JamesG aka @jamesmakesmusic is a semi professional Heelyer and music artist/producer based in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. James has been making music under the moniker of JamesG since 2012, but it wasn't until he started posted videos of himself doing tricks wearing his Heelys in 2020 that his career started to take off. As his videos started going viral online his music found more success as well. These days James is self employed and living the Heelyer dream filming new tricks and making new music all the time.

In this episode we discuss the origin of his online persona, how he navigates the challenges of a life without consistent income, finding the right sponsors, the development of his music career, his music and life inspirations, and much more.

Lucas Beaufort is a French artist that travels and creates all over the world. Lucas started creating art at the age of 27 when he gave his brother a drawing for Christmas and his life has never been the same since. It's been 15 years since that first drawing and now Lucas has built an incredible career and life for himself. He paints murals, designs products, makes documentaries, and even published a book. Lucas grew up skateboarding and his love for the culture has been a huge inspiration in his work and opened the door for him to work and create with countless pro skateboarders, skate companies, and other legends in the industry. Although he doesn't limit his work to only the skate world, his passion for skateboarding shines through in everything he does.

This episode is truly a special one and was years in the making. Tune in and get inspired to chase your dreams.

Emma Dalenberg is a Minneapolis, Minnesota based stand up comedian. Emma grew up in a trailer park in Winona, Minnesota before moving to Minneapolis to attend college. Emma got her start in stand up comedy while she was still a student and a server at an Applebees. One open mic night was all it took for her to find a new obsession. Since then Emma has been steadily performing and building a career for herself. We recorded this interview in her apartment in Minneapolis shortly after she got back from her European tour "American Cream".

In this episode we discuss growing up in a trailer park, dealing with knee surgeries, experimenting with drugs, graduating from college, moving to Europe, making money illegally as a comedian, getting deported from Germany, going viral on social media, why we aren't so different after all, and what makes it all worth it.

Ed Bieber aka Ed The Diver is a Wisconsin based scuba diver, environmentalist, and content creator based in Marinette, WI. Ed has been an angler all his life and one day got fed up with losing his fishing lures and decided to jump in after them. He quickly realized that when recovering his own lures that there were countless more lures to be found in the same spots. As his interest and mission became more serious he got scuba certified and began diving in lakes and rivers all over the midwest not only to recover lures, but to clean up our waterways from all the trash and lost treasures beneath the surface. Tune in and hear a story like none other.

Corey Kaiser is the owner of Wisconsin Clothing Co and based in the tiny town of Kieler, Wisconsin. Corey's family has owned a printing company for a long time so he grew up in the business of printing apparel. After graduating from college in 2018 he joined the family business full time and his career began to blossom. The family business helps clients from all over create their apparel lines, but Corey really wanted to create something himself so his brand the608 was born. They quickly outgrew the area code that the idea came from and the brand changed to the Wisconsin Clothing Co. that people know and love today.

In this episode Corey shares his story for the first time in a long form interview. We discuss what makes Wisconsin so special, why Wisconsinites have such pride for their state, how he is able to make such high quality apparel for so cheap, how he juggles the different sides of his business, how he grew on social media so fast, why building relationships online is so important, and much more.

Ryan Ruebl is the man behind the Meanwhile in Wisconsin Facebook page that has over 340,000 followers. Ryan began creating Wisconsin themed content way back in 2012 and has been a big inspiration and catalyst for a ton of other content creators ever since. Ryan has endless stories from making viral videos with Charlie Berens to making Kwik Trip ads with Green Bay Packers stars like Rashan Gary and much more. Tune in a hear how he built his Wisconsin empire.

Riak Dut is a comedy content creator based in Rochester Minnesota. Riak has been a big fan of all types of comedy his whole life. Not much is known about this viral content creator, but on this episode of the Passion Pod we get a glimpse into his life. He opened for both the Ying Yang Twins and T.I.?!

Wave Chapelle is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin based rap artist known for his lyrical skill and wavy style. Wave grew up on the North side of Milwaukee and started rapping way back in the 8th grade. His skills and audience grew throughout high school and by the time he graduated he felt it was time for a change and moved to Memphis, TN to continue his rap career. Shortly after moving there he met Yo Gotti and his career blasted off. He was signed to a major record label and was touring all over the country. Ultimately, he decided to step away and pursue the independent artist route which was a major learning opportunity. Eventually he found himself back in Milwaukee and establishing himself on his own as well as putting out several successful albums. Now he chooses to help the Milwaukee music scene grow and continues to put out track after track of pure gold. Even the Milwaukee Bucks think so and have added him as an official ambassador who performs at their games. Wave has had a long career full of ups and downs, but the truth is that he's still just getting started.

Passion Pod Episode 140

@imjarons is a Wisconsin based viral content creator known for his character he portrays when he wears his insta360 camera. Not many people know the actual Jaron so he agreed to come do an exclusive interview on the Passion Pod. The only other interview that Jaron has done in the past was also on the Passion Pod, but he first time around we had just met that day and Jaron admitted to being super nervous and wanted to record another. Recently his following on Instagram more than doubled to over 950,000 followers. Since our last interview we added 2 more camera angles, started taking YouTube more seriously, and so it just felt right for Jaron to tell his story again to his new audience.

In this interview he shares his internet origin story, why he still works a HVAC job full time, getting engaged, growing 100k+ followers per month, building a career on Instagram, learning from Wyatt Eiden, challenges of not having proof of income, why so many people fail, and we even do a rapid fire of questions. Tune in and help us blow up!

Bill Doucette aka "Billy Deuce" is a comedian, content creator, and musician based in Milwaukee, WI. A lot of people know Bill as the "Boston Guy" in a bunch of the Charlie Berens videos, but he does a whole lot more than that. Bill is a modest dude and hasn't done very many interviews over the years so we were stoked to be able to share his story.

In this episode we discuss his relationship with Charlie Berens, being a career musician, stand up comedy, making viral youtube videos, his VHS tape obsession, imposter syndrome, and much more.