Get After It Pdx

Hear art-therapy non-profit founder and recovered substance abuser Lisa Schmidt talk about moving at a young age with her mother and brother across the country, why she chose Texas and the deep football culture she found there, knowing she was gay since second grade and why suppressing that led her to later seek out religion in her twenties, the 17 years she was married to a man--and mother of two children--and as well as working with the church and the story of how that all came crashing down, what rock bottom looked like and how she began to pull herself up again, what led to the creation of The Sober Hipster and later You Matter, Your Story Matters, how she met her wife and eventually moved to Portland, and much more! Follow along: @thesoberhipster thesoberhipster.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the way spirits taste, but more importantly, they love that they bring people together to make memories, buil

Hear lifelong (and elite marathon) runner and native Portlander Peter Bromka talk about growing up in our beloved city and the influence his father's love and passion for running had on him from a very early age, getting pulled by his father in a make-shift chariot during a 10k race, his relationship with Portland over his high school and college years and why he eventually moved back after time on the East Coast and in SF, how he connected with writing during school but didn't feel like he really had anything to "say" until years later, why he finds the process of training for running and races so filled with meaning and emotion and why he loves to record--and share--those experiences, what it's been like to whole-heartedly pursue the dream of making the Olympic Marathon Qualifying Time and come seconds away from achieving it three times, where he's at now with life, fatherhood, and running, and much more! Follow along: @bromka peterbromka.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distille

Hear dental hygienist and small business owner Kylie Antolini talk about growing up in Santa Cruz, California as an only child and the influence her parents had taking her hiking, and eventually running, on local trails, how she never connected with the sunbathing/beach culture around her and rather felt drawn to Pacific Northwest-like climates, her passion for photography and the struggle with her parents who urged her away from being a "starving artist", how she successfully managed to find a middle ground (starting the path toward becoming a dental hygienist) that allowed her to provide financially and also exercise her creative talents (like creating a popular food blog using her photography skills), her move to Portland just days after graduation from dental school (after 23 years in Santa Cruz), how the idea for a candle company came to her and the inspiration behind the Forest Park/Wildwood Trail branding, why she loves Portland so much, and much more! Follow along: @bakingbird @wildwoodcandle_co

This is part of a new series of "Special Health & Wellness Edition" episodes with people and wellness professionals in PDX (and beyond) discussing ways to cope with the unprecedented times we are facing with the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.  Topics will include the importance of mental and physical health and tips to improve both, ways to adapt jobs and schedules to this new landscape, ideas to support small businesses and those harder hit, the new reality of a rapidly shifting economy, and much more. Katy Connors is former Operations Manager at Hat Yai and previous guest on Episode 24 of Get After It PDX.  She talks about the recently created Portland Independent Restaurant Alliance (PIRA) and the efforts being made to stem this industry-wide (and world-wide) emergency. Links: Portland Independent Restaurant Alliance Restaurant Status Page Lots of love to everyone out there, we're all in this together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to y

This is part of a new series of "Special Health & Wellness Edition" episodes with people and wellness professionals in PDX (and beyond) discussing ways to cope with the unprecedented times we are facing with the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.  Topics will include the importance of mental and physical health and tips to improve both, ways to adapt jobs and schedules to this new landscape, ideas to support small businesses and those harder hit, the new reality of a rapidly shifting economy, and much more. Ashley Hook is Event + Social Media Manager at Jacobsen Salt Co. and Bar West. Links:  Home Forward Eater PDX article Rama TV Contact: ashleyannhook@gmail.com Lots of love to everyone out there, we're all in this together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the way spirits taste, but more importantly, they love that they br

This is part of a new series of "Special Health & Wellness Edition" episodes with people and wellness professionals in PDX (and beyond) discussing ways to cope with the unprecedented times we are facing with the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.  Topics will include the importance of mental and physical health and tips to improve both, ways to adapt jobs and schedules to this new landscape, ideas to support small businesses and those harder hit, the new reality of a rapidly shifting economy, and much more. Alexandra Lev is a freelance writer, mental health advocate, and social media creative and our previous guest on Episode 10 of Get After It PDX. Lots of love to everyone out there, we're all in this together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the way spirits taste, but more importantly, they love that they bring people together

This is the first in a series of "Special Health & Wellness Edition" episodes with people and wellness professionals in PDX (and beyond) discussing ways to cope with the unprecedented times we are facing with the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.  Topics will include the importance of mental and physical health and tips to improve both, ways to adapt jobs and schedules to this new landscape, ideas to support small businesses and those harder hit, the new reality of a rapidly shifting economy, and much more. Skylor Powell is Founder/Impact Creator at The Thread US, a yoga teacher, and our guest on Episode 17 of Get After It PDX.  Hear what she has to say about our current situation, get motivated and stay positive!   Lots of love to everyone out there, we're all in this together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the wa

Hear self-made social media influencer, brand strategist and self-love champion Candace Molatore talk about her experience growing up in an adopted family in Oregon City and what is was like to have no one around that looked anything like her (the family that adopted her is white and nearly 100% of Oregon City), how that experience forced her to embrace and eventually celebrate her "otherness", childhood trips to nearby Portland to have her hair done and her perceptions of the city at that time, her interest in photography and the segue to social media and her life as an "influencer", gaining weight and how she flipped self-criticism and comparison to others into her current "self-love" philosophy that has had such an impact on herself and others, local Portland company Tea Bar and the job opportunity (that she still has) that grew out of a few Instagram posts she did to promote a place she loved, how she feels about the changing landscape of Portland and all that entails, what's to come in her burgeonin

Hear multi-faceted artist and creative Benjamin Ewing talk about growing up in the country in Minnesota and how he was encouraged and supported by his parents to make art from an early age, his unconventional path through high school that allowed him to focus on his developing passion of painting, drawing, woodworking, and design and the disconnect it caused with his peers, how he bypassed college/art school and threw himself into the hustle in Los Angeles after a chance opportunity prompted him to make the big move from Minnesota, how he later made his way to Portland and why he thinks there are good reasons to be excited the city's growth, the design collective he created and why his distinct (and beautiful) line paintings were a result of his transition away from that business and a need to get back to more tangible creation, his dream of doing art and design work for the Olympics, and much more! Follow along: @benjamin.ewing benjaminewing.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new d

Hear rapper, runner, and multi-talented "essential provider" Paul Summers (aka Cuarenta Porter or "Forty") talk about childhood in Indianapolis and the staggering violence he witnessed growing up in a poor neighborhood, how he cared for his uncle from a young age after a tragic paralyzation and how that experience caused him to become passionate about care giving and helping folks with disabilities and special needs, how he became interested in poetry and the evolution to his current hip hop career, his struggle with being overweight and the incredible story of how he eventually lost nearly 250 lbs., how running helped turn things around and continues to be a major focus today, his Greyhound bus journey to Oregon and the first time seeing the Pacific Ocean while looking over Coos Bay, what it means to be an "essential provider" for his community, and much more! Follow along: @iamcuarenta music.apple.com/us/artist/cuarenta-porter Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on gr

Hear shoe dog and Portland legend Ian Williams talk about the culture shock he experienced at a young age moving from a diverse neighborhood on the East Coast to the--especially-then--non-diverse Portland area (Beaverton/Hillsborough), why he was obsessed with Allen Iverson and inspired by his playing style and the influence it had on his life, how a short stint of bad behavior in middle school led to him being put in private school and the subsequent dress code that influenced his love of shoes, how a calculated move taking a job as a janitor at Nike opened the door to making his shoe dreams a reality years later, what became more important to him than shoes (and even coffee), and much more! Follow along: @eeeweezie @deadstockcoffee deadstockcoffee.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the way spirits taste, but more importantly, they love that they bring people together to make memories, build bridges, and cry

Hear restaurant/hospitality veteran Katy Connors talk about her path from growing up in small town Arizona to working in and directing operations at some of the hottest hotels and restaurants on the west coast, why Los Angeles (where she was originally born) always held a special allure that eventually drew her back years later, the challenging post-9/11 political climate she grew up around in conservative Arizona and how her unique high school experience provided some respite, why she studied religion and how traveling and living abroad during college shifted her anticipated career path, her memorable time in LA and throwing herself into a demands of high-level hospitality positions, what led her to Portland and to eventually meet her husband Taylor, and much more! Follow along: @kt_connors @hatyaipdx hatyaipdx.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the way spirits taste, but more importantly, they love that the

Hear NYC-born, Connecticut-raised holistic wellness teacher Maggie Converse talk about childhood on the east coast with two actor parents, how growing up around the arts lead to majoring in Art History (and French) at University of Indiana at Bloomington years later, her 8-year stint back east in NYC after she graduated and the variety of jobs that followed, her passion for yoga that developed over the years from her first class with her mom at age 16, her struggles with an eating disorder that she began to recognize and address during college and how yoga helped her find a new appreciation and love for her body, the process of making yoga (and meditation) and helping others recovering from eating disorders her career focus, why she wanted to move West and what lead her to Portland, and much more! Follow along: @maggie_converse maggieconversemethod.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors and a warm environment.  They love the way spirits taste

Hear passionate outdoor athlete and marketing guru Michael Griffin talk about growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and later Athens, Georgia, his early love for rock climbing that developed there and grew into a full blown lifestyle for years after high school (and how that pursuit has continued throughout his life), his move to Portland once he was ready to get more serious about college and his graduation with an Environmental Science degree, how he came to shift career paths from an Environmental Science job into marketing, his path to Finex from being a consultant during their Kickstarter to Marketing Director and an integral part of the recent acquisition by Lodge Cast Iron (since 1896!) 5 years later, how Portland had changed in his years here, the exciting new community marketing he's doing by supporting (and taking part in) Gabriel Rucker's Bird Dog Run Club, what's next for him and Finex, and much more. Follow along: @michaelg_pdx @birddogrunclub @finexcookware finexusa.com Brought to you by the Ai

Hear multi-faceted designer Lizy Gershenzon talk about growing up in Chicago and playing all the sports as a kid, how her experiences working on the yearbook staff in school with close friends laid the groundwork for her preferred work structures forevermore, the influences her hard-working, business-minded parents instilled in her, what led to her developing interest in web and graphic-design during college and why she really became an Art Major, meeting her future husband Travis while answering freelance design work ads on Craigslist and how they immediately started a business together, how their two years living in New Zealand opened her eyes to her love of nature and later caused their relocation to PDX, the creation of Scribbletone, the Wy'east Wolfpack logo and branding, different side businesses as well as their newest project Future Fonts, and much more! Follow along: @lizyjoy @scribbletone scribbletone.com @futurefonts futurefonts.xyz @notch_ftw notchftw.com @exifco exif.co Brought to you by the Ai

Hear Oregon-born and bred trail running race director Jeremy Long talk about growing up on the Oregon coast and his early connection to the landscape of his youth (more to the land than sea though), his tendency toward running and cross country over typical team sports and the love of the activity he shared with his brothers, how he needed a white noise machine to help him get to sleep when he moved inland for college (without the sound of waves crashing...), his journey into public health and the desire to help others, the sense of belonging and community he felt from running events and culture and how that led him to create Daybreak Racing, his eventual transition to going full time at Daybreak and leaving public health behind, his family's support in taking the leap and how his kids have taken to the race-director life, what he sees as the future of trail running and racing, and much more! Follow along: @jlonghaul @daybreakracing daybreakracing.com  Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a

Hear Native American outdoor athlete/activist and board member of the Honnold Foundation Len Necefer talk about growing up in Kansas and the pivotal decision to move with his mother to live in the Navajo Nation in Arizona at a young age, the balance and juxtaposition of identity and experience between his Native American family on his mother's side and European-descended family on his father's, what lead to his interest in energy issues and social justice (and later climbing and skiing!), how he came to work for (and eventually decide to leave) the US Dept. of Energy, the creation of NativesOutdoors as a social media project and how it evolved into a well-connected apparel and media company, challenges he's faced as a Native American along the way, what the future holds for him and NativesOutdoors, and much more! Follow him: @lennecefer @nativesdoutdoors natives-outdoors.com @honnoldfoundation honnoldfoundation.org Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavors an

Hear passionate entrepreneur and hospitality fanatic Sam Purvis talk about growing up in Oregon (first Portland, then Sisters) and the process of moving around as a youth as one of five brothers, his early outdoor escapades during high school motor biking in the foothills outside Sisters, how his faith lead him to seek empathy for those living on the streets and how that urge set him on a path of traveling the country with a friend and living with homeless populations they met along the way, the lasting impact that trip had on his life and what came next upon his return to Oregon, his evolution toward being interested in coffee and cafe culture, why he came to care less about the coffee and more about the people and experience and how that tied into the creation of Good Coffee (with his brother Nick!), why he wants people to know that they are valuable and worthy, and much more! Follow along: @goodcoffeepdx goodwith.us Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on great flavor

Hear yoga teacher/wellness veteran/community guru Skylor Powell talk about growing up in Ohio and her early connections to nature through exploring the local woods, how her time at a "farm school" program made her embrace the teamwork and community dynamics necessary to get big things done, her decision to head West for college and how on-the-spot curiosity to explore her potential made her sign up for a yoga teacher training, what brought her to Portland, Oregon and her first professional endeavors here, how the election of Donald Trump and realizations she had on election night led to the creation of The Thread US, her experiences hitting the road and traveling the US talking with people of all backgrounds and political beliefs, why she feels this project and this work of getting people to openly and respectfully communicate about tough issues is so vital, and much more! Follow along: @skylorpowell @thethreadus thethreadus.com Brought to you by the Aimsir Distilling Company, a new distillery focused on gr

Hear tireless social change activist and diversity, equity, and inclusion champion Hanif Fazal talk about his father's journey from Africa to India to the United States--where he met Hanif's mother in Chicago--and how that blend of cultures (Indian and Mexican) made his upbringing really stand out from the nearly all-white landscapes and institutions he found himself surrounded by after his family relocated to Tigard, Oregon, some of his earliest memories of that move from Chicago to the Portland area at age 3 and what it was like trying to settle into structures that had zero similarities to his own experiences at home, the range of emotions he felt as a child under those circumstances and how that lead him to act out, how some seriously rough years in his teens in Portland further opened his eyes and made him consider what people could achieve and accomplish if the world around them was actually designed to give them a proper chance at success, how he finally pulled out of that dark period and landed the fi