I chatted with Zack Garber about his upbringing and his podcast Charm City Dreamers.
Q: Talk about your childhood, where you grew up, etc
I grew up in Owings Mills. I am blessed to have an incredible family. I have a twin sister who is my partner in crime and a little sister who I adore. Both of whom, have taught me so much. Growing up and to this day my parents have always been my greatest role models, mentors and teachers. I had the privilege of going to Beth Tfiloh for elementary school and then McDonogh for middle and high school.
Q: What is your favorite part of living in Baltimore?
Without a question the community. In Baltimore you are surrounded by people who have tremendous pride in their community and support others around them. Baltimore is commonly referred to as “Smalltimore”. This nickname has less to do with the number of people that live here; it shows the level of interconnectedness of the city and our citizens.
Q: What are some favorite activities/places you like to go to in the area and why?
I’m biased as I live in Fell’s Point. I think walking on the cobble stone streets in Fell’s Point along the water in the presence of great history has a very special type of magic.
One of my favorite activities is going to Volunteering Untapped events where hundreds of young people volunteer their free time to help high impact non-profits around the city and connect with other positive-minded young people.
I also love going to the American Visionary Art Museum on Sundays. The curation of the exhibits is always fun, creative, informative, and I love that the museum features all self-taught artists.
Lastly, I think Port Covington is one of the most exciting areas of the city. It’s awe-inspiring watching the vision of the project become a reality. I thoroughly enjoy going to events at City Garage and getting exposure to up and coming companies.
Q: What was your inspiration in starting the podcast? What do you hope to accomplish?
I moved back to Baltimore three and a half years ago and my life was changed by the incredible leaders I met. The first person I met who changed my life when I moved back to Baltimore was Chris Wilson. His story from natural life in prison to accomplishing his master plan, not only inspired me, it gave me an entirely new perspective on my life.
My goal is to highlight Baltimore as a city of dreams because so many incredible stories are overlooked and need to be shared. I hope to inspire an entire generation of dreamers and provide a platform for today’s leaders to share the incredible work they are actualizing and help them exponentially scale their impact.
Q: Were you nervous the first time you interviewed someone?
I was incredibly nervous that I would accidentally delete the recording or not get great quality. One key lesson I have learned in my life is that if you have purpose, care and good intentions, you can get past any nerves. Honestly, the strangest and most nerve racking experience was editing my first episode and having to listen to my voice. As anyone reading will know, listening to your own voice recorded is a very strange sensation.To this day, I don’t enjoy hearing myself talk.
Q: Who has been your favorite guest thus far and why?
I’m so fortunate to be able to truly say I don’t have one favorite guest. Each guest has his/her own story. My favorite aspect of the podcast is to learn which episodes are the audience’s favorites. The one consistent answer I’ve received is that each dreamer’s story connects on a unique personal level differently with each listener.
Q: Name two dream guests and why you would want to have them on the podcast
Freeman Hrabowski and Kevin Plank. I can’t think of two more visionary leaders that are having a deeper impact on Baltimore both at a local and international level.
Q: Going in to 2019, can you give me any hints on any future guests?
Haha what I can tell you is that we have some incredibly talented dreamers who have been honored locally nationally and internationally in their respective fields of music/nonprofit or for-profit work.
Q: What has been the reaction so far to the podcast?
The feedback has been very positive. People want to be part of the movement to share the stories of dreamers in Baltimore and inspire the next generation of leaders. Should anyone reading have suggestions, nominations or wish to be part of the Charm City Dreamer initiative, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]
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