HyperLocal(s)

This red-headed delight has come up many times in previous episodes, so I thought it only right she comes on and tells her story.

  Listen as this Easton, IL native (home to 400 or less) talks about her life as a photographer, the niche she has carved in the industry, going from small town to big city, photographing campus shenanigans as her first gig, volunteering for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (an organization that takes precious ...

What a joy and pleasure and light and well-rounded person Jae was to interview. There's no shortage of adjectives for this well-spoken delight. She is a That's What She Said Sister, therapist, financial guru and simply a great person to have met.

 Listen as this Naperville native and University of Illinois grad talks about the lifetime's worth of trauma she has experienced in just a decade. Jae describes her suicide a...

This smooth operator joins me at Kitchen Table Studios after a long day of teaching and dadding. 

 Listen as this Kankakee-born musician talks skipping a grade, clutching a high-honor scholarship, falling a few credits short, mastering his degree later in life, becoming a teacher of music and playing his voice all over our community while trying to manage a tricky relationship with finances. Finally and after some persuasion, Brando...

Her intellect, presence and breadth of talent was inspiring. Her disposition and mellow nature was calming. She was a lovely interview and an honor to sit down with. 

 Listen as this German-born, California-raised and Champaign-rooted, talks how music influenced and shaped her education, her love life, her career and her family dynamics. Julie's main instrument is piano, however: conducting, directing, teaching and most recentl...

My family of four gather around our dining table aka Kitchen Table Studios to excitedly provide content. 
 
 Listen as my children, husband and the "Tales From Two Townies" most requested, graciously provide content during a rousing Q & A game, expose family secrets, tell us why they know mom and dad love them, what are mom and dad not good at, lots of secret fast food content, what makes our kids laugh, what ...

We saw the same episode of the same trash TV show. We thought the same thing as the same time. She reached out and I was ready to listen and record. 

 Listen as this Champaign girl turned Bloomington-Normal resident returns to talk about the most controversial topic on the planet. Heated, political, polarizing and emotional. This one is all hers, however. The spring break we will never forget followed up by the summer that...

Bubbly is an understatement. She is bouncy, beautiful and ultimately driven by a love for her business. Her second child. 

 Listen as this Tuscola woman talks about working at the outlets, always wanting to be at work over school, following what she excelled at over what she envisioned for her future, scaling down the dream of a family of five to one, managing a home and business with a commuting husband, not liking to rely on other...

Sweet and hardworking, altruistic and loving. She is the definition of selfless and the embodiment of maternal resilience.

 Listen as this Urbana-born woman breaks free from a traumatic childhood by seeking refuge at a woman's shelter near her neighborhood, prioritizing work over a higher education, eventually getting straight A's and building a career in respiratory therapy, finding love on the early iterations of online ...

She is a ball of energy with a desire to change and help those that don't have a voice. At our first formal meeting she tells me all about her job at our local alternative school. 

 Listen as this townie talks working at the juvenile detention center, earning trust and respect, becoming an accidental liaison for the lost pets in our community, turning off social media for self-preservation, losing students to gun violence, stud...

When I saw her on stage at That's What She Said 2025, she shined like a diamond. Authentic, sweet and funny. A few messages later, and I got to meet the star for a long-form interview of her performance.

 Listen as this Farmer City girl talks about the unique spelling of her name, her career in philanthropy, infertility treatments, the heart-wrenching ending to the birth of her triplets, how to approach a grieving mother and fa...

Ommmmmmm. She has a calming affect that is unmatched. Flowers, yoga and an overall conscious lifestyle cloaked in spirituality, sustainability, staying grounded and an appreciation for nature.

 Listen as this Korea-born, nomadic youth and now local business woman shares a story of yoga, the Dahlia diva, gardening, being a librarian, spirituality, losing her mom after healing their relationship, living in a co-op household, the COVID...

What a character! What an entertainer! Energy and talent bubble out of this Jim Morrisonesque style icon while he graces the stages of Champaign-Urbana. 

 Listen as this New York transplant talks about his youth as a performer, relative pitch versus perfect pitch, his ongoing residency at Urbana's Canopy Club, the history and resurrection of Piano Man, the most requested songs and finally how many unbuttoned buttons is too many...

When you realize someone you have always known strictly as an authority figure has a personal life, you begin to see them in an entirely different way. A dad, a husband, humanized, vulnerable. My former high school teacher had an entire story unfolding outside of the brick and mortar of Central High School.

 Listen as this tight local father-and-daughter combo come to Kitchen Table Studios to talk adoption, the One-Child Policy in C...

A lot can happen in two years. On September 12, 2022 the first podcast was released with this single mom. She returns to give a life update on the growth of her family and her heart.

 Listen as this Urbana gal talks about her move to a small town, going from a mom of one to a mom of two overnight, her faith, her support system, how she manages stress, the adoption process, how they celebrated the adoption, sibling rivalry,...

An early flight. A long-awaited couple's getaway. A welcome third wheel.
 
 Listen as my husband and "Tales From Two Townies" road trip warrior talks with our dear friend, Jamie Wellman, on our way to the airport. We reminisce, discuss our Austin plans, talk music and get to know this repeat podcast guest a little better. Festivals, wookies, concerts, interrupting, lunch dating, caregiver stories, being a lan...

For the last two seasons of basketball at my son's school, I've watched this gentleman run back-and-forth while relentlessly trying to keep pace with the unwavering energy of middle school boys. Little pay, evening hours and most importantly an onslaught of unhappy customers makes officiating a job that I had to know more about.

 Listen as this Pesotum-adjacent lifer talks about his own sports history from the be...

Two years ago I started working with her to incorporate weights into my weekly routine. She also overhauled the way I eat, view food and think about cardio. 

 Listen as this Oregon native and professional mover (in more ways than one) has returned to the podcast to talk less about her role as an Illini football wife and more about her role as creator of Amy Miller Fitness, gym etiquette, the old-school fear of women being ...

I took notice of her unique approach to fitness on social media. Approachable, fun, silly, doable and high on positivity/low on shame.

 Listen as this Danville native talks all things New Year's resolutions, ditching the concept of "new year, new you" and adopting a "word of the year," how she views her own body, "cold girl walks," talking to kids about food, fitness events culminating in...

I could have talked to Jason about his profession for hours. The dynamics and processes and protocols and community inside the firehouses in Champaign are tightly aligned and something the residents of CU should hear more about.

 Listen as this multi-generational townie talks about the testing to become a firefighter, the drop in applicants over the decade, moving up the firehouse ranks at a comparatively young age, attend...