Traci Rossi is a long-term relationship person with a sense of joy similar to what her daughter said at 4 yrs old, “Mom, there’s enough sunshine for everybody.” Just 10 weeks ago, Traci stepped into the Executive Director role at the mentoring organization Friends of the Children- Portland with a calm confidence during a global pandemic with so much uncertainty in the air.

Alice Tang, keynote speaker + Partner at BPG Wealth Management, shares her story of making 25,000 cold calls per year as an insurance sales person before realizing that the secret to success is the adage "your network is your prosperity." What you can give to your top 10 relationships every day, every week - is what you can control and will serve you well in life.

Felicia Tripp Folsom, like her daughter, has been a social justice warrior since she was a little girl. As the daughter of a Korean mom and an African-American dad, Felicia's parents instilled in her a sense of identity and belonging in both communities growing up in the Seattle Tacoma area. In this podcast, Felicia talks about her intentionality around identity and being strategic about tracking long-term outcomes for underrepresented populations from her time at Reed College to nearly 20 years at the Portland Housing Center and now leading the charge at Emerging Leaders.

This podcast covers entrepreneurs like Kate Day who have a positive affect on their community, and what’s fascinating to me about Kate's story is that she created a powerful community in a few years that I never knew existed - women who garden or work outside who also want to feel good and have a sense in dignity in going out in public without having to change their work clothes. This spark of an idea has become a significant company called Dovetail Workwear with thousands of women all over the country as diehard loyalists to the brand.

I’m here with my Dad, Bob Buchanan. He happens to also be the best man in my wedding 19 yrs ago and my life + business mentor who invariably has a life lesson in nearly every conversation we have - it’s exhausting but endearing. Dad is a third-generation real estate developer and has run Buchanan Partners in the Greater Washington DC area for nearly 50 years. The core of what Dad believes in is family first and community a close second. He founded an economic development non-profit called The 2030 Group a decade ago and was instrumental in recently bringing Amazon HQ2 (2nd headquarters) for the Washington DC area.

I’m here with my Mom, Sharon Buchanan. She’s one of the most loving, engaging, dynamic, and entertaining people I’ve ever known. Mom is also an entrepreneur + founder of an art consulting company called Artists Circle that she started 48 years ago. Mom is the center of the family and has made a name for herself as a true leader in the art community in the Greater Washington DC area. She shares her life journey + entrepreneurial journey as one of few women business owners in the early 1970’s.

Ben McKinley, founder of Cascade Web Development, has been plugged into the Portland entrepreneur, tech, and business community, but where Ben's heart really sings is in mentoring 9-18 year old kids as the Head Coach of the MRT big mountain ski race team at Mt. Hood. All that stems from a his childhood experience of ski racing transforming his life from an insecure, chubby kid to a confident ski racer filled with joy with just being on the mountain. When Ben lost his Mom at 14 years old, skiing and mountain sports have taken on an everlasting spiritual connection to his mother who supported Ben in every way and was a role model for him of someone who followed her passions into adulthood and balancing that with always putting family first.

Su Embree and I first met 8 years ago in a small CEO group in the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO). From then on, we became fast friends and it has led to some amazing collaborations, including me following her as a President of EO Portland. Su also joined as a co-founder of Emerging Leaders 3 years ago. In this episode, which first aired 20 months ago, you'll see Su exude warmth and wisdom, leading from her incredibly strategic mind and huge heart.

Kali Thorne Ladd has a unique ability in creating community among totally different groups of people and bringing them all together where we all feel a sense of belonging and beloved community. Nowhere is this seen more than in TASTE for Equity.

Jelani Memory's bio in 140 characters: Jelani is a Husband, Father + co-founder of A Kids Book About, and a software company called Circle. He intentionally puts his energy and love into that exact priority order in his Twitter bio. At 17 years old, Jelani should have been on top of the world. He was the most popular kid in his high school, a star athlete in basketball and soccer and his grades were stellar. Yet, he was deeply depressed and realized that there must be something external - bigger than him - that could give life meaning + joy. From there, purpose has been at the center of Jelani's life and ultimately led him to start a software company called Circle and an amazing publishing company called A Kids Book About.