Cammarston Podcasts

This may be a bit over the top but it's what it looks like to me: ----- The apprentice to master model in the workplace may be dead. It was declining prior to the pandemic but now, after the struggles from the pandemic are largely behind us, the apprentice to master model is gone. And it’s a shame. Our society today, our workplace, our government, …

Danny Lipford started in TV in Mobile, Alabama, taking calls in the studio about home repairs to fuel his home remodeling business. Upon announcing his retirement, Danny's Today's Homeowner was broadcast in nearly every TV market in the nation and over five hundred radio stations. His media empire grew through lots of hard work and through a genuin…

Time to begin considering New Years Resolutions... ----- It’s December first which means it’s time for me to begin planning my New Year’s Resolutions. I take these seriously and begin planning them a month out. Any fool can resolve to change things New Year’s Day when they’re hungover, their belly is flopping around, and they’re full of regret. Dri…

University of Alabama Professor Paul Reed, PhD is the Distinguished Teaching Fellow in the Department of Communicative Disorders. Despite the heady title, he's easy to talk to about accents and the impressions they make on others. I read a quote from him in The Economist magazine and had to reach out. As a guy that travels a lot, I hear many accent…

I took the Friday after Thanksgiving off but found an excellent stand-in. This commentary comes from one of my daughter's college writing assignments. ----- Christmas Comes Early in Oxford There are two types of people in this world, ones who celebrate Christmas months in advance and those who celebrate after Thanksgiving. I can honestly say that I…

Only 187 medical students nationwide graduate into platic surgery any given year. It's an elite field and those that populate it are constantly curious about new procedures, new products, and better outcomes. Dr Chris Park epitomizes this and continues to bring the newest technologies and treatments to his practice. "You'd be amazed," he said, "wha…

Some swine content before your Thanksgiving ham. ----- This is about pigs. Hogs, too. Sounders. Litters. And it’s timely since many of you, like me, accompany the Thanksgiving turkey with a ham. So, let’s have a quick chat about the magic that is pigs, hams, hogs, and other swine-related stuff. Next week I’ll spend part of the Thanksgiving break in…

Martha Underwood's father fell when helping a neighbor clean up after a hurricane. He was in Florida and for a while he was incapacitated. Martha, in Birmingham, needed access to his documents that are so important in critical moments like this but...where were they? Her story is not unfamiliar. We all have documents that family, doctors, accountan…

My wife and I went to Oxford, Mississippi last weeked. Here's the scoop... ----- Oxford, Mississippi is as beautiful as they say. My wife and I visited this past weekend to see my daughter. We joined her for a morning tailgate in the famed Grove followed by a football game. It was exceptional. Here’s what I saw. First – These people are serious abo…

AI was predicted to change medicine a long time ago. Little happened. Robert Pearl believes that time has come. A Forbes author, a podcaster, Stanford professor, physician, and former leader of The Permanente Medical Group in California and then leader of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, Robert Pearl has unique insight into healthcare due…

A similar theme repeats itself across all faiths. It's a discipline I have little of. ------ A friend of mine claims he’s a genius. He has little evidence of this. Just an over-confident assessment of his himself. He’s quite entertaining. He believes the lunar landings were a hoax, but of his own genius, he’s certain. Last night I told him I was st…

Kate Teague is committed to making music. She can't help it; it's what she does. She lives in the hyper-comptitive music scene of Nashville where every street corner has an aspiring musician or singer-songwriter trying to get noticed and make it big. Kate is doing the things necessary for her career to catch on fire, from performing to writing to s…

The six weeks of travel is nearly over. Now I need to prepare for re-entry. ----- Good morning from Phoenix. This is my final stop on my intense six weeks of business trips. By tomorrow afternoon I should be home and I will not only unpack, I will put my luggage away. After years of mistakes, I’ve learned a bit about how to come off the road. For y…

Friend of What's Working, Brent Barkin, is back to update us on his journey. After selling the family business about sixteen months ago, Brent had the luxury to spend time and consider his next move. Not ready to stop working, Brent evaluated what he liked doing and what he was good at and made his decision. Hear how he assessed his talent and made…

It's simple. To do anything you must begin. Joe Calloway understands that one of the many barriers to success for an entrepreneur or any business leader is simply to get started. To begin. We can create lists of reasons to delay, to wait, to push off till tomorrow. Success, however, starts no other way than to begin. Meet Joe Calloway. Hear his ent…

My fall travel season has started... ----- The travel season has begun. Fall is always the busy season but this year it’s all compressed into a short six weeks. Eleven cities. Thirty-two flights. There was a time when I bragged about this much travel. I felt it made me some sort of super-hero. Now I keep it quiet. I throw away the luggage tags that…

AI is changing everything it touches. Why not supply chains and logistics, too? Shashank Rao leads teams of students working with companies to combine the two in unique ways. Shashank gives me some insights into the projects they're working on and what the results have been and how AI will continue to impact logistics. It's fascinating stuff to an …

Universal Truths about Fear ----- I hadn’t expected the reaction to last week’s commentary on fear and sloth. The podcast version was forwarded more than most and the social media got a lots of attention and forwards, too. Most of those commenting were like me – sloth is not such a problem. Fear is the problem. A friend pointed me to a book that, h…

Not being beholden to tradition or industry norms has helped Joey Mason make Mason Hills Farms a premium provider of beef for the discerning consumer. His cattle are grass fed and grain finished on his own farm near Grand Bay, Alabama. Never farming before, Joey has learned the business from the ground up, from how to prepare the cattle to how to p…

Every day. Every single day. ----- A friend told me that every day waiting for us at the foot of our bed is sloth and fear. Our eyes open, our brain turns on, and sloth and fear are right there. On the bed. Waiting. Our first challenge every day is to get past them. And she’s not wrong. Sloth and fear work together. They’re different mental states …

A circuitous route delivered Hastings Read from England to Mobile, Alabama where he learned custom woodworking after a successful career in management consulting. Today he leads the team at Oakleigh Custom Woodworks as they build beautiful doors, windows, and shutters, employing a team a craftsmen who take great pride in their work. Deadlines matte…

If you buy commercial insurance you've certainly noticed the rate increases. Brian Tanner is Managing Principal at EPIC Insurance's Birmingham, Alabama office and is our monthly Business Alabama magazine deep dive interview. He explains why rates are up, how AI is making creative crooks more clever, and why the art of cold calling is not dead. Bria…

Warriors need to be praised. ----- Young men have always been warriors. They’d go fight the battles while the elders sat around the campfire. The elders decided if fighting was the right thing and when and how to do it. The warriors executed the plan. When they returned, they were glorified for their success, or they were coddled in their loss. Eit…

Foodservice is typically full of high turnover. Unless you work for PP Hospitality Group. Panini Pete and his sister, Cheryl Blohme, have created a rapidly growing organizaiton due, in part, by their ability to find and keep good people in jobs typified by high turnover. Pete and Cheryl and their leadership team have figured something out. It begin…

It's been a tough few weeks. This commentary offers no specifics, but I've learned some things. ----- Many years ago, my neighbor in Charlotte, North Carolina knocked on my door one weekday afternoon. His wife had just told him she’s leaving. She climbed her car and drove away. He was dumbstruck and he needed to talk. My wife and I had just moved i…

There is a big difference between a skills shortage and a labor shortage. Employers used to worry about lack of applicable skills. Today employers just need people with some of the skills demanded. Elizabeth Crofoot is an economist with Lightcast. Based in DC, Elizabeth knows how to mine the data our Federal Government provides and "read the tea le…

My wife and I were headed to a cocktail reception where we knew no one. "This is an opportunity," I said. ----- My wife and I were driving to a short cocktail reception full of people we’d never met. Most of them knew one another. Us? Not a soul. This is an opportunity, I said. Let’s run with it. I proposed that she and I create a story for ourselv…

There are basics to marketing your business. Before business owners get into the weeds of fancy marketing tactics, they need to make sure the basics are covered. Gayle Rogers of The Atomic Agency works with owners of new businesses as well as business veterans to make sure the fundamentals are well taken care of before anything sophiticated can beg…

The heat's cooked our brains. ------ The heat’s taken its toll. It’s been unrelenting. Brutal. The greenery looks weary. The grass dries and turns brown within hours of any moisture. My car thermometer regularly reads around 110 and I saw online that it feels much hotter. We need a break. We need relief. My dog looks at me and says “No way I’m walk…

Sports Tourism draws athletes and their families from hundreds of miles to destinations where they can compete. Joel Lamp is the Sports Manager for the Huntsville Convention and Visitors Bureau and is responsible for filling the statiums, stands, fields, rinks, pools, and courts around Huntsville with these athelets. The opportunities continue to g…

Last week I danced in front of a train to try to get it to move. ----- Trains have always held great symbolic meaning. They represent the future, a new destination, an opportunity. In movies, the characters board trains in the hopes of greater things down the tracks. Lovers tearfully depart at train stations. Though tragic it’s what’s best for each…

Started by a retired sheriff hired to protect construction on a nuclear power plant near Dothan, Alabama, DSI Security Services now has operations in thirty-three states and 5400 employees. Alan Clark is chairman of the board. His father was the retired sherrif and his two sons are now involved in the company. Alan cites solid customer relationship…

This week I take an imaginary walk through Jackson Square in New Orleans and ask a caricature artist to draw me something...different. ----- There are sections of our society that have become parodies of themselves. Once proud, they’re now laughable forms of their former self. Imagine this: You’re walking through the New Orleans French Quarter. You…

The proposals are worth millions of dollars each. The clients are major global companies trying to impress cllients, thank teams, generate sales. The proposal has to be right. It has to be good. It has to be as perfect as it can be. Jason Cohen is the Execitive Director of Global Sales at Accor Hotels. With 5500 properties across the globe, Accor c…

After thirty years of the same family tradition - I give some thought to the future. ----- For the thirtieth year in a row my SUV left my garage headed for the North Carolina Coast the second to last Saturday in July. If we weren’t in it, it would go by itself. It’s what we do. It’s what the car does. And it was packed tight with everything from fi…

This month's Business Alabama Magazine interview features Stephanie Bryan, the Chairwoman of the Poarch Band of the Creek Indians. In her tenure as chair she's diversified the tribe's holdings far beyond gaming into government services, hotels and resort hotels, even processing cattle and many more. She's active across the state of Alabama as she c…

Finding and keeping good employees today is very hard. The shortages driven by the Baby Boomer retirement have begun making their mark in the workplace. And even as populous as the Millennials are, there aren't enough of them to replace the Boomers. Employers are pulling their hair out. Employees have their pick. Dr. Josh Duplantis is the Dean of W…

Casey Biehl is the VP of Operations for Fat Boy's Pizza based in Metairie, Louisiana. This pizza chain is growing rapidly due to the quality of ingredients and the ambience of the restaurants. I got word they were looking to head further east and became curious of their recipe for selecting new locations for expansion - what do they look for in a c…

The intersection of I-10 and I-65, the Port of Mobile, several rail lines, and the reinvigoration of Brookley Field has the potential to futher transform Mobile into one of the nation's largest logistics hubs. Philip Burton knew this but one piece was missing - the logistics parks where the product is brought after unloading, sorted, and shipped ag…

She hopped to the edge of the platform, raised her arms, and jumped. ----- The video opened on my phone and my daughter was leaping off a bridge and falling out of the frame. It took my breath away. I watched it again and texted her. “Since you sent this to me,” I said, “I assume you survived the fall?” “Yea,” she texted back. “It was awesome.” She…

Matt Peat is a Gen X'er that has never job hopped. He's been with Transhield many years and has remained with the company through the many times its been bought and sold. He tells the story of the remarkable product they manufacture, and how he has managed to thrive in each transaction where others may have been dismissed or asked to leave. Matt wa…

A cup of coffee with a friend and a few strangers was a wonderful start to a great day not long ago. ----- I’d like to say Hello to Randy Fowler. On Friday mornings he’s in his car on his way to the Restaurant Five in downtown Tuscaloosa with his dog Milo. He’s a regular listener to these commentaries and he reached out to me a few years ago when h…

Roy Lewis Construction has a reputation for quality building and adding value for customers. It's this reputation that has kept them going when times got tough. For years the phone rang from customers eager to benefit from their quality and reputation. Then there was the Great Recession. Then Covid and supply chain challenges. Paul Lewis, company p…

I have an idea for a business. Make up words customers can't understand then upcharge 75%. ----- I think our dog is constipated. She rung her tinkle bell early early in the morning to go outside and she just roamed around the yard in a hurry with her nose down. I have no idea if this is what a constipated dog looks like. I’m assuming that’s her iss…

What are the details - the nitty-gritty - of finding a business to buy, valuing it, and finding a buyer? Trey Langus works for Transworld Business Advisors and that's what he does. His customer from a recent transaction was Trey Galloway - now owner of The Health Hut. Hear how Trey Langus found the business and Trey Galloway found an opportunity fo…

My wife and I were at Bama Bound this week for my son's college orientation. ----- I am oriented. It’s official. My wife, my son, and I spent a day and a half in Tuscaloosa this week at Bama Bound – the school’s orientation for students and parents. Roll Tide! Or as my wife says “Rowl Tihhhdee, yall”. We heard a lot of that these past few days. I a…

Water, walks, and sleep. Those were the three biggest points that stood out when I heard Brad Davidson speak at a recent corporate event. He's trained athletes ranging from high school football teams to NFL left tackles. His recipe for busy executives eaten up with stress is more water, longer walks, and better sleep. It's a foundationally differen…

I had a tough day the other day. Thankfully, I know a recipe that gets me out of them. ----- My eighteen-year-old son is headed to Tuscaloosa next week for his Bama Bound orientation. My wife and I are going, too. I’m wondering why the parents need a college orientation so I’m tagging along. It’s about a day and a half worth of stuff. As a student,…

Meet my son Spencer. A tradition of What's Working is to interview my children upon their high school graduation. He's off to the University of Alabama in the fall. We discuss what skills he predicts will be needed in the job market, his prediction of the impact of AI on tomorrow's workplace and where he hopes to land in the work world. You might h…

Some social media posts have been gettin' to me a bit... ----- The caption read “blessed.” The social media posts were of a woman surrounded by her friends wearing designer clothes. Another of her on a private plane drinking champagne with friends. And another sitting in a suite with friends at a world-famous event. Perfect hair. Perfect teeth. Ble…