Ryan Alford [00:00:04]  Hey guys, this is Ryan Alford, welcome to the Radical Company podcast, really excited about today's episode. It's been a few weeks. We're trying to get back in the groove. It's funny when you run a business and I'm here with Brenda Luginbill, good friend. We're going to dig into Brenda's story. But we can probably relate to this running three or four different businesses. But focusing on the podcast, it gets down the totem pole, sometimes super excited to have Brenda on. Brenda is the owner of CB events and the CEO and founder of the Nest Fest, which we're going to be talking about today. But, Brenda, we've known each other a long time, but I'm really excited to have you on the podcast. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:00:46] I'm super excited to be here. Thank you. 

Ryan Alford [00:00:50] We've been up to a lot of things at Radical. I'm going to do a couple little plugs to start. Things have been busy. That's why the podcast has taken a back seat. We're here. It was the wheelhouse is now Camaraderie, which is an official part of radical are our official full time home. Now, as we've taken over the workspace here and are so super excited about everything that's been going on, we're lucky enough to have a lot of great friends and clients, Brenda being one of them. And I am just thrilled with all the growth that we've had. And everything is kind of happening in Greenville, which kind of brings us straight to Brenda's story. And, Brenda, I want people to get a little bit of the background on you, because I think it's relevant. We are just talking kind of pre roll here about your development and growth and what was important to you maybe at the beginning of your career and as you've transitioned and developed more interest and more desire to do for the community. And I think that's really what is grounded in making Greenville better through NSW. And we're going to get into all those details. But, Brenda, let's start with a little bit of your background, the event company and was teed off there with, ultimately the founding and the growth of NSW. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:02:16] Well, I started my career about almost 17 years ago now, which is crazy to say out loud, but I started it in Los Angeles, started in the event world, absolutely loved it, did that for about six years. And then my husband and I decided to just up and move. It was time to go on a new adventure. And so we packed up and we moved to Greenville and we had never been here. My sister was moving here. We came to visit, helped take care of some kids, and then we went to move to Charlotte and said, nope, that's not where we're supposed to be. And ended up staying here. And that's been almost 11 years ago that that took place. So that's why it seems so crazy to me that it's been that long. So moved here, moved to Greenville and  thought I wasn't going to stay  in the event world. Actually, I was going to try something new, wasn't even sure what that was going to be. But then I met a mutual friend of ours, Carey Turner. And she and I instantly hit it off and she said, you want to start a company? And I said, sure, we literally made a logo. I made a logo. We went to Kinko's, printed some business cards and went to a BMW event and we were a company. So that was kind of how I started. 

Ryan Alford [00:03:30] The true entrepreneur story. Started with the logo and figured it out.

Brenda Luginbill [00:03:35] So that's pretty much how it all happened. And actually, what's today? Well, two days ago was actually our 10 year anniversary of launching CB events, which is. Talk about being too crazy to think about things!

Ryan Alford [00:03:49] Congratulations on that. No, we should have a party just because of that. That is great accomplishment. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:03:56] And I actually thought that.So the world has been great in Greenville and I've really enjoyed it, but I have always felt like there was just a little something missing of what I would want to do for my future. And so in the midst of doing a bunch of wine and food festivals and a bunch of just large galas and different events, I thought, well, what? If I'm going to create a future for myself in the world of events, what do I want that to look like? And so I spent about four years just kind of thinking and designing what an event would look like. And my number one instinct was I want it to be something that can be impactful to the future of our children, because just the way of the world and where we're going, I want it to be something that is more rooted in and us and not so much what we're, drinking and putting in our mouths.  As much as I enjoy that, I do. And I want it to be something that can be impactful for 365 days a year. And so starting to think about all of that got me going. All right. I do these amazing events and I love them and I support a ton of charities. I mean, I've helped to raise over four. Million in Greenville since I've been here, and that's exciting and it's been so fun to be a part of that, but it still isn't getting me involved in the community the way I wanted to. And one of the great things about Greenville, and this is a number one thing I say to people is I love it because you can go after something and you can start something and go full heart into it. If you're successful at it, that's even better. But even if you're not, you're going to gain so much growth and knowledge of the people that you're going to meet in Greenville that want to be involved and want to help. And it's going to help you find your home. And like, for example, my husband, my husband is 42. Kill me for saying that. But he is. It's great I just turned what I'm about to turn 41. I love the 40s already, but he turned 42 and he just landed his passion. And what he lives in one city for the rest of his life,  but he's gone through so many different things to get there. And I've done the same thing. It's just all been in the infant world. Like everything that I have is all surrounded by events. But I'm just now getting to the point of but this is my passion. This is what I want to leave this earth with. This is what I want to pass down to my nieces and nephews because we don't have kids. But one of my nephews already wants to take the Nesbitt's over when I die, which is phenomenal. But yeah. So I think that all of that led me to where I am now and to where I'm hoping that my future will go and that's helping the community and helping people become the best version of themselves and whatever form that takes on for them. And it's a fun challenge, but it's definitely a challenge. 

Ryan Alford [00:06:37] Before we kind of dig into all things NSW, I think you talked about some things as it relates. And we get into this sometimes on the podcast, the personal development space and the growth stage of entrepreneurship and business, but also, people that really want to leave a lasting legacy. And when those paths can meet, it's really a magical place. And it's something that comes. I think everybody you start out your career and you want to conquer the world. You have these goals and dreams. And it's not that those ever go away, but it's really interesting how we grow as human beings and as people. And those priorities change. And I think there's something really unique about that that is also really interesting, because in talking about Nathan, same thing, finding you don't always find and know every boundary or every direction that you're going to go. Sometimes there's just that natural development that happens. And, it's just great. I mean, it's the growth. There's never been a better time for something like this in Greenville because it feels like it's funny. We've talked about this, like we will hustle some of the things we've done. It feels like Gribbles booming in all the right ways as far as financials and growth and businesses and all that. But, you want the people and the culture and the wellness overall of the community to come with it. Exactly. And, transitioning into that, I think that's where this first kind of fills a gap that I think is natural. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:08:15] I agree. We are growing so quickly. And to me, what that just means is that's more cell phones and hands. That's more time away from your family. That's all start to add up. And that's exactly what we're trying to help balance, I will say, not get rid of, but obviously like balance, like we all need that, especially as entrepreneurs. I mean, I always joke that I created the nest for myself, but I'm a workaholic. I live on my phone and my computer, like, if I have one of them in my hand, people don't even know what I look like. And so I always joke that I created it for myself to help. If I'm like if I can help myself find this balance and that's going to help me help others, do that. But it's funny because along the way, it's like I've learned and found out so many new things about myself and about other people and situations that I didn't even know existed, that I'm just like, get it all in the festival. Let's go, people. Let's get it all there. Get all that goodness going. 

Ryan Alford [00:09:08] So let's talk about some nuts and bolts here. October 19th and 20th of this year, we've got the second annual NASFEST. I'm going to get this right. I had to put it in front of me even I'm working on it, but I want to get the order right. Wellness, goodness, fitness and wholeness. I've got it. There we go. I took my cliff notes. I want to say it, but there's meaning in that order. And I think that's an important distinction. Let's talk about that. You know, let's talk about all the necessary elements. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:09:39] There is definitely meaning in the order because, ah, we feel like with those four pillars, if you can work on those four pillars, then you're going to be working towards being the best version of yourself. And the reason that's important is because if I'm the best version of myself, then I'm going to be that to my husband, my family, my employees and everyone else. Like if they don't get a. Percent of me then, they're not getting the best of me and I'm pretty good, so you want the best of me, so keep me happy. So I'm working to keep myself happy so that everyone else gets the rest of that. But so our pillars are definitely meaningful. We have our wellness, which for us is those are your doctor's appointments. Those are the appointments that you need to set every year to make sure that what we can't see what's inside of us that's being checked and everything's good or what's on the outside. And we don't know what it is. It's being checked and it's good. Our goodness is what we're putting inside of ourselves. What are we drinking? What are we eating and how is that affecting our body? And why are we not listening to our bodies when we're like, oh, I feel this way? Well, there's a good chance. What did you what did you eat or drink in the last 48 hours? There's a good chance that all that vodka you put in there is going to make a difference. Knew there was a lot of low lying. There's a reason why our bodies react the way they do. We just need to listen more. So that's our goodness. And then obviously fitness that I feel like is always the one. People can check the box, even if it's stand up and you walk ten steps every day because that's all you can do, just start somewhere and start doing it. But for me, the reason the wholeness is at the end, because for me that's the complete self. That's what makes that full circle. That's what allows us to come home and separate what just happened at work to what's about to come through the door. Because I think that's the biggest challenge we have right now, is that we live such a busy life when we're away from home that when we come home, it's either everybody leave me alone, get on electronics, I need my me time or whatever that is. And we haven't figured out how to cross that door. Like, how do you get through that door so that your family gets 100 percent of the best of you. And that's where the wholeness is. That's where we're working on our stresses. That's where we're working on our anxiety. That's where we're working on balancing our life. So does that mean for you? Does that mean you leave work and you need to go do a 30 minute workout before you walk through that door? Well, then that's what you need to figure out. Does it mean you need to meditate for twenty minutes before you walk through that door? I mean, that's part of the journey that we want to help people figure out, is there's no one set way. We are all different. We all react differently to things. For me, if I'm at my angriest and I come through the door, I tell my husband, I love you, I need twenty minutes. I get in the shower, I take a shower, I sing at the top of my lungs and I come out a new woman ready for dinner and a great glass of wine. I'm telling you to do that every night. That's when I go get your shower, take your shower. But for me, that's for me. That's what gets that's what does it for me. Like that's what can get me out of my own head. And sometimes it's what we're doing to ourselves. We're in our own heads. And so that's why they're in that order is because I feel like there's checklists that you can do for the first three for your wellness, goodness and fitness. You can make a checklist and you can say, I'm going to do this, this and that. And that's really just accountability. But the wholeness is the one that makes us vulnerable. And until you can choose to be vulnerable, you're not going to get to the best you until you can allow yourself to stop, think, breathe and dig into yourself. You're not going to be able to put out the best product to everyone else and who doesn't want to go by and smile at every person and say hello and how is your day? And when you say it's great, actually mean it's great.

Ryan Alford [00:13:31] I think what's interesting is that people, I think naturally, historically are trained that doing things for others is the right thing. And it is. But what we've, I think, been slow. I think fitness, like you said, it's always been there a little bit. But like, if you have the best version of you, you have so many more gifts to give. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:14:00] That's exactly right. 

Ryan Alford [00:14:01] And it's something that sounds like you hear that like. Yeah, I know that. But do people really know that? I don't think they do. I don't think they may know it, but they don't practice it. They don't take care of themselves across all of those boundaries, across all of those levels.They can go for a run and maybe that does it for you. But are you really thinking about your thoughts? Are you thinking about what you're putting into your body? Are you thinking about truly how you feel and taking actions to improve it, knowing that the best for you is the best for everyone else? And I think that's such an important distinction that if, if people can get that out of it, if we can get Greensville thinking in that way, if we have the best of everyone, it's not about always being perfect. No, but it's good to see continuous improvement. And because it's funny on weeks when I feel like I really had a great week, I tie it back to really how I felt, in like. I thought my clients got the best out of me. I've got the best of me but it's back to like how I feel and I've never been apologize. Like my wife listens to some of these, she will attest to this. I've never been apologetic about working out doing that because I know that you don't want that other Ryan, that doesn't do that. And so I've never been unapologetic. But someone like my wife, she's a giver, a pleaser, a doer. And she works out and she takes care of herself, but she always feels guilty about it because she feels like that's not in her nature. And I think that's a lot of the way a lot of people do is they don't really spend the time taking care of themselves. And I think anything that can inform and improve their communities mindset in this area just has massive potential. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:15:50] Well, and that's why our slogan is a better me for a better us is because if again, it goes back to like my goal is to help make Greensville not only I mean, it's an amazing place to live, but let's take that step forward and make sure all the people of Greensville are happy in and of themselves and taking care of themselves at the same at the same point. So that's a better me for a better us is exactly what we want to do at the next phase. And so that's why we have all kinds of wellness and wholeness seminars that are taking place is because we want to help people just not tell them what to do, but just open a door. Like that's all we're trying to do. We're just trying to show what's out there and what's the possibility. How do we get into the interview to see, well, where do you need to, you know, do a little little fun time for yourself or what does that look like that you need for yourself? I mean, my sister, just like you were talking about with your wife, my sister just went through the same thing of she's just on that journey right now for the last year of taking care of herself first. And it's amazing to see what her kids now get of her, like, because she comes like she needs mom time and mom time means, you I know, for her, it might be reading, it might be writing. She's taken up writing a lot, which that's the biggest one I tell everyone to start with. If you don't know where to start about taking care of yourself, get a book and start writing. There's even simple books out there about writing poems and you can get a book that gives you a verb, like it gives you a word, and then it gives you a lot of other dictations you can get at Barnes and Noble. It's called writing a poem and you literally open it and it gives you a word. And then you write about that word. And it's just everything 

Ryan Alford [00:17:30] I hope it is not about roses are red, violets are blue. I'm feeling gloomy. I made that one. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:17:37] My first one I think I opened and it was like anger and I was like, oh I can write about it. I guess I just opened the book randomly but. But it just gives you writing gives you such an opportunity to start even diving into yourself to find out what you need. That word, what do I need, make a list and start there. I think if people could do that more often, that it just helps relationships. It just kind of helps your flow of life and it just helps you, I think, to be more positive in general. 

Ryan Alford [00:18:05] So October 19th and 20th, I'm going to keep hammering that date people, and we're going to talk about where you can get tickets and all that and just a few minutes. But what can people expect? So I know I mean, I've been seeing the list of the sponsors and the vendors. It's kind of like the who's who of the wellness us fitness people in Greenville. But let's talk about what people can expect over the two days. The nuts and bolts. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:18:30] So over the two days, we actually we take over all the floor field. So we have all these different classes that take up place on the field. Up in the Champion Club, we have a music stage that's in the Five Hundred Club where you can actually go up there, listen to some music. We will be showing the Clemson game very important and get your, you know, adult beverage, because if you take three workouts or even if you take one of our seminars, you might need one of those afterwards, which is no 

problem. They say beer after yoga. That's the worst thing I've ever done. That's exactly right. So we have actually five different fitness stages with classes that go on every hour on the hour we have, ah, like I said, wholeness and wellness seminars. We have an entire place called the Haven where we're diving in a little deeper. That's where we work on our meditation. That's where we talk about our relationships. We have a sex therapist coming this year, so we have a class for that, which I'm super stoked about. I wanted that last year. You're going to be on our amazing panel about modern manhood, that might be actually one of my top favorites because we've never had a class very specific to men. And this is all about the amazing men that we have in our community and about their journey. And I just I think it's going to be actually amazing, that class.

Ryan Alford [00:19:45] Yes, we have texting, Nigel, yesterday. We're going back and forth on a couple of things. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:19:51] I can't wait for that first meeting. To be honest, I feel like I have to sneak out since I'm not a man during part of it. But I'm like, what are you going to say? But yeah, so that's going to be great. But then we also have Food trucks that are going to be out there, lots of other food vendors, the YMCA, they're coming out or excited about them, they're going to take over the whole kind of center field and have different classes that they're teaching. But it's a lot. We have 100 between the two days. There's 120 different types of classes that you can take. So the great thing about it is that once you buy your ticket, you get this thing called SCHED, which is your schedule. So it'll show the entire schedule of what's happening and you can go in and start selecting. You know what I really want to take this class about how to teach balance to my child. You can plug that in and then it'll show you, OK, since you chose that, now you can't take these classes. And so there's a really great, easy way for you to download your schedule so that you have that on your phone during the day. Or you can also print it if you don't want to take your phone around. We also have over 100 different vendors, all in the health and lifestyle that are going to be out on the field. So we did tickets a little differently this year. So there's a twenty five dollar ticket that allows you to get in and you just get to experience everything. You get to take the morning stretch, which is a free class to everybody at nine thirty each morning. So you get to take that. Then you also get to like just be active with all the vendors, the food vendors, the music stage and all of that for twenty five dollars. And then the tickets start from fifty five and up for the classes. So if you get the fifty five dollar ticket then you have access to all 120 different classes as well as all the vendors and everything like that. So it really makes for a really nice day. I mean it's from ten to five each day and it's really built for the whole family. We have an entire kids section, so you can actually come and you can either jump into something with your child. If there's a class that they want to take or you want to kick the soccer ball around with them, whatever that is, you can jump into that with them or you can drop them off for an hour so that you can go take a class, to take a yoga class, take a pilates class. The whole idea is to get people out of their shell and try something new. So if you have ever wanted to try a Pilates class or if you've ever wanted to try a pure bar class or anything like that, this is your opportunity to come and take a 30 minute class. So it's kind of that introductory, if you will, to see what you want to do. And if you're an avid workout person, which we have plenty of those, they work out for like four hours straight and just jump from class to class. It's pretty much a great way to sample things. 

Ryan Alford [00:22:30] I mean there's nothing that's like, existed like this where you can all the stuff that's in both the fitness side and the wellness overall side. There's never been like a sampling of those things because there's like classes I wanted to do or things I've been interested in. There's never this has never existed. It's like you have to kind of either muster up enough courage to go to one class at one studio one time. But this gives you the opportunity to kind of sample it all. 

Speaker 3 [00:23:02] Yeah, it does. And it and also like things that might have been intimidating, like Fran with upstate's mind in sport, she's going to do an acupuncture class, which is 

Ryan Alford [00:23:11] I'm going to do that, although I've always been scared but been highly interested. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:23:17] And I will tell you what, I have like twenty year injuries that she has completely changed my life on, like everyone else's life. I'm like, all right, stick some needles in me and my sleep. She's completely like to the point where sometimes I am like, Fran, I need to stay up. She's completely changed my character. And I'm a throw one more in there because it's the most important one actually for the ladies. OK, those cramps.Don't have them anymore.  

Ryan Alford [00:23:45] Wow. Yeah. From acupuncture?

Brenda Luginbill [00:23:51] Yes. Five months. Changed my world. Fran it's fine in sport. She's my girl, I get it on my skin and she's also like the nicest person in the world. So that just makes it a lot, a lot easier to. But yeah. So no, I mean really it is for the whole entire family. We want you to come, we want you to have a great time if you buy the two day pass. I always say, especially for moms with kids or dads and kids, buy that pass the first day for your whole family. Come out and enjoy your time, then pass them off to, grandma and grandpa, whomever, and then come that second day for you because there's so much good stuff. I talked to a girl yesterday who was debating whether to buy a ticket, and I just ran into her at the gym because I had a T-shirt on and she said, do you know anything about the Nesbitt's? I was like, oh, do I ever? And she was like, I really want to go, but my friends don't want to work out the whole day. And I'm like, it's not that's such a small portion of it. That's one fourth of the entire festival is the workout part. I was like, we have all these other things and we were supposed to be stretching and orange theory. Oops. And we were sitting there, Indian style, just talking about how I was like this. You could make your schedule this way, that way. And so I think now she's going to take. And maybe come by yourself. 

Ryan Alford [00:25:04] I love it. I think that's probably only the second year. Maybe the lone misconception is fitness versus all the other things. Exactly. You've already covered, but like, you don't have to work out seven times to work out once or none or come for all the wellness stuff. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:25:21] Aren't super fun to come by yourself, too. I think that's a great thing to do it for you, come for you. Just choose to do it for you. 

Ryan Alford [00:25:29] Get your single mingle on or kiss your or your take. You play your card with your significant other. I'm taking this day for me. That's exactly what Saturday. I'll go on Sunday. Right. Exactly. Or just take the kids which be good. So great. So October 19th and 20th. Where do we find more information?

Brenda Luginbill [00:25:51] So you can go to the NASSFEST.com and all of the information is there with ticket sales and everything like that? And the kids, I forgot to mention, kids 16 and under are free. So this is why this is a super family. No brainer. Yes, that kid's 16 there and free seniors and students get half price tickets and then first responders are also free. So, again, there's no reason to pack up the whole family. And I'm not even talking about immediate family. I'm talking about the whole family. Like, I got 14 in the group. Like my nieces and nephews think it's the best two days in the world because they think that, like, we own the stadium. 

Ryan Alford [00:26:27] Teachers out there, it's Burzum. Some students in, whatever. NESSFEST dotcom first dotcom tickets can be bought there, correct? October 19th and 20th. Be there, be square. It's not to be understated. The importance of this for Greensville and the overall impact that it can have. I know it's year two. There's learning, there's improvements and all of those things. But his response to the community has been great. I mean, I mean, who doesn't hear about this? And it's kind of one of those things like just nod your head when people start. When you talk about it.  

Brenda Luginbill [00:27:12] I think the response has been great. I mean, our feedback even from last year has been wonderful. And honestly, like, I'm just the type of person I'm also a perfectionist. So if there's something somebody doesn't like or there's something that someone's like, try this or whatever, I'm open. Tell me, pick up the phone shoot me an email, give me a call. We want to make this for the community. So if we feel like there's something or someone feels like there's something that's missing, we would like to know because we want this to be an event for the community. And the only way you can do that is by having community involvement. Yeah. So that's very important from our sponsors to our participants, to our vendors, to our guests. Everyone Is equally important, important and what they have to say and what they want to see in this community. 

Ryan Alford [00:27:53] Is it still time for sponsors? If someone were to be listening to this and they wanted to sponsor or get involved, go to this first dotcom, learn more about sponsorship still. So those opportunities absolutely. 

Brenda Luginbill [00:28:04] Definitely reach out. You can pick up the phone and call me. I keep giving my number out, but that's fine. Pick up the phone and call me. We love to make activations for people because that engages our guest. So every time a sponsor comes on board we can create a fun environment or a great activity wall. Like we love that because that's just giving more back to our community and more for them to learn and educate on. 

Ryan Alford [00:28:29] Great. Really appreciate you coming on the podcast for having me continuing our friendhip. And we'll give Nathan, Brenda's husband, a little plug here, the wine shop on Haywood Road, really cool new collected wine store on Haywood. Go check it out. Great guy. Even better to see officials from Indiana. He is. Yes, he is. Yeah, that was a nice little wine. Give it go check them out. This is a really great, great family and check out the nicest October 19th and 20th. I will be there. I'll be on the panel, like Brenda mentioned, talking about the modern man, fatherhood, those things super pumped. Really, really great lineup. Really honored to be a part of it and super excited for everything. Brenda, thank you again. Well, this is Ryan offered the latest edition of the radio company podcast, Find US Online at radical underscore results on Instagram Radical. That company is the website. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next time.