Host Alex Rich sits down with siblings Jason, Jonathan, and Katie Kootman, the fourth generation behind Trimarc, for a wide-ranging conversation on family business, sibling dynamics, and Jewish identity in St. Louis. The three trace Trimarc's path from a single leaky trailer office — where their dad refused to invest a dime until they proved they were serious — to a full-scale operation serving steel fabricators, machine shops, and aerospace manufacturers across the region, with a business name their mom coined for the three of them the day they all came aboard together.

They share how they split ownership evenly with no sibling hierarchy, why blunt honesty (not diplomacy) is what actually keeps three co-owners aligned, and why none of them think of it as "just work." Katie then walks through the family's food and faith traditions: matzo ball soup passed down from their grandmother, chopped eggs and onions in a Jell-O mold, homemade challah attempts, and the temple music and cantor impressions that first connected them to Judaism as kids.

The conversation turns to their long-running "Bros Dinner" tradition with childhood friends — 60-plus dinners deep, complete with credit card roulette and post-meal awards for best food and service — and to what it means to grow up Jewish in St. Louis, from summers at Camp Sabra and the Maccabi Games to how they're thinking about raising Jewish kids of their own amid a climate of rising antisemitism. It closes with reflections on earning their dad's trust, pride in carrying the family name forward, and always rooting for your own.

🎙️ Jews in The Lou highlights Jewish individuals making an impact in the St. Louis community.

Host Alex Rich sits down with Andrew Cohen, CEO of Moose Media and co-founder of the Dad Pad, for a wide-ranging conversation on family business, entrepreneurship, and Jewish identity. Andrew traces Moosylvania's path from a napkin deal with Bacardi to a national creative agency built by his father, and shares how he found his own lane inside it — from an early sports blog to landing Cedric the Entertainer as a client. He then dives into the origin story of the Dad Pad: a hospital-couch mattress he improvised for his own kid's birth that turned into a real product, including the $20,000 wired to a stranger overseas, the brutal early stretch of just 12 sales, and the viral TikTok that changed everything. The conversation turns to what it means to raise Jewish kids today, the pride and pressure of visible Jewish identity online and in daily life, and why sharing your idea — even with strangers — beats sitting on it. It closes with reflections on fatherhood, community, and always rooting for your own.

On this episode of Jews in the Lou, Alex and Rich sit down with brothers Ben and Eddie Cherry of Manor Real Estate, a 50-year-old family commercial real estate firm founded by their father, Don Cherry. Ben and Eddie share what it was like growing up tagging along on their dad's property visits, the different paths they each took before joining the business together in 2021, and the mentors — including Michael Steinberg — who shaped their careers along the way.

The conversation goes beyond the deals: Ben and Eddie talk candidly about working alongside a sibling, the pro bono real estate work they do for St. Louis nonprofits and synagogues, and their perspective on revitalizing downtown St. Louis and changing the city's "perception problem." They also open up about faith, fatherhood, the values (like kindness) they're passing on to their own kids, and why family — not just business — is at the center of everything they do.

Thanks as always to our partner, the Saint Louis Jewish Light, for supporting this show and keeping our community informed — subscribe to their newsletter at stljewishlight.org.

Want to connect with Ben or Eddie about a commercial real estate need? Reach Manor Real Estate at (314) 647-6611.