John Roselli, owner of Roselli on 10th, visited the Life In The Carolinas Podcast Studio and shared the story of his family legacy in the restaurant business. He speaks of lessons learned from his parents and a journey in his world of Italian Food and relationship-driven service. 

It's a great story for anyone who loves good food and the people who create the experience around it. 

In this episode, we have invited Jay Raffaldini, owner of Raffaldini Vineyards, Which creates various Italian-style wines. Apart from that, Raffaldini offers public and private events throughout the year and is a regional go-to spot for wine enthusiasts. Today, Jay will share his journey in building his winery, the challenges he faced, and his learnings from around the world. He will also share some thoughts on how to have a better life and society.

Jay’s Winery Journey

[2:33] The idea behind the winery is that Jay loves wine and wants to connect it to a generational wealth transference.

[4:14] Jay’s desire to keep his family together and have a way to transfer wealth led him to build a plan and start his winery business.

[07:20] The first step was to find suitable land and bed. When we talk about the right land, we're talking about the wrong land for farming, which is the appropriate land for vineyard cultivation because you want the grapes to struggle to live. Happy Place

[14:38] Jay describes his vineyard as a yin and yang. It gives him balance in life, and that is the wonderful part. [16:08] Jay experienced drinking wine from a plastic milk jug. However, it was the best bottle of wine he had because it changed how whole day. And that is why Jay considered wine a very romantic notion, and it's about the totality of the experience more than anything else. Challenges Faced

[23:50] Jay and his winery faced numerous challenges. But these challenges add fuel for his business to grow further. Each time that they had a loss, they rose higher than before, allowing them to grow continually.

[25:59] The key is how you adapt to the problem. Plus, you got to be flexible.

[28:20] You have to focus on what's working and concentrate on that area. You also have to admit defeat because that's how you learn. That’s a very scarce personality trait. Learnings From Around the World

[31:24] Jay discovered that growing grapes east of the Rockies Mountains is difficult. This is because 90% of the grapes are cultivated in what is described as a Mediterranean environment. It equates to 3% of the world's land area. 3% of the world's surface grows grapes there because it’s easier.

[39:17] When meeting with the clients for the first time, bringing out a bottle of wine is an icebreaker at the table. Better Life and Society

[45:55] Jay’s father teaches him that no matter what he does in life, he should be the best at it and be the most passionate. Wine Club

[49:48] Jay’s wine club is successful, and they have 20,000 people visit every year. At first, they face a problem: too many people are coming. They needed to make a few adjustments. Jay’s Advice

[1:00:29] Jay often says, don't get too depressed. Just focus on your job, and be passionate.

[1:03:04] For Jay, something simple with the right person is meaningful at the right time. Thus, it becomes like a mantra for him to live a good life. 

Go to www.raffaldini.com to learn more about Raffaldini Vineyards and their wines, and make a reservation for a tasting visit. For more on Life In The Carolinas, visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com and www.lifeinthecarolinaspodcast.com

In this episode, we invited Seth Cohn, owner of Dooley's Restaurant, Two Boros Brewery, and Two Boros Performance Shop. Seth highlights his family's story of their Wilkes County home and how they help preserve and protect it for future generations. He also talks about how he got into the food industry as well as his passion for car racing which lead to team ownership. 

On this Life In the Carolinas Podcast episode, we have invited Thomas Salley, the Director of Tourism for Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His expertise in tourism and marketing led him to spearhead Wilkesboro's tourism to attract more people, create more projects and build a stronger community. Today, Thomas talks about his journey of getting involved in the world of tourism, the county's evolution, the people in the community, and the bigger picture Wilkesboro is pursuing in the future.  

In this episode, we are joined by Rick Balentine, a producer, and composer at Temple Gate Films. He has created scores, opens, bumpers, and music libraries for a variety of programs, including Ted Lasso, America's Next Top Model, NCIS LA, Dancing With The Stars, The Bachelorette, The Real Housewives of Dallas, and Black Ink Crew: Chicago, as well as for the feature films True Justice, Dragon Eyes, Never Back Down 2, Red Clover. Today, Rick talks about the film Wilkes County Line, how he grew up in a family of musicians, the difference between wisdom and experience, and the keys to personal growth.

Musical Family

[3:31]

Rick produced his first album at the age of 19. His mother was a trained pianist and played at the church. He started playing music when he was in fourth grade because his mother bought a guitar for his sister, but she never played it, but he would sneak around and play it by himself.

Creativity

[10:46]

Rick learned to keep everybody engaged at all times. He thinks of how he can show off at certain parts. But he thinks the most critical is learning to take all that creativity and put it at the right time. Like in business creatives and the "business" side, it must be balanced. As you get older, you realize that you will have this time when you take all the boundaries off and create while working with the budget.

Good Management

[16:20]

In Rick's opinion, the key to leadership is not knowing everything per se but knowing people who do know everything and putting them in the right place. We may not have all the people we want, and we may have to continue looking. It's a never-ending journey that is always developing, organic, and wonderful. That is the beauty of life. Identifying connections and knowing how you can work together to make something.

Gifts

[18:07]

For those who have gifts, Rick thinks the goal is to take it and nurture it and learn how to do better and stronger. What Rick did was work hard and get that gift to grow. That's the easy part, and the hardest part is developing the character to manage the gifting that you've been given.

Wilkes County Line

[34:06]

The most important thing for Rick was the scenery. He is a big nature fan. Everywhere he went, all the things and niches in the county were just amazing to him as an outsider and caught his attention. He thought about how to tell people about the beauty of those areas and suck them into the story.

Business Side

[45:54]

The creative side is the easiest side for Rick. The business side is paying for college, and it's the reality. He wants to put the business side first. How he does it by creating a product that people want to see and pay for. Thinking of how to satisfy our investors and the company. The first thing they do is put things together and look at what the state has and its taxes. Depending on the state and the percentages, it's possible to get rebates as incentive and treat that as income.

https://www.templegatefilms.com

https://www.rickbalentinemusic.com

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On this episode of the Life in the Carolinas podcast, Carl sits down with John Santa, founder of the Marathon Jam, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which seeks to improve the lives of injured Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Joining Carl and John is vascular surgeon Charles, who speaks to us about his journey to making the switch from “actively practicing surgeon to actively practicing musician”.

The team at the Marathon Jam lives by their motto, Curatus Per Musica (“Healing Through Music”)—uniting a diverse group of people with the common goal of raising money and performing outreach to improve the lives of those who have sacrificed so much for us.

They do this through an annual fundraiser which features musicians and artists of all ages and styles to play music and create art for twelve straight hours. These musicians generate donations by securing sponsors for each hour they participate in the jam. In 2015, The Marathon Jam created Outreach Programs to help those who cannot come to the Jams, by sending artists and musicians into VA and other treatment centers to facilitate the rehabilitation of our Veterans and First Responders.

Since 2009, the recipients of the Marathon Jam’s annual fundraiser have been North Carolina’s Fort Bragg Fisher House and Camp Lejeune Fisher House, with over $500,000 raised for the latter.

In today’s conversation, John and Charles draw inspiring parallels between medicine and music, passionately speaking on his life-altering decision to shift career paths while continuing to carry out his mission to provide healing to as many people as he can touch. In fact, they perfectly illustrate this by briefly talking about their fascinating realization that the use of certain types of music actually facilitates healing and recovery in the operating room.

“Music is curative,” says Charles. “It was time for me to go from one mode to the other and still be able to provide that for people.” He adds: “When I first made this move, I was calling it ‘retirement’. But it really isn’t. It’s ‘career change’.”

After telling some of their favorite stories of healing and hope through the initiative of Marathon Jam, John and Charles speak on how they see the future of the organization. What started out as a grassroots movement over 12 years ago is gaining steam throughout the state.

“Music is a way to communicate with human vulnerability. We’re not stopping. The need is there.”

Learn more about the Marathon Jam at www.marathonjam.org.