Pax Academia and the CommonPlace Project - In this episode of The Best Dam Podcast, Jill catches up with Michael Paxinos, founder of Pax Academia and developer of the CommonPlace App. Mike shares his journey from navigating high school struggles to discovering a passion for logic, mathematics, and classical education in college.

Mike also reflects on his deep roots in Boulder City, his 17-year career in education, and his work supporting special needs students—all while developing a tool to empower local micro and small businesses.

This isn't just a story about launching a new tech platform; it's about eliminating algorithm noise, replacing endless doom-scrolling with genuine human connections, reimagining classic Yellow Pages utility for modern storefronts, and honoring the work ethic and small business spirit of Boulder City.

DISCUSSION

• Classical Education & Pax Academia: Mike discusses his initiative to launch a private high school focused on classical learning, logic, and restoring critical thinking to modern youth education.
• Overcoming Academic Labels: Reflecting on graduating high school with a low GPA and being held back a year, Mike shares how grades don't define intellect or long-term potential.
• The Spark for CommonPlace: Facing marketing brick walls for his own startup inspired Mike to create a free, distraction-free platform to help local businesses gain visibility.
• Cutting Through Social Media Noise: Why traditional pay-to-win social media algorithms fail small businesses and how CommonPlace acts as a direct doorway between locals and business owners.
• The Modern Yellow Pages: How a simple, zero-noise digital directory encourages real-world foot traffic and builds lasting customer relationships instead of brief online engagements.
• Dedication to Teaching: Mike reflects on his 17-year career teaching college and high school, along with his current rewarding work supporting special needs students at New Horizons Academy.
• Work Ethic & Early Lessons: Cleaning baseball fields at the Boulder City Rec Center as a teenager, reading mathematical philosophy by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and absorbing lifelong values of generosity from his parents.
• Pilot Program & Launch Plans: How local business owners can join the initial pilot program to secure free, lifetime access before the official app store release.

LEARN MORE

To learn more about Pax Academia, vit thier website at: http://www.paxacademia.com/

To sign up your business for the free pilot program, visit the CommonPlace webpage: http://www.paxacademia.com/commonplace.html

You can also email Mike directly at [email protected].

To learn more about the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, visit their website at https://www.bouldercitychamber.com.

KEYWORDS

Mike Paxinos, CommonPlace App, Pax Academia, Boulder City, Small Business, Classical Education, Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, The Best Dam Podcast

#MikePaxinos #PaxAcademia #CommonPlaceApp #SupportLocal #ClassicalEducation #SmallBusiness #BoulderCity #TheBestDamPodcast

Podcast Transcript

Jill: Listeners, I'm so excited today to share with you some information from Mike Paxinos. So I knew his brother. His brother and I grew up together. We graduated in 1987. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: So I'm super sorry your class wasn't quite as great as ours.

Mike: Yeah. That's always, I say the same about the class of '89.

We're usually the best, but

Jill: Well

Mike: I'll let you think what you need to think. That's fine.

Jill: Yes. Thank you very much. we'll let everybody else have their own opinion on that one. But, I am super grateful to, to get to visit with you today, Mike. So Mike is the founder of Commonplace, and it's a project of Pax Academia, LLC.

And, I find it fascinating, and I can't wait to learn a little bit more about why you started this and what the thought process is behind that. So but first of all, can you share a little bit about what is Pax Academia and what it is that you do right now?

Mike: Pax Academia is a project that I've been working on since 2020, and it's a private high school I've been trying to start up.

It's mostly focused on classical education. I'm trying to get a classical education back into the curriculum.

Jill: Somewhere along the line, the schools lost track of that. 

Jill: Right 

Mike: So I'm trying to put that back in.

Jill: That's awesome.

Mike: But there's been a lot of frustrations. I haven't been able to, get it up and running.

you know, mostly due to the capital and momentum of things. 

So it's been a, it's been a long time. But it is gonna be a private high school that, hopefully we can implement the good education that schools tend to have left out over the years.

Jill: I know that there's a lot of need, and there's a lot of discussion right now about parental choice.

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: And so thank you very much for that. So I'm excited to learn a little bit more about that and what got you to that point. But I found it fascinating in learning a little bit more about you that school wasn't your favorite thing.

Mike: No.

Jill: That was not your highlight, your feature when you were growing up. And so do you see that as the impetus to really making sure that this becomes an important factor for our youth today?

Mike: Exactly. I graduated with A very low GPA from high school. And, that affects a lot. I mean, that affects me a lot, because, I got held back a year, so actually

Jill: Yeah

Mike: I should have been class of '88.

Jill: Oh.

Mike: But I've always loved the logic and the math and, the academics. I've always loved it. I just wasn't any good at it.

Jill: Oh, interesting.

Mike: Yeah. It wasn't till I got to college where I was just blown away. I was just absolutely blown away with all the knowledge the professors had and how they were teaching it, and most of it was classical education.

Most of it. Not all of it, but most of it. and so that really inspired me to go, "You know what? A good education really will solve a lot of ills that society has," because critical thinking is one of the things that, how we can navigate solutions 

Jill: Yeah

Mike: brainstorming stuff. 

Jill: Yeah. 

Mike: So yeah, and it doesn't... You know, grades don't define you.

Jill: Right.

Mike: They just don't, They don't define your intellect. They don't define your character or what you're gonna be when you grow up. and so I wanna try to make that clear in, in the school that I'm building, that the, this isn't about grades. It's about your mind and how you can sharpen it and navigate through life in a more, clear path.

Yeah.

Jill: I love that, because not everybody learns the same.

Mike: No.

Jill: Not everybody has the same life experiences, but they all need that education. They all need that, the information and the critical thinking, like you said to survive, especially in today's world, and with all the technology coming into our lives. So I really appreciate that, and I appreciate also that you're having a hard time kinda getting it started. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: Because how many times have entrepreneurs told their story and their story always ends with, "I started something. It failed. I started something It failed." 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: “I kept trying it failed." And so knowing that there's a little bit of friction that eventually creates that gem on the other side I think that's important for our listeners to know that it's not always easy, but it's always worth it.

Mike: Exactly. Exactly.

Jill: I love that. And so Commonplace. 

Yeah. Let's talk a little bit more about that specific app.

Mike: Okay.

Jill: So your idea is to help small businesses. You grew up here in Boulder City. Yeah. We only know micro business, small business here in Boulder City. So share with me, what was your, what really inspired you to get that started?

Mike: because when I was trying Pax Academia, I wasn't getting anywhere, and I was trying

You know, and I spent a lot of money on advertising, on, fundraisers companies that fundraise, and I got nothing in return. And I realized something that, you, no matter how valuable your product is, it does, it's not gonna go anywhere unless you have some way for others to recognize it.

And, you know, a lot of times it's due to lack of capital, like, in most places, lack of capital and lack of momentum.

Jill: Right.

Mike: The big companies already have that.

And, that kind of overshadows the, nice little four-leaf clovers that are already out there. and so I'm thinking there's no way that I'm the only one that's having this issue.

Jill: No, I agree.

Mike: There's no way And so I decided, okay, well, I'm not gonna be able to do this the way I've been doing it.

It's been six years. I'm dry in my bank account. Something else has to be done, and I know other businesses are struggling with the same exact barriers that I'm going through.

Jill: Oh, absolutely. I hear it day after day.

Mike: Yeah. Yeah, I said and so I just started brainstorming with some other people, and I'm thinking, what is the main reason?

What's going... I mean, 'cause I've been there are so many incredible small businesses out there, independent owned, not just in Boulder City, but Vegas and Henderson, Clark County.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: And I'm sitting in these places. I'm looking around going, "How is this place empty? Why isn't, why aren't there people out the door?"

Jill: Yeah, that's right.

Mike: The products are so good. The quality is so good. The service that the families that owns the places or, they're so friendly. Places like this deserve to succeed

Jill: Exactly 

Mike: because they're doing everything right.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: But for some reason they're not, and so we're dissecting it, and it's not the quality of their products that are the problem.

It's the visibility.

And social media's usually there's normally small businesses rely on social media, advertising, and word of mouth.

Mike: Right. Well, word of mouth is very effective, but the problem comes with the social media and advertising bit of it.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: Social media most definitely has its benefits.

It definitely works for some, but the problem that I've always been running into with that with my startup is that the algorithms, it's a pay to win, first off with the advertising. If you have a big budget, then your ad will get more views, more followers, more everything. But if you don't have a big budget, it's gonna get lost in algorithm, and you're just gonna have to cross your fingers that someone stumbles upon it.

Jill: So it's inexpensive, but you have a lot of other small little bumps to get over for it to be effective. 

Mike: Yeah. And, even if they, if it does get in front of the eyes of your demographics you're not just competing with other businesses. You're also competing with the noise that comes along with that.

Jill: Right. 

Mike: You know, the influencers, politics, The half pictures of half eaten lunches that

Jill: Yeah. Ads 

Mike: Yeah And it's just there are way too many distractions. It's like one distraction is all it takes to get that demographic person off of your ad.

Jill: You lost it.

Mike: Or to takes two seconds to scroll past it. And it's just not don't, I didn't find it an effective approach. But what other approach was there for me to take when,

Jill: But an app really does... It really, people are going to it, and they're intentional to use it.

Mike: Yes.

Jill: And so that really kind of takes them to the next level and provides them some of these resources, and then once word of mouth, social media, all of those other things play into it, that app becomes very, very popular.

Mike: Yeah. So the, the analogy I like to use is, the website is like a big billboard on the highway that you pass by. Social media is like yelling into a crowd over and over and over again, hoping that someone will eventually notice you.

But with Common Place, it's a place where I introduce a business and a local together that are already looking for each other.

Jill: Oh, perfect. Yeah.

Mike: And there's no noise. There's no local feed or algorithm.

Jill: Okay. 

Mike: It's the, the ads are free. I'm not charging businesses to place ads. They're free. Just post them.

Jill: Oh, interesting.

Mike: And so when the locals come, they're not going to be distract. I'm doing the best I can to minimize any distractions that they have when they're on the app. So there's not gonna be a, like we see on feeds where, the, you have to compete with all the other irrelevant things.

Jill: Yeah. 

Mike: You're just seeing the business and your ad and the local, and my goal is to not necessarily just build traffic like Yelp does. My goal is for them to build regulars, to build relationships.

It's more personable. I think it's more effective, because, you have cyber advertisement, then you have real advertisement

Jill: Right

Mike: in which real connections

Jill: And how do we know anymore?

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: Yeah, it's ridiculous. Yeah.

Mike: Talking to a human is always gonna be more effective than cyber connections. 

Jill: Yeah. And we know that those genuine connections are what people scroll back to or save or share or all of those engagement things that we're looking for.

Mike: Yes, exactly.

Jill: So also in the app itself, it will connect them to their website and- 

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: the business' website and all their other information. 

Mike: Yep. 

Jill: It's not meant to replace a website. It's not meant to replace their own app. No. It's meant to be a collection 

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: of all of those operators, all of those, small businesses, retail, restaurants, services, attractions, all of those in one clearing house, one special space that people 

Mike: Yeah

Jill: can go to and interact with, and that those businesses can interact with as well

Mike: Exact yeah

Jill: with each other.

Mike: Oh, yeah. Okay. So it's one big networking thing, too. yeah, you come on the app, the local comes on the app, the business has their profile, and it's mostly meant to close the gap between the social media and the website.

It's like that doorway. And I don't want a lot of people spending a or I'm sorry, I don't want people spending a lot of time on the app.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: I know that's counterintuitive to hear but

Jill: No, no, I love it

Mike: I don't want them

Jill: It's meant to be a bridge. It's not meant to

Mike: Yes 

Jill: go and stay there.

Mike: Yes, it's a doorway. It's 

Jill: Yeah 

Mike: it's basically to get rid of all that noise and stop the doom scrolling and, you know 

Jill: Yeah 

Mike: just get there, get to know these businesses, connect with them, and then move on to the businesses, And the more time they spend on my app, the less time they're in at the businesses.

Jill: So it kind of reminds me of the old-fashioned Yellow Pages.

Mike: Ah, there you go.

Jill: Right? Yeah. So you went to the Yellow Pages. You went specifically for something in a category. You looked it up. You found the five that were of that category.

Mike: Right.

Jill: And then you close the book, and you go to those locations. And you just,

Mike: and then you just head out. Yeah. It's old school.

It's, you know, and old school always worked.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: and I'm not trying to replace social. I could never replace social media, but, it has its uses. It really does. It's

Jill: Yeah 

Mike: it does help connect, but it's, they're cyber connections, so there's always gonna be that human aspect out of it.

I'm trying to put the human beings back into this so they can talk to each other.

Jill: That's- Imagine that.

Mike: Yeah. And I think that will be just as, effective as word of mouth.

Jill: I love it. Yeah. So, what do you do as a profession? What are you ... Do you have a small business besides Pax Academia, or, what is it that you do?

Mike: Yeah, I'm a teacher right now. Pax Academia isn't even up and running yet. But yeah, I'm a teacher. I

Jill: Okay 

Mike: I taught college for about 17 years. 

Jill: Wow. 

Mike: And then I hopped into high school, the CCSD

Jill: Yeah, 

Mike: I don't wanna go into that. But And then I'm now, a teacher at New Horizons Academy. They specialize in special needs, autism Asperger's kids.

Jill: Thank you for that.

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: As the mom of one of those special children, I am grateful that we have people that are educated as well as you, and care and concern about those kids also not falling through the cracks- 

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: and realizing they are people too, and they need just as many skills to navigate this world. So

Mike: Yeah, you bet

Jill: thankfully, we had some fabulous educators right here in Boulder City. And, my Abby is married and thriving, back in Savannah, Georgia. Oh, that's So I'm very grateful for all those people who cared about her 

Mike: that is, that's so great to hear. I'm glad to hear that, yeah.

Jill: So I would imagine you have a favorite part about school.

Is there the classes, the kids, the other teachers? Is there

Mike: Oh 

Jill: what's your favorite part about teaching?

Mike: Oh, wow, that's, there's so much. I don't even know how to rank them. There's so much. Because, like, where I am now, the students are so great. They're They try so hard.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: And even with their limitations. And even if they progress an inch, that's amazing. 

Jill: Yeah. 

Mike: And we all celebrate it. And the kids are always so supportive of each other, as well as the teachers supportive of them. And, so it's just one huge rewarding place to be.

Jill: I Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. I can imagine when you see that click

Mike: Yeah

Jill: and they actually get it. That must be a huge aha moment for you. Yeah.

Mike: Yeah. And, one of the things with teachers, if you think about it, we're one of the least or, one of the small industries where you could, you still remember your third grade teacher's name and what they are.

You could be 80 years old and still remember that teacher.

Jill: Mrs. Luttrell. Yeah. I totally remember.

Mike: Yeah. and, that obviously has an effect. So the profession of teaching obviously has a personal effect on one and things, and I think it's a very noble profession.

Jill: I agree.

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: So going back to our years in school

Mike: Yeah

Jill: Mr. Lynn P. Stewart, I think in high school everybody had Mr. Stewart

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: for government.

Mike: Yep.

Jill: He left a huge impression on people, and there's just a few of those special teachers that 

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: we all just loved. Mrs. Phoenix, oh my gosh, loved her. So we had 

Mike: I never had Mrs. Phoenix, but I had Mr. Stewart. He was great.

Jill: Oh, yeah.

Mike: He was wonderful.

Jill: He was one of my favorites, that's for sure.

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: So, I would bet you also have had a few funny moments in school or, maybe even in building your app or some of the things that you're doing. But have you ever had a funny professional moment you wanna share?

Mike: Yeah, well, you know, students generally speaking are just funny. 

Jill: Well 

Mike: They just are.

Jill: And I would imagine you probably even have to have a sense of humor- Yeah ... just to be a teacher.

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: I mean there's gotta be days that you go home and bang your head against a wall.

And then other days you're just like, "Man, they get it." and then I would imagine there's a few times too that if you didn't have, an interaction with other teachers that you guys could laugh about some silly thing that happens in a classroom. And having some of those, opportunities to smile 

Mike: Yeah

Jill: and to have a little bit of a lighthearted laughter, I don't know what we would do in this world if we didn't have that.

Mike: Yeah. one of my things is I tell a lot of dad jokes in class, and that tends to, get people feeling at ease and then what's really funny is that some of them will think the dad jokes are so dumb, and that makes me laugh even harder.

Jill: Yeah. Yeah. 

Mike: I'm sure 'Cause they're not laughing.

Jill: I'm sure your kids could, give us a selection of some of your dad jokes. 

Mike: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Jill: So okay. So Mike, what was your first job?

Mike: Okay. So my first job that I got at, that I actually had to file taxes for, and you know our generation. We started working when we were three.

Jill: Yeah, exactly. That's the truth.

Mike: But where I actually had to file taxes, so if I was, at the rec center, actually Boulder City Rec Center.

Yeah. And you know the baseball fields

Jill: yes 

Mike: down, down there. my job was to clean those up before the games. And, there was a little shed that was out there.

Jill: Yes.

Mike: I had my own key. It felt like it was my own, even though it wasn't my own, but I felt like it was, and that's where all the cleaning supplies were. And, every, every weekend, yeah, I just cleaned the place up.

Jill: Isn't that awesome? And you had a sense of pride in it.

Mike: Oh, yeah.

Jill: That key represented a responsibility, accountability, you know pride in your work.

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: Isn't that crazy? Yes. That key represented a whole heck of a lot.

Mike: And the more you're invested in, personally invested, and more responsibility that you personally have, the better job I think you're gonna do.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: Because you feel some kind of ownership with it.

Jill: I think that's really valuable and very important, and, one of those work ethic things that rolls over to why you are also not only teaching, but now as an entrepreneur, trying to find something that helps people

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: even further. So

Mike: Right

Jill: I'm grateful that you have that mindset. okay, so one of my favorite questions, everybody knows my favorite question, is what book are you reading right now?

Mike: Oh, okay. that would be, Leibniz: Discourse on, Harmony. Yeah. It's, well, yeah, I know.

Jill: What the heck is that? You're gonna have to totally explain this to me, and please dumb it down.

Mike: okay. So he was a mathematician/philosopher

Jill: Okay 

Mike: during Isaac Newton's time, and he was one of the founders of calculus with Isaac Newton.

Jill: Okay.

Mike: Newton typically gets credit for it, but honestly, Leibniz was, did more for the field than Newton did.

Jill: Really?

Mike: Yeah. they took

Jill: His name just isn't as easy to say as Newton.

Mike: Yeah, that, yeah. That could be it. But he was an incredible person. And so what the book is about is he tries to harmonize or, put together the science, 'cause he's a scientist. He was a mathematician

Jill: Okay

Mike: but also a philosopher and, a theologian, So

Jill: Really?

Mike: he, with his work, he's tried to harmonize it all together

Jill: Okay

Mike: of how it all could coexist at once. And, he did a good job. there's a lot of future philosophers, Kant and stuff, that, would disagree with him and all that. But, he's a mathematician and philosopher at the same time, and I find that admirable. Just like Bertrand Russell, he's the same way, So isn't that kind of where physics comes into play? Because it's a little bit more abstract and a little bit

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: more thoughtful. Because math tends to be very concrete. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: Like, there's, there's formulas and there's explanations. Whereas the philosophy side of things and physics is a little bit more, the way everything works 

Mike: Yeah

Jill: and a l- the way you think about things. And it's kind of interesting that you would have that mix of mathematics and philosophy.

Mike: That's where classical education comes in, is that it's not... It wasn't uncommon for the intellects back then to have more than just one discipline under their belt.

I mean, there's a lot of polymaths there. There was, Newton also philosophy. He... PhD, that doesn't stand for math. It's a

Jill: Yeah

Mike: philosophy of doctor so they had, It just wasn't uncommon for them to have multiple disciplines underneath their own brain and intellect. and that's really what Pax Academia wants to do.

We don't want to specialize in one certain thing, We wanna just integrate it all together, and that's how really the thinkers come about. That's how it happens.

Jill: And you create a more well-rounded individual.

Mike: Yeah. yeah. Yeah. You know, I mean, why just be good at one field and then not good at the others? That just never made sense to me, especially when you can. I mean

Jill: Yeah 

Mike: I see no reason why someone can't be good at math and language arts at the same time. I don't understand why that should conflict with each other.

Jill: Yeah, that's interesting.

Yeah, very interesting. So now I'm not telling you what book I'm reading 'cause it's actually a children's book.

Mike: Oh, that's all right. you gotta understand I'm a nerd and I, I

Jill: I love it

Mike: it's... I don't say that to brag about this, it's just the, it's just what I do, and it's not a big thing,

Jill: I think that's great though, that's what, inspires you and keeps 

Mike: Yeah

Jill: your mind stimulated and, looking for the next, whatever the next thing is. Yeah. So we're glad to know that. So I would imagine that there's some lesson that your mom and dad taught you as a kid that you still use in your life today.

Mike: Yeah, yeah. My parents were, I can't even tell you how grateful I am to have the parents I, you know, and also be raised in Boulder City.

It's just, very grateful. the thing with my parents is that they didn't really lecture my brother and I much. They didn't sit us down and start talking about life lessons and how

Jill: Yeah 

Mike: you should act and how you should treat people and how... They just lived it. and it's not uncommon that to see my parents, be so selfless.

Like, they'll never expect anything in return.

They never did. they'd help you. They didn't do anything called loaning. That I don't even know what loan meant until later on. Right. they just gave money out and they didn't expect anyone to return the money. They just said, "Here, you need some help.

Here you go." And then, or anything else. Any kind of time or effort they spent. These are the things that I saw. They didn't need to tell me these things. and, when you see that from birth it's gonna stay with you. Yeah. And you're gonna try to, live that kind of life as well.

Jill: Yeah. As that, an example on a daily basis, it just seems like life to you. You don't even realize it's an example. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: It's just what you do.

Mike: It's what you do.

Jill: Yeah. I love that. They're great people. Yeah. And raised two great men.

Mike: Thank you. So that's very awesome. And I would imagine that, you haven't had a whole heck of a lot of experience with the chamber yet, but maybe talk a little bit about your experiences with small business.

You can see the need. Yeah. You have created, an app, a tool, a resource for them. What is your kinda your take on micro businesses and small businesses and these mom-and-pop startups? why do you think it's so important that you provide this app or this type of a resource and tool?

Mike: I think, if you really think about it, a society, what is the middle class really?

what's the backbone of the middle class? And it's the independent mom-and-pop shops, the micro businesses and the small businesses together. That's really what makes the middle class thrive.

Jill: Yes. 

Mike: because it is the vertebrae, it's the backbone, and it's, it has to be strong.

Otherwise, and I think they And they deserve to win because they're so good. If you're good at something and you work hard and you provide a wonderful superior product you deserve to win.

Jill: Yes.

Mike: You don't deserve to fail, and I think a lot of times, you, we keep hearing that, I don't remember the statistic, I guess I'd have to look it up.

But, it's not a very encouraging statistic about the number of businesses fail

Jill: Yes 

Mike: when they first start within so many years. 

Jill: Yes. 

Mike: Like two years. it's not a very encouraging statistic.

Jill: No.

Mike: But I'd like to get into that as to why. we don't really get into it that much. And, I think a lot of it is just the visibility and they're not getting the fair you have the, it's like a field of four leaf clovers, but they're being overshadowed by some huge building and you can't see them.

and it's a

Jill: yeah. Not only can't see, but we have, our world has become so sped up.

Mike: Yeah.

Jill: So technology has created this need for everything immediately.

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: Everything right now. I don't care if it's a cheaper product, as long as I can get it right now and have it delivered to my door so I don't have to worry about anything extra.

Mike: Exactly.

Jill: And so we're missing the, number one, walking through someone's front doors, learning what it is that drove them to start that business, why they still are in business, why they have a storefront, why they want to have a superior product to something you can buy online.

Mike: Right. 

Jill: And so we're missing that connectivity. And technology has created this need for speed. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: And we're also losing the idea that these things that came from someone's hands, whether it's handmade or these things that are, a product or a service that is going to be handed to you directly over a counter or sitting in a room.

We're missing all of that. And there's just ... You are correct. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: These people who have spent the time and energy to develop and create, they deserve our time and energy

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: to go learn more about what it is they do. And your app, in my mind, will bring all those people together. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: It'll create that connection and that bond and that bridge that we're missing.

Mike: Perfect. Yeah. 

Jill: Yeah. 

Mike: And also it's, it does a favor for the locals too. It's like, don't, we have a right to know what superior products are out there.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: and, you know, what's gonna benefit our lives.

Jill: Exactly.

We always have to do some go on a shelf and buy some boxed thing that was, it's like if there's products out there that are gonna benefit us, then we have a right to know about those too, and I think we deserve it, 

Jill: Exactly. Absolutely agree. Yeah. I am so grateful that you came on today so that we could learn a little bit more about this. Now, can you give us an idea of the timeline? Sure. So you're in, like the kind of the creation, the development stage, and you're looking for businesses to come on and be part of your pilot program.

Is that correct?

Mike: It, yes, exactly. I'm almost Probably 85% done with the app.

Jill: Okay.

Mike: Still a lot of bugs with the coding and all that, which has been a nightmare, but I don't wanna bore you with that. Anyway,

Jill: I wouldn't get it anyway, so

Mike: Yeah. it's just ,it's tough. But anyway, so I'm about 85%

Jill: Okay

Mike: done. I am... My goal is to have it launched in the iStore, in the, Play Store and,iPhone and

Jill: yes ... and,

Mike: hopefully by beginning of September.

Jill: Oh, wow, right around the corner.

Mike: Hopefully. 

Jill: Okay. 

Mike: Yeah, that's my goal. Now, the reason I'm looking for pilot businesses now is because, I need to have businesses on the app before I launch it.

Jill: Okay.

Mike: If you think about it, if the app is up there, and the local gets on, and there are no businesses, who's gonna stay on?

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: You know what I mean?

Jill: Not super effective.

Mike: Yeah. It is, so I'd like to talk to some pilot businesses, who'll help me out.

Jill: Okay.

Mike: Where they can send me some information, and I'll put their profile on there.

They'll be able to change their profile once it launches and stuff. But if I get enough businesses on there, then I'll at least be in a pretty good position where when it first launches, locals can say, "Hey, there's a lot of businesses on here." And, you know 

Jill: Exactly 

Mike: and they can start doing the 

And for whoever my pilot businesses are, they're not gonna be charged for the app. They'll have it for the rest of their lives for free. I'm not gonna... 'Cause they're helping me out.

Jill: Yeah.

Mike: So that's the best way I know how to thank them.

Jill: I love that. I think that's a

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: a great way to kickstart

Mike: Yeah

Jill: a kickstart business,

Mike: right?

Jill: Exactly. So this is awesome. Yeah.

Mike: Yeah. Yeah.

Jill: I'm loving that. So we'll make sure in the show notes it has your email address so they can reach out to you directly. And, and then also if you would like, do you wanna share your email so that if any listeners that don't go to the show notes, they'll know how to connect?

Mike: Yeah, it's, paxinos.michael, so P-A-X-I-N-O-S.michael, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, @gmail.com.

Jill: Love it. We will make sure that we help share this information. We'll get it out to all of our chamber investors and all of the community because this is something that all small businesses, all businesses, all of our local businesses need to know more about.

So

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: thank you so much for the courage to get this started and, for having the mindset of realizing that this is a better way to create classical education 

Mike: Yeah 

Jill: and to not only uplift businesses but eventually also supply more information to your online or your private high school. 

Mike: Yeah. 

Jill: So I really, I appreciate all of your, information.

Thanks for sharing today. And I just have to give a shout-out to Jim and I and the class of 1987 at Boulder City High School. So super sorry, but

Mike: Oh 

Jill: Mike, you do not get the last word on this. Jim and I know the best class

Mike: Okay. Whatever delusions you want to me, that's fine.

Jill: I'm not gonna I think we'll keep arguing on this one for a while. But thank you so much for being here.

Mike: Thank you, Jill. Appreciate it.