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The LoCo Experience

The LoCo Experience

Written by: Curt Bear
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The LoCo Experience is a long-form conversational podcast that dives deep into the journeys of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers in Northern Colorado. Hosted by Curt Bear, Founder of LoCo Think Tank, the show brings real, raw, and unfiltered conversations—where guests share their successes, struggles, and lessons learned along the way.


LoCo Think Tank is Colorado’s premier business peer advisory organization, founded in Fort Collins to help business owners gain perspective, accountability, and encouragement to grow both personally and professionally. LoCo chapters bring together business owners at all stages of the journey into professionally facilitated peer advisory chapters, led by experienced business veterans. These groups provide a trusted space to share challenges, seek advice, learn togethter, and support each other’s success.


The LoCo Experience Podcast extends this mission beyond the chapter meetings— bringing the wisdom, insights, and stories of local business leaders to a wider audience.


Our triad mission with this podcast is simple:

Inspire through real stories of resilience and success.

Educate by sharing valuable business insights.

Entertain with engaging, unfiltered conversations.


If you love “How I Built This” and the free-flowing style of Joe Rogan - but with a Northern Colorado focus - you’ll enjoy The LoCo Experience! Our closing segment, "The LoCo Experience," asks guests to share their craziest stories — and we get some doozies!


It’s a passion project with purpose, and we invite you to listen, follow, and share, and maybe consider sponsoring. Know someone with a great story? Nominate your favorite business leader for an episode!


© 2026 The LoCo Experience Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • The Noco Pulse | Week of June 1st

    The Noco Pulse | Week of June 1st
    Jun 1 2026
    16 mins
  • The Noco Pulse | Week of May 25th

    The Noco Pulse | Week of May 25th
    May 25 2026
    Welcome back to the NoCo Pulse for the week of May 25th, featuring special guest host Patrick Sukup from the Living in Fort Collins YouTube channel while Curt Bear is away. Patrick joins Kelsi Harris of This is NoCo and Discover NoCo Magazine to bring you the latest community news, business updates, and local highlights as we kick off Memorial Day weekend and welcome summer to Northern Colorado. What's moving features Miles Beyond Running Community gearing up for their Weld Your Metal Running Festival happening May 30th and 31st in Eaton, offering distances from 7K all the way to ultra marathon on private property complete with saunas, cold plunges, camping, and mountain views. In major real estate news, Shake Shack opens May 31st at the Shops Along College at Foothills Mall, but the bigger story is the McWhinney family selling the Shops Along College portion to a national investment firm while retaining the mall itself. This sale should finally provide the capital needed to move forward with the long awaited redevelopment plans, including removing 200,000 square feet and creating an open air concept after years of stagnation due to development costs and challenges. Meanwhile, the Toy Library continues operating in a massive discounted space inside the mall, now hosting game nights and community gatherings in addition to their toy lending program. Community gatherings spotlight Ginger and Baker's eighth annual Dog Flower Crown Photo Day on Saturday May 31st, a free event where you can bring your four legged friends for flower crowns and portraits with RSVP requested on their website. Plantiness, founded by Monica in 2020, celebrates her birthday this week by giving away free plants Thursday May 28th at Old Town Music during Thursday Night Live featuring The Burrows. Monica has given away over 5,000 free plants since starting her happiness spreading mission and hosts pop ups and collaborations with tattoo artists, The Crowded Bookshelf, and other local makers. Downtown Loveland hosts their monthly Downtown Dress Up Night on the fourth Saturday with May's theme being Gala Night starting at 5 PM, when all downtown shops hold specials and events perfect for busting out those fancy clothes you rarely get to wear. Community support highlights Outreach Fort Collins, a nonprofit that serves as a buffer between the public and police by working with individuals experiencing mental health crises or substance use issues who aren't necessarily breaking the law. The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area Foundation hosts their art show and gala Tuesday June 2nd at the Visit Fort Collins Welcome Center, with all proceeds supporting river cleanup efforts, volunteer programs, and education about the heritage and history of the Cache la Poudre River. Business news celebrates local chefs Bri and Carmel, who are launching pop up events this year after working in high end eateries across Northern Colorado. They offer private chef experiences, catering, and company events, bringing their culinary expertise directly to your home or venue. Food picks feature Smoke and Rose Barbecue at the FoCo Food Truck Rally, serving incredible brisket mac and cheese and brisket nacho fries with friendly service perfect for families. The FoCo Food Truck Rally runs every Tuesday under new ownership, with Discover NoCo Magazine sponsoring this season and planning fun content nights throughout summer. Don't forget the Downtown Loveland Authority is giving away $100 every week to someone who shops downtown during construction, and yes it's real because Kelsi's in laws actually won. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and welcome to summer, NoCo. Tag us at The NoCo Pulse to share how you're supporting local. Stay connected, NoCo.
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    16 mins
  • Passion and Perseverance with Ryan and Sarah Woodland

    Passion and Perseverance with Ryan and Sarah Woodland
    May 23 2026
    I was honored to share time in studio with Ryan and Sarah Woodland recently, and I’m proud to call Ryan a member of LoCo Think Tank, and a friend. In the 3+ years I’ve known Ryan, he’s grown his Woodland Home Marketplace from a $500K business into a ~$2MM / year and profitable operation - and largely worked himself out of a role for the company. And - he’s been developing his skills acquired from decades of contracting, fix and flips, and custom home building - and has been building his systems to manage a 56-unit luxury patio home semi-custom production build project. Sarah is co-founder of Woodland Family Homes, but spends most of her time in brokerage at Orr Land Company - which was founded by her grandfather. She met Ryan when she was living in California - but was preparing to move back to NoCo - but decided to stay a while - and soon brought Ryan back to his deep family roots in NoCo going back to the 1800’s. Ryan and Sarah trace their journey of passion for community and real estate - and business - and the journey of this family legacy project. Not to miss in this episode is a LoCo Experience story from Ryan’s firefighting days in California, during EMS training - when a dirty needle from a regular customer poked him in the elbow - and caused a systemic infection that put him in the ICU and almost killed him. So - please tune in - and enjoy - my conversation with Ryan and Sarah Woodland.
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    1 hr and 40 mins
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