Stories from the Center of the Universe

Episode 222: Teresa Lopez de Ocanas

In the third installment of the Downtown Ashland Association series, Paul welcomes Teresa Lopez De Ocanas to the podcast. Teresa, her husband, Edgar, and their family run Los Regios which is a Latino market located at 109 S. Washington Highway in town. Teresa said they started the business about a year ago and they have multiple items from several different countries. They’ve also added a food truck and are currently expanding what the store has to offer. Teresa is also very busy in the community and has several other business ideas she would like to pursue.

Episode 221: Erika Johnson

Erika Johnson lived in the east end of Henrico and then her family moved to Hanover when she was in elementary school. Erika and Paul know each other from working together a while ago at a large Richmond area employer. They discussed her career path from start to now and her love for music and how it helps put you in the moment. They are both UVA grads and they talked about Erika’s experience at UVA especially her choice of major and her sorority.

Episode 220: Rich Dalton - Part 1

In the first installment of a 3 part series, Rich Dalton joins Paul to tell his story. They talked about growing up across the east coast, losing his dad at an early age and what a typical day is like for him currently. They touched on his journey from high school to the U.S. Marine Corps to law enforcement. In the second installment, we’ll dive into other topics of a man who has lived several lives before age 50. 

Episode 219: Don Willis

Don Willis and Paul haven’t seen each in a while, but had a great time catching up and hearing Don’s story. They talked about serving in the National Guard, his second career in Emergency Management and Don’s youth. Don talked to Paul about losing a daughter and how he and his wife, Lisa, are raising their grandsons. Don finished by talking about Lisa (his super hero) and their grandsons.

Episode 218: Tom Guo

He was born in the Kingdom of Lesotho, raised in South Africa and came to the United States to go to high school in Connecticut. Tom Guo joins the podcast to talk about his youth and then his experiences going to college on the west coast. Paul and Tom briefly discussed work and finished by talking about how Tom travels around the world to follow a passion of his … rock climbing.

Episode 217: Manoli Loupassi

Manoli Loupassi joins Paul and they talked about high school at St. Christopher’s, Manoli’s dad, college and law school and his time as a radio sports show host. They discussed his career as a prosecutor, being on the Richmond City Council as well as being a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. They finished by talking about his wife Stewart and their three kids.

Episode 216: Jason Wells

Jason Wells joins the podcast to talk about Mechanics of Faith. Before that, Paul and Jason spoke about him growing up in Hanover, extreme sports and his early passion for working on cars. Nowadays, Jason works, has a great family and he runs Mechanics of Faith which helps people in the community who need repairs for their vehicles. They finished by talking about Jason’s family and how to donate ([mechanicsoffaith.org](http://mechanicsoffaith.org "‌")) to help the local community.

Episode 215: Tom Greco starts a podcast (TG#1)

Tom Greco is back (episode 4) and he's thinking about starting his own podcast. For his initial episode, he joins Stories to talk about how NBA basketball captured his attention in the late 80s and early 90s. The NBA Eastern Conference playoffs really grabbed him as he watched the Pistons, Bulls, Celtics, Pacers and Knicks battle during his formative years. With the recent release of the movie, Air, Tom became nostalgic. He shares his observations through a deep dive into Sonny Vaccaro during those pivotal years for the NBA and some athletic shoe companies. Here's Tom... 

Episode 214: Chris Freemott

Chris Freemott joins the podcast from Chicagoland. They discussed Chris’ favorite sports teams and that led to a discussion about Chicago politics and why Chicago became important. Paul and Chris then starting discussing his passion which is wine glasses. Chris stated how he likes fine dining, fine wine and he hopes to turn his passion into a “job” in the next few years. Chris gave Paul some wine advice and they ended by talking about always being willing to learn.

Episode 213: Carrie Allen

Carrie Allen was born in Louisville and moved to Richmond when she was ten. She attended a Catholic private high school that doesn’t exist anymore and went to a college that has since changed its name. A double major in two very different disciplines led to several interesting career paths. Her husband Krister (who knew Paul at UVA) served as an unofficial co-host of this episode. Paul and Carrie talked about her current job in Boston, her current business in Virginia, future business ideas and her unique lineage.