Coffee & Grit

🎙️ Welcome to Coffee & Grit, where stories are served information with soul! Dive into the wild terrain of entrepreneurship & visionary leadership with Jason Tracey as he nterviews resilient individuals who have conquered the jungle of business and community impact. Each episode is jam packed with powerful insights and inspiration to fuel your own journey. Join us as we sip on tales of triumph, perseverance, and the indomitable human spirit. Subscribe now and let's brew success together, one story at a time! ☕💼 #CoffeeAndGrit #Entrepreneurship #VisionaryLeadership #PersonalDevelopment Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/coffee-grit--5708348/support .

Coffee & Grit is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Coffee & Grit, a business show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Coffee & Grit

  Whatever Story You Tell Yourself, You’re Going to Live It Out

  Sep 28, 20261h 34m

  Quentin Howell was voted “Class Shy” his senior year of high school.Years later, the kid who was afraid to speak up would find himself knocking on strangers’ doors for a living and eventually becoming the top salesman. But there is a hell of a lot of story between those two versions of Quentin. In this episode of Coffee & Grit, Quentin opens up about growing up in an abusive home, struggling to believe he was loved, reaching a point as a teenager where he was ready to end his life, and the experience with God that changed the direction of everything. But it didn't magically make life easy.Quentin still had to confront fear. He still had to rebuild after losing nearly everything. He still had to learn how to stop seeing himself as a victim and start taking responsibility for the life he wanted to create. That leads us into a raw conversation about faith, entrepreneurship, marriage, fear, courage, victim mentality and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. Because sometimes the thing you're asking God to remove is the exact thing you need to walk through to discover what you're capable of. As Quentin says during our conversation: “Whatever story you tell yourself, you're going to live it out.” This isn't a story about becoming fearless.It's about becoming the person willing to knock on the door anyway! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/coffee-grit--5708348/support .

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  Coffee & Grit

  The Urgency Reflex: When the Moment Demands More

  Sep 21, 20261h 30m

  At 26 years old, John Collins found himself working inside one of the biggest criminal investigations in the world. The 1996 Atlanta Olympics had just been bombed. John was a young forensic scientist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation when evidence from Centennial Olympic Park began arriving at his lab. One envelope contained a nail removed from the body of Alice Hawthorne, the woman killed in the bombing. Thirty years later, John still remembers the moment he opened it. But this episode isn't just about one of the most infamous investigations in American history. John spent decades in forensic science, fired somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 guns as a firearms examiner, worked for the ATF, eventually led Michigan's entire forensic science system and had a front row seat to what happens when incredibly talented people are placed under extraordinary pressure. He saw people rise to the moment. He also saw ego, hierarchy and turf wars get in the way of the mission, including during the investigation into the Olympic bombing. And that's where this conversation goes somewhere much bigger. We talk about: -Why authority doesn't make you superior -Why you don't get to declare yourself a leader -What happens when organizations start protecting their kingdoms -Why trusting people can cause them to rise beyond -What they thought they were capable of -And why the biggest moments of our lives reveal what we've been preparing for all along. John calls it the urgency reflex: that realization that this moment is bigger than me. Because when the stakes get high, the question isn't: How can this moment serve me? It's: What does this moment require from me? This is one hell of a conversation. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/coffee-grit--5708348/support .

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  Coffee & Grit

  We Are All In This Together: Dean Ditto For School Board

  Sep 14, 20261h 7m

  Dean Ditto was last on Coffee & Grit way back on Episode 80, and a lot has happened since then. One thing that hasn't changed is Dean. He's still unapologetically himself, still willing to say exactly what he thinks, and still deeply invested in the kids and community around him. Now, somewhat unexpectedly, that journey has led him to run for the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education. Coffee & Grit normally stays away from politics, but this conversation isn't about political teams or telling people what they're supposed to believe. I've known Dean for years, watched him coach kids including my own son, and seen firsthand how seriously he takes the responsibility adults have to help young people discover what they're capable of. That made his decision to step into this arena worth exploring. In this episode, we talk about: • Why Dean decided to run for school board • What happens when politics gets in the way of serving people • Accountability, leadership, and investing for the long term • Preparing kids for AI and a rapidly changing world • College, skilled trades, and creating different paths to success • Staying authentic when stepping into public leadership What I love about this conversation is that it goes well beyond a school board race. We get into what leadership actually looks like when people disagree, whether we are preparing kids for the world they're really going to inherit, and why caring about something sometimes means being willing to step into uncomfortable places instead of criticizing from the outside. Near the end, Dean shares the meaning behind a tattoo he intentionally has facing toward himself. It's a reminder that despite our differences, we are all in this together. That idea captures this conversation better than any political label could. We don't have to agree on everything, but if we're serious about making a difference, eventually we have to care enough to listen, find common ground, and get to work. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/coffee-grit--5708348/support .

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  Coffee & Grit

  Inner Doubt Kills: The Stories From The Other Side Of Comfort

  Sep 7, 20261h 5m

  How many ideas never make it into the world because someone talks themselves out of starting? In this episode of Coffee & Grit, I sit down with Perry Hamilton and Taurence Hill, co-founders of Euphoric Clothing, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, mental health, friendship, social media, rapid growth, and everything they have learned by continually stepping outside of their comfort zones. Perry and Taurence have been friends since pre K, and the entrepreneurial bug showed up early. Years later, conversations about mental health and what they saw missing in their community became the foundation for Euphoric. They wanted to create clothing people their age would actually want to wear while carrying messages capable of starting conversations, including one simple but powerful question: Are You Really Happy? But one of the most interesting parts of their story is how close some of it came to never happening. Taurence worried about putting himself on camera and what people would think. Eventually, they posted an imperfect video anyway. At first, it appeared to go nowhere. Then the notifications started coming, demand exploded, and a business they were still figuring out suddenly had an audience. In this episode, we talk about: • Turning mental health conversations into a brand with purpose • Why inner doubt can kill an idea before failure ever gets the chance • Starting before you feel ready and learning by doing • Going viral and discovering that attention is only the beginning • The expensive lessons that come with rapid business growth • Building a company, community and friendship at the same time This isn't just a story about building a clothing company. It's about what can exist on the other side of comfort when you're willing to move before you have all the answers, make mistakes, adapt, and keep going. Perry and Taurence are building something that gives people permission to talk about what they're really experiencing while learning in real time what it takes to turn an idea between two childhood friends into something much bigger. Check out and follow Perry & Taurence through Euphoric online: https://euphoric777.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@euphoric.777 https://www.instagram.com/euphoric.777/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088730508028# Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/coffee-grit--5708348/support .

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  Coffee & Grit

  Deeply Rooted: Building A Business On Something Bigger

  Aug 31, 20261h 27m

  Some businesses are built around a product or service. Others are built around a belief about how people should be treated. In this episode of Coffee & Grit, I sit down with Matt Pastor, founder of Deeply Rooted Mechanical, for a conversation about faith, leadership, construction culture, fatherhood, adversity, and building a company on something deeper than revenue. Matt grew up in the trades and saw both the pride that comes with working with your hands and the damage that can happen when toughness turns into cruelty, control, or indifference. His own life was shaped by losing his father to suicide at 12, the men who stepped in afterward, and the experiences that challenged and ultimately deepened his faith. Years later, those roots became part of the foundation for Deeply Rooted Mechanical. In this episode, we talk about: • Building the kind of workplace you wish more people had experienced • Why core values have to apply to the owner too • Servant leadership, accountability, and clarity • Taking the next small step before you can see the entire path • How adversity and mentorship shape the way we lead • Building people while you build the business One of the strongest ideas in this conversation is that leadership is not just about treating people well. Your people still need expectations, accountability, and a clear understanding of what winning looks like. Matt is learning that clarity is kindness, and that servant leadership does not mean avoiding hard conversations or lowering the standard. Deeply Rooted installs commercial HVAC systems, but Matt understands that the work is bigger than the mechanical systems going into a building. It is about the people doing the work, the culture they experience, the leaders they become, and the version of themselves they take home to their families at the end of the day. This episode is a reminder that the roots matter, because eventually whatever you build above the surface is going to depend on what you chose to build underneath it first. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/coffee-grit--5708348/support .

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