coming up on Colorado stories from studio 12.

It's a condition millions of women live with but may not even know they have.

For years, it's been called PCOS.

Now, experts are pushing a new name and say it could change how the condition is understood and treated.

And the magic of Harry Potter comes to life.

We'll show you how your family can experience the wonder up close in Erica's family beat.

Then we head back in time with a PBS 12 favorite, the CIO Time Machine.

Discover what made this show so unique and how the characters came to life.

Two don't go anywhere.

We've got all this and more next on Colorado stories from studio 12.

From the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

Hi, I'm Bazzi Kanani, and I'm Ryan here.

Welcome to Colorado.

Stories from studio 12.

For years, it's been known as polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS.

But medical experts say that name never told the full story.

This condition in women has now officially been renamed poly endocrine, metabolic, ovarian Syndrome, or Mohs, to better target how it affects women's hormones, metabolism and overall health, not just their ovaries.

It impacts about 1 in 8 women worldwide, yet most cases are still undiagnosed.

Tonight, Grace Hamilton shares her 14 year journey with Kyle Dyer and why doctors hope this new name will lead to more effective care and early diagnosis.

Here's their conversation.

A medical condition that affects 170 million women worldwide just got a name change, and it's a big deal.

You see, the old name was considered outdated and led to all sorts of Band-Aid fixes and a lot of misunderstanding about the root of the problem affecting 1 in 8 women who range in age from puberty all the way to menopause.

One of the two US based pediatric physicians involved in this big global name change is Doctor Melanie Cary, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Colorado.

And she was and also the director of a clinic focused just on moms at Children's Hospital Colorado.

And then also with you is Grace Hamilton.

Grace, thanks so much for coming in.

Grace is living with Peel Moss, and she's going to talk about the symptoms that she's had since she was 14.

And you met through a clinical trial.

So things are looking good.

But first, let's talk about what is moss.

What does that stand for?

The M is for metabolic.

That's a change.

Explain what we're talking about here.

Yeah.

So the old name was polycystic ovary syndrome.

Okay.

And part of the problem with that name is there are no cysts in the ovaries in this condition.

Okay.

So the name has always been incorrect.

And then it made it primarily focused on the ovary.

And there is so much more to this condition.

And so the new name is poly endocrine because it involves multiple different hormone systems.

Metabolic because there's much greater metabolic risk still ovary because there are still some issues with infertility in some women.

And then syndrome just because it encompasses so many different conditions and almost all parts of the body, all parts of the body.

Grace, thank you for talking about what you've gone through.

You were a 11 or so 14.

What stood out to you?

This that you look back now and be like, oh, that was a red flag.

I never had regular menses.

Okay.

So I started cycling when I was 11 and by 14 they weren't regular.

So I would think you go to your doctor and your pediatrician and what do they say to you.

Well my doctor, my patrician at the time asked a lot about the foods I eat, about my activity level.

We constantly were testing my thyroid.

We looked at my insulin.

All these things were coming back.

Normal.

All normal.

So.

And okay, so that was 11 to 14.

And then as you were getting older, what were the symptoms that were still plaguing you?

I still didn't have regular menses.

My adult acne was really horrible.

My hair was falling out.

Mood swings and so they gave me birth control.

Told me to come back if I want to get pregnant.

So they said it's a hormone thing, but it's not necessarily just a hormone thing.

Is this what?

What's the problem here?

What would lead to, like, the hair falling out?

So the primary problem is a little bit too much of the male hormone called testosterone.

Yeah.

And so when women have a little bit too much testosterone, they get some of the effects of that.

So it makes periods not happen once a month.

And then they can get acne.

If you think boys tend to have worse acne than girls, they can get facial hair, grow beards, and then the hair loss and in particular the hair loss that Grace had, is right in the middle of the head, just like a man goes ball, too.

And so those are the classic physical symptoms of a high testosterone.

And the bloodwork that needs to be tested is testosterone.

So thyroid and insulin could potentially contribute, but they're not going to make the diagnosis.

So if the right labs aren't done then you can't get the diagnosis.

This must be frustrating because people are not understanding you right.

And then that affects your your mental your psyche.

How difficult has it been to live with PMA process until you've kind of figured out what you're dealing with?

Totally.

I mean, I had a hard time relating to my friends.

I had a hard time being understood by my family.

I had a hard time understanding myself.

I would go into rooms where I would be like, I think that I have this.

I'd been googling, and I think that I had this, and everybody would just tell me, well, you don't have cysts under ovary, so you can't have that.

And then finally, I was 25 and a nurse practitioner tested my testosterone.

So that's what if if somebody is watching this and things.

I might have that.

My child might have that.

You need to ask your doctor to be tested for testosterone a blood test.

The, the best place to get the information is actually from an app called ask PCMag's.

And you can do it on a computer through the internet, or you can download an app.

And the information in these apps and these apps were built by the individuals at Monash University.

And Monash is the group that led this name change.

So as part of preparing to put the name change out, they really wanted to make sure that people can start googling and get the correct and accurate information.

Okay, so let's say you get a diagnosis after you've done that research, you've gone to the doctor.

What can you do to help with treatment.

So the most important thing is one to protect the uterus.

And so if we don't have periods women don't have periods on a regular basis.

If they're not taking any hormones, any birth control or something like that.

So if we're shutting down your periods, that's fine.

And by we, I mean doctors.

If doctors are shutting down your periods for something else, that's fine.

If your body is not having periods on its own, the lining of the uterus grows and grows and grows.

You know, there's not a period.

It doesn't come out and things that grow and grow and grow can turn into cancer.

And so the rate of.

And Demetrio, that's the lining of the uterus, the rate of endometrial cancer in women with PMS is 6 to 8 times higher, with an average age of diagnosis around 30.

Wow.

And so as a pediatrician, this is why it's so important to make these early diagnoses so that we can help keep the uterus healthy.

So in my practice number one, we have the opportunity to prevent cancer.

So let's do that.

Number two is whatever the patient wants.

So our guidelines specifically state that treatment for PMS should be patient oriented.

Okay.

So if they want a period every month then we do something to give them a period of three months.

If they don't want a beard then we figure out something to help with facial hair.

If they want to lose weight, then we help support them with that.

So that is really the order.

Okay.

Now to reduce metabolic risk we have to reduce insulin.

So what insulin is is insulin is a hormone that is released when we eat food and in particular sugar.

And in some women when insulin levels go high it confuses the ovary and makes testosterone.

How this has been coming out in a very unhelpful way is go lose weight, take the birth control pills and come back when you want to get pregnant.

That's not the message that the message needs to be.

We need to lower your insulin.

Yeah.

So things that lower insulin, less sugar, no liquid calories.

Activity makes insulin work better.

So when insulin works better, we have less insulin.

Good sleep.

Seven hours of sleep makes insulin work better.

If you're snoring, you need to fix it.

If we're very stressed during the day, that makes cortisol high.

Cortisol makes insulin not work.

So this is the poly endocrine okay.

Testosterone insulin cortisol they all go together.

So that is the message is lowering the insulin not not weight loss.

And go do it on your own.

Yeah I feel like this is a very word of mouth saying I only learned about it to a friend and I'm like, why do I not know about this?

I would imagine that you speak a lot about this to your age group of friends too.

Do you find it's common or other people are like, oh, I have a couple friends with a diagnosis of PMS.

Okay.

We actually all look very different.

And I think that has been something that, has proven the syndrome to me.

And really seeing the ways that it affects everybody and in different ways.

Okay.

But through that, though, my circle of women has been incredible.

I mean, all through the study that I did with Doctor Cree, and even now, I've never once in my medication alone, I've never, experienced any side effects without a support group.

I have cheerleaders who watch all the things and read all the things, and, it's really incredible to see how the conversation really matters.

The talk is the best medicine in some cases.

When united your head where everyone looks different, what does that mean?

So it's not everyone is having acne or weight gain or.

Exactly.

And that's really why we needed the name to not just be focused on the ovary.

So some people start really struggling with weight first and then their periods get irregular.

Some people really start struggling with the acne, and the extra hair first in their periods are still once a month and then they become abnormal.

So because there's so many different aspects to this condition, it it can present very differently.

So we can have people in a very large body size that don't have any metabolic problems.

And really the thing to know is that the metabolic problems.

So type two diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, extra fat in the liver these happen at any body size in this condition, which is why the entire name of the condition has to change.

So whereas this has been tough to hear your story in that so many other graces are out there.

Yes.

It's also hopeful that you all are talking about it, this name change.

You've been talking a lot.

Talking with pediatricians, raising awareness.

So are you hopeful?

Like what?

How are you feeling at this moment?

Both of you?

Oh, I'm.

I'm thrilled and I'm excited and I'm hopeful.

Like you said.

All the nerves are gone, and the curiosity is just overwhelming.

Okay.

Thank you, Doctor Crete.

I'm really optimistic.

I run a 19 center, consortium of pediatric providers who take care of girls with PMS, and we're not doing great.

And so I see this name change and all the discussion around it as a positive to really push our education, not only in our care providers, but also for our patients to come and come prepared with, you know, an app and specific questions and say, hey, listen to me good.

Excellent.

Both of you.

Thank you so much for all that you've done over 14 years and for all that you've overcome over 14 years.

Right.

All right.

Thank you.

Experts say recognizing the signs of moss can make a significant difference in long term health.

Helping more women get diagnosed and treated sooner.

They encourage women to ask questions, advocate for appropriate testing, and seek care if symptoms don't seem to add up.

To learn more about PMS and to access resources, you can go to Ask moss.org for more information.

It has been hot out there.

And if your family is looking for a fun way to escape the heat, we have a little magic and a lot of air conditioning waiting for you.

That's right.

The Harry Potter exhibition has arrived in Denver all the way from the European cities of Prague and Brussels, letting fans step inside the wizarding world with interactive displays, iconic costumes and plenty of props.

CBS Twelve's Erica McLarty decided to check it out for the family beat, but Erica didn't go alone.

She brought along the biggest Harry Potter fans she knows her stepdaughter Scarlett to experience the magic with her.

Check it out.

Oh.

If you've been feeling a little bit of magic in the air lately, it's because Harry Potter has come to Denver.

And of course, our family had to check it out.

Full disclosure I actually don't know anything really about Harry Potter, but that's why I brought my stepdaughter Scarlett, because she is a huge fan and she's going to lead the way.

Let's go.

This is the Chamber of Secrets room where Harry had to defeat a basilisk, a giant snake, in order to save the school.

And it's my favorite book.

This is just like in the movie where Harry casts his stag in order to save himself from the Dementors.

With serious.

And within about 30s, I realize I've made the right decision.

I may not know Harry Potter, but I know when my stepdaughter is in her element.

They have the sword of Godric.

They're from North, the diadem of Rowena, Raven Claw, the cup of Helga, Hufflepuff, and the necklace of cells are Slytherin, three of which are vortex proxies and one of which was used to defeat Horcruxes.

Why are there so many wands?

Am I winning?

I have a family of muggles, and it's kind of hard because they don't know anything.

And I have to explain most of the things here.

Do you understand anything about Harry Potter?

Do you still like it?

What do you like about the exhibit?

Well, I think it's fun to do the interactions on the screens.

Yeah, and the potion one is really fun.

Harry knows this too well, I know Harry Potter.

The exhibition is the most extensive, most complete exhibition.

That's ever toured the world.

And now it's right here in Denver.

This features over 100 costumes and props from the movies, and as you walk through this exhibition, it's very experiential.

You'll feel like you're in the movie.

You'll walk into the Great Hall.

You'll see the thousands of candles floating above you.

You'll brew a potion pot of mandrake.

You play Quidditch.

It's like you're in the film yourself.

And that's the thing about this exhibit.

I'm having fun seeing all the cool rooms and artifacts.

But for true Harry Potter fans, they are seeing places they have known for years.

This is Hagrid's hut where Hagrid lives most of the movie, and it's even based on every single part in the movie.

His hut is decorated really well and filled with like a warm kind of glow.

This is the herbology classroom.

It's so cool because every detail looks like in the movie, especially with like the stained glass called Mandrake.

You can see his face.

This is the cupboard under the stairs where Harry lived most of his life, because his aunt and uncle did not like him and decided to put him under the stairs.

And this would be his bedroom.

Oh, okay.

I'm going in.

You know, even though this exhibition features objects from the films, things behind glass, you feel like you're in the movies.

This is not a museum experience.

This is a full movie experience.

If you know the Harry Potter story, you'll love this.

If you're a casual fan, you'll notice things that you know.

If you're a super fan, of course, you're going to love the details, the behind the scenes, and before you even start exploring, you have to know where you belong.

As we know, the sorting Hat really determines your house and then you walk these different directions.

Ravenclaw.

Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin.

And as you make your way through the exhibition, you're in competition with the other houses.

At the end of the experience, there's a scoreboard that registers the scores from that day.

So not only are you experiencing the films, you're still in competition with the other houses as you make your way through.

This is my house, Ravenclaw, and I'm a reader in the cloud because I took the test like so many times and every single time it would be Ravenclaw.

What do you think I am?

I would say you would be a Gryffindor.

And why?

Because you're so outgoing and brave.

Okay, Gryffindor.

Where it is.

When you watch the movies, it's fun to step back and eat your popcorn.

But this is stepping into the movies.

This is being part of the movies.

You've got things you can touch.

You got things you can feel.

Things you can do.

You trace over the symbol to cast your own patronus.

Like so.

And my patronus is a stag.

You know, there's so many things to do.

You can climb up into Hagrid's big chair, walk through the forbidden forest through a potion, repot a mandrake.

And as you're in that gallery, you'll see the Nimbus 2000 Harry Potter's broom.

And then you'll pick up a colorful ball yourself and play Quidditch with your friends and people you don't even know.

Remember, it's a competition.

As you walk through the experience.

So far, my favorite thing would probably be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Room because it was my favorite class.

Like reading the books and it was my favorite class watching the movies and just to see it, like with all the details and then like having the interactions, which is so cool.

And that's when I start to realize this is definitely not just an exhibition.

This world means something to her.

I've loved Harry Potter since I was seven, ever since my mom introduced me to Harry Potter and showed me all the books, the movies, everything.

And it was just so cool.

He has to find all the Horcruxes in order to defeat Lord Voldemort.

And this one is from the house of Ravenclaw.

I have a wand based off of this, and it's my favorite one.

There are some places even a Harry Potter novice like me can appreciate.

It just brings out the creativity of reading the books.

While reading the books, I thought, how could they make it like forward and more like outgoing and like more showing the story and then when they showed like the movies and then like the exhibit, I was like, this is how they show it.

This is how they showed, like everything that they bring into the books.

So whether you are a huge, lifelong Harry Potter fan or discovering the world for the very first time, this exhibit has something for everyone.

For PBS 12, I'm Erica McGarity.

We'll see you at platform 9 in 3 quarters.

And if you're like Erica and still don't know your Hogwarts house from your muggles, just bring a Harry Potter fan with you.

Yeah, I've got a couple in my house.

Harry Potter, the exhibition is now open in Denver, and for more information, you can head to Harry Potter exhibition.com.

And if you are looking for more great ideas to do with the family here in Colorado, check out all of Erica's family stories on our YouTube channel.

Back to school time is exciting, but it also comes with pressure, anxiety, and lots of change.

For many students, those first several weeks back in the classroom can feel overwhelming.

That's why we sat down with licensed family therapist Ryan Long.

He shares his advice for teens on how to handle stress, find balance, and keep mental health a priority as the new school year begins.

Here's more with Ryan.

Parents.

Raising teens is not easy, especially nowadays.

I have raised many kids through the teen years and it is often a roller coaster.

It is very difficult.

Here are a few things for you parents.

Self care for you.

Your kids are trying to find themselves.

They're trying to find their identity and remember who they are or how they are.

Is not necessary who you are.

They are trying to find their way.

Maybe they might be making decisions that you don't necessarily agree with.

Be careful how you come down on them because that could be more about you than really them.

It's more about your expectations or disappointments rather than them.

The key is parents.

Listen.

Validate.

Be there for them.

Expect a bit of a roller coaster and expect for them to make mistakes.

That's part of them growing up.

That's part of them learning.

That's part of them finding themselves.

If it's always this, everything is catastrophic and just everything is the end of the world.

And you didn't do this and you never do.

They're going to start possibly feeling shame and down on themselves.

Focus on the wins.

If they're doing something well, let that be the focus.

Often when kids go back to school, they are going to have a little anxiety and they might, you know, maybe not be able to sleep as well right before school starts, like on their first day, or they may not sleep as well before, like a test.

They might just have some worries about a class, or a teacher, or a friendship or a relationship.

That's all going to be within the normal range.

It's going to be a little difficult at times to distinguish between what is normal and what is more serious, because all kids are a little bit different.

When it's more serious is these prolonged, maybe episodes of depression and or anxiety where you can tell they're feeling stuck every day.

They just keep talking about how this person's difficult, or they're feeling off, or they're feeling down, or things that they used to like to do now.

No longer they do isolation.

So if you notice that they're not wanting to do anything or hang out with any of their friends, that tells you something's probably more is going on.

Listen.

Talk to your kids.

Validate them.

Make sure that you're you're getting that you're understanding their experience.

You're empathizing with them.

You're saying, yes, I get it.

You know, first.

First day of school is difficult or there is anxiety in and being able to share your emotions.

That's really helpful.

Most parents, when the kids get in the car, they say, how was your day?

And the most typical response from a teenager is going to be fine.

Good.

Okay.

All right.

As parents, if we're really trying to gauge and or connect and find out truly how our kids did throughout the day, even as simple is highs and lows, you know, what was the best part of your day?

What was the worst part of your day?

That engages a different part of their brain?

And now it's open ended.

Be mindful when you ask it.

I've noticed it with a lot of teenagers.

If you ask it right when they get in the car, sometimes they are not ready to answer that question yet.

They've just spent a full day.

They're tired and exhausted.

So you know your kids best.

Sometimes you ask that at dinner.

Sometimes you ask that right before they go to bed.

You know your kid.

You'll know the best time to ask them where you're most likely going to get more of, like an expanded response rather than just, Yeah, good.

Also, with conversation starters, when you ask them about their day or you want to talk about highs, lows, or you could do Rosebud Thorns.

Rosebud thought is where it's like, the good thing is the rose.

The thing that was kind of difficult was the thorn in the bud is something they're looking forward to.

So again, that's another good conversation.

Starter with raising kids is radical acceptance.

Accepting them for who they are and loving them.

Loving them unconditionally.

We got to remember we're not just trying to get them through the teenage years.

And if we can do these years, well, it's going to increase the chances of us feeling and being connected to our adult kids.

some great insights from Ryan.

They're reminding us that mental health is just as important as academics.

If you or a student you know is struggling, don't hesitate to reach out for help, whether that's through a school counselor, another trusted adult, or professional resources available in your community.

One of those resources is the 988 Colorado Mental Health Line, which provides free 24 over seven support by call, text or live chat.

Youth can also receive up to six free therapy sessions through I Matter Colorado Dawg, with services in both English and Spanish.

Visit I Matter Colorado Dawg to learn more.

We have a little over six weeks before our ballots are sent in the mail to us here in Colorado.

And as we all know, political campaigns are using this time to really sharpen their messages.

And journalists are trying to challenge that messaging.

At least that's the back and forth that we've become used to.

Right.

Yes.

But are those boundaries changing?

It's something Kyle Dyer brought up with the team on Colorado inside out.

Hi there.

You know, candidates today have more ways to control when, where and how they engage with the press and the public.

And this campaign season, we are seeing storylines that in the past you might have thought would doom a campaign.

But times have certainly changed.

So what are the rules of political coverage in 2026, and who gets to define them?

Are the boundaries of political coverage being stretched?

This campaign season is raising some very different questions on how candidates should be questioned and scrutinized.

Who gets to set the terms of a debate?

Also, how much a candidate's past statements should really matter, and when a candidate's family member becomes part of the story.

Patti, there's a lot to talk about.

Please start us off.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so do journalists.

So if we're if candidates aren't talking, you're going to find information any way you possibly can.

And one of the things is to look at what they've said before.

And I think what candidates have said before is fair game.

You want to be able to give them a chance to respond.

And this happens in business.

And we saw that happen with Kwame Spearman of the Denver Book Society.

It happens with people all over you.

They've said things they don't agree with now or they need to explain.

It's out of context, but people who are running for office have to be prepared to accept what they've said before and explain why they said it, if they've changed their minds.

As for debates, of course I think they have an they have an obligation to their public to go into some maybe not as many as they sometimes get invited to.

But certainly Victor Marx should be willing to do a debate with a moderator.

Perhaps.

Maybe not Kyle Clarke, but we deserve to hear from our group editorial candidate for the Republican Party.

Okay.

And you know, I agree with what Patti said.

I if you're going to put yourself out there and run for office, you have to know that what you've said in the past is fair game and it teaches you a lesson.

I see so many people, I call it living out loud where you do it.

Everything you do is on social media, and then you wonder why people take issue with it.

We shouldn't put it out there.

I think typically your family ought to be off limits.

You're the candidate, not your daughter or your son or your spouse.

And so I think that's that's where the line ought to be drawn.

And with Victor Marx.

Yeah, we we don't want to see he and Phil Weiser sit around a coffee table having a chat.

You need a structured debate where you have a seasoned moderator who can challenge them and push them on their positions.

Jesse.

Yeah.

Marx's debate, request really makes no sense to me.

So for viewers who aren't aware of it, he wants to have an unmoderated debate with Phil Weiser.

So no moderator.

I guess it would just be two of them having a conversation.

I really don't know how that would look.

I don't know how that would even start.

I know that, maybe 100 years ago, there were some examples of it.

But in current modern day politics, I don't see how that works.

And there's a reason why moderators exist.

They're there to guide the candidates, to make sure they answer the questions and to prevent, you know, the political discourse from becoming a shouting match.

And sometimes debates have to have that, even if there is a moderator, let alone if there isn't one.

So they play an important role.

In terms of past comments, you know, as a journalist who writes a lot about folks, things folks have said or done in the past, I think it is fair game.

And I think it's important context for people to understand how a candidate's position has changed over the years.

I know sometimes there's a tendency to fault people for changing their positions, but in some ways, I think there are voters who look at that is as matured.

And so it's it's an important, it's an important data point for people to see both ways.

Right.

If maybe somebody still has those positions and if they've changed over time, how and why and how would they do that in office when they get information and, and change their views on things and the candidates should talk about it as opposed to like scrubbing their social media posts from years ago.

Yeah.

I mean, I would like them to talk about it when I find it, right?

I mean, I think people have a right to delete their social media posts, I'm sure as heck.

And I try as hard as I can to find what this post said.

It becomes a question of credibility.

Let me back up a bit.

A politician should be able to change their minds.

They should be able to go vote yes one day, vote no the next day because in between they might have gotten more information that changes their minds.

We want politicians to be able to compromise.

That's their job.

They represent the interests of their constituencies, not themselves.

They should be able to go, be nimble and change their minds, not a problem.

The question of credibility comes to not just what you've said in the past, but how you behave and enacted in the past.

You know, sometimes we expect people that, if they behave the certain way for a really long time, and if they're confronted by it, then suddenly they would change their behavior.

Well, that's not how human nature works.

And it is.

And it is indeed a fair question and a legitimate question whether how you've acted in the past is going to continue when you're representing a group of people that is running for office, making a declaration, hey, I want to represent you guys.

Does that change your beliefs suddenly?

Are you now a different individual suddenly?

Those are clearly legitimate questions.

And to me, the character, the issue of character boils down to your principle as a politician.

I'm looking to vote for someone who's principled.

For example, I think a lot of people are.

They want to vote for someone they can trust.

That has credibility.

Sometimes the cover ups worse than the crime, so to speak.

Right.

I mean, not that the person on social media is a crime, but why are you deleting those posts?

Or why are you changing your website?

It's totally a fair game and poses more questions and talking about fair game.

Going back to the families, we have the worst two possible examples right now.

You've got the Trump family.

You've got the Biden family.

Obviously, those children should be reported on if they are benefiting from the the positions their parents have, if they're getting favors, if they're getting lots of money.

Of course, the Trumps and the Bidens should be reported on.

It's harder when it trickles down.

You look at hypocrisy if someone is pro-life and then you discover their kid has had an abortion, or you wind up in this really tricky thing with the Lauren Boebert case, where her marriage was clearly troubled and her eldest son clearly has big issues, is it something you report?

Is it something you don't?

When Governor Lamm was in the governor's office, it was reported when there was a marijuana plant in in the backyard of the governor's mansion that was, that Scott Lamb had allegedly planted.

So this is not a new question, but it's a tricky one.

Yeah.

And I agree with that distinction.

I think if you're president of the United States your immediate family is fair game, especially if their behavior can be attributed to or suspected to be related to the office.

You hold that.

That's fair game.

And before we move on, Jesse, you recently interviewed the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, George Marquardt.

So I pronounce it censored.

Tell me, because he's only lived in Colorado for three years.

Yeah, it was interesting.

We were kind of talking before we started filming today.

But, you know, Mr.

Market has a lot of complaints about Colorado and the direction of it.

But I asked him, you know, hey, you decided to move here knowing full well where things are.

Democrats have been in control here since 2019.

And he said, his position on that was that he moved here to help save the state.

So take that as you go.

That was just one of the four topics we talked about in our most recent Colorado Inside Out.

You can watch the entire show on our YouTube channel, the PBS passport app, or on the PBS 12 website.

And if you're really into podcasts, we got you covered.

We're on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and right now we are currently working on this week's show.

So make sure to join us Friday night at eight right here on PBS 12.

Small businesses have long been an important source of jobs, innovation and economic opportunity.

But starting a business is only part of the story.

What happens after the startup phase?

When a company has customers, employees and a track record and is trying to figure out what comes next?

Charles Fred has spent years studying those businesses.

He says they represent a surprisingly large share of the American workforce, and they may be one of the most overlooked parts of our economy.

In tonight's Business of Colorado segment, Randy Matthews sat down with Charles to talk about resilience, growth and what it takes for an entrepreneur to build a business for the long haul.

Tell us about true space and what the objective of the organization is.

Yeah.

True space.

The name True Spaces is means that you're not starting, but you're not done.

We're catching people that would love to claim that they're still a startup, but they're really not.

There's 2.3 million businesses that are past the startup yet to scale in the country.

They represent 40% of the nation's workforce, and they're largely overlooked because they weren't rapid growth businesses.

They weren't unicorns from the beginning, but they're super good businesses.

In fact, the longer you run your business, in many cases, the better you get.

You've got more time to test your offer in the marketplace.

You've got more time to build a leadership team, but nobody gives them credit for that.

So what true space does is we now can help those overlooked businesses get another look from investors, because what we can do for that business is we can measure their capability with our unique instrument that we built with the Gallup organization, and we can show those unique capabilities to investors and service providers and talent and so forth.

So what we've been able to do is to watch these companies over over years develop new, new capabilities, and in that get new capital, new forms of capital, find new new people, bring in new talent and and when they'd kind of they wouldn't say they'd throw in the towel, but they became they gave up in many cases, they became lifestyle companies.

So just imagine the 40% of the nation's workforce, 40% for people out of ten that you see on the freeway each day, or going to a company that's between starting and scaling 40%, it doesn't sound.

It doesn't sound inspired.

What what does it mean to be in that it's almost purgatory?

Well, it is, and I think it's institutionalized purgatory.

That's what I'm trying to change, is we we let these companies go this this week.

By the way, as much as I love it, there's things that I don't like about it.

And we're still looking for fast growth and unicorns.

They're not great job creators.

They're very few of them that exist.

Investors lose a ton of money.

People lose all kinds of things when their businesses fail because they didn't have time to test them.

When you get capital and you have to run a race real fast, and you never test the thesis of your offer, you're more likely going to fail.

I am hearing more.

I just and this is not scientific.

It's all anecdotal.

But I do hear more about building a successful business.

And in fact, we had one founder say, don't talk to me about exit because you're going to talk about it being too soon.

And I, I've never done anything in my life that I was talking about the end when I hadn't even built it yet.

Yeah.

So.

Well, I hope some of our work might be rubbing off in that way because it's taken us 13 years to get them, you know, to really get this, this data set built.

So some things to consider.

Four out of ten business, people work in these businesses.

That might be uninspiring.

But if you look inside these businesses, the thing that we can see is resilience.

And what if you capitalize that versus capitalizing ideas?

And that's the idea.

So how do we basically take the institution that's called it purgatory called it.

They got they got really pejorative names for this, The Walking Dead.

There's all kinds of things that the investors in particular call a business that's seven years old, that is growing at 10% per year.

There's all kinds of, like, pejorative things because an investor is not going to, you know, make them potentially get their return on that.

But what I'm trying to do with data, especially the science, that we have a tourist space and we have the largest data set in the country for companies like this.

We built this with Gallup is I can reintroduce them.

I can change that narrative.

The decision.

One of the other things I think is interesting is that you're working with companies that have been successful.

They just haven't gotten bigger.

So you must also I mean, the what you're doing, right is, is a critical measurement, and they never get that feedback.

I mean, the loneliest damn job in the world.

I mean, you know this from your experience running a company, how are you going to go talk to you about it?

You know, maybe you crushed it today in a meeting.

Is anybody going to tell you?

You crushed it?

No.

Nobody's going to give you any of that feedback.

You're going to hear about is all the stuff that's been screwed up and the dumpster fire that happened today or whatever.

So this gives you a chance as a CEO to really see where you're excelling.

So you're you're working with companies that just, you know, they they've got a good solid foundation.

They're just not growing because they're not approaching it in the right way.

And then you've got the ones that are in chaos that, that have, you know, a tiger by the tail and they just are not sure how to wrangle it.

So, how do you approach those two scenarios differently?

I mean, I know you start with data and let's just let's just go a little bit there.

So there seems to be this, race to where do we find more revenues, no matter what business I'm talking to when they start?

Especially if they have a board or investors and others.

It's like, you know, your revenue growth isn't where it needs to be.

So in our minds, we click in this thesis that we need more revenue.

So what our data would tell you is it's actually the type of revenue that determines growth because of all of your capability and capacity of your firm is on low margin revenue.

You can't pull people out of that to go do high margin work.

So the first place we start on both of those scenarios is do you have a have you really identified the customer that you can support that meets the mission of the firm that you can make money with, and how much of your revenue is on that group but doesn't?

It's both product and service businesses.

The highest performing businesses in our model.

80% of the revenue comes from that group, the lowest performing, the ones that are in chaos 15 to 20%.

This will be my closing question.

Whether you're in chaos or you're in a business that you've been running for a long time, that's really not growing.

You've got 15 things to do.

And, it's probably three of them that are important.

How do you advise?

What are the important things that they need to start with?

Because they're not going to change overnight.

So, I'll tee it up this way.

When we looked at our research asking founders, and this is now 4000 founders that we've been working with.

What's the what's the difference between mission, vision and values?

What's that?

What's that construct to you?

And we never, doctor Sangeeta Berdahl is our chief scientist at Gallup, and we couldn't find any patterns of their answers because they're all over the place.

People think, well, it's vision.

No, that's my mission.

Whatever.

So to answer your question, what we really try to do is to say, what's your destination to get clarity to this, this notion.

So consider a destination is a flight of an aircraft.

You're going to fly from Denver to Seattle.

Your destination is Seattle.

There's clarity to that.

I know when I'm going to land, what I'm trying to do and put that destination within the next 12 to 18 months, and then put a plan in place every 90 days.

How are you on track to get there and get out of all the fanfare of this fancy reporting and read, figure out what it's going to take you to do that, but do it in a 90 day pattern.

And just like an aircraft, it might ask to fly around a set of clouds in 90 days.

You might have to make some adjustments.

But what we're watching is a huge percentage of businesses can finally get to that destination.

Thank you for your time today.

This is a great conversation and I look forward to continuing conversations in the future.

We do as well.

So thanks for having us here.

Funding for the business of Colorado is provided in part by Collegiate Peaks Bank.

Colorado Business Roundtable and Ibotta.

And for the generous support of viewers like you.

Thank you.

To learn more, visit PBS 12.org.

Charles Fred makes a strong case for taking a second look at businesses that have something incredibly valuable experience and resilience.

His advice is straightforward.

Know where you want to go.

Focus on where you can win and be willing to adapt along the way.

For all of Franny's interviews from Colorado startup Week, make sure to check out our YouTube channel for more.

We are opening up the PBS 12 archives to revisit some of Colorado's most memorable moments and the stories behind them.

They were featured on Colorado Inside Out in the early 2000.

On a unique series we produced here at PBS 12 called the CIO Time Machine.

The panel, dressed in costumes, used special effects and debated the news of a specific year in Colorado history.

Yeah, this should be a fun blast of the past.

Tonight, longtime panelists Patty Calhoun, David Kopel, and former CIO host Dominic Doherty share how they picked their characters and how they made them come to life on screen.

Two.

Yeah.

Okay.

This is channel 12 DVD.

I on this show is proud to present our sponsor, public television, serving on the Front Range Committee, ITV 12, Broomfield, Colorado.

I have to say, I always picked my own character and I wanted to play real people, which is a little tricky.

When you go to Denver history and you're looking for a woman who people might recognize the name of, but you can find enough information about for some of these years.

So pleased to meet you.

I am Mrs.

Horace Tabor.

Augusta.

I think I rented Augusta Tabor, I believe, because I ran into the intarsia who was doing the same year at the same costume shop, my 1858 outfit I could wear to any party.

It's ready, I believe, with the varnish this back, my bonnet has been known to drive men wild on the streets of Denver.

I could understand, Countess only to bonnet Katrina Murat.

I they wouldn't let me read it.

I just had to buy it.

And it's not worth it.

Let me tell you.

Good day and welcome everyone to this meeting of the Five Points Club.

As all of you know, my name is Ernest Bollier.

Well, everyone, please give a warm thanks to our hostess for the day, Mrs.

Margaret Brown.

So pleased to have you here in my lovely home, Mr.

Bollier.

You know it well.

Really, I don't need much of an introduction anymore because of some recent events.

I am Mel Campbell.

Ross O'Brien, for all of you wonderful Denver ites.

Know me as probably pry the famous reporter.

I am Miss Emily Griffith.

I run the opportunity school.

I believe that was my young Emily Griffith.

I also played the old Emily Griffith, Emily Griffith, renowned and now retired teacher and school administrator.

Thanks for joining us.

I am so honored to be here.

The lovely socialite Helen Bonfils, who is a lover of the arts and also has a very close family connection to the Denver Post, and I'm embarrassed to say I think some of that is my own stuff.

I don't know where I got that.

I did have to read that.

Our first guest tonight, Miss Helen Bonfils, publisher of the Denver Post.

Good to see you, ma'am.

Good to be here.

Hello.

You good people of Radio land?

You know, when I was last, the fur coat was a trick in the studio.

It was very hot that day.

Enjoy this city.

Everyone has been so friendly.

I love it, it's a great time to live in.

Bobby and I are trying to bring people here at the girls from all 50 states now.

And we all want world peace.

And you are a good looking man.

You tell your co-host, start yelling.

He's a good looking man to I'm Caroline Bancroft, but everyone knows that.

First gossip columnist in town Molly Mayfield and 68 ethic.

Well, I don't really think I need to introduce myself to this audience.

You read me all the time in the Rocky Mountain News, but Judy Collins in 1973 was a natural.

Well, Charlie, first of all, let me thank you so much for having me back to Denver.

It's a pleasure to be here.

What?

She graduated from East High in 1958, and by 73 she was a big star, but not too big to show up on channel 12.

Exactly.

She would have been.

She would be in the same room with Charlie Munger.

Yes.

Yeah, I know, and what I try to do with my, the characters I picked were always folks who were usually folks who had been associated with the media, because the host of the show, had always had some sort of connection to either TV or radio.

Tonight, our annual look back at the events of this past year, 1968, I'm your host, Hugh Terry, general manager of Cozy Am FM, and of course, KLC TV channel seven on your TV dial.

So, Hugh Terry, was one of those.

He was at cable's ETV.

That was one of my favorite sources because, they were, one of the first TV stations in town.

First of all, we should all introduce ourselves to our newly confirmed radio audience.

As they know, I am Father John Brown.

My motivation here, father John Brown is the president at this point, the College of Sacred Heart, which a couple of years later becomes Regis College, my alma mater.

Good evening, and welcome to the October 5th, 1940 edition of Colorado Inside Out.

I'm your host, Gino Phelan.

You may recognize me as the manager of KFI Am.

This came with the fedora that, led to a lot of, autograph requests, as if I was John Levitz from League of Their Own.

But, the mustache worked, and it would be a short lived mustache.

It worked really well for the show.

Useful in the studio, but outside the studio.

Not not extraordinarily credible.

Some folks can pull off the mustache.

I can't the clean look.

But also, John Rayburn was one of the first, TV personalities in Denver.

I remember growing up.

I'm a Denver kid.

I remember watching him, and, of course, I mean, gosh, facial hair for TV personalities for a long time would not have been approved.

So to do this, one had to be a clean look.

I did my very best to have a little bit of a a slicked back, hairstyle, but, getting that, that 19, 60 look.

Yeah.

Facial hair became somewhat a point of contention in my household because I was dedicated to the cause, but only 1876 would it appropriate for a character to have a goatee every other, character I played either had to be clean shaven or a mustache, which, So there you go.

Yes.

Father John Brown had to be clean shaven.

That was, Well, I don't mind if I'm clean shaven or not.

My wife is not a big fan of the clean shaven look.

It's also a little a little rounder.

But.

So, yes, she was not always fond of, time machine season, because who knows what I was going to look like afterwards.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our look at the news that made 1973 such an amazing year to report about and discuss and share.

Wait for this.

But this was, my first one.

Charlie Martin.

So this is, again, a personal connection.

The shirt, epic.

For my hairstylist.

I told her I go to the shows in 1973.

I had the perfect shirt, and it was.

It was absolutely epic.

Gold chain again.

I was very part of that.

It's an old Beatles wig that is actually, just a slap top there.

But Charlie Martin, who may have sued if he saw this, was in real life, not only a, radio host, with, of course, on six, but he, played trivia at Papa Rocks, which is now.

Which sugar's at 534, 621.

Right.

36.

And, that's my dad knew him.

So my dad knew Charlie Martin and, Howell and Peter Boyle's way back then, back in the 70s, playing trivia at, Papa Rock.

So I thought it'd be kind of a fun way, because I knew a little bit that insight information and, well, it doesn't have the curls Charlie Martin would have had.

It was memorable.

He spoke at Montague Presbyterian Church, which, by the way, is my children's preschool.

And he got a crowd of 2000 inside and another 1300 people outside.

Well, I'd say at the University of Denver protest, where 40 students did a sit in and wouldn't leave the registrar's office.

We have been passing lots of laws to make things better.

You know, the you had the you're seeing three different times when you get to play your father.

And that was pretty cool because that you were you have a intimate knowledge of all the things he was talking about.

But the, the, the look was pretty, pretty spot on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, it was super fun.

And he was always hoping that I would make sure he was remembered in history.

And so I created the website for his writings.

And that that's this is another of my contributions, in that and it was, you know, very fun because I, I saw him as a child, you know, being this state legislator of character.

So it was great.

And I as we've seen, I was playing lots of great Democratic politicians over the time.

Thomas Patterson from 1876, John Shaffer, our Democratic senator for Colorado by Rogers.

And I want to say that as attorney general, even though we represent state government agencies in court, we always view our real job, our real client, as being the people of Colorado.

So it was fun to put Jerry Kopel in that tradition.

It's one of the things everybody teaches you about, acting is and performance is that just like one prop or maybe a couple is enough to get the audience into that state of willing suspension of disbelief.

You know, you don't necessarily have to be public.

Some of these shows are really perfect.

I mean, the intense costuming, but even for, lower budget things like, you know, like some of the things we did, you're not showing here, the, the early Peter Boyle's Time Machines, where we're just sitting around the round table.

Even then, just, you know, the glasses, the hat, things like the skinny tie, whatever you could do to help the audience, to show that you believe makes the audience willing to believe to.

We'll continue our journey through the PBS 12 archives in the weeks ahead, sharing more memories and stories about the people who helped shape Colorado's history.

With more CIO time machines.

So make sure to stay tuned for those.

We hope tonight's stories inspired you to be informed, explore and connect with the people and communities around you.

You can watch these stories, plus more of our Colorado storytelling on our YouTube channel or at PBS 12.org.

Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time for more Colorado stories right here on studio 12.

I'm Ryan here and I'm Bazi kanani.

Have a great week.