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Dennis House is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and is celebrated as one of Connecticut's most influential figures. One of his first big breaks was breaking the rules to get an interview with President Ronald Reagan. For the last 30 years he's brought a local perspective to some of the biggest news stories and has appeared nationally in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, MSNBC and many others. Today, Dennis anchors the nightly newscasts at WTNH News 8. We talk about the move to WTNH, overcoming adversity and his childhood aspiration of always wanting to work in news. Let's get UpFront with Dennis House. More on Dennis House: www.dennishouse.tv

Carl Zuanelli is the CEO of Nuovo Pasta. On this episode he shares his incredible story of working in banking and later leaving to start Nuovo Pasta. He walked into a local restaurant and asked the owner to teach him how to make pasta. Carl is the founder and CEO of Nuovo Pasta, the president of the International Pasta Association and the past chair of the National Pasta Association. Carl says it takes a leap of faith to start a company. We talk about this and his love of doodling, how to convince investors that your idea will work and the power of intention. Let’s get UpFront with Carl Zuanelli from Nuova Pasta. More about Carl Zuanelli and Nuovo Pasta: www.nuovopasta.com www.carlzuanelli.com

Suzanne McKenzie is the founder and chief creative officer of Able Made, the Original Off Pitch Soccer Style brand that combines soccer-inspired apparel and accessories with responsible manufacturing and giving back. Suzanne has a great love and appreciation for design that dates back to her early childhood. She’s worked in the advertising and design consultancy world for numerous global brands and then a life changing event led her to start Able Made. We talk about what it takes to start a fashion brand with a purpose, what it was like to cold call Anna Wintour at Vogue Magazine and how design saved her life. Let’s get UpFront with Suzanne McKenzie. More about Suzanne McKenzie and Able Made: www.ablemadeshop.com

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin is the Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). Michelle has helped NAMLE grow to be the preeminent media literacy education association in the U.S. Other accomplishments include launching the first ever Media Literacy Week in the country, forging strategic partnerships with Thomson Reuters, Meta, YouTube, and Nickelodeon to name a few. She has spoken at countless conferences and in the media regarding the importance of media literacy education.  Her passion for media literacy education stems from a very personal place, which we’ll learn more about in this episode. We dive into what media literacy is, why it’s important and learn more about Michelle’s love of baseball, the theater and how to overcome some of life’s most unexpected challenges. More about Michelle and NAMLE: www.namle.net

Where do we begin? For starters, Ann Nyberg has spent more than 40 years in television news. She’s the longest-serving female news anchor/reporter in Connecticut television history. You’ve probably seen her on WTNH News 8 for the 5, 6, 10 or 11 o’clock nightly newscasts. Or, maybe you’ve caught her own show called “NYBERG” where she interviews all sorts of interesting guests. Ann’s list of accomplishments is impressive. In 2015 she was inducted into the Silver Circle, an honor given to television professionals who have made significant contributions to their community and to the vitality of the television industry. Ann has also been voted the Best News Anchor for a decade in the Connecticut Magazine readers’ poll, has been nominated for multiple Emmys, published two books, founded a charity, and was awarded the Spirit of the Katharine Hepburn Award. Above all else she is devoted to her family and enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren. So how does she keep going? What inspires her? What kind of lessons has she learned throughout her career? We find this out and so much more! Connect with Ann Nyberg: www.wtnh.com www.twitter.com/AnnNyberg

That's a wrap! The second season of UpFront featured inspiring conversations from some of Connecticut's top business and community leaders who are doing amazing things. This episode highlights some of our favorite segments of advice on leadership, failure, daily routines and more. Kick back and enjoy this UpFront wrap-up with Scot Haney (WFSB), Chef Tyler Anderson, Jill Meyer (Bead Industries), Claire Criscuolo (Claire's Corner Copia), Matthew Berry (NBC Sports), Alexander Williams (Blue Earth Compost), Michael Field (Mason) and Jeff Brooks (Giv Coffee). About Mason: www.mason23.com www.twitter.com/mason_inc www.linkedin.com/company/mason-inc

Episode 18. Jeff Brooks (Giv Coffee) Jeff Brooks is the co-founder of Giv Coffee along with his wife Emily. After visiting friends in Kentucky who owned a coffee company with a philanthropic purpose, they were inspired that a great cup coffee could be tied to a bigger cause and giving back. Jeff, a coffee connoisseur himself, started roasting his own beans and in the fall of 2011 Giv Coffee was born. We talk about what it’s like to run a growing coffee company, traveling the world to source Fair Trade beans and how his faith keeps him grounded, helped him overcome challenges and guides his decision-making process. Let’s get UpFront with Jeff Brooks. More on Giv Coffee: www.givcoffee.com

Michael Field is Vice President and Executive Creative Director here at Mason. We’ve been talking about doing this special episode for quite some time to introduce him to our audience and to get to know him a little better. Prior to joining Mason, Michael held creative positions at agencies such as Ogilvy Health, Atmosphere BBDO, and others throughout the country. He’s also a big soccer fan, with a deep passion for the sport. What does a creative director do? Why is good not good enough and how do you get to great? We’ll find out and much more… let's get UpFront with Michael Field. More on Michael Field: www.twitter.com/mikedavidfield www.mason23.com

Let’s talk trash on this episode. No, really. And why you should think more about your garbage. When it comes to throwing our food away, and I don’t mean to offend anyone here, but most of us just toss it in the garbage. Or maybe we put it in the sink disposal and grind it up. But throwing it away is bad. Why? Well, we’re about to find out…   Alexander Williams is the owner & the director of operations at Blue Earth Compost. After purchasing the fledgling business in April 2014, Alex has grown the company into a full-service food scrap collection business with 12 employees and approximately 2,000 customers. In 2017, in recognition of his efforts to solve the food waste crisis, Alex received the Northeast Recycling Council’s Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award – Young Professional. That’s no easy feat.   I know I learned a thing or two from this episode about food waste, and I hope you will too…

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” - Queen If you play fantasy sports, then you know who Matthew Berry is. He’s an expert on the subject and helped popularize it from being a backroom secret to a pop culture phenomenon. And if you follow him, then you are probably aware that he has left ESPN. It’s important to note that this episode was recorded before his ESPN departure and you may hear some references to things that seem out of time or place. Matthew’s story is inspiring. It’s an incredible story of perseverance and never giving up on your dreams. We talk about what it was like to grow up in football-heaven Texas, his days of being a Hollywood show writer on “Married With Children”, how he became a New York Times best-selling author and yes, all things fantasy sports. Let’s get UpFront with Matthew Berry. More on Matthew Berry: www.twitter.com/MatthewBerryTMR

Claire LaPia and Frank Criscuolo were married on February 22, 1975. Claire was a registered nurse and Frank was a musician who played bass and lead guitar. The two were madly in love and wanted to spend as much time as possible together. The solution? Start a business and work together! Claire loved to cook and was raised in a traditional Italian-American family. Her mother was obsessed with eating delicious, fresh, homemade food. Her mother’s mantras were “eat this, it’s good for you” and “we don’t eat foods with ingredients I can’t pronounce”. Claire wanted to cook that way for the masses and opened Claire’s Corner Copia on September 17, 1975. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. If you’ve ever been to New Haven, it’s right there in the heart of the city on the corner of Chapel and College Street. It’s a New Haven institution and Claire’s was organic before it was a trend and marketing buzz word. Claire Criscuolo joins us and shares her story of growing up in Worcester Square, the story behind the Corner Copia name, her undying passion for good food and all of the lessons learned running her own kitchen.

UpFront with Jill Mayer Bead Industries Chances are you probably have never heard of Bead Industries, i didn’t… but I can guarantee that you know two of the many products they’ve made. The first is the beaded-light pull chain that you use to turn a light on and off. The second are the dog tag chains for the US Military that they manufactured during World War Two. Founded in 1914, Bead Industries is comprised of two divisions - Bead Chain and Bead Electronics, and a wholly-owned subsidiary, McGuire Manufacturing Company. All of them are based here in Connecticut. Jill Mayer is the current CEO and the fifth generation of this family business, who took over running the company from her father in 2014 and has built on his legacy by transforming the organizational culture through innovation, shared purpose and accountability. We talk a lot about that in this episode. She’s fiercely passionate about manufacturing and is the President of ManufactureCT, Connecticut’s largest manufacturing association, a board member of the CBIA and is active in Vistage and Women in Manufacturing. Let’s get UpFront with Jill Mayer and learn about what inspires her, how you can transform a company culture and what it’s like to run a family manufacturing business. www.beadindustries.com