Hosted by Patrick E. Phillips and Lisa DeRoberts Featuring: Michael Agee, Carolyn Guido Clifford, Emily Sullivan, Maggie Lou Radar, Emily Scott, Lormarev Jones. In this episode, we focus on how we are affected and coping with the current COVID-19 pandemic. Patrick finds that he needs the external contact, while Lisa has taken the time to process and strategize with her newfound time. We are in a unique moment of history. This pandemic has affected us all. We may be feeling isolated, angry, lost or afraid. We wanted to check in with each other, check in with you, and remind you to do what is best for you. If you need to seek connection through social media, great! Do it! If you need to take the time to actively process this situation and focus on yourself? That’s great! Whatever fuels you during this time, seek it out. Find how you can be adaptable as you go after your passion in this unique moment in history. We reached out to some of our previous guests, artist contributors and faithful fans about how they’re holding up after this first week. @[email protected]

Emily Sullivan is a oil painter, drawer and art educator at Pikes Peak Community College. As a military wife, Emily and her husband have had to pick up and move all over the country. They’ve also had to spend a number of months apart while he is away serving the country. Instead of letting these struggles impede her journey, Emily has taken daily practices and projects to turn her experiences into creation. She has created healthy, productive routine that bolsters her dream of making art daily. Emily has also cycled across the country, informing her passion of landscape painting. Her tenacity and hunger for unique experiences are a lesson for all of us keep finding ways to daily go after our dreams.

Michael Agee is a living samurai among us. Trained in multiple martial arts fields including Jeet Kun Do, Savate, Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Urban Combatives and more, Michael is the founder of Ronin Combatives, a self-protection group run out of his self-proclaimed basement dojo (named Okami Dojo) bent on educating individuals to protect themselves in everyday situations. While educating is his passion, Michael has never stopped being a student. He is the perfect example of someone who continues to find more fuel to his fire, asking himself what more can be explored that can be shared with his students. He is continually making himself better, following the “refiner’s fire” mentality - that “in order to forge a sword, to make it strong, it has to go through the fire.” He is constantly showing up, learning, teaching and growing and all for the betterment of his students. We hope that you are encouraged to look deeper into your passions after listening to Michael.

Meet Molly Reckman Nagle, owner of Spruce Nail Shop in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally an art teacher in Chicago, Molly hit the “5-year itch” and wanted to make a change. She got the idea to start a nail salon, and instead of waiting for investors and backers to come to her, she took charge of her journey herself. And her investment has absolutely paid off. Molly’s resourcefulness and malleability has made Spruce Nail Shop a unique, community-driven boutique in just its first 4 years. Molly teaches us that all of your skills can be used to go after what you want. You don’t have to wait for someone else to give you permission to go after your dream. You can make it yourself.

While we are on the grind to making our dreams a reality, it is important to know how we operate. What makes us thrive and what shuts us down? To better understand ourselves as we are on our own journeys, Patrick and Lisa met with Leah Wise, an enneagram enthusiast who runs a popular Instagram account @enneagrowth. In this episode, Leah walks Patrick and Lisa through their enneagram personality types and dissects their motivations. The enneagram personality test is another tool in our inventory to help us adjust when we are down and find ways to keep moving forward towards our dreams. We hope you are encouraged to find out your personality type and use it to help you when you find yourself in a rut on your journey.

Welcome back everyone! We are so excited to kick off our second season of I Just Wanna. To get things going, we wanted to share some of the exciting wins, losses, challenges and discoveries we made since beginning this podcast. We started this journey to drive ourselves to go after what we want both personally and professionally. Here we touch on how that positive drive has influenced our experiences over the past year. We hope that you find your passion, and that you get up and do it already!

Lormarev has run the entire gamut of the theatrical hustle. From being a theatre educator for kids in elementary school to young adults in college, Lormarev has been an influential artistic figure in so many young lives. On top of that, she has written a number of one-woman shows, performed in multiple musicals, and just does not stop. Most importantly, she shared her unique experience as an educator of color, reminding us all that we need to have an awareness of the world around us and be open to the wide breadth of experiences that surround us.

Brad Nicholas, AKA "Hooks the Heavy Metal Viking," is the MAN! Hooks is the perfect example of hard work, dedication, and grace under pressure. He got into the wrestling game, later than most, but that hasn't stopped him from garnering a huge following in the Cincinnati wrestling scene. Fearless to step up to a new challenge or experience, he has also stepped in front of the camera, playing featured roles in the upcoming films "Donnybrook" and "My Days of Mercy". His is a story of loss, perseverance and the power of self confidence... along with blood, body slams and a huge beard! For more information on Hooks and to buy a cool Hooks t-shirt, visit https://www.facebook.com/Hooks-280329425431268/ For information on Legends of the Squared Circle events, visit https://www.facebook.com/LSC-Legends-of-the-Squared-Circle-118082808271073/

We are so excited to introduce you to Emily Ann Scott. She is a stalwart filmmaker creating her own work in San Francisco. She has had featured parts in a number of short films as well as major motion pictures including "A Kind of Murder" starring Patrick Wilson. Finding herself in a dry period of film work, Emily decided to take matters into her own hands and turn her experiences into a kickass feminist webseries. We can all learn something from Emily's passion and drive. She's a perfect example of someone who took control of her situation and who has blossomed because of it. For more information on her webseries, go to www.representwebseries.com

We, too, are combating insecurity and standing up for what we want to do with our lives. Get to know us a little better and understand why we are on this adventure. Whether it's worries about parenting, money, work, and others, we are going to stay strong and celebrating where we are now.