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Sam Beichner is the founder of Anonymous Warrior, a Davidson-based athletic and everyday apparel brand created to honor people whose strength, discipline, and sacrifice often go unrecognized. The inspiration was Sam’s stepfather, Bob, a dedicated marathoner who led through action rather than attention. After Bob died from pancreatic cancer in June 2025, Sam began running to process the loss and carry his example forward. Sam went from hating running to training for and completing a 50K ultramarathon. In 2026, after a decade with Total Quality Logistics, he left corporate life to build Anonymous Warrior full-time. The brand is now expanding into experiences, including the Mystery Miles Virtual Race — an event designed around embracing uncertainty, with participants learning the final distance only on race day.

Ritchie Russell is President of Sterling Marketing. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Ritchie brings more than 25 years of experience in marketing, new product development, and international sourcing, with expertise ranging from manufacturing and quality to finance, operations, and sales. Jonathan Russell is Vice President of Sales and Administration. He joined Sterling in 2025 after more than a decade in education, Scouting, and nonprofit fundraising, including roles with the Boy Scouts of America’s Mecklenburg County Council, United Way of Central Carolinas, and Freedom School Partners. Together, they work behind the scenes with brands on the journey from concept to sampling, manufacturing, quality control, and delivery. On this episode of the BrandBuilders Podcast, we’ll learn how Sterling got started, one man’s leap from nonprofit to apparel, and what consumers never see.

Michael Knotts is President of Knotts Builders, a family-run homebuilder serving the greater Charlotte region. A second-generation builder and graduate of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Michael began his career with Ryan Homes before joining the family business, where he has worked in project management and leadership for nearly two decades. Knotts Builders intentionally limits the number of homes it takes on each year, allowing its team to stay closely involved and guide clients through plans, selections, construction, and move-in. The company’s approach pairs thoughtfully designed floor plans with personalized details and a commitment to honesty, craftsmanship, communication, and service. Most recently, Michael and his team stepped into a national spotlight as the builder of HGTV’s 2026 Dream Home on Lake Wylie — a high-profile project that required intense collaboration and a very well-kept secret.

Lauren Ulrey is co-founder of The Queen’s Mahjery, Charlotte’s first dedicated mahjong studio. Lauren and her co-founders, Jennifer Ross and Patti Roth, met through their daughters’ gymnastics team and deepened their friendship playing mahjong in Lauren’s home. After Jennifer visited a mahjong studio in Dallas, the three saw an opportunity to create something Charlotte didn’t yet have. The result is a nearly 2,400-square-foot studio in Oakhurst Commons designed as a true third space: somewhere to play, learn, host an event, build a puzzle, share a bottle of wine, or simply spend time together. It offers memberships, individual seats, full-table reservations, private events, and all the equipment players need.

Fewer people have shaped modern Charlotte — or modern North Carolina — more than our next guest. Pat McCrory was elected to the Charlotte City Council in 1989, and then spent a record fourteen years as the city’s mayor. Along the way he chaired the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Environmental Committee for six terms, founded the North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition, and served on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council.  In 2012 he was elected the 74th Governor of North Carolina, serving from 2013 to 2017 — a term defined by tax and regulatory overhaul, transportation investment, and the fights that followed. Since leaving office he’s been a familiar voice on WBT radio in Charlotte. Now his story is the subject of a new independent biography, The Change Agent: Pat McCrory’s Rise, Reckoning and Legacy.   Governor McCrory, welcome to The BrandBuilders Podcast.

Our next guest has spent more than two decades guiding families through one of the hardest passages any of us will face. Jennifer Torpey Szakaly (pronounced “sockeye”) is the founder and CEO of Caregiving Corner, the Charlotte-based firm she launched in 2005 to help families navigate aging, caregiving and long-term care. What started as a solo vision has grown into a team serving more than three hundred clients a year across Charlotte Metro.  Her leadership reaches well beyond her own company. She sits on the national board of the Aging Life Care Association, is a Fellow of its Leadership Academy, and in 2025 joined the Board of Trustees for the Center for Guardianship Certification. She’s also a speaker, a trainer, a frequent media source, and the host of the Caregiving Corner Podcast.

Our next guest is proof that you don’t have to wait for permission — or a diploma — to start building something that matters. Justin Kornblum is a student at Tulane University and a co-founder of The Second Half Network, a career development platform built exclusively for collegiate student-athletes.  The idea behind Second Half is simple and, frankly, overdue. Ninety-nine percent of college athletes will not play their sport professionally, yet the transition out of competition is largely unmeasured and unsupported. Second Half exists to close that gap, connecting athletes with vetted mentors who are either former college athletes or professionals with at least six years in their field. Justin, welcome to The BrandBuilders Podcast!

Terri L. White is President and CEO of the Charlotte Museum of History, home to the Rock House, the oldest surviving structure in Mecklenburg County, built in 1774. She’s the first African-American to lead the museum in its history. Terri came to Charlotte in 2019 after an operations role at Lowe’s, following years of development and operations work at the Heinz History Center, the Carnegie Science Center, and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. She stepped into the CEO role in July 2022 and has spent every year since transforming what was, by her own account, an overlooked institution. Under her leadership, the museum has nearly doubled in operational size, with rising attendance, membership, and grant revenue. She was named a 2024 Charlottean of the Year for her work.

Thomas Girdwood is Senior Estimator and Project Manager at Kingdom Demolition, a Charlotte-based demolition company founded in 2016 that specializes in commercial and residential demolition, selective and total demolition, and concrete cutting services across the Carolinas. Thomas has been with the company since 2017, starting as Director of Operations before moving into estimating and project management. Kingdom Demolition operates on a philosophy grounded in the company’s biblical namesake: clearing the path forward faithfully, honestly, and responsibly.

Brent Schepel is co-founder of Replay Sports Cards, a full-service sports card retailer offering buying, selling, trading, and grading. Brent’s expertise in card grading is what launched the whole venture — he and his partner opened their first shop in Charlotte in 2021 under the name One Stop Sports. In 2024, the brand rebranded to Replay Sports Cards and shortly after opened the franchise playbook, becoming the first national franchise concept built exclusively around the sports card hobby. Since then, Replay has expanded to five shops across the country and built giving back into the brand through Replay Gives Back, which has donated over a million cards to kids nationwide.

Lynsea is a Charlotte-based singer, songwriter, and performer whose music blends acoustic folk, indie pop, and alternative rock. Raised in Texas, she began writing songs as a kid, studied at Berklee College of Music, and later worked as Record Label Manager for Elevation Worship Records before committing full-time to her own music.  In 2024, QC Nerve named her Charlotte’s Best Pop Artist. Later, she earned a residency at the Ritz-Carlton Charlotte, and grants to release her music in multiple languages. Then, on September 20, 2025, everything changed. Lynsea was riding to the airport with her sister when an impaired driver ran a red light and hit their car. She suffered a traumatic brain injury, endured two brain surgeries, and spent a month in the hospital. Six months later, she walked back on stage. This is a conversation about art, identity, and what it means to rebuild a career — and a life — from the ground up. Lynsea, welcome to the BrandBuilders Podcast!

Jason Watson is a for-real serial entrepreneur. His career reads like a highlight reel of reinvention: He started in business development at American Woodmark and Bridgeway Media before founding Dublin Dog in 2006. He eventually sold that to Remington Outdoor Company in 2012. There, he launched RK9, a division building specialized canine products for law enforcement and defense.  In 2018, he founded Recon K9, developing K9 products for military and federal agencies, while simultaneously becoming SVP of Sales and Business Development and a Partner at The Dog Wizard. Jason has built brands, sold them, rebuilt them, and given back — all while staying remarkably consistent about the one thing he clearly loves most: dogs. Jason, welcome to The BrandBuilders Podcast!

Trent Bailey is the co-founder of ParWalker, a Charlotte-based startup that makes premium accessories designed specifically for walking golfers. Trent spent years in the marketing world — at NASCAR, at Ingersoll Rand, at Club Car, and most recently as Digital Marketing Director at Training The Street. He knows brands. He knows products. And apparently, he also knows what it’s like to be out on the course with a cold drink that won’t stay cold and a golf bag that wasn’t built for someone on foot. ParWalker launched in May 2026, and Trent is right in the thick of building a brand from the ground up, in a category that’s having a real moment, as more and more golfers rediscover the joy of walking the course. Trent Bailey, welcome to the BrandBuilders Podcast!

Skip Norris is the President of The Building Center, one of the largest privately held lumber and building products companies in the United States. The company was founded in Charlotte in 1977 by his father, Ed Norris. And what started as a single building supply operation has grown into a vertically integrated powerhouse with lumberyards, truss plants, custom millwork operations, and door shops all across the Carolinas. We’re talking over 400 employees, a fleet of trucks that’s the largest in the Carolinas, and more than a dozen locations stretching from Boone all the way down to the South Carolina coast. What makes this story especially interesting is how Skip has grown a business that his father built while keeping the values that made it worth growing in the first place. Skip, welcome to the BrandBuilders Podcast.

Andrea Swope is a founding force behind Blueprint Financial Advisors — a Charlotte-based registered investment advisor that launched in 2021 with a single advisor and a little over $20 million in assets. Fast forward to the end of 2025, and Blueprint is managing $1.4 billion. That’s not a typo. But what makes Andrea’s story compelling isn’t just the growth. It’s the how. Blueprint was built on a philosophy that, frankly, you don’t hear a lot in the financial world: put the advisor first. Handle all the infrastructure, compliance, operations, technology, and asset management behind the scenes, so the advisor can stay front and center with their clients.  In 2024, Blueprint doubled down on that vision in a big way, acquiring a broker-dealer, launching Blueprint Insurance Services, and creating a brand new ETF. It’s a full-service financial platform, built right here in Charlotte.  Andrea, welcome to the BrandBuilders Podcast!