I met today’s American a few years back in connection with an animation project for AmEx. Nils put together a great piece and we’ve since gone on to work together numerous times, in fact, he designed the King Media Group logo. Growing up on a farm Nils learned early the value of hard work. He went on to a successful design career and as a letterforms instructor at Art Center. Here, the conversation goes from thinning sugar beets and jumping in the river, to the value of a...

Today we’re going to hear a story from what I call the waterway interviews. A few years ago I went on a documentary expedition in a small boat, from Norfolk to Boston up the Intercoastal waterway. The goal was to search for the American Spirit. Meet Trina Sobotka. Being a little behind schedule we docked unannounced in a little marina at Cole’s Point, Virginia. A little town tucked into a sheltered bay off the Potomac River. (It's rumored that Blackbeard's famou...

Today’s guest reached out to me, (which by the way, I’d love to see more of you do)! As a nation we’re obsessed with New Year’s resolutions. Are we not? We go crazy with them even knowing that we’ll fail. It’s almost as if the tradition is to make resolutions, then not do them. John Hopper has a different approach. He calls it "Living in the How." He has a planner where there’s no time limit, there’s no calendar, just three columns: "wha...

Merry Christmas from the cast and crew of Everyday America! Today I share the soundtrack of a special living nativity, usually performed live each year for the last 22 years to audiences of thousands. To see the video that's serving as the virtual version you can go to TheLivingNativity.org Otherwise, listen here to the soundtrack with the voice talents of the inimitable Skip Conover from Pageant of the Masters fame in Laguna Beach, California. Support the show

Today’s American lives in Texas by way of Puerto Rico. Shayla Rivera is a lady of many talents. She’s a rocket scientist and worked on the shuttle and space station programs with NASA. She’s a comedian, and I met her as the emcee of an awards show I produced a few years back. She’s also a professor and teaches at Texas A&M University. You'll enjoy her humor and no-nonsense views on success and "being in charge" of your life. A quote to watch for: “When you ...

I met today’s American at a video shoot a few years ago at the quaint Trianon Theater in San Jose California. A beautiful little theater built in 1923. Jon Nakamatsu talks about what it means to follow your heart and to listen to your own voice and why he was he drawn to the piano. Where did the desire come from? What did he have to give up to be successful? The lessons are the same for each of us. Jon’s passion for music and the piano is singular, and I think yo...

His story unfolds like some kind of a movie script: Born prematurely in the backseat of a taxi cab to a drug addicted mother that didn’t know she was pregnant, a heart attack, necrotic intestines, and emergency surgery––and that was his first hour of life––Ian’s story doesn’t let up there. His adoptive parents are circus performers, and Ian himself has gone on to take his place among some world-class athletes, and now excels in a little-known Russian acrobatic discipline. F...

Brad Zinn is a preservationist. He’s preserving a part of American history that has almost faded away. He's a a comedian, a magician, and an artist that preserves the comedy of yesteryear. His one man play, The Great Comedians has won audiences over across the nation. As you listen to my in-studio guest you'll also hear George Burns, Red Skelton and even the great Johnny Carson stop by. The lesson he's learned from all these funny guys? Don't take yourself too se...

Today we’re going to hear another Waterway Interview. While coming up the Chesapeake we had a fuel stop on Kent Island, where we met up with a follower of our expedition that wanted to meet us there and escort us across the bay to Annapolis. Our escort was Daniel Zick, and after getting settled on the other side of the Chesapeake, we went to dinner with he and his new bride Catherine. While at dinner we discussed our need for a local interview and he set us up with h...

I met today’s American at a live event a few years back. He’s a DJ, a disc jockey, but that term has come to mean more than just a player of records. Jason is a marketing expert, music expert, entertainer, social facilitator, and a performance artist. He’s been hit by Covid like the rest of us, but he’s found an angle, and he’s turned the tables on the pandemic. Listen in as Jason talks about what's important to him, and his take on surviving the Covid. You can check out wh...

Today I've gone slightly off-format to bring you a short speech made by former President Reagan in August of 1984. If you've never heard it, it's worth a listen. He brings up some important points that bear remembering. Support the show

I recently reconnected with today's American on Linked In. I worked with Burnie some years back on, among other things, a car commercial, but have been following his career for some time. Burnie is a gaffer... a lighting guy, and he has some great stories from the set, and an interesting story about a famous singer, but that’s not all there is to the story of Craig “Burnie” Burns. He had a rough start, and if it weren’t for one special person, his story might have had a diff...

Jill Peterson talks about how she got the crazy idea to bike across America, the nearly ten years it took to plan, and the adventure of executing her plan. She wrote a book about the adventure titled, "You Only Die Once." Here's a story about an ordinary person that decided to do something extraordinary. Quotes to watch for: “The more I played with the numbers, the more it got into my mind that I wanted to do it.” “Some of it was the rush of knowing that I’m doing something...

Today we’re going to hear another story from what I call the Waterway Interviews, captured during a documentary expedition in a small boat, from Norfolk to Boston. Each day we’d end up in a new port and each day we’d find someone to interview. I collected a batch of interviews from an interesting cross-section of Americans. This interview takes place in Norfolk, and in this shortest of episodes we hear from Jake and his father Dave. At 17 Jake was diagnosed with Lymphoma.&nb...

Jana talks about the loss of her father and the dissolution of her family at a young age. When her mother spirals into alcoholism, the siblings end up in foster care. Here she talks about loss, change, the destruction of a family, and the discovery of another. When she could be bitter, she's remained positive. She lifts others wherever she is, and you’d never know that there was once a darker side to her life. Even in the telling she avoids the dark and keeps it brig...

Michelle Borquez was born and raised in Santa Monica California. Even as a child she had a desire to help others. As she began her career she learned the skills she would need to realize her goals, and then, she took her desire to help people and turned it into a thriving business. Here she talks about overcoming fear, discovering her love of helping others, and what it means to be a Go2Girl. Quote to watch for: “I just made my company be a company that I would want to use....

Bill McGowan talks career change, creativity, and the state of things. I recently rediscovered today’s guest on LinkedIn. Bill McGowan is a writer, now ad agency guru, and I’ve known Bill easily for 30 years. In 2008 the recession hit and like many, Bill was forced to make some changes. He gave up the writing gig and had to reinvent his future. His insights are unique to the creative field, and yet universal to many of us. I think you’ll enjoy his passion. Quotes to ...

Nashville is considered the music capital of the world, where talent can even be found in the local McDonald’s. That’s where I met Ron Crites just over a year ago. He’s a master musician who’s opened for name talent across the South. But I didn’t meet him standing in line to order, he was actually playing a gig on stage in the restaurant. So as you can guess, this is no ordinary McDonald’s. Ron is pure country through and through and you have to admire his passion and love o...

Today we’re going to hear a story from what I call the waterway interviews, captured during a documentary expedition in a small boat, from Norfolk to Boston. Each day we’d end up in a new port and each day we’d find someone to interview. I collected a batch of interviews from an interesting cross-section of Americans. I interviewed immigrants, professors, evangelists, families, and even a tornado survivor. Today we’re going to hear from Thuy, (Twee). Her story is fascinating...

I met Big C at a truck stop on the California Arizona border, where he was selling his CDs by performing and playing his music in the parking lot. It was 11:30 at night and over 100 degrees. His story is one of talent and drive, a descent into darkness and redemption; and his music and tenacity to succeed are the ingredients that helped him survive. You’ll love his honesty and his vibe, and I play some of his music too. You have to check him out and I think you’ll find a new favor...