Don Liimatainen is the CEO and founder of the Best Christmas Ever organization, a local Minneapolis nonprofit that helps families in need have an amazing Christmas. Last year Backpocket and Straight Candid worked with the Best Christmas Ever organization and the community raised over $10,000 for a local family in need!
Your kindness paid for gifts for the family, paid for a few months of rent, and basically saved the family from getting evicted from their home!
Surprising this family last year was incredible and we’re stoked to do it all over again!
This year we’re sponsoring a family of 6 who’ve fallen on hard times and they’re currently living out of a hotel.
Our goal this year is to raise $20,000 to help get this family out of a hotel and into a home!
To Donate Follow the Link Below: 
fanlink.to/BCE2021

334. Don Liimatainen

A comedy podcast highlighting stories of success from ordinary, average people doing the extraordinary.

Comedy

Paul Martin is a former NHL Hockey & U of M Gophers defensemen. Paul co-founded Shine a Ligh7, a non-profit focusing on youth mental health organizing events, funds and programs to provide youth to express their musical outlets. Enjoy! Please donate and support our mental health fundraiser HERE - [https://crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/Backpocket](https://crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/Backpocket)

341. Paul Martin

Mark Dowdle is a great friend, reoccuring guest, and ultra marathon athlete. Mark discusses his recent accomplishment running 484.5 miles and raising $53k in 9 days during his Love Like Laurie Legacy run, his enthusiasm behind his recent “Run and Plunge” events he’s been doing with Embrace North, and we look ahead to the big ideas to come for 2023. Enjoy! Please donate and support our mental health fundraiser HERE - https://crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/Backpocket

340. Mark Dowdle

Emily Rooney is a dear friend we met freezing our asses off together when we took plunges in the ICE COLD Cedar Lake with Embrace North in Winter ‘22. We talk to Emily about her career working in professional sports with the Vikings, Seattle Krakken and now THE Big Ten Conference. We gain fruitful insight on her mental health journey and touch on how the conversation of mental health has changed so drastically. Thank you to Emily for sharing her story and having a totally KILLER answer to our question “What’s in your Backpocket?” Please donate and support our mental health fundraiser HERE - https://crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/Backpocket

339. Emily Rooney

The boys of BP have officially launched their $50,000 mental health fundraiser with the Masonic Childrens Hospital in the Twin Cities. They catch everyone up to speed on how the fundraiser came to be and how it is going. They also reflect on the accomplishments this year with the DNP and spill a little tea about the MASSIVE things coming in 2023 - stay til the end to hear some exciting intel! Enjoy! Please donate and support our mental health fundraiser HERE - https://crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/Backpocket

338. Tis the Season of Giving

Jeff Cole is a renowned pop culture artist who is the cofounder of Ikonick (a motivational canvas wall art company backed by Gary Vee & Scooter Braun) and creator of Sneaks of Nature (a web3 sneaker inpspired franchise). Jeff is a from the suburbs of Chicago and knew he was going to be a artist as early as the age 5 or 6. Decky sits down to discuss Jeff's come up to being one of the most impactful pop culture artist in todays age and how he's leveraged his creativity and curiousity to create Sneaks of Nature in the uncharted world of web3. Enjoy!

334. Don Liimatainen

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