Get After It PDX

Hear physical therapist, small business owner and outdoor athlete Damien Jackson-Ricketts talk about growing up in a very rural area in SW Virginia (and how different it was from living in big cities later in his life), the genuine satisfaction of working with your hands and the example his woodworker father instilled in him from a young age, early nature experiences that informed his love of outdoor sports (like hiking, mountain biking, and surfing) later in life, his passion for film/movies and his previous desire to follow that career path, his developing interest in physical therapy and the steps he took to get in to PT school and his residency in LA, life in SoCal and how he and his girlfriend finally made the call to move to Portland and the Pacific Northwest, starting his private practice--Stoke PT--here in PDX, and much more!  

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Hear Jennifer Maxwell--co-founder/creator of PowerBar, THE original energy bar, with her late husband Brian Maxwell--talk about growing up in Bolinas, California and what lead to her passion for running, athletics and food science, how she met Brian in Berkeley and together they created Powerbar, what runners ate before energy bars were a thing, what it was like to start a business in the "old days" before the advent of modern technology and how they grew it to eventually be bought by Nestle for $375 million in 2000, how she managed to keep moving forward and raise 6 children amidst the tragic passing of Brian from a heart condition in 2004, the importance of music to her and how drumming became a major and ongoing part of her life, the creation of JAMBAR and the blending of her passions--music, athletics/wellness, and healthy eating--into an exciting new venture where 50% of profits go to support music and active living, and much more!

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Hear baker and former park ranger turned pandemic entrepreneur Natalie Edwards talk about growing up in the PNW, her relationship to her grandmothers from a young age and how they inspired her baking years later, her father's job and the influence it had on her love of nature and the outdoors and career for many years, how attending college in the south connected her to another part of the country and her family there, what caused her to return to the PNW and pivot to a new career of creating delicious baked goods, what a poundcake really is and why she focused on that, how the business is going and what's to come in 2022, her love of going to the gym, and much more!

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Hear accomplished endurance athlete/ultra runner, business owner, and mother Jamie King talk about growing up in California and migrating north to eventually end up, years later, in Portland, Oregon, the deep rewards that physical movement, and later running, provided in her life and how there came a point that she wanted to help others feel the same benefits, her years living a fast-paced lifestyle and working PR in San Francisco, her journey into running and trail running and now 100 mile ultra marathons in the mountains, starting a business--Flex and Flow--with her cousin Alyse, her journey into motherhood, and much more!

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Hear new author, social worker, and Alcohol/Drug Counselor Mike Grant tell the story of how he came to be in Portland today and his journey of taking control of his addiction to drugs and alcohol along the way.  

Hear banker-turned-chef and caterer Rashad Frazier talk about growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina and his experiences getting into nature as a child, seeing first hand the ups and downs of the restaurant his father owned, getting a football scholarship to Howard University and--to this day--how much he values the culture and networks of Howard and HBCUs, living in New York City as a banker for years before getting laid off led him to explore other options, how dating his future wife influenced his early years of cooking, the creation and meaning of his high-end niche catering brand Yoshi Jenkins, moving to PDX and the subsequent pandemic that forced him back to the drawing board, his love of the outdoors and camping and some the experiences he's had as a person of color amongst largely white user groups, the creation of Camp Yoshi and why he feels it's important to specifically provide outdoor opportunities and services to Black folks, and much more!

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Hear mechanical engineer-turned-marketing manager Liz Craig talk about growing up in Pennsylvania and her longtime trajectory to become an engineer, what it meant to her to be the only female in her family to follow that path, her parent's lasting athletic influence as long time bicyclists and hikers and their many family adventures together over the years, her love of rowing she developed at a young age and the values and lessons of team sports, how she later got into running and developed a routine while training for a half marathon during college, what brought her West to Portland after a stint working in Amish country and the surprise news shortly after that led to a drastic career shift and her current employment at Mountain Shop, the work and adventures she's most excited about now, and much more!

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Hear dancer, Las Vegas native, and recent college graduate Syann Cromwell talk about what "Sin City" was really like for locals, how the stream of performers and big acts coming through town inspired her to express herself through dance and to become a performer someday, how despite loving the excitement and allure of Las Vegas she always had her sights set on the beach and living in Los Angeles (where she is now!), her path to University of Southern California (USC) and how she just knew that she would be accepted, despite having some reasonable concerns that she might not, how her majors--Philosophy Politics & Law and African-American studies--are especially pertinent in regards to Black Lives Matter and the current state of our country, what it's been like for her as a young Black woman during these tumultuous times, her virtual graduation from USC just this past May, what's to come, and much more!

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Hear artist and born and raised Seattleite Perri Rhoden talk about growing up in the Pacific Northwest and how she's seen her hometown city change over the years due to gentrification, Amazon culture, etc., what it was like to grow up Black in that city and how a feeling of disconnection from Black culture led her to later seek out and attend an HBCU (Historic Black College/University) after high school, the role art and creativity played in her life and the figure drawing class that really ignited a love of the physical--especially female--form, her own body included, and helped develop and steer her passion toward a path of creative expression, the intersection of art and activism and the importance of taking action at this unique time in our country's history, her love of mural painting and how she got involved with the Black Lives Matter street mural in Seattle, moving beyond working with figures/physical forms and embracing the fun and freedom of abstraction, and much more!

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Listen to prolific multi-media artist barry johnson (intentionally uncapitalized) talk about growing up in Kansas and the values he retains from his childhood there, his early experiences with art and athletics and how both those pursuits later came to play major roles in his life, his various explorations that included a competitively-successful stint in body building and later diving into the entrepreneur/start-up game in Seattle with little prior experience, how adopting personas (which he discusses in his TEDx talk) was key to taking on these different chosen challenges and career paths, the positive impacts of the birth of his daughter on him and her influence in getting him drawing again and, consequently, launching his career as a professional artist, what his father thinks about our current social justice/Black Lives Matter revolution having lived through so much history of his own, the BLM mural in Seattle that he was invited to paint a letter of, and much more!

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Hear community foodie Jacobsen Valentine talk about growing up in Hilo, Hawaii and what life and community was like there versus in Gresham, Oregon where he moved in his early teens, the homemade, DIY approach to food and cooking instilled in him from an early age and the recipes he had nailed to make dinner by the time he was 7 or 8 years old, the experience of moving to Oregon and feeling like the "other" for the first time (and recognizing racism for the first time too), how his being chameleon-like (developed from moving and integrating/adapting into different social scenes) has served him and continues to be a strength, his path to culinary school and the ups and downs of finding employment afterwards, what led to the creation of Feed the Mass and the different iterations it has taken already, especially due to COVID-19, and how now he is literally "feeding the masses" more than ever, his photographic work over the years and his new venture--Empowerment Central--to provide (safe) creative space and studios for BIPOC (Black/Indigenous/People of Color) artists and creatives, and much more!

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Hear weightlifter and multi-faceted East Coaster Amanda Gilliam talk about growing up in the South and how she still considers herself a southern girl even after her family moved to New Jersey during her childhood, her interest in activism that developed during high school and grew into a passion that continues today, how she felt confident in who she was despite often being "the only one in the room" because of the strong example set by generations of her family before her, the impact of her fathers' passing and how that inadvertently lead her to Cross Fit and, later, a deep love of lifting weights, her years in the Ivy League and how she came to focus on the intersection of numerous fields of study--discrimination against Black people and discrimination against fat people, what lead to the eventual creation of Big Girl Barbell, and much more!

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Hear born and raised Portlander and multi-faceted foodie Joshua Cole talk about growing up in "Old Portland" back in the day and the city/country juxtaposition he experienced from any early age while attending school outside of the city (where his mom worked for many years), the influence his older sister had on him over the years and the professional sports aspirations he had as a kid, attending college in Eugene and his first job in the food service industry at Cafe Yumm (and yes he does like Yumm sauce!), how he slowly discovered his natural managerial skills in the restaurant setting and began to open new doors with those developing strengths, what lead to the idea and creation of Family Meal, and much more!

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Hear beloved coach/ultra runner/and community leader Yassine Diboun talk with good friend and Wy'east Wolfpack business partner (and Get After It PDX host) Willie McBride about the topic of change, both societal and inter-personal, and our human capacity to do so in regards to things like racism and addiction.  Yassine shares the story of his journey with substance abuse (and racism) and the first-hand experience of achieving life-altering personal change for the better, while acknowledging that he still--like everyone--takes life's challenges "one day at a time."  

Listen to this thought-provoking conversation and embrace the tough work necessary to overcome your personal challenges!

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Hear former aspiring chef turned thru-hiker and all-around adventurer Daniel White, aka the Blackalachian, talk about growing up in Asheville, North Carolina (after being born in Bruce Springsteen's hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey) and his early experiences in the outdoors fishing and hiking with his family,  how he got into basketball during an early growth spurt that saw him shoot up to nearly 6' 3", how a variety of jobs and a series of ups and downs--including a break up with a girlfriend and distress over the 2016 election cycle and results--resulted in suddenly undertaking a major adventure: thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail with zero prior experience backpacking, what doors opened and how his life trajectory shifted after that transformative experience, his love of history that led to biking the Underground Railroad route, how he's become a much-followed figure in the outdoor/thru-hiking world, his next projects and travels and advice regarding money, and much more!

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Hear the multi-faceted political aspirant Albert Lee talk about his early years in the St. Louis area after being born in Korea to an African-American father and Korean mother, his mother's sacrifice of working two jobs to send him and his sister to parochial schools that provided a much better education,  the domestic violence that destroyed settled life and send them from shelter to shelter seeking refuge, how he always felt and was especially treated as the "other" because of his mixed ethnicity but now views that as an asset to be able to better empathize with a large range of people, his desire to be an astronaut as young ago and how that influenced subsequent studies, the variety of jobs he held post college and how experiences from each have shaped his experience and beliefs, what he feels are the three biggest challenges facing the 3rd District of Portland, and much more!

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This is another series of special edition Get After It PDX episodes we're calling "Listen Up", where we discuss important current events with different guests in our community and beyond.  

Hear military vet turned fitness trainer and yoga enthusiast Ace Cauthen talk about growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana and why he split time between his parents and grandparents from an early age, how his grandparents instilled in him a tough work ethic that has stuck with him to this day, his path to join the military after high school and the ensuing 10 years spent serving (including some high-intensity situations overseas), a series of subsequent moves afterwards that eventually brought him to Portland, Oregon, his struggles with anger and how (reluctantly) seeing a therapist opened the doors to healing, becoming a trainer, and, later, to a very pivotal yoga retreat that broke him open emotionally and planted the seeds that would evolve into his newest life/career move: Free Space Co, and much more!

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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.

Kerry Mann is a holistic health coach in Portland, Oregon focusing on corporate wellness.  She talks about her new program for companies called "Healthy at Home" and why she feels it's important now more than ever,  her own journey with health and being coming wellness professional, the top three wellness suggestions she has for what to focus on right now during quarantine, and much more!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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!

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@jlonghaul

@daybreakracing

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!

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@lennecefer

@nativesdoutdoors

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!

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@goodcoffeepdx

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!

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@skylorpowell

@thethreadus

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 first job that gave him a real sense of meaning and a feeling of having the potential to really matter and make a chance in the world, his progression of work and projects and the eventual momentum of people starting to reach out seeking his expertise, and much, much more!

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@centerforequityandinclusion

Accomplished adventurer and born-and-raised Oregonian JT Lehman talks about growing up in the small town of Corbett beside the Columbia River Gorge, his childhood trips into nearby Portland and early perceptions of the "big city", his relationship to physical activity and the outdoors in those early years, the decision to stay local and attend college in PDX and why he chose the major he did, how his post-college move to Colorado deepened his love for mountains and turned him on to skiing and other new pursuits, his brother's life-altering accident at the end of a cross-country bike tour and how that event changed everything and strengthened his desire to share his outdoor experiences with others, how that led to the creation of Alpenflo and the business he hopes it evolves into, and much more!

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@alpenflo

Food hub expert and outdoor adventurer Emma Sharer talks about growing up in the SF Bay Area, being send to a Spanish immersion school at a young age as a result of her parent's desire to expose her to diverse environments from the get go, her first job at age 13 building "broccoli towers" at the local farmer's market and how that further sparked her interest in food and food systems, privilege and the unique education she received at Colorado College, the food project in Mexico she helped create during those collegiate years and how her Spanish speaking continues to be a valuable asset in her work to this day, outdoor activities like skiing and trail running and why those are essential to her well-being, the vision she later developed of her dream job and how people at Portland's EcoTrust somehow had the very same vision, what the word "redd" actually means and why it's located on Salmon St., and much more!

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@emshare

@ecotrust

@ecotrustevents

Powerhouse Portland food & beverage/hospitality industry veteran Jen Quist talks about her years of moving around the country during childhood for her father's work (7 homes by the time she was 5!) including a few years in Sydney, Australia before settling in the SF Bay Area, her early desire to attend University of Washington in Seattle (her father's alma mater) and why the Pacific Northwest has always felt like home, how strong her father's example as a businessman and entrepreneur was on her over the years, especially working with him directly back in the Bay Area after college, how years in commercial, and later residential, real estate taught and helped her develop a huge array of skills that she uses today, her move to NYC for culinary school and how the unexpected dream job of catering on site events and parties (3,000 in a year!) for a major department store really got things rolling, her journey to Portland, Ripple NW and why risk-taking, failing, and self-reflection is necessary, the major work she's doing now with Doug Adams at the Woodlark, and much more!

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@jenquisty

@bullardpdx

@abigailhallpdx

Creator of a lifestyle media company/clothing brand with an aim to transform and inspire, Alan Aldous talks about what got him started on his personal awakening to what really fed his soul, why he thinks being present and mindful and following his internal compass has made him a better father and person that ever before and how he's altered his parenting style as a result, the reason he feels so many people seem to settle for jobs that they dislike or lives that don't truly serve them and what can be done about it, the role fear plays in all of this, the necessity to curate what we listen/pay attention to (negative vs. positive news and media), what the future of Awaken Your Passion holds, and much more.

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@awakenyourpassion

Wine/food connoisseur and epicurean business owner Chevonne Ball talks about growing up in Vancouver, Washington and her German mother and Creole father and how those cultural influences largely came too intermingle around food, cooking, and the table, how she moved from Vancouver to downtown Portland at a young age and the drastic change of scenery (and culture) that entailed, how one restaurant job led to another and the connectedness of the Portland food and beverage world, what prompted her to begin traveling (and subsequently catch the bug for it) and make a big decision to move to France (and later move back to PDX), how the seedling of a business idea came to be planted along the way, why the name Dirty Radish stuck and what it means, and much more!

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@missvonnepdx

@dirty_radish

Mountain traveler and content producer Alexandra Lev talks about her childhood spending her summers with her hardcore climber father in the Tetons and the rest of the year with her hardcore skier mother in Salt Lake City, Utah, how she slowly came to rebel against the outdoor recreation lifestyle during her teenage years as the desire to fit in and be "normal" grew stronger, her experience with depression and anxiety--made worse by a number of accidents and injuries over the years--and how she manages them, her relationship to risk and what eventually brought her back, full circle to mountain sports again, why she feels it's important to share those experiences with others, what brought her to Portland, why she and her husband bought a house and decided to stay, and much more.

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@luckyalexandra

Beer aficionado and Operations Manager of Modern Times Beer in Portland, Oregon, Michael Christy talks about his childhood relocation to Southern California from Cincinnati, Ohio and art-focused high school where he developed an early love of film, his move back to San Diego for a job as a Naval Contractor (while beginning to experiment with home brewing beer) after college at UC Santa Cruz, how he came to the realization that we wanted to follow his passion for beer and community and turned down a major job opportunity in the process, his first beer-related job at Pizza Port and later his transition from working at long time craft giant Stone Brewing to take a chance on a small upstart named Modern Times, his move north from San Diego as that job developed and Modern Times grew and why it was so easy to fall in love with Portland, the beer scene here and the importance collaboration, and much more.

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@obihopkenobi

@moderntimespdx

Renowned outdoor recreation industry DEI activist (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) and our first Get After It PDX and beyond guest (!), Teresa Baker talks about growing up in the Bay Area and her early connection to the outdoors, the differences between NorCal and SoCal (and why she's a NorCal person through and through), how an early trip to Yosemite National Park made her further fall in love with outdoor spaces and our country's National Parks but also, later, identify a serious lack of diversity in the visitor base there, what prompted her to take action to try to address that imbalance and led to the passion project that became the African American Nature & Parks Experience,  how her commitment to DEI work (on top of her 9-5 job in real estate!) later caused her to develop the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge and all that has transpired since its creation, and much more!

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@teresabaker11

@outdoorceopledge

African American Nature & Parks Experience

Fitness/wellness figure and co-founder and owner of the hugely successful Barre3, Sadie Lincoln talks about being raised off-the-grid by her mother and her mom's free-spirited friends (along side her numerous siblings), how that life taught her lessons and set examples that still guide her today, their journey to Oregon (and later PDX!), how her desire to get to know her biological father and subsequent move to Los Angeles led to her lowest, loneliest days and how those tough times, in turn, started her down the path of group fitness and figuring out what people are really searching for, what she sees as being wrong with the current state of the fitness industry, and much more.

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@sadielincoln

@barre3

@barre3portland

Shark Tank alum and Alaska born creator of the popular and growing Portland smoothie and bowl shop Moberi, Ryan Carpenter talks about what it was like being raised in AK, how he developed a thirst for travel and made his way to the lower 48, how a series of odd jobs and a tendency toward untraditional career paths—being a Lego competition hypeman included—developed a wide array of skills he uses today, his long-time turtle friend Mo, what the Shark Tank experience was like, and much more.

Follow along:

@moberi