Join Alex and Franky Venegas, known as Flyysoulja and Kodiyakredd respectively, and known collectively as the Island Boys (aka Dan and Cody) as they go #beyondFLG with Kathleen Ventura. She is the co-owner of Compost Crowd, an award-winning compost collection service right here in Northern Arizona. She and her husband, Brock Delinski, offer residential, commercial and event food scraps collection in both Flagstaff and Sedona. Their objective is to keep organic matter out of the landfill, engage the community in this diversion, and return the nutrients to the soil at local farms. Kathleen is an avid environmentalist and was just named Arizona’s Green Leader by Green Living Magazine. Compost Crowd was also named Arizona's Best Eco-Friendly Service for Your Home, Best Arizona Company Doing Good for the Planet, and Arizona's Best Eco-Friendly Small Business.

When Kathleen isn’t elbows deep in food scraps and bucket washing, she can be found making vegan food and hosting themed dinner parties, camping in the backcountry or chilling in her refurbished 1994 camper, walking 20,000 steps/day with her rescue dog, or thrifting for gently-used fashion fits.

In this episode we cover the history and origin of Compost Crowd, adventures in life, and what brought Kathleen and her husband to the west.

Thank you so much for tuning-in as we go #beyondFLG with Kathleen Ventura.

Have you ever gotten a graduate degree to hone your listening skills? Check out Beetlejuice and Adam Maitland (aka Cody and Dan) as they go #beyondFLG with the multifaceted, ultra brilliant, eclectic, and highly motivated Cindy Payne, Ed.D!

Cindy is the Executive Director for the Northern Arizona Cancer Support Community of Arizona. She holds 30+ years experience in administration, program and project development and change management. Her educational background includes holding a Masters of Education in Counseling from THE Harvard of the West, NAU, and an Ed.D from Aspen University. Her work history includes a variety of positions at NAU which included being an Associate Dean of Students, and a Program Coordinator & Faculty of Counseling Student Affairs in the Educational Psychology Program. Following, in the midst of the Covid Pandemic, she took a career leap into the current position she holds with the Cancer Support Community of Arizona. Much of our conversation focuses on her time in this role, the vision she holds for the CSCAZ and how she’s drawn upon her experiences and personality to maximize opportunities and strengths for the benefit of people. According to strengthsFinder she is a Maximizer, and it shows! We hope you enjoy going #beyondFLG with Cindy Payne.

IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENT HOSTED BY CSCAZ:
Sunday 10/27/2024 from 2:00-4:00 pm: Trunk or Treat at CSCAZ, 914 N. San Francisco Street, Flagstaff AZ, 86001. Bring the kids and grab some candy.

Join Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph (aka Cody and Dan) as they go #beyondFLG with the illustrious, eclectic, and most excellent Andrea Meronuck. Andrea like many fine folks walking among this planet earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from THE Northern Arizona University (#GoooooooLumberNerds). Her graduate degree was in Community Counseling and was awarded alongside her efforts to earn certificates in Ethnic Studies and Women and Gender Studies. Currently, Andrea works a full-time job as a Clinical Director for Northland Family Help Center, a FLG nonprofit that offers free, trauma therapy to folks who are the victim of a crime. She also runs two small businesses, New Moon Facilitation where she does clinical supervision, psychotherapy and training/Consultation, and, Beloved of the Earth which produces yoga/meditation retreats and most recently took a group of people down the San Juan River. As if that's not enough, she is currently serving on the Boards of two non-profits, Southside Community Association and Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth. And, as if that wasn't enough, Andrea is also participating in the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Counsel for a place dear to our hearts, Beyond the Pines FLG #GoooooooPineNerds. This was a fun episode with Andrea where she shares about growing up in North Dakota (which is just north of South Dakota), how she got into her work and the influences from her community that have had a profound impact on how she views and approaches the world. Thanks so much for tuning-in as we go #beyondFLG with Andrea Meronuck.

Join Snoop Dogg and Mike Tirico (aka Cody and Dan) as they take a break from the Olympics to interview Flagstaffian Meg Kabotie Adakai. Meg is the mom of two beautiful children. She's an educator, she's an artist, and she's a lover of nature and community. She earend a most prestigious degree from THE Northern Arizona University. Her degree is in Biomedical Science and Psychology. Meg comes from a line of Hopi artists on her father’s side, whose work can be found throughout Northern Arizona and the world. She is a board member of Flagstaff Foodlink and the Indigenous Circle of Flagstaff, and serves on the Indigenous People’s Advisory Council of Coconino County. She currently manages Flagstaff Mountain Town Markets, and teaches children about nature and community. This episode covers some of Meg’s conenction to the land and the people of the surrounding areas, her approach and goals in creating the FLG Mountain Town Markets, and how the market has unfolded thus far, including what she sees going forward. Let's go #beyondFLG with Meg Kabotie Adakai.

Before the episode begins, Sydney Rittershaus shares about some great things happening in the community and how you can get involved. We’ll also have links for these attached to the show notes.

Information from Sydney Rittershaus:

Join Michael Che and Colin Jost (aka Cody Bayles and Dan Phillips) as we go #beyondFLG with intellectual, interpersonal, and intergalactic powerhouse; Molly Wood, the executive director for the Whale Foundation. Molly was born and raised in the throws of the Mogollon rim in Show Low, AZ - the place where the main drag is named “Deuce of Clubs.” and the high school is named after your favorite nickname for middle-aged women trolling for younger men - #GoCougars.

In this episode, Molly goes #beyondFLG to discuss her personal interest in botany and herbalism, what led her to taking on a gig as a river guide, and ultimately, what led her to apply and be selected for the executive director position at the Whale Foundation - which is a non-profit company oriented toward connecting the river guiding community with resources for mental health treatment, funding for education/further learning, and medical health treatment. Molly shares about the history of the Whale Foundation including the origins of its name, her vision for going forward, and some challenges she foresees.

It was a bigly pleasure sitting with Molly and to learn how much passion she holds for developing and building community in natural and organic ways, in addition to what GPS coordinates represent her favorite places to be connected to nature. Thanks for tuning-in as we go #beyondFLG with Molly Wood.

Whale Foundation:
https://www.whalefoundation.org/

Join Lilo and Stitch (aka Dan and Cody) as they go #beyondFLG with the dynamic duo, Jesse Coddington of NRFC and Tim Sena of Avail Tattoo. Jesse and Tim grew up in the small town of Fort Sumner, NM, a “village” with roughly 1000 residents. Jesse and Tim share the story of what brought them together, growing close friendships through similar interests, what it was like growing up in rural New Mexico and how they’ve maintained their friendship throughout the course of life. They discuss how their upbringing also informs the way they approach and run their businesses.

Jesse is the owner/operator of a local powerlifting gym called New Roots Fitness Co. He was selected as the back to back 2022 and 2023 Best Personal Trainer through the Best of FLG competition. The gym has hosted several powerlifting meets to raise funds for local non-profits. Currently, NRFC is raising money to eliminate financial barriers for veterans to have 24/7 access to the NewRoots gym.

Tim is the owner/operator of Avail Tattoo Co. which has won best tattoo shop in FLG every year since 2016. In addition to keeping Avail between the rails, Tim’s shop has created a culture of connection to the city of FLG through hosting art shows that showcase local artists while also raising funds for local non-profits.

Thanks for joining us as we go #beyondFLG with Jesse Coddington and Tim Sena.

Join Ken and Alan (aka Cody Bayles and Dan Phillips) as they go #beyondFLG with Morgan Sjogren. Morgan is a free-range writer, explorer, and defender of wild places. She is the author of Path of Light: A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon, Outlandish, The Best Bears Ears National Monument Hikes, and The Best Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Hikes. Her writing has appeared in Arizona Highways, Archaeology Southwest, bioGraphic, and Sierra Magazine. She is the recipient of the 2022 Water Desk Grant for reporting on the Colorado River. A nomad by nature, Morgan lives on the Colorado Plateau and feels most at home in the wild.

You can find some of Morgan's works here:
Path of Light: A Walk Through Colliding Legacies at Glen Canyon https://www.torreyhouse.org/path-of-light
Various Stories: https://morgansjogren.com/stories/
Other Books: https://morgansjogren.com/books/

Join Keeley Jones and Barbara (aka Cody Bayles and Dan Phillips) as they go #beyondFLG with Jack Stauss, Outreach Director for the Glen Canyon Institute. Jack's passion for the red rock and Glen Canyon comes from years of higher education and experiential learning. Recently, he finished his graduate work at the University of Utah in Environmental Humanities where he focused on public lands and environmental communication. Jack has previously interned with Save Our Canyons and the Salzburg Global Seminar. He has worked for GCI since 2016.

In this episode, Jack shares the history of Glen Canyon, how he became connected with the Institute, what recommendations the institute has for the current situation, and a variety of experiences he’s had while exploring and developing a relationship with the canyon.

Thanks for joining us as we go #beyondFLG with Jack Stauss

https://www.glencanyon.org