Rounding The Bases With Joel Goldberg

Giving up has never been an option. She has overcome an array of circumstances and events. Angie used each negative circumstance to fuel her drive to be more than what the low success rates for foster children would allow. After being abused and abandoned, she couldn’t have anticipated just how successful she would become. She shares in her book, A Recipe For Bad Lemons, a few of the sweet ingredients that resulted in co-owning a multi-million dollar company and being the mom of four.

Jeff Eckert is a sports referee, author and CFO of Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joe. He is the proverbial "jack of all trades" in his life. Exploring new horizons and challenges seems to drive him onward. This includes rising up through the ranks in Fortune 500 and nonprofit environments. This unique experience allows him to see how the parts fit together and be a globally effective decision maker. More importantly, Jeff is a mentor at heart with a desire to be a positive influence.

Karen Crnkovich is an active member of the Junior League of Kansas City, MO and serves as current President. Karen the first “plumber” President in the 107 year history of the JLKCMO. Karen is 100% owner and Chief Hand-Shaker of DMC Service, Inc. a Kansas City based HVAC and plumbing service contractor. She is founder of Strong Homes-Strong Families, a charity focusing on helping homeowners in need.

Jaysen Van Sickle has worked in a wide array of professions, from the restaurant and bar industry to corporate America to education as a professor. But his most significant role is his current position of executive director at Hope Faith, an organization that works to alleviate homelessness and poverty in Kansas City by providing basic necessities and critical services and programs to empower individuals experiencing homelessness and at-risk individuals to become self-sufficient and independent.

Daniel Harris is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. armed forces, the founder of Muddy Boots Leadership and the author of the book, On Guard: The Four Pillars of Leadership. Lt. Colonel Harris is also an adjunct professor teaching graduate-level business courses at Mercy College.He has strategic level experience from working at the DoD and can leverage experiential learning solutions through teaching, coaching and mentoring leaders.

In part two of an interview about Relentless Pursuit Outreach and Recovery, a nonprofit hoping to end sex trafficking in the Kansas City area, founder Lee Gibson is joined by board member Christine McDonald, a trafficking survivor, and former MLB player Adam Laroche to talk about Christine’s Place, RPOR’s drop-in center an crisis shelter that offers a safe, non-judgmental place for prostituted people from all backgrounds and races.

Lee Gibson is a former U.S. Army Ranger. When not working for the military or government, he has been a firefighter, police officer, diver, boxer and MMA fighter but found his true calling starting Relentless Pursuit Outreach and Recovery. RPOR is a veteran owned non-profit of former military special operation, intelligence community, law enforcement, social service workers, legal professionals, business owners and church leaders. The organization’s goal is to end sex trafficking in the area.

John Gordon Jr. is the Founder and Executive Director of Kansas City based BoysGrow. Since its inception in 2010, he has been responsible for designing, executing and overseeing the organization's approach to youth development. A graduate of UMKC, after working in the Northern California Juvenile Court System and seeing the positive impact agriculture had on young people, he relocated back to KC to start BoysGrow.

Jason Kander was the first millennial in the nation elected to a statewide office when he served as Missouri Secretary of State. His podcast, Majority 54, debuted at #1 on iTunes in 2017, He ran for mayor of Kansas City. Three months into that campaign he ended his candidacy to seek treatment for PTSD he’d been struggling with since coming home from Afghanistan. He reemerged in 2019 with a new role in public service as president of Veterans Community Project.

Rounding The Bases, in conjunction with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, concludes its special series on mental health and the importance of mindfulness. The stressful situations that veterans and first responders deal with on a daily basis can take a toll on their behavioral health. Joel sat down down to discuss the topic with The Battle Within Program Director Nathan Magers, behavioral health expert Whitney Logan, and Kansas City Royals Director of Behavioral Health Science.

Wade Foster is the CEO and co-founder of Zapier, a workflow automation tool used to connect work apps you use every day. Zapier is a 100% distributed team helping people across the world automate the boring and tedious parts of their job by helping everyone connect the web applications they already use. Wade grew up in Jefferson City, MO and started Zapier with two co-founders in 2011.

Jim Atwater is the founder of InReturn Strategies and Scott Brouillette is the CEO. Atwater is a deaf entrepreneur who started the company because workers with disabilities are regularly overlooked and undervalued by employers. InReturn helps companies break the cycle of pouring millions of dollars into inclusion programs that are "extra and special" efforts, and helps companies simply be inclusive as an everyday.

Rounding The Bases, in conjunction with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, continues its special series on mental health and the importance of mindfulness. Dr. Lauren Lucht, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director of Mental and Behavioral Health at the University of Kansas Health System, talks with behavioral health experts Kristin Gernon from BlueCrossBlueShieldKC andWhitney Logan from The Battle Within as they discuss access to behavioral healthcare for frontline workers.

Dr. Rob Bell is a sport psychology coach, author, and speaker. He’s worked with 3 different winners of the PGA Tour and mental coach for the University of Notre Dame, Indy Eleven, and many more. With several ironman competitions, marathons, and a 50-mile trail run under his belt, he’s going to complete a 100-mile trail run this fall. He has a podcast focused on mental toughness and interviews those in the mental health field. He’s published in over a dozen articles.

Rounding The Bases, in conjunction with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, continues its special series on mental health. Guest Kim Colegrove is the founder of Pause First, an organization that supports first responders through wellness programming and mindfulness instruction. Kim is also the primary meditation instructor at The Battle Within, working with veterans and first responders through that program.

Andy Neary is a former Professional Baseball Player, pitching in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He's a two-time Ironman finisher, Business Coach, and Founder of the Complete Game coaching program. Andy’s mission is to help business professionals build the mindset, habits, and rituals “off the field” that lead to all-star performance on it. His website is www.andyneary.com

Bob Davis is the former voice of the Kansas Jayhawks football and basketball teams and the Kansas City Royals. The Kansas Hall of Fame broadcaster and 14-time winner of the Kansas Sportscaster of the Year Award has written a book called “The Dream is Real: My Life on the Airwaves.” The Book includes stories dating back to Bob watching Mickey Mantle as a child. Bob quit law school to pursue his dream. A Prevailing theme in the book is perseverance, focus and hard work.

Rounding The Bases, in conjunction with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City continues its special series on mental health. Guest Kelly Specht is a passionate advocate. Kelly and her husband, Bob, created the foundation, Carl’s Cause following the devastating loss of their 27-year-old son, Carl. Carl died in 2017, the result of depression, stigma that surrounds mental illness and the lack of access to care.

Lou Diamond is a dynamic speaker and master connector who energizes and motivate organizations and helps them with sales growth, client retention and culture building. For over 25 years he has been a top sales performer, keynote speaker and performance mentor. Lou is a consultant; best-selling author; podcast & TV host; and CEO of Thrive, helping businesses, leaders and brands thrive through the power of connecting.He has hosted more than 500 episodes of his podcast Thrive Loud.

Chris Goode is the Founder of Ruby Jean’s Juicery based in Kansas City. Goode is a passionate entrepreneur who started his company in 2015 to honor the early death of his Grandmother Ruby Jean. He believes had his grandmother had the knowledge of juicing and a healthy lifestyle that she’d still be alive. He has made it his life’s work to educate youth and communities and integrate the juicing culture in his hometown by locating the flagship Ruby Jean’s in a food desert he grew up near.