The Mobile Alabama Business Podcast

Hosted by Blue Fish - Mobile, AL

BusinessInterviews guestsExplicit

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

We conduct interviews of local business owners and leaders in the business community. We'll be asking questions about their business. What it is exactly that they do (a chance to plug their product/services). How they got started. Things they've learned along the way. Advice they would give to a new entrepreneur and more.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 9, 20261 hr 5 min

From Marines to Restoration: Stuart Clark Building Paul Davis Restoration in Mobile

Stuart Clark, owner of Paul Davis Restoration of Mobile and North Baldwin County, shares his background growing up in West Mobile, moving to New York, dropping out of high school to earn a GED, and briefly studying at Key West Community College before fighting forest fires in Oregon and joining the Marines. He discusses his approach to succeeding across industries by focusing on systems, financials, and process. Clark explains how a traumatic house fire and a poor restoration experience led him to start a restoration business built on technology-driven contents tracking, transparency, and proactive problem-solving. He also highlights adopting Traction/EOS, engaging in local industry groups and community networking.

May 13, 2026Episode 101 hr 0 min

Healthspan and Wellness: Insights from Blake Martin

Blake Martin, director of coaching and performance for Telomere (parent company of Connexus Clinic), shares his Mobile, Alabama roots and explains why he started Connexus Clinic nearly four years ago after leaving a stable career. He describes the clinic's mission as helping people feel good and enjoy the time they have left by focusing on "health span," not just extending life with pills. Blake emphasizes taking time to talk with patients and prioritizing human-to-human connection, especially as more people come in with questions or concerns about peptides they've ordered online. He also critiques one-size-fits-all wellness advice popular on Instagram and TikTok, noting that approaches like intermittent fasting vary by individual and what works for one person may not work for another.

April 29, 2026Episode 952 min

From Skating Rinks to Bail Bonds: The Chris McNeil Story

Chris McNeil, owner of Metro Bonding, Outlaw Bail Bonds, and Mobile Bonding, shares his Mobile, Alabama background, early jobs at a restaurant and Skate World, and how he entered bail bonds in high school. He explains a bail bondsman's core role, posting bonds and guaranteeing defendants' court appearances, along with the realities of tracking fugitives across states and working with law enforcement. McNeil discusses how the industry has evolved in Alabama with new licensing and education requirements, his leadership as president of the state association. He recounts his involvement with Dog the Bounty Hunter.

April 9, 2026Episode 848 min

Silicon Ranch CEO Reagan Farr on Solar, Rural Economic Development & the Stockton Project

Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO of Silicon Ranch, shares his background from Louisiana to Nashville, early lessons working at a Baton Rouge drugstore, and how his tenure in Tennessee state government led to founding Silicon Ranch in 2011. He explains what shaped the company's strategy as they started during the 2008–2010 downturn. Farr addresses community concerns and pushback around the Stockton, Alabama project, citing a similar experience in Bacon County, Georgia and emphasizing safety, wetlands avoidance, tax benefits, local jobs, and agrivoltaics with sheep and cattle. ** Show note: Apologies about the sound. We had an issue that meant the audio was not as good towards the end but we felt strongly enough about putting the episode out that we are releasing it.

March 26, 2026Episode 740 min

Navigating Life's Turns: Joe Carlisle's Story of Comedy, Adventure, and Business

In this podcast episode, Joe Carlisle, founder of Vision Handyman and Window Tinting, shares his life story and entrepreneurial journey. Born in Oxford, Mississippi and raised partly in Dallas, Joe worked in his dad's restaurants, then spent years with Best Buy in retail and home theater installation, learning hands-on skills that later shaped his career. After his younger brother died, he moved to Mobile to be near family, later bouncing between Hattiesburg, New Orleans, Dallas, and even New Zealand. He pursued standup comedy seriously in Austin before returning to Mississippi later relocating to Mobile and facing major challenges rebuilding Vision Handyman. 00:00 Meet Joe Carlisle 00:35 Growing Up Dallas Mississippi 01:22 Best Buy Years And Loss 02:28 New Zealand Reset 03:23 Austin Standup Grind 04:37 Starting Handyman Business 05:20 Moving Markets And Google 07:12 Window Tinting Listing Fight 08:17 Life As An Expat 12:11 First Jobs In Food 14:24 From AV To Trades 20:07 Advice For New Owners 20:51 Passion vs Career Cars 22:27 Elite Pressure F1 Jobs 23:22 E-Myth Systems Mindset 26:15 Take Care of People 28:58 Mobile Comedy Scene 33:36 Rapid Fire Favorites 35:16 Family Gratitude Outro

March 18, 2026Episode 640 min

Water, Work, and Wisdom: A Conversation with Thomas Irving

Thomas Irving, owner of Pool and Spa Superstore, joins the podcast to share his background and how he entered the pool industry, helped grow a distribution/retail business, bought the retail business, and built a customer-focused company centered on education and stress-free pool ownership. He discusses treating "sales" as educating customers, and emphasizes building relationships because Mobile runs on word-of-mouth. He also highlights the importance of a strong team, consistency, and shares personal interests like cooking and travel.

March 16, 2026Episode 653 min

Art, History, and Life Lessons with Trey Oliver of Lupercalia Art Society

Trey Oliver, co-owner with his wife Laura Kennedy of the Lupercalia Art Society, shares his background growing up in Jackson and Mobile, serving four years in the Coast Guard in North Carolina during marijuana-smuggling days, and completing a 47-year public safety career culminating as warden of the Mobile Metro Jail before retiring three years ago. He recounts early jobs, joining the junior volunteer fire department, and working nights as a dispatcher and jailer in high school. Oliver explains how walking the beach Dauphin Island and seeing the driftwood inspired him to create driftwood assemblage art. He describes Lupercalia as an art society with a gallery that is focused on providing top notch customer service.

March 6, 2026Episode 446 min

Behind the Scenes with Sock Cop: A Decade of Puppetry and Creativity

Jason Cooper, is the Mobile native behind the sock-puppet character "Sock Cop." Jason shares his background growing up in Saraland, graduating with a degree in communications, earning a master's in digital marketing during the pandemic, and working in local news and marketing. Now a stay-at-home dad to a six-year-old, he explains how Sock Cop began as a solo creative outlet using a sock, police hat, sunglasses, and green screen, evolving into a live, community-driven act focused on "catching speeders." as Sock Cop likes to put it. Jason discusses perfectionism, the importance of shipping work before it's perfect, and how livestreaming on Periscope—and now primarily Twitch—helped build an audience and led to merchandise sales. Sock Cop joins for rapid-fire favorites and reiterates his strict anti-speeding message. Sponsored by Blue Fish.

March 5, 2026Episode 314 min

Success Behind the Lens: A Conversation with Jon Jeffress

Jon Jeffress, owner of Deep South Focus Photography, shares his background from Tampa to Mobile, attending Davidson High School, starting college with plans for architecture, and choosing entrepreneurship instead. He reflects on his first job at Little Caesars, and discusses lessons about leadership and client service. Jon explains how Deep South Focus began in 2012 with automotive photography at car shows using an on-site mobile print and framing setup, then expanded into real estate media in 2019 and commercial work. He emphasizes the power of professional photos and video in home marketing, the value of repeat business, and key business principles like taking care of employees, avoiding micromanagement, offering benefits, and pricing appropriately to maintain cash flow.

February 26, 2026Episode 236 min

Entrepreneurial Journey: A talk with OpenTruck's Founders Cole Howard and Camp Campbell

In this podcast episode, Cole Howard and Camp Campbell, co-founders of Open Truck, share their backgrounds and how they came to start OpenTruck. Cole and Camp discuss early job lessons, and reflect on entrepreneurship as a discipline built through effort and failure. They explain Open Truck's origin: a need for one place to find any food truck that is located near you. It will also tell you their hours, menus, and specials and you won't have to rely on scattered Facebook posts. The iOS app launched January 27 and reached nearly 800 local users in about a week, with an Android version targeted for April 1. You can find the app at getopentruck.com. Sponsored by Blue Fish & Landshark Promotions