Fascinating CNY People I’ve Interviewed

I figure that since it’s a Sunday and, for some, the day before a holiday, that many people might not want to read a long article. Instead, I thought I’d give you a break and instead put together a post highlighting people from central New York that I’ve had the opportunity to interview on this blog, other blogs and my video channels. This is prepping you for a big time interview I’ll be posting here on Tuesday; that should get you hyped!

The first interview I ever did on this blog was with a local artist named Isaac Bidwell. He used to be a server at Julie’s Diner, but he’s since gone on the road publicizing both his art and his plush dolls. It also turns out that Isaac’s the only person I’ve ever interviewed three times, twice on this blog and once on my I’m Just Sharing blog. When I get a chance I’m going to interview him one more time because of the strides he’s made since the last interview in 2013.

The next interview to highlight was with Rich Kudlick, the owner of Reid & Zutant Insurance. Rich is a local insurance agent and probably my best Liverpool Chamber friend, always trying to encourage me to go to the luncheons. He’s an independent insurance agent, and I was glad to interview him because up until then I had no idea exactly what these people did.

The next one is probably one of the two strangest interviews I’m going share. This one was with Maria Snyder, who at the time was a CPA with her own consulting company who was also doing social media, and that’s how I met her. Now she’s a partner in Dimarco, Abiusi & Pascarella, P.C. and is a full time accountant. I’m sharing this one because the things she says concerning social media are still good things to read about.

The final interview I’m sharing from this blog also is with the second person I interviewed more than once (I’m talking about local people), but not twice on this blog, like Isaac above. She’s also probably the most famous at this juncture, so I honestly get to say “I knew her when”. 🙂 This one is with Lauren Greutman, who used to go by I Am That Lady but has now become her own brand. Her specialty is helping people get out of debt and save money, which is why she made a great person to be the only one I ever interviewed for my finance blog.

On my business blog, which is called Mitch’s Blog (that makes sense, right?), I used to do a 5-question survey with multiple independent business owners. About half of those I interviewed are from out of town, but half of the rest are still in business, so those are the only ones I’m going to share. At that time I always asked the same 5 questions; I still think they gave pretty good insight. Those folks are:

George Chapman GW Chapman Consulting
Danny Chawan Srim Enterprises
Jill Hurst-Wahl, Hurst Associates
Sean Branigan, Communigration
Robert Whipple Leadergrow

As far as interviews go on my IJS blog, only two local people have ever been featured there. One was Isaac above and the other is Mark Dyson of Spinland Studios. This was one of those times when our Twitter accounts converged, and once I realized he was a local guy I thought he’d be a fascinating person to interview.

Now it’s time for the video interviews. Instead of making you go to YouTube I’m going to pop all the videos up here. If you still want to go to YouTube you can highlight and paste the link underneath the video & watch it there.

I’m starting off with the second strange video I mentioned above. What makes it strange is that one, I think the company has dissolved, and two, one of the stars is my buddy Joe Cunningham. This interview was for Swell Communications, and it was still both fascinating and entertaining:

This next interview is with my longest friend from this area, Chuck Price of Measurable SEO. He’s often a featured writer on Search Engine Journal and even though I’ve been in this world for a long time I’m always amazed at his level of expertise:

Next on the list is Steve Borek of End Game Business. He’s a certified business coach who now lives in the Philippines, but when I interviewed him he was living in central New York and he was my wings and hamburger buddy. 🙂

Now we have Jesan Sorrells, president of Human Services Consulting and Training, which is geared towards conflict resolution. This was one of the most fun interviews I’ve ever had, one that even my wife laughed a lot at.

Last but not close to least is my ice cream buddy Joanne Del Balso, who owns No Fuss Accounting but is big into both social media (she’s presented at multiple organizations around town on the subject) and is big into local women’s organizations, most specifically the WBOC.

Well… maybe I lied about not having to do a lot of reading, but this particular post should be easy for everyone to consume. I hope you enjoy learning more about local business people and be sure to think of them if you’re even in need of any of their services or products.