“Life has handed you new puzzles to solve and an adventure that people rarely experience. But you're never alone. We're in this together.”  Ty Vuong on what he would tell someone who has been newly diagnosed as a quadriplegic.

What do we do when our reality suddenly changes in a fundamental way?  

The local news is ripe with stories of horrible accidents and the people who survive them, but how often do we hear the follow up stories?  How often does the word “survivor” carry with it the requirement these people live drastically different lives than the ones they experienced before? 

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to witness the aftereffects of one such story for myself.

Ty Vuong rolled out on stage in a wheelchair and proceeded to speak to me and hundreds of other people in attendance with a calm confidence, encouraging us to move forward in our lives,  no matter the obstacles. 

I was deeply moved and knew at that moment I had to find a way to have him tell his story on the Awkwardly Awesome Podcast.

Some very significant backstory - On October 15th, 2023, Ty had a motorcycle accident where he broke his spine in two places. This made him tetraplegic, more commonly known as quadriplegic, meaning Ty had greatly limited use of both arms and no use of his legs.  

What can you possibly do when something so devastating upends your entire existence?  Ty’s answer is crystal clear:  You simply roll on.

With sheer tenacity Ty is regaining the function of his arms and is now able to use both his arms and hands to manually maneuver his wheelchair.

Sioux Falls Simplified declared Ty Vuong “Everybody’s Best Friend.”  He challenges current perspectives, encourages others to have the curiosity to explore “what is”, and to use science and psychology to implement solutions that celebrate what it is to be human. He has degrees in Psychology Human Factors: User Experience (UX) and feels fulfilled in his role in adjunct instruction at the University of South Dakota. 

Tune in as I have a deeply moving conversation with this truly incredible man.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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

I have to admit, Matt Krall is my next guest on Awkwardly Awesome Podcast due to a case of mistaken identity. 

Let me explain, between sessions at a conference I attended recently, I noticed someone wearing a shirt with “ND” emblazoned on it.  Being from South Dakota my mind instantaneously thought it was initials for our northern counterpart, so I approached and asked, “Did you go to North Dakota?”  The shirt wearer replied, “No, I went to Notre Dame.”  Despite my incorrect assumption, Matt and I talked for a few more minutes and I learned that not only did he attend Notre Dame but he played defensive line on their 1988 Championship football team.  Then he said that he’s currently developing a personal and professional growth app with a business partner.  I’m fascinated by the extraordinary work that it takes to achieve athletic success at such a high level and I’m equally fascinated by the world of personal development, so I very quickly knew that I wanted to have Matt on the show.

As I had further conversation with Matt, I learned that he’s a very active community member, and loves being a husband and father.  He said he spent twenty years chasing promotions in the financial services industry, which it turns out was a very humble way of saying that his last position was as the president of a major banking institution. Thanks, LinkedIn!

These days Matt has very consciously shifted his purpose.  He describes his new purpose this way, “I wake up each morning wanting to empower those who are next.”

Yes, I met Matt Krall because I made a mistake, but not any ol’ mistake, a very happy mistake.  As a result, we all get to benefit.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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

Do you ever notice how easy it is to only focus on one dimension of a person’s life when you first meet them?  A lot of times it's “Nice to meet you, my name’s Jason, what do you do for a living?”  And gradually over time you just start thinking of that person solely based on that.  Each time you talk it’s “How’s that one dimension I know about you going?”   I fall into this pattern more than I care to admit.  Thus, I love that hosting Awkwardly Awesome Podcast repeatedly reminds me how limiting this habit can be.

I met David Tollefson at a conference in Sioux Falls last fall.  He introduced himself as an engineer and we started talking about his work.  But I have to be honest, even after talking with him for a while and again in recent months about his job, I’m still hard pressed to explain it.  I don’t get what he does exactly, but I know what he does is important.  This is my best explanation- David Tollefson engineers various control set ups for the food processing industry that keep things running safely and efficiently, which is deeply important to all of us who like to eat.  So yes, basically David is one of many unsung heroes behind the scenes of our lives.

Fortunately, towards the end of our initial conversation, we broke the one dimensional “what we do” wall.  Somehow we got to talking about our families and discovered that both of our mother’s families are from the St. Cloud, Minnesota area.  Then he’s like, “Oh by the way I participated in this thing called Drum Corp where I traveled around the United States for two years taking part in drumming competitions and I’ve been to all 48 of the contiguous United States.”

And, oh by the way, when I looked it up, I discovered Drum Corp International is No Small Thing.  According to their website, “For nearly a half century, Drum Corps International, Marching Music’s Major League™, has been the leader in producing events for the world’s most elite and exclusive marching ensembles for student musicians and performers.  Drum Corps International delivers the message of “excellence in performance and in life” to more than 7.2 million young people, ages 13-22 involved in the performing arts across the United States.”

Some months later I met with David over Zoom and found out he also teaches yoga and learned about some other fascinating dimensions of his life.  He has inspiring things to say about high performance and the power of constantly growing and I’m just like, “You know what?  Why aren’t we doing this on my podcast?”  So, I’m honored to have him join us so you can experience the many dimensions of David Tollefson.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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

Hollywood is a place, at least according to the stereotype, which is always right except for when it’s not, where glamor reigns supreme and actors and actresses get facelifts rather than contemplate mortality.  But, maybe that goes for all of us in a way.

Mariam Azolyan and Gaspar Tovmasyan both grew up in California and met in Hollywood, they fell in love, married and had three wonderful boys.  Gaspar became an MRI technologist, and worked in healthcare for over eleven years; while Mariam earned her masters degree in counseling with a specialization in rehabilitation services and was an educator who served students with and without disabilities in both community college and university settings for fifteen years.

Proud to be of service in their chosen professions, their careers seemed pretty straight-forward until Gaspar’s mom, who thought she was on-track to live a long and healthy life, was suddenly diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease at age of 55.  

Over the next decade, Mariam and Gaspar would dedicate themselves to keeping Gaspar’s mother  in her own home and staffing that home with the caregivers she’d need to live as complete and comfortable a life as possible.  Their shared experience would inspire them to make a career shift and establish a business of their own that helps families prepare for the long-term healthcare needs of their loved ones, including adults and children who experience special needs.  

Over the past eight years, they have proudly helped a great many families confidently plan for their futures.

I’m excited to talk with Mariam and Gaspar Azolyan about honoring the goodness of life without ignoring the realities of mortality.  

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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

“Here’s the deal, if you don’t say ‘no’ at some point in your life, ‘no’ will end up being said for you by default, and if you don’t say ‘no’, then you will end up saying ‘no’ to the people you love the most.”  ~ Terry Hershey

The power of a person’s words can travel far and wide.  They certainly did from my next guest, Terry Hershey, all the way from the Puget Sound in Washington State to little ol’ Brandon, South Dakota.  

See, former guest Jennifer Jinks Hoffmann started forwarding Terry’s newsletters to my inbox.  And even though our paths have never crossed, I can attest that he’s an amazing storyteller, chock full of powerful and healing perspectives on life that help me see things differently.

I find the teachings on his website to be especially profound.  This isn’t typically what I do in a guest bio, but I want to share two of his quotes and see if they resonate with you as much as they do with me:

“Yes, we want to love other people without holding back. We want to feel authentic. We want to breathe in the beauty around us. And yet; we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.”

“Finding beauty is not about new vistas, it’s about new eyes.”

Terry Hershey describes himself as an “author, humorist, inspirational speaker, dad, ordained minister, golf addict, and smitten by French wine.” 

I’m looking forward to having a conversation with a man I met entirely through his written word.  I’m so excited for him to share his wisdom, stories, humor and perspectives with you.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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

I’m not sure exactly when poetry had its heyday, but it was probably about a century ago, or so.  In this day and age, it’s not a cake walk being a committed poet.  Poetry just can’t hold a candle to TikTok or scrolling Reels; even movies and music are going through a massive transformation, and books, well they seem to be headed the same direction as poetry.  I say this as someone who fell in love with writing poems in high school, got my BFA in poetry, and has been writing them ever since.  And yet, my dedication looks like peanuts next to people like Jennifer Soule who has devoted so much love and energy honing her skills and becoming a brilliant practitioner of this art form.

A retired social worker/therapist, a retired social work professor, a person who has lived all around the country; my dad’s neighbor and friend, my classmate in the aforementioned MFA program; the daughter of a Mom who is 101 years old, an owner of a BIG dog, Elliot, who is named after the poet T.S. Elliot.  She is not only a poet, but a poetry therapist.  Jennifer is all of this and more.  Actually, Jennifer’s full name is Jennifer Lynn Kayl Soule BA, MSW, MFA, PhD.  That’s quite a name!

She has published poems in various journals and anthologies and her poetry book, ‘WINTER WOMAN’ by Kelsay Books, came out last year.  This book follows the release of ‘Hiawatha Asylum’ published by Finishing Line Press, and ‘Postcard Days’ published by Cherry Creek Press.  I find her books poems incredible and am astonished by how Jennifer uses her skills as an empathetic person to write poignantly about people who have experiences far different than her own.  Poetry might be your thing or it might not be, either way, we can learn so many new and interesting things about life from people who have different fixations than we do. 

Please tune in for this deeply moving and heart opening episode.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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

I’ve known my next guest, Josh Munce, since we were in highschool together.  His life’s ambition at that age was one he’d carried with him since childhood: He wanted to be a big time movie director.  Josh followed his dream into film school in Montana, but during his first semester there he was overcome with a strong sense that he needed to return home to South Dakota.  

He returned just in time to spend deeply meaningful months with his father before he passed away from cancer.  After losing his father, Josh decided he needed to stay close to his mother and decided instead of returning to Montana, he would finish his schooling at South Dakota State University.  His mom would join his dad ten years after that.    

But Josh’s ambition for storytelling did not end, it evolved in big and unexpected ways.  First as a local news photojournalist/editor for a decade and, most recently, telling stories of the resilience and determination of local and regional athletes as producer, shooter, editor, and sometimes writer for Midco Sports Magazine, a multi Emmy award-winning show on Midco Sports Network.  The athletes, coaches and fans highlighted in Midco Sports Magazine weren’t always the stars of their team.  Sometimes they weren’t even on a team!  Take me for instance, Josh once had me on his show and I’m by no stretch of the imagination an average athlete or even a mediocre athlete for that matter.  He was most interested in telling the stories of people who overcame substantial obstacles in hopes of inspiring others.  As Josh puts it, “I enjoy storytelling, but helping others discover their voice and storytelling skills is my real passion!”  Currently, Josh is continuing his own story with his new position as Assignment Editor and Crew Manager at Midco Sports.

 Later in life, his own story received an added twist when he met and fell in love with Lindsey, an amazing woman who became his wife.  Together they’re raising two girls, ages four and six.

Tune in as we explore the story of Josh Munce.

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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

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