Welcome And Sustainability Framing

Announcer 0:00

The following programming is sponsored by Marc J. Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management, or Beasly Media Group. Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. At March Forward, Marc and his partners and associates think out of the box to partner with their clients in regards to their visions for their lives, their businesses and their legacies. And through his innovative work with the Forward Focus Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that help to fuel their success. Founders’ Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the stories behind their successes, and the lessons they’ve learned. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights, and a bit of fun! Now, let’s dive in...

Marc Bernstein 0:54

Good morning, America. How are you? Good morning, Arlo, if you're listening. That's my dog. But uh welcome to Founders Forum. We have in the studio today with us Shelly and Jennifer. And uh Jennifer will be co-hosting, and Shelly is our guest today, and we are the top the the word of the day, because of having spoken with both of you, is a word that I think our listeners will get a lot from is sustainability. So uh just to give you a little direction on the question around that, and I'll ask Jennifer first, then we'll go to Shelly. What does that mean to you? Because I know it both has meaning to both of you, and how what impact does it have on your lives? And obviously that it's uh people will know that it affects your businesses as well. But Jennifer, how would you what what occurs to you about that?

Jennifer L. Languell, PhD 1:44

So because I'm in the building and construction industry and the development industry, it really means trying to create high-performance, healthy buildings as well as resilient and more environmentally friendly land developments.

Marc Bernstein 2:01

Very succinct and very meaningful. Shelly, how about you?

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 2:05

Well, conservation was the word constantly used during my career. And uh starting out on the coast, there was it was never ending. And it was continually coming up and becoming more and more angled toward the idea of sustainability. But there was a lot to be learned at that time. They're hand in hand.

Meet The Guests And Missions

Marc Bernstein 2:30

Yeah. So let me introduce um the people in the studio with me today. Jennifer L. Langwell, PhD, is founder and CEO and president of Trifecta Construction Solutions. And Shelly Castle, MFA, is a nature artist, and she is owner of Castle Graphics Art and Design Studio. And she will also find her under Shelly Castle Artist. And she creates art in her Southwest Florida home studio for over 40 years, and as a local artist, she celebrates nature as an invitation to pause, observe, and reconnect with the wild. Rooted in a lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation, as she mentioned, her works blend visual imagery with a commitment to protecting the pristine environment that we love. Living and working with within the Florida Wildlife Corridor, Shelley uses colored pencil, acrylic, and thickened dye mediums to lay texture and light, capturing the beauty and grace of wildlife within their beautiful living landscapes. And I have seen your work and it is beautiful, and it is it's got a unique touch and feel to it, which I think is because of where you're coming from as you do this art.

From Potato Field To Golf Course

Marc Bernstein 3:45

So tell us about your beginnings because actually we were driving over here and we're driving by a golf course in Babcock Ranch. Golf, and that was part of your story.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 3:57

Uh, entrepreneurialism, I I am fourth generation. My kids are fifth generation. I made sure they understood what it took to be that. Make make idea make have a vision, make it happen. And uh my father had a vision of uh taking a potato field on an island and creating a golf course out of it. It took us seven years. There was a family of four, and uh I was dropped off after school on the bus to work, a farming life, pretty much. So from you know, really hands in the dirt is where I came from. We had to pick rocks to make fairways and we had to pull weeds to make greens so that, and we had to put smudge pots out for the deer to make sure that those tender greens of uh bluegrass, bent bluegrass was not going to be eaten. Uh snowmobiles would drive over it in the winter. Couldn't keep that from happening, but it was a wonderful way to start understanding that you can have a vision and you can follow through if you if the passion is there.

Marc Bernstein 5:07

And that golf course still exists today, yeah. Which is quite an accomplishment.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 5:10

Yes, it was Maple Grove when we built it, and now it's called Deer Run.

Marc Bernstein 5:15

And that's in Minnesota, right? Correct.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 5:17

It's on Washington Island, Wisconsin, which is on uh the end of a uh peninsula as well as Florida, so I came from a the opposing season. It was at the time farming and fishing, commercial and and pleasure, um, and then became pretty much fully tourism. Now it's uh it's gone almost completely. Commercial fishing is still up there, but it's gone all completely tourism.

Marc Bernstein 5:44

And you came to Florida quite a while ago, right?

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 5:46

Right after day after graduating college. I wasn't gonna wait.

Marc Bernstein 5:51

And never left.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 5:52

I did not leave.

Marc Bernstein 5:54

So and how did you how did you come about to find a career in art?

Building A Career In Nature Art

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 5:59

I was gifted from birth, and I knew it. It's funny that the first thing that I drew was a page full of what we would call emojis now. And my mother, I I can remember the look on her face because I had them all lined up and a whole page full of these things, and all emotions, uh, and I'm I'm sure she kept it. I'd like to know where that is. I'd like to frame that because it's it it turned into something that I thought we would turn into, and that was that we would eventually use a lot of imagery to speak. So I knew that. And emojis emojis, but but as that evolved through the years, I knew that art was the best way that I could communicate. And it was it ne it I never could I never had a doubt of what I would do. In fact, I left uh early to attend college. My BFA was then uh in advertising design, and the only reason for that was so that I could be paid to continue to make art and eventually illustrate and draw and paint. Because that isn't an easy way to go if you just start that way.

Marc Bernstein 7:15

So I met you through Steve Lang, who's with us today, who's uh producing our show, and we're in FL Podcast Studio. His studio is here in Babcock Ranch. And um what drew what drew me to want to tell your story is that you're an artist and a business person. Oh yes. Which is which is not unheard of, but it's not real common. And I think the fact that you grew up in an entrepreneurial family helped you think about that.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 7:42

So tell us about that progression, how you became an artist, how you uh Well, it was the only way that I could think uh was to do it for myself. Um so as I and and later, later, of course, I I taught, and I taught privately, so one-on-one. I I went the opposite of many instructors and got a masters to teach college art later in life after teaching for 30 years privately one-on-one. But the beginning of it had to do with the fact that I did all organic art. That became nature art. And that ended up hooking me up with people in uh uh Parks and Rec, Lee County Parks and Rec. And I was working mostly with field people, which was amazing. They would actually want me to know the structure of sand and put me in front of a microscope to see that. And those those were things that I drew to show a profile of Florida from from the Gulf to the Atlantic. Uh knowing what that profile is, going from uh water up into the beach, into scrub area, uh back into the Back Bay, into Upland Ridge, and then into the interior, which now I'm focusing more on that. But I was doing a lot of barrier island work at the time.

Marc Bernstein 9:08

So you have to be sort of part scientist, geologist.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 9:11

It was fascinating. I couldn't get enough, and I didn't mind putting on those mucking boots and getting out with them and just seeing exactly what we were out there to. Every image had to, because it was going to be a trail marker and was going to be eco-interpretive and show everybody what would be there if they weren't necessarily there. Um everything had to be fit in. And that was, I can remember that being very difficult uh to fit in all these different aspects of uh wildlife and and ecosystems and pull out uh life cycles and do different just be able to put art together that ended up being landscapes, which was amazing because I always fought landscapes in college. Um when I began art, it was more I really wanted to just focus on portraiture, humans, and animals. Um, but instead I got to do the whole thing, all of it, and fit it all together. So I had fun learning about what what is supposed to be in the Florida scene.

Marc Bernstein 10:20

And I should point out that there are a lot of sort of nature centers where your art is is still being exhibited and still there, yeah. Yes. So, Jennifer, I have a feeling you you see some parallels because of the kind of things that Shelly had to get into to do what she did. Um, not that it's the same as yours, but you're both involved with staying sustainability, you're both involved with the sort of uh putting things together. I I figure you might have some questions for her.

Visual Empathy And Florida’s Change

Jennifer L. Languell, PhD 10:48

Well, to me it's amazing when they say a picture is worth a thousand words, you're trying to put a thousand words into a big picture and have something that that represents so much with just a visual representation. I I'm lucky I get to use words in addition to um individuals you know that are showing visions and and graphics, but uh to me it's just amazing.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 11:15

Well, and many people are visually oriented in their learning and so and in their understanding. So if I was uh able to create something that would convince someone who otherwise wouldn't have even seen it, um then that connects them more. They the empathy is there, animals are personified, and everything is then protected because of that. Um it was amazing to actually see how what difference it made in all the different parks, that people would come away shocked and yet connected. So now they felt it was theirs and then they felt protective of it. And then that angled me completely in into uh protective conservation, preservation. And as I watched Florida change, it I the it's it's been immense. Um uh I know locally we would all know where the bell tower is in Fort Myers, and everything south of there was forested. You know, we've seen complete cities come up.

Jennifer L. Languell, PhD 12:31

I almost would say we wouldn't necessarily or I wouldn't necessarily have exactly my job without someone like Shelly who can get people to see nature and want to preserve and protect it because that is such a key component of a sustainable development.

Marc Bernstein 12:49

Right. It's it's she's she's an educator in essence, literally and fit and it was fun to see that come together.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 12:55

I hadn't recognized that until I was put in that position to educate. And I enjoy it. I remember mentioning to someone, I couldn't believe how many greens I was gonna have to put into that tree. They had only seen trees as green, one green. That really surprised me.

Marc Bernstein 13:13

Right.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 13:14

That was a shocking thing little point.

Marc Bernstein 13:17

Because you all you've always seen that by me naturally, right?

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 13:20

The lights and darks, the shadows and light, the way it all falls. It's it's those are the important things to me. Those are where my passion lies. That's what you know, the the majesty of where I grew up. There, you know, there are white bluffs against blue of Lake Michigan, and it's these bluffs are hundreds of feet high, and they go that deep too. It's powerful, it's majestic, it's it's very inspiring. And I, you know, I I had really good teachers, but I remember one in particular that was throughout all of my education, and it was she just kept teaching us how to draw birch trees, so I had to get where there was someone that could teach me the rest of it. And uh that you know, that's why I left a little early to go to college.

Website And One-Word Future

Marc Bernstein 14:08

So I don't usually do that, but to people kind of have to see this to appreciate it. So why don't you tell everyone your website so people can go because you sell your art online in all different it it is a gallery and shop and it's Shelley CastleArtist.com.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 14:23

Thank you.

Marc Bernstein 14:24

And Shelly is S-H-E-L-L-Y, and Castle is like Castle C-A-S-T-L E, right?

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 14:30

So artist.com.com. Yeah, it's all there. Um and it is uh at someone uh I worked with Ding Darling at a point, and it was fun to have someone describe it as just realistic enough to give all these scientific aspects, have it all in place that they required, um, and also painterly enough to leave that open mind open for for anyone's mind viewing it. It was open to their interpretation and again thus they connected.

Marc Bernstein 15:05

Yeah, that's wonderful. Um what so looking forward, I know you have a forward vision as everyone does, and I also see that we're just about out of time. So um just real briefly, what if you had could say one word about the future, what would it be? And then we'll come back and discuss it further.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 15:25

Animals.

Marc Bernstein 15:26

Perfect. Very good. We will be back in just a minute after a short commercial and founders' forum to continue our talk with Shelley

Sponsor Break

Marc Bernstein 15:35

Castle.

Announcer 15:35

The Satell Institute is the leading CEO member organization dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Under the vision and leadership of its founder—entrepreneur and philanthropist Ed Satell—the Institute brings together CEOs in Philadelphia and other cities to support the Nonprofit organizations that do heroic work in our communities. The Satell Institute believes that “community is every leader’s business.” SI’s members-only meetings and private CEO conferences give members the opportunity to hear from world-class thought leaders on crucial topics like AI, education, corporate philanthropy and more. In addition, CEO members get the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with their peers— like-minded CEOs who believe in the importance of giving back to the community and who understand the benefits companies get from embracing Corporate Social Responsibility. The Satell Institute charges no dues or fees — in order to join, member companies simply make a long-term commitment to the nonprofit of their choice. To find out more about membership, —and why so many leading companies are now part of the Satell Institute — visit the organization’s web site at satellinstitute.org. As Ed Satell says, “Think WE, not just me.”

Animals First And Forever Florida

Marc Bernstein 16:54

We are back on Founders Forum with our guest today, Shelly Castle and Dr. Jennifer Langwell is in the studio with us. And I asked you about your future vision and uh in one word, and you said animals. So tell us about that.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 17:09

As we see the growth and as we see the development, I think it's a beautiful thing, and it's I'm I'm proud of Florida. I I've seen I I'm shocked to see the growth. Um but as we see it, I want to continue to see that the birds still have a place to forage. If I see those animals continually off in their respective ecosystem, happy, waiting in the you know, the wet grasslands, um, I I'll be that's my legacy. That's what I hope for my the you know, the end of my career. I I want to see that I have done my part to make sure that they're safe. And um I I just have a great deal of love for especially waiting birds, but I know what else is back in there, and I know which uh area that they need protected, and I'm very aware of the mitigations that are required. That was something that I had a lot of fun learning, uh, even though as the artist my focus was to make sure the art was just the way it should be. In and I was I would there were a lot of people involved, a lot of layers, a lot of a lot of working parts, uh that people that had to give every every detail of what these animals might need in their landscape. And uh being able to put it together and show everyone what it what is there, that's the important thing to me, is that people know that it's there and that it doesn't go away.

Marc Bernstein 18:49

So if you're listening, you've got to look at Shelly's art on her website that we mentioned because as you were describing that, I pictured one of your one of your works of art in my mind. Probably not exactly one, but it must have been a combination of some of the bird pictures that I saw you do. Because they're very they're very visual and they're very emotional and they're very um they they stay with you.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 19:13

There's just enough detail to hold exactly what that animal or bird needs to have. And as I mature, my art hasn't matured, and it's gotten tighter and tighter, and uh the details are clearer, and I can hide things in there that should be there that are subconscious and work again to connect anyone that's looking at that. Um it's it's important that they see what animals they might see, but that they know what's also hiding, and that they still have a place to hide. It's nice to know that the any development done is following uh I get you know the the larger Forever Florida plan and making sure that everything built has mitigation. I believe it's almost 50-50. Gotta have open land, gotta have uh a mitigated lake, wetlands, whales, places for the proper water flow. And uh all of this is is put into my art. Uh all of it has become landscapes that are filled with an oncoming storm, uh, things that we deal with here that create just what Florida has, unique to Florida. And it's important we protect it.

Marc Bernstein 20:34

This leans heavily into what you do, Jennifer. Uh, you probably have some thoughts or questions around that for Shelley, I would think.

Jennifer L. Languell, PhD 20:41

Well, uh it's again amazing to me. Everything you're saying really relates to the conservation and preservation that really is at the head of sustainable development and what we did here at Babcock. So listening to you and what your goals were, I'm like, okay, did we do that here? Yes, check. I'm almost checking off a list of things to know that we actually have done what you have envisioned with some of your legacy.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 21:11

Well, I hope so. And I hope that the budget does include artwork that in that helps everyone visualize the same plan. Because even at these meetings that I'm often part of where my art is connecting everyone at the table about what this is what what it should look like in the end. Um there's there's really no one fighting it at this point. There was at first. There's there were people at the table that had to be convinced that that's not really the case anymore. But I am not the person to do it. That definitely comes down to someone like you who uh knows how to put it into uh into the plan. But having done it through these years, I am. Just proud to see where the artwork has gone because it's become full on fine art landscapes. They I I was not an exhibiting artist, but I easily could be. Um, I'd like to continue with uh writing and illustrating my own books, and they will all be based on preserving all the wildlife and every every ecosystem that needs to be kept up for them.

The Lonely Side Of Making Art

Marc Bernstein 22:27

But as an entrepreneur though, I'm sure it's not always been the smoothest to ride. No, so tell us about some of the challenges that you've had and what you've done or you're doing to overcome those.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 22:38

I think probably the m most difficult one is that it's it's very isolating and it takes a lot of time to put together artwork. Um you're not just composing it once and done, you're you're constantly putting it together in your mind, and you've you're making sure you're not leaving anything out. I think that's one of the hardest things. But um the isolation is a real thing. I don't mind it because I'm an artist and I enjoy it. Uh being alone is is my preference. But I do see that the connections with the people involved in making happen uh what I'm trying to do with my art, that making sure that the preservation is the issue and visual storytelling is part of the plan, I've got to make sure that I I connect, and uh that wasn't always an easy thing.

Marc Bernstein 23:34

So, how do you do that? Like how do you how do you continue to make those connections and what do you have a plan for that? What you what are you?

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 23:43

I uh I'm glad to meet Jennifer. I'm glad to know that Babcock Ranch is right here. Now that I've moved out in this area, this is where I'd like to focus. And uh there are a lot of projects upcoming. Uh Florida Wild Plus Life is one of them. I'd like to know uh how how to get involved in that and just network to make that connection and continue to make my art. If I if I if I continue making my art to me, that is what I would tell my younger self. Don't stop, don't worry, don't be concerned that it's not gonna happen. I tell my students, it's yours forever. You've been gifted with the talent. It is you will always be able to use it. And you'll be if you have a passion for something and you angle it that way, it will be used.

Selling Online And Family Collaboration

Marc Bernstein 24:35

How is the selling of art going? Is it is it work? Do people actually get on there and buy buy art?

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 24:40

So far it's new.

Marc Bernstein 24:41

Okay.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 24:42

Yeah, I started this the shop itself. I've had a website for you know 30 years, but uh all these this time. But the sh the shop, having the shop is just this year.

Marc Bernstein 24:51

Gotcha.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 24:52

It's brand new. So I'm looking forward to you know having more collectors sign on and see what's happening there. But at least now it's not just a gallery. And it does show what it it it it also shows how the work has been done for uh sustainability.

Marc Bernstein 25:09

I should mention you've raised your children, and I think they're in kind of connected fields and they're collaborators of yours to a certain extent. I think that's a good idea.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 25:16

Yes, my daughter did mirror has has done murals with me all for many years. I mean, she joined on, then she got uh she was able to uh graduate from Ringling College of Arts uh Art and Design, which was really kind of funny. That's Sarasota, right? Yes, in Sarasota. And so she uh she has her own business called Creatively Kind, and uh she's doing her work out of her home just as I did all throughout my whole career. And my son is a glass artist, so he blows glass. And he did it, he did enjoy being at the last art fest here at Babcock Ranch.

Marc Bernstein 25:51

Yeah, how did he how did you do it? How did he do with it? Did he enjoy people came ready? I have a relative who has a glass blowing studio in Philadelphia and Maine, I believe. Something is yeah, it's very interesting.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 26:04

It is very interesting.

Marc Bernstein 26:05

The um and and and they they help you out, I think, with some of the technology and the technology.

Shelly Castle, MFA, Nature Artist 26:11

Oh my goodness, I'm so happy to have their help.

Marc Bernstein 26:15

Well, I as it turns out, we're just about

Final Thanks And Next Week

Marc Bernstein 26:18

out of time. So I thank you so much for being here and telling your story, Shelly. Thank you, Jennifer, again for being here. Dr. Langwell, thank you for uh sharing your story as well. And thank you all for listening. And we will see you next week on Founders Forum.

Announcer 26:32

Founders’ Forum was brought to you in part, by March Forward, LLC. We partner with entrepreneurs like you to assist in accomplishing your future vision. Your life. Your business. Your legacy. Comprehensive wealth planning that starts with you -- not a product. We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders’ Forum and that you found something of value to take with you throughout your day. Join us again next week for another episode of Founders’ Forum on WWDB 860 AM Philadelphia, or on your favorite podcast streaming service. Securities offered through DFPG Investments, LLC (“DFPG”) Investment Advisory Services offered through Diversify Advisory Services, LLC (“Diversify”). DAS and DFPG are affiliated entities. March is unaffiliated with DAS and DFPG. Member FINRA/SIPC The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Diversify or DFPG.