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Philly Who? — Society & Culture
Philly Who?

Telling the stories of the doers, thinkers, and performers of Philadelphia. From up-and-coming game-changers to well-known legends, you’ll dive into their past, present, future, and how it all contributes to The City of Brotherly Love. Hosted by Kevin Chemidlin.

Latest Episodes:

Julian Brodsky: The Creation of Comcast Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

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 beginnings to building one of the most influential companies the world.

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Sarah Schwab: The Story of GRITTY! Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Nonya Collier: Why We All Should Practice Improv Jul 10, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Evan "OG" Harden: Surviving a Stray Bullet and Bringing Calisthenics to Philly Jun 27, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Stacey Mosley: The Startup Founder Who Sees the Future of Philly Real Estate Jun 20, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Greg Seltzer: The Corporate Attorney Who Invented Philly Music Fest Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Mike Solomonov & Steve Cook: The Chefs Behind Zahav, Federal Donuts, The Rooster, Abe Fisher, Goldie, and Dizengoff May 29, 2019

Show notes

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 Ministry!

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Mac Frederick: Sacrificing His Dream Job at Google to Help Small Businesses May 09, 2019

Show notes

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 companies at the same time. The rest of the time he devotes to uplifting Small Businesses.

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Tony Luke, Jr. Part 2: The Rise and Fall of a Cheesesteak Empire Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Tony Luke, Jr., Part 1: High School Dropout, Hollywood Hopeful Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

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 becoming a Philly Cheesesteak celebrity.

Support Philly Who?

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