Awkwardly Awesome w/ Jason Freeman

Relentless Champion with Anne Porter | Ep. 283

“You mean there’re other things besides having fun?  Unless it’s fun on some fundamental level, for me, it’s not going to happen.  Humans play.  On a spiritual level, I think it’s our job as humans to find joy.  Whatever you pick, try to find some joy in it.  Just have some fun.” 
~ Anne Porter
 
Since retiring from a career passionately supporting the arts in various capacities, Anne Porter, AP as her friends fondly call her, has dedicated herself to relentlessly pursuing the things that bring her joy and purpose.  Proudly carrying on a tradition learned from her parents, who were heavily involved in volunteer work, sitting on boards and building community in San Diego, Anne champions the causes she’s passionate about regardless of whether or not they are backed by an official organization.  For instance, she once threw a compost themed birthday party for herself to at once celebrate composting, which she believes in, while making it fun and engaging for everyone in attendance.
 
Five years ago, Anne relocated from San Diego to the northern Baja region of Mexico.  Even though Mexico is not her native land, she cares immensely for her community and its flourishing.  As the president of the board of Four Walls International, she and her fellow team members are dedicated to ecological preservation and community development in the Tijuana River Watershed.  While the problems they’re working towards finding solutions for are unlikely to be solved in her lifetime, Anne delights in the relentless pursuit of possible solutions. 
 
Anne Porter knows there is great power in connecting with each other and believes that our ability to look past our differences and come together for a united purpose will forever offer hope for the world.  
 
Never one to waste her free time, Anne is the consummate traveler and trier of new things.  In the last few years, she’s taken up writing poetry, wielding, and is soon to embark on a two week glass blowing course.
 
I’ve been friends with Anne for years and have always found her so encouraging and inspiring. I’m truly delighted to get to share her brilliance with you. 
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com
 

Love Substantially: Building Systems of Care with Sarah Meagher.| Ep. 282

“I think for so many people guilt is a paralyzing thing which gives them blinders.  At the bottom of it all we are one humanity, all with dignity.”  ~ Sarah Meagher
Sarah Meagher was 18 years old when she first came face to face with mass scale poverty. She was on a youth group service trip to Mexico, and for Sarah the experience was not only overwhelming, it brought about deep feelings of guilt and shame for the abundance that was part of her daily life back home.  
 
Shame is a powerful force.  Sarah was aware that she could try and shut out the realities she experienced in Mexico once she was back home and had distance from it.  But she didn’t want to.  She chose not to.  
 
Instead, the experience inspired great purpose within her.  She went on to visit the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Guatemala.  She worked directly with people experiencing poverty.  The experience informed a greater understanding of what it meant to love, “It’s one thing to say you love someone or something, but if there’s no action behind it, it’s not good enough.”   
 
Sarah spent a year volunteering as a teaching fellow in the South Bronx, then continued as an elementary art teacher at the same school while earning her Masters of Science in Education.  As she recounts in her TEDx talk, the first year was extremely challenging.  Leaning into her early experiences, she began to express how much she loved and valued each  of her students.  A short time into her second year of teaching, everything shifted in a way that allowed her students to feel cared for and successful.
 
While working in the South Bronx, Sarah also met her husband.  They had two children and eventually decided to move back to Sarah’s hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  This is where Sarah continued some of her most fulfilling work.  Together, with a local non-profit, she created and launched a holistic curriculum, an educational framework designed to develop the "whole child" from birth through adolescence by addressing their physical, emotional, social, ethical, and academic needs.
 
None of us will have the honor of solving ALL of the world's problems, but Sarah’s heart-warming story reminds me of the power we ALL have to spread love far and wide, well beyond the limits of what we can imagine.
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

FAN FAVORITE: You Matter Greatly with Tom Clute

We all have challenges, which is why we need people like Tom Clute to remind us that we matter greatly.  That what we are doing is worth the effort.  That we’re free to choose challenges, to struggle, to be resilient and to try and try again.
 
Tom Clute walks his talk.  He’s an honorably discharged, disabled US Air Force Veteran, he has a Master of Social Work (MSW), is an advocate and resource in the mental health community, and I’m continuously inspired by him.  Considering this episode is a "Fan Favorite", it would appear I am far from alone. Once again, I’m honored to get to share Tom Clute's gentle wisdom with all of you!
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com
 

The Essential Extra: From Honk! to Mrs. Maisel with Emily Magera | Ep. 281

“I want middle school, high school and college students to feel loved and cared for.  That they are more than just the talent they bring to the stage.  I want them to feel that they are worth knowing and treasuring.” ~ Emily Magera
Emily Magera caught her first big break in third grade.  She was cast in “Honk!”, a popular, Olivier Award-winning musical that retells Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, “The Ugly Duckling”.  For a young girl in the small town of Aberdeen, South Dakota–population 30,000–this was a huge honor.  By fifth grade, Emily and the rest of the Aberdeen “Honk!” cast found themselves in Japan, part of a world festival for children’s performing arts with the show.  While there, she witnessed kids from countries around the world, performing different plays in a variety of languages.  From this beautiful experience, she learned a valuable lesson in communication as she noticed how much of a story could be told through action and emotions that transcend language barriers.  This transformative and essential experience led Emily to pursue show choir, dance classes, plays and musicals throughout high school and college.
 
Towards the end of her stint at the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota, Emily found herself, a little afraid and uncertain, debating between going to New York City to pursue an acting career and staying in South Dakota, close to family and the life she’d always known.  An acquaintance ultimately helped her make up her mind by asking what she feared more, failing in New York City?  Or spending the rest of her life wondering “what if” she could have succeeded in the Big Apple?
 
So...Emily took off for NYC and fairly quickly landed the role of core ensemble on the final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, an Amazon Prime original series inspired by the real-life experiences of trailblazing female comedians in the 1950s and 60s.  During the filming of episode after episode, Emily realized that even though she was “technically” an extra, she still had the freedom to devote her heart and creativity fully to the role and to feel like an essential part of the show.
 
After “Mrs. Maisel” wrapped production, life called Emily back home to South Dakota where she could be closer to her aging grandparents and pursue new opportunities.
 
However, Emily missed the obstacles and challenges that were part of her daily life in New York City.  She wanted to learn more about how people communicate in a productive way, so she enrolled in a mostly long distance program at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and obtained a master’s degree in Communications and Leadership studies.  As part of finishing her coursework, Emily gave a brilliant and uplifting speech at TEDx Sioux Falls, where I was fortunate to be in the audience.  Now, I feel fortunate to have Emily as our next guest, along this part of her journey, so that she can share her essential brilliance with you. 
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

An Imperfect Commencement Address with Jason Freeman | Ep. 280

Whether you are graduating from high school, college or just another day of work, congratulations on being you and navigating this unpredictable and crazy life.  
 
Wherever you happen to be, I have a question for you about questions.  Specifically, are the questions you find yourself repeatedly asking empowering you to grow or are they keeping you struggling and miserable?
 
I ask because I’ve found the questions you ask yourself have a huge impact on where you go in life.  If you ask, “How do I go North?”  You are likely to find an answer that takes you North.  Simple enough. 
 
However I’ve found that in life, we often ask ourselves, “How do I go South?” when what we really want, above all else is to go north.  Why do we do this?  I have no idea.  We humans are complicated creatures.
 
You might be thinking, ”Hey Jason, I would never do that.”  Well if that’s so, you are far wiser than me and I’m very happy for you.
 
I do know that I’ve asked myself questions that sent me in a direction I didn’t want to go, REPEATEDLY.
 
I’ve labored, in fact I’ve gone to war with myself, trying to answer questions such as, “Why was I the one born with a disability?”,  “Why am I the one who doesn’t talk like everyone else?”, “How can I be perfect enough to compensate for my insecurities about my disability?”
 
Those questions sent me on a trajectory of struggle and misery.  
 
Indeed, when we ask painful questions, we’re likely to get painful answers.
 
Whereas, nowadays I repeatedly ask myself questions like, “How can I use my disability as a gift?” and “How do I do my Imperfect Best?”
 
Asking more uplifting and empowering questions has changed every aspect of my life.  
 
However, the change hasn’t been magic or instant.  Once you start asking, “How do I walk North?” because that’s the direction you want to go, you still have to do the work of actually walking North.  Constant, daily work.
 
I have speech impediment.  I’ve forgotten just about everything I learned about calculus in college and most of my Spanish vocabulary, for that matter.  I don’t have a PhD, an MD or an MBA.  I’ve most definitely never been in the NBA, and never had the guts to try out for America’s Got Talent.  While we’re talking about it, I’ve never run for political office or broken a Guiness World Record, either.  But I AM living and breathing.  I have talents.  I make mistakes. So, I feel qualified to deliver this address.
 
Please tune into this presentation, which will probably give you very few answers, but that will hopefully inspire you to ask yourself better, more empowering questions.
 
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com
 

Campaigning for Better: From Bike Trails to Ballots with Joe Batcheller | Ep. 279

“The number one mission for Parks and Recreation should be building community, but, the unfortunate reality is that engagement is often treated as an afterthought.”  ~ Joe Batcheller
 
Have you ever stopped to think about all the boxes that need to be checked in order for a town, city, or county to be appealing?  There is so much that needs to be planned, from housing, to transportation, to land use and zoning, parks, schools, jobs, community engagement, crime and safety, emergency response times, ease of navigation, water and trash.  The list can seem endless and each item comes with its own bevy of questions.  
 
Fortunately, our next guest thinks about these questions more than the average Joe.  Which is somewhat ironic because his name IS Joe***. 
 
Joe Batcheller grew up on the edge of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  He loved that his neighborhood was a great place for pick-up basketball games with friends and that it had an incredible bike trail system connecting him to the rest of town that he could access close to his house.  But there were also times Joe regretted living so far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown and his other friends who lived in different parts of the city.
 
Childhood experiences shape a great many things we carry with us through life.  For Joe, his experience gave him a sense of both the benefits and drawbacks of living a suburban life.  He became curious about how both suburban and urban places could be designed better.  This curiosity led to a deeper exploration of how towns and cities are designed and operated. 
 
Joe earned his master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Irvine.  He then traveled to Berlin, Germany for his thesis on “design elements that promote social cohesion”.  Through this study, he has come to believe that creating high quality public spaces in a community is paramount.  While traveling, Joe felt the pull of his hometown tugging at his sleeve.  He returned home and became the executive director of Downtown Sioux Falls Inc and raised a family.
 
At the moment, Joe Batcheller is also running for mayor of Sioux Falls.  If elected, he hopes to apply his educational background and experience towards leading the biggest city in South Dakota to new heights.
 
*** Joe Batcheller did not approve my lame joke.
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com
 

Purpose in the Age of AI with Luke Cumbee | Ep. 278

“I believe that on a very fundamental level humans are meant to find purpose in doing challenging things.  I believe that AI can enhance what we do, but we must start with a baseline of willingness to learn and think.  I believe starting with a high baseline is very important.  Use AI to push you and give you feedback that challenges you to be your very best.”
~ Luke Cumbee
When I think about AI, I get a bit overwhelmed.  I feel like I’m just getting a handle on the opportunities and challenges that come with using the internet, various apps and social media, AND now AI is transforming everything once again.   
Frankly, I’m not ready.  So, I primarily deal with AI by ignoring it.  This approach probably makes about as much sense as trying to ignore a herd of water buffalo in my living room.  But hey, for years I also tried to pretend that I didn’t have a speech impediment.  
Luckily, people like Luke Cumbee exist to help those like me “eat the elephant one bite at a time”.  Luke travels the country presenting to teachers, students and administrators about ways to enhance their ability to think, create, understand and act responsibly in the age of AI.  One of his primary goals is to provide the necessary tools to encourage people to navigate their own lives instead of outsourcing their personal responsibilities for thinking, creating, and understanding to AI.  The topic is so important that Luke is expanding the types of audiences he speaks to.  Recently, he spoke at TEDx Sioux Falls, where I was in attendance.  I was so impressed with his talk that I approached him afterwards and asked if he’d be interested in sharing more with the Awkwardly Awesome community.  Fortunately for us, he was! 
Luke embraces challenges and especially loves seemingly “unsolveable problems”.  He spent 10 years coaching a nationally competitive debate team as they honed their thinking, developed their voices and strove for their absolute best on a journey that saw them take second place in nationals.  He’s hosted the largest debate competition in the state of South Dakota.  He’s helped a friend running for political office by personally knocking on over 500 doors.  Somewhere in all of this, Luke still finds time to teach personal finance, economics and global issues as a high school teacher.
The questions about the present and possible problems AI may pose in the future are many.  To find a solution that allows us to responsibly implement it while preserving human involvement and ingenuity feels like an enormous undertaking.  I feel very comforted knowing there are people like Luke Cumbee on the case.  Please join us for an incredibly important discussion. 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com
 

Expanding Through Grief: Finding Joy After Loss with Flo Mina | Ep 277

“Sometimes you have to let go of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you are living.” ~ Flo Mina
I met Flo Mina through my late friend Bob Donnell.  Bob had been elated to introduce us because after a life filled with tremendous loss, he’d finally met the love of his life and had rediscovered the joy of happiness. 
Bob and Flo’s happiness together was somewhat ironically bound by their separate experiences with grief.  Flo’s high school sweetheart had died just shy of her sixteenth birthday, a week before he had planned to take her to prom.  Bob had been following a car carrying his three year old daughter, when it ran a red light and hit a pole, he administered CPR and she passed in the hospital a few days later.
It wasn’t easy but Bob ultimately found a way to use his grief for good.  As an author, speaker and coach, he helped so many people through the hardest periods of their lives.  He was also Flo's mentor and sounding board.
When Bob fell unexpectedly ill and was hospitalized in November of 2024, she was by his side. When he passed six weeks later on Christmas Eve, Flo knew she’d have to depend on the powerful tools he’d given her over the years in order to navigate the unknown landscape of grief ahead.  
Since then, Flo has been on a powerful and often miraculous journey of healing.  Part of her healing has been found helping others discover pathways through their own grief without getting stuck in it.  Grief, whether over the death of a loved one, a pet, a lost dream, divorce or anything else, is a powerful force that  can consume our whole lives, if we don’t learn to deal with it.  People like Flo, and Bob before her, are so important because they can provide roadmaps, tools and some essential supplies for others who find themselves facing, or perhaps lost along, grief's treacherous journey.
Join us for a most healing conversation.
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

Fan Favorite: One World, Many Lenses: Photography, Faith, and Finding Home with Serge Van Neck

Jason sits down with photographer Serge Van Neck to trace his journey from Amsterdam to Phoenix and the Rosebud Reservation.  Together they explore how he discovered and refined his craft—from mastering exposure and lenses to embracing film and long exposures.
Serge shares how his Baha'i belief in unity and diversity informs his work, and he reflects on timing, composition, and doing one’s imperfect best as an artist. This episode invites listeners to rethink what artistry and dedication mean in everyday life.
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com

Accessibility in the Arts: Making Creativity Inclusive with Alicia Hopkins | Ep 276

“Art has the power to tell stories, change perspectives, and help unite communities on various causes and issues. I use art to engage people in dialogue on current events, advocacy issues, disability rights issues and much more.” ~ Alicia Hopkins, from her artist statement
 
It’s far too tempting to fall into the trap of thinking that true creativity talent is reserved for the lucky few with astounding abilities.  World renowned artists, musicians, famous actors, best selling writers, the list is long, but elite.   But, what if true creative talent IS actually within ALL of us, regardless of what our abilities or disabilities may be?
Alicia Hopkins is a gifted artist, poet, and author whose pieces are at once unique and thought-provoking.  Alicia is also someone who navigates life with autism and dystonia.  Instead of letting her challenges shut her down, Alicia uses them to inspire a deeper connection to the creativity within herself and deepen her determination to advocate for others who may otherwise be overlooked as artists.  This includes those experiencing incarceration, mental health challenges and physical disabilities.
Winner of Art Possible Ohio Accessible Expressions People’s Choice Award, founder of the Poetry For All program and author of “Audacity to Speak”, Alicia has found many innovative and exciting ways to teach and share creativity to help people with a large variety of abilities and disabilities access their own native, creative joy and brilliance.  
I encourage you to tune in for what is sure to be a creatively rich conversation.
 
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**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest
**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com