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…

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, wh…

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 …

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 sa…

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. Mike currently works for Kaiser Permanente and as an adjunct professor in the Alcohol and Drug Counseling Program at Portland Community Col…

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 …

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 t…

Hear dog lover, long time basket-baller, and recent Nolan's 14 finisher Hannes Gehring talk about spending the first 11 years of his life in Germany with his two siblings and missionary parents, the differences in education style he experienced there vs the United States before his family relocated to Lake Oswego, Oregon, his relationship with reli…

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 s…

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 HB…

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 s…

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…

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 …

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 professio…

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 journe…

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…

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 settle…

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. Listen Up #1 features Faith Briggs (former Get After It PDX guest on Episode 4!) talking about the case of Ahmaud Arbery in specific and the tragic frequency at w…

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 en…

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 …

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…

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 y…

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, he…

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 …

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 …

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 …

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…

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 em…

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…

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 ab…

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…

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 pos…

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…

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 wa…

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…

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 …

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…

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 t…

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 …

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 institutio…

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 coll…

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 h…

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 fathe…

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 par…

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 scener…

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…

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 b…

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 Yosemit…

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 de…

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 i…