday mornings at ten thirty. And
then I'll also do I have a monthly residency at
Oto the Hi Fi Lounge, which we've talked about before.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Great new spot, really awesome, very very unique vibes.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, yeah, playing usually play there every second weekend, either
on a Friday or a Saturday night, So I think
this week is Saturday.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Yeah, Well, hopefully people come see you follow Exarbed Run
Club and all this stuff that's happening in Exarbed Village.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Very active on social media.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Everybody down there is, which really makes it feel like
a community honestly, and it's very welcoming and it's just
going to continue to grow the way that it's growing
thanks to Aaron Nodle his family, not all companies. And
this was not a commercial. This is me being curious
about this young man's life and they see him every
week a run club among other places.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
This was cool, man, Eric, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
This was awesome and thanks for being so vulnerable with us.
We'll have to do this skin sometime.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Yeah, let's do it all right.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
This is Aaron nol by the way, great guy. You
need to go check out everything they're do in Exarbant
Village and if you want to hear from him again
in the future, just keep listening to this podcast. The
Emy Songer podcast page will continue to have great guests
for you into the future.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
So thank you so much for listening right here on
the free iHeartRadio app.
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