Chuck Burge has been in the marketing industry for over 30 years. He became one of the hosts/emcees for the Diet Pepsi “You Got The Right One, Baby” Uh-Huh Girls…. transitioned into a corporate DJ.
He was invited back into the marketing world to create marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies…GM, Dunkin Donuts, Pepsi and many others. After the downfall in economy in ’08, he started doing everything locally that he was doing nationally… helping companies with branding and sales.
Today, he still creates events for non-profits selling sponsorship for and producing them. Airaoke.org is the website for his biggest event. He hosts two sports podcasts to raise money for a cancer support group and NIL money for the 2nd largest college in GA, Kennesaw State University.
He is very involved in his community through Chamber of Commerce, business associations and volunteering for MUST Ministries.
Connect with Chuck on LinkedIn and follow Airaoke on Facebook
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:05] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX Studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.
Sharon Cline: [00:00:19] Welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I’m your host, Sharon Cline. And today in the studio, I have a gentleman who has spent over 30 years in the entertainment and marketing business. He has been a host and emcee for the Diet Pepsi Uh.huh girls, which has been a minute since they’ve been around, but still amazing credit. And he’s created grassroot fortune 500 companies like GM, Dunkin Donuts and Pepsi. His. Today he creates events for nonprofits and his biggest nonprofit is airaoke.org/, which is why he is in the studio today. We’re going to talk about that today. So please welcome Chuck Burge. Hello.
Chuck Burge: [00:01:00] Hey, Sharon. How are you? Good. How are you? Good to see you. Good to be out with you.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:05] Thank you. On a nice, somewhat warm Thursday afternoon, which is so crazy. Crazy.
Chuck Burge: [00:01:10] It’s beautiful, I love it.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:11] I know, me too. Thank you so much for coming in today. Oh, you bet. We, um, had previously spoken. At some point we would talk about the Airaoke competition that happened in October and September, September 30th. And then life gets in the way.
Chuck Burge: [00:01:27] And then my life, not yours.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:29] Yeah, no, but I appreciate you reaching out and reminding me that we were going to do this. So thank you. I’m very happy to, um, to go over the the other side of getting ready or talking about what you’ve done in terms of success with Arioch, because we talk about getting ready and getting sponsors and, and trying to promote this event, but it’s not often I get to talk to someone about the after afterwards and how you felt about it and how successful you felt. It was not just for sponsors, but like for the the nine over 11 Fallen Heroes project, which is who benefits from the karaoke competition?
Chuck Burge: [00:02:06] That is correct. Uh, Susan and Mike. Course, Mike is, uh, was actually spent three months at ground zero after nine over 11 recovering bodies and stuff. And Mike and his wife Susan run the nine over 11 Fallen Hero project here in Atlanta. And Mike is actually contracted cancer from being on site at nine over 11. So he’s the first person to contract it from being on site. They’re just fabulous. Guy. I can’t speak as well as he used to, but he used to be a very good speaker around town and used to do, uh, keynote speaking. And now he leads to talking to others and he just comes to the event, which is great. Uh, Susan and I now have a four year partnership. We had our first meeting of the year last Friday. Went very well. Uh, we’re going to make some changes, which is kind of interesting. Um, yeah. So, uh, yeah. So looking forward to getting keyed up about, uh, September 28th this year of 2024. Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:02:59] So this will be the fourth karaoke. That’s correct. That you’ve had. So I know you’ve spoken about Arioch on other shows, but I’m wondering if you could give the listeners an idea of what Arioch really is.
Chuck Burge: [00:03:10] Arioch is just a fundraiser for the 9/11 Fallen Hero Project. Uh, all all nonprofits do golf tournaments and five K’s. And I wanted to do something different. Um, and having been a karaoke host, probably one of the first 10 or 20 karaoke hosts in the country when it came here in the early 90s, I’ve always had a passion for karaoke, even though I hadn’t sang karaoke since 2000 until about three weeks ago. I did it at a birthday party.
Sharon Cline: [00:03:38] Oh, what did you sing?
Chuck Burge: [00:03:39] Uh, me and, uh, Sandra Glenn sang. Uh, I got you, babe. Oh, I got down on my knees so she would be taller than me. So we’d be like Sonny and Cher. And it was a blast.
Sharon Cline: [00:03:48] Oh, it’s fun right?
Chuck Burge: [00:03:49] A lot of memories rushed back. It was fun. It was a long time since I’ve been on a mic to sing, but, uh, we had a good time, and that’s all that matters. That’s anything I do. If I have fun, I’ll assume everybody else is having a good time.
Sharon Cline: [00:04:01] That’s awesome. So you had created Arioch is a combination of, like, an airport and karaoke. So let’s talk about how you came up with that. Yeah, the whole concept.
Chuck Burge: [00:04:10] I was on the board for the Marietta Aviation Museum for a while, and they had this big C-130 out at the Aviation Museum, and I was just standing there one day in the parking lot. And it’s a very unique place to have an event, and it’s kind of slopes down towards the plane. And I said, well, great for viewing and all that stuff. And I said, how cool would it be to wrap a stage around the nose of that C-130 and have people sing karaoke in front of the plane? And everybody loved the idea. But the more we looked at it, there was a railroad track across the street and, uh, 72 trains a day come through there and you never know when it’s going to happen. So we just decided that that wasn’t the place. And I went to Jim Cook that owns, uh oh. I can’t even think of the name of his company. I’ll think of it here before we leave. Uh, he owns a hangar up at, uh, Cobb International or McCallum airport, and we decided to have have it in there. And he had a smaller plane than the C-130, but we still wrapped a stage around the nose of the plane and karaoke, and the view was beautiful. You could see Kennesaw Mountain behind the planes and planes were taking off and landing behind the stage. And it was really an awesome venue. Uh, it was so good that we. We almost doubled our capacity or doubled our crowd size in the second year, and we ran out of room. So there’s just not enough parking at the airport. Um, it became a nightmare for the airport people. The elevations restaurant, I think, who I love, Diane Bowman and Mike Bowen, so no issues with them, but, uh, we took over all their parking spaces, so they were a little concerned. So we moved it to the Strand Theater on the square in Marietta, and we’re even considering changing it to Square Aoki since we’re on the square.
Sharon Cline: [00:05:49] Oh, gosh.
Chuck Burge: [00:05:49] We don’t know. But we’re thinking about it. But we don’t want to lose the branding. Um, so. And we obviously did not want to lose the karaoke portion of it. So we had to do something with air, and as you well know, because you sang in it and you came in third place, um, we made the stage look like a runway, so it looked like the performers were coming out on a runway and singing like they were the airplane. So we still had the karaoke tie in. Uh, the one thing that we lacked, we we could have used a bigger crowd. And the reason being, when we did it at the airport, we had, uh, we had over 25 sponsors, and each sponsor brought ten people, and we had table rounds of ten for them. There’s no place for rounds of ten at the strand. So we did a little, uh, adjusting this year. So we’re going to give the sponsors more tickets so they can come, and we’re going to do a couple of other things differently. Uh, but that’s how I came up with Arioch just. When you get as old as me, you lay in bed and you think and you think and you think. And just one night karaoke, maybe kind of fun.
Sharon Cline: [00:06:49] Divine inspiration is what we’re going to call that.
Chuck Burge: [00:06:51] You never know.
Sharon Cline: [00:06:52] Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:06:52] How did definitely up in the air. Oh, yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:06:56] Another dad joke that happens in this. We have dads in here all the time, so I’m sure dads who are listening are like, oh, cute. Uh, all right. So how did you get associated with the nine over 11 Fallen Heroes Project?
Chuck Burge: [00:07:06] I called, uh, Randy Kreider, who at the time was the fire marshal and then became Cobb County Public Safety director, and I had known him since he was 4 or 5 years old from church and McEachern High School. And I said I really wanted to do something because nine over 11 meant a lot to me. Two of my best friends were supposed to be in the towers that day, and through God’s grace, neither one of them wound up there. And, um, and when it happened, I ran off to a church and sit there and prayed, and I knew the 20th anniversary was coming up, and somebody said, you know, everybody’s starting to forget. And I said, well, let’s do something about that. And I called Randy and didn’t want to do a. Didn’t want to, uh, couldn’t give it straight to the firefighters. So he directed me to this organization to talk to them directly. And that’s how we had to give to the firefighters through there. And now it’s to all first responders, not just firefighters.
Sharon Cline: [00:08:00] Well, there were so many, right? So many different ways that people were being rescued and helped during that time.
Chuck Burge: [00:08:06] Just look at what happened in Kansas City yesterday and 800 900 firefighters and policemen there. It’s crazy. Crazy stuff. Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:08:14] Have you been to New York since this has happened?
Chuck Burge: [00:08:16] Have you? No, I don’t think I have. I think I think I flew by there like a couple of days after, actually. I flew out of Boston on nine, nine. Oh, wow. Two days before. And I, you know, I may have been up there, I can’t remember, but. And I remember seeing the hole where the tower was, but I, I’ve never visited the site.
Sharon Cline: [00:08:34] I’d love to I haven’t either. I would love to as well, I’ve heard. All right, let’s go. Yeah. I’ve heard it’s really sacred, you know. Road trip. Yeah. And they have the museum there as well, which I’ve wanted to see. I mean, I don’t know, there’s just something, um, so solemn and sacred about what happened, you know, in these people’s lives. And when you think about the fact that your friends could have been part of that, it just hits closer to home, you know, than someone. Like where? I didn’t know.
Chuck Burge: [00:08:58] Anyone. Like I said, one of them called, um, she had had her fiance died like, the week before, and his funeral was the day before, uh, 911. And she called that morning and said, I just need one more day. And everybody in her firm was killed except for her that day, two hours later. And then my best friend was supposed to be at a meeting there, and he missed his flight the night before in Atlanta. So that stuff just gets to you. It’s personal. Yeah. And it became very personal to me because of those two people. And of course, the more I learned about Mike and everything he did, I mean, he just tears my heart up when I talk to him, so. Susan two I mean, it’s an amazing thing what they did.
Sharon Cline: [00:09:40] I think it’s a wonderful thing to. To turn something that’s tragic and, you know, horrible and beyond what we can really even comprehend to make something positive out of it. And I think that’s one of the challenges that I find for my life, is the things that I can blame as negative and difficult. You know, if I reframe it, it can be something that is beneficial to my spirit or someone else’s spirit or journey. Um, and I can get down about things. So it’s it’s not easy, but I love the notion of being able to say, here’s something awful that happened, here’s how we can make it better.
Chuck Burge: [00:10:14] And absolutely, I.
Sharon Cline: [00:10:15] Know what is it? I want to say? It was Mister Rogers who said, always look for the helpers. Have you ever heard that?
Chuck Burge: [00:10:24] You know, I don’t think I ever watched Mister Rogers, other than seeing the farce gets done by Johnny Carson on his show, but. Well, I know it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and that’s about it.
Sharon Cline: [00:10:35] That’s funny. That’s good. Um, I think he was the one who said that, you know, children would sometimes say, how do I or actually, no. He went to his mother and said, when bad things happen, what do we do? How do we look? How how do we think positively about the world when you see bad things happen? And his mother told him, look for the helpers, look for the people that help. Um, and then that gives you hope, I guess. So it’s like choosing to look at the positive, which is what you’re doing.
Chuck Burge: [00:10:59] I try. I try, yeah, it’s a great event. It’s a fun event. Uh, the last two years we have had, uh, one of our clients, American Signature Family Furniture, uh, had WSB come out and cover it. So that was great that we’ve got two years of exposure on WSB on their people to people show the week after. It shows on Sundays at noon. And if you go to karaoke Org, you can watch those videos of past events. They were very good. I think you’re in one of them. I think I called you and said, hey, do you see yourself on TV?
Sharon Cline: [00:11:30] Yeah, I was really surprised. Yeah. Uh Sharon.
Chuck Burge: [00:11:34] Cline. Seeing people.
Sharon Cline: [00:11:35] She nothing like the woman who won Hillary McDermott. My goodness, I just my mouth was just open the whole time. I’m like, why is she not have a record deal and is like on videos and, you know, the most famous person.
Chuck Burge: [00:11:47] Any of any of the three of you were just as good.
Sharon Cline: [00:11:49] Oh that’s awesome.
Chuck Burge: [00:11:50] Well, I can’t even remember who the second place girl was. I know she was blond, I can’t remember her name.
Sharon Cline: [00:11:54] And I can’t think of her name off the top of my head either.
Chuck Burge: [00:11:56] We had a hard time getting her, uh, jukebox into her car after the event, I remember that.
Sharon Cline: [00:12:01] So what’s so cool is you get these gifts to give to some of the finalists, and it’s just, you know, what a what an honor to feel like. I’ve got this company that’s helping me to honor the people that have done.
Chuck Burge: [00:12:13] And that’s American signature family furniture that gives us the gifts every year.
Sharon Cline: [00:12:16] Yeah. I mean, how special is that? And is it is it any challenge at all to find sponsors? I mean, what is that like for you? Well, there’s.
Chuck Burge: [00:12:22] Always a challenge when you’re looking for sponsors and it’s a sales game no matter who it is. There are so many good charities out there. I mean, most ministries out there, there’s tons of good charities, people that help with, uh, homeless kids and, and, you know, hungry kids and just police. And every company has their own passion and somebody’s gonna say, nah, I support other charities and that’s and that’s fine, but you just have to talk to enough that first responders mean a lot to them. And to me, 911 was the deal clincher, you know, and for some people that we talk to it is you know, that’s I want to give to these people, um, Uncle Andy for plumbing. Now, uh, talk to him about returning this year. But he was on board last year, and he sat and talked with Mike Kors for about a half hour at the event so much I didn’t even get to meet him. We’ve talked some on Facebook and stuff, but I didn’t even get to meet him while he was at the event. But, you know, it meant something to him, and it meant a lot to Mike for Randy to sit there and talk to him. So, um, sponsorships range from 250 to 5000. If you want to go look at archive.org, that’s a I r a o k e.org, and you can see all the sponsorships available on there.
Sharon Cline: [00:13:33] So you’ve also got some postcards that you’ll hand out occasionally over time to help people to understand that they have an opportunity potentially, if they want to be part of it. This is where you go and what you do. So I’m glad that you brought some today. I’ll be back. Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:13:47] Let me show it here on the radio. Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:13:49] I hope you can see it. But they’re not on right now, which is the way I like it. No.
Chuck Burge: [00:13:54] So, yeah, we’ll leave these with Sharon. We’ve got her some, uh, basically to save the date. September 28th, 2024, the only date the strand had available that month. Oh, wow. So we have to work around their schedule and getting to that. And I’ll talk a little bit about some of the changes we’ve made. Uh. It’s it’s very difficult to find a place to do this. The benefits of being at the strand are number one, the acoustics, number two, the acoustics, and number three, the acoustics. I mean, it sounded so much better in the strand than it does in a hollow airport with all this ambient noise going on. But it was, from a technical perspective how long it lasted. It lasted right at three hours, which is what we were shooting for. The first singer came on at seven and we announced the finalists at like 945, and then they performed and and then left. Now we’re going to do something a little bit different this year. Uh, I know we had 25 singers and then three finalists, and I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but when the three finalists were announced, everybody else left.
Chuck Burge: [00:14:54] So we’re not going to have finalists this year. We’re just going to have 25 singers, and then we’re going to do a raffle instead of silent auction. So if you’ve got a raffle item, please contact me at Chuck karaoke org. And and then we’re just going to announce the raffle winners and then we’ll name the three winners and then it will be over. So so that way we’ll hope to keep the crowd there longer. And we also are going to do a better effort of trying to get schools involved. We are dropping the age participation down to high school. Excellent. So any high school that wants to participate, they can have a student there. And our thinking behind that is that will bring people. So if you have a daughter that’s in the course, everybody in the course will come. If you have a son that’s sings, all his friends and stuff will come. So that’s kind of our thinking behind that. But it’s still karaoke. It’s still the coolest nonprofit event going in town because it’s not like anything else you’ve seen.
Sharon Cline: [00:15:47] It’s not. It’s the most unique, for sure. But what I love that you’re having for you’re having younger people, um, there’s so many talented people out there who just haven’t had a chance to really shine. So it’s wonderful that you’re giving them this opportunity.
Chuck Burge: [00:16:02] Yeah. And Hillary is scheduled to be a judge, so I hope she’s still going to be a judge. Um, the previous winner always becomes a judge because we’re not going to let the same person win two years in a row. Gotcha. Uh, which I think is a good marketing idea because we want everybody to have a chance to win as long as we have the event. So, uh, and then, uh, Madeline Montgomery, who was one of the judges last year, instead of just getting community leaders, we’re going to get four other people that know music and they know what they’re looking for because, like, I had a friend, I wanted to name his name John Keller, but, uh, but he was just I don’t know what I’m voting for. I’m just voting because I think they sound good. So. So we’re going to get people that know what they’re doing. So I guess in a way we’re going to step up the judging a little bit. So Madison’s going to take over that. And again, that’s one little thing off my plate. And I got a lot of good committee that everybody does a little. And I like to say, you know if everybody does a little nobody has to do a lot.
Sharon Cline: [00:16:57] Perfect. Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:16:57] Right.
Sharon Cline: [00:16:58] So so what other, uh, how was it at the end of karaoke? Did you feel like the money that you raised felt significant? Did it feel worth it? Um, I guess I have no idea what that side is like for you.
Chuck Burge: [00:17:11] Yeah. Um, as long as Susan’s happy, I’m happy. And, you know, we have a great relationship, and, uh, she keeps coming back, so she must not be unhappy with what we’re doing.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:21] That’s amazing. Perfect.
Chuck Burge: [00:17:23] Yeah. And, you know, we’ve raised we we grew, uh, we doubled in size from year one to year two. Uh, year two to year three. It wasn’t quite that, but we did have an increase in the money that we gave to Susan. So, uh, you know, it’s not it’s not that hard if you’re going out trying to sell sponsorships, as long as you tell enough people. I’ve been in the sales business long enough to know that if you tell your story to enough people, you won’t fail. And that’s my bottom line. I will tell everybody I know until I get where I want to be. So that’s kind of my mantra, I guess.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:58] Have you always had a heart for nonprofit?
Chuck Burge: [00:18:01] You know, uh, for 17 years I refereed and coached basketball at the upward organization at my church. And, um. Sometimes I was trying, but I did it for 17 years, every Saturday. You know, during basketball season, I did it. And I also volunteer at Gobbledok every year for Mus ministries. Um, and also, I don’t know if you want to mention this, but I also do two sports podcasts.
Sharon Cline: [00:18:30] I did want to ask you.
Chuck Burge: [00:18:30] About them, so I do one called Three Guys Who Love Sports. Uh, at 5:00 at Wednesday’s at Miller’s Ale House on Chastain Road in Kennesaw. So, uh.
Sharon Cline: [00:18:39] Across the street from Kennesaw State University.
Chuck Burge: [00:18:40] Across the street from KSU. So we do that because I’ve been playing poker once a month for close to 40 years with a bunch of guys, and two years ago, one of them contracted prostate cancer, and me and one of my other friends took him out to dinner one night. And all they wanted to do was talk about prostate cancer. And I said, Steve, you got you got to stop, buddy. You’re going to kill yourself worried about it. And so we got him talking about when he played baseball at Murray State and when he and I used to play church basketball against each other, and his whole demeanor changed, his face lit up. It’s he started smiling and laughing again. And I said, you know what? We’re going to start a sports podcast show just for you. I said, we’re going to do it once a week, and it might only be an hour, but, you know, I’ve helped somebody an hour, and somebody else helps somebody for an hour. This world will be a better place. So we started that and two weeks ago we had our 100th show. Oh, congratulations. Two year anniversary. Yeah. So it was awesome. And about six months into that I had a friend of mine, Carrick Martin Carrick is the co-owner of Dogwood Golf Club out in West Cobb, and I knew he was a sponsor and donor in the Hall of Fame of Kennesaw State sports, and I wanted to have him on the show to see what was going on at KSU, because I went to Kennesaw Junior College when there were five buildings on campus, and so I had Carrick on the show and he pulled me and Robert.
Chuck Burge: [00:19:52] I said, you guys are great. This is a lot of fun. He said, would you be interested in coming out and broadcasting at, uh, Dogwood Golf Club next week for the US open? I think it was in June. And we said, yeah, we’ll come out there and do a road trip. So we did. And again, he pulled us all aside and said, you guys are just fantastic. Would you be interested in doing a show all about Kennesaw State sports? And Robert had looked at and said, well, we don’t know anything about them now, but we’ll learn. And so now we’ve been doing that show 18 months. So at Miller’s Ale House on Chasteen Road, Kennesaw, we right across from Kennesaw State University. We do, uh, three guys who love sports. At 5:00, we always have a guest on and we mail them agenda a couple of days ahead of time and so they’ll know what they’re going to be talking about. And then at 7:00, well, Miller’s feeds us at six, which is a terrific thing because their food is delicious. And then at 7:00 we do the owls who live sports all about Kennesaw State sports, and we have fans and guests and coaches and players and on it’s a lot, a lot of fun. And like I said, we’ve been doing that show since August 17th of 2022. So about 18 months now.
Sharon Cline: [00:20:54] Can you even believe it?
Chuck Burge: [00:20:55] No.
Sharon Cline: [00:20:56] Like, who would have thought you would be doing a show about Kennesaw State University? You know, every Wednesday and it’s just the way life unfolds sometimes just cracks me.
Chuck Burge: [00:21:03] It’s just crazy. I mean, uh, and in my opinion, it’s God’s hand and he’ll he’ll lead you where you need to be. And we just we have so much fun. We have so much fun. Um, we had a little trouble yesterday because it was Valentine’s Day. We had a couple that was supposed to be on, and they begged out because she was sick. So. So they said. And, uh, we didn’t have a guest yesterday for the first time. So we brought Larry the engineer on, and he was the third guy who loved sports. But that’s the first time we’ve had to do that. But, uh, we’re back on schedule next week, and I think it’s called it’s not Valentine’s Day, and everybody wants to come back on and be on. So it was tough. But, uh, yeah, two years. We just got a new sponsor, uh, Brain Train. Do you know them? I don’t, um, yeah, train, brain train incorporated. So they look at your mind and tell you what’s going on in your brain. Oh, boy. Very cool people. Melissa Hergert and Meg Thompson. Hey, if you’re listening, that’s awesome.
Sharon Cline: [00:21:54] I can only imagine what they would find in mine. Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:21:57] They could look in mine and look in one ear and see through the other one, so that’s okay.
Sharon Cline: [00:22:02] No, they’d be like, would you just relax? I’d be like, what do you mean?
Chuck Burge: [00:22:05] So they’re going to be a sponsor starting March 1st. But now we have like Kennesaw Express lube, uh, American Accents with Dan Fisher, uh, Brian Bristow on the Kennesaw Express lube. And then Alvin Jameson has his own mortgage company. And so they’ve been sponsors for 7 or 8 months now. So, yeah, it’s funny.
Sharon Cline: [00:22:23] You’re talking about Kennesaw Junior College, and now it’s the second largest university in the state.
Chuck Burge: [00:22:28] 13th in the country.
Sharon Cline: [00:22:29] 13th in the country. I did not know that.
Chuck Burge: [00:22:31] Yeah, 40 over 43,000 students.
Sharon Cline: [00:22:34] Wow. Yeah, amazing I know, but, you know, I was thinking how wonderful it is that you’ve got these friendships that you’ve had for 40 years or however long it was. But how nice is it to be able to draw from some of the people that you’ve gone through life with, to be able to help promote things that you’re passionate about now?
Chuck Burge: [00:22:53] Oh, yeah. I mean, that’s, uh, I’ll tell you a little. I’ve never used an ATM. I’ve never used a debit card. I go in the bank and I build a relationship with somebody, so if I have a problem, I can go in and say, hey, something’s here. Can you fix it for me? And that? Works. I mean, I try to impart that to my kid. I’ve never ordered one thing on Amazon in my life. I want to touch it. I want to feel it. I want to see what it looks like before I buy it. And I know that’s not today’s world, but that’s my world. It’s so funny. Robert and I, Robert Kinney, my co-host on the On the Owl Show, and the three guys who love sports. We got in the biggest argument yesterday on the show. The first time we ever been in an argument I think about, he told me that I told him that I had never heard a Taylor Swift song. He said, oh yes you have. I said, no, I’m telling you right now, I cannot name one. I have not heard one. He said on the radio. I said, don’t listen to the radio. I listen to my CDs. He said in the store, I said, I think I know it. I know a song that I didn’t know if I heard it, but everything I hear in Publix, I know I sing along with it. So. And then we went to commercial. We came back, I said, you know what, Robert? We’re doing this two years and the only time we’ve ever had a disagreement about whether or not I heard a Taylor Swift film. So that was fun. Yeah. And and people even texted in that exchange was hilarious.
Speaker3: [00:24:09] I know. Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:24:11] Taylor Swift I know has been causing a little bit of a stir, a little bit of a stir. Yes. In the sports world these days. Did you watch the Super Bowl?
Speaker3: [00:24:18] Oh yeah. Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:24:20] Gotcha. We got to talk about it. So we, uh, of course you’re right.
Sharon Cline: [00:24:23] Sports related. I don’t know why I even asked that. That makes sense. Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:24:27] Yeah, but I it was a good football game.
Sharon Cline: [00:24:30] Is there anything that you’ve learned that surprised you about Kennesaw or the sports program there?
Chuck Burge: [00:24:35] Uh. The best thing that I’ve learned is there are some really loyal fans, and there are some that aren’t because there are. They’ve got 43,000 students and they can’t fill up a 10,000 seat stadium. And that has got to change. They’re moving to conference USA July 1st, which means they’re stepping up in grade and in everything, the schedule. We’re looking at the schedule last night and they go to San Jose State. They go to Sam Houston. They go to uh, UTEp in western Texas, and they make some long trips now to where it used to be, Jacksonville State and Furman and Jacksonville, Florida and all that. But now they’re they’re stepping up. But the purpose of our show there is to help raise the Nil money to keep the athletes there. Uh, one little girl, Kylie, uh, she probably hates me calling her a little girl. Carly Turza is, uh, she’s the hammer thrower at KSU, one of the hammer throwers, and sets a record every time she throws the hammer for KSU. She fabulous. She got an nil deal with WWE. So now when she graduated from KSU, she’s going to WWE. And she has just. About five, four five, five. Beautiful as can be and, uh, and hard as a rock. She has. She has, like 250,000 followers on TikTok or Instagram or something. And when she was on the show the first time, she took our intern and put him on her shoulders and did squats.
Speaker3: [00:25:58] Oh my God.
Chuck Burge: [00:25:58] And that’s that’s what she does online. She’s hilarious. So, uh, yeah. And it’s funny, you know, that, uh, the people you meet, I’ve made so many good friends now from, uh, from them now coming to the show, you know, almost every week to spend time with us and listen to what we have to say about KSU sports and coaches. And the track team has been great. Uh, basketball team’s been good. We had a couple of coaches on and the players and stuff. It’s been really, really cool, uh, to get involved and, you know, that’s me. I want to be involved with what I’m doing. So, you know, we’re hoping to raise money for, uh, prostate cancer awareness for the first show. And I owe money for the KSU athletes in the second show. But karaoke is still my biggest passion. Just because what it meant to me and, uh, and we, uh, we want sponsors, we want singers, and we want people to donate, uh, raffle items. And we want we want people there.
Sharon Cline: [00:26:50] So what’s been the most satisfying part of being part of karaoke, of creating karaoke and being part of what’s been the most satisfying part of it?
Chuck Burge: [00:27:01] The relationships I built with Susan and Mike. And, uh, all my committee members that have given so much, you know, of course, to me, uh, that’s what I’ve done for 30 years now, is create stuff. And when you create something and then you run it to, it’s a lot different than creating it and handing it off to General Motors or Dunkin Donuts or whatever. But, uh, when it’s your baby, um, I get pretty passionate about it. So I love just the fact that. I’ve kind of left a legacy. If we keep doing it, you know, it’s something that I created and that my sons can look back and say, hey, dad, that was pretty cool, you know?
Sharon Cline: [00:27:40] Maybe he’ll run. Run it.
Speaker3: [00:27:41] Someday.
Chuck Burge: [00:27:42] Um, I doubt that.
Speaker3: [00:27:44] I doubt they’ll.
Chuck Burge: [00:27:45] Live here, but, uh. But I’m already in the search for somebody to kind of take it over when I’m ready to hand it off. The plus side of that is, I believe it’s. It’s worthy of sticking around for a while. So as long as we can get doesn’t take that much to put on this event, I won’t. I don’t want to give you the amount, but it’s not a huge number. It’s the beginning of the strand and the prize money, and that’s basically about it. And, uh, we can do a lot of great things for the 9/11 Fallen Hero Project. If we can get more people to come out and participate, I think we’ll I don’t think we’ll have an issue this year filling out the 530 at the strand.
Sharon Cline: [00:28:21] I was thinking about how as as you were speaking, about how what you’ve done has so much heart to it in so many different ways. Um, not just Arioch, but with the the KSU show and the fact that you have this. Passion for helping and creating an event that has in its own merit is worthy to watch. But then the benefit of it being for something good as well. It always feels like there’s such a positive momentum and positive result that goes when your heart is involved in something that you know is for something good.
Chuck Burge: [00:28:57] Yeah, I mean, it’s great if we raise 5000 for them, it would be just as great as we 50,000 for them, you know. It’s it’s the process and doing it and being consistent. I made a promise to the committee last Friday. I said every day, every day between now and then, I’ll ask somebody to sponsor karaoke. Except on Sundays. Sundays I take off. But, uh, but every day I will send an email. I will talk to somebody about being a sponsor of karaoke, and I hope you will, too. And if we all do a little, like I said, if we all do a little, nobody has to do a lot.
Sharon Cline: [00:29:32] So what’s the best way that I could help you or anyone that’s listening can help you?
Chuck Burge: [00:29:39] You’re talking about personally or with.
Speaker3: [00:29:40] This.
Chuck Burge: [00:29:42] God? Personally, I need a lot of help.
Speaker3: [00:29:47] No.
Chuck Burge: [00:29:48] You know, it’s funny, I tell the committee members because some of them are very hard workers and they love to be at the event and they love to do the event, but they’re not salespeople. And I said, all you have to do is say, hey, can Chuck come talk to you? Can Chuck come talk to you? And I’m there. I mean, that’s all it takes. Phone number and an email and I’ll talk to anybody about Oryoki. So that’s that’s how Sharon Cline can help me from a professional standpoint.
Sharon Cline: [00:30:13] I can help get people to know that you have this opportunity for them. Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but I’m not a sales person either. Yeah. So I find.
Chuck Burge: [00:30:22] I find that hard.
Speaker3: [00:30:22] To believe.
Sharon Cline: [00:30:23] No, I can talk about things, but I’d like to ask someone to do something for me. That’s a challenge. So. But I love the idea of being able to have a postcard that I could give to someone and say, hey, this is coming up in the fall. You may want to consider and get in touch with you. Who is this natural sales person? So you’d be able to tell the story way better than I could, I’m sure.
Chuck Burge: [00:30:41] And believe it or not, that’s what salespeople do. And salespeople, uh, when I used to sell life insurance and health insurance for mass mutual insurance company back in the early 90s, I always told people, I said salespeople aren’t the best talkers. They’re the best listeners. If you don’t listen and know what somebody wants to buy, you can’t sell them anything. So sit there, ask a question and sit and listen. And if this is their passion, then tell them the story. If not, say, hey, I suppose, well, you know, that’d be great. Let me tell you a little bit about this event and then move on. But if that’s their passion, they’ll become a part of it. People buy from people they like, and that’s something that I’ve learned over the years, that people like you, they’ll buy from you as long as you’ve got something they they want or need. And if you don’t. There’s no reason why you can’t still be friends. And you know that’s. Don’t burn your bridges. I’ve done that once, but don’t burn your bridges. And, uh. And everybody will be just fine. Just get along with everybody. Um, and that’s that’s kind of my story. I like I like helping these guys. I love helping Susan and Mike. Uh, great people, Wes, their family and Ren and all of them, uh, they do so much for the community, just like the firefighters do, and just like the first responders do. And those are the people that I support. Every time I see one of them on the street, I thank them for what they do, and that means a lot to them. Um, I’m sure some other people do it, but I wouldn’t say the majority of people do it.
Speaker3: [00:32:08] That’s true.
Sharon Cline: [00:32:09] I would imagine that’s true. Yeah.
Chuck Burge: [00:32:11] So take care of these first responders. They’re they’re here for a reason, and they’re and they’re here for you. And that’s why they’re here. Because they care about you.
Sharon Cline: [00:32:21] You almost hope that you don’t need them.
Speaker3: [00:32:22] Absolutely. You know, unless.
Chuck Burge: [00:32:24] You have a flat tire or something, that.
Speaker3: [00:32:25] Would be good.
Sharon Cline: [00:32:27] Well, I mean, I hope, I hope I don’t, but if I ever do, you know, I’m grateful that they’re there. Um, not just for me, but obviously sometimes I’ll see fire trucks going on, you know, the road, and I just. Where are they going? Where are they going? You know, I’m usually frustrated being stuck in traffic. But the truth is, I’m grateful I’m not the one that’s needing the help that created the issue with the traffic.
Chuck Burge: [00:32:47] So that’s why great people like you care. Because a lot of people don’t.
Sharon Cline: [00:32:51] Oh that’s nice. Well thank you. No.
Speaker3: [00:32:53] Thank you.
Sharon Cline: [00:32:54] Well, I wanted to ask you briefly about marketing. When you watched the Super Bowl commercials, were there any that just stood out to you as you thought they were just amazing, given that you were in the industry for for many years?
Speaker3: [00:33:04] You know.
Chuck Burge: [00:33:05] I got up in eight during most of the commercials. I didn’t watch a lot. I don’t watch the halftime show because that’s just not me. I did watch some of the dunking commercial was okay. I watched it because their former client, um, uh uh, all the people that were washing feet, I didn’t know what that was about till the end of it, but that was pretty cool.
Speaker3: [00:33:22] Um.
Chuck Burge: [00:33:23] There were some that were okay, but nothing that really stuck out to me. Great. Of course, I’ve been watching these for 30, 40 years, however long they’ve been paying $7 million to be on the Super Bowl. Yeah, my favorite commercial. And I’ll tell you this, it wasn’t Super Bowl, but over the holidays, John Travolta being Santa Claus, that was the coolest commercial I’d seen in.
Speaker3: [00:33:44] 30 or 40 years. Walking.
Sharon Cline: [00:33:45] Yeah, on the street.
Speaker3: [00:33:46] And he’s dancing.
Chuck Burge: [00:33:47] On the Saturday Night Fever floor. And the girl that’s actually behind the counter was actually in Saturday Night Fever two.
Speaker3: [00:33:52] So did that crack you up? To me.
Chuck Burge: [00:33:54] That was the most clever commercial I’ve seen in a long, long time. So more John Travolta, more ties into the 70s and I’m happy. Camper.
Sharon Cline: [00:34:03] Well, Chuck, I can’t thank you enough for coming in and talking to me about Arioch. I know we were talking about this for a while, and I appreciate your reminding me because life just happens. I mean, it’s already almost March, April, May, June. It just comes and goes. So thank you for reaching out and, um, and for being having such a generous heart and a caring heart for people in the community. And your friendships obviously matter to you as well. So having like a relationships like you’re building and knowing that you are giving people an opportunity to benefit not just in an entertainment way, but in a way that supports what’s important to them, it’s invaluable. So thank you.
Chuck Burge: [00:34:41] Well, what you put into a relationship is the best thing in life, because if you put something into it, you’ll get something back. That’s why I look at it. And I think you’re saying that just because you came in third, but I don’t know.
Sharon Cline: [00:34:51] I didn’t think I’d come in anything.
Speaker3: [00:34:54] If you haven’t heard Sharon saying, find her and make.
Chuck Burge: [00:34:57] Her sing to you.
Sharon Cline: [00:34:57] That’s that’s very generous of you. But I would say you need to go to visit Hillary McDermott and her band, alibi, which apparently is amazing. I’ve been wanting to see them live, but, uh, yeah, I really appreciate that you gave me a shout out, but I’m telling you that these there’s there are some amazingly talented people right here in our community, and I can’t wait to see more of them. And we’ll find.
Chuck Burge: [00:35:16] Them between now and September.
Speaker3: [00:35:18] Heck, yeah. Thank you Sharon.
Sharon Cline: [00:35:19] Thank you Chuck, and thank you all for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Cline reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.
Rachel Simon is the CEO & Founder of 
