This week’s guest is Jason Heller, who is a professional freelance journalist. Jason is a Senior Writer at the AV Club, a contributor to Pitchfork, a Hugo Award winner for his editing at Clarkesworld, book reviewer for NPR.org, and Denver punk. He joins Jon on this week’s episode, and the two proceed to have the longest conversation in the history of this show covering everything from Jason’s excellent Fear of a Punk Decade series on the AV Club, to how he won one of the most prestigious science fiction awards you can win, to Jason’s debut novel Taft 2012. The conversation literally has something for everyone, whether you’re into music, journalism, science fiction and fantasy, politics, civics, or just want to hear from a professional writer on how to make that career work.

You can find Jason at his author page on Amazon, or on Twitter.

Finally, a beer episode! It only took 15 to get there, but we’re finally here! This week our chat is with Brett Zahrte, assistant brewer at Renegade Brewing, who also happens to be one of my longest friends. In addition to having the honor of providing the venue for Jon’s first beer ever, Brett also provides insight into one of the coolest craft brewers in Denver. The episode includes lots of insight into how Renegade creates its “offensively delicious” slate of beers, also Brett’s history in the beer industry including a job that caused him to literally catch on fire every day. Wanna be a brewer? Thinking of starting your own? Just love beer? Then join up with your friends on the Beermuda Triangle and pour yourself a black saison for this week’s episode!

And don’t forget to check out Renegade’s 3rd Anniversary Block Party June 28 from 3-10 pm. Live music, food trucks, limited release brews, and $5 a beer! We unveil some of the beers that will be at the Block Party in this week’s show and talk about why you should come hang out with one of Denver’s coolest breweries.

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Melanie Ulle is the founder and CEO of Philanthropy Expert, which helps you maximize your philanthropic efforts to work for and support your mission, vision, objectives, and bottom-line. We eliminate waste, capitalize on resources, and build your philanthropic presence and reputation. All of that is to say: Melanie is candid, incredibly sharp, and delightful to talk to about every aspect of philanthropic work. She and Jon also talk about her stint on “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” on Travel Channel, her history of working on political campaigns, and some general goofiness that makes this episode a fun jaunt through a wide variety of topics.

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Gabe Schirm is the creator of Global Gabe Travel, the ultimate guide to free long-term travel. He created this website because it’s something he wished existed when he was 18 years old and considering travel, and serves as a one-stop resource for everyone considering expanding their horizons and exploring the world. In this episode, Gabe and Jon talk extensively about Gabe’s travel history ranging from his time with Up With People to his stint as a travel journalist for the Travel Channel show 5 Takes: Pacific Rim to getting paid to live in Spain and teach English. Anecdotes are shared, stories are told, laughs are had plentifully, and this fun episode should spur you to get outside your comfort zone and see the world. Available right here, or, as always, syndicated on iTunes.

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Have you flown recently? Ventured through the sky? Are you a nervous flyer? Confident? Fly every week? No matter who you are, or how you react to commercial air travel, there are a whole group of people who have your back… including this week’s guest. David Martin is the second entry in our CONFIDENTIAL Series, and he joins us on the Jon of All Trades Podcast to discuss his role as an auditor for the aerospace industry. He ensures companies follow protocol for all the specifications of every aspect of their aircraft. In essence, he’s one of the many who makes sure all your flights are safe. Join us as we discuss this incredibly important job that keeps us safe as well as discussion of David’s service in the United States Air Force, now available for download here and at iTunes.

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Krista Welch is the owner, creator, and head photographer at Love Song Photo, based in Seattle. She and Jon have been pals since high school, so this episode has an easy rapport, friendly banter, and a fun vibe. Krista shares her story about boldly leaving a job she was dissatisfied during the economic downturn that saw many of her friends laid off, how she transitioned out of the job in which she had her college degree, and the process of becoming not just someone who enjoyed photography, but a professional who owns her own business (much love is given to Rocky Mountain School of Photography). She and Jon also chat about some of the potential downside of our DIY culture, why you’re actually nervous before your wedding, and, most importantly, as someone who attends weddings all the time, what song needs to be banished from weddings forever (it’s a popular one too!).

You can find Krista at her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

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Ben Brown kicks off our CONFIDENTIAL series with a discussion of the United States financial sector. He also happens to be my brother-in-law. Ben has worked in finance for over a decade and has served in both buy-side and sell-side trading for both large financial institutions and small hedge funds. He currently works for a company that serves as a service provider for emerging hedge fund managers. Instead of my usual little one-paragraph write-up describing the episode, we covered so much ground on this little-understood, but often-fretted-about industry, that I’ve listed much of what we discuss in the bullets below:

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Zach Knaus is founder of 4Degre.es, a full service online communications firm, delivering results with precision messaging, and also the founding sponsor of Jon of All Trades. Having spent more than 10 years working in campaigns, as Director of Communications for the Senate Majority in the Colorado State Capitol, and as an account manager at MGA Communications along with Jon, Zach has a bounty of political stories to tell. He also provides lessons learned in starting his own firm and offers surprising insight into some of the challenges associated with the legalization of marijuana.

Candace LeClaire’s primary goal is to make you look like the best version of yourself. She is a hairdresser and style maven at The Parlour Denver, and has been personally styling Jon Eks since 2008. In this episode, Candace talks about all the ins and outs of being a professional stylist, which means serving as amateur therapist for her clients, professional advisor, and wisdom slinger. She gets into the process of becoming a professional stylist, some of the weird hazards of the job (her incredibly calloused hands, for starters), and just how brutal people can be on themselves when they sit in her chair. Tune in for a great episode of the podcast and think in a different way about something you probably have done all the time. Also, check out The Parlour, where Candace works alongside an array of awesome stylists.

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Will Matthews is President and Founder of Matthews Performance Group,  and is an expert in the field of personal transformation and professional fulfillment. Will blends his successful twenty-five year career in management, sales, marketing and Organizational Change Management with his passion for helping people and organizations break through to the results that they really want. Jon and Will discuss how a Tony Robbins training spurred Will into the personal coaching business, and delve into the tenets of what makes a successful coach as well as how a coach can improve not only our occupational success, but our personal lives too. It’s a stimulating and inspiring chat. After the jump, Will provides 4 Core Concepts that you can do on your own to spur personal success and professional fulfillment.

Here are the 4 Core Concepts:

1. How do you define success? And be specific. Is it more money? Who are the types of people you want to deal with? How is your time spent? Etc.

2. What do you love about what you’re doing now? And again, be specific. Is it the people? The tasks you take on every day? The money? And conversely: What do you hate about what you’re doing now?

3. What are the attributes you always want to carry forward?

4. As you answer those questions, leave room to allow the universe to share some of your load.

Will also recommends the book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. You can check out that book right here.

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