Tacoma Rising

My favorite moment this week happened while watching the most recent Tacoma Rising podcast with Cheyanne Schaefer, owner of Cascade HR and Zachary Rine Rine of Goods Automotive.

They were legitimately having a great time. Laughing, riffing, finishing each other’s thoughts.

And as I watched them share how they met and how they work together, it hit me: these two aren’t colleagues. They’ve never had a single business to business transaction between them.

There’s something wholesome and pure about that.

When people build their network on actually enjoying each other, instead of the opportunity to make money, you get a different kind of relationship entirely.

Non-transactional relationships might sound like a waste of time. I think they’re some of the strongest ones built.

When there’s nothing to gain on paper, what’s left is real. You root for each other because you mean it. And that’s the kind of connection that holds up long after any single deal would have run its course.

That’s the heart of this season. You don’t have to build alone. Sometimes the best people in your corner are the ones you simply like, and the business, if it ever comes, gets figured out later.

🎙️ Same Team, Different Payroll. New Tacoma Rising episode out now.

🔗 Full episode link in our bio.

Production by JON PRENG | Tacoma - Social Media Manager & Content Producer

One real challenge: reimagine Pacific Avenue — the gateway between downtown and UW Tacoma.

Not a class project. Not a hypothetical.

Real maps. Real leasing plans. Real deals in play.

Students stood in front of the developers, engineers, architects, financiers, and marketers who shape this city every day — and pitched them a vision for what Pacific Ave could become.

This is what city building looks like when you stop watching from the sidelines.

Tacoma Rising isn’t an event. It’s a system.

Promote. Connect. Support.

To every student who shipped a pitch in one day — you are why we do this.

To every mentor who gave a Friday to build the future — thank you.

🏛️ Schools in the room:
· · · · · ·

🙏 Sponsors who made it real:
UW Tacoma · · · .hr · · .washington · University of Puget Sound · · .westernproperties

Tacoma is the proof. Production by

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