Keoni Chats Keoni Conlu

When making a trip back to Portland, Brian Weber stops by and is this week’s guest. Brian and I were high school classmates. During this conversation, A lot of his stories and experiences started to emulate my own. We talk about his pathway to becoming a Police Officer with the city of Astoria, Oregon. He opens up about the many rejections he faced and how he was able to find an alternate route to achieve his dream. The last memory I have of Brian was a kid that blended into the background. But when he was with his friends, lit up and was very engaging. Brian opens up about how his training to be an officer helped him grow as a person. Follow Brian here: https://bit.ly/3TC3WYF

Adam Becenti becomes the newest member of the two-timer club, as he returns to be this week’s guest on Keoni Chats. A lot of Adam’s first episode revolved around his participation in the Black Lives Matter movement and his support to community causes. We built off that episode and talked about his work as the Tribal Affairs Director at the Oregon Department of Human Services and having a balance between his work and his culture. What always sparked my curiosity about Adam was how he finds the line between work and culture when his job involves his culture. We also talked about his participation at speaking engagements at schools such as University of Colorado and University of Oregon. Follow Adam here: https://bit.ly/3wlbVkX , https://bit.ly/3uxp9un , https://bit.ly/3UGDXRQ 

Confessions Of A Tiny Teacher Founder Tasha Emmerson joins me in this week’s Keoni Chats. Tasha and I have similar social circles, but this was the first time we’ve talked with each other. Her openness and engaging nature made this conversation quickly comfortable. We talked about her upbringing with absentee parents, and having to be the parental figure for her sisters. Tasha opened up about her marriage to her husband and being involved with each other for almost two decades. As Tasha became a mother of 2, and her teaching career was taking off, the world was introduced to COVID. This would lead to the creation of Tiny Learning Box. Follow Tasha Here: http://bit.ly/3tiPCeE . Visit Confessions Of A Tiny Teacher website here: https://bit.ly/3tsHEiU

I met Keith Nelson for the first time in this week’s Keoni Chats.  He was born and raised in Portland, OR and we are both alumni from the same high school and college. I reached out to him through our high school’s facebook group and he graciously accepted. This chat was a challenge for me, not only because this is our first time meeting, but because of his extensive resume and figuring out where to go first. Keith is a Comedian and Actor of over 30 years. Outside of the comedy stage, Keith has been in projects such as: Electives, Not for Nothin’, and Mobsters and Mormons. Keith and I talked about the importance of being on time in his world and he shared some stories from the stand up comedy world. Check out his website here: https://www.keithrossnelson.org/ . 

After keeping up with Angela Lackey through social media for so long, it was time that I brought onto the show for this week’s Keoni Chats. Ever since Angela and I were calling each other “co-workers,” she had talked about clothes and her fashion line Diversified Clothing Brand. We talked about the beginnings of Diversified Clothing Brand and some of her future plans for the company. Angela is a former professional athlete so she brings the same focus and energy to her brand as she did when she was playing basketball. We talked about the multiple hats she has to wear (for now) and how she keeps going, even when COVID began to spread. Check out Diversified Clothing Brand here: https://diversifiedclothingbrand.com/ .

Olan Muller opens up about his journey in this week’s Keoni Chats. Olan was one academic year younger than me but our paths always found a way to each other. During our time together in high school, we did dragon boats together and our social circles overlapped. Olan and I talked about his new look of shoulder length hair and a mustache. We also talked about his unconventional path that began during his middle school years as his childhood home went further and further into the distance. Olan opened up about always being on the move and how he is transitioning to his career as an Air Traffic Controller. Follow Olan here: http://bit.ly/44CH1R2