Regardless of where you fall in your fitness journey, it’s time to get up and move. However, many people don’t know where to start. Fortunately, our community is filled with fitness trainers who have the expertise and patience to meet you where you are, and it’s never too late. Whether you’re an athlete looking for that extra edge, someone taking those first tentative steps back into the gym or you want to learn a new sport, the guests that I will talk with over the next four weeks of the Many Hats Podcast all have a story to tell. My first guest is Amber Thomas, owner of Amber’s Fitness Lab, located in the 1600 Block of South Miami Street in South Bend. The name of Amber’s business gives you a hint that she takes a scientific approach to fitness training that’s influenced by her years working in the health care field. Amber spent her life involved in sports, so she knows the connection between body and health. However, Amber also had to overcome internal challenges that could have stopped her from becoming a fitness training with a loyal following. We will hear about it on this episode of The Many Hats Podcast. Please welcome Amber Thomas.

When I get together with my daughter, Chloe Dukes, the conversation is free flowing. One minute we can be laughing about an old memory or something we saw on the internet and the next we can be having a serious discussion about the great issues of the day. You will hear that on this episode of the Many Hats Podcast because Chloe is my guest. Why? Mainly because she will be at the Civil Rights Heritage Center on Friday to hold a gallery talk about her art exhibition “Growth and Truth” that has been on display since February. Secondly, the idea of me doing a podcast was hers, so she needed to come on here and help me create some content. For real though, Gail and I are so proud of her and we love her to life. Please welcome my first born child, Chloe Dukes, to the Many Hats Podcast.

Laquisha Jackson has been cooking for people for most of her life. Jackson was seven years old with her grandmother asked her cook for her siblings. Jackson accepted the responsibility of being the family chef because she has always had a heart for service. Today that heart full service allows Jackson to bring the joy of food to our community through her catering company, Soulful Kitchen. However, it does not stop there. Jackson also transformed Soulful Kitchen into a platform to address food insecurity through her charity hope for the hungry, while also educating the next generation of chefs through the Getting Ahead Program. Please welcome Laquisha Jackson to the Many Hats Podcast.

The love of music is rooted deep in Chris Rizik’s soul. His mother, who lived to be 101-years-old, was an opera singer. She and her husband raised a large family where everybody could carry a tune. Growing up in Flint in the 1960s and 70s meant that Chris heard a lot of Motown, and he loved all of it. One of his strongest musical memories came in 1972 when he saw the Spinners and Temptations in concert. Imagine that! Chris went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Michigan State University and a law degree from the University of Michigan. He married, raised a family and became an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. However, the love of music – and soul music in particular – never left. Chris now gets to share his passion for music with the world through Soultracks.com, the world’s largest online source for all things Indie and classic soul music which he founded in 2003. I’ve written for Soultracks since 2007. If there’s one thing Chris and I can talk about – besides the Wolverine’s national championship winning men’s basketball team and my Hoosier’s national championship winning football team, it’s music. We’re gonna do just that on this episode of the Many Hats Podcast.

About Chris Rizik: Chris is the founder and publisher of SoulTracks.com, America’s most popular soul music online magazine. Chris has also played a quarter century role in the development of technology, entertainment and entrepreneurial companies around the country, with a special focus on investment and inclusive growth in Michigan.

Chris is known around the world for his efforts to bring soul music, in all its forms, to music lovers. Formed in Chris’s kitchen in 2003, SoulTracks has become the “go to” site for soul music news, reviews, and the bridging of classic and modern soul. This year, articles on SoulTracks will be viewed three million times by soul music fans in more than 100 countries.

Chris is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, a fund that has been hailed nationally as a new type of venture capital vehicle: one that drives not only financial success, but positive impact on underrepresented geographies and people. Chris’s work has helped attract over three billion dollars of investment into Michigan startup companies, and has become a national model for impact investing. He has also taken a leadership role in community organizations designed to advance inclusive growth in Detroit, including TechTown, Invest Detroit, and the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan.

For Jetta McKinstry, the kettle corn that’s become the treat of choice at wedding receptions, birthday parties and for a snack while watching TV at home was divinely inspired. She had not been a big popcorn or kettle corn eater as a young person. However, after praying for inspiration and direction after many years of working as a school bus driver for the South Bend Community School Corporation, God directed her to make the food that has been her life’s mission and passion for the past two years. Jetta learned the process of making kettle corn, as well as how to run a business from the ground up and every time doubt crept in, a satisfied customer provided validation. Today, Jetta’s Kettle Corn brings joy to people throughout Michiana and around the country. Please welcome Jetta McKinstry, owner and creator of Jetta’s Kettle Corn to The Many Hats Podcast. If you want to buy Jetta’s Kettle Corn or to learn more, visit jettaskettle.corn or call her at 574-203-0938. Jetta’s email is jettaskettlecorn@gmail.com.

The Rev. Lawrence Giden comes from a long line of spirit inspired social justice activists. Rev. Henry Giden, Lawrence’s grandfather, was a highly influential pastor in South Bend, and Lawrence developed and cultivated a love of the Christian faith and social justice work through watching and learning from elders like his grandfather. In his book “The Call To Activism: Messages to Inspire the African American Community,” we learn that for Giden faith and activism are linked. Giden’s book is a call for spirit led activism for all people. Please welcome the Rev. Lawrence L. Giden to the Many Hats Podcast.

Don Wycliff journey from a boy growing up among his industrious and close knit family in the Jim Crow South to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist began in the East Texas town of Dayton. However, it wound through Ashland, Ky, Denver and Terre Haute, In. before reaching South Bend and the University of Notre Dame. Throughout that journey, Wycliff gained encouragement, love and direction from his parents, grandparents a supportive faith community and a series of mentors who crossed his path at crucial times. By the time, he graduated from Notre Dame in 1969, he appeared to be on the way to a life in academia. However, with the turbulent 1960s coming to an end, an Ivory Tower life didn't feel right, and when Wycliff saw how journalists uncovering wrongdoing at the highest level, he was inspired and compelled to leave the gothic buildings of the University of Chicago and enter the rough and tumble world of journalism. Don Wycliff recounts that journey in his memoir "Before the Byline: A Journalists Roots." Don Wycliff joins me on the next episode of the Many Hats Podcasdt

Wife, mother, granddaughter, journalist, executive producer of WSBT’s HomeTown Living, event planner at a local university and member of the D-9 sorority Zeta Phi Beta are among the many roles played and hats worn by Wanda Dudley. In the fall of 2005, Dudley added another hat – caregiver. The road that launched Dudley’s entrepreneurial journey started that year when her husband, Chris, was diagnosed with cancer. Chris’ survivor journey and Wanda’s caregiver journey started at the same time as my survivor journey and Gail’s caregiver journey. I would wave to Chris and Wanda as I passed them in Memorial Hospital’s oncology unit after completing my radiation treatment and before Chris’ session began. Fortunately, Chris and I have been cancer free for 20 years. However, Gail and Wanda have spent much of the last 20 as caregivers for parents, grandparents and terminally ill relatives. Entrepreneurs ask questions that lead them to identify problems. As Wanda continued her caregiving journey, she realized that providing aid and comfort to an ailing loved one is a noble calling that is also isolating, stressful and physically taxing. Caregivers rarely acknowledge the toll that taking care of a sick family member or friend takes. Wanda knew from experience that asking a caregiver how they were doing would yield the response fine. She knew that response was not an honest response, but caregivers often feel guilty talking about their problems when someone that they love is dealing with serious medical issues. So, Wanda looked for ways to get beyond the mask that caregivers wear. That search lead Wanda to found You Too: Caring for Caregivers, a support group that helps caregivers move from survival to sustainability, from burnout to belonging, and from being overlooked to being uplifted. Wanda Dudley, founder of You Too: Caring for Caregivers is my next guest on the Many Hats Podcast.