Philly Who?

Julian Brodsky is the original CFO of Comcast, and a Philadelphia native. He and Daniel Aaron were the partners of Comcast Founder Ralph Roberts, and the three began the company in 1963 with the mission of providing cable television to towns who didn't receive antenna reception. Now, Comcast is the biggest company in Philly, and is ranked 32nd on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest U.S. corporations. The company provides phone, internet, and cable TV services to millions, it owns NBCUniversal, Dreamworks, and SKY, as well as the Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center, and soon it will also have its own streaming service. Even in person, Comcast towers over the rest of Philadelphia, as its HQ campus includes the Comcast Center and the Comcast Technology Center, the two largest buildings in Pennsylvania. In the beginning, though, the company mainly provided TV to customers in rural Mississippi who couldn't get television any other way. Julian tells the story of how he, Ralph, and Dan went from these humble beginning

Sarah Schwab is the Senior Director of Marketing for the Philadelphia Flyers. As the Director of Marketing, Sarah oversees the team’s branding, promotional, and media initiatives. Recently, her team was tasked with a huge undertaking: creating a mascot for the Flyers. Much to her and the team's surprise, Gritty would become an overnight internet phenomenon, generating billions of online impressions, and appearing on Good Morning America, Conan O'Brian, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Before working for the Flyers, she worked in PR and Marketing for UPenn and the National Constitution Center. Sarah got her Bachelor's degree in Strategic and Organizational Communications from Temple University. This episode was recorded live at the PRSA Travel and Tourism Conference, hosted by the Public Relations Society of America. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor

Nonya Collier is the chief of staff at Metro Corp media, the publisher of Philadelphia Magazine. Before that, she has had quite the journey of a career. She’s spent time as a startup founder, as a public health official, as a corporate strategist at a national bank, and as a college professor. She’s got a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, and an MBA from Wharton. In this episode, you'll hear how a passion for improv performance has informed her approach on life. For Nonya, the only constant throughout her story is change, and as you’ll hear, she really wouldn’t have it any other way, because that’s what she’s passionate about. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evan "OG" Harden is the founder of the National Bar League, a Calisthenics Sports League. Calisthenics is a rigorous form of exercise with movements such as pulling, pushing, bending, jumping, or swinging, and using one's bodyweight for resistance. Prior to founding the National Bar League, Evan worked as a personal trainer and strength coach. At a young age of 16, Evan had a near-death experience on the streets of West Philly when he was shot by a stray bullet. That gave him a perspective that most people double his age didn’t even have. Years later, after becoming bored with his typical workout routine, OG stumbled upon a video of someone doing acrobatic calisthenics. That would inspire him to become a bar athlete, and eventually start Philly's first ever Bar League. By helping design Philly's first Bar Park at Smith Playground, OG has ensured that calisthenics can be easily accessible to anybody in Philly. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-S

Stacey Mosley is the Co-founder and CEO of Stepwise, a startup that empowers real estate investors to quickly find and evaluate investment opportunities. Prior to launching Stepwise in 2015, Stacey worked for the City of Philadelphia for five years practicing data science for the City’s Vacant Property Strategy and Open Data initiative. Before that, she worked for a promising local startup. But after she was suddenly laid off and without a job, she started wandering around Philly, looking for her next career step. It was then that she started noticing all the abandoned homes and vacant lots. She started working for the City of Philadelphia's Department of Licenses & Inspections, and experienced firsthand the tragedy of the 2013 Market Street Building Collapse. With a desire to use data to impact Philly life, Stacey would later go on to cofound Stepwise. Now, she knows before everyone else which neighborhoods are next to see immense development, and everything that comes with it. Support Philly Who? Donate vi

Greg Seltzer is a Corporate Attorney and Partner at Ballard Spahr, and his specialty is Mergers & Acquisitions. Over the past decade, he’s been the architect behind some of Philly’s biggest deals. He's represented The City of Philadelphia, Guru Technologies, CookNSolo, Richard Vague and Gabriel Investments, REC Philly, Philly Startup Leaders, The Phillies, Di Bruno Brothers, Comcast, World Cafe Live, and DuPont, just to name a few. He's also a Certified Public Accountant, and he holds an MBA. Additionally, Greg is extremely passionate about music. He's published two books analyzing its ties to current events, and in 2017 he created Philly Music Fest. Like many festivals, it happens annually, and showcases dozens of artists. But, this festival is the only one to exclusively feature Philly-based musicians. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook are the chefs behind Cooknsolo, a collection of restaurants including Zahav, Federal Donuts, The Rooster, Dizengoff, Goldie, and Abe Fisher. At the time of this interview, Cook and Solo had together accrued 4 James Beard Awards for their restaurants and cookbooks. Just 5 days later, they took home their 5th, as Zahav won the award for best restaurant in the country. In this episode, you’ll hear how these two restauranteurs came together to bring Israeli cuisine to Philadelphia. In doing so, they transformed the Philly food scene. But, it wasn’t always sunshine and hummus. As you’ll hear, when Zahav first opened, it struggled mightily, and was in danger of failing thanks to the 2008 financial crash, an intimidating menu, and the revelation to Steve that Mike was struggling with addiction. Hear the story of how Cook and Solo overcame these challenges, and in the 10 years since built a restaurant empire. Thanks to all who attended the live show - we raised $900 for Broad Street Mini

Mac Frederick is the Founder and CEO of two companies: one, Momentum Digital, is a digital marketing agency. The other, Phone Repair Philly, is a phone repair company with that was named Best Smartphone Repair Shop by PhillyMag in 2018.  Mac is also the creator of the Small Business Saturday initiative, which creates newsletters, podcasts, and videos that highlight the stories behind Philly’s many different small businesses. In this episode, you’ll hear how Mac would land an extremely competitive job selling search results ads at Google. When he noticed that many of his customers were small businesses, he started helping them off-the-clock. That didn’t sit well with his employer, and he was fired. That same week, he also was fired from a separate business he was helping to build. And just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, he got a call from his mother informing him that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. His mother would inspire him to overcome these challenges, and he’d build two successful compa

Tony Luke, Jr. is a cofounder of Tony Luke's, a cheesesteak franchise with multiple locations. He's also an actor, TV personality, musician, and an anti-addiction-stigma activist. In this Part 2 of a 2-episode series, you’ll hear how a small sandwich shop on a random corner in South Philly - that didn’t even sell cheesesteaks when it first opened - became the Philly cheesesteak sensation of the 90s. Tony, Jr. would take the momentum of a few press pieces and parlay it into viral TV commercials, multiple franchise locations, and a life of a TV and food celebrity. But, the highest of highs would soon become the lowest of lows. Tony’s family would have a falling out about the direction of the franchise, which would be followed by a devastating lawsuit, the end of Tony’s TV show, and the heart-wrenching accidental overdose death of his son, Tony Lucidonio III. Tony, Jr. now serves as an anti-addiction-stigma activist, educating and guiding addicts and their families towards better times. Support Philly Who? Dona

Tony Luke, Jr. is a cofounder of Tony Luke's, a cheesesteak franchise with multiple locations. He's also an actor, TV personality, musician, and an anti-addiction-stigma activist. In the early 90s, Tony, his brother, and his father built and opened a small sandwich shop in South Philly. Back then, Pat’s, Geno’s, and Jim’s were the only names synonymous with Philly Cheesesteaks. But pretty soon, everyone was talking about Tony Luke’s. Tony Luke’s would turn into a household name, and Tony Luke Jr would become the face of the franchise: starring in TV and radio commercials, and even getting his own show on Spike TV. But, before his father even had the thought to build a sandwich shop, Tony Luke Jr’s story had already taken several shapes: from being a rough-and-tumble South Philly kid, to a budding Hollywood movie star rubbing shoulders with the cast of Rocky, to scoring a record deal as the crooner of an R&B band. In part one of this two-episode series, you'll hear the crazy lives Tony Luke, Jr. lead before be

Nicole Marquis is the creator of the plant-based fast casual restaurant chain HipCityVeg, currently with locations in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Nicole also created and runs the popular plant-based full service restaurants Charlie was a sinner. and Bar Bombón. In this episode, you'll hear how Nicole was inspired to create a vegan restaurant chain when she read The China Study and understood the effects that eating meat had on human health. Even her father was skeptical at first. But, after a diabetes diagnosis, Nicole guided him towards a plant-based lifestyle. After a few months, he lost 25 pounds, his blood pressure improved, and his diabetes went into remission. Philly, though, was ready for Nicole's offering of plant-based comfort food. When the first HipCityVeg opened in 2012, it completely sold out of food by noon. Since then, Nicole has been spreading her love of plant-based food throughout Philadelphia, and beyond. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Pa

Liz Brown is the Managing Director at Backstage Philadelphia, an arm of Backstage Capital, a venture capital investment firm that invests in underrepresented founders. Liz, who’s originally from Buffalo, New York, had no plans to ever live in Philadelphia. But once she got here, her love for the tech scene pushed her to cofound WebJunto, a software development company. WebJunto won the 2017 Tech in Motion Award for Best Tech Workplace for Diversity, and in 2018 Liz won the Rad Girl Award for Best Technologist. In this episode, you'll hear her wide-ranging journey from high school dropout, to military veteran, to urban planner, to Tech CEO. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor

Conrad Benner is the creator of Streets Dept, an online platform that highlights street art. It includes a photoblog, a podcast, and an Instagram account with over 140,000 followers. In this episode, you’ll hear how documenting street art wasn’t always the plan for Conrad. But, once a life-changing bike accident forced him to commute by foot, he began noticing the overflow of public art around him. And so, he began learning: about the street art scene, about the rules, about the people, about the ethics, about who the artists are. As his platform grew in size and influence, Conrad began using it to fight for change in Philadelphia. For instance, back in 2014 when SEPTA made the subways run overnight on weekends - that was in large part thanks to him. Today, he continues to drive progress in the city, with a focus on protecting our public spaces from corporate intrusion. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor Learn more

In 2011, Emily Foote Williams co-founded an online education platform to help prepare students for the professional world. That company, Practice, was recently acquired by Instructure. In this episode, you’ll hear how she’s earned a Bachelors, Masters, and a Law Degree. After years of traditional education, a Drexel Law professor’s teaching style completely changed the way she looked at education. She was so passionate about spreading this style of learning that she gave up her law career to help bring it to countless students via technology. While the company has positively impacted over 200 thousand students, Emily’s journey hasn’t been without its challenges. In 2015, the company lost its CEO to the Amtrak Derailment. She’s also lead Practice through fundraising and acquisition while having and raising children. In doing so, she’s become a role model for those who want to grow both a young company and a young family at the same time. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Mo

Kiera Smalls is the Executive Director of Philly Startup Leaders, a nonprofit that connects Philly entrepreneurs to the resources they need to find success. Before joining PSL, she co-founded City Fit Girls, a running and fitness community for women. In this episode, she’ll share how City Fit Girls was born after Kiera lost 100 pounds. She and her best friend started hosting workouts with their friends, and then their friends’ friends, and pretty soon CFG had grown into a fully-fledged fitness community. She then went on to run marketing for Indego, Philly’s bike share program. While there, she introduced practices around diversity, equity, and inclusion that brought bikeshare to many different neighborhoods in Philly, and set standards that today are used by rideshares all over the country. Today, she heads Philly Startup Leaders, where she currently works to help founders and technologists get connected to make their billion dollar business idea come to life. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @

Richard Vague is currently one of the managing partners of Gabriel Investments and the president of the Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festival. He is also the author of The Next Economic Disaster, a book with a new approach for predicting and preventing financial crises. Previously, he was co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Energy Plus, an electricity and natural gas supply company that was sold to NRG Energy in 2011. Vague was also co-founder and CEO of two credit card companies – First USA, which grew to be the largest Visa issuer in the industry and which was sold to Bank One in 1997, and Juniper Financial, the fastest growing credit card issuer of the past decade, which was sold to Barclays PLC in 2004. Vague currently serves on the Penn Medicine Board, the boards of the Franklin Institute, the Museum of the American Revolution, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Philadelphia and Friends of Rittenhous

In January 2018, Rebecca Rynhart was sworn in as the first woman City Controller in Philadelphia history. Before that, she served as Mayor Kenney’s Chief Administration Officer, and during the Nutter administration, she served as Treasurer and then Budget Director. In this episode, you’ll hear how Rebecca initially worked in Finance on Wall Street. After years of seeing governments being taken advantage of by the private sector, she quit - and took a huge pay cut - to enter public service. That decision to leave Bear Sterns in the spring of 2008 turned out to be pretty lucky, as the entire firm collapsed 3 weeks later. She would become Treasurer of Philadelphia at the height of the Great Recession. And, as you’ll hear, she had to make some tough calls to get the city through it. Eventually, she craved the ability to affect more change for Philadelphia. So, she ran for office, and took on an incumbent. Despite heavy odds, she won, and is one year into her term as City Controller. After listening to this episod

Ben Thomas is and one of most sought after audio engineers in Philadelphia. At only 23 years old, he’s worked with artists such as Brian McKnight, Post Malone, and Lil Dicky. He’s received two Soul Train Award nominations and an NAACP Award Nomination, and he's also the cofounder of nicethingsMUSIC. In this episode, you’ll hear how Ben originally planned to work in finance on Wall Street. But, as his hobby of recording music evolved into something bigger, he began to put himself out there as a music producer. Pretty soon, opportunity came knocking. To date, he's worked with Ty Dolla $ign, Post Malone, Lil Dicky, Brian McKnight, among many others. He’ll talk about what it’s like to work with some of the world’s most popular artists, and how he manages to stay consistent. And, we’ll talk about the Philly music scene and why it’s such a great place for up and coming creators to make a name for themselves. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or

Rob Lawless is a Philly-based influencer who loves getting to know new people. He loves it so much, that for the past 3 years, Rob’s full-time mission has been to meet as many people as he possibly can. His goal is to spend 1 hour with 10,000 different people via his project Rob’s 10k Friends. In this episode, he’ll share how, after graduating Penn State and bouncing around a couple of 9-to-5s, he didn’t feel like he was on a meaningful path. So, as searched for a purpose, he realized how much he loved connecting with people. He decided to try to meet as many people as he could, and set a goal for 10,000. 1 became 10, 10 became 100, and as of now he’s met over 2,300 people from coast to coast. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor

Lauren Nolan-Sellers is an interior designer. In 2012, Lauren left her career as a teacher to start Trust the Vision Decor, an interior design and home staging company that has been named Best of Houzz four years running. In this episode, you’ll hear how Lauren and Wendy discovered their talent for home design when they bought a house together and remodeled it. They had a housewarming party to show their friends, and the response was overwhelming. While Lauren took the kind words to heart, she didn’t seriously consider starting her own business. That is, until pregnancy complications threatened her and her child’s life. After gaining the perspective that comes with a life-threatening experience, Lauren and Wendy decided to bet on themselves. What follows is the story of how they quickly went from being HGTV dreamers to being among the top rated interior designers in the country. Support Philly Who? Donate via Paypal, Venmo: @podphillywho, Become a Monthly Patron, Purchase a T-Shirt or Hat, Become a Sponsor