NEWSMAKERS: ROAD TO SUCCESS
WGHP FOX8’s Neill McNeill, the Piedmont-Triad’s senior broadcast journalist, interviews Central North Carolina’s most high-profile Newsmakers to learn the keys behind their success. In each episode, these leaders, entrepreneurs, influencers, educators and executives share their deep and sometimes intimate moments of doubt, failure and perseverance. Hear how this led them to accomplishments that at times seemed impossible. Newsmakers: The Road to Success is a master class on how to meet challenges, overcome adversity and influence people in a positive way.
Episodes
They co-own and run the largest retail furniture store in the world, Furnitureland South in Jamestown, North Carolina. Jeff is the company's president and CEO. His younger brother Jason is not only very active in the business but also runs a part of the company that streams home design, fashion and lifestyle programming on the internet. The Design Network is now streaming on 17 major platforms. In this episode, the brothers tell Ne...
Graham Bennett knows expansion. For more than 45 years (27 years as company president), he worked for his family's business, Quality Oil Company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During this time, Quality Oil became one of the largest Shell distributors in the United States. But it also diversified and grew in areas that included hospitality and real estate--ventures that continue to this day. Although retired from Quality Oil, Ben...
Paul Lessard and Greg Commander live and work in High Point, North Carolina. Paul's a prominent liberal arts-educated community foundation president. Greg has two college degrees and runs a non-profit organization. He's also overcome a troubled past. That past includes 18 years in federal prison for crimes he committed while running "The Juice Crew," a group that-at one time-dominated the drug trade in the city. Paul and Greg love ...
It would be hard to name a person who's had a greater influence on the hospitality industry in North Carolina's Piedmont-Triad than Dennis Quaintance. As Chief Executive Officer, Chief Design Officer and Chief Storytelling Officer of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels based in Greensboro, he and his team run a company that built and continues to operate 2 upscale hotels in Greensboro along with 3 restaurants and a companion r...
Not many companies can claim they've grown 300% in the last 5 years. But Geoff Foster's company can! Foster runs the Core Technology Molding Corporation based in Greensboro, North Carolina. It's in the process of moving into a new $28 million manufacturing facility east of Greensboro. The company takes raw plastic pellets, melts them at high temperatures and injects that material into molds that form precision components for the wo...
You may not recognize his name, but there's a good chance he's influenced your life here in North Carolina's Piedmont-Triad in one way or another. 30 years ago, Bernie Mann bought what was a struggling publication and turned it into a "Celebrating North Carolina" powerhouse. But before he became a magazine publisher, he owned radio stations across the northeastern and southern sections of the country. In this episode, he describes ...
He's been a key figure in turning a quiet travel venue in central North Carolina into an economic development and aerospace powerhouse. Within the next few years, the Piedmont-Triad International Airport will be the home of one of the largest concentrations of aircraft manufacturers in the world! But it's also a traditional airport that--like many others--is facing challenges that include competition from other airports, recruiting...
During the last more than 20 years, Glenn Dobrogosz has turned a sleepy science center in Greensboro, NC into a legitimate tourist draw and--you could argue--an economic development machine. In this episode, the Greensboro Science Center's executive director tells Neill McNeill how and why he arrived in Greensboro, explains the "secret sauce" behind the facility's success and his big plans for the future.
Don Stewart leads what will soon become one of North Carolina's largest employers: Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite. By the time its fully operational within the next few years, it will employ at least 5,100 people. In this episode, Stewart and Neill McNeill talk about some of the major issues/challenges facing the electric vehicle industry and the facility itself--which is not unlike ...
Not many in Central North Carolina have as complex a list of responsibilities as Don Stewart. He's the president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina, Toyota's first big effort to make lithium-ion batteries in the United States for its cars and trucks. This operation in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in Randolph County consists of multiple large buildings (7 million collective square feet) and is a nearly $14 billion in...
He's had a front row seat to some of the largest economic development deals in North Carolina history. Mike Fox is the president and CEO of the economic development organization, The Piedmont-Triad Partnership. In this episode, Fox describes to Neill McNeill the history behind the organization, what it's doing today and what it was like to be a part of a couple of major local aerospace negotiations whose results included the larges...
It would be hard to find someone with a more complex list of professional responsibilities than Mike Fox. Attorney. North Carolina transportation authority. Economic developer. He does it all. In this episode, Fox describes to Neill McNeill his growing up in western North Carolina, the early days of his law career and his time as chairman of the North Carolina Board of Transportation during perhaps the most challenging time in the ...
It would be hard to name two more important behind-the-scenes people in live entertainment than the father-son duo of Jim and Michael Brammer. Jim's the founder/CEO of The Concert Stuff Group. Michael's the chief strategy officer. Together they run a company that provides audio, video, staging, production and transportation services (among many others) for many of the world's top artists. In this episode, Jim and Michael describe t...
There's a good chance if you've attended a large live event featuring just about any major artist--from Billy Joel to Paul McCartney to Luke Combs among many, many others, there's a good chance you've experienced the work of the company Jim Brammer founded and still runs. The Concert Stuff Group is based in Davie County, North Carolina but consists of multiple businesses across the world that are leaders in live entertainment stagi...
They're among the largest economic development wins in North Carolina history: the Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina complex in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite and JetZero's announcement it'll bring its next generation aircraft factory and corporate headquarters to Greensboro: billions of dollars in economic impact, more than 20,000 announced jobs. And Marvin Price was a key figure in both. He's the Executive Vice Presid...
He's among THE top economic developers in the United States. And during his half-decade as executive vice president, economic development for the Greensboro (North Carolina) Chamber of Commerce, Marvin Price has helped lead initiatives that have led to more than $20 billion in capital investment and well more than 25,000 announced jobs. (This includes the largest economic developmen "win" in North Carolina history.) In this episode...
When it comes to commercial building construction in Central North Carolina, it would be hard to find a more influential person than Mike Lancaster. From the new Care Tower at the Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, to the Qubein Children's Museum in High Point to the first phase of the Lenovo Center renovation in Raleigh, Lancaster has been heavily involved. He's the president and CEO of Blum Construction, ...
When it comes to success, not many in North Carolina's Piedmont-Triad have experienced it quite like Mike Lancaster. He's the president and CEO of Blum Construction, a company based in Winston-Salem that recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. There's a very good chance you've seen or have spent time in a building locally that Blum has built and Lancaster's had a hand in building. In this episode, he and Neill McNeill talk about...
What does it take to become a billionaire? In this episode, the CEO and president of the Carroll Companies (a real estate and development firm based in Greensboro NC) discusses with Neill McNeill how he did just that. In some ways, it's a master class on taking ideas (even though some may "flop") and turning them into very successful businesses. Carroll also talks about some of his company's major local projects in North Carolina's...
Forbes Magazine titled its 2023 article on him "The Guru of Greensboro: How a College Dropout Built a $2.9 Billion Real Estate Empire." Not bad for someone who grew up modestly in Guilford County, NC and would eventually become among the most successful real estate developers in the United States. In this episode, the founder and CEO of the Carroll Companies, Roy Carroll, speaks with Neill McNeill about how he overcame many challe...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
DISGRACELAND is an award-winning music and true crime podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Jerry Lee Lewis's 5th wife? Dead. Sid and Nancy? Both dead. Why? Because musicians are insane, and insane things happen to them. Why did we lose Amy Winehouse at 27? Was Debbie Harry really abducted by Ted Bundy as she claims? Is Patti Smith not just the "Godmother of Punk", but also the "Original True Crime Girl"? What really happened the night of the Jay Z nightclub stabbing? What do the Diddy indictments truly reveal? All these stories and more, on artists from every genre and their true crimes, in our massive 260-plus story archive. The Dead, the Stones, Johnny, Willie, Frank, Kurt, Courtney, Gaga, Lana, Taylor, and too many to name. DISGRACELAND is music history come to life through audio storytelling as you've never heard it before, with revealing facts: yes, assassins are the real reason the Beatles quit touring—reclaimed myths: no, Mama Cass didn't die from choking on a ham sandwich––and constant reckoning between art and artist––all told through the lens of true crime. This is the podcast for the self-proclaimed "Disgos", the musically obsessed and the true crime heads; the outsiders, the independent thinkers who know that the best history is the history that gets buried. DISGRACELAND is where host Jake Brennan tells the stories they didn't want told. The kind you'll end up telling someone else. Get ready to uncover hidden truths and buckle up for truly edge-of-your-seat storytelling. New, fully scripted, sound-designed episodes are released every Tuesday. Bonus chat-style episodes where Jake responds to voicemails, texts, and emails from Disgos hit on Thursdays, and "Rewind" episodes from our archive drop on Sundays. DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast. It's an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are dramatized, as is common in scripted entertainment based on real stories. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com. To unlock ad-free listening, exclusive content, and connect with your fellow Disgos, go to www.disgracelandpod.com to become an All Access member. Rocka Rolla.