April 15, 2012


Joe Vecchio interviewed 3 guests who are stakeholders in the GMO equation and favor proper labeling of our consumer goods.

Michelle Lerach was the proprietor of ‘Cups,’ a popular organic bakery and teaching kitchen in La Jolla, now closed. An excerpt from USA Today reads, “Cups, which opened in 2009, brings to mind a swankier, eco-conscious Candyland come to life. At this cupcakery/lounge/teaching kitchen, cupcakes are a sweet vehicle for an even sweeter goal. ‘It was important to me to do something that was sustainable and green, and that could not only have a good product, but might also teach people in the process.’ says owner Michelle Ciccarelli Lerach.”

David Bronner runs an Escondido shop called Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps Their soaps are synonymous with old-World quality and simplicity, which can be traced back to the family’s German-Jewish soap making tradition. Born in 1908 to a Jewish family, Emanuel Bronner was the third generation certified as a master-soapmaker under the guild system of the time. In 1929, he brought his formulas for high-quality liquid and bar soaps to America, starting Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps in its current form in 1948.

Michael Copass rounds out the show with his scientific expertise. Michael is a Senior Research Associate at Synthetic Genomics. He has experience in in molecular biology, immunoassay development, clinical trials, algae and microalgae cultivation. Michael was educated at Stanford and Harvard Medical School.

Podcast

October 14, 2017


Richard and Joe interviewed Margret McBride, literary agent and chair of the LaJolla Playhouse Board of Trustees. Margret is owner and president of the Margret McBride Literary Agency and has placed over 400 books with mainstream publishers such as Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin/Random House, Simon & Schuster, Houghton-Mifflin, Norton, Macmillan/McGraw Hill, St. Martin’s Press, John Wiley & Sons, Workman and Thomas Nelson.

Margret worked for ten years in the publishing industry, eight years in New York and two in Los Angeles prior to establishing her San Diego agency. She worked in the marketing departments of Random House and Ballantine Books in New York then as Director of Publicity at Warner Books (now Hachette Publishing). After a move to Los Angeles, she became Marketing Director of Pinnacle Books in Century City. She is a member of the Association of Authors Representatives (AAR) and the Author’s Guild. Margret previously served on the Library Board of the University of California at San Diego and under her five-year direction, the UCSD Writers Conference attracted a distinguished faculty of publishers, editors, and agents, as well as international participants.

She currently serves as Chair, La Jolla Playhouse Board of Trustees. The La Jolla Playhouse is her passion, entering her 20th year on the Playhouse Board. She believes that it’s through the arts that people thrive. She loves the impact the La Jolla Playhouse has on the San Diego community offering New York—Broadway-caliber theater at San Diego prices.

“Through creativity we can solve any problem, make our lives more interesting, and enjoy ourselves more, yet far too many people have the misbelief they aren’t creative and won’t ever become creative. That’s nonsense! Going to live theater makes you feel great when you leave the show. And that great feeling goes to a part of yourself that stays with you.”

On October 19th – 22nd the La Jolla Playhouse will host their Without Walls festival of boundary-breaking theatrical works. This year there is an added twist, the four-day festival will be staged not in the Playhouse’s UC San Diego-based theater district but in locations in and near Downtown San Diego. The partner venues include the Central Library, the New Children’s Museum, and Horton Plaza Park, as well as Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan and Bread & Salt in Logan Heights.

Margret was born in Worcester, Mass. Her late father, Charles Richardson was in the Navy, her late mother, Vera Richardson was an artist. As she grew up they moved frequently and lived in Memphis, Tennessee; Providence, Rhode Island; Naples, Italy; Norfolk, Virginia, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She was in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and when she, her mother and six sisters were evacuated, by ship to Norfolk, Virginia, returning a few months later to Guantanamo where she graduated from high school. Afterwards, she attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and from there entered the world of publishing in Philadelphia at Chilton Books, and then to New York, working in the Marketing and Sales Department of Random House.

Margret is married to Nevins McBride, a San Diego Real Estate Developer. She has a daughter Kimberly McBride who is a successful artist who now lives in Hailey Idaho with her husband, Allen Branch. She has three stepdaughters, who live in New York, London and Dubai–with them, she and Nevins have seven grandchildren.

Podcast

November 12, 2016

December 10, 2016

May 28, 2016


This week Richard and Joe welcomed two candidates running for San Diego City offices in the June 7th primary, Gil Cabrera and Barbara Bry. Gil Cabrera is running for San Diego City Attorney and Barbara Bry is running for a City Council seat in the highly contested District 1

Gil Cabrera

Gil Cabrera has been an attorney in San Diego for over fifteen years. Prior to forming The Cabrera Firm, Mr. Cabrera was a senior associate with Cooley Godward Kronish LLP and an associate with Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP where he specialized in business litigation, securities litigation, intellectual property, employment law and white collar criminal defense.
Gil’s reputation as one of the best attorneys in San Diego and has earned several awards and recognition for his work. For seven years, Gil served as an appointed Judge Pro Tem of the Superior Court. In 2000, then San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano appointed Gil to serve on the San Diego Police Department Use of Force Task Force. From 2001 through 2004, Gil also served on the Chief of Police’s Latino Advisory Committee.

In 2005, Gil was appointed by the Mayor and City Council to the San Diego Ethics Commission and served as the Ethics Commission Chairman between 2007 and 2009. During his tenure, the Ethics Commission recommended, and the City Council passed, a complete overhaul of the City’s Lobbying Ordinance, which created greater transparency of lobbying activities in San Diego. Most recently, in February 2014, Gil was appointed by Interim Mayor Todd Gloria and the San Diego City Council to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation’s Board of Directors, which oversees the operations of the San Diego Convention Center.

In 2003, Gil was appointed to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America’s National Board of Directors. In this role, Gil was responsible for overseeing the performance of every Make-A-Wish chapter in the country.

Mr. Cabrera received his J.D. from Boston College in 1997 where he served as Notes Editor for the Third World Law Journal and was a Presidential Scholar. Mr. Cabrera received his B.A. in Political Science from California State University, Fullerton in 1994. Mr. Cabrera lives in San Diego with his wife Krista and two daughters.

Barbara Bry

Barbara Bry is COO of Blackbird Ventures and has been on the founding team of two tech companies and three nonprofit organizations. At Blackbird, she uses her experience to help high-tech companies with their management needs. As a successful high-tech entrepreneur, she was a co-founder of Atcom, the leader in developing Internet kiosks and high-speed internet access in hotel rooms.

Barbara is the founder of San Diego Athena, San Diego’s premier organization for women technology executives and entrepreneurs. She spent 10 years at the University of California, San Diego where she was the first associate director of CONNECT, which has received international recognition for its efforts in linking technology entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success. She was the founding editor and CEO of Voice of San Diego, an innovative news and information Web site that has been featured nationally for its leadership in community-based journalism.

In the community, Barbara was on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the San Diego Jewish Community Foundation, and the San Diego Jewish Women’s Foundation. She and her husband Neil taught entrepreneurship at UC San Diego’s von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at the Jacobs School of Engineering. Recognized as a national leader in entrepreneurship, Barbara was also appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Barbara’s early career was as a business and political writer for the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times. She has a B.A. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. She is married to entrepreneur Neil Senturia, and the couple has four adult children and a grandson.

Podcast

November 26, 2016

December 16, 2016


This week Richard and Joe welcomed Paul Palmer and Tiffany Piquilloud.

Paul Palmer started in radio as an on-air personality at the University of Maryland radio station where he got a rare private interview with the Beatles before their first US concert. You can listen to that rare interview . Dianne Bell describes how this rare event occurred. Paul went on to a robust radio career as an on-air personality, account executive, and sales manager. Eventually, Paul ended up in San Diego as the VP and General Manager of KFMB AM and FM radio stations. For 22 years he lead these 2 major radio properties to a top-ranked position in both ratings and revenue.

After radio, Paul became President and CEO of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County for 12 years where put together a new team. He totally restructured the San Diego BBBS chapter to increase revenue and serve more children. Under his leadership, the number of youth served increased from 230 to over 1,700 and increased revenue from $450,000 to over $3,000,000.

Mr. Palmer is currently consulting with The National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC). Built on the principle that every dispute has a solution, the NCRC serves a variety of communities in both the public and private sectors. Paul has high praise for their “Avoiding the Pipeline to Prison- Alternatives for Youth”. They are turning lives around for youths that have committed a crime. Rather than sending them to Juvenile Hall they get to stay in school and work with the victim of the offense to repair the damage. It’s all about communication training, intervention with mediation and helping youth stay in school. Download more information about the program here.

In the second segment, Richard and Joe welcomed Tiffany Piquilloud, PT, MSPT, NCS. Ms. Piquilloud (“pick-you”) is a board certified specialist in neurologic physical therapy and currently serves as the Executive Director and Lead Physical Therapist at Challenge Center, a non-profit organization that provides exceptional neuro-rehabilitation to seniors and people with disabilities on a sliding scale after their insurance coverage has ended.

Tiffany’s knowledge base and experience make her a sought after speaker at a wide variety of meetings and seminars, as well as a guest lecturer at universities, doctor of physical therapy programs, occupational therapy programs, and the APTA Combined Section Meeting.

Ms. Piquilloud recently received the Most Influential Clinical Instructor Award by the students in the San Diego State University’s doctor of physical therapy program.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1991 and a Master’s of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of the Pacific in 1993. Tiffany and her husband, Blaise, have two daughters and live in Pacific Beach.

Podcast

November 26, 2016


Stephanie Staidle, the founder of The Right Brain Entrepreneur (TRBE), works with companies and entrepreneurs which are very successful; are stuck at their current levels of performance. Stephanie provides on-site workshops and tele-coaching for business professionals worldwide, educating them on the science behind achieving results in business by using ‘right brain thinking’ resulting in creative solutions to the common challenges for business owners.

TRBE was founded on the concept that western society and education train entrepreneurs and companies to build businesses using mostly ‘left brain’ processes, leaving our innate creative genius untapped which limits full human potential. By liberating your entire brain as an entrepreneur, you expand your ability to overcome challenges, improve effectiveness, and enhance the results of your business, providing an edge over your competition.

With an extensive background in psychology and the arts, Stephanie has over 10 years experience as a counselor, art therapist, and professional development coach. She has spent many years working for large corporations doing marketing and advertising for clients such as American Express and Clear Channel. She has been featured as an expert on NBC, TEDx, and for her unique methodology. You can watch videos of her appearances on NBC HERE and at SXSW HERE.

Stephanie’s book, “Master Your Mind: Six Steps to Success” https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Mind-Steps-Success-ebook/dp/B00HY350VU reveals ground breaking, scientifically supported techniques in a detailed 50-page guide so you can start innovating like Apple, Google, and Disney.

Stephanie has a BA in Psychology, Art and Music from Georgetown University and an MA in Art Therapy from New York University. She is a licensed creative art therapist in the state of New York (LCAT), and nationally board certified (ATR-BC).

Podcast

November 6, 2016
Congratulations to Mari Muscio for finishing her first New York City Marathon! Mari finished in 5 hours 13 minutes 4 seconds. Not bad for her first time especially since it was doubtful she would be able to compete at all, injuring her foot just one week before the race.

The Marathon saw some historic results. Mary Keitany won the women division for the third straight time. Keitany defended her title in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 26 seconds, one second behind her time last year.

At 20, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie became the youngest men’s winner in this event. Ghebreslassie was the first native of Eritrea to win the New York marathon. He finished his debut in 2 hours 7 minutes 51 seconds.

Before supporting Mari’s effort, Richard played in the 2016 Halloween San Dieguito Academy Community Doubles Tennis Tournament with Luke Lawver

Before jetting off to accompany Mari at the marathon, Richard played in the 2016 Halloween San Dieguito Academy Community Doubles Tennis Tournament with Luke Lawver. They did well, and it is still being debated whether Luke was supporting Richard or visa vera. They had a great time for a great fundraising event.

November 6, 2016
Congratulations to Mari Muscio finishing her first New Yor City Marathon. Mari finished in 5 hours 13 minutes 4 seconds. Not bad for her first time. And, it was doubtful she would be able to compete at all, injuring her foot just one week before the race.

The Marathon saw some historic results. Mary Keitany won the women division for the third straight time. Keitany defended her title in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 26 seconds, one second behind her time last year.
And, at 20, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie became the youngest men’s winner in this event. Ghebreslassie was the first native of Eritrea to win the New York marathon. He finished his debut in 2 hours 7 minutes 51 seconds.

Before jetting off to accompany Mari at the marathon, Richard played in the 2016 Halloween San Dieguito Academy Community Doubles Tennis Tournament. They did well, and it is still being debated whether Luke was support Richard or visa vera. They had a great time for a great fundraising event.