Discussing the vision behind the Visionaries supporting LLS and cancer patients on June 6th at The Pendry

The race is on for The Leukemia and Lymphoma “Visionary Of The Year” and Kati Grasmick and Andy Kobus joined Nestor at Koco’s Pub on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour to discuss the annual event being held at the Pendry on June 6th to support fundraising and awareness for cancer patients locally.

Nestor Aparicio, Andy Kobus, and Kati Grasmick discussed the upcoming LLS Visionary of the Year event on June 6th, highlighting their personal connections to blood cancer through family members. Katie was nominated by Kate Paris and aims to raise funds for blood cancer awareness. Andy, a networking expert, is supporting Katie and organizing events, including a happy hour at Fogo de Chow on May 6th and a networking workshop on May 21st. The main event will be held at the Pendry on June 6th, with a gala and opportunities for sponsorship. They emphasized the importance of mental health support for cancer survivors and their families.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Invite and feature guests on next week’s show to talk about the GBMC sexual abuse and awareness prevention walk.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Talk with his wife about participating as an LLS spokesperson and sharing her story at future events.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend Andy’s networking and LinkedIn workshop at Town Pub & Grill on May 21.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the LLS Visionary of the Year gala at The Pendry on June 6, including preparing an outfit and grooming beforehand.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the May 6 Fogo’s Chow Towson happy hour for the LLS Visionary of the Year campaign.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the May 16 Town Pub & Grill happy hour for the LLS Visionary of the Year campaign.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the May 21 Joppa Town happy hour for the LLS Visionary of the Year campaign.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the May 21 Catonsville Crab Cake Tour event at the Fishmonger’s Daughter with Amy and the Divine family.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the May 21 Catonsville Crab Cake Tour event at the Fishmonger’s Daughter with former Councilman Tom Quirk and his wife Heather, and bring them to Lexington Market to support downtown.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the May 21 Catonsville Crab Cake Tour event at Faith with Ivan Bates for the racing crabs segment.
• [ ] Host the full-day seminar on opioid use and suicide prevention in the construction industry at the Renaissance Downtown on May 20.

Katie Grasmick and Andy Kobus Introduce LLS Visionary of the Year Event

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning various local events and sponsors, including GBMC and Farnham and Durham.
• Nestor shares his personal connection to blood cancer through his wife, who is a two-time leukemia survivor.
• Nestor introduces Katie Grasmick and Andy Kobus, who are involved in the LLS Visionary of the Year event.
• Katie and Andy discuss their involvement in the event, with Katie being nominated by Kate Paris and Andy joining the team.

Personal Stories and Emotional Connections

• Nestor shares his wife’s journey with leukemia, including her transplant and the emotional impact of the events.
• Katie talks about her stepfather’s 50-year remission and the influence of their friend Paige, who is now an honorary hero.
• Andy shares his connection to blood cancer through his friend Tim and Paige, who was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after graduating from Towson University.
• Nestor reflects on his wife’s recovery and the ongoing challenges of living with the aftermath of cancer.

Fundraising and Event Details

• Katie and Andy discuss upcoming events to raise funds for the LLS Visionary of the Year campaign, including a happy hour at Fogo de Chow in Towson on May 6.
• Andy mentions a networking workshop on LinkedIn to help businesses grow and connect with others.
• Nestor and the guests discuss the importance of supporting the event and the impact it has on the community.
• The main event is scheduled for June 6 at the Pendry, with a gala and opportunities for sponsorship and ad space.

Networking and Community Involvement

• Andy and Katie emphasize the importance of networking and connecting with others in the community.
• Nestor shares his experiences with various local events and the importance of supporting local businesses and causes.
• The guests discuss the significance of mental health and advocacy for cancer survivors and their families.
• Nestor reflects on the challenges of balancing personal stories with advocacy work and the importance of community support.

Final Thoughts and Call to Action

• Nestor encourages listeners to support the LLS Visionary of the Year event and the candidates involved.
• The guests highlight the importance of raising awareness and funds for blood cancer research and support.
• Nestor shares his personal commitment to supporting local causes and the impact it has on the community.
• The guests express their gratitude for the support and emphasize the importance of continued advocacy and fundraising efforts.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

LLS Visionary of the Year, blood cancer awareness, fundraising events, Katie Grasmick, Andy Kobus, networking mafia, GBMC, Maryland crab cake tour, leukemia survivor, blood transplant, mental health, opioid use prevention, construction industry, LinkedIn networking, Pendry gala.

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SPEAKERS

Kati Grasmick, Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1, Andy Kobus

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Hello. Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, and we are positively here at Koco’s Pub. We are in beautiful lauraville. I just met the town square Main Street people here in Laravel always doing good stuff down here in Hartford Road, we’re doing the Maryland crab cake tour. It’s presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery, they keep stealing my Key Bridge in my boardwalk setting. These are the Maryland treasures. They’re the new ones. They were great art contest last year. Also, our friends at GBMC put me out on the road and keeping me healthy. I actually have a doctor’s appointment next week. I’m afraid they’re gonna give me needles. I’m afraid of needles, but I’m going to the doctor and you can tough it out. To our friends at GBMC, I walked a mile in their shoes last week for sexual abuse and awareness prevention. A lot of people out on a beautiful day at GBMC there on the square the Chapman South it was wonderful. I’m going to have some folks on next week to talk about that event as well. Also farnand Dermer, they keep us comfortable on the hot days. Make sure your HVAC and your AC is ready to go. And by all means, don’t get one of those little soft things I had in my pipe when the pipe burst two weeks ago, and I had to bring them out from a plumbing you do not want a broken pipe in your basement. Call far in the derma. They are the comfort guys. I’m more comfortable because of that. Andy Koco’s and I become friends as a networking mafia that we are out trying to grow our business. You’re involved with United rentals. I’m involved with W NSG and Baltimore positive and and I met Katie at an accelerate event. And I’ve been involved in this space with blood cancer. I can tell you right when March 20, 2014 things kind of went downhill quickly after that. My wife’s a two time leukemia survivor, two bone marrow transplants. Did not spend time with meals in Italy last week, but we did invite him something about like Germans. They don’t give people time off over there. But nonetheless, I did save my life’s life twice. So it’s not the first time we’ve talked about visionary of the year, or LLS, leukemia, lymphoma society had some other organization change names, because I can say LLS, but it used to be Man of the Year or Woman of the Year. And they came to me one point and said, Do you want to run for Man of the Year? And I said, What do I got to do? And all of you who run, I try to bring all of you on every year, we had Kate Paris last year, who is better at yoga than me, and it makes me angry. Kate does, but Katie’s here, Katie Grasmick and visionary of the year, which I was the junior visionary of the year, MC a couple of years ago for that. So these are young people helping raise money for blood cancer awareness. And I think anybody gets involved has a story, you’re wearing red and black, so you’re themed out on this Katie, yeah, yeah.

Katie Grasmick  02:47

These are definitely my lucky pants, okay, at almost all of my events.

Nestor Aparicio  02:52

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So we’re like, in the middle of this, right? Like that. This is coming up soon. Yes, I remember when my wife got cancer in March. Her transplant was June 26 and her transplant was set, like the week before the big and then it was man and woman of the year. And we didn’t think she was going to be able to attend. And then she had, like, a blood problem during that month, and she was availed to go, but was very concerned she was going to lose her donor. So, like, it was a very we haven’t been to that event where we’ve just gone and had fun, yet we were there, like, when it was a tough night for us and I, we saw other people have been victimized by this, and other survivors and people that lost spouses. I mean, it’s very, very emotional thing for us. How did you get involved in this and and putting yourself out there these about six months. It takes the run for this, right? Like, leading up? Yeah, I

Katie Grasmick  03:49

signed on in July. I want to say I was nominated by Kate Paris. She is our team members. Your fault, Kate definitely Kate’s fault. And it was an easy yes, you know, like when somebody believes in you for something, and they want to, you know, see, you make a make a real impact in the world, it was definitely an easy yes, and I had Kate on board with it.

Nestor Aparicio  04:11

Well, she knew what she was doing. She did I’ve been at her last year, and she knew what she was up for. And Kate was built to run and like, they’ve come to me before, and like there’s no vision here, you know what I mean. And Man of the Year, I’m already a narcissist. You know what I mean? I’m the man of the year every year for me, you know? But he’s laughing. But visionary of the year. There’s something attractive about all of that. But then there’s a part where you actually come on radio shows like mine, talk about it. You have Andy out in front of this with this networking mafia and tendon bar doing events. Everybody’s got to pitch in and do something to create awareness. What have been doing?

Katie Grasmick  04:52

What have I been doing? So Andy was my first team member on board right and and he, I, he has this. Big goal this year of really becoming a speaker and making an impact on different, you know, different people, and sharing what he does and how he’s so good at it. So it was an easy, yes, there

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Nestor Aparicio  05:11

team effort, because Andy wrote to me. And I’m like, Sure, anything for Andy, anything for LLS, anything for one of Kate’s friends, you know, anything for my accelerant friends and like all of that. But Andy, you come at this honestly. You’ve, you’ve rolled your sleeves up, not just once or twice. This is sort of like you’re very cause oriented, dude.

Andy Kobus  05:29

I appreciate that, Nestor. And you know you say Man of the Year, if you’re a better man this year than you were last year, then yeah, you’re the reigning king. So yeah, I like to do for others. It’s really It’s what keeps me full, keeps my pitcher full by pouring out to others.

Nestor Aparicio  05:45

Where are you from? I don’t know enough about

Andy Kobus  05:47

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East Baltimore, right about five miles from here, hon. You know, where

Nestor Aparicio  05:51

did you grow? I

Andy Kobus  05:51

went to Parkville High, but I lived on this side of Bel Air road, so we’re right on the line to overly so I was right on the outskirts of Parkville. So just outside in this Yeah, where Taylor meets Bel Air Road, lucky night depends on how you know, how you want to pull it nice.

Nestor Aparicio  06:07

So how did you get involved with blood cancer as a cause, I mean, and here’s the weirdest thing, you know, after my wife, you know, I mean doing this 35 years, right? So I’ve been married 23 years. We were married about 11 years when she was had cancer, and I had somebody from American Diabetes Association on earlier. They’re doing a big walk on May 9, and they’re snooker me down to Harbor Point to do that. And my wife was diabetic when I came into the relationship, and it was needles and blood and sugar and research and juvenile diabetes and type ones, you know, all of these buzz words that I got involved with, and I had done things for all sorts of charities Ed block, I was a community Chairman back last century with Ed block, so and I was, I would have been an orphan child had I not been adopted. So that was a space for me to be like, I can get involved in this and cry about this once my wife, like got involved with blood cancer, needed her life saved. And Eric Sauer, and there goes my heroes and other great group of friends of mine, Michelle bresnick Walsh, who literally came to my wife’s bedside at Hopkins to try to coach her, keep her alive. 12 years ago. Now, it’s all running together. This is 26 to 1412, years ago. Now, I went back and looked at how many things I had done for leukemia, blood, things that like, I have plaques from Luke with my name on them from leukemia from, like, last century. My wife is cleaning out the race. She says, You did this for leukemia? I’m like, Yeah, I did that with Kim Knight, the Oriole bird. There’s probably a picture of it, and I like and I think about all of this, but it’s completely different when it’s you, you know, when it’s your wife, and it’s 155 nights in the hospital. So one of the reasons I can’t run is I can’t even talk about it, and I get asked to MC and then I get all shitty on stage, and I’m a mess, and I start to fall apart. So like, it’s not good for me to be that guy and sit on boards and all that, even when I bring somebody like you on, but there’s a story behind why you want to do this and why I don’t see my wife and I would even chicken out to come out to the event in June. But like, it’s tough for us. It’s tough for my wife, tougher for her. It gets tougher every day for her to be, like on my show, talking about it, because she doesn’t think about it so much anymore, you know, like, which is good. I like that. I don’t want to thinking about that when she’s in Italy, you know. But we get asked to do things, and sometimes it’s, it’s hard for me, but I’ll go through with it. It’s much harder on my wife to come out and be a part of these kind of nights. What got you involved.

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Katie Grasmick  08:42

Well, my stepfather, he is 50 years in remission this year. And while that was a big driver, our friend Paige, we were, you know, blessed to meet her and really open our hearts to it. And Paige, she’s now the honorary hero of the whole Mid Atlantic region, alongside Jim Buckley, both of them kind of dual the role and and you know, for her, she, when she came to my first team meeting, the port was still in her chest. She had just went into remission and had her last treatment. And so for her, she was so powerful and such an incredible energy to be around. It was an easy it was, it was so easy for me to just pick up the pieces and say, you know, we’re gonna drive this home for you, like, I want this for you. So that was, that’s a big thing for all of us right now. You know, we just open our hearts to it, and it pours right in. So Andy grass, MCs

Nestor Aparicio  09:38

here, and Andy Koco’s. We’re Koco’s. We’re talking about LLS. We’re talking about visionary, the formerly known as man and and Woman of the Year. And I’ve had a lot of winners that I’ve known over the years that have come on my show and worked hard Kate Paris last year. Many other people, Junior visionaries as well. But having young people on raising money is awesome too. But they’re doing this year around the save people’s. Lives like my wife.

Andy Kobus  10:00

So you were saying, I’ll say when we met Paige. Paige’s boyfriend, Tim, worked with me at United rentals. I know Tim very well, and got to know Paige. And Paige graduated Towson University in 2024 and less than three months later, was diagnosed with leukemia, and was told she had she not gone into treatment, she was not going to make it, and it turned her life around. Obviously, you know, her family had to get on board with, you know, with learning all the things and and nobody can learn that alone. So it’s, it’s something like blood cancer united

Nestor Aparicio  10:33

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through a three ring binder on my wife’s table, right? That’s what we don’t figure it out, yeah, you know, well, you wonder why I don’t want to talk about it every day. You know, it’s when, you know, invite you over, is one thing. Then you sit here and you get into it. It’s like, man, you have some heavy ish. We went through for sure back then. And there’s people fighting through that every single day right now, down at the Zayat center all over the world. And I know, you know, you raise these funds, you want them to go to the right places. And there is a big gala. There’s a big party that at the end of this, give me details on how people can support you or support the event, because I know the events coming up at the Pendry, right?

Katie Grasmick  11:08

Yep. So we have a couple more events lined up prior to the gala at the Pendry on June 6, and our next one is May 6. May 6, we have a happy hour at fogo day Chow in Towson. And you know, it’s $50 I live in Towson.

Nestor Aparicio  11:24

Hold on here. Fo, go to chow.

Katie Grasmick  11:26

That’s good stuff. Yeah, it’s really good. So it’ll be a great happy hour. They weird me

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Nestor Aparicio  11:30

out when they bring the knives over, and I got to go red or green. I mean, they know this. I mean, I’m a little little freaky around those big old knives with the Brazilian dudes, you know, going at it. But I just came back from South America.

Andy Kobus  11:40

So, I mean, I’m down with this one will be plated orders. So that’s all covered under your ticket, and 100% of your ticket due to generosity of our sponsor, info pathways, thank you guys. 100% of our ticket sales go right to the campaign. So it’s plated hors d’oeuvres. First Strike is covered, and then a percentage is going to go towards the cause. I don’t mean to

Nestor Aparicio  12:01

be picky, but you’re gonna have some hearts of Paul. Gonna have some hearts of palm. I need some hearts. So I gotta go full South American when I’m there. I want the whole experience. That’s May six. You guys are doing that may say they said that, but June 6 is the big gala right now. You attended last year. To both of you go last year on behalf of K No,

Andy Kobus  12:18

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I went last year with our dear friend, Madeleine Mensur, okay, Maddie was a visionary candidate last year. Okay, that’s how I kind of came into it. She ran in honor of her grandmother. And when I got to know Maddie and start to love her dearly, and then Katie and I and Maddie just were meant to be friends in this universe, and just kind of came to be about a year ago that we decided people this, right?

Nestor Aparicio  12:43

I mean, just pick, you know, like he’s collected. Me collect. I mean, I bet if I go on our LinkedIn, we got hundreds and hundreds of mutual friends because we just see each other around town. But you’re always like, you’re always pimping a cause with what

Andy Kobus  12:56

we make in this world, we’re gonna leave behind. It’s that spiritual currency that’s stored. You take that with you. Well, I’m

Nestor Aparicio  13:02

trying to pay it forward as best I can without breaking down with my LLS stories about my wife, because I don’t get asked much about this. But you know, I do remember 12 years ago being involved with it, and how when you’re in peril, like your friend was and his wife was there, the world stops, you know, our world stopped for two years. Nothing happened in my life. In 14, 1516, that did not involve keeping her alive. Period that was, you know, and 10 years later, she got back from Italy, she was drinking wine and cappuccino and all this stuff over in Venice with her dad, and he’s 80, so you know, there’s life after all of this, but then there’s being in the fight and fighting for people and raising money and doing big events. Katie grass makes here, Andy Koco’s is here. They’re here on behalf of blood cancer and LLS and visionary of the year. The Big Event is June 6. What are we doing at the pantry that night? Big isn’t gonna be a big thing, right?

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Katie Grasmick  14:01

It is a big party. I think we’re expected to hit capacity in in the event room that night. I want to say swanky, yeah.

Andy Kobus  14:11

So they, they are printing ads, and we’re selling the ad space for that, and that’s by way of sponsorship. Is your way into that Gala, to get in with the decision makers, the people that are moving things in Baltimore.

Katie Grasmick  14:24

And there’s only about two more weeks that you can actually get into the ad space, and it’ll be, you know, it’ll be in the booklets going out all of the information. And so hundreds of 1000s of people are going to end up seeing that, and it’ll be really great.

Nestor Aparicio  14:38

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How many are you running against now? And against now, and it’s not boys against girls, and he was not a male and a female, just a visionary, right?

Katie Grasmick  14:44

No, there’s one winner. Yeah, I want to say we have nine, nine total candidates right now, and they’re all truly like movers and shakers. So it’s, it’s definitely a tight competition

Nestor Aparicio  14:54

this time around. All right, so fundraising, what else have you done for. Me. The reason they would get me guess bartend. I’m like, these are the real bartenders here. This guy makes me eggnog every year. They don’t need me behind the bar messing with them. So I, you know, I think you got to get creative in how you meet somebody doing bowling tournaments. They do all sorts of things. But you guys are, you’re doing your thing.

Andy Kobus  15:20

We’ve got a couple of happy hours. We’ve got town Pub and Grill and Joppa town, okay, on the 16th, it’s a Saturday evening, and we actually just this morning, and then we’ll do it again on May the 21st I am running a workshop on networking and LinkedIn. So to better your business, to help increase your networking abilities. A one, very little, very little. But you know more in person, you know, how do you show up? How do you how do you determine what is a good investment of your time, not how to spend time, how to invest time in other people and other causes and growing your business all at the same time?

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Nestor Aparicio  15:58

Yeah, well, I want to be a part of that.

Andy Kobus  16:00

May 21 hit me up for that,

Nestor Aparicio  16:03

doing a good job on LinkedIn, but I could be, I could be more in your face. I mean, the thing that I’m the worst at, honest to God, is like, I see you five, six times a year. Hey, Andy, let’s take a picture, and then I tag you. I see a lot of that. I ran into this guy or in or that guy, that girl at LinkedIn in the morning, and he put, I don’t, it’s just not like I don’t know, it’s nice when people tag me and they do it, but I just don’t do that. I don’t think like that, for some reason I should, right?

Andy Kobus  16:35

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Maybe. So all depends on your goals,

Nestor Aparicio  16:39

you know. So I can do to show up with warm coffee in the morning and look good,

Katie Grasmick  16:45

pretty good. Networking truly fills our cup. So being able to share those tips and tricks on, you know, events like this, because we’re really strong connectors, and how to become a strong connector and really put yourself out there. Make it easier on you, being in the room.

Nestor Aparicio  16:59

Business cards these days. Where are you? Some people hand me the little QR thing. Some people hand me paper. Some people hand me some bougie metal thing. What the hell am I doing with that? So I like, I would just be like, when I met you, I met you over coffee and I but I’ve seen you with Melody Barron’s event too. I was trying to meet you because I thought you were related to Nancy Grasmick, who I’ve known for a million years. And, like, I just looked you up on LinkedIn that that was on a boat. I was on a boat. Was with the it was the city. Was doing the tour. He was there. Yeah, and Melody Barron was giving a speech about her Philadelphia thing and her LinkedIn local thing, and I saw you, and you got a nod, and I said, Grasmick, I wonder. And I was

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Speaker 1  17:49

our first networking event.

Nestor Aparicio  17:51

And but the first thing I do is, if I see a name, I’m like, I mean, if you’re serious person, you better be on LinkedIn. People tell me they’re networking and they’re not on LinkedIn. I’m like, Who you networking for in private? Like, what are you doing?

Katie Grasmick  18:04

Yeah, that was the beginning of our networking journey. That was the first event I went to with. Well, I’m glad I didn’t come up and scare the hell out of you. No, it’s totally fine. It was great. You know, I met so many people that night, went to so many more events after that, and here we are, what a year later, I’m gonna be

Nestor Aparicio  18:19

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the world’s worst person for that event, because I went on to the boat forever. Melody gave a speech. It was kind of long, and then they were going to sail the boat, and I had something that, like, was going on that day. It might have been the NFL Draft. It might have been, like two years ago today, like it literally was something like, once the boat leaves, I’m stuck on a boat and, like, I’m a little I’m not creeped out by what I like, fine. Like, I mean, Billiken, I used to get in this all time because he had a boat. Once a boat leaves, you’re stuck, yeah, like, I can’t get off the boat, and that freaks me out, like, a little bit. You know, even a boat I want to be on with people I want to be on it with. I’m like, I’m not afraid of the boat or anything. I’m just sort of like, it’s like when you went to Ocean City. Ricky, what are we getting there? Mom, what are we getting there? One spoke one back, one spoke one back. So I didn’t I like, it was almost like I dove off the boat as the steam was her way. And then I waved you guys as it sailed on, and I didn’t look back. I think, I think I grabbed some ecobin and went home, as I remember it, but I was on that boat with you, yeah, yeah. But, like, the first thing I did was Katie Grasmick, I wonder she’s Nancy. Look, I looked like, I looked you up on LinkedIn, and then I met you, and I’m like, Oh, she’s taller in person, I’m a lot taller. Yeah, you’re a lot taller in person.

Katie Grasmick  19:39

Yeah, my I feel like my network has grown tremendously since that event. But that was, that was our first, that was our first outing,

Nestor Aparicio  19:46

because you’re hanging out with Andy. You know, Andy knows everybody. Andy Koco’s is here, Kenny KRAS makes here. We’re at Koco’s Pub. Listen, I got two guests on here, and I want to be really fair, because I have given away. I gave away. My My Ocean City one to Schuler. I don’t think it was a winning one. I did have a winning a $20 winner a couple hours ago, but that was on the mollusks and the in the birds of Blackwater. So I want to make sure we get all four of these out. So here’s the motif, Maryland treasures Andy ready. We got boardwalk, Ocean City. We got acid tea courses. We’ve got bay bridge here, and then we’ve got Herons, crabs, mollusks and birds. So these are the four motifs. Which one you going with? Horses? Horses. It is. Horses are worse, of course, of course. Now, these are not Preakness horses. These are acid tea courses, because I see the sand. Which one are you going with? Love, two horses. All right, two horses here. Somebody had to get in touch with you guys. Come out and 10. Bar support, bar B, bar town, bar Joppa town. What else we doing?

Katie Grasmick  20:56

Think that’s got it covered. Networking workshop, networking workshop.

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Nestor Aparicio  21:00

Those are the best ones. That’s the LinkedIn thing. That’s right. Here’s your homework for me. Now I put you on my show. Couple times you’ve had another cause here. Do you want to promote your other causes?

Andy Kobus  21:11

So we’re going to have one more May the 20th. I’m going to be hosting at the Renaissance downtown, hosted by our friend Shannon Jenkins. Going to be a full day seminar on opioid use and suicide prevention in the construction industry. So it’ll be free admission

Nestor Aparicio  21:28

in every industry.

Andy Kobus  21:30

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It will cost every industry. And we’re going to focus on why

Nestor Aparicio  21:33

it’s important, baby,

Andy Kobus  21:34

to get past the stigma, to understand there are resources that are available but not always accessible. So it’s that access to those resources that we need to in their position. We can connect so many people and just bring to light that there’s help out there, there’s hope, and we can make a difference. It’s those waves that come back, the ripples that we make today, you might cross a year or two from now,

Nestor Aparicio  21:57

you know, if they ever snooker me into this, into this visionary thing. And I’m this is about all the vision I got right now. You need Andy. You need to, you know what I mean, yeah, when I run for mayor, I’m not gonna run for mayor. I’m kidding. I’m gonna have Andy be my campaign manager. I 100% support that.

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Katie Grasmick  22:15

There was some upset individuals that I had Andy,

Nestor Aparicio  22:22

but I got to pay Andy. And love is all you got to do. Andy in love, yeah, and networking events. You got to get a bed early in the morning. He says, Look at 7am Hunt Valley. You got to get there. That’s what you got to do. So what you got to do? What’s what I do? It’s why I run into both of you. Yeah, I’m glad you guys are stepping up, and I’m glad we had Kate last year. And so many people you know through the course of time that have done this, that have run for Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, now visionary of the year. It is June 6 at the Pendry it’s so important for leukemia, lymphoma survivors, their families, people that are going to be stricken and don’t even know it yet, LLS stepping up and doing the right thing, especially at a time when government’s not doing as much as that we could be doing. All this comes to the private sector. So get out support folks like Katie and like Andy and doing all this, and even the other eight people. Is it okay that I say we can support them too?

Katie Grasmick  23:14

Absolutely, absolutely. We’re all I don’t

Nestor Aparicio  23:17

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mean that, but I mean that friendliest

Andy Kobus  23:18

competition ever. We’re showing up for each other’s events. We’re there to support

Katie Grasmick  23:23

each other. Yeah? I mean, we all network together. We all are in the same, same crowd, same space during the six I’m

Nestor Aparicio  23:28

gonna have to get all hot seat, hot seat up, you know, have to look nice. Shave up. I didn’t shave today. I feel bad. Break out the suit. I look all right, though, right? I mean, I don’t shave. I feel delinquent. I feel like a guy from Dundalk, you know what I mean. But I just didn’t feel like shaving today. I wasn’t into it so, but I would shave up. I mean, if I’m doing the your fancy schmancy thing, I’m gonna have to get right and get the razor out and some stink them, do my hair up right, let it out the right way. But I gotta. I would have to. That would be something where I have to go shopping, yeah, if I’m doing the LLS Gala, right?

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Katie Grasmick  24:03

Yeah, show up in your

Nestor Aparicio  24:04

best you know what’s really weird? I know my wife’s not gonna be here that week. She’s like, her dad. She’s doing big thing with her dad. I’m thinking, like, if I hit her on it, she’d be like, we got to get a dress, right? We gotta, you know? And I’m like, she’s been beating me up at a tuxedo for like, years. It’s time. See now you’re taking her side.

Katie Grasmick  24:23

I’m on her side. It’s time.

Nestor Aparicio  24:25

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She’s like, that’s so 42 Reg, and you’re much more like 30 Reg, right now, maybe 30 short, 38 short, 40 rank. And I’m like, she’s too big on you. Yeah. I’m like, it fits fine. Maybe. Where are we going to the gala? Yes, maybe, maybe. All right, what’s it to Pendry? I mean, I would have to get Dude, it up. Yeah, find us on LinkedIn. Was I won’t wear those rented shoes. No offense, Scott, I ain’t wearing your rented shoes. I don’t blame you.

Andy Kobus  24:52

Pick them up down the bowling alley.

Nestor Aparicio  24:55

Comfortable shoes are the key to life. At this point in my in my life,

Katie Grasmick  24:58

they had a little flair. To your outfit to wear the nice tux. Wear some Converse along with it. You’re good to go.

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Nestor Aparicio  25:04

Brooks adrenaline, 23 is right here. I think that’ll work. This blue will go with any color that I can match up with, but I got to be comfortable. Yeah, last time I got dressed up wasn’t in the talks. My wife and I went to Tokyo, and her high school exchange student came to Tokyo, and her big thing was a gift to us, because they’re Japanese, and they give gifts. That’s just what they do. Nice people Japan, they took, she took us to the dress up as the geisha, and I wore the the whole kimono, and they had like, these shoes that were like, right out of the Netherlands. And they were, they might as well been wood. And I’m like, now I’m wearing sneakers. So my wife and I are out in the streets of Tokyo, all, dude, it up hair had the bone like, like Wilma, you know, like Wilma Flintstone. We were all like, Dude, it up out on the street, and Japanese people were looking at us, but they were looking at my shoes, because I was wearing sneakers over come sneakers. I would be better at the bow tie and tuxedo sneaker ball. They do that one the sneaker and bow tie and sneakers or whatever. If you’re having a ball, I’m wearing sneakers. Yeah, absolutely. Do it any ball we want you comfortable to be AC DCS balls. It could be any ball you want. I’m wearing sneakers. That’s ball to me, but I do, I do need to get my jacket fixed. And if I come to something fancy, it’s going to be time for me. We have to go shopping in New York before June 6.

Andy Kobus  26:31

You got to look great. You get a lot of pictures.

Katie Grasmick  26:33

Yeah, absolutely. But, you know, I think, I think it’s such a great event to come out and support and really gather the information, share stories and kind of dive into what we’ve all well, my wife is a living,

Nestor Aparicio  26:45

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breathing, yeah, LLS spokesperson waiting

Katie Grasmick  26:49

for you. It’s stories like hers that really make a difference in this journey.

Nestor Aparicio  26:53

I’ll talk to her about talking about it, yeah, all right, because you haven’t talked

Andy Kobus  26:56

about we’ve reached other lives through this campaign. In the last few weeks, we’ve had a few people reach out, because of our LinkedIn posts, because of this journey, I didn’t know this existed, right? Been dealing with this for three years.

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Nestor Aparicio  27:10

Like, yeah, my wife, like, she’s the wild card in this, right? Having done 155 nights in a hospital, having almost died of leukemia twice, like all of that, and we did a lot of active work, like 1012, years ago. Just lately, this is you are my link, like you coming on and being a part of this allows me to tell my story without crying too much and losing my issue in the middle of the show, which I lost it last week on a topic.

Katie Grasmick  27:38

So it happens, you know, unless there’s someone, there’s an important piece to what we’re doing here, really. And it’s not just those that are going through it right now, but it’s the mental load that it puts on, on, on the patient, on the family, and that sticks with you, that we that we need to shed light on right? Because that’s part of it, advocacy support. How do we make their lives better? Moving forward, knowing the stories of those have already been through it, right? So if I could

Nestor Aparicio  28:05

be an advocate for anything, it’s if you beat cancer, get yourself more help with mental health afterward, about how to recover. Because I think that’s was the biggest challenge for my wife is like, we fixed you up, we sold you up, we sent you out the insurance didn’t want to cover her. And you know, all the fights that we had about all of that with and then came the news that it was 911 that brought it on, and that begat a whole nother New York level of insurance, and the zagroba Act and that creep, Mitch McDonald and everything that Jon Stewart was up fighting for all the firefighters. It opened a whole new space of a place before covid happened, and Schindler took over the first time the second time. So just people trying to strip science, doctors calling Anthony Fauci a quack, like all of this that we’ve lived with over the last 12 years, somebody’s getting diagnosed with Leukemia Lymphoma today, and they’re gonna need more than that binder that they threw down on us at Hopkins 12 years ago in order to survive it. So, yeah, we didn’t get me fired up to want to be a spokesperson, to talk about absolutely when I speak out of anger, I don’t get upset when I speak out of thinking about my wife being 88 pounds and, you know, her risk being this big around and thinking she’s gonna die Christmas, I freak out.

Katie Grasmick  29:25

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She’s a warrior, you know, yeah, 100% 911 try to take her out once, and here we are again. Within here, she’s still

Nestor Aparicio  29:30

standing four times. She’s strong. Yeah, she very much so. But it’s people like you that do these events that make it to make it happen, because I don’t think she’s built for it. She wouldn’t be built for 90 days of going out and fundraising, doing the work you’re doing, she’s wood.

Katie Grasmick  29:45

Literally, I’m doing it

Nestor Aparicio  29:47

for the she’s much more like, I’m past all that and to take a walk in the woods. What she did this morning, yeah, because it was, like, it was nice out so,

8

Katie Grasmick  29:53

and it’s more common than you think. Nestor, like Nick Schultz, that won last year with Heller kowitz, he he was at the work. Up before we kicked off, and he shared a very important piece of information, and it’s one in three. One in three are going to experience this. So there’s three of us sitting here. There will be one of us that experience.

Nestor Aparicio  30:11

That’s how my next guest is linked to Nick because Casper wells come by to talk some baseball. They work together, so we’re all in the same he’s gonna talk some ball, yeah, but, and I think he was a part of that last year with Nick. Now, you know Nick’s father was my high school gym teacher, really? Ron Schultz, hey, Ron, stop sending me to crazy memes. And of course, Curtis Schultz, Nick’s older brother, who was my kickboxing coach, and Kurzman and Kurt and our blood brothers. So that makes Nick sort of a brother, yeah, close. Sort of, well, I mean, I think of him that way, at least. So, so it’s funny, that’s how connected this is. Is last year’s winner is somebody that I’ve, you know, known his father since I was 12 years old. Yeah. So we’re trying

Katie Grasmick  30:59

to get Casper on my team, and then, you know, Nick wanted to pass the torch, so it didn’t work out, but you got Andy. I do have Andy.

Nestor Aparicio  31:07

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He’s not chopped live. Or this guy

Andy Kobus  31:09

here, no, he’s good consolation prize.

Nestor Aparicio  31:10

Every time you sit next to me, you’re doing something good. Andy Koco’s here. He works to tell me what you really do in the real world. You have, like, a real gig.

Andy Kobus  31:17

I do. I do so work for United rentals. I mean, we provide solutions to building the building industry. And I learned

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Nestor Aparicio  31:25

there more than a sign in Lansdowne office, 695, you can see it. Oh, yeah, we had a good time. Well, I mean, next time you throw a little party over there with beef, I’m in That’s right, he threw a party everybody in the company. Oh, wow. Good time. Well, you put out good food. Everybody comes and eats Frank’s barbecue. Shout it out there. It really was good.

Katie Grasmick  31:45

What you really do?

Andy Kobus  31:46

That’s right? Oh, yeah, this, this is it. Provide. We bring people, the solutions, the connections you’re making. Find us on LinkedIn, find Katie and I on LinkedIn. Let us know that you heard about us on Nestor show, we’ll take care of last

Nestor Aparicio  32:04

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name was Grasmick. I mean, obviously Nancy’s been on the show. Nancy’s husband and I’ve known their family for 50 years. John Steadman was best friends with her husband a million years ago. Was my mentor. Nancy’s been on talking education all that. And I know so your name got linked to that. To me, what do you do in the real world? I didn’t even ask you.

Katie Grasmick  32:23

I am with First National Bank downtown, and I’m a private banker.

Nestor Aparicio  32:29

All right, so if I need money, I call you. You do our rates. What do we got going on right now?

Katie Grasmick  32:34

Well, in our world, we have great home equity rates when it’s, you know, prime minus 1.01 and it’s probably the best around.

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Nestor Aparicio  32:41

Where are we like in a six is somewhere now, yeah, sevens, sixes, not five.

Katie Grasmick  32:47

So great team to work with. Verticals in house. Y’all need you to fives, fours. Great leadership.

Nestor Aparicio  32:54

All right, so I can find you the banking world. You can and Andy, you can find honk your horn when you’re in lands down over the wood exit. That’s like 1110, nine. Yep, 11, right there. Yep. I don’t know the West Side exits the way. I know my 30 fours and 30 sevens over on East Side. You know, you guys on the west side, we’re holding her story.

Andy Kobus  33:12

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32 a 32

Nestor Aparicio  33:14

is in the 30 fours and 37 we all know on our side, yep, over there. It’s all like ISIS. Take the harbor ton of thruway. Boom. Yeah, I never had. I didn’t know from lands down. And when Jim Schwartz told me he was from Arbutus, I’m like, what else at that nail Halo Thorpe, I didn’t know to say

Andy Kobus  33:34

it’s all the same unless you live there, kind of like Dundalk Essex. It’s all the same unless

Nestor Aparicio  33:40

you hit a nerve. Don’t lie. You know, the Patapsco people don’t be mixing them up. That’s right, Merritt Boulevard, you go the other side, except for Costas, of course. Andy’s here, and our friends, Katie grass mix here. You can find them at banks, LinkedIn, United rentals. You can find me bellied up to the bar here. So I had occasion here to tourist in last Tuesday night. I came in for Burger night, and then I get in here and I get the same thing. Get the Greek salad. I get the coconut shrimp because they’re the best in the world. I got a cup of cream of crab soup, and they brought me like a VAT. So I wound up taking half of that home and eating that three days later with some crackers, because it was delicious. And I sat at the bar, and there was a tourist guy at the bar who was from Cincinnati, and he knew about Koco’s, and he was looking up an Uber to get out of here on a Tuesday night. Was wondering about the neighborhood like all that. And he was staying down at the harbor, and he said that, you know, he looked up where to get a great crab cake in the neighboring he said, I want to go to a neighborhood place or whatever. I said, Man, that’s all I do. That’s what I do. You know what I mean? So I’m going to be in Essex next week, at Pizza John’s on the seventh. We’re going to be at Planet Fitness in Timonium. Have a very special crab cake tied to a very special person that day that we’re going to talk about in Koco’s Money mayor, we had a major loss in our community. About six months ago, tied to a crab cake. And I’m going to be talking about that on the 13th. We’re back at Faith. These are going to be racing crabs with Ivan Bates. That’s at fayetteleys at Lexington market. You know, I was at a fishmonger’s daughter in Catonsville. And I’m not going to give up former Councilman Tom Quirk and his wife Heather, but I’m going to give them up. They had never had a fadeleys crab cake they had never been down to the Lexington market because they’re Catonsville people. So I’m going to be doing the show in Catonsville on the 21st the fishmonger’s daughter with Amy and the divine family. Hopefully Bill and Nancy can come out that night too. But I got to take Tom down to faith to get him down to people that haven’t been to Lexington market, get down to Lexington market support downtown, just like you’re supporting us here in lauraville. Today, I had the lauraville Community Association people, and I said, You do book fairs, you do stuff with kids. They do Christmas, they do Santa. She does Santa here at Koco’s. So I got these neighborhood people in the community people and people that run for visionary of the year with LLS is what holds and binds this whole thing together. And on the 21st we’re gonna bind together Catonsville, where I was at Morse burgers rocking with chips. Enough. Enough’s enough. Last week, had a world class band in there and one of two bands that ever thanked me in their liner notes. So I was appreciative that. So I tell my wife that story about why we’re out on the deck with chips enough at midnight in Catonsville last week. So we’ll be there on the 21st and I have all sorts of cool Catonsville people at that week, but we’re here in Laravel, where Koco’s I’m short now on Assateague horse tickets from the Maryland treasures, and I’m two for two. Steve Elliott came by, gave him a ticket. He won 20 bucks. Had another guest come by, gave him a ticket. They won three bucks. So I’m I’m your lucky ticket today, you should Scratch and win. Make sure you’re downloading the app at empty lottery. Also our friends at GBMC, I walked a mile in their shoes last week, and got a great red hat from that. And our friends at Farnham and Durham, who are keeping us comfortable. Luke is monitoring all things NFL draft, all things Orioles, trying to get back on their feet. Any breaking news happens first on the W N st tech services, all brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy. I’ve talked about the cream of crab soup. I’m gonna go have a cup of it. I’m back from over Koco. Stay with us.