After two decades producing some of television’s biggest reality hits — America’s Got Talent, Jersey Shore, Joe Millionaire, Chrisley Knows Best — I learned something simple but profound: the best stories aren’t about fame, they’re about why. Why people dream. Why they fall. Why they get back up. That’s where the real story lives.
When the world shut down and Hollywood began to unravel, I followed love and landed in Bentonville, Arkansas — a small town that changed everything I thought I knew about community. What I found here was a place built on connection, creativity, and purpose. From the world-class art of Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, to mountain bike trails that wind through the Ozarks, to neighbors who still wave from their porches — Bentonville has become my favorite place in America.
Now, GoodTimes is where I chase that same why through the voices of the people building this new frontier — chefs, founders, artists, and dreamers who remind us that success isn’t about spotlight, it’s about story.
Because when you understand why people do what they do, you don’t just tell a story — you feel it.
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After two decades producing some of television’s biggest reality hits — America’s Got Talent, Jersey Shore, Joe Millionaire, Chrisley Knows Best — I learned something simple but profound: the best stories aren’t about fame, they’re about why. Why people dream. Why they fall. Why they get back up. That’s where the real story lives.
When the world shut down and Hollywood began to unravel, I followed love and landed in Bentonville, Arkansas — a small town that changed everything I thought I knew about community. What I found here was a place built on connection, creativity, and purpose. From the world-class art of Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, to mountain bike trails that wind through the Ozarks, to neighbors who still wave from their porches — Bentonville has become my favorite place in America.
Now, GoodTimes is where I chase that same why through the voices of the people building this new frontier — chefs, founders, artists, and dreamers who remind us that success isn’t about spotlight, it’s about story.
Because when you understand why people do what they do, you don’t just tell a story — you feel it.
Welcome to "The GoodTimes Show" with Damon Epps! Today we would like to introduce our extraordinary guest, Roland Smith, an American author whose prize-winning publications include fiction and nonfiction. His latest novel, "The Switch," is a thrilling story about how far people will go to survive.
Roland Smith's journey began at age five when his parents gave him an old manual typewriter that sparked his love of writing. His writing style started to take shape when he took his first job at the Portland Zoo, where he had to figure out how to handle dangerous animals without training—eventually, becoming a children's writer with his first book, "Sea Otter Rescue," inspired by his involvement in the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, where he led a team of experts to figure out a way to capture and save Sea Otters in the wild, which had never been done before.
Roland Smith has received many writing awards, including the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Children's Book Award for his historical fiction novel "The Captain's Dog" and the Oregon Book Award for Young Readers for "Journey of the Red Wolf," inspired by his dozens of years as a wolf biologist.
Join us as we discover how Roland Smith made his way from Portland, Oregon, to Bentonville, Arkansas, and what is next for this incredible author with almost 50 titles in publication.
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GoodTimes with Damon Epps
After two decades producing some of television’s biggest reality hits — America’s Got Talent, Jersey Shore, Joe Millionaire, Chrisley Knows Best — I learned something simple but profound: the best stories aren’t about fame, they’re about why. Why people dream. Why they fall. Why they get back up. That’s where the real story lives.
When the world shut down and Hollywood began to unravel, I followed love and landed in Bentonville, Arkansas — a small town that changed everything I thought I knew about community. What I found here was a place built on connection, creativity, and purpose. From the world-class art of Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, to mountain bike trails that wind through the Ozarks, to neighbors who still wave from their porches — Bentonville has become my favorite place in America.
Now, GoodTimes is where I chase that same why through the voices of the people building this new frontier — chefs, founders, artists, and dreamers who remind us that success isn’t about spotlight, it’s about story.
Because when you understand why people do what they do, you don’t just tell a story — you feel it.
