About the Episode:Justin Ley is an entrepreneur and creator, a visionary leader, thinker and solution-builder. He’s a husband and father, a proud resident of Minneapolis, and a business launcher whose career arc has themes of connecting people, combining resources and improving the lives and well-being of individuals and communities. He once held the impressive title of “Entrepreneur-in-Residence” at UnitedHealth Group and is currently the CEO of Reema Health, which he co-founded in 2020 with a mission to transform how people navigate the gaps between health care and social care.

https://reemahealth.com/

https://agatemn.org/

About French Toast Fridays:French Toast Fridays is an organic, small batch podcast. It’s also an experiment by three friends looking for an excuse to hang out more often!Their names are Tyler, Andy and Marko, and the show was born when they were eating french toast together on a Friday morning and talking about people they know who are living great stories that deserve to be shared.They agreed to do it again and possibly even make it a tradition, and the name of their group text has been “French Toast Fridays” ever since.Tyler and Andy didn’t know Marko was serious when he suggested they make it a podcast, but his excitement for the idea was contagious and within a few days they had a logo and website and were contacting guests for their first episodes.They have no idea where this will lead but are excited to hang out and have good conversations...and also, more french toast :)frenchtoastfridays.comhttps://www.instagram.com/french_toast_fridays/https://www.facebook.com/frenchtoastfridaysoakandglen.comhttps://www.instagram.com/oakandglen/https://lifeworkvalues.com/https://www.instagram.com/lifeworkvalues/https://www.legacyriverroasters.org/https://www.instagram.com/legacyrivercoffeeroasters/

About the Episode:

Lisa Van Ahn is a fighter and champion, in many ways and for many people. As a teen, she found the hope and determination to reclaim her life through kickboxing, eventually becoming a member of the US National kickboxing team who won the North American championship and a bronze medal in the PanAm games. As an adult, she created the I AM Initiative to inspire/teach girls to love and protect themselves so they can be a positive change in the world. Lisa is also an author, speaker, coach and hospitality specialist who is the first guest to have actual french toast with us before being on FTF.

https://www.instagram.com/lisavanahn/

https://lisavanahn.com/

https://www.iaminitiative.com/

https://shorttermsteward.com/

https://www.annbancroftfoundation.org/

About the Episode:

Nick Tasler is an organizational psychologist, author, speaker and “thought leader” on how people make decisions and embrace change. He has published several books and his work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Bloomberg Business Review and The Atlantic. Nick and his wife are from Iowa, met while living in San Diego, moved closer to family and had four kids in Minneapolis, and then decided to try living in Puerto Rico for a year...back in 2016, and that’s still where their family calls home. Nick’s new book Your Year of Wonders comes out this fall.

Links:

NickTasler.com

Nick’s books (Amazon)

Love 4 Satos

Tom Schaeppi is an environmentalist and whiskey enthusiast, an avid downhill skier, father, and an experienced marketing and communication professional. He is the founder of Lost Woods Whiskey, the first Minnesota-based spirits company to be awarded three consecutive Double Golds at San Francisco World Spirits Competition, but also a B Corp committed to giving a portion of their sales to local environmental projects and organizations that support the preservation of nature.

Links:

Lost Woods Whiskey

Sugarloaf Cove / North Shore Forest Collaborative

Minnesota Forestry Association

Lost Woods Whiskey: A Winner with a Purpose (The Tasting Alliance, December 2023)

Moses Ehambe is a walking and talking source of encouragement, motivation and inspiration. The game of basketball has taken him all over the world (from college in Oklahoma to 15 different countries as a professional), and he is now committed to helping players of all ages succeed on the basketball court and in life by modeling his mission to ELEVATE. everything, everyday. Moses and his wife have seven kids and he is an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Links:

Fit First Responders

Win All Day Basketball Clinic

Minnesota Timberwolves

FrenchToastFridays.com

Align Coaching

Legacy River Coffee

Oak & Glen

Ellie Roscher is a writer, speaker and yoga instructor who supports people’s sense of wellness, belonging, leadership and resiliency. She is a wife and mother who believes tiny things can make a big change. Ellie holds an MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence and an MA in Theology from Luther Seminary, and her published books include 12 Tiny Things, The Embodied Path, Play Like a Girl and How Coffee Saved My Life.

Links:

EllieRoscher.com

Plum Writing & Wellness

Ellie’s breathing exercise (from FTF interview)

Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA Foundation in Kenya)

Terry Esau is a musician, author and philanthropeneur who loves bikes and guitars and believes both can change a kid’s life for the better. As Terry says, “we’re all just storytellers,” and through the music and books he’s written, the nonprofits he has created, and the memories he and his wife Mary have made with their family, Terry’s life is definitely telling a good story.

Links:

Free Bikes 4 Kidz

Free Guitars 4 Kids

Harnessing the power of restlessness (TEDxMinneapolis, 2023)

Scene Makers Q&A (Star Tribune, March 2024)

FrenchtoastFridays.com

Eliza Wheeler is an illustrator-author of more than a dozen children’s books including the New York Times bestseller Miss Maple’s Seeds and Home in the Woods, which was inspired by her grandmother’s childhood in northern Wisconsin during the Great Depression. Drawing was her favorite form of play as a child and her emotional outlet as a teen, and as an adult she has found a way to combine her passion for drawing with her love of children’s literature to share the worlds she imagined as a kid.

Links:

Wheeler Studio

HOME IN THE WOODS - Behind the Book (video)

Queer Space Collective