In this engaging episode 169 of the C-10 Podcast, Kathy Nelson, President and CEO of Visit KC and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation, joins CYITML Executive Director Matt Fulks for an insightful conversation recorded live at Music Theater Heritage. Speaking in front of C-10 students and mentors, Kathy shares her inspiring journey from her early days in media to leading major sports and tourism initiatives in Kansas City. She discusses the challenges of dealing with "failure," the triumphs of securing events like the NFL Draft and the 2026 World Cup, and the lessons learned along the way. Kathy's story is a testament to resilience, leadership, and the power of community engagement.

LINKS:

To see our 2025 Holiday Gift Catalog to give a gift with meaning this season, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

To learn more about First Federal Bank of Kansas City, our Student Spotlight sponsor, visit their site.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

In Episode 168 of the C-10 Podcast, we sit down with Melesa Johnson, the trailblazing prosecutor for Jackson County, Missouri. Recorded live at Music Theater Heritage, this episode features insightful questions from our students, offering a unique perspective on Melesa's leadership journey.

Melesa shares her experiences growing up in a challenged area, her path through Columbia University and the University of Missouri School of Law, and her rise to becoming the first Black prosecutor for Jackson County. Her career highlights include serving as a law clerk, working in private practice, and leading violence prevention initiatives as Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas' Director of Public Safety.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Melesa's dedication to community service shines through her involvement with organizations like the KIPP Academy School Board and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City. As prosecutor, she is committed to fostering a safer, more equitable community through balanced justice.

Join us for this inspiring conversation that highlights the power of perseverance and intentional leadership.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Episode 159 of the C-10 Podcast welcomes former Kansas City Chief and current Chiefs Radio Network color analyst Danan Hughes for a special live recording at Music Theater Heritage in Crown Center. In front of our C-10 students and mentors, Hughes shares his fascinating journey from New Jersey to becoming a two-sport star at the University of Iowa, where his athletic prowess caught the attention of both the NFL and MLB.

After being drafted by both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Milwaukee Brewers, Hughes chose the gridiron, spending five seasons as a wide receiver with the Chiefs during a transformative period for the organization. His insights into those years provide a unique perspective on a crucial chapter in Chiefs history.

Following his playing career, Hughes has built an impressive second act in Kansas City's financial sector, currently serving as a senior business development officer and mortgage originator with Community America Credit Union. Now in his fifth season alongside Mitch Holthus as color analyst for the Chiefs Radio Network, Hughes continues to impact the Kansas City community both on and off the air.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

As we mention from time to time, this week's episode is a little different. But just as powerful as the others. And this is one week you may want to share with others.

In fact, a college president was listening when we recorded this, and asked for the link to this podcast episode so he could share it with his team. 

Here's why: this week you'll hear most of the webinar we did with three outstanding leaders to wrap up the Crown Town Challenge: civic and business leader Karen Daniel, Chiefs president Mark Donovan, and Royals president/CYITML founder Dayton Moore. As a bonus, you'll hear from the NFL Network's Jeffri Chadiha, who moderates this week's chat.

It's a little different week, but we hope you enjoy hearing from some tremendous leaders in our community.

 LINKS:

For more info about the Crown Town Challenge campaign to thank your mentor AND provide mentoring for high school students in Kansas City, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

To find out more about this month's presenting sponsor, Stepp & Rothwell, visit their page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This week’s episode is a little different than any other since we launched about 17 months ago. We're biased, but we think it’s going to be really cool.

Going into this school year we decided that we wanted our students in the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program to dive deeper into leadership. To be more intentional about how they think about leadership.

With that in mind, and feeling that the guests we have on this podcast offer great leadership lessons, a few weeks ago we told the students about a new project they’re taking on this year. We asked them to pick an episode of the C-10 Podcast that they wanted to listen to, pick a segment that spoke to them the most, and then prepare a short talk about that segment...or be interviewed by their mentor about that segment. (All five students in this first group chose to be interviewed.) And then we opened it up to questions from the other students and mentors.

So, this week, five students from our C-10 program are going to be the stars -- the experts, as we told them -- for this episode.

Keep this in mind: we typically have about 40-45 people at each session, and the five students you’ll hear from in this episode all volunteered to be in the first group. They volunteered to get up in front of the group and speak. Take charge of this. That alone speaks to their leadership now and in the future. This group includes two new students -- a sophomore and a junior, two more juniors and a senior. Two of the students in this group are actually siblings.

We'll introduce each student and mentor along the way, but here's who you'll hear:

-- Alissa and her mentor Jen Fescoe after a clip from Olympic gold medal swimmer Shannon Vreeland.

-- Dawson, who’s regular mentor was not there, so pinch hitter Todd Donoho will interview Dawson after a clip from two-time Olympic silver medalist in gymnastics, Terin Humphrey.

-- One special person our students have heard from a couple of times during their weekly sessions is Carl Jemison, who grew up in Birmingham during the Civil Rights movement, and knew Martin Luther King Jr. Second-year student Trey and his mentor Stann Tate will talk about Carl.

-- First-year student Norman and his mentor, Andrew Kreiling, will talk about a segment from one of our other mentors, George Norton, who spent the bulk of his career in the Army.

-- Finally will be Andrew's other student and lone senior this week, Sidney, who selected a clip from KMBC meteorologist Bryan Busby’s episode. 

It's a little different week, but we hope you enjoy hearing from some of our students.

LINKS:

We're currently in the Crown Town Challenge campaign to thank your mentor AND provide mentoring for high school students in Kansas City. For more info, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COURAGE. In the “C” You In the Major Leagues vernacular, COURAGE in leadership is someone who wants the opportunity to decide the outcome; someone who’s not afraid to fail; and someone who fears no one.

This week's guest definitely fits that.

Whether you live in the Kansas City area or not, you’ve undoubtedly seen his company’s work out there somewhere. That t-shirt with the heart and KC in the middle that have been worn on national TV by the likes of Rob Riggle and Paul Rudd? They came from his company.

The Crown Town shirts that are part of fundraisers for “C” You In The Major Leagues to support mentoring and leadership development for high school students? Those came from his company, also.

And, by the way, earlier this summer his company, Charlie Hustle, was selected as the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s 2021 Mr. K Small Business of the Year Award winner.

He, of course, is Chase McAnulty, founder and CEO of Charlie Hustle apparel here in Kansas City.

In this episode, Chase takes a swing at our Pregame Batting Practice, discusses the importance of the Mr. K Award and the importance of giving back to the community, the COURAGE it takes to fail as an entrepreneur, and much more.

 LINKS:

A gift of at least $100, which is DOUBLED until Oct. 15, gives a student more than five weeks of mentoring AND you get the Crown Town T-shirt designed exclusively by Charlie Hustle. To do that, click here.

For more about the Charlie Hustle brand, visit their website.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COMMITMENT. In the “C” You In the Major Leagues vernacular, COMMITMENT in leadership is someone who has a strong work ethic, is not easily distracted, prepares accordingly, and prioritizes.

This week’s guest certainly embodies that.

Dr. Elbie Loeb, who grew up in Junction City, Kan., and then got his degree from Kansas State University, spent much of his career as a doctor here in Kansas City -- an internal medicine specialist, to be exact. In 2009, he began a stint as a doctor for the Kansas City Royals  -- until, after the 2014 World Series season, an infection took his eyesight in a matter of hours and forced him to stop doing something he loved to do.

This interview was conducted in front of our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program students and mentors at Musical Theater Heritage.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COMPOSURE. In the “C” You In the Major Leagues vernacular, COMPOSURE in leadership is someone who is calm in the eye of the storm, slows the moment down, is poised and under self control.

When you’re leading efforts to put on a big event or launch a new program, you need that COMPOSURE. That leads us to this week's guest.

A couple of weeks ago there was an event here in Kansas City called the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Summer Classic. The organizer of the event happens to be a past guest of the C-10 Podcast and one of the mentors in our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program, the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Menorah Medical Center, Stann Tate.

Before joining Menorah in April 2014, Stann was the Marketing Director for the Community Blood Center of Kansas City, the Director of Community Relations for AMC Entertainment, the Director of Public Relations for the Kansas Speedway, and the Assistant Director of Championships at the NCAA. (And, during this episode, he explains what each of those jobs has in common.)

On the side, Stann is a for-hire DJ by the name of DJ Stann.

LINKS:

To learn more about the NLBM Summer Classic, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COACH. In the “C” You In the Major Leagues vernacular, a COACH in leadership is someone who is an independent thinker, understands the big picture, is a good self-evaluator and offers enthusiasm.

With the fall high school sports season upon us, we thought this would be a great time to chat with John Dehan about that word COACH. No, John isn't a coach -- at least not in the sense you’re expecting. Since 2004, he’s run an organization called Call the Game, which assigns officials in the Kansas City area.

LINKS:

To learn more about Call the Game, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COMPETITOR. In the “C” You In the Major Leagues vernacular, a Competitor is someone who has a desire and ability to compete; has high expectations; is tough-minded and has the ability to overcome obstacles; and brings out the best in teammates.

This week’s guest certainly fits that. Although the Olympic Games in Tokyo are over, we wanted to bring you one more guest who’s medaled in the Olympics and definitely fits the word Competitor.

Terin Humphrey helped the U.S. gymnastics team win its first gold medal at the World Gymnastics Championships in 2003, and then won two silver medals a year later at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

She then went to the University of Alabama, where she was an 11-time NCAA All-American, and won the national championship in the uneven bars in 2005 and 2007. Unfortunately, she had to retire from competitive gymnastics in 2008, during her senior year, shortly before the NCAA national meet.

She’s in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame, where she was inducted as part of a team in 2008, and then individually in 2015.

As if all of that’s not enough, she competed on American Ninja Warrior twice, she’s a former police officer, and she was on the selection team for USA gymnastics for the 2012 and ‘16 Olympic Games.

This interview was recorded at the end of July in front of our C-10 students and mentors at Musical Theater Heritage inside Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. As is the case with these conversations that we record in front of our students, some of the chat has been deleted to keep some of the conversation private between Terin and the students.

Before we introduced Terin that night, we showed the video of her silver medal performance on the uneven bars, and you can find that link in this week’s show notes. We open the conversation by asking Terin about the nervousness she felt before and during that routine.

LINKS:

To watch Terin's silver medal performance at the Athens Olympic Games, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word this week is CONCENTRATION, which in the “C” You In The Major Leagues vernacular is someone who has an ability to focus, hones instincts, and prepares with a purpose.

Without a doubt, this week’s guest certainly fits that.

Shannon Vreeland has gone from club swimmer with the Kansas City Blazers to standout at the University of Georgia, to Olympic gold medalist, to an attorney.

After swimming for the Blazers under coach Pete Malone, who’s now Veronica Malone, Vreeland continued her career at the University of Georgia, where, as a freshman in 2011, she won the Southeastern Conference title in the 500 meter freestyle. That same year she was First-Team All-SEC, on the SEC's All-Freshman Team...oh, and she was on the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll and the Spring Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

In 2012, she made the U.S. Olympic swimming team that won the gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay in London. Throughout her swimming career, Shannon Vreeland won 19 international medals.

Today, Vreeland is an associate attorney in the Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group with a firm in Atlanta.

We're joined later in this episode by two of our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program mentors, Caroline and George. 

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COMMITMENT. This week’s guest, Geoff Cottrill, certainly fits that. Shoot, anyone who is great in the marketing world, does a great job with Commitment. But this week you’ll hear a slightly different take on how that looks in marketing.

And that's a good thing. If fact, you may want to make sure you have pencil and paper handy for some notes (you do that every week, right?) because Geoff might be one of the top marketing minds in the world today...and he offers some awesome advice throughout the interview.

Geoff has served in top marketing roles for some of the world’s most well-known brands including Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Converse (which is owned by Nike), and back to Coca-Cola.

Most recently, Geoff was head of marketing at Coca-Cola in North America, where he led all advertising, media, digital, social media, regional marketing, sports and entertainment properties, and college & university relationships for all brands in its portfolio.

Prior to that, he was the General Manager & Chief Marketing Officer for Converse during an unprecedented period of growth. During his time at Converse, he managed all brand related marketing, footwear and apparel product development, and their digital direct-to-consumer business. He launched various artist friendly marketing platforms, which we discuss, and Geoff and his team built the second largest brand footprint on social media (behind Coca-Cola), growing Converse’s Facebook audience to more than 75 million fans. During his tenure at Converse he was recognized as BrandWeek’s Marketer of the Year.

Geoff is a founding partner of MARVIN Magazine & Media, LLC, which is a publication focused on storytelling centered around today’s emerging voices in fashion, art, and music. The company also produces original content for several of the top digital platforms such as Apple News and Amazon Audible.

Two additional people you'll hear in this episode, besides Geoff and host Matt Fulks, are this week’s co-hosts -- frequent C-10 Podcast contributor Max Utsler, and Dawson, one of the students from our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program. You’ll hear from each of them a little later in this episode. But without further delay, let's get to it with Geoff Cottrill.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our “C” word for this week is COACH. In the “C” You In The Major Leagues vernacular, a COACH understands the game, so to speak, is an independent thinker, a good self evaluator, and offers enthusiasm. This week’s guest certainly fits that. Shoot, anyone who does a good job in public relations, helps personify that definition of COACH.

If you’re a Kansas Citian, you likely recognize the name Toby Cook. He spent more than 14 years with the Kansas City Royals as the Vice President of Publicity. Before that, he was an anchor for eight years on Fox4 in Kansas City. A few months ago he had a job pivot -- in his early 50s -- and since April he has been the Director of Public Relations for the University of Kansas Health System.

In all of those jobs Toby Cook has embodied the word COACH. 

On this week's episode, Toby talks about changing careers in his mid-30s and changing jobs in his early 50s, he offers advice for those looking for a job, shares his favorite Royals memory and, of course, takes a swing at our Pregame Batting Practice.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Episode 158 of the C-10 Podcast takes listeners on an exciting new journey with our first-ever (and possibly last) "car chat" featuring Fox4 news reporter Matt Stewart. In this unique and intimate setting, we dive deep into Matt's career, exploring the journey that led him to become a respected figure in the Kansas City media.

As we, um, cruise through the conversation, Matt shares invaluable lessons from his days as a college football player at Northwestern University. These experiences helped shape his views on leadership, team building and how every person matters to a team.

In a poignant turn, Matt opens up about his personal battle with cancer, offering a raw and inspiring account of his journey. This powerful episode showcases Matt's resilience, determination, and positive outlook in the face of adversity, making it a must-listen for anyone seeking motivation and perspective in their own lives.

LINKS:

To order Matt Stewart's books or "Stewart Strong" merch, visit his website.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

As you may know, the C-10 name of this podcast comes from the name of our leadership and mentoring program for high school students: C-10 Mentoring & Leadership. And that comes from the “C” part of “C” You In The Major Leagues. In short, at the backbone of what we do are 10 leadership traits that start with the letter “C”: Care, Character, Coach, Commitment, Comprehension, Composure, Concentration, Competitor, Confidence and Courage.  

When Royals General Manager Dayton Moore and his wife Marianne launched “C” You In The Major Leagues, they did so with the idea that, although the term “C” You In The Major Leagues and the 10 “C” words began with the Royals’ player development, really all of us could benefit from doing our best to live out these 10 C words. Not to be Major League Baseball players, but to be major-league people in life. In our communities. In our roles as leaders and mentors. 

With each week’s guest n this podcast, we want to focus on the “C” word that may apply to him or her the best. And since the word CHARACTER is really at the heart of the 10 “C” words -- not to mention one of the 10 words -- we wanted to start there.

Without question, this week’s guest embodies that word CHARACTER.

Mike Sweeney was one of the most consistent players during his long career with the Royals from 1995-2007. He was a five-time All-Star, and he’s in the top 10 for several career numbers including games played, runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs. Not surprisingly, he was elected to the Royals Hall of Fame in 2015, his first time on the ballot. 

But Mike is one of the most positive people, one of the most character-driven people you could possibly meet.

As Dayton Moore has said, “Mike breathes life on people unlike anyone I’ve ever been around in the game. He’s extremely positive, optimistic and encouraging, which is perhaps one of the most impactful ways to motivate people -- giving them hope and believing in them.” And then he added, “One of the most important aspects of leadership is to delight in where you are. Mike Sweeney does that as well as anyone I’ve ever been around.”

This week, we share part of a conversation that we had with Mike Sweeney and the students and mentors from our C-10 program. We hope you enjoy hearing Mike take a swing at our "Pregame Batting Practice" and then talking about being a man of CHARACTER throughout his career, on and off the field.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

With the end of the school year a few weeks ago -- meaning nine of our C-10 students graduated -- and being in the middle of the Major League Baseball season, we felt this would be a good time to get "C" You In The Major Leagues' founder and Royals General Manager Dayton Moore with us. 

Last week, we recorded this conversation while standing in the middle of a large baseball and softball field at the Jewish Community Center on a very windy day while watching three fields packed with about 130 boys and girls learning baseball skills -- and just enjoying one another -- at the annual CYITML baseball camp. 

This week we chat with Dayton about the importance of giving back through the baseball camp, the Royals, the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program and more. 
 
LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

If you’ve listened this month, you know that we’re celebrating Dads here in June and, specifically, we’re talking with folks who were greatly influenced by their fathers.

This week’s guest is particularly intriguing because it can be fascinating when a son or daughter decides to follow in his or her father’s footsteps...especially when that's in the media.

Jim King was a legendary journalist, working for the Chicago Tribune and then a couple of radio stations before eventually helping to launch WQAD-TV up in the Quad Cities area -- and he had a couple of interesting stops in the middle.

For nearly 40 years, Jim King’s oldest son, Kris Ketz, has been a fixture at KMBC-TV and two of Jim’s grandsons -- Kris’ sons -- have followed in his footsteps...one in radio and one in TV.

In case you’re not familiar with Kris, here’s part of his credentials: he is an Emmy-award winning anchor and investigative reporter, having captured a Midwest Emmy for best anchor in 2008. He also won in 1991 for an in-depth report on the influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the Kansas City area. He was nominated for a 2003 Emmy for best anchor, and nominated for a 2011 Regional Emmy award for “general assignment reporting.” In 2015 he was one of four local news anchors chosen to interview President Barack Obama in a one-on-one interview.

Kris is a graduate of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He began his broadcasting career at the age of 18 as a weekend news anchor for radio station WQUA in Moline, Ill. He progressed to afternoon and morning anchor, until he became the station's news director.

And in 1998, about a year before Jim King died unexpectedly, Kris and Jim co-anchored the Father's Day edition of KMBC 9 News at 10.

Kris takes a swing at our Pregame Batting Practice and then discusses his dad's legacy, following in his footsteps, and being the father of two in the media. And much more.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

As we mentioned last week, here in June, the month of Father’s Day, we’re talking with folks who were greatly influenced by their fathers. And this week, Father’s Day week, appropriately enough, we're chatting with Kansas City Star columnist Vahe Gregorian, whose father Vartan died in mid-April at the age of 87.

But what a life he lived. Vartan was born in Iran to Christian Armenian parents and by the time he came to the States in 1956 to attend Stanford, he spoke seven languages. We’re going to talk more about his life, but we'll add these distinctions and honors: he taught at multiple universities, was the President at Brown, and also led the New York Public Libraries and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. While there, he helped lead an initiative with other foundations called the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, which made grants to nine countries totaling $440 million over ten years, improving conditions for 4.1 million African students enrolled at 379 universities and colleges. Oh, and there’s this: President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. President Bill Clinton awarded him the National Humanities Medal, and President Barack Obama appointed him to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

This will be unlike most of our podcasts but we think it'll be a tremendous blessing as you hear about a great leader who wanted to make a difference for others.

Vahe takes a swing at our "Pregame Batting Practice," and then he discusses the influence of his parents, particularly that of his father. 

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This week’s chat features Jennifer Dehan, the President and COO of Velocity Staff, which is a different kind of staffing agency.

Jennifer started her career in staffing in 1993 shortly after graduating from Kansas State University, and about 10 years later had a chance meeting with an Entrepreneurial Technologist that led to the founding of Velocity Staff, Inc.

In addition to her work Velocity, Jennifer is a founder, board member and volunteer of Hoops4Hope, a not-for-profit that raises funds and awareness for organizations that support cancer patients in need in our community. She also works with the Natalie M Foundation to support scholarships for college bound students interested in pursuing STEM disciplines and works with the Foundation to encourage and educate young women to celebrate their strengths and capabilities.

Jennifer, who is a graduate of Shawnee Mission South High School, enjoys spending time with her husband John, who I hope to have as a guest on this podcast one day, and three step-children. 

Jennifer takes a swing at our "Pregame Batting Practice," and then Jennifer and Matt discuss the influence of her parents in her leadership journey, the keys to finding a job now at any age, and Jennifer shares a great story about how Ewing Kauffman set her up on her first blind date.

LINKS:

To learn more about Velocity Staff, Inc., visit their website.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This week’s chat features an old friend of host Matt Fulks, Rob Browne. Although most of these episodes feature someone with Kansas City ties, we're breaking that this week. Rob is from Atlanta and lives there now, but there's no doubt that you’ll be entertained, enlightened and encouraged after listening to this conversation.

Rob played basketball at Lipscomb University under Hall of Fame coach Don Meyer before embarking on a career focused on serving others. Not long after graduating from Lipscomb, Rob became a missionary in Russia, but not just any part of Russia...Siberia to be exact. He eventually became the Director of Russian Operations for YouthReach International, and nearly 10 years ago -- in December of 2011 -- he became the President and CEO of YouthReach International, which establishes local mentoring communities to serve vulnerable youth. Their locations include Ukraine, Zambia and Beirut.

Rob and Matt discuss the leadership lessons of Don Meyer, tell a story about how Rob had a chance to make the Bisons better once, and how those leadership lessons have carried with Rob as a missionary and nonprofit CEO. 

 LINKS:

To learn more about YouthReach International, visit their website.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This is a special week as we're joined by two-time Emmy Award winner and Peabody Award winner, Andrea Kremer. To make it even more special, this episode, which was recorded during a session with our C-10 students and mentors, includes questions from a few of our students.

In 2017, Kremer was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2018 she received the Pete Rozelle Radio-TV award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

She was ESPN’s first female correspondent and in 2018, she and Hannah Storm became the first ever all-woman NFL broadcast team when they started calling games on Amazon Prime.

She has done in-depth interviews with and profiles on some of the most recognizable names in sports including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Pete Carroll and Bill Parcells. She’s covered championship games in nearly every major sport, plus the Olympics. Oh, and she teaches a journalism class at Boston University’s College of Communication.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

With this 52nd episode -- so a year of the C-10 Podcast -- we bring you a conversation from one of our C-10 sessions with our high school students and mentors. 

This one's a little different than all of the others, though. It was a roundtable discussion recorded on April 28 at Menorah Medical Center. Moderated by Stann Tate, a C-10 mentor and the VP of Marketing for Menorah, it featured the following three leaders from Menorah:

Angel Monroy, the Assistant Chief Nursing Officer, who helps oversee all nurses at Menorah. Angel has worked in the intensive care unit at Truman Medical Center, a level I trauma center. He holds three degrees: BA in Psychology, a BS in Nursing, and a MS in Nursing. Additionally, he works with Sporting Kansas City as part of their medical staff.

April Rahe, who's the Director of Respiratory, Neurology and Sleep Services at Menorah. She recently graduated and received a Leadership Certificate from the HCA Healthcare Leadership Institute, and is currently working on a Leadership Certificate through Rockhurst University.

Denise Culver (BSN, RN, SCRN, CEN), who's the Neuroscience Coordinator at Menorah. She is responsible for the hospital's stroke and neurosurgery programs. She is also a certified stroke nurse and a certified emergency nurse. For the past six years she has been a nurse leader in the management of two stroke programs.

As with many of the sessions with our students that we turn into podcast episodes, parts of the discussion were reserved for them. But we wanted to share these great insights into crisis management and leadership with you. 

With that, here is C-10 mentor Stann Tate with Angel, April and Denise. 

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

As you probably know if you follow us on social media or have gone to C10Mentoring.com, there are two huge goals for the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students here in the Kansas City area. One is to help develop a servant-leadership heart in them -- or to continue developing that. The second is to help prepare them for the next stage in life.

This year with our nine seniors we have been more deliberate about helping to prepare them for that next step. One of the ways we do that is with teaching them about money and budgeting and investing.

In early May we had a Zoom session with our seniors, their parents and guardians, and their mentors, as we introduced them to the idea of a donor-advised fund, which, essentially, is a savings account to use for charitable purposes.

Our guest speaker that night was Evan Lange, who’s the President of the Midwest division of The Signatry, which is a Christian community foundation. Before joining the Signatry, Evan was an associate attorney with a couple of the big law firms in Kansas City.

As with many of the sessions with our students that we turn into podcast episodes, most of our conversation with Evan was focused on the seniors and some things we’re doing for them, but we wanted to share Evan’s story, his leadership journey, and thoughts on the idea of generosity with you.

LINKS:

To learn more about The Signatry, please visit their website.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

We have a signed book to give away this week! But first...

This podcast, as you know, focuses mainly on leadership and mentoring. What better person to have on this week than a leadership coach and someone who, literally, wrote a book about leadership.  

Marc Pitman is the CEO of the Concord Leadership Group. He has a Masters in Organizational Leadership and certification as a FranklinCovey Coach. His clients have included Maine Public Broadcasting, Georgetown University, Habitat for Humanity, and the Association of the U.S. Army.

In essence, he helps leaders lead their teams with more effectiveness and less stress. His latest book is "The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be." He’s also the author of "Ask Without Fear!" – which has been translated into Dutch, Polish, Spanish, and Mandarin.

Marc’s expertise and enthusiasm engages audiences around the world both in person and with online presentations. And has caught the attention of media organizations as diverse as The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Al Jazeera, Fox News, SUCCESS magazine, and Real Simple. Marc tweets regularly at @marcapitman.

LINKS:

We have a signed copy of "The Surprising Gift of Doubt" to give away to one lucky winner. To be entered into the drawing, simply visit our contact page and let us know why you listen to C-10 and where you're listening from. We'll have a drawing on Wednesday, May 5, at 10a CDT.

For more information about Marc's book, please visit this link. 

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

On Episode 157 of the C-10 Podcast, we're chatting with Mari Foster, one of this year's six Blue KC Coaches with Character honorees.

Mari has been a coach in the Kansas City Public School District for more than 25 years. She started at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy Middle School in 1998, and then created the Tiger Dance Team in 2005, which reached the state championships just three years later, in 2008. In addition to dance, Foster has also been the head boys’ and girls’ track and field coach at East High School since 2019 and is USA Track and Field Level 1 certified.

Additionally, she works with House of Hope KC.

As her nominator, Dr. Lee Allen Sr. wrote: “Coach Foster has been a coach and mentor to hundreds of students in multiple schools throughout her illustrious career. In addition to founding the Tiger Dance Team and growing it into one of the best dance teams in Missouri, she’s also helped capture multiple state championships and has had several of her student-athletes continue their careers at the collegiate level. Because of her love of children, Kansas City Public Schools asked her to serve in a role where she can mentor other district dance teams, and replicate her success district-wide. She means so much to so many students, past and present.”

LINKS:

For more information about the Blue KC Coaches with Character program, visit this page on our site.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

One of our initial goals with this podcast was to highlight the outstanding mentors in our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program. We also use this podcast to highlight the guest speakers we have for our students and mentors during the weekly sessions.

Well, in this week’s episode, we’re combining both of those, if you will. On Wednesday, March 31st, we did relatively short interviews with three of our mentors in front of our students on the main stage at the Musical Theater Heritage location at Crown Center in downtown Kansas City.

This week, you’re going to hear one of those interviews, as we chat with third-year mentor Lori Top.

Lori grew up in the Kansas City area, and after getting a degree in architecture from the University of Kansas, she went to work as a Design Manager for Starbucks Coffee out of Seattle. She was in charge of rebuilds of Starbuck stores throughout Canada. Eventually, she came back to Kansas City, where she is a principal and Aviation Projects Director for Burns & McDonnell.

One thing to keep in mind as you hear those last couple of sentences and then listen to this conversation, as an architect, Lori has spent the majority of her career in male-dominated professions. She has a couple other characteristics that she’s open about in this conversation -- one has made her self-conscious, particularly in a male-dominated profession, and one has helped her throughout her career. You’ll hear both of those in this chat.

Finally, some quick background. Lori was the third mentor we interviewed that night for our students, so there’s a reference or two to George and Fred, the other two mentors we interviewed. And Lori directed a lot of her answers to our students. But, frankly, whether you’re 14, 54 or 74, her answers can apply to all of us today.

With all of that being said, we hope you enjoy it.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Our goal each week with this podcast is to bring you guests who have great stories and have been successful leaders or mentors in various fields. Although we’ve had some well-known guests, there are so many outstanding leaders out there who have stories and principles that you and I can apply to our everyday lives. 

That’s the case this week.

We’re joined by longtime college golf coach Ed Bethea, who actually joined us for our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership session and spoke to our students for a few minutes this week. 

Ed was the women’s golf coach at Dodge City Community College for 20 years -- actually helped start that program -- and had incredible success. The success that most of society uses to determine the success of college coaches, but also success in the number of student-athletes that he helped mentor, and still mentors today.

You'll hear about that, as well as Ed's thoughts on working with students today, and he takes a swing at our Pregame Batting Practice.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

If you’re a long-time listener of this podcast you know that one of our initial goals was to highlight some of the outstanding mentors in our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program. We also use this podcast to highlight the guest speakers we have for our students and mentors during the weekly sessions. 

Well, in this week’s episode, we’re combining both of those. On Wednesday, March 31st, we did relatively short interviews with three of our mentors in front of our students on the main stage at the Musical Theater Heritage location at Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. 

This week, you’re going to hear one of those interviews, as Max Utsler, who’s been a co-host on this podcast, chats with mentor George Norton.  

George has been a mentor in C-10 since our first year, and he’s served on a couple of committees for “C” You In The Major Leagues. George is very active in the Kansas City community. He has served -- or is serving -- on various nonprofit boards and committees, including Musical Theater Heritage and Kansas Public Radio. 

George has led an interesting life. He was a career Army officer, which you’ll hear about during this conversation, including serving as the Public Information Officer for the Army in Berlin during the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

But the cool thing about this chat is that it’s two old friends talking. Max was a professor at KU when George was working on his Master’s, and they developed a great friendship that’s spanned about 40 years.  

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

We wrote this last week, but if you want to know what it looks like to be a leader in business and in the community, you don’t have to look any further than our guest this week. 

J.R. Buckner has been the President and CEO of First Federal Bank of Kansas City since April 2014.

After receiving his degree in accounting and management from Park University, Buckner went into banking through a management trainee program in 1994 at a community bank in Lee's Summit, Mo.

Community is at the heart of his focus, professionally and personally. In fact, under his leadership, FFBKC is involved with various nonprofits and community service projects throughout the greater Kansas City area, including CYITML.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

If you want to know what it looks like to be a leader in business and in the community, you don’t have to look any further than our guest this week. 

Carolyn Watley has been with CBiz since 1977, during which time she has gone from office manager to President, and is now the Vice President of Community Engagement. Oh, and speaking of community engagement, she’s the Chair for the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, she’s served on various committees and boards in the community from St. Luke’s South Hospital to her alma mater (and one of our partner schools, Benedictine College), to Starlight Theater. And, she was one of the driving forces behind the construction of the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

It's perhaps the toughest basketball tournament in the country: the national tournament for the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), which starts on March 18 in historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

We're joined this week by the President and CEO of the NAIA, Jim Carr.  We talk hoops, leadership, the relationship between the NAIA and the NCAA, and Jim takes a swing at our "Pregame Batting Practice" questions. 

Jim Carr joined the NAIA in July 1998 as Managing Director and General Counsel and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, while retaining the title of General Counsel, in 2000.  In September 2006 Carr became the seventh President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAIA. 

Before joining the NAIA, Jim practiced law in Birmingham, Ala. from 1994-1998.  His primary areas of practice were public finance, and corporate and intellectual property.  He also worked in the athletics development office and served as Director of Licensing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1989-1991.

LINKS:

To learn more about the NAIA's basketball tournament, visit the NAIA.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

If you’re a long-time Kansas City resident -- “long time” as in you were here in the 1980s and even ‘90s -- you likely remember a movie theater inside Crown Center. It wasn’t huge inside...in fact, the theaters could be called cozy. But in 2007, after the movie theater closed and Crown Center renovated the space, they approached Musical Theater Heritage, which had been producing shows since 2003 on a loading dock, about moving its shows there.

That was a great move for all, as nearly 50,000 people see shows at MTH each year in that renovated 244-seat theater. They do much more than shows, though. 

Joining us this week is a former "singing waiter" in Kansas City and Los Angeles, and someone who helped market those loading dock shows, the Executive Director of Musical Theater Heritage, Chad Gerlt.

In this episode of the C-10 podcast, Gerlt talks about his leadership journey and the importance of finding good mentors, takes a swing at our "Pregame BP" questions, and much more.

LINKS:

To learn more about Musical Theater Heritage, visit MusicalTheaterHeritage.com.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

If you’re into college sports at all, you’ve likely heard the name Bill Hancock. He was the long-time director of the NCAA Final Four, the first executive director of the Bowl Championship Series and the first executive director of the College Football Playoff. Shoot, you may have even seen him TV helping to present the championship trophy to the game’s winning coach. 

Or, if you’ve ever had to deal with the unimaginable grief of losing a child, you may have read his incredible book, "Riding with the Blue Moth," which he wrote a few years after the death of his son, Will, in the 2001 Oklahoma State plane crash. Frankly, it’s a must-read for everyone. 

On top of all of that, Bill, who’s a longtime Kansas City resident, is one of the most genuine, caring people you will ever meet. 

In this episode of the C-10 podcast, Hancock talks about his leadership journey and the importance of putting others first, takes a swing at our "Pregame BP" questions, shares how he's dealt with the loss of a son, and much more.

LINKS:

To read our 2018 blog post about "Riding with the Blue Moth" and Hancock's journey, click here.

To purchase copies of "Riding with the Blue Moth," visit Amazon.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Something must've been in the water at Shawnee Mission South High School in the late 1980s because in a two-year span, 1987-88, it produced Michael Brandt, a successful writer/executive producer of movies and a hit TV series -- not just a single show, but a series of shows -- and two Hollywood actors: Rob Riggle, who was on this podcast last spring, and this week's guest. 

He can be seen pretty much every Wednesday night as “Capp” on the hit NBC show, Chicago Fire. He’s also been in movies including, Men of Honor with Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding, Jr., and The Double with Richard Gere. From Shawnee Mission South class of 1987, Randy Flagler. 

In this episode of the C-10 podcast, Flagler shares stories from his career, talks about a different type of leader, takes a swing at our "Pregame BP" questions, and much more.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

There's a good chance, regardless of your age, you know Bill Kurtis. If you're a little older, you may remember him from WIBW-TV in Topeka, or as the anchor of the CBS Morning News, or as the host of various shows on PBS and A&E. If you're a little younger, you may just know his voice from the movie “Anchorman,” or from hearing him each weekend on NPR’s awesome show, “Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me.” (You may have even seen his video for our Crown Town Challenge last fall, talking about his mentor as a young man in Kansas.) 

In this episode of the C-10 podcast, Kurtis shares powerful stories from his career, talks about a different type of leader, and takes a swing at our "Pregame BP" questions, and much more.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

For Episode 156 of the C-10 Podcast, we're featuring Tim Kluempers, the second of six 2024 Blue KC Coaches with Character honorees.

Tim started the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints Rugby team in 2007. Under his direction, the Saints have won the Kansas state championship nearly every year, and they’ve competed on the national stage, also. Before getting into coaching, Tim played for the US National Rugby team from 1996-2001, and for the Kansas City Blues Rugby team for more than 20 years. By day, Tim is in Business Development for Budnick Converting.

Additionally, he's heavily involved in youth rugby in Kansas City area.

LINKS:

For more information about the Blue KC Coaches with Character program, visit this page on our site.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Stories are a powerful tool in leadership and mentoring. One of the best storytellers today is this week's guest: Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter, Matthew West. 

West has had 10 No. 1 songs on Billboard's Christian Airplay chart, including "More," "Hello, My Name Is," "The Motions," and his latest hit, "Truth Be Told." He is also a fantastic writer, and if you follow him on social media or seen him in concert, you know he’s pretty funny as well. 

In this episode, Matthew talks about the power of stories and being a part of someone else's story, he takes a swing at our "Pregame BP" questions, and much more.

 LINKS:

To get tickets to the Feb. 12-14 "West Love Fest" virtual concert, click here.

To hear Matthew's current hit song, "Truth Be Told," please visit his YouTube page.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

There is a relatively new movement in Kansas City that you may not be familiar with. It’s called Unite KC. In essence it’s the idea that through faith and our churches in Kansas City, along with a diverse group of folks from every sector across the board, we can bring about racial harmony and justice to this community. In full disclosure, one of the people who helped start Unite KC is the founder of “C” You In The Major Leagues, Royals General Manager Dayton Moore.

This week's guest is the Executive Director of Unite KC, Ray Jarrett. In this episode, Ray shares about some of his experiences of racism in Kansas City, how Unite KC is working toward fighting social injustices, and he takes a swing at our "Pregame BP" questions. 
 

LINKS:

For more about Unite KC, click here.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Precision Printing, please visit PrecisionPrintKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

One of the most exciting aspects of our C-10 program is how our graduating seniors will be able to receive a C-10 Leaders scholarship. On top of that, though, we have partner schools in the region that are willing to go above and beyond that to help the students realize their dreams even more. 

One of those schools is Avila University here in Kansas City. We are pleased and honored to be joined this week by Avila's president, Dr. Ronald Sleptiza.

After growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Slepitza has worked at the University of Maryland (10 years), Creighton University (9 yrs), Xavier University (13 years), and now at Avila for almost 15 years. Additionally, he has been involved with a mentoring program through the Leawood Rotary for more than 10 years, is an Ambassador for KC Scholars, and has served on a number of local and regional boards.

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Precision Printing, please visit PrecisionPrintKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

As you may know, when we have a guest speaker for our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program students, we oftentimes like to use part of that conversation for this podcast. And that’s what we’re doing this week. 

With the holiday this month celebrating Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., our students heard recently from a Kansas City area resident who knew Dr. King. His name is Carl Jemison. He grew up in a single-parent household in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Civil Rights era. Carl’s uncle was with the national office of the NAACP, so Carl was around several giants in the Civil Rights Movement. Carl moved to the Kansas City area in the mid-1980s to work as a chemist at the Sunflower ammunitions plant. He is now retired and active in the caring ministry at the Overland Park Church of Christ.

In this episode we talk with Carl about some of his memories of Dr. King, the Civil Rights Movement, and what we can do to make a difference for each other.

 LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, including the application process for current high school freshmen and sophomores, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Precision Printing, please visit PrecisionPrintKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This week we're chatting with Brian Diddle, a long-time CYITML supporter and the owner of Precision Printing. Shortly after graduating from MidAmerica Nazarene in 1980, Brian went to work for a local bank for two years. About two years later, though, a friend started talking to Brian about opening a printing firm. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

In this episode we talk to Brian about why he started Precision, how much technology has changed the printing business, the importance of Precision's culture in keeping employees, how the company survived the pandemic in 2020, and much more.  

LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Precision Printing, please visit PrecisionPrintKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This week, as we close out 2020 and charge into 2021, we're chatting with someone who has a special place in our hearts (learn why during the episode), Dr. Matt Tidwell, who is the assistant dean at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. Dr. Tidwell also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Business Communicators – one of the world’s largest communications associations with more than 9,000 members on five continents.

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Tidwell worked in marketing communications as a vice president at two Midwest communications agencies and served in communications leadership roles for companies including Great Plains Energy and St. Luke’s Health Systems. And he’s the co-host of a podcast focused on marketing professional development called “The Cultivated Marketer.”

LINKS:

Until 11:59p on December 31, we have a $7,500 matching gift available to provide mentoring for students in Kansas City. If you'd like to double your impact, please visit our donation page.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

On this week's episode we chat with one of our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program mentors, Eli Medina. 

Eli grew up in the Kansas City area before attending Truman State on a volleyball scholarship. She went on to earn her MBA at Rockhurst. It was during this time that Eli became a licensed realtor. She now is part of the Medina Team for ReeceNichols, working for her dad George Medina.

In this episode, Eli takes a swing at our "7 Questions," discusses leadership and the housing market in Kansas City, and talks about her experiences as a mentor in the C-10 program.
 

LINKS:

Until 11:59p on December 31, we have a $7,500 matching gift available to provide mentoring for students in Kansas City. If you'd like to double your impact, please visit our donation page.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

The two names became synonymous with each other: Larry Holley and William Jewell College. After all, Holley was the school’s basketball coach for 40 years, compiling 916 career wins, which made him the ninth-winningest coach in college basketball history at any level when he retired in 2019. He is the winningest coach in the state of Missouri. He earned 15 Coach of the Year awards, including the NAIA national coach of the year in 1996, and the 2018 Kansas City Sports Commission coach of the year. 

Last year he was selected as the "Blue KC Coach with Character" honoree for the month of April.

This week we talk about Holley's leadership background, how he and William Jewell have been intertwined, how he used to get the most out of his players, and have him take a swing at our "7 Questions."

LINKS:

Until 11:59p on December 31, we have a $7,500 matching gift available to provide mentoring for students in Kansas City. If you'd like to double your impact, please visit our donation page.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

We’ve mentioned before how a year ago, when we first started talking about this podcast, the idea was to release a new episode every two weeks. One week would be a conversation with one of our mentors, like we had last week with long-time L.A. sportscaster Todd Donoho. The other episode each month would feature the conversation with that month’s guest speaker for the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program. 

Obviously COVID changed a lot of things with the C-10 program and this podcast, including the release of a new episode each week.

But, this week you get to hear a conversation from our C-10 session on Wednesday night, December 9, between C-10 curriculum chair and contributor to this podcast Max Utsler and long-time Kansas City meteorologist Bryan Busby. 

Bryan has been in Kansas City since November 1985. He had an opportunity several years ago to join the cast of Good Morning America, but, as you’ll hear during this conversation, he ultimately chose to stay in Kansas City. And this city is better for it. Besides being one of the most recognizable faces on TV here in Kansas City, Bryan is very generous toward many nonprofits in our community with his time, talent and treasure. "C" You In The Major Leagues is one of those, and we're thankful to Bryan for that.

You’ll hear about that and much more during this conversation with Max and Bryan, which was recorded in front of our students and mentors at the Otten on Main in downtown Kansas City.

LINKS:
For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

One of our original goals with this podcast was to introduce you to the mentors and committee members that are so important to the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program. So, this week, you'll hear from one of those mentors, Todd Donoho. 

Todd was a television sports anchor in markets including Cincinnati and Los Angeles before joining the Mizzou Tiger Sports Network as a pregame and postgame host. 

In this conversation, Todd takes a swing at our "7 Questions" before sharing memories from his career, and talking about some of the great leaders he's been around, including legendary college basketball coach John Wooden. 

LINKS:
For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

On Episode 155 of the C-10 Podcast, we're chatting with the July Blue KC Coaches with Character honoree, Jill Courter, the girls golf coach at Blue Springs High School. 

Jill Courter has worked in the Blue Springs School District for more than 25 years, and has been the golf coach since 2007. During the past 17 years, she had an undefeated team that won the Missouri state championship in 2014, she’s had one individual golfer win the state championship, and she’s had five all-state golfers.

But, as Alli Bowers, one of Jill Courter’s former golfers and her nominator wrote: “Jill’s tireless efforts to create a place where female athletes are respected and loved is her priority. I still remember the love, care and concern she gave me as a young athlete. Constantly encouraging, teaching, and pushing me to be my best self.”

 LINKS:

For more information about the Blue KC Coaches with Character program, visit this page on our site.

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring and to help families in crisis, visit our secure donation page.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

As you may remember or have have seen -- or you might’ve been on the original call -- in October we ended the month-long Crown Town Challenge campaign with a celebration webinar on leadership featuring Christa Dubill, the Chief Communications Officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Retired General Richard Myers, who is a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and current President of Kansas State University, and “C” You In The Major Leagues Founder and Royals General Manager Dayton Moore. The NFL Network’s Jeff Chadiha, who has been a guest on this podcast, moderated the discussion.

The group discusses leading through difficult circumstances, the importance of mentoring, and so much more, including answering viewer questions.

LINKS:
For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

This is a special episode for a couple of different reasons. One, our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program Committee Chair Max Utsler is co-hosting and two, because our guest is Steve Minnis, the president of one of our C-10 Leaders Scholarship partner schools. 

Minnis became the president of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, in October 2004. Before that, he had a long legal career in the Johnson County prosecutor’s office and with Sprint.  

This week we talk about Steve's leadership background, how he and Benedictine have been navigating the pandemic, how Covid might positively affect colleges and universities in the long term, and have him tackle our "7 Questions."

 
LINKS:

For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Mark Garrett has been the Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer for Blue KC since July 2019. Before that, he had distinguished careers in leadership with Smithfield-Farmland Foods, Kansas City Public Schools, Hallmark Cards, and he’s on the board for the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

This week we talk about Mark's leadership background, a time when he struck out and when he hit a home run as a leader, what you can do right now if you're looking for a job, how Covid might affect companies in the long term, and have him tackle our "7 Questions."  

LINKS:
For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.

For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.

For more information about this month’s presenting sponsor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, please visit BlueKC.com.

If you’d like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.