Bright Lights by Lacy Johnson

Karin Housley is a Minnesota politician, businesswoman, and member of the Minnesota Senate. A Republican, she represents Forest Lake, Stillwater, and the surrounding St. Croix Valley.

Greg Urban is a business owner and and city council member in Vadnais Heights. His restaurant, Wild Greg's, has locations in Minnesota, Florida, and Texas. He also owns and operates Urban Companies, which primarily operates in the Landscape Services business / industry within the Agricultural Services sector

Catrin Wigfall is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment. She is also the director of Educated Teachers MN and Employee Freedom MN.

Catrin’s experience in education and policy research began during her time with the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. Her interest in education policy led her to spend two years teaching 5th grade general education and 6th grade Latin in Arizona as a Teach for America corps member. She then used her classroom experience to transition back into education policy work at the California Policy Center before joining American Experiment in February 2017.

Catrin graduated summa cum laude from Azusa Pacific University in California, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Rev Dean Nelson is the founder of the Frederick Douglas foundation. The Frederick Douglass Foundation is a public policy and educational organization which brings the sanctity of free market and limited government ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing our nation. The organization is a collection of pro-active individuals committed to developing innovative and new approaches to today’s problems.

Ron Waliczek is an experienced sales and marketing professional with a background in the financial services industry focused on FX, customer relationship management, derivative product education and business development. Skilled in market education, mentoring, closing deals and presenting on topics such as FX, interest rate risk management and global market trends.

Andy Noble's experience is vast and diverse, with responsibilities ranging from CEO, Team Leader, Cultural Entrepreneur, Wealth Strategist & Professional Business Coach. He is currently the CEO / Team Leader of Fast-Growing Market Center at Keller Williams. 

Felipe is the Former Senior Legislative and Policy Director for the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs, and is currently a Tax Policy Advisor. Felipe also obtained an MS in Business Management from the School for International Training. 

Kendall Qualls went from serving in as an Officer in the US Army during the Korean War, to now having over 25 years of health care experience. With an MBA from the University of Michigan with an emphasis in strategy, a MA in Communications from the University of Oklahoma, and a BA in Political Science from Cameron University. After a congress run in Minnesota, he now is the president of TakeCharge, which aims to inspire minority communities to take charge of their own lives, and reject the notion of America being a racist country.

Tracy Schmidt is a professional clinical counselor, and owner of Southbridge Counseling Associates. Southbridge Counseling Associates is a certified Dialectic Behavioral Clinic in Savage MN.

Lacy sits down with James McDonald. James McDonald is the CEO of Hercules Investments. Hercules Investments is an alternative investment manager specializing in systemic investment strategies, and winner of the 2020 wealthmanagement.com Alternative Manager of the Year award. The Hercules investment team features investment professionals averaging over 20+ years of experience.