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Building the City You Want

Building the City You Want

by | Dec 15, 2017 | Buzz, December 2017/January 2018

Raleigh’s newly re-elected mayor on bringing the city together and her priorities for the next two years. 

Last month, Mayor Nancy McFarlane cruised to reelection to her fourth term in a runoff race, besting her opponent Charles Francis by winning a decisive 58 percent of the vote. As in the October race, Francis won all of the precincts in east Raleigh, which has a large African American population and is gentrifying quickly, displacing longtime residents. But McFarlane’s 31,469 votes, compared to Francis’ 22,983, brought her out on top in the majority of precincts across the city.

This was the first race since the politically unaffiliated mayor was elected in 2011 that she had to put up any sort of a fight for the seat. Francis, a Democrat, was a highly qualified, well-financed challenger whose message of greater economic equity, better public transportation and more affordable housing resonated with many voters, especially those in poorer precincts.

McFarlane says she hasn’t let that go unnoticed and that she is committed to improving the quality of life for Raleigh residents who haven’t benefitted as much as others from the city’s explosive growth.

“I heard this year from people who feel disconnected from the city and felt like they have not been included and that they were not aware of what is going on,” McFarlane says. “That’s going to be more important going forward. The city is growing quickly and people felt like they were left behind. Often, these are people that may have two jobs and are working hard. We need to figure how people are engaging in the city and what citizen engagement means to them.”

To this end, McFarlane suggests forming more and stronger partnerships between the city and organizations such as churches, nonprofits and community centers where citizens may already be active and involved. She points to the Pathway Center in southeast Raleigh, a partnership between the city, the Capital Area Workforce Development Board and Wake Tech, that connects members of the public to job skills training, internship opportunities, mentoring and tech-for-hire programs and other services that provide a pathway to future career success.

“Across the country, we are seeing a divide, where income inequality is greater in cities,” McFarlane says. “In southeast Raleigh, what I heard from the community was help entering the job market was one of the biggest things they asked for.”

McFarlane says continuing to manage growth, including dealing with increasing property values and traffic and adding to the stock of affordable housing will also be priorities for the council over the next two years. She says she’s looking forward to seeing major projects she’s been heavily involved with come to fruition, including completing the Dix Park Master Plan, launching the city’s part in the Wake County Transit Plan and opening Union Station.

Though she’s hinted at winding down her time in public service, McFarlane says she’s not sure where the city will be in two years so won’t rule out running for a fifth term. But she is interested in getting more young people involved with city affairs so that when the time comes, the next generation of leaders is engaged and ready to step up and guide Raleigh’s future.

“It’s incredible when you think about the city’s growth in ten years, all the new people and ideas,” McFarlane says. “Raleigh is a great place to be and we got here by doing great planning. For me, it’s all about continuing to plan well. It’s about building the city you want and not just taking the one that’s handed to you.”

A Mind For Marketing

A Mind For Marketing

by | Dec 15, 2017 | Buzz, December 2017/January 2018

When Tom Simon was a sophomore at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., he made some business cards to bring with him to a music conference. A rep from Republic Records took notice of his go-getting; Simon bagged an internship at the company, and, after graduating, a job in Universal Music Group’s international marketing department. Flash forward 15 years and the onetime college radio station director just sold a tech startup he co-founded and marketed, to Facebook for an undisclosed (and likely hefty) price tag.

Simon’s path from music marketing manager to tech entrepreneur began in 2008 when he decided to leave his job at Universal over burgers and beers at bingo night in Hoboken, N.J. He loaded up a moving van, drove to Raleigh with his fiancé-now-wife, Tera, and soon found a marketing job at Geomagic, a software company known for creating 3D data.

Ultimately, Geomagic was sold to 3D Systems, a 3D printer manufacturer. Simon and a group of former Google engineers went on to found Source3, the content-rights management startup that enables users to share digital content, including art and music, and get paid without their work being pirated. The rest, as they say, is history.

We asked Simon, a fixture at downtown co-working space HQ Raleigh, to share his career path and his plans for what’s next.

How did your experience working in the record industry translate to the tech world?

My heart was always in tech. It was challenging, like anything else, you have to tell a story. I knew digital music was the future and there were initiatives I got involved with on the legal and licensing side. Getting here, being able to talk that language and giving roughshod around how marketing can translate in that capacity, I was able to slowly open doors. I was just willing to learn. I went to a 3D Reverse Engineering and Inspection company and four years before that, I was selling Nelly records in Singapore. But I knew what I needed to do and had to sell it and get people convinced and excited.

What is Source3 and how did it come about?

Source3 started as a 3D content distribution and licensing platform, with the goal of creating a space where people could upload content and push it off to various marketplaces. Our guys had a history in licensing, so we wanted to get brands onboard and get them excited about our adding in the manufacturing component. We continued to build that way until January of 2016. We raised $4.5 million in seed funding, which was great and it helped us tremendously

How did Source 3 catch Facebook’s attention?

We had rebranded ourselves as a content identification or image recognition and rights management platform, for user-generated content. So we moved away from the manufacturing side. That pivot is what got the attention of Facebook down the line. We hired all these data researchers to help us build this component. Part of what we were trying to solve had a social element. Facebook recognized that and, whether it was digital video content or music content or other things, it recognized it had a need to get content creators to share their work and get paid. They came to us to talk about doing a project and we started working with them and things grew from there.

What can you tell us about the sale?

When it became clear this was going to happen, we started focusing on building the right tools and processes and the team components Facebook needed. It was a long process and I was fortunate to have a great team of co-founders that lived through it with me. So there was due diligence, all sorts of stuff you have to go through, show them everything, any app the company ever used…it’s like buying a house, only way more aggressive. People ask, how did you sell the company? It was never I, we sold the company, the 13 people in the building that day. We got to a merger agreement on July 24th, and when 4:30 p.m. came along, we made the announcement since Facebook is publicly traded. After that, it was a race to finish all the other stuff off and get the team over to Facebook.

How do co-working spaces like HQ Raleigh fuel the tech industry here?

Raleigh’s co-working community is unique in in this country but more importantly, it fosters that ability for people to work together and collaborate together and, honestly, to help each other out. When you’re an entrepreneur, you start something and it’s completely anti- what a normal 9-5 business structure is, and it’s hard to talk about that with other people. But you find it within (HQ Raleigh), and you build those relationships and they help you grow.

You have a new endeavor on the horizon. What can you tell us about it?

It’s Raleigh-based with a partner of mine who I admire very much in this area; he’s an entrepreneur I’m really excited to work with. It is a whole departure from tech. It will be more in the pet space. It’s coming pretty soon, I’m excited about it, and it’s going to be fun. Everyone loves pets!

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

It’s not just tech, but Raleigh is growing up, whether it’s to start you own company doing vaporware or a company doing pet stuff, this is a great area to do it in. It has a great network and tons of resources at your disposal and I have been in meetings, and had conversations with people where there is more coming, lots more. The founder of LinkedIn said it’s about jumping off a cliff and building an airplane on the way down. This is the greatest place to try to do that. You will always have someone to lift you up if you need some help along the way. I love this town and where we’re headed. It’s my first and last stop in the south.

CurEat Celebrates First Anniversary

CurEat Celebrates First Anniversary

by | Dec 15, 2017 | December 2017/January 2018, Eat

Raleigh entrepreneur Steve Magano’s CurEat app announces its support for and engagement with No Kid Hungry, a nationally recognized nonprofit that works to end child hunger. As the app celebrates its first anniversary, CurEat is adding new features, including highlighting chefs who work with No Kid Hungry. Chefs across the country, such as Raleigh’s own Ashley Christensen, have been dedicated supporters for many years and CurEat has added a badge to indicate chefs’ support of the nonprofit. Other local chefs with this badge include Garland’s Cheetie Kumar.

“I believe CurEat can be a positive voice, helping diners align their values with their restaurant selections,” says Mangano. “Future enhancements will include adding other national badges as well as users’ ability to filter by these features.”

CurEat has expanded rapidly beyond its Triangle base, and CurEaters continue to make best-of lists across the country. Award-winning, influential chefs and industry professionals continue to join the CurEat community each week.

Here’s a list of some new CurEaters:

Katie Button, Asheville (Curate, Nightbell) Executive Chef/Co-Owner

Andre Mack, New York City (Winemaker, Mouton Noir)

Kathleen Purvis, Charlotte (Food Writer)

Richard Gorelick, Baltimore (Former Food Critic)

Steven Satterfield, Atlanta, (Miller Union) Executive Chef/Co-Owner & current James Beard Award Winner Best Chef Southeast

Cocktail Bandits, Charleston (Authors, bloggers, educators)

Griffin Bufkin, Sea Island, GA (Southern Soul BBQ) Owner/Pitmaster

Jason Restivo, Savannah, GA (The Atlantic) Owner

Jesse Roque, Hendersonville, NC (Never Blue) Chef/Owner

Brice Moffett, Charlotte (Moffett Restaurant Group) Executive Chef/Owner

Matthew Krenz, Charlotte (Asbury) Executive Chef

Thomas Card, Durham (Counting House) Executive Chef

Kenny Gilbert, Jacksonville, FL (Gilbert Social) Executive Chef/Owner

Wylon Rivers, Jacksonville, FL (Black Sheep) Executive Chef

Tom Gray, Jacksonville, FL (Moxie, Town Hall) Executive Chef/Owner

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival

Get Your Feet Wet

Get Your Feet Wet

by | Dec 15, 2017 | December 2017/January 2018, Polish, Stuff

For a uniquely indulgent experience, try Asheville’s Wake Foot Sanctuary. 

Chinese medicine teaches that the feet are a map to the body’s internal organs and foot care is essential to holistic health. In Thailand, massage therapists line the streets offering reflexology foot massage, an ancient therapeutic procedure, to passersby. In Japan, people relax at ashiyu, or public spas, where they bathe their feet in water from volcanic hot springs.

Wake Foot Sanctuary in downtown Asheville’s Grove Arcade combines the philosophies and customs of east Asia, the soak and rub, for an experience that’s soothing, restorative and utterly indulgent. If you’re looking to unwind this winter, the foot spa is not to be missed on your next trip to the bohemian mountain town.

“We’re on our feet every day, and the older we get, the longer we’ve been on them,” says Lisa Kiebzak, the sanctuary’s director. Indeed, average humans are said to walk more than 100,000 miles in their lifetimes.

“For a lot of people, the feet are the last thing we pay attention to,” Kiebzak continues. “But you know, when you address the feet, you’re working the circulation and relaxing your whole body. The effect is profound.”

Wake Foot Sanctuary, the only foot spa of its kind in North Carolina and one of just a few in the United States, has grown rapidly since it opened in May of 2012 and its staff has been known to have to turn away up to 25 walk-in customers a day. The sanctuary is named after owners Melissa and Brian Long’s beloved pet dog, Wake, and the couple strives to replicate their late pet’s loving nature in the services they provide to their customers.

I, for one, am won over pretty quickly.

I arrive at the sanctuary on Asheville’s first truly cold day of the season, eager to relax and warm up. In a light, airy, curiously quiet reception area, stashed with organic cosmetics and locally made crafts and jewelry, staffers whisper to me, Zen-like, about their services.

What kind of foot soak would I like? I choose the Lavender Chamomile. Would I like a hand, foot or head, neck and shoulder massage? I go, somewhat boringly, with the upper body. Would I like tea? Of course! I order a blend of chamomile and vanilla bean. I decline the organic baked treats mostly because, as someone who gets a pedicure maybe once a year when my feet unbearably resemble a gargoyle’s, I already feel like I’m over-indulging.

After changing into slippers, I’m led into a darkened room with plush chairs, gray walls and gold accent pieces. Kelly, a massage therapist, brings me my pot of tea, a warm neck wrap, and a hand-hammered copper cauldron with my sudsy soak, topped with dried flower petals. I dip my toes, a little gingerly at first, into the fragrant hot water. After a few seconds, I go ahead and take the plunge up to my knees. The soak feels and smells like a hot bubble bath and it warms me to the core. I sip tea for a few minutes until Kelly comes back for my 20-minute massage. It’s so relaxing, I nearly fall asleep.

“That’s not uncommon,” Kelly says, laughing. When it’s all done, my feet dried and powdered, I’m a little reluctant to have to get up and actually walk on them again.

The soak lasts for 45 minutes, and the massages—you can get as many as you like at a time—last for either 20 or 40 minutes. If you want to go all-out, order the Jet Setter package for $160; it comes with tea and truffles, three separate massages and a 90-minute soak. If you’re feeling thrifty, just get a soak for $25-$30. If you’re not sure, you’re welcome to order soaks and massages à la carte when you get there.

Winter, weekends and holidays are the spa’s busiest times, however, so Kiebzak advises getting familiar with the sanctuary’s website and figuring out what you want beforehand. Kiebzak says the spa does all it can to accommodate customers on the day they arrive, but it’s best to go in with a game plan; dropping in while shopping or taking in the sights can be a bit of a gamble, so plan your visit accordingly.

With Wake’s success (and its opportunities to franchise), it’s hard to imagine the foot sanctuary concept won’t catch on quickly here in the U.S. The national spa industry recently surpassed $16.8 billion in annual revenue, according to the International Spa Association (ISPA), and it continues to grow in terms of revenues, locations and number of visits.

There’s something unique about TLC to the feet, though, that you won’t necessarily experience in other spa settings. There’s no undressing, no climbing onto a table, and you can enjoy the experience with someone else. Foot massage and care improves circulation and mood, reduces anxiety, tension and fatigue and relieves aches and pains to be sure. It’s also a practice that’s been with us since the beginning of recorded time, as evidenced in the Old Testament and else-where.

“It’s how you showed reverence for someone, humbling yourself and washing their feet,” says Kiebzak. “For us, there’s an unspoken sacredness about this. It’s very intimate and beautiful.”

Wake Foot Sanctuary is located at 1 Page Ave., Suite 115 in Asheville. Learn more at wakespa.com.