Kirt talks about the history behind an iconic movie character, James Bond.
Leah graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor’s in Exercise Science & minor in Nutrition from Miami Univ. in Oxford, OH. She skated on the Varsity skating team & qualified for Team USA representing her country in Croatia, Prague, & Switzerland. After graduating, Leah became a professional figure skater with Holiday on Ice touring in Europe, a make-up artist & even a medical sales rep., she even continues to skate for pleasure & gives back to her community by coaching & mentoring young skaters in Louisville.
In 2018 she put her college degree to work & became a Certified Personal Trainer at Proformance. In 2019 Leah started her own online fitness business, Leah Travisano Fitness LLC. Since inception, she has helped hundreds of women reach their goals of becoming healthier, stronger, & more confident. I really admire Leah’s training philosophy of a very individualized approach to meet her client’s needs. Through skating, she learned the importance of mental toughness, goal setting, & the ability to turn obstacles into opportunities. She works together to improve not only your physical health but your mental health. She considers herself a client’s coach who is here to guide you on YOUR path to success & self-love.
Leah lives in Louisville, KY with her husband Pete and their dog Marvin.
Tawanda is the System Director Business Intelligence, Clinical Value & Healthcare Analytics at Norton Healthcare, with oversight of a team of analysts that use business data, computer techniques & statistical methods to provide insight into business performance & suggested areas of & methods of improving operations. Tawanda joined Norton Healthcare in 2015. Before joining Norton healthcare, he helped implement the Epic EMR (electronic medical record) systems in consultant roles for numerous healthcare organizations, including Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, Sutter Health in Sacramento, California, the Univ. of Miami in Miami, Florida, Lahey Health System in Boston, MA, Inova Health in Virginia, Premier Health in Dayton Ohio, & San Diego Children’s Hospital in San Diego, CA. He began his career as an Implementation Specialist at Epic Systems in Madison, WI. Tawanda is a highly active member of the community. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Louisville YMCA, is a Board Member for Volunteers of America Mid-states & a Board of Trustees for the Speed Art Museum. Tawanda Chitapa holds a bachelor’s degree & an MHA, BOTH from W. KY. Univ. Tawanda enjoys watching soccer, exploring sights around the city, and indulging in every foodie experience he can find around Louisville. He lives in Louisville with his son Isaiah and is a native of Zimbabwe, but today an American immigrant success story!
Tawanda’s favorite saying is that he enjoys mentoring young professionals to grow their wings “so they too can fly.”
Kirt discusses the events of 9/11 and his story 20 years later.
Join Kirt as he explores the history of Labor Day.
Adria embodies hope, integrity, humanity & has focused her career on lifting some of society’s most vulnerable populations & being of service to others. She is a dedicated & well-respected servant leader with more than 26 yrs. of hands-on experience in both the public/private sectors. Her proven ability to lead efforts toward reform & work collaboratively across a wide range of stakeholders has served her well in her current position of Chief Impact Officer for Metro United Way and prior roles held in KY. State Govt. & Lou. Metro Govt. Her leadership has been instrumental in bringing about expanded service provision in many areas, including neighborhood revitalization supports, preventive services for children & youth at risk of abuse or neglect, comprehensive services for children & youth with greater behavioral & developmental needs, employment opportunities for youth aging out of foster care, & dev. of workforce opportunities for social services disciplines. Also, Adria has stood at the forefront & led & supported efforts to address racial disparities & equity concerns within the populations served in child welfare. Before joining Metro United Way, Adria served as Commissioner & Deputy Commissioner of the Ky. Dept. for Community-Based Services. Before joining state govt. Ms. Johnson held key roles in Lou. Metro Government ranging from Capital Planning Analyst in the Office of Mgt. & Budget to Acting Dir. of the Dept. of Community Services & Revitalization. Adria’s strong fiscal experience was gained in various roles held in the private sector for the 1st half of her career at Humana, LG&E & Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation. She completed her undergraduate studies at Ball St. Univ. & completed several post-graduate courses from the Univ. of Lou. She is ALSO a published author, having published a book of poetry in 2004. Adria is a native of Lou. & has 2 children, a daughter named is Brenlie & a son named Kenneth (but she has called him KJ since birth-(hey I kind of like those initials…wink), & 2 precious grandchildren-a grandson named Kye, & a granddaughter named is Amerie.
Tom is a member of the KY. law firm of Stoll Keenon Ogden, where his legal practice focuses on mgt.-side labor & employment law. Multiple times he has been recognized as 1 of the top 50 lawyers in the Commonwealth of KY. by Super Lawyers. Tom was a funder of Restorative Justice Louisville. He has also served as Pres. of the Louisville Bar Assoc. & Bd. Chair of Leadership Lou. being recognized by that organization as 1 of Louisville’s “Connectors.” As well as yours truly back in 2010. Tom was instrumental in having a marker dedicated to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the lincoln memorial. He advanced a similar resolution naming Thomas Merton Square in Lou. where Merton had his famous epiphany. Tom served on the Steering Committee for the 2013 visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Lou. During that time, he served as co-host for Compassionate Lou. For that work, Louisville was named the model compassionate city for multiple years and Tom received the Intnl. Ht. of Compassion award from the Charter for Compassion International. Tom & his lovely wife Sarah reside in Lou. Their 3 children, Lilly, Lincoln & Nelson.
Join Kirt as he talks about the history of Friday the 13th.
Her professional & legal accomplishments are vast, BUT that is only part of her origin story. You see, Rebecca was diagnosed, JUST WEEKS before her daughter’s 1st birthday, with a VERY rare blood cancer called Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm, better known as (BPDCN)-an acute form of Leukemia. This disease is SO RARE & SO AGGRESSIVE; there is NO standard recommended course of treatment. RARER STILL, is the fact that the OVERWHELMING majority of BPDCN patients are older men! WHO KNEW? Understandably devastated by this prognosis, but true to form, Rebecca refused to yield, & she found hope in a brand new targeted therapy through an FDA-APPROVED clinical trial. Thus, after 4 rounds of a clinical trial drug, Rebecca received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant-the ONLY potential cure for BPDCN, & due to the selfless donation of a complete stranger, she is still alive today to tell her story!
Now that is just “1/2”-if you will-of Rebecca’s backstory. She was the 2014-2015 President of YPAL, 2013 40 under 40 recipient, a Board Of Governors with the Speed Art Museum, and 2005-2006 University of Kentucky Student Body President. OH, SHE GRADUATED MAGNA CUM LAUDE IN 2006 with a B.S. in Communications. Rebecca is also a seasoned litigator/counselor on complex employment law issues & business disputes. She has a multi-state practice in which she partners with various clients & industries to defend against claims challenging their personnel & business decisions. She regularly defends management-side clients against charges & lawsuits, alleging discrimination, harassment, & retaliation. She also defends claims involving independent contractor misclassification, workers comp. retaliation, whistleblower retaliation, disability accommodation, family & medical leave, & individual & collective wage/hour issues. She also has substantial experience drafting & enforcing employment agreements & restrictive covenants, including non-compete, non-solicitation, & confidentiality provisions. She regularly acts as “in-house” employment counsel for cos. that elect to outsource their employment work. She also provides day-to-day, proactive, & common sense counseling to employers on every aspect of the employer-employee relationship. In conjunction with counseling, Rebecca is a frequent speaker & author on trending employment law issues. She conducts targeted client training for employees, human resources professionals, & company managers. Rebecca & her husband John have 1 lovely daughter named Caroline & reside in the Louisville-area.
Cara learned early in her career, from her Baby Boomer and GenX mentors, what “professionalism” meant to them, and absorbed critical information about management expectations during her first decade in the business world. She then went on to earn her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the top-ranked University of Louisville Entrepreneurship program, lived overseas teaching German executives about business practices in the U.S., and then started her consulting firm Magnet Culture, a Crescendo Strategies company, in 2012.
Today, at age 39, she’s a highly-sought-after national speaker conducting 50 to 100 engagements annually and she has already earned her Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, which less than 10% of speakers achieve. Louisville Business First named her one of their 2018 Forty Under 40 young professionals. Workforce Magazine in Chicago named Cara a “Game Changer” for her innovative approach to solving generational issues in the workplace and Recruiter.com listed her in their “Top 10 Company Culture Experts to Watch,” list. She is also the author of the book, Staying Power: Why Your Employees Leave & How to Keep Them Longer.
As a U.S. Army Combat Veteran of Iraqi Freedom, he served honorably for 9 yrs. & was a Non-Commissioned Officer before getting out of the Army in 2008. After leaving the Army, Jeremy went to school at Mid-Continent Univ. studying Bus. Mgt. & started a career in Oper. Mgt. in the Manufacturing & the Supply Chain Logistics Industry. As a man with an Entrepreneurial heart, he wanted to do more to support the Veteran community & founded in KY. the Veteran’s Club Inc in KY. & has assisted over thousands of Veterans in a multitude of ways such as their nationally recognized Equine Therapy Program, Career Transition for Vets needing employment, Family Outreach Program, & is currently developing the Camp Restoration Community to house & heal homeless veterans.
Veteran’s Club Inc also works heavily in veteran’s outreach in the community including raising money for Veteran causes & providing meals, job opportunities, & teaching leadership classes to homeless veterans throughout KY. I love this next part, Jeremy also goes into jails & substance abuse inpatient facilities to teach life skills classes in hopes that those who are in there have the tools needed upon release. Veteran’s Club INC was the 2019 Recipient of the Patriots Award for Veterans Service Organization. This is a national award given from the American Freedom Fund in Washington D.C. every year. Jeremy was also named one of 2020’s Louisville Business First’s 40 Under 40, and KY. veteran of the Year, and was commissioned a Ky. Colonel for the works he’s done for veterans in Ky. Jeremy is the Co-Chair for the Veterans Community Alliance of Louisville (VCAL). Jeremy also serves on the Week of Valor planning committee for Lou. Metro Govt. as well as the VA Mental Health Summit planning committee.
Outside of his organization, Jeremy travels with an organization called Mighty Oaks Warrior Program to help struggling veterans in weeklong retreats in CA, OH, TX, & VA. & was selected as a Community Influencer for the Mayor of Louisville’s Synergy Project bridging the gap between citizens & police. As if that was not enough of a commitment, Jeremy was selected to serve on the Governor’s Challenge Team to help develop a policy to combat SMVF-(which stands for Service Members, Veterans & their Families) suicides in KY. He is even a very active leader in his church SEast Christian in Louisville, & independent from his organization, Jeremy is often called upon by local & some national news affiliates when it comes to Veteran related topics not limited to PTSD, Homelessness, Suicide, Policy, Foreign Policy, and more! Jeremy is married to his lovely wife Erin, & they have 3 daughters named Brooklyn, Mattie & Lola & 1 son named Collin.
Having grown up in Texas, Jarrod played many organized sports all such as football, baseball, golf, track, & tennis. He then graduated from Meridian High School in Meridian, TX., & joined the US Navy obtaining an SSBI-(which stands for Single Scope Background Investigation, for a Top Secret Clearance-serving 4 years & did a combat tour in Iraq/Persian Gulf…not TOO shabby!
Jarrod then got out of the Navy & started attending McClennan Community College, while working as a Defense Contractor L-3 Communications, doing security. Part of duties included security for President George W. Bush when he would go to his Crawford, Texas Ranch. He even worked with Secret Service & Local law enforcement agencies.
He then transferred to the Univ. of North Texas, spending 2 semesters, before transferring to Tarleton State Univ., which is a part of the Texas A&M System, where he graduated in 2008, with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Political Science.
While at Tarleton he even joined the esteemed brotherhood of Sigma Chi International Fraternity AND served as Philanthropy Chair. Upon his 2008 graduation, he moved to Jacksonville, FL where he then re-enlisted in the United States Army. After numerous schools, he was finally stationed at Ft. Knox, KY in the Big Red 1, 3rd Combat Brigade.
Then he was deployed to Afghanistan, spent a yr. there at the Forward Operating Base Gardez high in the mountains on the border of Pakistan. Upon leaving the Army & returning home to Texas, he was employed as a bar manager in a local business.
Then in 2014, he moved to Louisville, working odd jobs, till he got hired on as a line cook at New Restaurant River House & Raw Bar, under the auspices of Chef John Varanese, a former MoxieTalk guest, where he moved through the ranks to Sous Chef within a few months, & stayed there for 2 years, when he left & started a mobile vending business first as a hot dog cart, then as a food trailer & finally Copper Kitchen Food Truck, also known as Copper Streatery. As of this taping he has been in operation for 3 years now & blessed with year over year growth!
As an entrepreneur, business owner, professor, and active community member, his story is one of survival, determination, & service.
In other words, MOXIE!
You see, Tran’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam in March 1995. They came with very little, so he had to work hard. He did not know how to speak English when he arrived in 1995.
His personal goals have been and are to champion small business ownership and success by working to remove the obstacles that keep people from achieving the “American Dream”, which he was able to do despite all these challenges.
True to his commitment, he became a U.S. Citizen in 2000 and went on to earn a 2006 B.S. and 2009 M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Louisville, as well as a Doctorate of Philosophy from Sullivan University in 2017.
All the while, Di has founded 10 businesses all of which are still in operation. In addition to 18 years of experience as a computer programmer/engineer at a Fortune 50 company and serves as a faculty member at Sullivan University teaching Info. technology.
Di says many people helped him along the way, and he believes it is important to pay it forward. So, true to his word, he has found ways to help others achieve their full potential. In addition to teaching at Sullivan, he founded the Louisville Beauty Academy in 2016, which to date has graduated & helped over 250 people obtain good-paying jobs without ANY government support, an accomplishment for which he was named a 2019 Kentucky Colonel.
He now owns multiple nail salons and is the owner & proprietor of the Louisville Beauty Academy (LBA). Through these businesses, Di has sponsored people from across the world to come to Louisville, find employment, & earn American citizenship. He also serves as a part-time computer science professor at Sullivan University.
In 2018, Tran launched a technical college called the Louisville Institute of Technology & is a 2020 Mosaic Honoree.
Through the years, Tran has also mentored 20 individuals to open their own businesses & he continues to teach & mentor many more.
Tran currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Louisville Independent Business Association (LIBA) & the South Louisville LIBA Committee, is a Board member of BOTH the KY. Assoc. of Career Colleges – known as KACCS & the Vietnamese Comm. of Louisville, as well as Tri An-a $1.5Mil Vietnam War Monument Project. He is an active member of Greater Louisville Inc. and is on LHOME’s Community Advisory Committee representing the South End.
Di, and his lovely wife Vy, have 3 boys, and all reside in Louisville.
Join Kirt as he goes over the history of July 4th!
Kirt talks about the important history of Juneteenth.
McGarity grew up in rural South Carolina, his mom & mamaw instilled a passion for food at an early age. After going to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University & working in Charleston, SC for many years.
In 2004, he moved to Louisville and was encouraged that the food scene had much to offer a young chef & fell in love with the city.
After working at several Louisville fine dining places as Executive Chef, he was ready to open a restaurant as both Executive Chef & Owner. With the help of his wife, Laura, The Fat Lamb ModernKitchen & Bar opened in Nov. 2016. The small, open-kitchen concept has received a great response from the highlands neighborhood within which it is located & continues to serve both local patrons & visitors upscale comfort food with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients.
In March of 2018, Chef Dallas was approached to purchase Portage House Restaurant in Jeffersonville, IN. The riverfront view of the old house that the restaurant sits in was so charming that he & his wife decided it was time to expand. Portage House re-opened on March 23rd, 2018 with a new menu & new owners.
Portage House & The Fat Lamb both continue to provide exceptional cuisine & fantastic service with unique atmospheres.
Since then, Chef Dallas has also taken on the Louisville food service operations at Copper & Kings Distillery with Alex&nder, the 3rd-floor lounge/bar at the distillery serving a creative menu that changes frequently.
With all these different projects going on & a family life to maintain, Chef Dallas continues to support the community by doing many charity events each year & trying to give back to the community whenever possible. Dallas has received such Honors and Awards as:
Charitable Contributions & events Dallas has contributed to are: Bourbon & Bowties, Taste of St. Raphael, Home of the Innocent Backyard BBQ, Cabbage Patch Settlement House, Conrad Caldwell house; Gilda’s club; Highland Presbyterian Weekday School, Mama-to Mama; JCPS Chef’s Club for Elementary Students, State Fair Cooking demonstrations; March of Dimes; APRON Inc; Bloom Elementary School; Louisville Leopards among many others.
Dallas, & his lovely wife Laura & 2 children reside in Louisville.
From the time she learned how to draw at the age of 2, Ms. Baker has dreamt of becoming an artist. Endowed with a strong work ethic & the support of her parents, Alfred Seiders & Rosalee (Wilson) Withrow, she continued to practice art until enrolling in college. Though her friends & counselor advised her that she should pursue her passion & natural talent in painting, she originally majored in psychology. Ultimately, Ms. Baker’s true calling gained predominance, & she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Baylor Univ. in Waco, TX, in 1964. Between obtaining an undergrad. degree & a Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, in 1981, Ms. Baker traveled the world, studying & exhibiting her work in Florence, Italy, & across the United States. In 1977, she was named as a visiting artist to the Republic of South Korea on behalf of the United States Information Services. During her 9 months abroad, Ms. Baker directed fine arts workshops & mounted a major exhibition of her own artwork. Ms. Baker’s prolific career has led to dozens of exhibitions of her work, including 1-woman shows, permanent installations, & participation in group exhibitions. Her work has been shown continuously throughout the U. S. since 1969. In addition to her acclaim as an artist, Ms. Baker has also found success in teaching, serving as an adjunct professor at the Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville, the Univ. of Southern Indiana, & as a visiting professor at the Univ. of Evansville in Evansville, IN. Furthermore, Ms. Baker is a member of the National Artists Equity Association, for which she held the posts of the Reg. Vice Pres. on the National Bd. of AE in Washington, D.C. from 1985 to 1995 & was pres. of the Los Angeles Chapter for 4 years, until 1995. She is additionally associated with the Women’s Caucus for Art, the College Arts Association (CAA), & the New York Artists Equity Assoc. Ms. Baker has authored numerous articles, & her written work has extended into personal publications, such as My Turn, a novel, & Poems of Accord & Satisfaction, a collection of Poetry. In addition, she authored the Elba Journal, a short travel journal that includes a mystery. She currently performs the roles of an artist & the sole proprietor of her eponymous studio, Jill Baker Artist’s Studio, creating a variety of work, spanning illustrations & freelance work to her lauded paintings. Ms. Baker also continues to exhibit her art & manages Winchester Cottage Print, a business she established in 1997. Jill, & her partner & previous guest Lee Pennington reside in Middletown, KY.
Join Kirt for a discussion about the brief history of Memorial Day.
After completing graduate studies & military service, Steve joined Owens Corning, a leading manufacturer of construction & building products. He held several Human Resources positions & also acted as a business leader for a manufacturing department.
In 1998 Steve joined Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Endo-Surgery in Cincinnati, Ohio, as HR Director for the Corporate support organizations & Research & Development. He was then promoted to Vice President, Human Resources, J&J Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics-International & was based in London, England.
Steve joined the J&J Consumer Companies in 2004 as Vice President, Human Resources, North America.
In 2007 Steve assumed global Human Resources responsibilities for the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Group of Cos, & was a member of the Consumer Group Operating Committee.
Steve was appointed Chief Human Resource Officer for Catalyst Health Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefit management organization, in 2011.
From 2013-2018 Steve served as Chief Administrative & Chief People Officer for Kindred Healthcare, with overall responsibility for the company’s human capital initiatives.
Steve received a BA in Psychology from East Carolina Univ. in Greenville, North Carolina & also received his MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from that same institution.
He serves as a Bd. member for the East Carolina University Foundation, Greater Louisville, Inc, USA Cares, & Kentuckiana Works.
Steve, his wife Ellen, & their 2 children live in Louisville.
Listen to this very unique segment where Kirt talks with such various Cosplay characters as Master Chief from Halo Video Game Series, “Steam Punk” Princess Leia, Green Arrow, The Flame Hero named Endeavor, AND Rorschach from the Watchmen DC Comics’ series.
Join Kirt for a short trip into the history of Mother's Day.
Join Kirt for an off-the-cuff segment about the Cinco de Mayo celebrations.