“Most of us go around in life as if we’re not going to die, but we are not guaranteed 80 years.  Knowing that I wasn’t going to have forever changed things.”  ~ Leah Nixon

During what she calls her first life, Leah Nixon ran a half marathon, two full marathons, helped construct houses for Habitat For Humanity and generally built up a tolerance for doing tough things, and had just started making greeting cards with her sister.

Then an accident on a construction site on August 14, 2018, changed things.  A telehandler slipped in the mud and fell over, crushing Leah beneath it.  It took firefighters 45 minutes to free her.  The accident left Leah’s lower body paralyzed but by some miracle she retained the use of her hands.

While in the hospital, Leah received an unexpected form of medicine: greeting cards.  Receiving cards helped Leah “get past the trauma” of what had happened to her and shift her to focus to what might still be possible for her.  Wanting to pay this immense healing she experienced from the cards forward, Leah called upon her experience in oil painting and illustration to test her hands and see if she could still draw.  The answer was a resounding, Yes!  

Now in her second life, Leah uses her talents to create some of the most beautiful and moving greeting cards I’ve ever seen for Tiny and Snail, a greeting card business she runs with her sister, Grace.  “We are obsessed with using the magical invention of the Postal Service to infuse love into people’s days. In an age of technology, snail mail isn’t just a novelty—it’s powerful:”

Leah grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota and is proud to be living her second life there with her husband and children, with her parents close by.

Leah’s perspective on life is engaging, optimistic, and empathic.  She has put this perspective into action that is now rippling out into the world.

As life progresses, there are undoubtedly going to be changes in store for each and everyone of us.  May we embrace these changes with Leah’s determination, joy, and vision.  

Visit Tiny and Snail here: https://tinyandsnail.com/

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

After growing up in Chicago and attending Northern Illinois University for art, the promise of surfing and warm Januarys gave Alex Rennie all the inspiration he needed to trade the frigid-howling-wind winters of the Windy City for San Diego, California palm trees and beaches.  Once there, he continued his work in graphic design and branding, mastered video production and editing, and nurtured his passion for cartooning.  He also engineered Project ABLE: Anti-Bullying Leadership Experience; an interactive empowerment workshop for kids.  Alex had found his place.  He had found his people.  He was settled and happy.  That is until a new friend whom Alex met at a premiere networking event invited him to attend a workshop…

And his plans quite suddenly changed.  

You see, Alex discovered that he was not only passionate about the content of that workshop but WHO he met there.  Love was in the air.  He had found his person and soon was hearing wedding bells.  There was only one catch to this exceedingly romantic story…this amazing woman didn’t live in San Diego, where Alex felt so at home, nor did she even live in the same state.  She lived a bit north, well actually more than a bit… She lived in a whole different country north.  In two words, she lived in Calgary, Canada.

And so, as only love would allow it, Alex traded the ocean for the mountains.  Instead of surfing, he delights in horseback rides these days, often with his wife, the love of his life, at his side.  In Canada, he embraced cartooning full on, partnering with Frank Hildebrandt to create “Abnormalville,”a series of super funny one panel cartoons. 

Alex’s story reminds me that just because life changes doesn’t mean we have to pine after the past, we can embrace fresh adventures and learn to let our heart be our guide.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

“It is a simple and profound act of faith to venture forth into the unknown; art is an act of faith.  It is the search, the process and adventure, the battle well fought on that terrible field of white canvas, the journey that is art, as much or more than the destination, which matters.  Art matters.” ~ Mark Zimmerman

Mushrooms suddenly became a big part of Mark Zimmerman’s life this past summer . . . 

Painting mushrooms that is.  

Now, if you’re wondering how someone with a MFA in painting from Illinois State University and who was the former executive director of The Arts Center in Jamestown, ND lands on mushrooms as his muse, well then, you have to understand the power of place and how it can intersect with the creative process.  Mark deeply values and learns a great deal from the land he and his wife, who is also an artist, live on and steward in the Black Hills.  It’s the land that fuels his art and his ongoing process of discovery.  As he says of his current subject, “I knew I’m going to draw a mushroom and I don’t know how yet.” 

In addition to being an artist and a lover of place, Mark is also a poet and passionate art instructor.  I’m excited to talk with him about how the power of place intersects with his own creative process and what lessons he’s learned from sharing his craft with others.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

“You have to get to the child’s level by making yourself the best toy in the room.” 

~ Kristin Wittmayer

Can profound healing, skill development, and positive change happen through play?

In my youth, I sometimes viewed playtime as a reward for something far less exciting,  as in  “Clean your room, then you can play with your friends,” or  “Finish your homework, then you can play outside until supper”.  Even as an adult, the logic lingers: play is a well deserved prize for hard work.  

But could play also be a vehicle for helping children (and adults) grow, and accomplish things that are important to their development?

These are the questions and ideas I’ve been pondering after my visit with Kristin Wittmayer at MoveU.  Kristin is an occupational therapist who works alongside another OT, physical therapist, and speech therapist at MoveU.  The team has the same goal in mind: making social connections, problem solving, confidence, skill development and joyfulness available to children through multisensory play.  Kristin firmly believes that if you don’t make therapy fun, you run the risk of kids not wanting to participate in it and as such, increased difficulty in facilitating change and lasting impact.  She talks about therapy as an artform and MoveU as the canvas where therapists and clients get to create their masterpieces.

I’m excited to talk with Kristin and explore how we each can reach new heights in our own lives through a little more playtime.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

“You’ve got to make the most of where you are, make connections and friendships wherever you are.  Even in a small town with not a lot of opportunities, you can still make your own opportunities and go on to do what you want to do.”  ~ Zach Anderson

Zach Anderson’s upbringing embodies the definition of idyllic small town life in such a way that you’d swear it couldn’t possibly exist outside of a Hallmark movie.  He grew up in Canistota, South Dakota just as his parents had and his grandparents before them.  Zach knew everybody in town, he felt he could go wherever he wanted in the community.  He played most of the sports offered by his high school, including baseball, football, track and golf.  There were 25 students in his high school’s graduating class, the majority of whom he’d known since they were in daycare together. His Dad owned the newspaper on Main Street and his grandparents farmed just outside of town.  Zach worked his way from life guard to pool manager at the local swimming pool.  “I thought I had all the opportunities I needed.” he says, reflecting on his upbringing.  But of course, there often comes a time when the boy outgrows the town he grew up in.

And he did, but Zach took every small town skill and experience he had with him as he set out into the world and built a successful career in a much larger city.  Today, he is happily married and a father of his own, doing his best to impart same small town values to his son.  

But none of us get to live a perfect, challenge-free life.  For Zach, the hardest obstacle came when his mom passed away after a battle with cancer last March.  Of his mom, he says, “If you refer to life as a test, she had all the answers.  She was the cheat code.  She was the one I went to for anything that was difficult or hard.  I referred to her as a superhero when I wrote for the newspaper in 7th grade and I still feel that way today.  She had high expectations and I continue to try to make her proud.”

I look forward to my talk with Zach, we’ll discuss the joys of small town living and also explore the challenges that life sends our way.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

“There’re so many outside factors making our kids feel like they need to be perfect.  Whether it’s continually comparing themselves to others on social media, all they absorb from their phones, struggling to be the best on the sports field, or doing great at academics.  This adds so much outside pressure to their lives. They don’t get a chance to be themselves.  It’s really hard to be a kid these days”  ~ Superintendent Joel Bailey

The quote above sounds to me like it would be from a superintendent of a school district in a big city like LA, Chicago, or New York.  

BUT, it actually comes from our guest this week, who is the superintendent of the Platte-Geddes school district in south central South Dakota.  Platte is a town with a population hovering around 1,300 and Geddes has around 156 people.  In other words, the school district serves kids who live  seemingly so far away from the problems and pressures of big city life.  Yet, these students struggle with the same stress and anxieties, just as kids all over the world do.  Superintendent Joel Bailey is passionate about helping them.  

He points out that while young people are stressing over some of the same things their parents did, they’re also saddled with the seemingly impossible task of competing with the world as presented through their Instagram and TikTok feeds.  They’re judging their beauty and measuring their self-worth against unrealistic filters and AI augmentation.  

Joel guides students from the understanding of his own experiences with anxiety and depression.  He began his career teaching 4th and 5th grade and middle school.  However, he jokes that his anxiety started in earnest the summer he taught driver’s ed to high school students.  Teaching is indeed his first career passion, but he also loves the ability school administrators have to improve so many students’ lives at once.  Having earned his PreK-12 Administration degree from University of South Dakota, and his Education Specialist Degree from the University of Sioux Falls, he is not only the current superintendent of the Platte-Geddes school district but also the principal of one of its schools.

I’m excited to have an Awkwardly Awesome conversation with Joel about the ideas and tools he has for combating the anxieties and complexities our young people face. 

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

“I’m fifty-five.  If I can’t be authentic now, when is that going to happen?  I don’t want to go to my grave being inauthentic.”  ~ Dina Lantzer

“Temporary, extreme fear while speaking the truth is easier to overcome than perpetual fear of the unspoken truth.”  ~ Matt Lantzer

Against all odds, Matt and Dina Lantzer had a marriage that worked.  They married young, when Dina was 21 and Matt was 18, but they stuck with each other through thick and thin, raised 3 kids and have 4 grandkids.  

After 35 years together, they discovered a painful truth: they had both developed a long standing habit of hiding things from each other, both big and small.  In this discovery, they came to realize that their fear of transparency with each other was simultaneously limiting their marriage's potential and smothering their individual joy.  

Join me for this nitty gritty conversation on the power of speaking our truth within our most intimate relationships.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

Do what you believe in and let meaning and service follow from that.

This is the core concept I keep coming back to as I think about my next guest’s story…

Scott Ehrisman is a multi-talented artist, a community activist, community builder, a friend to a great many people and an all around kind person. He’s truly committed to doing the things that interest and excite him. He’s had twenty different jobs, fueled by a drive to constantly better himself through learning new things and challenging himself. This drive led him to lose 130 pounds over the course of the last two two years. A personal commitment to himself found him commuting everywhere by bike last winter, sans four inhospitable days. AND keep in mind, Sioux Falls, South Dakota winters are windy, snowy, icy, and bitterly cold!

Scott’s commitment to making his convictions actionable is astonishing. A few years back, he took six months off of work to recharge, develop new fascinations, and refocus on what he wanted from life.

After researching and dreaming about starting a pedicab business for a decade, he took a leap this summer and started Downtown Rickshaw in downtown Sioux Falls. For those who aren’t up on your pedicab or cycle rickshaw lingo, picture a human-powered, three wheeled, taxi-bike service.

I love talking to Scott because in this super challenging world he has found the courage to be himself, exactly as he is, in all his brilliance, and that helps me find the courage to embrace who I am. I hope our conversation inspires a deeper recognition of your own brilliance.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

“I’m a fan of my fellow human being, I’m a fan of achievement. My mother’s hippie ways are deep within me. When I leave the world, I have the responsibility to leave it better.” ~ David Ervin

Right out of college at Penn State, David Ervin was hoping to find a job with a steady paycheck that could cover life’s essentials: car insurance and beer. Instead, what he found was a warm welcome into a community that transformed his life both professionally and personally.

David speaks passionately about how people who experience disabilities are part of the broad and sacred spectrum of what makes up humanity. He notes that there tends to be an urge to help those with disabilities out of a sense of pity. However in his experience, people with disabilities are definitely not charity cases. With reverence, David says, “I’ve learned so much from people with disabilities: grit, perseverance, bravado, the ability to find hidden strengths and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.” He goes on to say, “The people I have worked with for over 40 years want opportunity just like I do. When given an opportunity, they succeed.”

David points out, need for each other is simply part of what unites us. He talks enthusiastically about how interdependent human beings are and views the act of offering people with disabilities help is no different than offering anyone else help.

Currently the CEO of Makom, David supports and empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve the quality of life to which they aspire. He is also Conscience of the Field Editor for Helen: The Journal on Human Exceptionality.

Tune in for this enriching conversation.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

We all experience challenges. Some of these challenges are easy for those around us to spot, while others may be utterly invisible to others.

For instance, every time I speak my speech impediment is heard loud and clear by everyone within earshot. On the other hand, my friend and colleague Ryan Groenweg experiences Usher’s Syndrome which involves hearing loss and progressive vision loss. For most of his life, Ryan has been able to conceal his disability from the people around him in a way that I have never been able to hide mine. Over the past year, Ryan and I have presented together in front of audiences around South Dakota. We have found that there are both benefits and drawbacks to having a challenge out in the open, just as there are benefits and drawbacks to being able to hide a challenge. The key to thriving with a disability as part of your experience is definitely not black or white.

Tune in to hear this unique conversation between Ryan and I, where we ask each other questions about our unique disabilities, joke around, and ponder the hidden and visible nature of life.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com