Mississippi Stories with Marshall Ramsey

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Janet Parker from Innovate Mississippi. Janet serves as the director of Business Development and marketing at Innovate Mississippi. She oversees all marketing, PT, corporate fundraising functions with the ultimate goal of working with partner organizations and companies to grow Mississippi’s innovation ecosystem — and the state economy. She is a Mississippian by choice — heralding originally from Illinois. In her past life, she was a VP for public relations for Maris, West & Baker Advertising, a business consultant and communications coach working with Fortune 500 clients in the US, Canada and Trinidad.

If she looks familiar, she was the hose of the Emmy-Award winning TV show, “Mississippi Outdoors” on MPB and has appeared on TV commercials, radio ads and print promotions.  She also had an 11-year career as an award-winning pharmaceutical sales representative. In 2012, she was named one of the Business Women in Mississippi by the Mississippi Business Journal.

In this edition of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Extra Table’s Executive Director Martha Allen to talk about Extra Table’s mission, the many facets of hunger in Mississippi and how you can sponsor a TURKEY as a part of their Tackle Hunger Holiday Campaign for $15 (your donation will put a  10-12 pound Jennie-O turkey on the table of a family in need this holiday season.) Founded in 2009 by restauranteur Robert St. John, Extra Table has helped fight hunger by stocking food pantries across the state of Mississippi by lowering the cost of food (Every dollar provides 5.9 meals.)  

On this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Mississippi Mass Choir Executive Director and pastor Jerry Mannery. Mannery has lived a colorful life that includes being in the first class to integrate Florence High School to being in the Navy, a Jackson Firefighter, an executive at Malaco Record, a poet, a songwriter, a pastor of We Are One United Methodist Church and founding member of the world-famous Mississippi Mass Choir, Jerry has done it all. He discusses his life, the choir, his family and how his faith has influenced it all. This is a great conversation with a Mississippi legend.

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with owner and publisher of Mississippi Christian Magazine Katie Eubanks. Katie, a former writer for the Northside Sun and the Clarion Ledger, took a leap of faith when she took over the longtime Mississippi magazine founded by Marilyn Tinnin. She talks about what it is like to wears entrepreneur, businessperson and writer hats and she talks about how her faith keeps her grounded and moving forward through business challenges. She also talks about her upcoming women’s conference and some of the challenges her speakers and panelists have faced at well.

According to the USDA ERA, 15% of Mississippi households in 2020 were experiencing food insecurity. In 2018, one in four Mississippi children walked around hungry. Hunger is an invisible problem that affects so much and so many. On this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor At Large Marshall Ramsey is joined by Langston Moore, who serves as the Regional Director for Society of St. Andrew — Mississippi, an organization that gleans leftover food from farmers and gets it into the hands of those across the state who are feeding the hungry. From January to July of 2022, 715,814 pounds of food has been gleaned and distributed providing 2,863,256 servings of nutritious food. Hunger continues to be an issue in Mississippi and Moore shares how SoSA MS is fighting it one saved vegetable at a time. To donate to SoSAMS, you can text 42828 or email [email protected]. Or you can mail a check to PO Box 5362, Jackson, MS 39296.

Watercolorist Wyatt Waters joins Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey from the road for this episode of Mississippi Stories. Waters talks about new book, “The Watercolor Road: Painting and writing through America’s South.” He and his wife Kristi traveled through the Southeastern U.S. with their trusty trailer in tow. Waters tells stories about some of the paintings (shown on the screen) and tells about some of the people he met along the way. Along with the watercolor paintings, the book contains 21 essays as well.  The audio is a little scattered due to him being on the road, but the images and stories make this video worth a watch. Wyatt Waters is a Mississippi treasure and this book will make him a national one as well. To find out more, go to wyattwaters.com.

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with author, reporter and playwright Ellis Nassour. Nassour, a native of Vicksburg has lived a colorful life covering celebrities and the entertainment scene. Author of the book Honky Tonk Angel, The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline (a book that has been in print for over 40 years), he talks about writing that book. Cline’s colorful but short life and the people he interviewed to write it. He also covers his involvement in Jesus Christ Superstar and how he observed first-hand the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. Nassour dreamed he’d write for the New York Times (he did) and be involved in the entertainment business. His is an interesting story about making lucky breaks and how hard work can help you live a interesting life.

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Dr. Alyssa Killebrew to talk about her life and incredible resilience in the face of crushing loss and grief and her work to help kids work past their trauma. Dr. Killebrew knows about working past trauma. In December of 2021, Dr. Killebrew’s longtime husband Keath, a successful farmer, died in a plane crash in South America. This is after losing the couple lost their unborn child to COVID-19. You will be inspired by her incredible strength and positive outlook. She talks about her and Keath’s creation of a camp called SEK Intensives to honor their youngest daughter and help both adolescents and their parents deal with life’s challenges. Dr. Killebrew is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (No. 54-946), a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor. In 2005, she earned a Master’s degree of Education (M.Ed.) in Community Counseling from Delta State University. In 2008, she obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Clinical Psychology from Jackson State University and completed a residency at Valley Mental Health in Salt Lake City, Utah. She completed her post-doctoral year with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, where she was the Mental Health Director of the Youthful Offender Unit. She started her private practice, Killebrew Psychological Services, LLC, in 2016, focusing her services primarily on mood disorders, PTSD, addiction and personality disorders. She specializes in Biofeedback, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, and Modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). 

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Jeff Good about how Jackson’s continuing water crisis is pushing local independent restaurants to the brink. Water is a huge part of a restaurant’s operation from drinks to food preparation to hand washing to ice and when drinks and ice have to be bought, dwindling profit margins (down 75% due to inflation) are stressed. Good speaks on behalf of other restaurants in Jackson and how leadership needs to start communicating to find a solution.

In this bonus episode of Mississippi Stories, we share the conversation between Editor-at-Large Marshall Ramsey and Laurel-based couple Ben and Erin Napier of HGTV's Home Town. Hear more on how they balance work and family life, their upcoming projects, and answers to member questions like what their go-to paint colors are. This interview originally premiered during a live member event on July 1.