(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

(gentle music) - Just ahead on "Carolina Impact".

See how one man uses a video game to highlight the traffic snarls on 277.

Plus after facing hardships, a local man finds his true calling, making violins.

And a Charlotte woman teaches others how to make custom lip products.

"Carolina Impact" starts right now.

(upbeat music) (graphics whooshing) Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

As the Charlotte Metro continues to grow, so does traffic.

77, 85, 485, Independence Boulevard are all notorious for their backups.

Some say 277 is the absolute worst.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis joins us with details.

- Well, if you've ever driven on I-277 around Uptown Charlotte you know exactly how tricky navigating it can be, especially during rush hour.

Cars in the on-ramp trying to get over to the left with cars already on the left trying to merge the right to exit.

Basically everyone crisscrossing.

It can be and usually is quite chaotic.

A relative newcomer to Charlotte was taken aback by the never ending mess and stress of driving on 277.

So he put his software engineering skills to work, started tinkering around and created a video game about it.

(graphics whooshing) (audio warbling) (playful music) It's real-life driving transformed into a cartoon-like video game.

(audio warbling) (playful music) - It is kind of like an absurd thing, like make a video game about an exit like that.

It's kind of crazy and it made people laugh.

- [Jason] But for anyone who's had the pleasure of navigating Interstate 277 around Uptown Charlotte, it certainly resonates.

- I never really thought somebody would make a video game based on a roadway near where I lived.

- [Jason] I-277, a 4.4 mile U-shaped highway consisting of the Brookshire Freeway on the north side of uptown.

- So the first segment was actually built in the '70s.

- [Jason] And the Belk Freeway on the south side of town.

- And then the other part, the southern part was built in the early mid '80s, - [Jason] Add in I-77 to the west connecting the U and it's just over six miles in total.

- So there's like different experiences I think you can have being there driving on 277 just based on the time of day.

- [Jason] It's a highway that's taken its fair share of criticism since it was constructed from the neighborhoods it divided to its tough to navigate interchanges.

What's driving on 277 like for you?

- (laughs) I guess it's kind of like a nightmare.

A lot of frustration.

A lot of, like, questioning what people are doing.

- [Jason] While the six main lanes of I-277 are still very functional, it's the on-ramps and exits that are causing the issues.

Mainly because there's three to four more times the number of cars using the highway than it was originally designed for.

- The problems that interchanges, the ramps, the merge weave, deceleration lanes, to get onto those ramps are shorter than you would want for this volume of traffic.

The ramps themselves are shorter than you'd want for this type of traffic.

And the opposite of that is when they're getting on those acceleration lanes aren't as long as you'd want for this volume of traffic.

- I think it kind of lends itself to a game 'cause it like already driving through it feels like a game.

I know like my heart starts racing and, like, "Am I gonna make it?"

- [Jason] Mike Ramirez moved from Florida to Charlotte five years ago.

- I'm a software engineer.

- [Jason] A software engineer by trade, a video game player by passion.

- If I think back, like, what is the earliest thing I remember, it's like "Super Mario Brothers".

(playful music) (graphics warbling) I think when I was seven I got a Sega Genesis.

I remember playing that a lot.

- [Jason] That video game love has carried over to adulthood.

When he is not at work.

Mike dabbles in creating his own video games.

More than a dozen of them so far.

His latest, the Charlotte-themed "Exit 3A".

- "Exit 3A" already is like pretty infamous.

It's not the game that's making it that way.

It's like the exit is infamous for a reason.

I wanted to make a game about Independence, driving down Independence and have it end in Exit 3A, but I thought a game like that would be too much work.

So I was, like, "Oh, maybe just Exit 3A."

And so there's like different modes that I run it in as I'm, like, testing out different things.

- [Jason] He could have picked just about any interchange along I-277 but chose Exit 3A due to its unique dynamics.

- [Mike] You're dealing with the people that are going towards Independence.

That's kind of like a little bit of a nightmare.

You get past that and then you're heading towards Exit 3A and you have the people coming from Independence the other direction, you're kind of cutting across that.

Then you're getting into the actual exit that is always like backed up.

- We pulled accident data for Exit 3A itself and then in 2023 and 2024 there were eight crashes with people, you know, trying to get on that exit.

Six of those eight were rear end or sideswiped.

Which would you expect for, you know, a congested location.

- [Jason] Putting his software engineering and video game creating skills to use, Mike spent part of the last year creating a simulation of driving towards and onto Exit 3A.

- [Mike] The game would start like around here and you're driving along 277.

So people are going to Independence here.

You go around this way, the Independence traffic coming in here, and then you're making this first exit right there.

That's Exit 3A.

It's the people here trying to go straight and left and whereas the people on Exit 3A, they're like coming here because they want to make that first right.

And so it's always like- - Yeah.

- A nightmare.

- [Jason] Players drive a pickup truck filled with all types of cargo and the truck handles differently based on what's in bag.

- [Mike] With this, I can't see quite as much.

Some of the cars are in a way.

They weigh differently, they react differently, so there's like a little difference than that.

But I wanna get...

I wanna have like more mechanics based on, like, what cargo you select.

It's always fun to just crashing and stuff.

In the game, not in real life.

(laughs) - It's an interesting concept.

It looks like it's gonna be fun.

I mean, I honestly when he releases it would be interested in playing it.

- So there's, like, a time mechanic and, like, points and adding, like, score and, like, tracking things like what cars you hit, how many cars you pass, and things like that.

That all, like, multiplier score to like get like a top score, but it's very arcade-like.

- [Jason] As for I-277, not the gain but the real version, the state is well aware of its deficiencies and has plans in place to address it.

- So we did a feasibility study to basically redo all of 277.

And so what it would've done is reduce the number of exits, consolidate, but also improve those interchanges to where they can handle the volume of traffic.

And that was about a half a billion dollar project.

- [Jason] If that project ever gets done though, it is another issue.

- The project's been submitted through our STI, State Transportation Investment Act, for funding.

It just wasn't selected.

- [Jason] So in the meantime, Mike will keep working on "Exit 3A", a game that's certainly got a lot of people around town talking.

- I've had a lot of phone interviews which are a little easier for me to just kind of take a phone interview and then I think this might be the fourth or fifth video interview and then I have one tomorrow and one on Friday.

I know.

(laughs) - Okay, a fun way to deal with something that I deal with every single day.

What's the next step for him?

- II think that's what really makes it unique is people can relate and that, you know, kinda like comedians.

When people can relate to things, that's where it kind of resonates.

Well, Mike says the game is not yet complete.

He's still toying around with it, wanting to make the surroundings more lifelike and may expand the game to not just Exit 3A focusing there, but maybe the whole 277 loop with the other interchanges or you know, how to get off and on Independence 'cause that one's always tricky as well.

But, you know, anyone that drives that can relate to this video game.

- Oh, my goodness.

I almost wanna play this video game.

It could help me deal with the fun of everyday life.

- Mm-hmm.

- Jason, thanks so much.

- Okay.

- Well, we all know in life it's okay to change course.

Next, you'll meet one local man who did that.

He found a detour that led to his true calling.

"Carolina Impact's", Chris Clark, explores how he's creating instruments for others to follow their own tune one note at a time.

(tool scraping) - [Chris] Brad Robinson is living proof that just like the wood on his workbench, life can be reshaped.

(tool scraping) From the trials of his past, he's forged something extraordinary, embodying reinvention and resilience, turning separate pieces into tools of purpose, beauty and second chances.

- There's magic in his hands.

I'm telling you.

- I think he puts his personality into it.

- [Chris] To understand the size and scope of all this, we need to step back two full decades.

But Brad's life was on a much different path.

Fresh out of the Navy, he was sharp and driven.

On the surface, he had it all together, but wasn't a pattern that was holding him back.

- When I got out, I was a highly functioning alcoholic.

I could get up and go to work every day and do everything fine, but I drank way too much.

- [Chris] Brad made it to his senior year of college before things unraveled, forcing him to drop out.

The breaking point came in a quiet field in Burlington where the weight of his own choices became too much to bear.

And in that moment, he reached out for something greater, something strong enough to help him stand again.

- I hurt so bad and I went to so many places and I tried so many things.

Everything you could think to get rid of an addiction.

I tried it and it didn't work.

And I got on my knees and I prayed and I just, "God, if You'll just let me be sober, I'll do anything You want."

And I passed out on my truck and I came to... And I didn't want to drink.

It was, like, if I were to pick up a thing, a 409 cleaner, said, "Here you go" with the thought of drinking it across your mind.

I mean, it wouldn't even, like, "Oh, it's poison, it'll kill me, right?"

It was the exact same thing.

- [Chris] That was June of 2009 and sobriety gave him clarity, but it left a void.

Determined not to waste his second chance, he threw himself into a search for purpose.

A chance conversation with a friend, set him up on the path to his next career.

- I was in my wood shop on that lathe making a bowl.

Just making a wooden bowl and he was standing there talking to me.

He said, "Man, you've got some really good hand skills and, you know, you've done some anatomy, physiology, maybe you should come see what I do."

I'm, like, "Oh, okay."

And when he first told me, he's, like, "Yeah, build legs for people that are missing a leg."

- [Chris] Crafting prosthetics was a perfect blend of precision and artistry.

With his first creation, Brad felt its true weight, not just reshaping limbs, but transforming lives and futures.

- We went and put it on and she starts walking in the gate bars and she really starts to cry.

And she said, "This is the first leg I've ever been able to walk on that didn't hurt.

Like, you've allowed me to move and be mobile."

And I look over and her parents are crying.

Her brother's crying.

I start crying.

My buddy started...

I'm, like, "Man, I gotta do this the rest of my life."

- [Chris] For 12 years, Brad poured his heart into crafting prosthetics.

When the COVID shut down, closed that chapter, life offered a new twist.

Visiting his friend Bob Kogut's violin workshop, he was captivated by the craft.

Watching the wood curl from a chisel, he thought, "Why not make one myself?"

- It was just the neatest thing I'd ever seen.

Like, you start with a stack of wood and you get done.

You carve it with chisels and knives and scrapers and then when you finish, here's an instrument.

- [Chris] Each Tuesday for the next six weeks, Brad went to Bob's workshop working side by side, Bob guiding him through the art of shaping each delicate piece that brought a violin to life.

- He'd show me, "All right, this how you do a scroll and you this and that."

You know, gimme a bunch of resources.

I'd come home and I'd ruin three or four pieces of wood.

- [Chris] Brad even managed to turn his hobby into quality family time, teaming up with his daughter to make it something they could share together.

- It's really nice.

I really like doing it.

We just turn on some music and we just focus.

- [Chris] Eventually, he had his first violin.

Bob praised the craftsmanship.

His friends marveled at the result.

But Brad wanted more than kind words.

He craved the unvarnished truth.

How else could he improve without real criticism?

And he got it from Glen Alexander at the violin shop.

- He looks at it and he goes, "That's not a violin, that's a piece of folk art."

- It was rough enough to where I said, you know, "Here's like a violin shaped object, but this is not a violin."

- [Chris] It would've been easy to bristle, but Brad didn't flinch.

He took notes, went back to his workshop, he refined his technique transforming the lessons from his first attempt into precision and artistry.

Violins he builds now aren't just good, they're some of the finest in the region.

(gentle violin music) - Drew my bow across it for like half a second.

I was like, "Oh my goodness."

It's got a really nice richness to it that I enjoy and a deepness to it.

- [Chris] Round two at the violin shop was also much different.

- I was completely blown away.

One, they had a certain tone to it that I felt like... Is something that I feel like he's probably gonna get, you know, known for.

So this is a $9,000 instrument.

This was my instrument.

(gentle violin music) So I mean, that's a good sounding violin.

But as far as power and tone, to me it just doesn't compare.

(lively violin music) - [Chris] The plans can be bought, so can the tools and the materials.

So what is it that sets his creations apart and has them selling for thousands of dollars?

- He's excited about what he does and I feel like in order to be good at something, you have to be fired up about it.

- There's something that he's doing that's just different from what normal makers are doing.

- Nobody showed me like the way to do it by the book, so I'm probably screwing three things up, but I know that they're structurally sound and I'm making 'em just like everybody else.

I've had some old timers that play, you know, some of my fiddles and they say, "Whatever you're doing, don't go to school and don't read a book.

For heaven's sake, don't do that."

- [Chris] Brad's journey just like the violins he crafts is a testament to reinvention and resilience.

Through precision, passion, and a touch of artistry, he found harmony in life's second chances.

For "Carolina Impact", I'm Chris Clark.

(gentle violin music) - Thank you so much, Chris.

Brad's talent for crafting violins is pretty incredible but he tells us there's one thing he hasn't mastered just yet anyhow, that's playing them.

He's taking lessons, and before long, we might be lucky enough hear a melody from him on an instrument he made.

Well, as Brad tested a career before finding the perfect fit, so did the owner of the Charlotte business Lip N Pour.

After struggling to find lip products that complimented her skin tone, she decided to just make her own.

"Carolina Impact's" Dara Khaalid and videographer John Branscum show us how she now teaches other women how to do it too.

(graphics whooshing) (people laughing) (upbeat music) - [Dara] How many times do you get the chance to make your own lip products?

- I even seen like candle workshops but I've never seen anything for lip gloss.

- So the shimmers are here in the middle of your table.

- [Dara] Where you actually get to play a part in how your lip gloss or lipstick turns out.

(upbeat music) - [Gracie] I've always done like sip and paints, but I've never did like something similar to this.

- [Dara] Chances are you haven't and you're just picking up whatever you can find off the shelves.

But when you stop by Lip N Pour, it's completely hands-on.

- You're gonna mix all these together.

- [Dara] And completely up to you.

- As I'll split this and I'll add more peach.

- [Dara] When it comes to creating the perfect color, - I like that she did have different options rather you can go pink, you can go brown, or in between.

So it really helped a lot just being on the different spectrum.

- So these are the three shades that I'm using.

- [Dara] And this ability to find the perfect shade was something founder, Diamond Weems, once long for.

- It was always hard to find the perfect color so I would sit at the beauty supply store for hours.

- [Dara] So she decided to do something about it in 2017, taking inspiration from a paint and sip class.

- I was, like, "Listen, "If they can do it, you know, I can do it as well."

So I should sit at my kitchen table for hours, just putting colors together and that's how I came up with Lip N Pour.

Okay, so then you may just wanna do shimmers then.

- [Zaria] Okay.

- [Dara] Now women from all over the country, like Zaria Hobbs who drove from Nashville, Tennessee come to her sessions where they have 20 base colors and they're able to mix them up however they like or keep it simple.

- I'm really much of a natural girl so I wanted to stick to my natural colors 'cause I don't like it to be too much, but something I could wear every day.

- [Dara] For someone like Diamond with a career in cosmetics, you think she was the little girl who grew up loving to play in her sister's makeup, but... - I hated makeup.

I actually hated it with a passion.

- [Dara] Originally from upstate New York, this wasn't a path she ever saw herself on.

In fact, she has a degree in criminal justice.

(gavel thudding) - When I moved to Charlotte, I'm like everybody has on makeup.

And so I end up going to cosmetology school and that's when I got the love for makeup.

- [Dara] This led her to open her first business, Diamond's Beauty Bar in 2015 where she did lashes, makeup, and eyebrows.

She decided to close the doors in 2020 to focus full-time on Lip N Pour.

Diamond says, the startup cost for Lip N Pour was around $15,000 and the biggest struggle was learning how to advertise.

Fortunately, she has friends like Pamela Perry who believed in her along the way.

- She is a go-getter.

When she puts her mind to something, she's gonna do it.

Most people have a plan B.

Her B is, like, the silent P and pneumonia.

It doesn't exist.

And she just jumps out on faith and goes for it.

So it's amazing to see what she's accomplished.

- [Diamond] Come on down.

Check out my baby.

- [Pamela] Very nice.

- [Diamond] Thank you.

- [Dara] Some of diamond's accomplishments include getting this pink van where customers can hop inside to make their own products using the same natural and eco-friendly ingredients they'll find in the shop.

- Most of the time as women, we're everything to everybody else.

So when we come in here, it's, like, "Oh, the girly part of me could come.

I'm gonna put my lipstick on."

(chuckles) You know, and everybody does it.

- [Dara] So whether you're on the truck making custom blends or at the brick and mortar, here's how it works.

For glosses, pick your colors, blend them with a spatula, stir into your oil, and pour into the tube.

For lipstick, the process is mostly the same except the color is mixed into wax poured into a mold and the applicator is attached.

On average every month, there are over 120 products made by customers leaving many with big smiles and eager to capture the moment.

- But when you look good, you feel good.

So when you add that little touch to your face, it's like you wanna be everywhere.

Like, you wanna show your face off, you wanna show that you have confidence.

- [Dara] Which is what matters most to Diamond.

- It's the confidence that I'm bringing back into women and the fact that they're creating something that I know they would continue to wear.

- And as her business has grown, she's had to grow with it.

She now uses a manufacturer for the ingredients she used to make by hand.

Plus she doesn't just host classes anymore.

Due to so many people wanting products, she launched her own line in 2023.

Diamond sells over 1,000 items every month and the price range for the best sellers go from $20 lip liner to $24 lip gloss, which supports her and her 15-year-old son, Liddell, who helps out around the shop.

- I feel really good that I actually created a cosmetic line.

Like I said, from the struggle of my own need of being able to find the perfect color.

- [Dara] And thanks to her resiliency, so many other women can now say they found the perfect color too.

For "Carolina Impact", I'm Dara Khaalid.

- Thank you, Dara.

The next big thing for Lip N Pour is expanding to other cities and states.

Diamond says she has her eyes on Raleigh, then South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.

Finally tonight, if you've had to entertain children or grandchildren, then you may have taken in a show at Children's Theater of Charlotte.

It's currently in its 77th season and this year marks the 20th anniversary at ImaginOn.

Did you know it can take a production team of about 35 people to create the magic you see on stage?

Producer Russ Hunsinger takes us backstage to meet some of those dedicated people.

(graphics whooshing) ♪ Oh, we're all in the middle ♪ - There is an army of people behind the scenes.

(sewing machine rattling) (tools whirring) (paint roller scraping) We get to create these fantastic worlds.

(tool clattering) (equipment whirring) (measuring tool clacking) I'm Tim Parati.

I'm the resident scenic artist here at Children's Theater of Charlotte and sometime designer.

(upbeat music) I have worked on over 200 productions over 20 years.

It's one of the top children's theaters in the country and we have this big, beautiful building that we work in.

We've got two big full theaters.

(artist screams) - Hi, I'm Sara, I am a scenic painter and I also work sometimes in the costume shop as well.

I think every department is very important here in the production.

We have lights, we have sound, we have costumes, we have sets and each department has different subsections.

We have someone who works the mics while someone works the speakers.

Someone who hangs the lights and focus them while someone else runs the board.

(tools whirring) - [Tim] With theater, there are so many different departments going on and then we all have to work together.

- [Artist 1] I don't know, it's square and flat.

- And it all comes together hopefully by opening night and we see the product of all that collaboration.

(tool thudding) - My name is Melissa Mendez and today I'm working in the shop as a carpenter.

One of my favorite things is actually making things outta foam.

(machine whirring) You would be amazed how realistic you can make foam look.

- [Tim] These are color elevations that we get from the designer and that's where the whole process starts with the director and the designers talking about what they wanna do.

The director gives 'em the concept of what they want to achieve with the show.

(machine whirring) - Hi, I am Andrew Gibbon.

I'm the technical director for the Children's Theater of Charlotte.

(upbeat music) Work with the designers for each show to take their concepts and their designs for the shows, and make sure that they fit in with the budget and the timelines that we have to create these shows with.

The most important thing about my job is make sure everybody's staying safe.

Pieces of scenery, moving on and off of stage, plus flying in from above all, the actors are moving around on the stage, so it's this whole sort of coordinated dance.

(electricity buzzing) - My name is Sterling Lett and I'm a props carpenter.

(machine whirring) (lively music) I'm working with the props master to build the furniture that kind of doesn't quite fall into props or scenery.

- [Artist 2] Step on, Peter.

- I'm setting up to build a cable that needs to be jumped on by multiple people.

Hits the steel.

(playful music) - Hi, I'm Elizabeth Swanson.

I am the costume craft specialist.

My favorite part of this job is the problem solving element.

I love the kind of engineering that has to happen.

With a lot of costume pieces, you know, there is a standard way to make a dress.

There's a standard way to make a shirt, but there's not a standard way to make a cartoon head.

- [Artist 2] No way you love that.

- I'm Anna Klinger and I am the costume shop manager.

We build and create everything that the actors wear in a show, everything from hats and sometimes shoes to their garments.

We are in charge of makeup, things like that.

We try to build about 85 to 90%, sometimes 100% of shows.

There's some specific pieces that you may have to hunt online.

And one of our pieces that we did for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" was this poncho that I got off of Etsy that came from Peru.

It's very authentic.

It's super soft and beautiful, but there's no way I could find something locally.

(bell dinging) ♪ Ah, ah, ah ♪ - [Anna] There is an art to what we do.

The amount of specialized skills that I have to have and stay up to date on I think earns me the moniker of artists.

(people cheering and clapping) - [Tim] When something happens like a drop goes up or a big reveal and the audience gasped.

♪ Hey, you gotta gotta go ♪ (people screaming) - [Tim] It's an amazing feeling and especially when you have an audience just full of kids of like school shows and they are just rocking out to whatever's happening on the stage.

It's really a cool feeling.

- [Artist 3] Drop them up.

(audio chiming) (people cheering) - Thank you, Russ.

Children's Theater of Charlotte also has a traveling group.

The resident touring company season typically runs from October to May serving around 58,000 children throughout the Southeast.

Sounds pretty cool to me.

Well, we'd love to hear about your cool story ideas.

Please email us the details at stories@wtvi.org.

That's all the time we have tonight.

But before we go, we'd like to thank the students from Career Academy and Technical School and local area homeschoolers for joining us in our studio audience this evening.

We always love having guests and thank you for sharing your time with us too.

We always appreciate it and we look forward to seeing you back here again next time.

Good night, my friends.

(graphics whooshing) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.