When I saw her on stage at That's What She Said 2025, she shined like a diamond. Authentic, sweet and funny. A few messages later, and I got to meet the star for a long-form interview of her performance. Listen as this Farmer City girl talks about the unique spelling of her name, her career in philanthropy, infertility treatments, the heart-wrenching ending to the birth of her triplets, how to approach a grieving mother and family and the effects child-loss has on parenting her son Hudson and gi...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 8 min
Ommmmmmm. She has a calming affect that is unmatched. Flowers, yoga and an overall conscious lifestyle cloaked in spirituality, sustainability, staying grounded and an appreciation for nature. Listen as this Korea-born, nomadic youth and now local business woman shares a story of yoga, the Dahlia diva, gardening, being a librarian, spirituality, losing her mom after healing their relationship, living in a co-op household, the COVID business boom, delivering flowers on her bike and now planting a...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 154
What a character! What an entertainer! Energy and talent bubble out of this Jim Morrisonesque style icon while he graces the stages of Champaign-Urbana. Listen as this New York transplant talks about his youth as a performer, relative pitch versus perfect pitch, his ongoing residency at Urbana's Canopy Club, the history and resurrection of Piano Man, the most requested songs and finally how many unbuttoned buttons is too many buttons unbuttoned? Are you looking for a first-person testimony of yo...
Feb 18, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 153
When you realize someone you have always known strictly as an authority figure has a personal life, you begin to see them in an entirely different way. A dad, a husband, humanized, vulnerable. My former high school teacher had an entire story unfolding outside of the brick and mortar of Central High School. Listen as this tight local father-and-daughter combo come to Kitchen Table Studios to talk adoption, the One-Child Policy in China, the influx of adoptions and societal dynamics only a few de...
Feb 11, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 152
A lot can happen in two years. On September 12, 2022 the first podcast was released with this single mom. She returns to give a life update on the growth of her family and her heart. Listen as this Urbana gal talks about her move to a small town, going from a mom of one to a mom of two overnight, her faith, her support system, how she manages stress, the adoption process, how they celebrated the adoption, sibling rivalry, managing stress, dating and the part I'm really in awe of, her selflessnes...
Feb 04, 2025•47 min•Season 1Ep. 151
An early flight. A long-awaited couple's getaway. A welcome third wheel. Listen as my husband and "Tales From Two Townies" road trip warrior talks with our dear friend, Jamie Wellman, on our way to the airport. We reminisce, discuss our Austin plans, talk music and get to know this repeat podcast guest a little better. Festivals, wookies, concerts, interrupting, lunch dating, caregiver stories, being a landlord, Veo bikes, a rogue bug and so much more. Need a random stream of consciousness? This...
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 150
For the last two seasons of basketball at my son's school, I've watched this gentleman run back-and-forth while relentlessly trying to keep pace with the unwavering energy of middle school boys. Little pay, evening hours and most importantly an onslaught of unhappy customers makes officiating a job that I had to know more about. Listen as this Pesotum-adjacent lifer talks about his own sports history from the beginning. He even includes present day full-circle moments with his children's athleti...
Jan 21, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 149
Two years ago I started working with her to incorporate weights into my weekly routine. She also overhauled the way I eat, view food and think about cardio. Listen as this Oregon native and professional mover (in more ways than one) has returned to the podcast to talk less about her role as an Illini football wife and more about her role as creator of Amy Miller Fitness, gym etiquette, the old-school fear of women being "too buff," the simplification of calories in vs. calorie expenditure, our l...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 148
I took notice of her unique approach to fitness on social media. Approachable, fun, silly, doable and high on positivity/low on shame. Listen as this Danville native talks all things New Year's resolutions, ditching the concept of "new year, new you" and adopting a "word of the year," how she views her own body, "cold girl walks," talking to kids about food, fitness events culminating in a brewski or ice cream, building community, Ozempic and what's wrong/right in the wellness industry. Ali is a...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 147
I could have talked to Jason about his profession for hours. The dynamics and processes and protocols and community inside the firehouses in Champaign are tightly aligned and something the residents of CU should hear more about. Listen as this multi-generational townie talks about the testing to become a firefighter, the drop in applicants over the decade, moving up the firehouse ranks at a comparatively young age, attending a college that specialized in a firefighting career, the alarming suici...
Dec 31, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 146
It was a beautiful day. A beautiful day for a walk. A beautiful day for pickleball. A beautiful day to take the afternoon off work. Listen as this multi-generational townie and all around nice guy talks about the day he was hit by a car, the injuries sustained, the recovery, the stranger that held his hand, the EMTs who came to his side and called his firefighter son, the consequences for the under-the-influence driver, the PTSD that follows, the bracelet that everyone should have and the intere...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 145
A foursome I will never forget. During construction you become entangled with ALL kinds of people. These people are in and out of your most intimate of spaces for what seems like a long time—under typically stressful conditions. This particular group of people made the experience as painless as possible. Listen as three of the Spectrum Design Group's six employees talk about the fails and wins during their first years in business, learning how to manage the flow of a project and overall portfoli...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 144
The only competitor of his high-voltage smile is his unwavering energy and passion. This is the fuel he has to have to oversee storefronts, warehouses, construction sites and a "full" family life. Listen as this Champaign-born Charger talks about his move to the big city, finding his partner in life and business, furniture rehabbing from a small scale to packed warehouses, closing the family business (Mosser's Shoes), the HGTV show and magazine, MegMade, entrepreneurship, consistency, keeping bu...
Dec 10, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 143
Pure joy. Full of nostalgic references. The easiest conversation. We talk about a hundred different things in under an hour, and we find many parallels along the way. Listen as fellow Central Maroon talks about hosting impromptu luncheons for high schoolers, marrying at twenty with zero regrets, being average at a hundred things (her words-NOT mine), being too humble (my words-NOT hers), teaching, fitness kickstarting her life outside of littles, vasectomies, climbing the multi-level marketing l...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 142
His son, Travis, provided a connection and background on this local legend. He lived up to the hype. Sharp and media savvy, this 93-year-old Illini sports expert is a true icon. Listen as this Kentucky born, raised Monticello Sage, University of Illinois grad and media legend talks playing sports, covering sports, his early and current jobs in journalism, uncovering controversial stories in our town, making enemies and making friends, the best lunch spot in Champaign, thoughts on retirement, fam...
Nov 26, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 141
Growing, birthing and losing a child at a month old. There is an unimaginable, almost out-of-body feeling to this interview. How does someone have the strength to progress through life after the worst possible thing happens? Listen as this St. Joseph sweetheart opens up about the details of losing her daughter and first born, Reagan. She talks candidly about the pregnancy, birth and the four weeks of life with Reagan, her passing, all of the unknowns in utero and out, the celebration of life in ...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 140
Surprising. He was so unexpectedly humble, thoughtful and intellectual. A self-proclaimed "nerd," Tyler bucks all the jock stereotypes with his articulate answers and analytical thinking. Not to mention sweet, "Home is wherever my family is." Listen as this Macomb, IL born (add many moves in between), now happily rooted in Champaign, University of Illinois basketball player turned coach talks adding value wherever he can on the court. We also chatted nepotism, basketball as an art, carrying a bo...
Nov 12, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 139
AF. Alcohol-free. It's a trend sweeping the nation. No hangovers, decreased anxiety, a clear conscience and no sweat and regret. Listen to this Centennial graduate, banker and Champaign native talk about a complete change to his lifestyle, mood, outlook and relationships based on removing a constant and consistent vice. Booze. Cary reflects on his rock bottom, his marriage lows, his parenting and his career with alcohol and without. I reflect on the difference I see in Cary from a professional a...
Oct 29, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 137
You can't keep a good girl down. What would depress and ruin many, she used as a flotation device to give her purpose and direction. Listen to this Centennial graduate and Champaign native talk about a 98' boating accident on Clinton Lake, seeking justice without any resolution, finding and using prosthetics, taking an athletic background and finding a new outlet with sitting volleyball, her incredible Paralympics history, her engagement and her current position for the City of Champaign. Wrong ...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 136
He was full of good advice, warm and talkative. Easy to get along with. He is the type of person that will always say hi and always stop to have a conversation. Smart. He will tell you some of the best decisions he ever made were the ones he didn't. He will also tell you he loves taking risks, but he wants to take less and less in the next phase of life. Listen to this Champaign-Urbana native talk about making his literal mark throughout our town with iconic bars and real estate. Scott talks abo...
Oct 15, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 134
What a doll. I could literally picture her day-to-day baddasery while working alongside a crew of men. The constant battle to prove herself, learn the most and be her best while keeping her femininity hidden behind neon work shirts and ponytails. Listen as this Villa Grove gal talks about her family history in iron working, how her parents met in the industry, college vs. the trades, the proud concept of being in a union, changing her earrings to keep some of herself in her masculine work unifor...
Oct 08, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 134
From afar, I've seen his comments and likes. His support. I asked him to tell his story, as I had a hunch there was one there. Listen as this Michigan transplant, born Edward John King, talks disordered eating, working at a non-profit, decades of sobriety, codependency, mental health struggles, the unwanted hand-me-downs that come with a family of alcoholics, childhood trauma and being homeless. Higher education, exercise and a ton of self-reflection and work have helped right his ship. Each day...
Sep 30, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 133
On one of our MANY road trips this summer, in the wee hours of the morning, we talk and talk and talk about everything and nothing. Listen as my husband and "Tales From Two Townies" segment producer talk more basement sewage problems, stress, the Illinois Football NIL deal, the band no one has ever heard of, the disaster of a camp drop off, Andrew's unfulfilled dreams of becoming a comedian while workshopping bits and finally listener complaints about the podcast content. Are you looking for a f...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 132
Some call him polarizing, some call him an honest fan, an Illini expert and a media personality, he is entertaining, well spoken and not afraid to state his opinion. Listen as this Urbana native talks podcasting, his professional background in radio, his unique hair routine, teaching at a local public middle school, the state of modern kids, taking and responding to criticism and finally writing a book, "The 200 Level." In the book, "Carp," documents an Illini fan's journey. He is not afraid to ...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 131
A reunion, an interview a reflection on the moment I want to forget and the moments she will never forget. Working in the Emergency Department is full of the good, the bad and the ugly. The heroes that work the floor deserve more accolades than this podcast could possibly provide. Still, thank you. Thank you for all you do. Listen as this Champaign townie talks out her climb to local Emergency Department (ED) educator. Fellow Central grads discuss late nights, department camaraderie, our persona...
Sep 10, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 130
More than a year ago I emailed this local business owner. Since the inception of HyperLocal(s) I wanted her to come on the podcast. I wanted to tell her what an imprint her family's business made on my childhood. Thankfully, my email made it to the top of her inbox, and we were able to sit down and talk shop. Listen as this Urbana made mother of two, wife of one, talks about the inception and evolution of a Champaign-Urbana touchstone. Art Mart. Courtney shares the familial female badassery that...
Sep 03, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 129
Articulate and sweet and obviously loved, Michelle has been through it. However, she has been through it with her high school sweetheart by her side. Listen as this Centennial High School graduate talks not having prescription coverage during kidney failure, a close circle raising more than $70,000 to help pay for prescriptions, undergoing three kidney transplants, not being able to have biological children and not grieving that fact, doubling her body weight, using surgery and weight-loss drugs...
Aug 27, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 128
She's a mom at my school, and I didn't even know it! Maybe I need to open my eyes more, look up in the hallway and make an effort to know the parents around me. Many of us are so much more than what we see on the surface. Not only are we balancing the biggest job of raising kids, but some of us are keeping massive companies thriving, a family legacy alive and a mindset of both progression and tradition. Listen as this Southern Illinoisan talks about the importance of challenging yourself, how vo...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 127
Unexpected. This interview was an honest conversation about what I take for granted. It's a luxury for most—growing up in a place where opportunity is abundant. Dalitso came to the states for an education with few directions and not enough money to house and feed himself. Listen as this born Malawian moves himself from Africa to the Midwest in search of an education. This higher education experience would be very hard for him to get from his homeland. He isn't given the correct prep instructions...
Aug 13, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 126
This gal is 100 percent good, authentic and sweet. She is a ray of light. If you come in contact with her in or outside of the Emergency Department, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. I do! Listen as this Galesburg transplant made her way slowly but surely to Champaign-Urbana where she has planted her roots and grew her family. Married to a physician, she and her husband are able to share war stories from their daily experiences at neighboring hospitals. Sarah shares tales of the Emergency...
Aug 05, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 125
