We delve into:

• What the DHC does day-to-day
• What "quality affordable housing" means to him in practice
• How he thinks about the community side of housing
• How gentrification and rising housing costs intersect with DHC's work
• A detour into urban planning philosophy — inspired by Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities — on whether cities should be consciously designed or shaped more organically by the people who live in them
• and more!

I also delve into Nick's philosophy around what it means to bring the "universal language" of coffee to Ann Arbor and how he's built Black Diesel to function as a true third space — somewhere to reconnect, recharge, and meet up.

Topics covered include:

• How Nick would describe Black Diesel to someone who's never heard of it
• The lessons from his consulting days that still shape how he runs the business
• What motivated him to leave the corporate route and take the risk of starting Black Diesel
• Why he started the Black Diesel Barista School, and what he's learned running it
• What "third space" means to him — and why it was worth fighting for
• Whether that meaning has changed in a world of remote work and phones
• How Ann Arbor has shaped Black Diesel, and how Black Diesel has shaped the community in return
• What he'd tell his younger self, looking back
• What he hopes people remember about Black Diesel — beyond the coffee

In this episode, co-founder Curtis Sullivan joins us to talk about that original risk, how two very different skill sets shaped a business built to last, and what it's meant to grow from one shop into three cities while staying true to a philosophy that comics should be "for everyone."

We cover:

• The origin story behind Vault of Midnight and the risk it took to open in 1996
• How a restaurateur and a finance background shaped a business that's lasted three decades
• What's changed — in the shop and in Curtis himself — between year one and year thirty
• Making comics and pop culture feel accessible to newcomers, not just longtime fans
• How the store's investment in community has shaped its relationship with the city
• Expanding to Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, and Detroit, and what makes each location distinct
• What Curtis hopes people remember about Vault of Midnight

Whether you're a longtime comic shop regular or just curious how a local business survives — and thrives — for 30 years, this conversation is a great look behind the counter.

In addition to this, Kit has expanded beyond high school rowing, to building a regional hub for rowing (Washtenaw Rowing Center) and a fully buoyed 1500-meter race course (Katherine Bennett Race Course - with a jumbotron!) to share his passion with an even larger community. Rowing is often known to be a sport with limited accessibility—Kit has challenged that since day 1.

This is a conversation about what it really takes to build something lasting — one stroke, one season, one person at a time.

In This Episode:

• Kit's journey from coaching in London (2000) to settling in Ann Arbor
• Building Skyline Crew from scratch at age 24
• The team's core values
• Balancing elite athlete development with accessibility
• Expanding beyond the high school program: the Washtenaw Rowing Center and the Kathryn Bennett Race Course
• What makes a good athlete beyond physical ability
• Common mistakes young coaches make, and advice for early-career coaches
• The future of rowing in Ann Arbor and the Midwest over the next 5-10 years

In this episode of Under the Canopy, I sit down with John Roos, the founder of RoosRoast — one of Ann Arbor's most beloved and recognizable coffee shops. John is a chef, a drummer, a self-taught artist, and a storyteller. He cheffed about in restaurants around the world, started a creperie in France, fell in love with coffee in Oregon, came home to Ann Arbor, roasted beans out of his garage until the Department of Agriculture shut him down — and kept going anyway.

This episode isn't about the origin story of RoosRoast — John's website has a wonderful video for that, and I'd encourage everyone to watch it. This conversation is about something bigger: what it takes to build something from nothing, how to pursue multiple passions at once without losing yourself in any of them, and what role a coffee shop can play in the life of a city.

This one is for anyone who has ever felt pulled in too many directions, anyone who has ever talked themselves out of a risk they should have taken, and anyone who has ever wondered if it's possible to build a life that's both meaningful and fun.

The answer, according to John Roos, is yes.

In this episode:

• What RoosRoast really is and what it stands for
• The moment John traded a safe job for a coffee roaster and never looked back
• Navigating doubt and uncertainty in the early years of building a business
• How to pursue art, food, music, and entrepreneurship all at once
• The role journaling has played in John's life and creative process
• How Ann Arbor shaped RoosRoast — and how RoosRoast shaped Ann Arbor
• What John hopes his legacy really looks like

Gayle started with Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation at eighteen years old, skating around Buhr Park ice rink as a college freshman. She worked her way up through part-time roles during college and grad school until she landed the full-time position she holds today — overseeing the city's only indoor public pool, a beloved outdoor 50-meter pool that draws hundreds of swimmers on a hot summer day, swim lessons, Masters swimming, youth swim teams, day camp, lifeguard training, and a staff made up largely of young people.

We talk about what it's like managing two completely different facilities at once, how she thinks about serving everyone from toddlers in the tot pool to Masters swimmers at 5:30 in the morning, and why accessibility has always been at the core of everything she does. We get into the parts of the job nobody sees from the outside — the weather, the rule-benders, the long days — and what it really means to build a community around a public pool.

And we open with something that stuck with me when I came across it: a professor once told Gayle that because of her tattoos, she'd never get a job and never be successful. Her response? "I think people will give me a chance." This episode is proof that they did.

In this episode:

• How an eighteen-year-old ice rink monitor became a career Parks and Recreation leader
• Managing two wildly different pools — and which one is harder
• Building a staff of young people in a world where teenagers are increasingly squeezed out of the workforce
• What accessibility really looks like at a public pool and why it matters
• The hardest parts of the job nobody sees from the outside
• And yes — does she ever want to jump in the pool at the end of a long day?

In this episode, I sit down with Lisa McDonald, owner of TeaHaus in Kerrytown. Lisa is one of the very few European-trained tea sommeliers in the United States and the author of Tea for Dummies — but what she's really built at TeaHaus goes far beyond a great cup of tea.

We open with a concept that's been on a lot of people's minds lately: the third space. Not home, not work — but the places in between where relationships form naturally, where you might bump into someone who changes your life, and where you're allowed to just exist without obligation. Many communities are losing those spaces. TeaHaus is fighting to keep one alive.

In this episode:

• What a "third space" is and why so many communities are losing them
• Lisa's path from professor and consultant to European-trained tea sommelier
• How TeaHaus evolved from tea store to café to tea bar and lounge
• The no-laptop, no-Wi-Fi policy and what it's done for the community
• Sourcing tea from around the world and the relationships behind it
• Advice for young women with entrepreneurial dreams
• What Lisa hopes people remember about what she's built

In part two of our conversation with Merrill, we dig into the brokerage that's been the backbone of her career for over a decade. She rose to Top 250 out of more than 2,000 agents at one of Michigan's largest brokerages, then eventually founded Red Barn Realty LLC, a local boutique brokerage dedicated to serving the Ann Arbor area.

We talk about what drew her to real estate in the first place, what it really feels like to be the first person a family meets when they're planting roots in a new town, and the client stories that have stayed with her long after the papers were signed. We also get into how running a real estate brokerage and a community boutique at the same time isn't as different as it sounds — because at the core of both is the same question: how do you help people feel at home?

And we close with something close to our hearts here on the podcast — Merrill's advice for young women who want to build something of their own, and what she hopes people remember about everything she's created in Manchester.

In this episode:

• What pulled Merrill into real estate and kept her there
• Rising to the top 250 of 2,000+ agents — what she did differently
• The client stories that go far beyond the closing table
• What it means to be a community gatekeeper as a Realtor
• Advice for young women with entrepreneurial dreams
• What Merrill hopes her legacy in Manchester really looks like

Hope you enjoy! Stay tuned for the next episode (you'll love this guest!).

Here, we focus specifically on Dragonfly and Birch, which is a bookstore, gift shop, event space, and bar, among many things all at once.

In this episode:

• The story behind Dragonfly and Birch's name and concept
• Exploring the Unique Blend of a Gift Shop and Gathering Place
• Curation Philosophy and Product Selection
• The Importance of Community Gathering
• Challenges and Unexpected Joys of Business Ownership

On the next episode, we delve into RedBarn Realty, a real-estate brokerage that Merrill has owned for a decade. Stay tuned!