Introducing In the Arena

In July, WTVP will premiere a brand-new show: In the Arena. We sat down with Doug Cruitt, the show’s host and Distillery Lab’s Executive Director, to learn more about it. 

Q: Tell us about In the Arena. What can audiences expect? 

A: This show tells the story behind the startup and the human behind the headlines. A lot of the stories we hear are the extremes—success or failure—and what gets lost is the everyday work. But In the Arena shows the humanization of entrepreneurship and what it really takes to go from idea to action to revenue to scaling up. 

Q: Where does the name come from? 

A: It comes from one of my favorite Teddy Roosevelt quotes. It’s not specific to startups but as an entrepreneur myself, it really spoke to me. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood…who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly….” 

Q: What excites you most about In the Arena? 

A: Selfishly, I’m most excited about learning more stories! My favorite part of my job in coaching and mentoring founders is asking them, “why are you building this company?” The vast majority of the time, the answer relates to a personal story.  

Q: What’s the end goal? 

A: The end goal is to tell as many stories as possible, bring more awareness to our local innovation ecosystem and inspire the next generation of founders. Even if it’s one ten-year-old kid who’s watching PBS with their dad and sees something that sparks the thought, “I could do that,” that’s what it’s about at the end of the day.  

Q: Why should people watch it? 

A: People should watch because they don’t know the story behind the startup. We ask founders questions like, “What would your high school teacher say about you? What were you doing in middle school?” You won’t see these answers on the About Us page of their website, but you will find it on In the Arena. 

Q: Who should watch it? 

A: It’s for the people who are actively in the arena, building a company, wherever they are in the process. And it’s for the people who are consumers of these brands. It’s for investors. It’s going to be intense conversations, not just about business but about mental health and resilience, and hopefully society as a whole will find value in that.  

Q: What are you hoping audiences will come away with? 

A: That no matter your background, education, neighborhood—none of that matters as much as you think. Anyone can become an entrepreneur if they have the desire. 

In the Arena premieres in July 2026 on WTVP.