After getting his Master’s degree and working a few unfullfiling years in the corporate world, Mike Wombacher changed gears, and has been involved with dogs for over forty years. Over thirty of them as a professional trainer. During this time, he has performed around 40,000 private consultations covering the entire spectrum of dog behavior, from the mundane to the bizarre.

Mike is also the author of three other books – There’s a Puppy in the House, Integrated Dog Training, and Good Dog, Happy Baby – and has another book slated for publication – Hey, What’s with the Collar: Inside the War in the World of Dog Training.

Mike has trained dogs for high profile celebrities in the entertainment, financial and academic worlds including Charles Schwab, Robin Williams, Linda Ronstadt, Barry Levinson, Chad Hurley (founder of YouTube), Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal), Jeremy Stoppelman (founder of Yelp), Dr. Robert Sapolsky (author of many books on animal behavior and neurobiology), Joe Satriani, Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Linda Ronstadt, Kirk Hammet (Metallica) and Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony,

who commented that "Michael Wombacher is a maestro of dog trainers. His clarity of thinking, sense of humor and skills in communicating make dog training fun for both pet and pet lover."

Mike has a great story of overcoming the doubts of others, and persevering, to overcome his buts, and the buts of others!

(Note that this is part 1, and cuts off at the end, but we plan to get Mike’s partner on a future episode to talk about her time in Iraq, Afghanistan, and how they are now working with PTSD service dogs for veterians.)

From White Gold To White Beaches: How a Wanna be Asparagus farmer ended up running a successful BNB and management company in Aruba.

Meet Rik Maes, Rik was born and raised on a farm in The Netherlands that specialized in White Asparagus (also known as White Gold). Riks story is a story of being at the right time in the right place and meeting the right people and recognizing & seizing opportunities without asking himself the “what if” questions and ignoring the “yes this is an opportunity BUT ……..” remarks from people around him.

His story is the epitome of what happens when you do not plan out your life but just do what sounds right and hope it will all works out.

Find Rik's place at https://stonethrowaruba.com/

Page Skelton is the co-founder of the Cackalacky® Brand – makers of Cackalacky hot sauces, barbecue sauces, snack peanuts, specialty coffees, clothing, and more. ( and our very first sponsor!).

Page attended West Virginia University (1991) where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and, North Carolina Central University (2000) where he earned his master’s degree in Library and Information Science.

Page is an Eagle Scout and father to a teenage son. Page and his wife, Caroline Skelton along with their son, Harry own and operate the Cackalacky Brand together. Prior to creating the Cackalacky Brand in the early 2000’s, Page was a global accounts manager with WorldCom, a telecommunications company.

Cackalacky, Inc. is a family operated company headquartered at 697 Hillsboro Street, Suite 600, Pittsboro, NC with a company store that is open to the public. To learn more, visit BeerBQNuts.com