What if some of the biggest business opportunities in Austin aren’t in startups, venture capital, or the next big app — but in the companies quietly keeping the city running?

In this episode of Austin Eras, Adam Flagg sits down with Kade Thomas, founder and CEO of Emory Oak Partners and Cerv Property Solutions, to explore the overlooked service economy underneath Austin’s explosive growth. Kade started his first landscaping company at just 13 years old, sold it while attending the University of Texas, and has spent the years since building, buying, scaling, and selling service businesses across the Southeast.

His philosophy is simple: “Sophisticate the unsophisticated.”

But this conversation isn’t really just about landscaping, janitorial services, pest control, or private equity.

It’s about where opportunity still exists in a city where many people feel like they already missed the boat.

Kade explains why the businesses maintaining Austin’s buildings, pools, landscaping, and infrastructure may offer some of the most durable entrepreneurial opportunities in the region — and why building a great company often has less to do with inventing something revolutionary than with assembling the right people, processes, culture, and technology.

Together, they explore:

• Why service businesses remain one of Austin’s most overlooked economic engines
• Why people and process matter more than having a groundbreaking idea
• How AI is transforming traditional service businesses
• Why Austin’s growth continues to create opportunities beyond tech
• How rising housing costs, wages, and traffic could reshape the city’s workforce
• What Austin needs to protect as it becomes wealthier, larger, and more technology-driven

The conversation also explores Kade’s relationship with the University of Texas, his work mentoring students and student-athletes, Austin’s hospitality scene, comparisons between Austin and other fast-growing Southern cities, and why entrepreneurship doesn’t require creating the next unicorn.

For anyone who has wondered whether Austin’s biggest opportunities are already gone, Kade offers a different perspective: the city is still being built, and many of the best opportunities may be hiding in plain sight.

Get in touch with Austin Eras

Email: info@austineras.com

Website: https://www.austineras.com/

Call: 512-387-2333

Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-bTMj5WY-4LduZI50w8bvQ/?sub_confirmation=1

What if Austin’s next great social club isn’t a country club, a gym, or a bar…but a sport most Americans are only just beginning to discover?

In this episode of Austin Eras, Adam Flagg sits down with Will Boyce, founder of PADEL39, to explore why one of the world’s fastest-growing sports may have found its perfect American home in Austin.

But this conversation isn’t really just about padel.

It’s about how people build community. Why making friends as an adult can be surprisingly difficult. And how sports, hospitality, and wellness can come together to create places where people genuinely want to stay.

Will shares his journey from growing up outside Paris and coming to the United States through tennis to attending the University of Texas, building a successful digital marketing company, earning an MBA from INSEAD, and working in investment banking in New York City.

After watching padel explode across Europe and Latin America, Will left Wall Street, researched more than 20 American cities, and returned to Austin to build PADEL39.

Together, they explore:

• Why padel is growing so quickly around the world
• What makes the sport easy to learn, social, and addictive
• Why Austin was the right city to launch PADEL39
• How PADEL39 combines sport, wellness, hospitality, and community
• Why many people struggle to make friends after moving to Austin
• How to build a lifestyle brand that is bigger than its founder

The conversation also dives into entrepreneurship, career uncertainty, Austin’s international population, the importance of third places, and the mentor who changed Will’s life by helping him attend the University of Texas.

Whether you care about sports, entrepreneurship, community, wellness, or Austin’s future, this episode offers a fascinating look at how a global sport could help create a new kind of gathering place in the city.

Get in touch with Austin Eras

Email: info@austineras.com

Website: https://www.austineras.com/

Call: 512-387-2333

Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-bTMj5WY-4LduZI50w8bvQ/?sub_confirmation=1

What if the future of fashion isn’t being built in New York or Paris — but in Austin, Texas?

In this episode of Austin Eras, Adam Flagg sits down with Nina Means, Director of the ACC Fashion Incubator, to explore how Austin is quietly building a new kind of fashion ecosystem — one rooted in technology, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and creative opportunity.

But this conversation isn’t really just about fashion.

It’s about how cities build industries. How creative people turn ideas into real careers. And why Austin’s collaborative culture may give it an advantage legacy fashion cities no longer have.

Nina shares her journey from public health into fashion design, working with brands like Rebecca Taylor and Halston, and helping transform an empty room at Austin Community College into one of the country’s most unique fashion incubators.

Together, they explore:

• Why Austin approaches fashion differently
• How technology is reshaping fashion careers
• Why fashion jobs are becoming higher-paying and more technical
• The intersection of AI, sustainability, and manufacturing
• How ACC is creating affordable pathways into creative industries
• Why Austin’s openness and collaborative spirit matter more than ever

The conversation also dives into career reinvention, Austin style, local designers, creative infrastructure, and what it actually takes to build a sustainable industry instead of just a trend.

Whether you care about entrepreneurship, technology, creativity, or Austin’s future, this episode offers a fascinating look at a side of the city most people still don’t realize is already emerging.

Get in touch with Austin Eras

Email: info@austineras.com

Website: https://www.austineras.com/

Call: 512-387-2333

Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-bTMj5WY-4LduZI50w8bvQ/?sub_confirmation=1