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Today is our last episode of the year of RECkoning with Real Estate. While we’re a little sad to close this season, we’re incredibly grateful for everything we’ve been able to share and learn together. But rather than talk about endings, Let’s talk about beginnings! Longtime guest Matt Berna joins us to share his journey into becoming a loan officer. He touches on the certifications, flexibility, and challenges. We also talk about Bell Bank Mortgage, the Minnesota-based, employee-owned company where Matt works, and its commitment to giving back through yearly donations. Thanks for spending the year with us, and as always, find us at therecollab.com. We will never not be delighted to help with anything real estate or community.

Extras:

Behind? Watch last week’s episode!

Unpacking the Realtor® Brand episode: part one, two, and three!

How REC does Financing differently

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Matt Berna @ Bell Bank Mortgage

Ben Feldman @ Active Insurance Solutions

Paul Metsa is joined by Steve Jenkins, executive director of the Bob Dylan Center, to uncover how Tulsa, Oklahoma, became a major hub for American music history. They dig into the careful curation behind the side-by-side Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie archives, exploring everything from preserving thousands of handwritten lyrics to showcasing rare historical footage. Jenkins also shares the story of young Dylan’s pilgrimage to meet Guthrie in New York and highlights special archival film screenings happening in Minneapolis.

Philip Anthony is joined by Steven Schroer, candidate for the Minnesota Senate in District 57, to discuss what it takes to genuinely represent working-class communities across Lakeville and Scott County. Drawing from his background as a union organizer and his family’s personal healthcare battles, Schroer shares why he decided to step up and run for public office. Their discussion covers his “Minnesota Plan” for electoral reform, tackling the affordable housing shortage, and finding real solutions for property taxes and childcare costs.

Your network is not valuable because of how many people you know. It is valuable because of the trust, credibility, access, and reciprocal value that exist inside those relationships.

In this episode of the *Do Different Better Show*, Y. Elaine Rasmussen explores relationship capital as a form of leverage: how to build it, maintain it, and ethically activate it when opportunities arise.

You’ll learn why networking alone is not enough, how dormant relationships can become valuable again, when and how to make strategic asks, and how to create a network that can open doors without turning every interaction into a transaction.

Because sometimes the opportunity you need is not one connection away.

It is one well-maintained relationship away.

Caddy Frink and Sarah Kemp sit down with Sean and Molly to unpack the day-to-day realities of the Recovery Corps program. The discussion highlights how individuals with lived experience are building new career paths as peer recovery support specialists. You’ll learn the specific ways this AmeriCorps initiative provides training and helps participants transition back into the professional workforce.

This week’s Big Story is a tough look at a recent loss for our community in conservative Iowa. I break down how a small-town school board bowed to transphobic pressure and rejected the contract of Ace Rios, a highly qualified transgender band director. The Big Interview features Ken Mejia-Beal from the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. We discuss the vital work of getting queer candidates elected to public office and why local representation matters. In Random Acts, I reflect on my 4,600-mile cross-country road trip and share a hopeful realization about experiencing zero transphobia along the way.

In this heartfelt episode of Sorting Through Life, Colleen sits down with her dear friend Mary, an 88-year-old community builder and lifelong source of wisdom. Together, they explore the realities of aging—from retirement, medical challenges, and physical limitations to falls, loneliness, and the difficult process of letting go of a longtime home.

Mary speaks candidly about learning to tell the truth about what she needs, asking her family for help, and finding new ways to stay connected with grandchildren, friends, and community. She also shares the emotional weight of watching longtime friends and family members decline and die, and the exhaustion that comes with repeatedly saying goodbye.

Through it all, Mary returns to the values that continue to sustain her: listening deeply, caring for others, bringing humor to hard moments, and intentionally choosing joy. This is an honest and uplifting conversation about vulnerability, resilience, intergenerational friendship, and finding meaning in every season of life.

Patty Merker, owner of The Comfort Homes, joins host Ken Haglind on “Living Healthy and Aging Well” to discuss her personal and professional experience in

Laurie Fitz, Connections Radio Host, explores Abijah’s mission, values and stories with the founders Sally Jane Mixon and Dani Palmer.  Abijah Pairs off-track Thoroughbreds with clinical counselors , & the experiential nature of their model allows clients to bring what they learn in the paddock into their daily lives, creating lasting wellness    Abijah’s specializes in serving First Responders, Military, the backside racing community, and professional athletes. The Minnesota State Legislature has provided multi-year funding for active duty and retired First Responders to receive our mental health equine experiential services free of charge. Heartwarming stories of courage, passion, grit and the power of horses helping to heal are shared. For more information on Abijah – go to www.abijahs.org.