A bourbon night that starts with Pappy Van Winkle and ends with purpose doesn’t happen by accident. We pulled back the curtain on how a fourth-year charity tasting in Bentonville raised around $100,000 while keeping the room small, the music live, and the vibe unmistakably warm. From a honey-finished Buffalo Trace that opened up with a few drops of water to VIP bottles at every seat, every detail was designed to turn great pours into generous bids without feeling pushy.

We brought in Scotty Hasting, an up-and-coming Nashville artist and veteran who rebuilt his musicianship after being wounded, and his story anchored the night. That through-line, craft meeting resilience, connected the tasting to the cause in a way slides never could. The auction stayed fresh with experiential lots: a bourbon locker concept, custom art, private tastings, and a dessert twist that stole the show; salted caramel bourbon vanilla ice cream made from donated bottles, offered both as a sweet finish and a “name-your-flavor” auction prize.

Behind the scenes, we refined mechanics that guests actually feel. Pre-poured one-ounce bottles replaced chaotic table pours, turning the lineup into a guided journey. Catering served food hot and flavorful, bartenders handled classics for non-tasters, and our hosts opened a barn that guests never wanted to leave. Demand spiked, tables spoken for months ahead and last-minute calls asking for any spare tickets, which raised the big question: how do we grow impact without growing headcount? Our plan: keep the room intimate, add a small silent auction and a low-barrier door raffle, and test a pre-party with a single rare bottle and simple food to prime the pump.

If you care about bourbon, community, veterans, or the craft of running a high-trust fundraiser, you’ll find a playbook here: lead with a showstopper, tell a real story, obsess over small moments, and keep the numbers transparent.

Subscribe, share this with a bourbon-loving friend, and leave a quick review with your favorite pour of the night. Your feedback shapes the lineup, and helps us raise even more for those who served.

A granola shot that goes down like bourbon and lands like a health upgrade. We bring Gita, the founder of Gut BFF, into the studio with Gabby to taste three flavors, Honey Glow, Apple Cinnamon Raisin, and Chocolate Peanut Butter, and dig into the big idea behind the crunch: 20 different plant ingredients per bag, designed to help you get closer to the 30-plants-per-week guideline from the American Gut Study.

Gita shares how food-first changes helped her navigate insulin resistance and post-COVID cholesterol concerns, and why prebiotics plus probiotics beat supplements alone. Think of probiotics as seeds and prebiotics as fertilizer; feed both and you generate short-chain fatty acids that support immunity, brain energy, digestion, and overall wellness. We get practical about how people really eat granola, on yogurt for texture, by the handful at 4 p.m., or as a lighter cereal, while calling out what makes this different from the usual sugar bombs: popped ancient grains for clean crunch, nuts and seeds for fiber and protein, and restrained sweetness that lets flavor win.

If you’re building a consumer brand, there’s a playbook here. Bootstrapping forced fast feedback loops, farmers markets, yoga studios, sampler three-packs, while an FDA-inspected regional facility bridged the scary gap between home production and big co-pack runs. We talk pricing, local retail rollout, and smart timing for a raise, plus how to scale without losing quality or shelf life. There’s also a cultural shift powering demand: Gen Z is leaning into gut health and clean labels, not just because of dietary restrictions like celiac or alpha-gal, but because they want snacks that feel good and actually taste great.

By the end, you’ll know which flavor stole the show, how to hit your plant diversity goals without overthinking breakfast, and why taste is the most underrated health strategy. Try the sampler, top your favorite yogurt, and tell us your winner.

Subscribe, share with a friend who lives on “healthy” snacks, and drop a review with your flavor pick, what should the next berry be?

Bourbon on the table, big ideas in the air. We sit down with an award-winning filmmaker who left Southern California for Northwest Arkansas and break down, step by step, how a small, collaborative community can grow into a real film hub. Between a honey-finished Buffalo Trace taste test and a few jabs at our missing co-hosts, we dig into the practical levers that matter to creators and investors alike: Arkansas’s cash rebate incentive, easy access to locations, and a surprisingly deep bench of crew.

Scott shares the creative and business blueprint for his contained thriller, In Memoriam, a character-driven story about a daughter who uses memory tech to visit her comatose father and uncovers a painful truth. We talk budgets in the $500k–$600k range, how to stretch locations, and why pre-sales and smart casting can make or break indie projects. Then we lay out a realistic distribution ladder: streaming-first to control P&A, limited theatrical to build earned media, and a pathway to wider release once the data supports it. If you’re curious how films really get financed and sold in today’s market, this is a candid, usable playbook.

We also explore Scott’s second engine: construction site storytelling. Think solar time-lapse cameras snapping every ten minutes, drone passes with graphic overlays, and monthly and quarterly edits that double as investor updates and sales content. It’s a smarter alternative to one-and-done drone tours, giving builders live jobsite views and a narrative asset that wins the next RFP. Toss in a priceless Apple-era anecdote—yes, a “Hate it” email from Steve Jobs—and you’ve got a conversation that blends craft, commerce, and community.

Join us for a grounded look at filmmaking from Bentonville: incentives, crews, distribution strategy, and the creative grit it takes to ship. If you enjoy this kind of inside-the-industry breakdown, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves movies or bourbon, and leave a quick review to help others find us.