Podcast Vance Crowe Podcast Vance Crowe

Banker Rita Kuster

Rita Kuster is the Chief Credit Officer for Saint Louis Bank, a community bank. For full disclosure, I met Rita because I am a member of the board of directors- which is how I knew that she has a special way of describing banking that makes it relatable.

During this interview, Rita describes her biography starting at a “banker’s bank,” becoming a regulator at the Federal Reserve Bank in Saint Louis, Missouri, and then being a banker during the financial crisis. She took a new position at Saint Louis Bank as the Chief Credit Officer and after working with her for over a year I was grateful that she was willing to sit down with me to discuss banking.

Rita discusses the challenges of preventing “Too Big To Fail” banks, how a person can get a loan, and the weird things she knows bankers have repossessed when a customer couldn’t pay their loan. Rita is very open in this conversation- offering opinions that are well thought out and not heard very often.

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Podcast: YouTuber with 6.5 Million Subscribers

I was shocked to discover that my neighbor is a major personality on YouTube and is the CEO of an extraordinary online shop called Vat19.com.

Jamie Salvatori is a guy you almost always see wearing T-shirts. He’s understated, humble and almost no one in the “regular world” has any idea who he is or what he does.

Jamie stopped over to the studio late one evening and we talked about how he got his start, what he thinks about kids exploring YouTube, demonetization of certain content and so much more. I loved the interview, and unlike most of the conversations I have… when this interviewed wrapped up, I was even more intimidated by Jamie because I finally realized just how amazing he is.

Jamie Salvatori is a digital entrepreneur that has created a online retail business that sells unorthodox toys, candies and games. To market his products, Jamie has built a YouTube channel that gets millions of views per video- some of them over 100M views. Vat19.com is one of the most mesmerizing and fun channels online.

Jamie talks about who makes money on YouTube, how YouTubers make money and how advertising revenue compares to mainstream media dollars.

Follow Vat19:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/vat19
Instagram: https://instagram.com/vat19/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vat19

Jamie is extremely humble and has a very good handle on the nature of celebrity:

Jamie is very open to treating kids in an honest manner, but even he struggles with opening the door to social media at too young of an age:

Check out the Vance Crowe YouTube Channel for the full interview with Jamie Salvatori.

Follow the Vance Crowe Podcast
Facebook: The Vance Crowe Podcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanceCrowe

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Conversation with web developer Chris Oliver; "Do things that scare you."

Businessman, software developer, podcaster, world traveler. One of my closest friends, Chris Oliver stopped by the studio to have a conversation about his philosophies, education and ways of thinking.

Chris Oliver is founder of Go Rails an online computer programming teaching program that teaches developers how to create new website features. Chris Oliver is an extraordinary thinker, a person that can imagine entirely novel solutions to very complex problems.

Chris Oliver's Go Rails program is used by more than 22,000 people and Oliver is considered an expert in his field, being regularly invited to deliver talks at software developer conferences.

Chris, along with Square founder Jim McKelvey, founded Launch Code a nationally recognized pair-programming school that teaches people to code. Chris uses the mantra "Do things that scare you" which has led him to programming at companies in New York City, Saint Louis, Germany and be regularly recruited by Silicon Valley companies. Chris Oliver hosts two podcasts "Business Time" a podcast about what it is like to start a business from the perspective of two software developers, and "Remote Ruby" a podcast for Ruby developers.

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Starting is more productive than thinking about starting.

I’m proud of the first 5 podcasts.

I wasted several years giving myself reasons why I couldn’t s

When I first started to commit to doing an interview show, I filled with energy- the kind that motivates you to get something started.

I did all of the easy things first. Scheduled a guest, got out my old Yeti microphone, cleared some space on my hard drive, and even went out to buy a camera.

Finance guy Tim Hosler tells the story of when he created a financial product Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway didn't like. Buffett responded by creating the first ever B shares and commented about Hosler's actions in his annual shareholder letter.

But then things got complicated. I didn’t have enough storage space, the room I was going to use had too much echo, my camera had an unknown 30 minute time limit for recording video…

Slowly my motivation waned, and then frustration started to grow. I hit a point where the harder I worked the more things I had to

Once you have something created, now you can start editing and improving… but you are already living your dream. Now, you need to create the habits that keep that dream going. You can’t rely on motivation, because motivation is an emotion and it will wane when things it tough or confusing, or you have to take 5 steps backwards.

If you can get comfortable being a novice, than you can learn to master a skill.

Thanks for checking these out as I got started.  With the lessons from the first five interviews, I made some serious studio upgrades- and things are about to get really good.

Below are the tiny steps I took to get better. You can hear the audio get cleaner, see the lighting get softer, and hopefully the editing better.

If you aren’t a YouTube person you can get the RSS feed here: https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-vance-crowe-podcast

Or just ask Alexa or Siri “Play the Vance Crowe Podcast”

Week 2: Doug Sammons Ph.D.; Biochemist

Former Monsanto biochemist Dr. Doug Sammons on how to find something new in science, and uses a fascinating description of why roots grow down, even when they run into a rock.

Week 3: Randall Comfort; Architect

Architect Randall Comfort discusses Amager Bakke, the trash facility turned into a ski resort by Bjarke Ingles. How to change a problem into something interesting. Comfort shows the kinds of problems that architecture can solve. @ARComfort @VanceCrowe

Week 4: Shirley Sahrmann Ph.D.; Physical Therapist

Shirley Sahrmann is one of the world's leading physical therapists. She discusses if a child can play any sport. Why runners get injured, if a child should do an activity like ballet or cheerleading.

Week 5: Allen Soffer MD; Cardiologist

Saint Louis Cardiologist Allen Soffer MD tells what the medical community has discovered about the real cause of heart attacks- and the answer is surprising. Allen Soffer is a medical doctor that has extensive experience and knowledge of the heart. In this interview he discusses the way we used to view heart attacks, and what we have discovered more recently.

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A heart doctor opens up.

There is nothing quite as intense as being listened to by Dr. Allen Soffer. He looks squarely into your eyes, he is wordless, and he will patiently wait until you are done before speaking.

It is a sensation that is as disarming as it is endearing. There are so very few times in life when a person gives you their complete attention. This conversation was a joy because the man that normally is the listener became the storyteller.

Allen Soffer is a cardiologist with a 30 year career in Saint Louis.  During this conversation Dr. Soffer discusses what happens to medical students when they graduate at the top of their class and realize no one is grading them any more.  He also discusses what the medical field has discovered about what really happens during a heart attack, and what it is like to be talking with a patient that realizes their health may not allow them to live much longer.  

Dr. Soffer also discusses his family's work on World Food Day Saint Louis: https://stlwfd.org/and what the core mentality has to be when you are discussing life and death issues with patients.  

You can find Vance Crowe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanceCrowe 
Vance's company website:  https://www.vancecrowe.com/ 


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