Becky Sarwate is a multi-award winning blogger and columnist, as well as an English Professor at Northeastern Illinois University. In addition, Becky is currently serving her second term as the President of The Illinois Women’s Press Association. Becky writes for many publications, but one of her favorite accomplishments is being the first female contributor to Wrigleyville Nation. Becky shares with our hosts Blaire Knight-Graves and Mark Beers her passion for writing, literary history, the late and great Prince, the Chicago Cubs and her experiences teaching her course Making Your Liberal Arts Degree Work: Writing for the Professional World and Internships, a class that focuses on helping budding creative professionals learn to ply their skills to corporate settings. Currently Becky is employed as the Sales Communications Manager at TransUnion, where she writes for a living. Visit www.professionalgeekpodcast.com for more information.

Michi Trota is the Senior Features Editor for consumer content at the Encyclopedia Brittanica, on the board of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, a fire performer at Raks Geek and the managing editor of Uncanny Magazine, a science fiction and fantasy publication. In other words, she’s a very busy and impressive woman. Michi’s career aspirations started with Marine Biology, but she quickly fell in love with writing and has made her career as an editor in and out of traditional publication industries. With the position of Managing Editor at Uncanny Magazine, she’s had the opportunity to read and edit some of science fiction’s up and coming authors, and is an avid fan of the genre.

As a board member of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, Michi is a leader in the Chicago geek community. In episode 3, she took time to discuss with hosts Blaire Knight-Graves and Mark Beers the importance of making the geek community overall more inclusive, and how other community leaders can responsibly aim for higher standards within their own local groups. We also discuss Michi’s current favorite science fiction and fantasy authors (see links on our website), the trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the importance of compensation for creative works. Visit www.professionalgeekpodcast.com for more information. 

Jake Penzell is a professional e-learning course instruction writer who is about to jump into the world of small business ownership. Jake’s training as a playwright prepared him to write e-learning courses; as a lifetime geek, he found ways to inject nerdy humor into his classes. But it was Jake’s obsession with pie making—a craft he mastered while in college-- that has become his life’s work as he opens his very first pie shop in Seattle, WA. In episode two, hosts Blaire Knight-Graves and Mark Beers discuss with Jake the significant differences between writing dialogue in for the stage and dialogue for e-learning courses, Jake’s top 5 fantasy movies from the 80s, how networking can actually be helped by obscure movie knowledge, and the importance of staying on course to follow your dreams—even if those dreams are unconventional. Visit www.professionalgeekpodcast.com for more information.

Marz Timms is a professional entertainer. He's spent his acting career working on many acting and geeky projects, from being the voice of Jax in the 2011 Mortal Kombat, becoming the in-stadium host of the Chicago Bulls at the United Center, and being the founding member of Pimprov, Marz's acting career has been eclectic, to say the least. As a stand-up comedian with Pimprov, Marz has traveled throughout the United States.

In episode one, hosts Blaire Knight-Graves and Mark Beers discuss with Timms what it means to be a professional entertainer and geek, talk about Marz top 5 horror movies, and find out what Marz wishes someone had told him when he started out in the entertainment industry.

Visit www.professionalgeekpodcast.com for more information.