The Fargo Five with Conrad Fargo

What happens when a registered nurse, a healthcare technology director, a mother of three boys, and a first-year entrepreneur all exist inside the same person? You get Heidi Bell Schneibel, and you get Fizzylixir. A Bismarck native who arrived in the Fargo-Moorhead metro in 1998 to attend what would become MSUM in Moorhead, Heidi has since lived in Moorhead, Fargo, West Fargo, and now Horace. On an Easter trip back to her hometown, she spotted what felt like a three-mile line of cars outside a dirty soda shop, came home curious, and within one month she and her husband, the master mixologist and business partner behind every original Fizzylixir recipe, were fully licensed and popping up at their first event. By day, Heidi leads a team of solution consultants at a healthcare technology company specializing in real-time location systems, essentially a GPS for hospitals and clinics right here in the Fargo-Moorhead area, a role she built over fourteen years that grew out of her career as a registered nurse. On evenings and weekends, she hauls a branded pop-up tent and supplies to events like West Fargo High School football and volleyball games, summer community favorites like Pride in the Park, and private holiday and corporate parties. On today's show, Conrad gets his very first dirty soda live on air, a Smooth Operator made with diet Dr. Pepper, Da Vinci sweet cream, and cold foam. Heidi also gives a heartfelt shoutout to The Cookie Jar, a local Fargo-Moorhead cottage baker who mentored her openly from day one. Find Fizzylixir on Facebook and Instagram for their full upcoming event schedule.

Raised in China with over 15 years in Fortune 500 sales and marketing at companies including Mercedes-Benz and Canon, Vivian met her Fargo-born husband in Beijing before eventually making the FM metro her permanent home. In 2016, the birth of her youngest son Patrick at Sanford Hospital in downtown Fargo became a harrowing ordeal when he was diagnosed with a heart condition and emergency airlifted to a children's hospital in Minneapolis. The weeks spent in the NICU left Vivian battling panic attacks and PTSD symptoms she had never experienced before. After traditional remedies fell flat, she discovered CBD through Joy Organics out of Colorado and felt an immediate difference. One deeply disappointing local retail experience later, the mission was clear: she could do this better. Kota Botanics launched in November 2019, just three months before a global pandemic forced her to lean hard on e-commerce to keep the doors open. The name itself carries a story, having started as Kota Organics before a trademark dispute with Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr's Kora Organics brand pushed Vivian into a creative pivot. Today Kota Botanics is a 900-square-foot shop at 32nd Avenue and 25th Street in South Fargo next to Starbucks, with a full e-commerce store at kotabotanics.com offering free shipping over $75 and free local delivery.

What makes something paranormal, and where is the line between the unexplained, the divine, and plain old magic? Conrad opens this episode by pressing Bonanzaville paranormal coordinator Lisa Gedrose on the definition itself, from ghosts and UFOs to Bigfoot, miracles, human perception, and the effort to debunk strange claims before accepting them.Then we get to know Lisa beyond the ghost stories. She talks about growing up with the Eagles, choosing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” raising six children, grabbing coffee at Randy’s, shopping at Hornbacher’s Village West and Aldi, and unwinding with Little House on the Prairie.At Bonanzaville, Lisa’s work combines North Dakota history with hands-on paranormal investigation. She trains volunteer guides, tests EMF meters, spirit boxes, and temperature guns, decorates for the season, researches the history and claims tied to buildings, and helps lead nighttime investigations. Her story started as a guest on a paranormal tour, became years of volunteering, and eventually grew into a paid coordinator role after she kept showing up and helping wherever Bonanzaville needed her.Lisa also explains why the mission matters beyond spooky stories: the investigations raise money to preserve Bonanzaville’s historic buildings and Cass County history. It is a conversation about ghosts, community, volunteerism, curiosity, and what can happen when a personal obsession turns into a real role.

Targen Zarlee, Owner and CEO of Devine Fashionitas LLC, joins Conrad Fargo to talk about the faith, persistence, and personal history behind her Fargo boutique. Zarlee traces her story from childhood in Liberia to Minnesota, Texas, and eventually the Fargo-Moorhead area, where she says faith helped guide both her life and the creation of her business.Devine Fashionitas brings together accessories, statement pieces, and custom clothing, with pieces sourced from Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya. Zarlee explains how customers can shop ready-to-wear items or work with her on custom clothing tailored to their measurements and style. She also shares the unlikely beginnings of the business: a church business expo, prayer, a “Sip and Shop” fashion show, a small retail foothold inside ANA Supermarket, and eventually a storefront inside International Market Plaza at 1345 Main Avenue in Fargo.The conversation also explores Zarlee’s work at Sanford while building the business, her goal of creating financial stability and generational wealth, and why she wants entrepreneurship to become a way to support family, churches, widows, orphans, and others. She gives a shoutout to Natalie Sparrow Management and previews Devine Fashionitas’ participation in a Downtown Fargo fashion show at Broadway Square.From fascinators and Liberian country cloth to faith, immigration, customer service, and the grind of building a business from scratch, this episode is a personal look at what it takes to turn conviction into something tangible in Fargo.

Natalie Sparrow unpacks the constantly evolving world of modeling, acting, talent management, and creative entrepreneurship in Fargo-Moorhead. Natalie explains how Ultimate Image evolved into Natalie Sparrow Management and how she now represents roughly 120 talent while connecting actors and models with opportunities locally and in major markets including New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. She breaks down the differences between agents, managers and talent development, including how commissions work, how casting happens, and why Fargo can serve as a development market for emerging talent.Natalie also shares her Fargo favorites, including Beer & Fish Company, The Drawing Room, Toasted Frog and Divine Fashionas at Fargo's International Market. The conversation explores entrepreneurship, anxiety, gratitude, family, setting boundaries and learning when determination needs to give way to adaptation.Plus, Natalie previews Fargo Fashion Week at Broadway Square, featuring 14 businesses and more than 60 models, and announces her new role as city producer for the 48 Hour Film Project, bringing filmmakers, actors and production crews together to make complete movies in only 48 hours.