Angles is a podcast about learning from the paths of interesting and successful people. Hosted by John Richmond, Co-Founder and CEO of Richmond Vona, the show features conversations with entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders from Buffalo and beyond. By exploring their stories from different angles, each episode uncovers the moments, mindset, and moves that helped them grow and offers insights you can use in your own life and career.
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In the twenty-seventh episode of Angles, Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson joins Angles to talk about family, leadership, work ethic, and his journey from Alaska to the NHL. He opens up about his father’s influence, the lessons that keep him grounded, and the mindset behind becoming one of hockey’s elite scorers. Tage also shares his thoughts on team culture, handling pressure, his love for Buffalo, and what it will take to bring playoff hockey back to the city.
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Ep27: Tage Thompson — Hard Work, Leadership, and Building Buffalo’s Future
Ep26: Brenda Turteltaub Feldstein — Love Letters to Music
Ep25: Dhane Smith & Josh Byrne — Buffalo Built: The Championship Standard
Ep24: Coach Trevor Large Canisius University — Building a Culture That Wins
Ep23: Matt Meyer — The Healing Mindset: Rethinking Health, Movement & Modern Medicine
Ep22: Amy Bueme — Building a Fitness Empire of Catalyst Fitness
Ep21: Alissa Vogelsang — Courage, Presence, and Finding Joy Through Adversity
Ep20: Kimberly LaRussa — Sweet Buffalo: Kindness, Cancer Awareness, and Community
Ep19: Dr. Helen Cappuccino, Roswell Park — Empathy in Breast Cancer Care
Ep18: Mark Schmidt — The Winningest Coach at St. Bonaventure on Leadership, Values, and Community
Ep17: Revolution Buffalo — Building Buffalo’s Fitness Community
Ep16: Spencer Brown Buffalo Bills — From Small Town Roots to the NFL Trenches
Ep15: Al Longo & Keith Vona — Veterans Race 2025: Service, Community, and Mental Toughness
Ep14: Sharon Cryan — Food Nerd Founder on Fighting Processed Foods and Feeding the Future
Ep13: Lisa Johnson – Championing Mental Wellness
Ep12: Emily Martin — Hiring Right & Having Hard Conversation
Ep11: Tom Prince — The Heart of High School Sports
Ep10: Justin Hartman — From Lawyer to Distiller: Building Hartman’s Craft Spirits & Community
Ep09: Tom & Cloogie Barnett — From Rink to Runway: The Barnett Tailoring Journey
Ep08: David Lord (Guidesly) — From Accounting to Adventure: Reinventing Outdoor Guiding with AI
Ep07: Dave Horesh (Oxford Pennant) — Crafting a Brand with Heart, Grit, and Buffalo Soul
Ep06: Brandon Bieron — From Battlefield to Boardroom: Leadership, Integrity, and Culture in Business
Ep05: Sal Capaccio — From Coaching to Breaking News: The Journey of a Buffalo Sports Insider
Ep04: Jonny the Barber (Jon Palmeri) — More Than a Haircut: Building Trust, Brand, and Community
Ep03: Sara Heidinger — Building Community Through Art, Coffee, and Creative Spaces
Ep02: Tom & Caitlin Moriarty (Moriarty Meats) – Old-World Butchery, New-World Community
Ep 01: Chef Darian Bryan – NFL Chef on Flavor, Hustle, and Creating Experiences
Featured Guests
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Hailing from Jamaica, Chef Darian brings the heat to Buffalo, NY and everything he serves. Featured in many media outlets, he inspires appetites around the world. From fine dining pop-ups to private dining experiences, and from meal prep for professional athletes to the long lineworthy events for his Jamaican-inspired “Jerk Hut,” extra is always on the menu—whether you’re talking his signature fedoras and chef jackets or the colossal surf and turf he’s known for.
Business/Organization: Bratts Hill, The Plating Society
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Moriarty Meats has been Tom and Caitlin’s dream since they first met. The first Moriarty Meats butcher shop was founded on a love of small European neighborhood shops, amazing food, and a warm welcoming feeling. The first Moriarty Meats was opened on Grant Street in 2018 part-time, where the present building was found. Moriarty Meats values quality, community, culture, curiosity, and connection.
Business/Organization: Moriarty Meats
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After studying photography at Mckinley high school, Sara continued her craft at the University at Buffalo and in New York City. She moved back to Buffalo and splits her time now between Undergrounds Coffee House & Roastery, of which she is part owner, and Photography, including curating a gallery space at 500 Seneca. Her journey has become more than just creating a final product, but a celebration of experiences for herself and others that may have been unknown otherwise.
Business/Organization: Undergrounds Coffee House and Roastery
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From cutting hair in his parents’ garage at 15 to running two successful shops, Jon Palmeri—known as Jonny the Barber—has built a brand around community, consistency, and attention to detail. Since Jonny the Barber opened his first barbershop, his main focus has been on the client. Everyone who works in his shops loves what they do and simply does it the best.
Business/Organization: Jonny the Barber
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Sal Capaccio, the ultimate Buffalo sports insider, shares his journey from coaching high school football to becoming the go-to voice on the sidelines and in the podcast feeds of Western New York. Sal discusses his non-linear path to sports broadcasting, the lessons learned from teaching, and the leap of faith that brought him back to Buffalo. Sal opens up about the importance of preparation, building relationships, and maintaining objectivity in sports media, plus the moment he broke the Terrell Owens signing story that changed everything.
Business/Organization: Buffalo Bills
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Brandon Bieron went from being a U.S. Army Ranger to a business leader. Now president of Reimer Home Services, Brandon shared how battlefield lessons in resilience, discipline, and leadership have shaped his people-first approach to business. From failing his first Ranger School attempt to leading one of Western New York’s fastest-growing home service companies, Brandon’s story is a powerful look into humility, culture-building, and service at scale.
Business/Organization: Reimer Home Services
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From humble beginnings with $2,000 and a side hustle, Dave Horesh co-founded Oxford Pennant, a company that resurrected the forgotten art of wool felt pennants and built a brand that reflects Buffalo’s pride and perseverance. In this episode, John Richmond talks with Dave about authenticity in branding, keeping manufacturing local, and the value of doing things the hard way—because it’s the right way. They explore business growth, navigating failure, building a culture of kindness, and why success means more when it’s shared.
Business/Organization: Oxford Pennant
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David Lord has built and exited tech companies for decades, but his newest venture is pure passion. After years chasing trout, he created Guidesly—a Buffalo-born platform that equips 1,500-plus outdoor guides with AI tools and marketing muscle so they can focus on delivering the “magic moment” for anglers. Sitting down with host John Richmond, David unpacks the $50 billion guiding industry, explains how the 43North accelerator helped anchor Guidesly in Western New York, and shows why a strong culture and clear accountability still beat raw enthusiasm.
Business/Organization: Guidesly
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Father‑son duo Tom and Cloogie Barnett turned a Buffalo tailoring shop into a bespoke powerhouse, dressing NHL superstars, CEOs, and wedding parties while staying true to blue‑collar roots. In this conversation with host John Richmond they trace the business from a post‑fire reboot in 1990 to an international brand, explain why hockey culture still shapes their work ethic, and share how the Buffalo Shamrocks youth program puts fun and sportsmanship back into youth hockey.
Business/Organization: Tom Barnett NY
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Host John Richmond sits down with Justin Hartman—former New York City trial lawyer and founder of Hartman’s Distilling Co.—to unpack his leap from law to whiskey, the science of crafting award-winning bourbon, and the realities of scaling a Buffalo distillery through a pandemic. Hartman explains how courtroom discipline, relentless research, and a timely pivot into producing 30,000 gallons of hand sanitizer kept operations on track. The discussion covers mentorship, balancing risk with vision, and plans to create a “Kentucky-style” visitor experience on Buffalo’s waterfront. A must-listen for entrepreneurs and bourbon enthusiasts alike.
Business/Organization: Hartman’s Distillery
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Tom Prince, Vice President of Western New York Athletics, turned a volunteer baseball blog into a full‑fledged sports network spotlighting student‑athletes across Buffalo. In this episode, host John Richmond chats with Tom about the evolution of youth sports, the mounting pressures athletes face, and why long‑term development beats early trophies. They dig into the art of balanced commentary, the role of parents and coaches in shaping character, and the future of multi‑use athletic facilities in Western New York. If you love sports at their purest—passion, community, and a dash of play‑by‑play—you’ll enjoy this conversation.
Business/Organization: Western NY Athletics
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Emily Martin is the founder of Ally HR Partners, where she helps Buffalo companies hire the right people and tackle the tough conversations that keep teams on track. She joins host John Richmond to explain why HR should guide strategy, how clear accountability builds culture, and what makes Buffalo’s business scene uniquely collaborative.
Business/Organization: Ally HR Partners
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In this episode of Angles, Lisa Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer at Compeer Buffalo, shares her journey from a college volunteer to leading an organization dedicated to combating loneliness and promoting mental wellness. The conversation explores Compeer’s mission, the impact of loneliness on mental health, and the various programs they offer to support individuals in need. Lisa discusses the importance of community engagement, diversity in mental health support, and the role of mental health first aid training in workplaces. The episode emphasizes the need for open conversations about mental health and the significance of checking in on friends and loved ones.
Business/Organization: Compeer of Greater Buffalo
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What if the cereal in your pantry was designed to be addictive? This week on Angles, Sharon Cryan, the founder and CEO of Food Nerd, shares her deeply personal journey—from growing up in Buffalo with a single mother battling MS to launching a company aimed at transforming how we feed our children. After a career in law, Sharon pivoted toward food advocacy, driven by her realization that ultra-processed foods were harming families across the country. She built Food Nerd from the ground up with one mission: to deliver truly healthy, plant-based, scientifically validated nutrition for the most important phase of life—the first 1,000 days. This is a conversation about motherhood, mission, and the power of food as self-care.
Business/Organization: FoodNerd
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What are you made of? That’s the question at the heart of this week’s Angles conversation. John Richmond sits down with Al Longo and Keith Vona to talk about Buffalo’s Veterans Race—a community event that’s more than just a 5K or 10K. From its origins on the back of a napkin to becoming one of the city’s fastest-growing races, the Veterans Race is about perseverance, gratitude, and giving back. Al and Keith share stories about the race’s growth, the Buffalo running community, and why this event is both a celebration of service and a thank you to those who’ve served. Whether you’re a runner, a volunteer, or someone looking for inspiration, this episode dives into mental toughness, community, and purpose-driven living.
Business/Organization: Buffalo Veterans Race
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From a small town in Iowa to Sundays in the NFL, Buffalo Bills tackle Spencer Brown has lived a journey built on grit and perseverance. In this episode, he opens up about his Hard Knocks experience, the ups and downs of draft day, and how Buffalo quickly became home thanks to Bills Mafia. Brown reflects on locker room culture, mental toughness, and what it means to block for an MVP quarterback like Josh Allen. He also shares his charity work with Mission 22, his thoughts on Buffalo wings, and what he’s most excited about for the upcoming season.
Business/Organization: Buffalo Bills
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What started as an idea among friends has grown into one of Buffalo’s most welcoming fitness communities. From the early days of washing towels at midnight to pivoting through COVID with outdoor classes at Larkinville, their story is about grit, teamwork, and the magic of creating connection. The Rev team shares how their diverse corporate backgrounds helped them launch the business, why relationships and inclusivity are at the heart of what they do, and how Buffalo’s collaborative fitness community continues to thrive.
Business/Organization: Revolution Buffalo
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When you think of St. Bonaventure basketball, one name stands above the rest: Coach Mark Schmidt. The winningest coach in Bonnie’s history, he’s built his program on values that don’t bend. Do it the right way, never cut corners, and treat everyone with respect. For nearly two decades, he’s led with discipline, preparation, and heart, earning championships on the court and admiration off it through his work with the American Cancer Society. In this episode, John Richmond and Coach Schmidt talk about leadership, culture, recruiting, preparation, and the lessons that carry far beyond the game.
Business/Organization: American Cancer Society
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Dr. Helen Cappuccino, a breast surgeon at Roswell Park Cancer Center, discusses her journey into medicine, the importance of empathy in patient care, and the advancements in breast cancer treatment. She emphasizes the significance of early detection, lifestyle changes to reduce risk, and the collaborative environment at Roswell. Dr. Cappuccino also highlights the role of research and clinical trials in improving patient outcomes, the barriers to screening, and the importance of community support and philanthropy in cancer care. She shares her insights on mentoring the next generation of doctors and the values that drive the culture at Roswell.
Business/Organization: Roswell Park Cancer Center
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Kimberly shares how Sweet Buffalo evolved from a good news platform into a lifeline for families in crisis, bringing joy and hope to children battling illness and supporting nonprofits across Western New York. She also opens up about her personal battle with breast cancer, the importance of early detection, and her experience in a clinical trial at Roswell Park. Through her resilience and passion, Kimberly highlights the true spirit of Buffalo as the City of Good Neighbors.
Business/Organization: Sweet Buffalo
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When Alissa Vogelsang was first diagnosed with breast cancer at 29, she refused to be defined by it. Over a decade later, she continues her fight with metastatic breast cancer — facing every setback with resilience, humor, and gratitude. In this episode, John Richmond sits down with Alissa to discuss her journey from diagnosis to treatment, the importance of being your own advocate, and how she finds joy in life’s small moments. Together, they explore the power of support systems, the realities of clinical trials, and what it means to live with purpose and presence — even when the road is uncertain.
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In this episode of Angles with John Richmond, we sit down with Buffalo powerhouse Amy Bueme, co-owner of Catalyst Fitness. Amy and her husband Joe started with one small gym and grew it into Western New York’s leading fitness brand. Amy shares the highs and lows of that journey — from competing with national chains and rebranding from Gold’s Gym to Catalyst, to balancing family life with entrepreneurship. She opens up about navigating market changes, surviving COVID-19, and why Buffalo’s fitness community is one of the strongest in the country. Her story is one of grit, resilience, and never losing sight of community.
Business/Organization: Catalyst Fitness
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What if everything you’ve been taught about health, healing, and performance was only half the story? In this episode, John Richmond sits down with Matt Meyer, a movement specialist, mindset coach, and wellness practitioner who’s worked with everyone from the Buffalo Bills and Bandits to everyday people searching for real healing. Matt breaks down how traditional medicine often misses the mark, why mindset matters as much as mobility, and how to build a daily environment that supports true wellness. He dives into alternative therapies, psychedelic research, and the simple daily habits that transform both physical and mental health. This is one of the most thought-provoking health conversations we’ve had on Angles — whether you’re an athlete, an entrepreneur, or just someone looking to feel better and live stronger.
Business/Organization: Revive Health
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Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne of the Buffalo Bandits join Angles with John Richmond to talk about leadership, legacy, and what it takes to win championships in Buffalo.
They open up about their bond as teammates, the lessons from losses that fueled their title runs, and how the Bandits’ culture represents the blue-collar mindset of the city. Dhane and Josh also share their thoughts on teamwork, community, and staying grounded through success.
Business/Organization: Buffalo Bandits
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Filmmaker Brenda Turteltaub Feldstein joins Angles with John Richmond to discuss her journey from Brazil to Buffalo, and how a $30 BPO student pass sparked the path that ultimately led to her directing the feature documentary *Love Letters to Music*, centered on world-renowned conductor JoAnn Falletta.
Brenda shares the power of quiet leadership, the evolution of documentary filmmaking, and the importance of curiosity, resilience, and passion. She opens up about building trust with JoAnn, filming across the world, studying hundreds of hours of footage, and why classical music is more important now than ever.
Business/Organization: A Special Story
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Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson joins Angles with John Richmond to talk about family, leadership, work ethic, and his journey from Alaska to the NHL.He opens up about his father’s influence, the lessons that keep him grounded, and the mindset behind becoming one of hockey’s elite scorers. Tage also shares his thoughts on team culture, handling pressure, his love for Buffalo, and what it will take to bring playoff hockey back to the city.
Business/Organization: Buffalo Sabres