How to Wake Up Your Business Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/how-to-wake-up-your-business Every great company has a story. In this series, Dana Alligood, executive director of the Wake Forest Center for Private Business, invites listeners to learn from leaders of six of North Carolina's most respected private businesses. Each episode takes up a challenge that every privately held business eventually faces: succession planning, governance, culture, strategy, family harmony, and leadership development. The Center for Private Business exists to be a catalyst for economic growth and social prosperity across our region and beyond, and this series shares that work in the words of the owners and operators living it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Wake Forest University Center for Private Business 2f792153-5c9b-53f7-9838-626d553c713b yes Every Great Company Has a Story en Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:43:57 -0400 Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:44:14 -0400 https://cpb.wfu.edu https://img.transistorcdn.com/xidyFSSfwNUePt_qS8zFNSXfWZHWJrwySz_MEoUtR9w/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9lN2Nm/YjkyMTA0YTFlMjc2/NjAzNjk3ZGJkMmM2/NTRlYy5wbmc.jpg How to Wake Up Your Business https://cpb.wfu.edu episodic Wake Forest University Center for Private Business Every great company has a story. In this series, Dana Alligood, executive director of the Wake Forest Center for Private Business, invites listeners to learn from leaders of six of North Carolina's most respected private businesses. Each episode takes up a challenge that every privately held business eventually faces: succession planning, governance, culture, strategy, family harmony, and leadership development. The Center for Private Business exists to be a catalyst for economic growth and social prosperity across our region and beyond, and this series shares that work in the words of the owners and operators living it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Every great company has a story. Wake Forest University Center for Private Business contentstudio-admin@walkwest.com No No Five Feet of Water: Great Outdoor Provision Co. on Resilience 1 1 Five Feet of Water: Great Outdoor Provision Co. on Resilience full 17d75385-91aa-4d94-b8ea-1706168e2b18 https://share.transistor.fm/s/450f5535 Great Outdoor Provision Company started in 1972 as a 200-square-foot trail shop tucked into the back of a Carrboro bike shop. More than five decades later it employs over 200 people across the state, and Chuck Millsaps, known internally as the minister of culture, tells Dana Alligood that the non-negotiable has never changed: people make the place. Chuck walks through communicating across five generations of employees, the practice of "clearing gaps" by asking a colleague to repeat back what they heard, and the employee handbook the team finally built after a Center for Private Business workshop.

The conversation then turns to resilience. In July 2025, Tropical Storm Chantal put more than five feet of water inside the Eastgate store in Chapel Hill, a self-insured location in a floodplain, while Chuck was a day and a half away working remotely. He explains the decisions that had to be made without time to confer; restoration contractors, the lease, keeping the Chapel Hill staff employed, and how the team salvaged the store to reopen in October. Chuck also shares why he attended his Center forum retreat ten days after the flood instead of canceling, how the company gives back through Land Trust Day, its annual coat drive, and Habitat Day, and what he hopes for the business as we all navigate the increasingly technologically driven retail world.

]]> Great Outdoor Provision Company started in 1972 as a 200-square-foot trail shop tucked into the back of a Carrboro bike shop. More than five decades later it employs over 200 people across the state, and Chuck Millsaps, known internally as the minister of culture, tells Dana Alligood that the non-negotiable has never changed: people make the place. Chuck walks through communicating across five generations of employees, the practice of "clearing gaps" by asking a colleague to repeat back what they heard, and the employee handbook the team finally built after a Center for Private Business workshop.

The conversation then turns to resilience. In July 2025, Tropical Storm Chantal put more than five feet of water inside the Eastgate store in Chapel Hill, a self-insured location in a floodplain, while Chuck was a day and a half away working remotely. He explains the decisions that had to be made without time to confer; restoration contractors, the lease, keeping the Chapel Hill staff employed, and how the team salvaged the store to reopen in October. Chuck also shares why he attended his Center forum retreat ten days after the flood instead of canceling, how the company gives back through Land Trust Day, its annual coat drive, and Habitat Day, and what he hopes for the business as we all navigate the increasingly technologically driven retail world.

]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0400 Wake Forest University Center for Private Business Wake Forest University Center for Private Business 2388 Great Outdoor Provision Company started in 1972 as a 200-square-foot trail shop tucked into the back of a Carrboro bike shop. More than five decades later it employs over 200 people across the state, and Chuck Millsaps, known internally as the minister of culture, tells Dana Alligood that the non-negotiable has never changed: people make the place. Chuck walks through communicating across five generations of employees, the practice of "clearing gaps" by asking a colleague to repeat back what they heard, and the employee handbook the team finally built after a Center for Private Business workshop.

The conversation then turns to resilience. In July 2025, Tropical Storm Chantal put more than five feet of water inside the Eastgate store in Chapel Hill, a self-insured location in a floodplain, while Chuck was a day and a half away working remotely. He explains the decisions that had to be made without time to confer; restoration contractors, the lease, keeping the Chapel Hill staff employed, and how the team salvaged the store to reopen in October. Chuck also shares why he attended his Center forum retreat ten days after the flood instead of canceling, how the company gives back through Land Trust Day, its annual coat drive, and Habitat Day, and what he hopes for the business as we all navigate the increasingly technologically driven retail world.

]]> No Every Great Company Has a Story 1 1 Every Great Company Has a Story trailer 72026478-e4aa-4922-a4cc-32d6347a37ba https://share.transistor.fm/s/f9b1b7b4  Every great company has a story. In this introduction to How to Wake Up Your Business, Dana Alligood, executive director of the Wake Forest University Center for Private Business, invites listeners into a series built around the conversations she had with leaders of six of North Carolina's most respected private businesses.

Each episode takes up a challenge that every privately held business eventually faces: succession planning, governance, culture, strategy, family harmony, and leadership development. The Center exists to be a catalyst for economic growth and social prosperity across our region and beyond, and this series shares that work in the words of the owners and operators living it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

]]>  Every great company has a story. In this introduction to How to Wake Up Your Business, Dana Alligood, executive director of the Wake Forest University Center for Private Business, invites listeners into a series built around the conversations she had with leaders of six of North Carolina's most respected private businesses.

Each episode takes up a challenge that every privately held business eventually faces: succession planning, governance, culture, strategy, family harmony, and leadership development. The Center exists to be a catalyst for economic growth and social prosperity across our region and beyond, and this series shares that work in the words of the owners and operators living it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0400 Wake Forest University Center for Private Business Wake Forest University Center for Private Business 53  Every great company has a story. In this introduction to How to Wake Up Your Business, Dana Alligood, executive director of the Wake Forest University Center for Private Business, invites listeners into a series built around the conversations she had with leaders of six of North Carolina's most respected private businesses.

Each episode takes up a challenge that every privately held business eventually faces: succession planning, governance, culture, strategy, family harmony, and leadership development. The Center exists to be a catalyst for economic growth and social prosperity across our region and beyond, and this series shares that work in the words of the owners and operators living it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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