Welcome to Episode 22 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds.

Connect with Denise on FB @ https://tinyurl.com/Artatthehynds

Toby is joined today by Susan Anthony owner of The Prairie Pantry.

Susan has been in business nearly 30 years. Her story is about legacy, baby step risk taking and building relationships that grow a business and a city. Listen in to her story and be inspired to take your own baby step today.

“I don't know. I don't know what he saw in me, if he just felt like I could do that or maybe I had the personality to do something like that. But I was not, when he asked me to help him with this, I was not a risk taker.”

“Take baby steps. And so every time we made a move or we did something and expanded or whatever, it was because we took baby steps and we kind of watched what was happening with the business. And so we were like, hey, it's growing. I think it's time to do this or hey, it's growing. I think it's time to take on that.”

“Our customers, our fantastic customers, you know, they help me beyond anything because they

would come in and say, Susan, I'm looking for a purple spatula. Have you seen one? No, but I'll

start looking. You know, hey, Susan, I'm looking for a mug with a tea strainer in it. Have you seen

one? So they would give me ideas and they would help me kind of decide what I needed to bring in.”

Episode 022

Release Date: September 9, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Susan Anthony

Get in touch with Susan

https://cheyenneprairiepantry.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063611649942

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Welcome to Episode 21 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds.

Connect with Denise on FB @ https://tinyurl.com/Artatthehynds

Toby is joined today by Dominic Syracuse for part two of their inspiring interview.

“You know, within a year and a half of doing stand-up, I found myself running my own comedy club and opening for Bob Saget. Isn't that crazy? And the way all that happened was, you know, the pandemic happened and the prison shut down. We weren't allowed in anymore, right? Because of COVID. All of LA shut down. It became a ghost town. Came back to Cheyenne and... My joke was yeah, it's a perfect place to quarantine because in order for us to be six feet apart we got to come 20 feet closer to each other. Yeah, so I come back to Wyoming and I was calling, you know, my principal at the prison and stuff and I was like when is it gonna open again? When am I gonna get back to work? You know, and he goes, you know, he's like, I don't know that we're gonna open back up the program might dissipate we might lose our grant, but he's like you should really make your own business...”

“I just thought it was going to be a place for me to practice my stand up. I did not intend for this to be anything more than that. I was like, yeah, I'll come in on a dead night, like a Tuesday. We'll do it. Well, the thing was, there was nothing else going on. So a bunch of people show up. had the COVID limit was like 60 people. 60 people show up. We didn't even have furniture. We had to borrow furniture from the Plains hotel next door.”

“The business I built and my comedy career started taking off at the same time. It's kind of like, have you ever heard the bamboo analogy? Slow growth, but it's really strong? Exactly. It takes like six years to till the soil and nothing sprouts. But then as soon as it sprouts, it goes like a foot a day...a 15 year success...overnight success.”

Episode 021

Release Date: September 2, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Dominic Syracuse (Part 2)

Get in touch with Dominic

https://www.cognitivebehavioraltheater.com

https://www.dominicsyracuse.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dominicsyracuse

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DominicSyracuse

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Welcome to Episode 20 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds.

Connect with Denise on FB @ https://tinyurl.com/Artatthehynds

Toby is joined today by Dominic Syracuse an actor, stand up comedian, cognitive behavioral specialist and owner of Cognitive Behavioral Theater. They discuss accidental starts and how fun is a big first step toward healing.

“I was able to grow up in this atmosphere of just pure creativity and ideas. Imagination...comes from the word image, and it means we have foresight. We have the ability to see things that aren't there. And if we can see them and then write it down and then make it happen, we have that ability. And when I teach people, I always say, you know, you are the genie. You are the magician.”

“I can get on stage and do my thing and tell my stories and there's no one who can tell me I'm to this. I'm to that. Exactly. And, interesting, all the stuff that the casting directors would say about you, you know, you're too short or you're too square or you too. This is the perfect material for stand up, you know? So, so now I get up on stage and I just start rifling off all these short jokes or all these, you know, Italian jokes or whatever. And I'm just ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.

Although I didn't know at the time that I was also learning a brand new craft, you know, starting from scratch, learning this brand new craft.”

“Stella Adler had this philosophy that growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous. What that means is the more life experience you have, the more you can draw on as an actor. Right? So, she started this program called the Outreach Program, which taught acting in maximum security prisons, in homeless shelters, and in rehabilitation centers. Right? And it was this way of sharing the therapeutic experience of acting...So they do two days in the men's maximum security, then three days in the women's facility. And we'd go do these acting workshops. And we'd put on shows in front of the cell block. So they'd turn their life story into five minute shows in front of the cell block. And we got to, and I loved it so much. I loved it so much. What I would do, not kidding, is I would literally sell my blood to justify the amount of time that I had to take off work. I still have my mark from selling blood to like go do this. And so I've always been drawn towards it. And wanting to help with any kind of injustice or any kind of anything.”

“I'm like, that is the power of sharing your story. Right? In acting, you know, what we don't want is we don't want what's called two dimensional characters. That's melodrama, right? That's the good guy, the bad guy. He's the bad guy because he's bad. You know, she's the helpless maiden who just can't wait to be saved. That's what dehumanizes people. Because when you hear their story, it humanizes them.”

Episode 020

Release Date: August 26, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Dominic Syracuse (Part 1)

Get in touch with Dominic

https://www.cognitivebehavioraltheater.com

https://www.dominicsyracuse.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dominicsyracuse

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DominicSyracuse

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Welcome to Episode 19 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds.

Connect with Denise on FB @ https://tinyurl.com/Artatthehynds

Toby is joined today by Harvey Deselms owner of Deselms Fine Art and Custom Framing.

Harvey is well known for bringing bronze statues to the city of Cheyenne. He had a dream that he has made reality with over 80 bronze statues to date and a goal of 100 coming in the near future. He speaks of community, how to build it and why it’s so important.

“...it's kind like my Facebook page. I have a Deselms Fine Art, one that I hardly ever use, but I post everything on Harvey Deselms because I'm building a relationship with the artists. I'm building a relationship with the clients, with just random friends that I have. pop in on that. And so it's about interpersonal reactions, I think.” – Harvey Deselms

“Chris said, ‘I got this idea, let's put a monument to Lane Frost. was the year after Lane was killed in the arena.’ And they said, well, that's a great idea. Go raise money for it and we'll take it. said, oh, okay. So he came up with this plan to raise the money and I helped him with that. And it happened. So the committee said, yeah, okay, we'll take it. We said we would. And so the only thing the committee paid for was the base. I raised the other 250 some odd thousand, you know, on his own and then I helped sell some of the bronzes. So I knew it could be done. So I just kind of put that in my backpack of tricks for later.” -Harvey Deselms

“I had a good sense of community in Albin and Burns because we, know, the neighbor needed help, we'd go help the neighbor. And there were nine people in my graduating class and we always did things together, kindergarten through 12th grade in the same building. So we helped the little kids, you know, it was just a community, it was all about community.” -Harvey Deselms

Episode 019

Release Date: August 19, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Harvey Deselms

Get in touch with Harvey Deselms

FB - https://www.facebook.com/harvey.deselms

https://deselmsfineart.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Welcome to Episode 18 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds.

Connect with Denise on FB @ https://tinyurl.com/Artatthehynds

Toby is joined today by Rhea and Lindee of Peak Properties and Beyond the Front Door Podcast. A fun podcast takeover episode with fellow local podcasters.

“We've loved sharing everyone's stories. We've learned about our community even more. And I think we've created this like library of episodes that people can go to to learn about anything Cheyenne.”

“Everybody, you know, we all have our things. And what's very interesting, the process through which people have to go through to grow is the same, whether you are homeless and trying to get stable all the way to being a successful business person trying to reach the next level. It takes a lot of the same mindset, the same, you know, it's just, choose your heart, where's your fight at?”

“So I thought the podcast would be a great way for people to get to know me and who I'm about. So like we were joking earlier, even people that we don't know that listen to the podcast, they're getting to know us and that's the ultimate goal, right? To know us and our personalities and to trust us because we're good people.”

Episode 018

Release Date: August 12, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Rhea Parsons and Lindee Wiltjer

Get in touch with Rhea and Lindee

https://www.facebook.com/beyondthefrontdoorpodcast

www.sellcheyenne.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Release Date: August 5, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Elijah Burgess

Welcome to Episode 17 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds. Visit at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092027590519

Toby is joined today by Elijah Burgess, owner of Gentle Perch mobile bartending.

Elijah started a business with no entrepreneurial experience. He took encouragement from friends, experience in various jobs and clues from his personality to start something that fit like a puzzle piece. He was able to take who he is and what he knows and build a business that he loves showing up to each day.

“I'm not the main focus of the whole thing. So being able to be a part of it, help everyone make everyone's night a little bit more enjoyable and still provide a little bit of safety for the event in terms of our biggest goal is that you don't want to be worrying about your uncle or that one coworker getting trashed at your party and then ruining everything. So my goal, like with my motto, which is rest your wings while we stretch ours. That's the gentle perch motto.” – Elijah Burgess

“You'll only go with whatever pain is lesser … until the pain of staying content outweighs the pain of change. So I use that motto or I use that kind of thought process for a lot of things.” – Elijah Burgess

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Title: "All butts need a good rub" VOTW_016 Judith-Bartmann

Episode 016

Release Date: July 29, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Judith Bartmann

Welcome to Episode 16 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds. Visit at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092027590519

Toby is joined today by Judith Bartmann, owner of Bear Creek Companies specializing in spices and baked goods.

Judith let her curiosity and boredom lead her to a new path, where she was able to do what she had always done for her family and extend that to her community. She loved cooking and experimenting, so she turned it into a small business that is seeing great success. Listen in to her journey and be encouraged. You too can use what you have and it’s never too late.

“I made a whole bunch of different bread. Okay. Went up there and all sold out. Oh, okay. And it was like the lady that had the booth next to me. She said, this is really good bread. But she said, you

better realize it's not going to sell out every time. And I said, yeah, I was afraid that I was going to

take it all home this time. You've got to figure out, this sold, but that didn't. Do I make this again and take a chance? Or do I not?” – Judith Bartmann

“I was cooking one time, kind of like I had said with an experiment on spices and it was like, well, geez, I'm tired of putting on this steak, salt and pepper, and that's it. I wonder what would happen if I did this. so it didn't turn out too bad that first time. Second time was awful.” – Judith Bartmann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Title: Starting a Business on a Bet

Episode 015

Release Date: July 22, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Tom Taylor

Welcome to Episode 15 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds. Toby is joined today by Tom Taylor owner of Service First.

Tom went from a military career to flipping a business to building his own carpet cleaning company. Willingness to learn and humility to take advice were keys to his success. Listen in on this fun interview and don’t forget to check out Tom’s podcast “Son of a Poor Man”.

“I didn't know about customer service. I just knew about the right thing. And, you know, do the right thing and treat your customers well, retrain your people, treat them well. And I did a bunch of things that were unproven, they just sounded good in my noggin.” – Tom Taylor

“...what's important to me or what's valuable to me has nothing to do with what's valuable to you or your family or things like that. It's interesting that when I changed that philosophy and I realized I'm here to help people with their problem and not to assume I know what their problem is…” - Tom Taylor

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

VOTW Episode 014

Release Date: July 15 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Eric McDonald

Episode brought to you by Denise Patton Art at Art at the Hynds.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092027590519

Welcome to Episode 14 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles. He is joined today by Eric McDonald owner of Custom Home Painters of Cheyenne. Eric talks about the strengths and weaknesses every entrepreneur faces when starting a business.

“That was probably my biggest thing that was almost, I was just fooling myself that like, the reason why I'm so successful is because I'm independent, I'm hardworking and I could, could just get anything done. But the problem is, like when you are so capable at doing stuff, you don't allow other people to help you. And pretty soon, it's impossible to get the scale any higher, because, I mean, you're only one person, you're only human.” – Eric McDonald

“And so I wouldn't say fear, probably one of the things that probably held me back, I mentioned

independence. When you're running a company, and where it's all about you, independence can be a good thing. But there's a saying, you wanna go fast, go by yourself, if you wanna go far, go with other people.” – Eric McDonald

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com

Desiree Brothe on How to Build a Business While Hiding Your Skill.

Episode 013:

Release Date: July 8, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Desiree Brothe

Episode brought to you by Denise Patton Art at Art at the Hynds.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092027590519

Welcome to Episode 11 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles. He is joined today by Desiree Brothe. Desiree tells us how she connected so quickly in her city after moving in. She also tells us how she became known as an artist, even though she hid it, and building something when we're scared.

"Yes, there's always something scary. You put yourself in front of the world and you never know how they're going to react."

-Desiree Brothe

Contact Desiree at: https://magpiecreations.art

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit votw.substack.com