The HERE.together Podcast

We’re so excited to share talk with Daniel Sih about some of the big problems facing community living and some of the solutions he’s come up with.

Daniel Sih is the co-founder of Spacemakers, a productivity consulting group for busy leaders. After experiencing physical symptoms that were the result of working in the “always on” culture of internet connectivity, Daniel became passionate about helping people make space in their world for the things that really matter - like family, reflection, rest, and recharge.

We’ll talk a bit with Daniel about his book, Space Maker: How To Unplug, Unwind, And Think Clearly In The Digital Age. It contains a whole new way to think about how we spend our time AND some concrete suggestions about how to reclaim some space in our lives through both ambitious and simple changes.

In addition to carving out more personal space for peace of mind, Daniel recognized that he needed to push back at the atomization and isolation in our culture and actively create a sustaining community for himself and his family. Over a decade ago, he bought land and built two adjoining houses with another professional couple in Tasmania, Australia.

This episode might seem like a bit of a diversion…our guests this time aren’t necessarily living in co-housing but they are both deeply immersed in creating a rich, sustainable community in Santa Barbara, CA.

Jill Cloutier is the Public Relations Director of an environmental education and arts nonprofit called Explore Ecology (EE for short). EE works with over 30,000 children a year with a focus on Watershed Education, School Gardens, Waste Reduction, and Creative Exploration. Their work inspires children to engage with the natural world, think critically, and experience the value of environmental stewardship.

Jill is a podcast producer, video-maker and writer. Her projects focus on plants and permaculture. Permaculture is a really important concept that contributes to biological, agricultural, and household sustainability and we’re really excited for Jill to help us understand that term and how we can practice it at small and medium scales to improve our lives and impacts.

Rachel Palmer is the Art Coordinator for EE and is in charge of the Art from Scrap Creative Re-use Store and Gallery and the associated arts programs.

Rachel is a fiber and print artist, educator, and self-proclaimed podcast fanatic. She is the Story Editor for Copper & Heat, the James Beard Award-winning podcast exploring the unspoken rules and traditions of the kitchen.

I’m all about the upcycle and Charles is all about the permaculture, so I can’t wait to see where this conversation goes and find out what we can learn today.

Welcome, Rachel and Jill! Thank you so much for being here with us today!

This episode we’re excited to talk with someone who is leveraging the inexorable power of capitalism to actually make positive change.

Dr. Dionne Payn is the Founder and CEO of High Impact Property Investments. Dionne specializes in raising capital for organizations that create ethical property developments in Australia and the USA. Dionne is a speaker, author and property coach who loves creating win-win outcomes for as many people as possible. Her goals include:

Dionne has a PhD in Natural Products Chemistry, has project managed a number of property developments in Australia and has helped over 30 investors to achieve double digit returns through property. These property projects range from small one into two subdivisions up to larger, sustainable, co-living projects.

In this interview, Dionne talks about how she created abundance for her family while creating win/win/win solutions for investors, housing seekers and the community AND while sticking to a set of lofty values. 

This episode we’re excited to bring you a conversation with someone who seems able to cultivate a 10,000 foot view of the historical, social, cultural, and technical facets of climate change and sustainability.  David Johnson, has been teaching at Stanford Law School since 2008, while doing legal work for tech and biotech firms in Silicon Valley. His recent work on sustainability, though, explores the application of design thinking to the big problems we face today, whether it’s micro plastics in the oceans, species loss, or Southwestern drought.

Listen all the way to the end to hear David give is some free consulting about a big community project that Kelly and I are contemplating as out legacy work. 

Hello, H.tties. In Season 3 of the HERE.together podcast we’re obsessed with the the big question - [fanfare] Can we live together sustainably? And if so, HOW?

Over the next year we’re gonna curate conversations with the people who are living in ecovillages, designing new cities, inventing new (or unearthing old) household tech, and who are at the forefront of sustainability science to get answers for ourselves and for you.

That’s why we’re really excited to interview Sara Zellner early in the season. Sara has been helping organizations AND families answer the big question.

She is an entrepreneur on a mission to help individuals and businesses align their priorities with their values to create positive change. (YOu know we are suckers for values alignment!) She is the founder and owner of Saz Healthy Living, which provides sustainable living, health, and wellness coaching, and is the principal CEO of Lynz Consulting LLC, which specializes in corporate responsibility; environmental, social, and governance (ESG); and sustainability consulting. PhD-trained, Sara uses her research and coaching skills to delve into her clients’ vexing issues and assist them in reaching their goals.

Hello H.tties! Our pod-a-versery is coming up next week. We’re finishing our second full year of podcasting!

In recognition of that achievement AND all the support you gorgeous h.tties have given us, we’re re-releasing this early (kind of major) episode with Claire Louge, that we recorded back in February 2020 before the world changed.

This episode is our most downloaded ever… and for good reason. Claire is brilliant, inspiring, and tells important stories about her personal growth and what drives her to be such an advocate for youth and community.

Like the other special re-releases we’ve done recently … this interview with Claire is another part of the meta story of how the HERE.together podcast came to be what it is today.

You see, at the time of this original interview, Claire had just been promoted to Executive Director of a state-wide non-profit and I thought we’d be talking about kinda standard podcast interview fare about how she’d been so successful at such a young age. She’d pitch her programs, encourage people to get involved and we’d have a decent episode.

Instead, the conversation veered quickly into much more important, more fraught territory that included stories about self-image, eating disorders, fear, courage, and choosing to live large. Yes, we also talked about preventing child abuse and live action role-playing.

This kind of radical honesty, fierce connection, and general badassery became the touchstone for us in producing this podcast. We knew we couldn’t make a regular, rah-rah business or thin-veneered community podcast… we knew we were in this for the vulnerability, the deep humanity, the learning, and, frankly, the big love that we’ve experienced over and over with the parade of incredible guests we’ve been so fortunate to share conversations with.

And that’s the knowing we’ve followed ever since. Thank you for following along.

Hello H.tties! We are re-releasing an episode with Tony Himes that we recorded way back in November 2019.

Tony is a Gestalt therapist and founder of the Arizona Gestalt Institute. Tony works with youth, adults and couples to help them find more ease and meaning in their lives. This episode is a worthwhile re-issue for several reasons. One, we believe that Tony’s message of contact and interpersonal connection is a really important one in the era of Covid separation and alienation. And, two, this early episode became a bit of a model or template for what the podcast would become. We opened ourselves up to Tony as he led us - on air as it were - through a gestalt exercise that caused us to tear up and have some deep feels. That shared vulnerability and learning became the special sauce for this whole project.

Tony completed his Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy in 1992 from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Tony is currently an adjunct faculty member at Prescott College and he was an Associate Faculty member at the Gestalt Institute of Phoenix. Tony has been in private practice as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Prescott, AZ for the past 20 years. For 7 years Tony and his wife provided therapeutic foster care to teenage boys as a support to avoid incarceration.

This week on the HERE.together Podcast we are releasing, in full, another of the episodes of the Remaking Manhood Podcast which I co-host and co-produce with Mark Greene. We schedule these cross-promoted episodes in part to give you access to content that we believe will inspire and inform you and this interview with Mark Winkler definitely meets that purpose.  This content re-purposing strategy also, frankly, saves a little energy for other projects like planting the fall garden and writing more blog posts about leadership and healthy masculinity.

I’m really proud of this RM episode because, we get interview an expert in drawing men and boys into healthy masculinity and into supportive relationships. Mark Winkler, co-founded Manhood Camp, a non-profit working with under-served youth and families in the Los Angeles region. And works with adult men through his fatherhood circles and through the FATHERHOOD CIRCLE BLOG. I think you’ll find Mark’s voice to be an important and compelling one… his approach mixes firm accountability with love and compassion.

Hello H.tties! We are re-releasing an episode with Adam Vellturo that we recorded way back in December 2019.

That episode was one of our most popular -  it was the first one to hit triple digit downloads. In it, Adam helps us  explore and understand nature therapy, deep ecology, the nature of the soul, and whether or not we're going to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

You know, fluffy stuff like that.

That’s how we roll on the HTP… inspiring, hopeful conversations with smart guests who can tackle the big topics.

Our pod-a-versery is coming up in a less than a month. We’re finishing our second full year of podcasting!

And in recognition of that achievement AND all the support you h.tties have given us, we’re re-releasing this early episode. It’s a meaningful one to us and holds powerful, lovely memories.

In this episode, listen for Adam's prescription for easy soul work and a recitation of a Walt Whitman poem that are both perfect for the cooler, clearer nights ahead.

Wouldn’t it be ideal if we could take our full, relaxed, connected and authentic selves everywhere, including to work? Wouldn’t it be better if leaders of all kinds could lead from a place of mindfulness, self-awareness, and peaceful power? If Consciousness and Corporateness coexisted wouldn’t they create something new and revolutionary? 

Guest Bio:
Our guest today is Neil Seligman.  He was a trial lawyer - or Barrister -  in England for 8 years, but his interest in Consciousness and meditation pre-dated his law career. It wasn’t until he ditched the day job and spent several years exploring his inner and outer worlds that he saw how to connect mindfulness practice with corporate life and productivity.

Now Neil trains and coaches professionals in a wide variety of “conscious skills,” and speaks at prestigious corporate events and seminars around the world, from Europe to America, Asia, and Australia. Having immersed himself in  mindfulness since his teens, Neil combines his authentic passion for the practice with unrivalled professional expertise in his pioneering business, Conscious Corporate Consultancies. His insight and compelling enthusiasm leave his audiences inspired, energized and armed with practical ways to reach their highest potential.

We are so pleased to bring you our conversation with the calm, grounded, and utterly delightful Neil Seligman.  If you don’t relate to the corporate angle, don’t worry - there is a ton in our talk that relates to personal growth and using mindfulness to make pretty much everything more joyful and functional. 

"Let's talk about sex, baby
Let's talk about you and me"

If you’re our generation, you probably danced to Salt ‘n’ Pepa at a teen club or when you sneaked into a bar with a fake ID.  It was all super-hot back then, but how about now?  Have you lost your mojo?  Is sex, intimacy, and connection on the back burner or worse, a distant memory?  Well, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, today’s guest makes shared pleasure, a richer relationship, and a fuller life seem not just possible, but totally worth the effort. 

We’re your hosts Charles Matheus and Kelly Roberge.  We are insatiably interested in the intersection of personal growth, healthy relationships, and vibrant communities.

Welcome to the HERE.together Podcast where we go deeper than the typical podcast on topics that really matter. We ask questions no one else asks, we share true stories about ourselves that few other hosts tell, and we walk into the material we cover with vulnerability and honesty. 

Guest Bio:
Our guest this episode is Susan Bratton, intimacy expert to millions. She teaches people how to achieve ageless passion and unlock the secrets to life-long vitality.   She is the best-selling author and publisher of 34 books and programs including “Sexual Soulmates'' and “Relationship Magic.”

She is co-founder and CEO of two corporations: Personal Life Media, Inc., a publisher of heart-connected lovemaking techniques and bedroom communication skills and The20, LLC., a manufacturer of organic and botanical supplements that enhance sexual vitality. 

A best-selling author and publisher of 34 books and programs including Sexual Soulmates, Relationship Magic, Revive Her Drive, Ravish Him, Steamy Sex Ed™, The Passion Patch, Hormone Balancing, and Hot To Trot. 

Susan has been featured in the New York Times and on CNBC and the TODAY show as well as frequent appearances on ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC.


Susan’s core expertise lies in the intersection between passionate lovemaking techniques and bedroom communication skills. She has studied extensively what makes intimacy truly passionate, surrendered, and connected, and she boils those skills down to simple practices anyone can use to achieve profoundly pleasurable results.

What's Different About This Episode: 
We normally get to know our guests on a pretty deep level, but this week, Susan Bratton really got to know us.  We open up about our own sexual histories and our current sex-life (or lack thereof).  We show up as fully transparent and vulnerable, as always, as Susan helps us work through our fears, hesitations, and desires so that we can re-invest our relationship with closeness, caring, and communion.  
So keep listening for an honest, revealing, healing conversation about how to make sex great at any age.

How do you keep going through the darkest nights of the soul? How do you take the worst things that happened to you and turn them into fuel for good?  How do you shift from victim to victor?  ​

Guest Bio:
Fatima Oliver is devoted to helping others become their best selves.  She is a survivor of the kinds of trauma, abuse, and personal tragedy that would break most people, but she found a way to keep going, heal, and thrive. Now she wants to reach back and help others find their way out.  
Fatima has an MBA and the financial knowledge and skills to go with it.  She’s written a memoir sharing her story titled, "The Prescription is in the Dirt."  If that’s not enough interesting bio to intrigue you, she also toured as a backup singer with the Righteous Brothers for 4 years.  

Listen to the whole episode for a deeply meaningful conversation about surviving and thriving, finding our voices, and paying it forward with the multi-talented badass boss, Fatima Oliver.

This week on the HERE.together Podcast - in belated recognition of Father’s Day - we are releasing, in full, another of the episodes of the Remaking Manhood Podcast which I co-host and co-produce with Mark Greene. In this episode, we interview Kevin Shafer,  an associate professor of Sociology at Brigham Young University, who is conducting ongoing research around the surprising impact of engaged fathers and how that engagement later shows up in the adult lives of their sons. Hint: It's really good news for gender equity.

In this episode, Kevin explains his research and connects it to both his own fathering and fatherhood.  Despite how complex the parent child relationship is, Kevin is able to provide some really basic and actionable tips for how to raise kids who can grow up authentically, and resist the boxes that domination culture wants to shove them into.

At the end of this episode, Mark and I tell some stories about our own connections to our dad’s and what kind of “protective factors” they gave us.

I hope you get a lot out of this conversation. We’d love to hear from you about your understanding of engaged fatherhood. Who helped you become who you are? What hopes do you have for fathers and children today? What can we do as a culture and a nation to support engaged parenting?

If you could time-travel, what band would you go back and befriend right before they made it BIG??  

Well, we have yet to crack time-travel, but the good news is we all get to be up-close friendly-fans of our guests today and after the rest of the world hears their new single, we’ll be able to say we knew them when.  

Guest Bios:
If you’ve been a HERE.together listener for a while, you already know Candace Devine and Drew Hall, local music powerhouses and all-around good eggs.  They have ridiculous musical credentials individually, and together they, along with Johan Glidden, have formed a Supergroup called Ponderosa Grove, that is not only blending amazing local talent into a band that is destined for greatness, but they are building an equally powerful arts culture here in Prescott that embraces excellence, collaboration, and community.

For those of you who don’t already know, Candace has been a professional singer and songwriter since her early 20s, performing with or opening for acts like  Christina Aguilera, Ringo Starr, Styx, the Four Tops and many others. She is a prolific songwriter and collaborator and received a Grammy nomination for her work with jazz saxophonist,  Mindi Abair. Candace also hosts the Creative Convergence Podcast that features conversations with world-class artists, musicians, and other creatives.

Drew Hall is a former banker who defied the 9-5 life at his earliest opportunity, going on to be in every kind of band, teach guitar to young and old musicians alike, and to curate exceptional music shows here in Prescott.  In pre-Covid times, Drew could be spotted playing with the Cheektones, Summa Totius, THiS Trio with Slim Gamble of Lady Antebellum fame, et cetera!

Stay tuned for a laughter-filled AND deeply insightful conversation about the creative process, the art of leadership, and the positive role of music in bridging differences. You’ll be treated to not one, but 2 songs from their forthcoming album and Charles treats us to a terrible  metaphor about how collaboration is like spiders and centipedes.

For generations, our culture has taught us a narrow and limiting set of rules for how to be a man. The end result? Epidemic levels of isolation for boys and men and embedded repression and violence for the vast majority of women and children. As a boy and young man, I learned that same set of rules and I adopted that stoic, suppressed, and sometimes emotionally violent version of manhood. It took me years to find a way back to the real authentic version of myself that is open, loving, curious, vulnerable, bold, and creative.

What if there were ways… paths… programs… groups… a movement, that helped men break out of the Man Box, find their authentic selves, and become happier, less destructive, and more constructive? This episode is about just those paths, those groups and that movementt.

Who cares about big business when you’re just trying to get your small business off the ground?  What do CEOs have to do with running a successful family? If you just re-watched Wall Street or read the news and need to feel hopeful about business and the world, this is the episode for you.   Welcome to Part IV of our Spiritual Warrior series.
​
Guest Bio:
Angel Ribo is a contender for the most energized, positive guest award.  We are so excited to introduce you to this glowing, powerful man who has been coach and confidante to hundreds of corporate officers around the world, [we’re talking 15 hundred CEOs in 33 countries] who brings heart and spirit into the business world, who  focuses on the quality of relationships at all levels, in order to help his clients improve not just their bottom line, but their impact.  

And HIS impact doesn’t stop there.  Angel is bringing his business acumen to the service of underprivileged kids in Latin America, teaching and mentoring them to become entrepreneurs using the resources they have on hand.  So far he’s worked with over a thousand young people and you’ll hear that compelling, fascinating story in part II of this episode. Stay all the way until the end, as well, though, to get this weeks simple but really deeply challenging personal science assignment.

Is your ego running your show?  Are you making choices guided by fear?  What would it be like to put your purpose and soul in charge?  How would your life be different if you did?

Spoiler alert: you’d have more freedom, more real power, and you’d be able to join with others to create the sustainable world we need...

It’s all hands on DECK time.

Guest Bio:

Our guest this week is Christian de la Huerta, a spiritual teacher, personal transformation coach, and leading voice in the soulful breathwork community. Not only is Christian one of the warmest, loveliest humans we’ve had the privilege to speak with so far, he is a kindred spirit who challenged us to think bigger.  Sooo much bigger.

When there isn’t a pandemic on, Christian travels the world, leading inspiring and transformational retreats and treks that combine psychological and spiritual teachings with lasting and life-changing effects.  He’s recently published the book, Awakening the Soul of Power, [described by multiple Grammy Award–winner Gloria Estefan as “a balm for the soul of anyone searching for truth and answers to life’s difficult questions.”]

Christian talks with us about the Hero’s Journey, giving our egos the right job, why connecting with our personal power is a good thing, and presents us with multiple paths to that authentic power.

Stick around for an enriching conversation that takes us - and you - from the metaphorical stadium out into the cosmos.  It’s full of practical ideas for real life and big, inspiring visions that definitely left us feeling well-fed, body and soul.

Fair warning… we start the interview with about a four-minute breathing exercise/guided meditation. We hope everyone listening will breathe along with us. If you’re driving or operating equipment right now, or doing something else that requires your attention, perhaps return to this episode when you can do so safely and comfortably.

If you want to try out some ideas and actions to push your average happiness up to 88%, we have the conversation for you. 
Our guest this week is Dr. Marissa Pei.  She’s been through the shit and she’s here to tell you that you CAN be happy - at least 88% of the time.  
Dr. Marissa, as we call her, or the Asian Oprah as Dr. Bernard Beckwith of Secret fame called her - to Oprah’s face - has a Ph.D in organizational psychology.  Dr. Marissa literally wrote the book on Organization Development & Consulting with Dr. Fred Massarik and her consulting work has helped hundreds of Fortune 500 companies become more inclusive and successful. Now her focus is on “splattering more hope and happiness through speaking, writing, and promoting a variety of Life Balance Topics including How to be Happy 88 percent of the Time. Dr. Marissa’s popular syndicated talk radio show “Take My Advice, I’m Not Using It” is broadcast nationwide on I Heart Radio AND has reached well over ½ a million downloads on ITunes and YouTube. 
Dr. Marissa wrote the bestselling book, 8 Ways to Happiness from Wherever You Are, as well as “Mommy, What Are Feelings?” an interactive children’s book illustrated by her daughters, which has been recognized for helping autistic children express their feelings. 
Dr. Marissa is clearly a woman of “plugged in” intelligence. She zeroed in on Charles’s issues right from the start and put him through an unscheduled mini session that was both helpful and surprising.
Because we can’t not, we also venture beyond the personal growth arena to talk about and push back against the wave of anti-Asian violence we’ve been seeing in the US. Dr. Marissa’s early life was marked by intolerance and she has some choice words for and key ideas about the racism bubbling up in our communities. 

So listen on to get energized, inspired, empowered and 88% happy with the fabulous Dr. Marissa Pei.

For generations, our culture has taught us a narrow and limiting set of rules for how to be a man. The end result? Epidemic levels of isolation for boys and men and embedded repression and violence for the vast majority of women and children. I learned that same set of rules and I adopted that stoic, suppressed, and sometime emotionally violent version of manhood. it took me years to find a way back to the real authentic version of myself that is open, loving, curious, vulnerable, bold, and creative.

What if it were easier for boys to grow up whole and for men to break the shackles of dominance based masculinity?

I (Charles) spent most of my life, struggling to balance my desire for equality, authenticity, joy, nonviolence and connection with my desire to fit in with my gender. It took years to find them, but it turns out there are men who are choosing a kind of masculinity that encompass real human values. Thousands of men have broken out of the man box and its rigid repressed dog eat dog version of masculinity. They - we - are choosing a masculinity of connection, compassion, and collaboration. In return we have healthier relationships, and more meaningful, lasting lives. And now there’s a new podcast dedicated to interviewing some of those men and encouraging others to join them: Remaking Manhood, The Healthy Masculinity Podcast.

This week on the HERE.together Podcast we are releasing, in full, the first episode of the Remaking Manhood Podcast which I co-host and co-produce with Mark Greene. In this episode, both Mark and I share old stories of shame and (somewhat delayed) redemption. Mark explains with powerful clarity the system that keeps most men in the Manbox and then I lay out the three different ways men can start their own path toward authentic, healthy manhood. I really hope you find it inspiring and I hope you share it with the men and young men in your life.

When was the last time you asked a family member for the secrets to their successful relationship?  Do you talk about what makes a happy marriage with your friends over dinner?  If you don’t have these conversations and access to the wisdom of people who have “figured it out,” then we have the resource for you.  It’s Relationship Month here at HERE.together and our guest has 1000 years of relationship wisdom cued up for YOU.

Guest Bio:

Our guest this week is Claire Vande Polder, a journalist and producer - Claire Vande Polder has spent a career in the nonfiction world as a television producer and writer. She began at National Geographic Television in Washington, DC.

After traveling the world, she joined the Discovery Health Channel as an executive producer. Since then she has worked independently with a variety of networks and production companies including TLC, Investigation Discovery, Smithsonian Channel, HGTV, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, and others. She has a B.A. in English from Calvin College and an M.A. in 19 th Century English and American Literature from King’s College London.

Claire probably produced or wrote projects you’ve seen!!  So cool.

What would your relationship look like if you could call it Exceptional?  Are you ok with pretty good?  What would you change, if you could?  How would the world be different if your relationship were exceptional?

Guest Bio:

It’s relationship month at HERE.together. This episode, we are talking with a young couple who have done a ton of homework on their relationship - literally trying a bunch of different ways to be in a love relationship - and over time and with a lot of experimenting, they have found gold.  Now they are prepared to share that gold with us and with you.

Natasha Koo and Yachym Jerie have been together for a decade and married for 6 of those years.  They knew there was something special between them early on and when they found themselves living thousands of miles apart, instead of breaking up or being miserable without each other, they tried an open relationship.  Later on they tried a few other “non-traditional” formats.  But what really made things work for them was radical honesty and vulnerability.  It worked so well that they now have a business helping other couples go from good to great, or should we say, exceptional.

They join us all the way from Malaysia and we have what is one of the most moving and profound conversations of this podcast.  Their framework matches our perfectly - get our own personal shit together so we can create strong, resilient partnerships that let us make a positive impact in our communities and the world.

This podcast seems to all about change and growth. But we’re guessing you listeners have a lot of questions about this focus. “Do we really have to change?”  “Why all this pressure to grow and get better?”  “Why does Charles book the kinds of guests he does; all these coaches and inspiring thinkers?” “Why do the hosts keep promoting this ‘Weekly Science’ activity?” “What’s this all about?”

In this episode, we try to answer some of those questions. We talk this episode about the nature of change, being human, and our own ambivalent attitude toward change and personal growth.

We even call up one of our previous guests and super fans to get his reaction to some of the recent podcast episodes and learn what it’s like for him to listen to the pod.

Over the course of the conversation, we are able to put the drive for personal growth into a larger more compelling, and more connected context. And we end with some ideas about how we can approach personal evolution in a way that can be easier and more joyful. And, yes, we propose another “Weekly Science” about it!

So, if you want to know more about the “Why’s” of personal growth, listen to this episode!

Our intrepid guest this episode is 13-year-old Georgia Clews who is halfway through her long trail hike adventure with her mom, Charlotte Clews. If Georgia (known by her trail name, Marmot), gets all the way to the Utah border under her own steam, she will likely be the youngest person to hike the Arizona Trail. At the same time, Marmot is taking distance schooling to extremes as she logs into her lessons every time she can get cell service. Wow!

Some of you may be asking, what kind of parent would drag their tween from Maine to Arizona and make her endure cactus spines, big hairy spiders, and snow storms? Well Charlotte (known on the trial as Dread Pirate) is the perfect person to be accompanying her daughter on a thru-hike of epic proportion. 

Dread Pirate has completed thru-hikes on all the major continent-spanning trails in the US:

Charlotte has had more than her fair share of adventures and epics and can handle almost any trail emergency. Charlotte is also a trained and educated naturalist, a wilderness first responder, and a licensed Maine guide. 

The real reason she’s perfect for this adventure, though, is that she believes in the power, autonomy, creativity and character of kids. She doesn’t see her role as a parent as one who hovers over a child, preventing or cleaning up mistakes… She knows they deserve every chance to fail, excel, learn, and experience life.

Welcome to the Un-episode… the Un-podcast… the Un-interview… in which your dedicated hosts get the table flipped on them by their crafty guest, end up answering his (deeply personal) questions, and totally love it.

It all started so innocently… we were just sharing our favorite podcasts during the break!

Well… however it started… it went somewhere else…we thought about trying to regain control of the interview and to get back to asking our questions, but Jeff’s questions were much more interesting and inspiring than the ones we had mapped out on our whiteboard. And really, where Jeff was taking the conversation was straight to one of our favorite places; his questions are about the skills and attitudes that build healthy relationships.

And we believe, you, our audience are here for exactly this kind of conversation… not just how entrepreneurs can be better at business and making money, but how we can all be better partners, parents… people.

Guest Bio:

A quick re-introduction to Jeff if you didn’t listen ( YET!) to episode 68.

Jeff Morrill started Planet Subaru in Boston years ago and brought with him a culture of service, inclusion, mentorship, kindness, and sustainability that extends to employees and customers alike. 

Jeff is now in a new season of life, out of the direct scrum of running the business. Now he seeks to mentor others in leadership and promote the ethical business practices that he says made his bottom line all the better. He wrote a book about his experience and recommendations called Profit Wise - How to Make More Money by Doing the Right Thing, which we highly recommend.

Part of this new season for Jeff seems to include some deep self reflection and a powerful curiosity about what makes relationships work.

Listen as we drop into a very candid conversation about the big questions in life… what are you doing? What brings you meaning? How do we relate to others? How can we uncover the flaws in our relationships and address them?

How do you think of successful businessmen?  Selfish and greedy or generous and thoughtful?  I’m guessing there have always been both kinds, but overall, I’ve tended to think about people with a LOT of money in less than charitable terms. Pun intended.  

What if I told you about someone who has generated $100Million in annual business revenues, and not only gives generously, but wants others to be able to do what he’s done?  We were privileged to talk with a man who made his fortune and realized that money and achievement alone didn’t bring him satisfaction.  Come with us to find out what does. 

Guest Bio:
Jeff Morrill started Planet Subaru in Boston years ago with his brother and brought with him into his business life, the ideas of win-win, superior service, and a culture of inclusion, mentorship, kindness, and sustainability that extends to employees and customers alike. At Planet Subaru, Jeff knows that those values must come with concrete steps… they must be implemented to be real and to mean anything. So Jeff’s team decided to power the whole facility with solar panels. They hired sales people from diverse backgrounds, who other dealerships wouldn’t hire. And they created an apprenticeship program to train women for higher-paying service jobs. 

Now in a new season of life, Jeff seeks to mentor others in leadership and promote the ethical business practices that he says made his bottom line all the better.  Jeff wrote the book Profit Wise - How to Make More Money by Doing the Right Thing to share what he learned. The book teaches 10 principles for running a successful business that is also ethical and sustainable. See the list of principles in the Show Notes on the episode webpage.

Instead of the shady, ruthless, or corrupt approaches to business that we’ve seen unfold all too often, stay tuned to hear how businesses… maybe even the one you run… really can, as Jeff says, “take the high road to raise your bottom line.”

In times of division and discord like we’ve been experiencing, how do we come back together?  How do we heal our communities and move forward into healthier ways of living together?  How do we do justice and grow the economy?

Opposing viewpoints and civil strife have always been with us, even in times of relative calm.  Not all voices have been heard or represented and our communities reflect this.  It’s easy to despair.  But, working diligently, for over 50 years, Arizona Town Hall has sought to give all voices an equal chance to speak and contribute.  AzTH has facilitated 100s of conversations in communities across our state, and included all the voices, so that we can work toward the kind of solutions that make things better for everyone.

Our guest this week is Tara Jackson. Tara has served as president of Arizona Town Hall since July of 2006. Az town Hall exists to bring diverse and often opposing parties together to solve the most complex and challenging issues facing the state. Tara works with Arizona’s public universities, the media, elected leaders and other stakeholders to determine the best approach for addressing tough conversations.

How long do you have to be in business before you start thinking about your legacy, before you start giving back and building a better future for others? How big is big enough to help the community?

State Forty-Eight is an apparel company run by people who realized early on that they wanted more than just to get ahead in business.  Their vision of success included being an active part of solutions for people in the state they champion.  After only 7 Years in business, they started a foundation to support budding entrepreneurs and serve youth and activate the community in volunteerism and local pride.  State Forty-eight engaged in charitable partnerships nearly from the beginning, but saw that they could do even more with their own non-profit foundation.  Listen to this episode to learn how this group of creative entrepreneurs used their hearts and their smarts to create what will surely be a major force for good in Arizona.

Although this is a story about a specific Arizona company and foundation, we hope listeners in other areas get some inspiration to look for - or create - similar businesses that count community and philanthropy as part of their bottom lines.

Why should you make a bucket list?  Our guest, The Bucket List Guy, Travis Bell, would suggest that making and realizing your own true list of desires - no matter how small or how odd, will bring energy and purpose flooding into your life.

Do we have to say what a bucket list is?  I assume most people know, but just in case you don’t, it’s a list of things you need to do before you die so you can kick the bucket without regret.

Travis Bell had early success in business, growing his fitness coaching company into an enterprise with 10s of thousands of clients across Australia. Then his business and life hit some bumps, but Travis was determined to rise above the disappointment and depression. He “became his own experiment” and started signing up for workshops, retreats and empowering experiences. After a few years of this self-healing work, he realized he had discovered something he could offer others.

Trav and his Bucket List team now work with thousands of people a year, using the Bucket List concept as a tool to get at the truth of what people really want and what we all can achieve when we get out of our own way. He just published a book called The Bucket List Blueprint that is a manifesto and instructional guide for living a more fulfilling life.

If you need to get your groove back, come with us on this journey with Travis Bell to spark the connections of our own creativity and power using the Bucket List tool.  We get pretty excited to realize and remember some of the badass things we’ve already done and we feel the energy rise up to help fuel the ride to our next stop.

Happy and consequential Martin Luther King/Civil Rights Day to you. After the 2020 we had, I can’t think of an MLK day more poised between worlds than this one. So much of the racism and white supremacy that had long been conveniently ignorable to us white folks finally became completely un-ignorable. Thank god!

Today feels like a day to mourn all the losses and pain and separation that became inescapable to almost all of us. AND it feels like a day to hope for much, much better times ahead. For all Americans.

In honor of the day we were going to re-release the HERE.together episode we recorded right after the murder of George Floyd. In that episode from May, Kelly and I struggled with coming to terms with our own ingrained racism, our new understanding of anti-racist thought and action, and called on our whole community to do the hard work of acknowledging, grieving and moving forward - individually and together. Seemed like an appropriate convo to re-visit.

But our friend, pod guest and super H.ttie Laura Fitton reminded us this morning that today is a day for white folks to pass the mic and make way for the voices of people of color. Today cannot just be a day about white folks grappling with racism or anything that looks like virtue signaling.

If you think publicists are just for celebs and big business, you haven’t met today’s guest.  In the middle of a 20-year campaign to free an innocent man from death row, she woke up to the value of using media for causes like justice and civil rights.  She also realized she was really good at it, as you’ll hear, and went on to make a career of cultivating media exposure for her diverse client list.

Tracy Lamourie is the Founder and Managing Director of Lamourie Media and the author of the upcoming book GET REPPED - Build Your Brand With Effective Public and Media Relations. In addition to helping her clients succeed in their chosen fields and endeavors, Tracy has used her considerable PR skills to advocate for human rights, anti racism, and criminal justice reform. Tracy has won all sorts of awards for her work and thought leadership and today she’s here to share some of what she’s learned.

She’s also Canadian, so this marks our first international podcast.

I can’t even imagine cooking a moose - why would I want to do that?  If that’s what you’re thinking, don’t worry, today’s episode is all about writing and being human and the ongoing struggle to live in community.  A moose does get cooked in our guest Kate Christensen’s second memoir of the same name, but we will save that for you to discover on your own.

Guest Bio:

Kate Christensen is an award-winning author of 7 novels and 2 memoirs that have a lot to do with the glory of food, coping with being human, finding community, and the tenuous beauty of life.  Her characters, including the character of herself in the memoirs, are broken and beautiful, they are finding their way home to themselves and uncovering their places in this world.  They are messy and real and we love them.

We talk with Kate about the writer’s life, about growing up in our shared home town of Jerome, Arizona, about the difference between NYC and rural Maine/NH.

This conversation is full of laughter and discovery. It also contains references to the physical abuse Kate witnessed growing up and the ongoing sexual assault she suffered as a minor. We don’t go into the details but we wanted you to know in case it’s not healthy for you to hear those kinds of stories. We are grateful to Kate for her vulnerability and openness… we think these kinds of stories are a way forward and out of the dark for us all.

Before we go any further…

We want to let you know that you get to choose which version of this podcast to listen to. This version is the highly edited version that leaves out 25 minutes of Kate’s recollections of her high school life and Charles’s very different version of Kate’s high school life. Also in the extended version are Kelly’s passionate thoughts about community and the story of Dingo the Dog. For those of you who want the longer, fuller, more complete version, you can find it right now as the episode How to Cook a BIG Moose.

What would you change if you had your very own coach?  Someone who would tell you honestly and clearly how to meet your goals? What would you work on?  Your business?  Your health?  Your relationship? Personal growth - along with healthy relationships and community engagement is part of the troika we promote here all.the.time!

That’s what you get to hear Kelly and me work on together in real time pretty much every week on this podcast. If you’re listening to this, we’re pretty sure you’re interested in creating a fuller, more authentic life… or maybe you just like listening to us as we muddle around and through the process.

The New Year is when most of us take some time to evaluate how we’re doing and resolve to do better.  If you’re like us, you’ve designed your own life-change program over and over again and tried to gut it out until at least mid-February before backsliding or giving up outright.  (and it’s so friggin painful and disheartening) Sometimes we beat the odds and make major changes.  But is there a key, a trick to making meaningful change? Maybe a coach can be part of the process?

This week we not only talk with, but get counseled by two professional coaches.  Friend of the pod Tom Check is back with us and our new friend Ken Kilday joins us to help unpack what coaching is and isn’t, and we explore together the nature of change.

What’s it like combating an entrenched problem like homelessness during a pandemic?  What skills and mindset make the difference in good times and bad? How does one get selected Prescott Woman of the Year?

Find out from Coalition for Compassion and Justice Executive Director, Jessi Hans.  In 2018, Jessi and her team set the bold (Crazy?) intention to end homelessness in Prescott.  Since Covid, they have redoubled their efforts to house every member of the Prescott community and connect their clients to the services that will help get them back on their feet and back to their lives.  We talk with Jessi about the Housing First philosophy, leading her team with authenticity and transparency, the value of partnerships, and how to stay human when things get tough.

This week we are sharing an episode from another podcast we produce - The Prescott Woman Podcast. In this interview, we talk to Jessi Hans, a nonprofit director who lives a bold and dedicated life. We talked with Jessi a few hundred years ago when we were just starting out and this interview is just as full of community, leadership, and her bold, crazy mission to end homelessness.  It was great catching up with Jessi and if you missed her the first time, go back and check out episode 8.

Guest Bio:

After 16 years in the human services field, Jessi Hans has an understanding of how addiction, trauma, mental illness, and systemic barriers can put people out on the street.

Jessi takes a collaborative approach to problem-solving, bringing together people and organizations with the gifts and skillsets to make meaningful progress on difficult problems.  She also works consciously to shift the narrative around people experiencing homelessness to help everyone see what she sees: human beings, citizens, neighbors, members of the community.

Born and raised in Iowa, Jessi earned her B.F.A. at Northwest Missouri State University and she’s lived in Arizona since 2005. She has a wife and three young children. Jessi enjoys quality time with her family, traveling, reading, creating art, and singing.

Jessi was recently named Women of the Year by Prescott Area Leadership.

When we asked her the uncomfortable question of why she was chosen for this honor, she told us she thought the award honored her role more than her actions. We think she might be being too humble, but we’ll let you decide why you think Jessi deserves the win.

Stay tuned to find out what it’s like to have the audacity to take on the big problems with love, humor, and vulnerability as we talk with CCJ’s Jessi Hans.

Whether you are an obsessed Pandemic Watcher like Charles or just want to know how to stay un-infected until the vaccines arrive, this episode is for you.  We bring you interviews with two people who have unique knowledge about the Covid pandemic. Find out what’s going on with vaccine trials, what numbers to look for, and how to make your plan to stay safe through what will undoubtedly be a long, tough winter.  Despite the grim statistics and stories of anti-mask pushback, our conversations this week left us feeling hopeful knowing science is on the case and that human creativity, resilience, and love will, indeed, triumph.

This week we talk with our favorite epidemiologist Christine Stewart, a professor at UC Davis, who helps us make sense of the vaccine trials & rollout. She also explains how her family gets its social and emotional needs met while staying safe and virus-free.

It turns out that Christine is not only a distinguished scientist, she’s a brave research subject. Christine was one of thousands of volunteers in the Stage 3 vaccine trials. You’ll get to hear about her experience with the Moderna vaccine and why I’m really excited to get a sore arm and a fever.

We also talk with our local Health Department’s Information Officer, Terri Farneti, who makes us appreciate the courage and commitment all the hard-working people in our health infrastructures have demonstrated in the face of a massive health crisis combined with incontheivable blowback.

If you think of Buddhists as quiet, gentle people who meditate all the time, think again.  Our guest this week is a proponent of engaged Buddhism, a movement within the philosophy that turns contemplation into action, practice into purpose.  We learn from Pete that it’s not enough to acknowledge the suffering in the world, engaged Buddhists strive to do something to relieve suffering where they find it.

If your efforts to help others - friends and family OR out in the world - fall short of your expectations, or if you are confused about how to start making a difference, this episode might be for you.

Welcome to the weekly podcast for people craving

Pete Pierson has been a man of action his whole life, so it makes sense that he would be attracted to a practice and community that embraces action.  Once an Outward Bound instructor, as well as a firefighter and Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic in remote and extreme areas of Minnesota and Alaska, Pete knows how to help.  He’s seen death up close, and as a UU lay minister, he was asked the big questions – Why?  Not finding a good answer to that question eventually led him to Zen and engaged Buddhism, which, as you will hear, taught Pete to make peace with not knowing.

He also knows the value of community and has been active in the many communities he’s called home.  While living here in Prescott long enough to go to grad school, he allowed himself to be recruited to run for the state house of representatives against an incumbent republican with dubious personal history.  He agreed to run, not because he thought he could win, which he didn’t, but in order to force the public conversation on vital issues.

Now working as a farm laborer in Kansas, Pete is finding solace in physical work and taking care of family through the pandemic.  He is serving on the township board, doing freelance writing and non-profit consulting, and he doesn’t know what’s next.  But he’s ok with that.

In this episode, Pete reads from the essay “A Gift of Not Knowing”. His story takes us to a hot, windy day at the Wounded Knee Memorial in SD and a concrete example of how to engage with history, suffering, and cultural divides. As he explains, Not knowing is a good place to start.

In case you missed the big news (yes election, yes covid numbers, but the other big news) - this podcast just had its 1st anniversary. To celebrate, we released a Greatest Hits episode, threw a party, AND renamed/rebranded the dang thing.

If you missed the party, fear not!  We harvested some of the best moments and arranged them in this thoughtful audio wreath for you to enjoy.

We were so happy and grateful to have some of our favorite humans join us as guests and as audience members on Friday to celebrate, as we said, our one-year anniversary as a podcast.  Drew and Candace sang us a couple of awesome songs.  Bill Konigsberg, Jim Natal, and Matt Ruff read the perfect passages, and some of our smartest pals talked over how to save the world.

We also made the big announcement that we are re-branding this very podcast.  After much consideration, we felt that a new name would serve our audience and get our message out into the world a bit better.  Welcome to the HERE.together Podcast. 

What’s it like to take an unpopular stand for something you know is important?  What’s it like to make public service a pillar of your life?  What’s important in making a good life for your family? Join us for a chat with the First Family...of Cottonwood, AZ as we learn about leadership, service, entrepreneurship, adventure, and more.

Tim and Ruth Ellen Elinski are right in the thick of it. Tim is the current and recently re-elected mayor of cottonwood, and his wife, Ruth Ellen, a long-time non-profit leader and entrepreneur, is a Business Analyst for the Small Business Development Center at Yavapai College. Together they are working to build the economic and community strength of Cottonwood and the Verde Valley, while raising two daughters and launching their own small business.

We get into what it was like for Tim, as mayor, and for the Elinskis as a family, to face protesters in front of their house after Tim’s controversial mayoral proclamation.  We go exploring with them to the wilds of Miami, Arizona and the birth of their most recent business venture.  And we find out what it means to them to serve and support their community - the whole community, even the people who boldly disagree.

What would it be like for the businesses near us to be owned by our friends and neighbors?  What would it be like if the money we spent in those businesses stayed in town and enriched our whole community? What if we all felt like partners in our economy instead of just customers?

Today’s guest, Thomas Barr, is the Executive Director of Local First Arizona, the largest coalition of local businesses in North America. A proud Arizona native and graduate of Arizona State University, Thomas leads the business coalition of Local First Arizona by advocating for the economic and cultural benefits provided by building strong local economies.

Thomas’s work is fueled by his values. In this episode, he reveals some of the personal and family stories that forged his values around justice and inclusion. He also explains how his  advocacy for a strong local business community contributes to building vibrant, equitable prosperity across the state.

In his free time, Thomas volunteers with many causes and organizations throughout the Valley including Young Nonprofit Professionals, Equality Arizona, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Heritage Square Foundation and Phoenix Legal Action Network. Thomas was honored in 2018 as one of Phoenix Magazine’s 40 Under 40, he’s an alumnus of Arizona Leading for Change, and the Valley Leadership Institute's 40th cohort.

We were so happy that Thomas Barr was able to join us this week to share his passion and plans for a thriving economy. He also shared the sometimes wrenching stories of businesses and business owners that Local First Arizona is working to keep afloat during Covid, the biggest challenge to small business in a century. Keep listening to the end when Thomas reveals his secret “smell test” to find out instantly whether a business is locally owned or not, and for his powerful vision for the next 20 years.

What would make you get off the couch and take to the streets in the name of justice?  Justice for people like you?  Justice for people who are “different”?  We continue to struggle with these questions, but our guests today got off their respective couches long ago.  Find out what activism is like here in the Prescott area for Ren Manning and Rosemary Dixon, as they fight for healthcare, freedom, and basic respect for all of our neighbors.

Rosemary Dixon lived all over the world before settling in Prescott 9 years ago. She earned her graduate degree at the University of the Western Cape, in South Africa, and lectured in gender, race, racism and whiteness at the University of Nevada, Reno for eleven years. She is a steering committee member of Prescott Indivisible and the of chair of the recently formed AREA-P (Anti-Racist Education and Action-Prescott). This group operates to educate primarily white people on the hierarchical system we have created, but also acts to spotlight racial injustice and white supremacy in all its forms.

Ren Manning, is a community organizer, educator, and artist who has lived and organized all over the world.  Ren has taught courses on US/Mexico border studies, anti-racist organizing, landscapes of neoliberalism, art & agency, and community outreach. Ren works on immigration reform, and is currently helping Judy Stahl get elected to the AZ State House.

Do you like poetry? Do you care about art? Do you wonder, sometimes, how art fits into society? How creativity fits into your life?

This week’s guest is Jim Natal. Jim wrote his first poem when he was in high school but let poetry go when adult demands got in the way. Jim had a successful but ultimately unsatisfying career working for the National Football League, shepherding big corporate deals, and polishing the brand. After 25 years, and in spite of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s assertion, Jim managed to create a second act for himself. Six books later, Jim is an award winning poet, teacher, and event promoter.

For the last 12 years, Jim has worked to draw renowned authors for readings and interviews to the little city of Prescott, Arizona. His efforts have built a literary culture where Jim had originally found none.  This week on September 25th, we’ll be watching online as Jim welcomes Lisa Ko to the Literary Southwest Virtual stage. Lisa Ko’s novel The Leavers is a 2017 National Book Award Finalist and was on Best of lists at NPR, LA Times, Buzz Feed and, yes, Oprah Magazine.

What if we decided to honor all the parts of ourselves and each other….the masculine, the feminine, the earthy and the gold? What would it look like if you could express the full spectrum of yourself?  What would the world look like if we all decided to break down and recycle the boxes we’ve been expected to live in?

Come with us as we explore not only the mundane but the sacred feminine and masculine and find out how diving into them can change the world for the better.

We had an enriching double date this week with our friends Doug Eagan and Dawn Delvecchio.

Dawn is a scholar, entrepreneur, martial artist, and priestess who is encouraging women to reclaim their feminine power  Just this year she interviewed 39 priestesses from around the world and multiple spiritual traditions. In this interview, she shares some of what she learned in that process. Dawn is offering a reduced-cost intensive online coaching program to help women cultivate inner strength and engage the mission of their souls.  Doug Eagen is a mens work leader, and mentor for boys who has been active in Boys to Men and the Mankind Project helping to craft a healthy masculinity.

How can we develop more ease and authenticity inside ourselves? How can we build more capacity and resilience to face current and future difficulties?

And what if, the same methods for adding to our lives created better relationships and more effective leadership?

How much would you pay for this? But wait, don’t answer…

This episode is full of just the sort of conversation and questions you’d hear if you were hanging out with us in the kitchen. Kelly and I regularly rassle with these ideas around healthy personal growth, uplifting relationships and inclusive, sustainable community. We get pretty agitated about the topic and the possibilities and sometimes Bill the Cat has to come in from the living room to yell at us to quiet down.

Or maybe he’s just agreeing loudly. It’s hard to tell

We offer up this conversation with both great passion and great humility. Our passion comes from all the years we’ve been working through these ideas personally and professionally. Our humility comes from the fact that we are very human and are working through all of this ourselves. We are doing our best not to preach or lecture [though it might sound like it sometimes - we do get excited], but we think there’s something good and powerful in facing these uncomfortable truths and we want to talk it through with you, together.

What if parenting, teaching, or just hanging out with teens could be easier and less stressful. What if we adults could adopt a few simple techniques to help kids make good decisions, free up their own authentic wisdom, AND build closer relationships. 

This week, we’re talking with Adam Young. Adam spent 10 years as a classroom teacher and nearly as long as a mentor and program director for Boys to Men Mentoring. (The nonprofit org I used to head)
At Boys to Men, Adam was key to the expansion of our school circles - we talk about “circles” a lot in this episode. They are simply hour-long support groups consisting of 8-10 boys and 3-4 adults. At our peak, BTM was conducting 16 weekly circles in half a dozen schools. This model is in use in schools all around the country and the world.

These days, Adam is one of the principals of a new consulting and training program called Circle Dynamics Group. The Circle Dynamics Group works with schools to train teachers and education leaders to quickly build interpersonal connections that encourage trust and deeper conversation with students. They have an open set of workshops coming up July 21st - 30th.

You might want to strap in a little more tightly than normal this week. Some of the ways that Adam works with teens - the radical trust, the abandonment of adult privilege and power - might rock your world and your assumptions.

What’s it like for you when your beloved gets angry?  What about when it’s over something you did?  Do you panic?  Get defensive?  Throw blame?  Crumble?  Flee?

How can we handle these inevitable moments in our close relationships in a way that actually deepens our connection and reduces the stress and trauma of a fight?

Kelly and Charles have been working in and on their marriage together for nearly six years. Before earning that street cred, Kelly earned a Masters in Art Therapy, and grabbed all the wisdom available from Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, etc. Charles studied nonviolent relationships and teaching and has mentored over 1000 youth and adults in communication, self-awareness, and accountability skills.

On this week’s podcast, we share results from the lab that is our marriage, in hopes that you will find it useful in your own relationships.

What would it be like if we thought about the current situation as if it were a fable, told to us by an elder?  What would we learn?  How would it end? What if we could tell a story that could help us create the safe, sustainable, equitable future that we want for ourselves and our children?

Our friend and fellow traveler on the path, Rowdy Duncan returns to help us unpack the pandemic, the protests, and the times we’re currently navigating.  He shares an indigenous and earth-based perspective he’s been exploring to make sense of what he’s witnessing and experiencing, and that he’s using as a tool to blaze his trail through this complex environment.

Rowdy is on the communications faculty at Phoenix College.  He teaches Intercultural Communication, Diversity & Inclusion studies, he’s active in youth leadership development, AND he’s a huge advocate for community and restorative modes of justice.

Rowdy is also the Writer, Producer, and Host of The Inclusive Activism Podcast, which you will definitely want to check out.

All this makes Rowdy the perfect person for us to have on the show to dive into the deep end with us and see what we find there.

SHOW NOTES: 

References - 

How does a kind young man get involved with a hate group and how does he get out and build a life of compassion and empathy?

Our guest this week is Hayden Gebler.  A “normal kid” growing up in Northern AZ, Hayden had a huge need for connection and belonging. His journey toward that belonging took a dark turn that resulted in Hayden spending several years in a white supremicist gang.  Now at 26, his life is radically different and his heart is filled with love and understanding instead of hate and bigotry.

In this episode, Hayden talks very frankly and openly about what caused him to veer off and what brought him back.

Trigger warning: In this episode we talk about drug use, self-harm, suicide attempts, and violence. We don’t dwell on any of it, nor glorify it, but you might want to choose the right time to listen to this podcast.

What happens when an old college friend has his novel adapted by Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams for an HBO series?  You invite him on your podcast, that’s what.

Our guest this week is the writer Matt Ruff, author of seven, very different books. We talk about the craft of writing great characters, the luck involved in getting published, and how to become an overnight success in only 35 years. We dive deep into the creation of characters who are experiencing very different lives and challenges than we are. And we talk about how critical it is now to live with those kinds of characters and learn from them. 

What makes Prescott (and the rest of the Quad Cities) strong? What makes us unique and successful when things get tough? Our first collaborative episode attempts to answer those questions.

This week we are really, stupendously pleased to share with you the first episode of a whole new podcast series. A couple months ago, after interviewing Breeanya Hinkel on this podcast and then partnering with her and her posse of engaged business leaders on the Women in Science episode, we hatched this new project, a new, separate podcast that will feature some of the same stories and interviews from the Prescott Woman print magazine.

For the June/July issue, the writers and staff at Prescott Woman Magazine started collecting stories of resilience and creativity in the face of Covid 19. They called the resulting cover story “Prescott Strong.”

This first episode of the Prescott Woman Podcast is an expanded audio version of that story. We trust that you will find it inspiring and meaningful because the voices are those of your neighbors and friends.

Show Notes:

The following women and men contributed quotes:

The following people shared their trials and triumphs with us in extended interviews.

We’re both struggling with grief, anger, and shame this week. Are you? Our country is showing it's deep fracture lines and the pain is real. Creating justice through thoughtful, individual, and collective action is only goal that matters  We know it’s not easy, but let’s spend some time together getting to the bottom of our feelings and beliefs and then moving toward some useful action.

We had planned this week to talk about creativity, but the police killings (George Floyd, Tony McDade, Sean Reed and Breonna Taylor), the unequal way COVID 19 is infecting and killing black and brown people, and the long-term affect the economic crisis is going to have on already marginalized people won’t let us talk about anything other than race today. And really, these issues directly relate to the pillars of this podcast, particularly community and masculinity.

We’ll be talking about our own personal experiences, knowing that white experience so often drowns out the experiences of others. But it’s what we have to work with and from.  We live in a VERY white area, but we feel strongly that we are also part of national and global communities, and we’ll do what we can to facilitate conversations that serve all.

We’re going to do our best to create an open space for one another and you, our beloved audience. We’re going to bring our usual blend of curiosity, warmth, and empathy to this episode. But, you all should know, there is pain and anger here… Please, if it shows up in my voice or if it shows up in your head, please breath and lean in. If we pull back, we’re done for. We need you.

Anti-racist activists are making it very clear. We live in an unjust and violent system and it is up to us - middling white folks - to get off the fence and off the couch and fix it. We hope this exploration will take us in the right direction.

SHOW NOTES: 

References:

When Bill Konigsberg was a teen, there were no novels featuring young gay men.  Thanks to him, gay teens today can’t say the same. In his latest novel, though, the sexual preference of his protagonists is almost incidental. Max and Jordan are in the middle becoming adults, and their struggle to integrate pain, joy, capacity, and weakness into their wholeness makes this book totally relevant for those of us who are still growing… that is - everybody.

Is the masked man a hero or a villain?

These days we’re seeing some very emotional division around the decision to wear a mask in public and whether staying home is cowardly or going out is reckless. Today we are going to dig into that and see what’s under the mask.

In this episode, we’ll be looking at the value of freedom, definitions of masculinity, ideas of strength, and how our society is structured as well as experimenting with empathy, framing, and connection.  Charles will have a rant and Kelly will play devil’s advocate.

So stay tuned if you want support around doing the right thing, even when it’s unpopular [with fringe elements]. We want to know what you think about how to balance freedom with responsibility so we hope you’ll comment in the Rocket Feather Community Lab Group or by leaving a phone message at Anchor.fm/rocketfeather

References:

Are you missing live music and the sense of community you feel when out on the town? Are you craving connection with the creative energy of your favorite musicians and artists?

This week we’ve got the certified biggest voice in town plus our favorite guitar genius - in the HOUSE!  Literally, in our house - don’t worry we stayed in our own corners.

Grammy-nominated singer Candace Devine and local rock god Drew Hall join us for a no holds barred talk about creativity, re-invention, and community, as well as playing some music to lift your spirits. We used several of the fan-submitted questions to pry into the life and history and thoughts of our passionately creative guests.

Candace has been a professional singer since her early 20s, working with Christina Aguilera, Styx, the Four Tops and many others in the recording studio and out on the road touring.  In this episode, we find out that she is both a champion equestrian coach AND a cat enchantress. Also, she swears like a sailor, so proceed at your own risk #totally worth it.

Drew is a former banker who defied the 9-5 life at his earliest opportunity, going on to be in every kind of band, teach guitar to young and old musicians alike, and curate exceptional music shows here in Prescott.  In pre-Covid times, Drew could be spotted playing with the Cheektones, Summa Totius, THiS Trio with Slim Gamble of Lady Antebellum fame, Drew & Anton, and many many more!

3This podcast episode hits a lot of the superlative buttons: longest, loudest, biggest recording challenge, most cat input, most social media engagement, and definitely the most musical. Candace and Drew played two songs for us live, and we play you the recording of “Don’t Worry Child (Rosalyn)” their newest collaboration and entry into the NPR Tiny Desk Concert. “Don’t Worry Child is ostensibly about Drew’s daughter, but in our view, it’s really for and about all of us living through these stressful times.

Show Notes:

What if relationships could be easier? What if you knew why your teen, your toddler or your partner was “giving you that face?” And what if you knew how to respond in a way that didn’t suck? What if you could build rather than damage your relationships?

Well this week, we got to talk with a relationship and parenting wizard who has developed a simple system to help us understand ourselves and each other. She explains how, from that foundation of empathy, we can use her basic tools to navigate conflict or misunderstanding to build the connection we all crave. Plus, she helped me figure out how to get the trash to the curb on time.

What’s it like to work in the Arctic while riding out the pandemic in Arizona?  What’s it like to meet this challenge with a giant heart, a brilliant brain, and a 4-year-old?

International researcher, advocate for women in science, mom, and authentic human, Olivia Lee joins us on this week’s podcast to talk through the challenges of conducting climate research during a pandemic, being separated from family overseas, and coping with the weight of feeling like it’s never enough.  I’m not a brilliant scientist, but I’m guessing those are things we can all relate to.  Listen on to hear how Olivia’s deep empathy and respect drive her work and keep her going in difficult times.

Increasing our capacity for the “unpleasant” feelings is one of the main goals we have here at RocketFeather.  If we can be with those difficult feelings and over time, stop judging ourselves for having them, we are well on our way to being responsive humans rather than reactive ones.  That means we can be there for each other instead of just worrying about ourselves.

So thank  you all for hanging in here with us as we grow in empathy and resilience and love.  Olivia Lee is such a great model for this kind of strength and we feel so privileged to talk with her and count her as a friend.

We hope this healing conversation will continue in the RocketFeather Community Lab, so reach out with your questions and answers and let’s help each other through this time - let’s do that and more.  Let’s help each other redefine who we get to be on the other end of it.  What are you leaving behind and what are you bringing with you?  We want to know.

SHOW NOTES

Books, Podcasts & Poems

What would it be like if you could rally your whole neighborhood to tackle a serious  problem you all share?  What would it feel like to help lots of people find strength and solutions they never imagined they had inside themselves?  Can you imagine facing a massive crisis like, say, a pandemic, with love, calm, and optimism?

You definitely can if you are today’s guest, Tracey McConnell.  A long-time community organizer, non-profit advisor, and personal growth coach, Tracey is no stranger to hardship or challenge, but she meets difficulty with a loving resolve that is truly inspirational.  Her special skills help her to bring diverse people together and find the common ground that makes it possible to move into a solution.  A skillful facilitator, Tracey leads us in a Focused Conversation to model how we can come together on even the most difficult topics, see the humanity in everyone, and make things better for all.  Join us for a refreshing dip into the pool of possibilities on episode 24 of the Rocket Feather Podcast.

SHOW NOTES

References:

Are you a little feeling a little concerned? Freaked out? Or strangely numb? Hey, all your emotions are valid. It’s OK.

Join us for this slightly slapdash, but fully engaged podcast episode as Charles shares the emotional stance that helped him prepare his family for the pandemic. He also talks honestly about how he bounced back from overwhelm and grief. In the second half of the pod, Charles explains the cyclical, three phase model for getting through the pandemic and all you all to find ways to lead.

SHOW NOTES:

Recommended Twitter Follows

Other Resources

Want to know the secret to successful relationship? 

You know there's not one secret, silly!

A dear friend of Charles's said, "There are some things you can only learn while being alone and there are some things you can only learn by being in relationship.". Take a listen to hear how the two Rocket Feather hosts have constructed a pretty powerful relationship by doing combining what they learned while alone with what they now learn together. 

SHOW NOTES: 

How do we remain true to ourselves while being good members of a community? What kinds of thoughts or attitudes can lead to personal and social healing? How can privileged folks find the courage to engage? Why is there always too much food at a potluck?

We don’t answer all these questions during this one podcast episode but we do have a wonderful, charismatic and thoughtful guide to the issues. Rowdy has worked in the field of diversity and inclusion for over a decade.  He is an innovator with a myriad of different workshops informing about issues related to colorblindness, to Interest Based Negotiations, to Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Resolution, to Positive Masculinity, and seeing People as Possibilities.

An engaging and passionate presenter and facilitator, Rowdy is also the director of Paradise Valley Community College’s Diversity, Incorporated, and he is an active member of the Healing Racism Public Dialogue Series. He co-wrote the proposal for Paradise Valley Community College’s Leadership Certificate. He also sits on the Desperado LGBT film festivals screening committee. He produces and delivers his Inclusive Activism Podcast bi-weekly to his thousands of listeners about how the intersections of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity work are a form of Personal Leadership. He was also a 2014 winner of the Arizona Diversity Alliance’s Diversity Champion Award, as well as the John and Suanne Rouche Award for Excellence for the Community College from the League of Innovation in 2015.

And just when you thought that was enough, Rowdy raises a rescued pit bull named Tank.

SHOW NOTES:

Resources & Articles

How do you build the kind of community you want to live in? It turns out there are a slew of ways to go about it and this week’s guest is putting them all in play. Breeanya uses her platform as a magazine publisher to champion other people, businesses, and projects. In her “spare” time she uses her leadership skills to support important arts and youth nonprofits. And, in the course of this friendly, light-hearted interview, she convinced us that getting outside for a hike is another important way to build community.

Breeanya was born & raised in Prescott, AZ and is a true “Prescott Woman.” She has been the designer and editor of Prescott Woman Magazine since 2008. In 2018 she took the bold step of purchasing the business.  Breeanya also owns a graphic design business, BJH Designs, serves on the board for Prescott Center for the Arts, and is a member of the Prescott Valley Economic Development Foundation, and Prescott Women Who Care.

Breeanya was pleased to be one of the recipients of the 2013 Prescott Area Young Professionals Visionary Awards. In 2016, she was a “20 Under 40” winner, one of 20 notable area entrepreneurs, managers, business owners and professionals younger than 40.  Breeanya enjoys hiking and exploring in Northern Arizona and the world.

SHOW NOTES:

Resources & Businesses

Love horror movies? Hate horror movies? Either way, you’ll love this conversation about movies, being married, and how to rock social media. We learned about why horror films work to talk about real social issues, how to use clear communication to work together as a creative couple, how to get over writer’s block and how to bring empathy to social media and marketing.

Do you want to live an epic life? Do you want to know how to build sustaining community through small acts? Do you wonder how art folds into a life of leadership? Do you want to hit someone with a foam sword?

We won’t claim that Claire Louge has all the answers but… she kinda does. We strongly recommend you take some time to bask in the honesty, clarity, and passion that Claire brings to this podcast episode. Her personal story covers despair, near death, and recovery. Her professional path charts community, creativity, humility, and leadership.

Guest Bio:

Claire Louge is the Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to preventing child maltreatment before it happens, and helping those who have experienced childhood trauma build resilience to its effects.

Claire obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development from Cornell University and her Masters of Education in Human Relations from Northern Arizona University. Claire is also a Certified Trauma Support Specialist through the Arizona Trauma Institute, certified by the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds to teach the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework, and an authorized Stewards of Children® facilitator. She is a graduate of the American Express Leadership Academy at the ASU Lodestar Center and is also an AmeriCorps VISTA alumnus. Claire also volunteers her time to create and produce live action role playing adventure events for teens.

Show Notes:

Organizations & Events

Are you wondering why teens are showing up in the news so much over the last eighteen months? Are you curious about why so many are more active, more engaged, more committed, than ever? Join us for an intergenerational Rocket Feather podcast as we try to answer those questions. This week we interview two teen leaders and activists from the Teen Advisory Council, Shannon and Emma, along with their adult mentor, McKenzie MacIntyre.

McKenzie has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in Adolescent Development and is studying toward her M.Ed. in School Counseling.  She serves as Coordinator for the Teen Advisory Council at the Launch Pad Teen Center. McKenzie chose Emma (age 16) and Shannon (age 17) to be a part of the podcast because, “Both girls show tremendous strength in leading their peers and being advocates for their community.”

Find out what these smart, passionate teens are doing to make life better for themselves and their generation and how you might fit into their plans.

SHOW NOTES:

Youth Movements & Teen Centers

Do you wonder what "Rocket Feather" means? Are you curious about what makes two introverts so chatty? Looking for some laughs, some feels, and some value this long weekend? Join Charles and Kelly on this episode to learn and ponder more about making Relationships work, sparking Creativity, building Community, and healing Masculinity. 

Show Notes: 

Books to Read

Are you ready for the new year, new decade, new reality? Life in the Roaring Twenties is going to be challenging in ways we can't even imagine. But it doesn't have to be joyless, lonely, or futile. Kelly and Charles have some experience developing the kind of personal and relational skills that give hope in tough times. In this podcast, you get to spend some time exploring the difference between shallow strength and Deep Strength. This episode even comes with a free Deep Strength workout plan that you can start today!

Show Notes: 

We’re glad that you’ve chosen to be in conversation with us today. In this episode, Kelly and I talk about things that matter to us: The dichotomy and union of the opposites represented by the brand RocketFeather; the difficulty and importance of getting things done while staying true to direction and intention and; the real, and beautiful lesson gleaned from a children’s picture book.

We hope you enjoy our mix of deep, personal exploration and accessible fun. We welcome your thoughts on our topics and feedback on our delivery.

WARNING: as you might glean from the episode title, we use the word poop and it’s less G-rated synonym quite frequently in this week’s show.

Show Notes - 

Books Mentioned: 

In this episode Kelly and Charles interview Tom Check who is helping people make breakthroughs for them selves AND to build sustaining community. 

Tom Check is someone the rest of us are trying to live up to. We been Tom’s, co-facilitators, colleagues, and friends. In all of our different experiences with Tom, he always ups the quality of the moment, the conversation, the project, the program. He does that with his powerful intelligence, his drive, and his passion for excellence and efficiency.

In this conversation, Tom talks about the happenstance and drive in his own life, how he came to be a coach, and why he hosts monthly dinners at his house with relative strangers. 

SHOW NOTES:

Books Mentioned- 

What would it be like if we could recognize and leave behind the kind of strength that included violence, vengeance, and exclusion? What if we could define our strength by how inclusive, present, thoughtful, and persistent we were as individuals, couples, and communities. In this solo episode, Charles muses that the shift from "power over" strength to "power with" strength will lead to easier, more fulfilling relationships AND give us a chance to survive and thrive in the 21st Century. 

Show Notes

Books Mentioned: 

Other Resources: 

Join us for our interview with Jessica Stickel. Jessy is a lifelong learner and a forever aspiring possibilitarian. She is passionate about supporting people in discovering their wealth that is within them and their circumstances. She has been serving families for over 20 years in a plethora of roles. She started as a Family Support Specialist for Head Start, then became a School Counselor, and later got her certification in Life Coaching. She is currently the Student Success Coach at Prescott High School and founder of Inspired Freedom Coaching where she works with teens, families, and adults to become the best version of themselves.

In the Episode, Jessy talks about how she discovered the power of counseling in a group setting (the Circle) and her belief that everybody (including teens) already has the resources and knowledge she needs.