Monthly Archives

July 2021

Steve Wymer

By Personal Growth, Politics, Uncategorized No Comments

In This Episode:

  • What It’s Like Growing Up In a Logging Town
  • Why Diversity of Opinion is Important Especially with Social and Media Outlets
  • Chasing Excellence Without Being Exclusive and Self-Centered
  • How Having a Child With Down Syndrome Changed Steve’s Perspective
  • Why So Many People Have Disinformation and Why It’s So Easy To Not Be Informed Nowadays
  • The Reality of Major Issues and Why So Many Are Never Ending

Quotations:

“I’d never been on an airplane, I’d never had a friend in my life who was a person of color or from a traditionally marginalized background. Man, I just had such a narrow aperture for the world.” – Steve Wymer

“I once got pulled over by a police officer and he said, ‘If I ever catch you doing that again, I’m gonna tell your mother and she is going to whoop you.” – Steve Wymer

“It’s not as simple as ‘everybody has the same opportunity.’ They don’t, not everybody is starting on the same starting line.” – Steve Wymer

“Who shapes public sentiment and how much is public sentiment truly reflective of the public?” – Steve Wymer

“The most hurtful thing ever is to be misunderstood and I feel like I’ve misunderstood at different points in my life and it drives me and motivates me big time.” – Steve Wymer

“The reason that people have disinformation is because it’s easy and it’s accessible.” – Steve Wymer

“There are tons of policy items that we could bring up and bring a solution out to that almost everybody would agree with.” – Steve Wymer

Guest’s Bio:

Steve Wymer, the President, and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley is a purpose-driven leader who spent nearly two decades serving in a variety of government and technology leadership positions prior to his current work in the non-profit sector.

Passionate about connecting others and working to help solve complex problems. Throughout his career in Washington, DC, and Silicon Valley, Steve has served as a senior advisor to three U.S. Senators, was elected by colleagues to a term as President of the bipartisan U.S. Senate Press Secretaries Association in 2010, and went on to spend nearly a decade as an executive at venture-backed and public technology companies.

Steve continues to be active in a variety of alumni services roles at Washington State University where he served an unprecedented three terms as student body president as an undergraduate. For the last seven years, Steve has chaired the Finance Committee as part of his role as a member of the board of directors of Team San Jose, the entity that manages the San Jose convention center, downtown theaters, and the city’s visitors’ bureau.

Steve and his wife Michele are the proud parents of four small children and are active in their church, youth activities, and the Special Olympics of Northern California and Nevada.

Guest’s Contact Info:

Instagram username
@stevewymer

Robert Counts

By Music, Personal Growth, Uncategorized No Comments

In This Episode:

  • What Living in Franklin, Tennessee is Like
  • Robert Talks About His First Songwriting Experience
  • Why Kids Are Like Baby Trees
  • Robert Discusses His Single “Backseat Driver”
  • The Difference Between a Sellable Hit and a Self Indulgent Love As a Songwriter
  • Why Robert Thinks His Singing Voice Is So Different From His Talking Voice
  • Why Robert Doesn’t Really Write Solo In Nashville

Quotations:

“Nashville, especially Country music, it’s not a talent competition.” – Robert Counts

“I told Sony I wanted to run with it as my first single and they just didn’t feel like it would translate.” – Robert Counts

“It was good for me to be a little bit sheltered.” – Robert Counts

“Everybody loves talking about their Crossfit career.” – Robert Counts

“I think it’s shocking people all the time and I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.” – Robert Counts

“You’re never gonna out write the town.” – Robert Counts

Guest’s Bio:

When Robert Counts released his self-titled, debut EP in October 2019, he was marking the end of a decade filled with career changes, life adjustments, and personal growth. Experiences like those helped inspire the five-track project and continue to guide Counts’ masterful songwriting into new creative territories. With his latest release, “What Do I Know,” Counts goes deeper than he has before, tapping into his working-class roots to deliver a rock-forward anthem purveying the values of hard work and simple living. The tune, which he co-wrote with Jake Mitchell and HARDY, marks a stylistic pivot from the smooth grooves and lighter volumes of Robert Counts, raising the energy level while maintaining the thoughtful lyric-writing of his debut.“

I wanted to explore a little different side of what I do,” Counts says of his newer music. “With ‘What Do I Know,’ I also wanted to shine a light on the sort of people I grew up around. They build something for themselves … they find success by working hard and showing up every day. ”

Counts grew up in rural Franklin, Tennessee, just 20 miles south of Nashville. He started playing guitar and singing at his church, where he led worship throughout his teens, but it wasn’t until after he graduated from Lee University with a degree in Biochemistry that he committed to a career in music.

After winning a songwriter’s round at Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant in Downtown Franklin, he earned a cash price and the attention of an industry publisher who offered him his first songwriting agreement. From there, he went on to write professionally on Music Row, eventually inking a management deal with famed writer-producer Jimmy Ritchey who encouraged him to pursue a career as a performer.“

He was the one who planted that seed in my head,” Counts says of shifting from songwriting to performing. “I hadn’t even thought about it, but that’s where it happened. Long story short, we wrote some songs together, and he introduced me to people at the label.” Through Ritchey, Counts landed a meeting with Sony Music Nashville’s A&R team. After an in-office performance, he received a record deal offer on the spot. Today, the artist continues to prolifically craft new tunes, pulling fresh inspiration from his life experiences in the tradition of true country music storytelling.

Guest’s Contact Info:

https://www.robertcountsmusic.com/

Twitter Username
@robertcounts

Instagram username
@robertcountsmusic

Becky Robinson

By Comedian, Uncategorized No Comments

In This Episode:

  • Becky is Participating in School of THOT (That Hoe Over There)
  • What Being Back in a Movie Theater Was Like
  • Stripper Comedians and How Becky Deals With Bombing On Stage and Mean Comments
  • Why the USGA Was Mad At Becky
  • Becky Updates Everyone On the Situation With Her Dad 
  • Quarantine and Cutting Hair

Quotations:

“So I get an email from the USGA, like, President and the subject line is, ‘We’ve got a fairly serious issue here.” – Becky Robinson

“I should have never talked about my hemorrhoids on stage.” – Becky Robinson

“Good luck with your sniffles, sniffle dick.” – Becky Robinson

“I was standing against a fence and a goat actually thought my hair was hay and bit my head and I was banging up against the fence.” – Becky Robinson
“You don’t call another adult and demand things that have nothing to do with you.” – Becky Robinson

Guest’s Bio:

Comedian, writer, actor, and voice-over star Becky Robinson is one of the youngest headliners on the comedy circuit today. Robinson is best known for her wide range of physical characters on-stage and screen with viral videos including her most popular character “Entitled Housewife.”

In 2018, Robinson was named a “New Face of Comedy” at the prestigious JFL Montreal where her stand-out performance landed her a sketch show development deal and a number of voiceover jobs with DreamWorks and Netflix to name a few. She will also be voicing the character “Jenny Droneberg” on Doug Unplugged premiering on AppleTV on November 13th. In 2016, Becky was cast on MTV’s Wild ’N Out with Nick Cannon where she also put out a Wild ’N Out Stand Up Special. Her many alter egos have been featured on E! Funny Dance Show, Hulu’s Coming to the Stage, MTV’s Acting Out, ABC’s The Bachelor, and Kevin Hart’s sketch series Writer’s Room. Becky has written for Comedy Central’s Not Safe, Snoop Dogg’s Joker’s Wild, and FunnyOrDie.

Today, Robinson is currently touring her latest live show creation, Snow Circus. Snow Circus packs heart, punchlines, characters, and improv into her electric energy on-stage during her one-woman show. Her mix of stand-up and characters leave audiences wanting more with one of the most uniquely entertaining shows of the year.

Guest’s Contact Info:

www.EntitledHouseWife.com

J.T. Harding

By Music No Comments

Also In This Episode:

  • J.T. Shares What Kenny Chesney Said at the Party for Their Number One Song
  • Tips and Advice from a Hit Songwriter in Nashville
  • How J.T. and His Co-Writers Came Up With The Tempo For “Sangria”
  • Why J.T. Used To Put Lyrics in His Socks
  • How J.T. Ended Up Writing a Song With Darius Rucker Over Zoom

Quotations:

“I wrote ‘Somewhere with You’ which was a three-week number one from Kenny Ch.esney.” – J.T. Harding

“He didn’t know I was joking, so Kenny Chesney spins around like the girl from The Exorcist, looking at me with wide eyes.” – J.T. Harding

“…That’s why I write songs; it’s cheaper than therapy.” – J.T. Harding

“…Like, the after-party last night, masks were required, pants were optional, but masks were required.” – J.T. Harding

“He and the girl gave me up for adoption when I was born, my birth certificate is framed, it’s an apology from a condom company.” – J.T. Harding

“I never met Darius Rucker, we wrote a song called ‘Beers and Sunshine’ over Zoom last year.” – J.T. Harding

Guest’s Bio:

J.T. Harding was born and raised in South Detroit. Loving MTV, he put together high school bands then chased his dream to California where he made his first demo tape with money he won on the game show “VH1 Rock ‘n’ Roll Jeopardy.” His movie scene, 3-D lyric writing caught the attention of Nashville. JT has written number one hits for Blake Shelton a Keith Urban, Uncle Kracker, and many more.

Guest’s Contact Info:

  • Twitter Username
    @jtxrockstar
  • Instagram username
    @jtxrockstar