Photographer Brian Kelly creates a portrait of his guest at his production studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan...and then they sit down and have a candid conversation.
Episodes
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Doug DeVos - Believer in People & Entrepreneurship
Doug DeVos stopped by the studio for a candid conversation about wide ranging topics including podcasting, including his own “Believe! A Podcast With Doug DeVos.” We discuss how philanthropic gifts can be more impactful, what he’s learned about life (and business) by racing sailboats and the ultimate question…if being wealthy makes one happy.
Doug DeVos is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Amway, the world’s largest direct selling company with more than $8 billion in revenue. He previously served as President of Amway for more than 16 years. DeVos joined Amway in 1986 and served in various leadership positions for Amway in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Doug, along with his wife Maria, is the Founder of Continuum Ventures – an investment company for The Doug & Maria DeVos Family.
This episode is made possible by:
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
Mitch Albom - Author
ON LOCATION - PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
Mitch Albom is a mega-selling author (Tuesdays With Morrie, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Finding Chika), as well as a long-time columnist for the Detroit Free Press and philanthropist who operates numerous charities in the Detroit area through his Say Detroit Foundation.
Despite all his talent and massive success, Mitch often says the most important work he’s ever done is with the Have Faith Haiti Mission. He assumed operations and responsibility for this orphanage after the devastating earthquake in 2010 that leveled most of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
In this episode recorded with Mitch at the Have Faith Haiti Mission, we dive into exactly how he became responsible for the lives of 55 kids ranging in age from 2-22 years old as well as numerous teachers at the school, nannies, cooks and other important staff. Once a child is accepted at the orphanage, they become part of a large family and are never adopted out. Mitch and his wife Janine personally commit to each child’s physical, mental and spiritual health, as well as the cost of their education through college.
This is an inspiring episode. Dive in!
This episode is made possible by:
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
JOE ANDERSON - ACTOR/COMEDIAN
CO-FOUNDER OF THE COMEDY PROJECT
Joe Anderson is in my opinion one of the finest improv artists and comedic actors working today. Having worked with The Second City and also having traveled around the country for years with his own sketch comedy troupes, Joe has now bet his entire livelihood on comedy as the co-founder of The Comedy Project, an improv and sketch comedy club on Grand Rapids’ Westside that also features a comedy/corporate training center as well as private event hosting.
The pandemic made operating The Comedy Project nearly impossible and its taken a mental and financial toll on Joe and his team. But they are beginning to thrive again and there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Joe also had a teenage infatuation with my (now) sister-in-law Kristen at a summer sports camp in Pennsylvania, something we found out about years after we met. We attempted to set the record straight in this episode.
Follow Joe Anderson on Instagram
Follow The Comedy Project on Instagram
This episode is made possible by:
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
Dr. Randal Jelks is the author of Letters to Martin: Meditations on Democracy in Black America. He is my former neighbor, a professor, and documentary producer. He was an executive producer of the documentary I, Too, Sing America: Langston Hughes Unfurled. He currently teaches American Studies, African Studies, and African American Studies at the University of Kansas.
Letters to Martin, contains twelve meditations on contemporary political struggles for our oxygen-deprived society. Evoking Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letters To A Birmingham Jail,” these meditations, written in the form of letters to King, speak specifically to the many public issues we presently confront in the United States—economic inequality, freedom of assembly, police brutality, ongoing social class conflicts, and geopolitics. Award-winning author Randal Maurice Jelks invites readers to reflect on US history by centering on questions of democracy that we must grapple with as a society.
This episode is made possible by:
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Congressman Peter Meijer
Representative for Michigan’s 3rd District
Representative Peter Meijer joined Brian in his studio on January 3, 2022, exactly one year after he assumed office in the United States House of Representatives where he represents Michigan’s 3rd District.
To say Representative Meijer’s first year in office has been tumultuous would be an understatement. Just three days after taking office, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol and plunged the country into a Constitutional crisis.
Our conversation is wide ranging, from his seemingly conflicting votes to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress but not Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, to a discussion about healthcare and the legacy of the 3rd District.
Representative Meijer serves on the Committee on Homeland Security as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, and Accountability. He also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Representative Meijer is also a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group working to find common ground on many of our country’s key issues.
This episode is made possible by:
University of Michigan Health-West and Dr. Peter Hahn
Visit www.fullexposurepodcast.com for video excerpts and other episodes.
Sunday Apr 18, 2021
Sunday Apr 18, 2021
Jason Sosa - A.I. Strategist & Entrepreneur
Much more at: www.fullexposurepodcast.com/sosa
Jason Sosa is one of the top artificial intelligence strategists working today. For a guy who barely graduated from high school with a 0.98 GPA and never went to college, his tremendous success as a high tech generalist and serial entrepreneur would have seemed impossible to predict. More than one of his high school teachers told him he might be better off digging ditches for a living, but Jason followed whatever allured him and gave him the emotional fuel to keep going.
Gifted with the ability to effortlessly explain where the most complicated technologies are headed and more importantly how they will impact our lives, this might be one of the most interesting conversations for us to put into a time capsule and open it up in 10 years and see where Jason hit the mark.
Full refunds to anyone who doesn’t have their mind blown at least once during this episode.
This episode is made possible by:
Metro Health | University of Michigan Health and Dr. Peter Hahn
Thursday Apr 08, 2021
Thursday Apr 08, 2021
Glen Phillips
Singer/Songwriter - Toad The Wet Sprocket
Glen Phillips is widely regarded as one of best American singer/songwriters of the last couple of decades. He rose to fame in the early 90’s as the lead singer of Toad The Wet Sprocket. They were everywhere on MTV and have sold a gazillion albums.
I’ve been an even bigger fan of Glen’s solo career. But this conversation isn’t about music, fame or music influences. Glen and I dive right into raw topics that range from community, grief, healing from divorce and the lessons learned while climbing to the top of 19,341 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro.
This is very first episode we’ve released that was recorded via Zoom (Glen was in Santa Barbara, California and me in Grand Rapids). I should have started doing these Zoom interviews much earlier when the pandemic first started. I look forward to releasing more.
Much more at www.fullexposurepodcast.com
Listen to Toad The Wet Sprocket on Spotify
Portrait of Glen Phillips courtesy of Ashtin Paige
This episode is made possible by:
Metro Health | University of Michigan Health and Dr. Peter Hahn
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Dr. Ron Grifka - Chief Medical Officer at Metro Health | University of Michigan Health
Pediatric Cardiologist
If you’re a regular listener to this podcast, you know my family has navigated a medical crises or two with our girls. So I was especially excited to be able to sit down with Dr. Ron Grifka, a man who has as an impressive medical resume as probably any doctor in the country.
At his core, Dr. Ron Grifka is a man who has dedicated his entire life to repairing the hearts of children. The children and their families that need his very specialized expertise are facing a lot of uncertainty and no doubt meet Dr. Grifka at a time when some of their very toughest days and weeks are right in front of them.
In this episode we talk a lot about his dedication to these families, what carries him through both the good and bad days being a doctor, the unique pressure he feels when intentionally stopping a child’s heart so a delicate procedure can be completed…and then hoping that heart starts up again. We also discuss Texas barbecue and France. It’s a good one!
Dr. Grifka now oversees over 500 doctors and 17 different departments in his role as Chief Medical Officer at Metro Health | University of Michigan Health.
This episode is made possible by:
Metro Health | University of Michigan Health and Dr. Peter Hahn
Check out all the portraits and video excerpts at:
Saturday Mar 13, 2021
Saturday Mar 13, 2021
Governor Slugwell - Part Two
PART TWO - The Godfather of Grand Rapids Hip Hop - Film Producer
We’ve never done this before…that is…to split an incredible conversation into two episodes. This is Part TWO. Episode one is located here.
In Part TWO, we dig into the Ministers of Authentic Hip Hop, the term “managerial racism” that appears in the book, “A City Within A City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids” by Todd E. Robinson, as well as Governor Slugwell’s plans to adapt this important book into a feature length documentary.
Governor Slugwell is a community leader, hip hop evangelist, music industry mentor and film producer.
Visit www.fullexposurepodcast.com/gov2 for so much more.
This episode is made possible by:
Metro Health | University of Michigan Health and Dr. Peter Hahn
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Governor Slugwell - Part One
The Godfather of Grand Rapids Hip Hop - Film Producer
We’ve never done this before…that is…to split an incredible conversation into two episodes. This is Part One.
Governor Slugwell is a community leader, hip hop evangelist, music industry mentor that has already moved into the world of documentary film with his adaptation of the book “A City Within A City“ which will chronicle Grand Rapids through the Civil Rights Movements.
In Part One, we dig into the origins of Governor Slugwell, his early career in music, how hip hop saved his life and the fascinating story of how a piece of his music history resides in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
This episode is made possible by:
Metro Health | University of Michigan Health and Dr. Peter Hahn