Chief Travis Ruby has spent 26 years in law enforcement and more than 30 years coaching youth soccer, and he believes leadership works the same way in both: people rise to the expectations you set for them. As Chief of Police for the City of Eagle, Idaho, he sits down with Katiuscia to talk about what it really takes to lead well, from the soccer field to the police department.

His path was never a straight line. He expected college scholarship offers that never came, joined the Marine Corps instead, and built a career that took him from inmate records to school resource officer to Chief. Along the way, he shaped a leadership philosophy built on trust, empowerment, communication, and accountability, and a belief that there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.

This conversation also opens up about officer wellness: counseling, peer support, and what it takes to make it okay to not be okay. He closes on a simple idea he lives by: kindness is free.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.


Learn more about the Ada County Sheriff's Office here.

**A note on this episode: it includes a brief, careful discussion of mental health and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (the U.S. Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

00:00:00 Cold Open: "I Failed You"
00:00:18 Meet Chief Travis Ruby: From the Marine Corps to Police Chief
00:06:05 School Resource Officer: "You Were My SRO"
00:13:00 Leading Through Growth in Eagle, Idaho
00:17:29 Protecting the Vulnerable: Major Crimes & Investigations
00:23:36 Officer Wellness: Counseling, Peer Support & Making It Ok to Not Be Ok
00:39:04 Coaching Youth Soccer for 30 Years: "Get To" vs. "Have To"
00:48:43 Failure, Referees & Why Adults Are the Problem in Youth Sports
00:59:23 Owning Failure: No Bad Teams, Only Bad Leaders
01:03:13 Trust, Empower, Communicate, Accountability
01:10:03 Kindness Is Free

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Chase Tomseth has spent 21 years as a personal trainer and a decade as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and in that time he's learned the biggest barrier to getting fit was never the workout — it's the story we tell ourselves. In this conversation, Chase and Katiuscia dig into what actually drives lasting change: why “I can't” is almost always “I don't want to,” why the bathroom scale can lie to you, what it really means to be fit (hint: it's five things, not one), and why he'll fire a client before he'll let them stay stuck. They also get personal — Katiuscia opens up about training through an autoimmune illness and why strength became her survival tool, not just a hobby.

Whether you're just getting started or you've been chasing the same goal for years, this conversation is a reset on what fitness is actually for.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

Connect with Chase Tomseth: fitnessboise.com | [email protected]

00:00:00 Meet Chase Tomseth: 21 Years as a Personal Trainer & Black Belt
00:02:35 What Still Drives Him After Two Decades of Coaching
00:04:22 Training Every Age, From 5 to 92
00:05:50 Katiuscia's Own Story: Training Through Autoimmune Illness
00:07:33 The Real Reasons People Finally Start
00:12:51 Why the Scale Lies (and What Actually Matters)
00:19:34 Health First: Redefining What "Fit" Really Means
00:25:42 Time Isn't the Problem — Priorities Are
00:29:29 "I Can't" vs. "I Don't Want To"
00:39:56 Firing Clients, Fake Trainers & Just Getting Started

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This is one of the most personal episodes — because my guest is my mother, Pina Colucci.

Pina is the oldest of five, first-generation American, and grew up in a close, traditional immigrant family. She married young — and after years of abuse, she made the decision to leave for her daughter, raising her as a single mom while she rebuilt everything from scratch. What followed was decades of rebuilding: beauty school, a small business that lasted 32 years, a whole generation of stylists she mentored along the way, and a life built on the relationships she never stopped prioritizing.

We get into a few of the most pivotal chapters of her life — not everything, but the parts that shaped her, and me, the most. We talk about building a business from nothing, mentoring dozens of stylists over three decades, staying rooted in community,  and how surviving what she did gave her a deeper empathy for everyone who's sat in her chair since.

This is a survivor story, an entrepreneur story, a mentorship story, and — above everything else — a love letter between a mother and daughter. If there's one thing Pina wants you to walk away with, it's this: find your voice.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

00:00:00  Meeting My Mother, Pina Colucci
00:01:57  How She Got My Name & Growing Up in an Immigrant Family
00:05:29  When the Marriage Turned Abusive
00:07:59  Leaving — For Her Daughter
00:19:22  Find Your Voice: Advice for Anyone in Her Shoes
00:23:26  Building a 32-Year Business & Mentoring the Next Generation
00:28:30  Community, Volunteering & Leadership Boise
00:50:44  On Friendship, Family & What Lasts
00:56:52  Closing: Grace, Strength & the Greatest Gift

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Detective Brendan Kirkpatrick has spent 32 years in law enforcement — the last six investigating financial crimes for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Eagle, Idaho — and the scams he sees every day are more sophisticated, more emotional, and more widespread than most of us realize.

Brendan pulls back the curtain on the fraud epidemic hitting Americans of every age: imposter scams that impersonate law enforcement and the IRS, cryptocurrency “pig butchering” schemes that wiped out a 45-year-old investor’s early retirement, gift card fraud rings that swap barcodes right off the store shelf, romance scams that convince lonely widows and widowers they’re in a relationship with a celebrity or a soldier overseas, and “money mule” schemes that quietly use unsuspecting people — of any age — to launder stolen funds.

We talk about how “love bombing” works, why money mules often have no idea they’re part of a crime, and the moment Brendan used a reverse image search to unmask a scammer — only to watch the victim explain it away. Brendan also shares his nine personal commandments for staying safe, why he says “trust but verify” has become simply “verify — no trust,” and what he wishes every family understood about talking to parents of any age before it’s too late.

This conversation will change the way you answer the phone — no matter how old you are.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

Learn more about the Ada County Sheriff's Office here.

Brendan's Commandments
DON'T:
Respond to cold call emails or texts
Give cards (gift cards or prepaid)
Purchase Cryptocurrency
Invest in Cryptocurrency
Send cash in the mail
Send money --Venmo, Cash App, Zelle
Allow remote access to phone/computer
Give out personal information (DOB, SSN, Address, etc)
Give out banking info (account, routing, passwords, pin)

00:00:00  Welcome & Brendan's 32 Years in Law Enforcement
00:02:39  Imposter Scams: America's #1 Financial Crime
00:05:02  Crypto Investment Scams & “Pig Butchering” Explained
00:08:05  IRS Scams, ATM Skimmers & the “Hit and Run” Playbook
00:19:04  Gift Cards, Fake Tech Support & the $2.1 Million Case
00:24:06  Romance Scams: Love Bombing & the “Johnny Depp” Story
00:32:59  A Rare Win: Recovering $27,000 at the UPS Store
00:47:00  Unmasking a Scammer: The Reverse Image Search Reveal
01:00:26  Money Mules & “Trust But Verify”
01:09:00  Brendan's Commandments, AI & the Dark Web

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Imposter syndrome followed Nicole Cormier from a grade school classroom to the boardroom — until a breakdown on a mountain highway forced her to rewrite the story she'd been telling herself since childhood.

In this conversation, the Change Management Consultant with Unleashing Leaders traces imposter syndrome back further than most people are willing to go: to a childhood on an Idaho farm where success was expected but never celebrated, through a difficult divorce that left her questioning her worth, and into a career pivot from grade school teacher to executive consultant that cracked the whole thing wide open.

She walks through the moment it finally broke — a three-and-a-half-hour car ride to a leadership conference that ended in what she calls "an ugly cry," and the mentor sitting next to her who refused to let her keep telling herself the old story. Research says 70% of people experience some form of imposter syndrome, and 45% of them are women. Nicole doesn't offer a way to silence that voice. She offers something more honest: how to stop letting it win.

This episode is for anyone who has ever sat at the table wondering if they deserve to be there.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

Learn more about Unleashing Leaders here.
Connect with Nicole here.

00:00:00 Meet Nicole Cormier
00:04:16 Reading the Room: The Psychology of Who Speaks Up
00:10:47 From Third-Grade Teacher to Change Consultant
00:21:25 What Imposter Syndrome Actually Is (Not Just "Fake It Till You Make It")
00:24:02 Raised on an Idaho Farm: Where the Voice Began
00:31:38 Worthy at the Table: Chasing Achievement Over Acceptance
00:39:36 Divorce, Single Motherhood & Starting Over
00:52:34 Full Circle: Community, Confidence & Being Proud
01:00:36 The Sun Valley Car Ride That Changed Everything
01:16:22 The Dandelion: Choosing to Be the Wish, Not the Weed

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Chief Tracy Basterrechea has led the Meridian Police Department for six years, with 30 years of law enforcement experience behind him. When a young officer on his team died by suicide, it changed everything about how his department approaches mental health — leading to a legislative fight to get PTSD covered under workman's comp, and a deeper commitment to officer wellness and resilience that Chief Basterrechea carries into every part of how he leads.

In this conversation, he opens up about that loss, about staying apolitical in a divided moment, and about a conversation with his teenage son at a protest that reshaped how he sees his role. He also traces the full arc that got him here — a ride-along that started it all, years undercover on a DEA drug task force — and the family history that shaped him: his father was born in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, and was just two years old the day Guernica was bombed, hiding under a bridge with his mother.

This is a conversation about grief, duty, and what real leadership looks like when you lead with heart.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

Learn more and stay connected with the Meridian Police Department:
https://meridiancity.org/police/
https://www.instagram.com/meridianpolicedepartment

00:00:00 Welcome: Meet Chief Tracy Basterrechea
00:01:18 Basque Roots: War, Persecution & a Sheep Camp Journey to America
00:06:23 Choosing the Badge: How a Ride-Along Changed Everything
00:10:52 Undercover: Life as a DEA Task Force Officer
00:18:06 Climbing the Ranks: Sergeant, Lieutenant & a First-Night Homicide
00:25:26 Family First: Balancing Fatherhood and the Badge
00:34:15 Leading Meridian PD: Joy, Challenges & Leading Up the Chain
00:37:39 Loss, Mental Health & the Fight for PTSD Coverage
00:53:30 Public Trust, Politics & Policing in Idaho
00:59:53 His Son's Question, Doxxing & What Real Leadership Means

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Every life has a sliding-doors moment — a small, almost forgettable decision that quietly becomes a career pivot. For Travis Jones, it started with growing up three miles outside a town of 170 people in rural northeastern Oregon: a graduating class of 21, and a family that ran cattle, timber, and a construction business to make it work. This is a small-town-to-big-city life story that then went further — a college decision, a chance conversation at a small-town pancake breakfast, and a career pivot into government affairs that most people from a town that size never see coming.

Travis and Katiuscia trace every one of those sliding-doors decisions: the college choice that almost sent him to Malibu instead of Moscow, Idaho, six years working in Washington, D.C. and on Capitol Hill as a policy advisor to a sitting U.S. Senator, a corporate detour into government affairs for Nike, and the values — shaped by how he was raised — that eventually brought him home to build a 25-plus year career as a government affairs consultant and lobbyist in Idaho.

This is a story about small towns, big cities, free will, fate, career reinvention, and how the way we're raised quietly shapes the decisions we make — a personal-growth conversation for anyone thinking about their own next pivot.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

00:00:25  Meet Travis Jones: 25 Years in Government Affairs
00:01:02  Small-Town Oregon: Growing Up in Lostine, Population 170
00:03:03  Pepperdine vs. University of Idaho: A Sliding-Doors Decision
00:16:45  Free Will, Fate, and the Decisions That Redirect a Life
00:26:22  A Pancake Breakfast Conversation That Led to Washington, D.C.
00:33:24  What Lobbying Really Is: Working Across the Aisle in Idaho
00:34:48  Leaving Idaho for Nike — and the Pull to Come Home
00:49:06  Freedom, Guns, and Why Idaho's Values Stuck
01:00:28  Inside Capitol Hill: Whip Meetings, the Senate Floor, and the Pull of Power
01:11:45  Choosing Balance: Family, Legislative Session, and Life After DC

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Mike Campos is a mortgage lender with Origin Point Mortgage — and a full-time convert to small-town Idaho farm life, still discovering the Treasure Valley right alongside Katiuscia. He and Katiuscia — both calling Star, Idaho home — pull up a chair for an unfiltered, old-friends catch-up about acreage, Highland cows, and everything that comes with trading city life for a tractor.

This is a deep, comprehensive look at small-town and farm life in the Treasure Valley: Highland cows as Idaho's favorite "yard art," what it really takes to build community in a small town, water rights and irrigation on a five-acre homestead, and the homeschool vs. traditional school debate facing Idaho families. Mike also brings his lender's eye to the conversation — breaking down how a reverse mortgage actually works, home equity strategy, and how families near Boise are building real wealth through smart lending decisions. Along the way, they get into one of Southwest Idaho's most talked-about local issues: the ongoing drought and the fight over recycled agriculture water in Eagle and Star.

Whether you're curious about farm life near Boise, weighing reverse mortgages or real estate strategy, or just want an honest look at small-town Idaho — this covers a lot of ground.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

Connect with Mike at [email protected] and find him on the social channels @mikecamposmortgage.

00:00:00  Welcome Back & Catching Up
00:02:17  Highland Cows: Idaho's Favorite "Yard Art"
00:07:26  Mayor Chadwick & the Heart of Star, Idaho
00:09:53  Building Community: Friendship & Showing Up for Each Other
00:20:33  Wealth-Building 101: Reverse Mortgages & Lending Strategy
00:26:02  Peptides, Recovery & Wakeboarding at 40+
00:33:33  Dark Sky Camping & Best of the Treasure Valley
00:38:42  Why They Chose Idaho Over Texas
00:49:29  Homeschool vs. Traditional School (and Local Leadership in Star)
00:59:20  Their 5-Acre Homestead & Idaho Water Rights 101
01:02:15  Idaho's Water Crisis: Drought & the Recycled Water Fight
01:20:04  Lending, Wealth-Building & Closing Thoughts on Idaho Life

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Karyn Stuart spent a lot of her career running weight-loss centers for other people — a Jenny Craig region, managing various centers, working with thousands of clients — before her own body stopped playing by the rules she knew.

In this conversation, Karyn, Director of Leadership Programs at the Boise Metro Chamber, opens up about her Hashimoto's thyroiditis diagnosis, the punishing collision of menopause and thyroid disease, and the doctor who told her weight gain was “all in her head.”

She discusses why insulin resistance made weight loss hard for her, why her body stored fat differently than it used to, and the moment she decided to try GLP-1 medication after nothing else worked for her. Along the way: real talk about fad diets from the Beverly Hills Diet to the banana milk diet, why “everything in moderation” only worked for her some of the time, and the four-step framework Karyn built from years of watching what actually helps people change.

***Karyn is not a doctor or nutritionist —  this is her personal story, not medical advice, and a reminder that sometimes losing weight is not always just about willpower.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

00:00:00 — Welcome Karyn Stuart, Boise Metro Chamber Director of Leadership Programs
00:01:31 — Inside the weight loss industry: Jenny Craig & Lindora
00:09:50 — Karyn's Hashimoto's diagnosis story
00:13:18 — Katiuscia's lupus & prednisone weight journey
00:23:57 — “It's in your head”: when doctors dismiss real symptoms
00:35:25 — The Hashimoto's poster and the “doughy” moment
00:39:49 — Why “normal” bloodwork isn't the whole story
00:44:33 — Throwback fad diets: Beverly Hills & banana milk
00:58:19 — Putting autoimmune illness into remission
01:13:12 — The “X factor” that makes people finally change
01:20:27 — GLP-1 medications: the real talk

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Sergeant Justin Elliott has spent almost 25 years in law enforcement with the Ada County Sheriff’s Office — and over ten years on the Ada County Crisis Negotiations Team, where he has served as team lead since 2021. He came to this career on September 11th, watching the towers fall and deciding he wanted to be one of the people running toward the chaos, not away from it. He still is.

Justin opens up about the mental health toll this career carries — and what it gives back. He talks about carrying one traumatic call every week for nine years before finally asking for help, and how the culture inside law enforcement has shifted from “suck it up, buttercup” to genuine peer support and wellness programs. He introduces the concept of “brain stain” — the way certain streets and intersections carry memories that never fully fade — and walks through the MORE PIES active listening framework his crisis negotiation team lives by in the field. He shares what people in crisis actually want most, the one unbreakable rule of negotiation, and moments from this career that have genuinely stopped him in his tracks.

He also talks about finding balance between Sergeant Elliott and just Dad the moment he walks through his front door, why fishing alone resets him like nothing else, and what still keeps him energized after almost 25 years of showing up.

Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.

Learn more about the Ada County Sheriff's Office here.
Resources: Ada County non-emergency dispatch: 208.377.6790

00:00:00 Cold Open — A Moment That Never Leaves You
00:00:24 Welcome — Meet Sergeant Justin Elliott
00:01:33 Why 9/11 Changed His Entire Path
00:03:55 From Jail to Patrol to Detective — The Career Arc
00:08:33 Carrying One Call for Nine Years
00:14:53 Brain Stains: The Memories That Never Leave
00:20:32 His Real Reset: Fishing, Hunting, Silence
00:23:23 Inside the Crisis Negotiation Team
00:33:46 MORE PIES: The Art of Active Listening
00:54:24 The Number Every Ada County Resident Should Save

If this conversation stayed with you — follow It Stays Here on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and leave a review. It helps more people find their way to conversations worth having.

Know someone who needs to hear this? Send it to them. Some conversations are meant to find the right people.