On this episode, Tyler invites another member of the Bettendorf Gang, Allie, to the podcast! Allie talks about her early years of growing up in Kansas, near many of her extended family members, and summers going to her grandparents’ lake house. She describes how her mom’s daycare and her experiences during elementary school led her to wanting to become an early childhood educator. Finally, Allie describes her college years at Iowa State University, getting to room with her best friend, Rimu, for three years, and spending a semester in Hawaii. The theme of this episode is determination and to follow your passions, no matter the obstacle.

On this episode, one of Tyler’s Student Affairs mentors, Jesus, joins the show. Jesus explains his childhood moving from Mexico, to California, and finally to Iowa and how his close knit family made all of the moves together! Jesus describes the relationships he had growing up with his cousins, mom, and grandmother (Tyler and Jesus take time to share how important both their grandmothers were in there lives). He talks about how he picked up new instruments very quickly, learning to play clarinet, drums, and trombone each during entire summer breaks. He shares how taking time to talk to college recruiters got him his associates paid for, got him to apply to the University of Northern Iowa, and got him one of his jobs at Iowa State. This episode was especially fun as Tyler and Jesus talked about what qualities make up a true friend.

On this episode, one of Tyler’s greatest mentors, Nathan, joins the podcast to talk about their shared experiences of growing up in the Quad Cities and working within higher education. Nathan shares growing up with his close-knit group of friends, how holidays looked a little different after his parents both became pastors, and how losing his perfect school attendance was worth it to get the picture of a lifetime. Nathan describes his transitions through undergrad, to grad school, and into professional life, with all of the many experiences, for good and for bad, that they brought. The main lesson of this episode is that life is truly short, so enjoy time with family and doing what you love.

On this episode, Tyler invites one of his greatest mentors, Stan, to the show to discuss the transition of growing up on a small farm in Iowa to traveling to over 50 countries and 49 of the 50 states. Stan shares about moving away from home for college, starting his first career as a special education teacher, and then jumping into the world of accounting, where he worked for the newly formed Iowa State Lottery, before starting on at IBM. Finally, Stan explains how theater and being involved in the community has given him immense life skills and shaped who he is today.

On this episode, Tyler invites a fellow Bettendorf High alum, John, to the podcast to discuss his life, post-high school, and all of his successful ventures. John shares about being incredibly involved in grade school and even being student body President. He talks about how his love of bodybuilding began and what going to the gym and fitness mean to him. Finally, John shares about the many mentors he has had in his life, how they lead him to being an entrepreneur, especially with real estate, and the traveling opportunities that these ventures provided. Warning that there are a few moments that are choppy due to a bad connection.

Welcome to Season 2 of Life Story! On this episode, Tyler invites one of his best friends and former roommate from his days at Iowa State, Joey (With a short cameo from his dad), to start this season off. Joey explains how anyone who shares his last name has to, in some way, be related to him because it was created on Ellis Island. Joey shares the love he has for his tight-knit family and how family dinners are still a cornerstone of their week. He talks about how his real life super power is that he can make friends with anyone and that no ones going to complain about a party if everyone is invited to it. Finally, Joey and Tyler discuss why they think comic book heroes continue to stand the test of time. If you enjoyed season one, you’ll love what’s in store for season two!

On this episode, one of Tyler’s favorite former supervisors, Marie-Louise, joins the podcast to discuss their time at Texas Tech and working together during the start of the pandemic. Marie-Louise describes growing up in Louisiana with her three siblings and how soccer was a huge part of her life all the way through college. She shares how working at her aunts’ bakery allowed her to help them win $10,000 on the tv show Ultimate Cake-Off! Marie-Louise explains how she met her husband, Steve, in college, how they began dating right before she left for grad school, and then how he proposed on that following Christmas Eve! Finally, after a few moves around the state of Texas, Marie-Louise and Steve have now settled down in Austin with their newborn, Jolie!

On this episode, Tyler’s friend Olivia stops by to catch up and talk about joining the world of adulting! We reminisce about bumping into each other in high school and how we went to the same high school and college, but only attended those schools for two academic years together. Olivia discusses her relationships with her parents and siblings and how she never felt like she had one-true childhood home. Olivia shares how she fell in love with all things fine arts, started training her operatic voice, and discovered the differences between toxic and positive friendships. Finally, we touched on her favorite globetrotting travels and how she is preparing for graduate school.

On this episode of Life Story, Tyler’s friend Jaclyn videos in to discuss growing up as only children and how you have to find fun hobbies and activities, like reading and video games, to entertain yourself. Jaclyn shares about being close to most of her family in Arkansas and how her mom and dad’s sides of the family would all get together for holidays. She describes how she joined her sorority, Tri-Sigma, and went from an addiction studies undergrad to working for five years at Texas Tech as a Residence Life Coordinator. Finally, Tyler and Jaclyn discuss their experiences during the pandemic and how much they learned and grew from their experiences.

On this episode, we celebrate our 25th Episode of Life Story with guest host Anna Fobair! Anna interviews the show’s regular host Tyler about his life story of growing up as an only child and how family has played such an important part in his story. He shares fond memories in grade school, spending time with his grandparents, memorable jobs, and all of the people he’s met along the way. Finally, Tyler and Anna discuss losing family members and how those experiences make you grow and change.