June 4, 2025 • 30 mins
Chris Broberg was raised in the Provo/Orem area of Utah until age 14, when his family moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma so his parents could pursue graduate degrees. He is the eldest of five children. His father worked as an education administrator and his mother was an elementary school librarian. During his youth, Chris enjoyed playing soccer, basketball, and football, and delivered newspapers from age 13 until he left for college. He attended three different high schools due to family moves and transitions.
After completing a year at Ricks College (now BYU–Idaho), Chris served a mission in Concepción, Chile. Upon returning, he attended Brigham Young University, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Spanish. While at BYU, Chris met his wife, Tiffany, at a ward prayer after she returned from her mission to Guatemala. They were married in the San Diego California Temple following Chris’s first year of graduate studies.
Chris earned an MBA from the University of Arizona with a focus in entrepreneurship and marketing. He then joined the Gallup Organization as a workplace consultant, working first in Lincoln, Nebraska and later in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After six years with Gallup, Chris returned to school to pursue a PhD in Business Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Strategy from Texas Tech University.
Since completing his PhD, Chris has been a faculty member at Wichita State University, where he has served for 17 years in both teaching and administrative roles. He and Tiffany have four children—two daughters and two sons. His personal interests include exercising, following college athletics, studying languages, and staying current on news and politics.
In his Church service, Chris currently serves as a high councilor. His previous callings include ward and stake Young Men president, elders quorum president, bishop, ward executive secretary, youth Sunday School teacher, and Cubmaster.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi friends, welcome to the Wichita, KS State Podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Kitchen, a state history specialist.
This podcast is intended to helpbring followers of Christ closer
to Him and to promote unity within the body of Christ by
listening to our state leaders share their personal stories of
faith. By reflecting on faith.
Promoting experiences, we can strengthen our individual faith
(00:20):
in Jesus Christ together. Welcome to our next episode, I'm
here with Chris Roberg. He was raised in the Provo Orem
area of Utah until the age of 14when his family moved to
Stillwater, OK so his parents could pursue graduate degrees.
He is the eldest of five children.
(00:41):
His father worked as an education administrator and his
mother was an elementary school librarian.
During his youth, Chris enjoyed playing soccer, basketball, and
football and delivered newspapers from age 13 until he
left for college. He attended 3 different high
schools due to family moves and transitions.
(01:02):
After completing a year at Rick's College, now BYU Idaho,
Chris served a mission in Concepcion, Chile.
Upon returning, he attended Brigham Young University,
majoring in Political Science with a minor in Spanish.
While at BYU, Chris met his wifeTiffany at a ward prayer after
she returned from her mission toGuatemala.
(01:24):
They were married in the San Diego, CA temple following
Chris's first year of graduate studies.
Chris earned an MBA from the University of Arizona with a
focus in entrepreneurship and marketing.
He then joined the Gallup Organization as a workplace
consultant, working first in Lincoln, NE and later in
Minneapolis, MN. After six years with Gallup,
(01:48):
Chris returned to school to pursue a PhD in Business
Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Strategy
from Texas Tech University. Since completing his PhD, Chris
has been a faculty member at Wichita State University, where
he has served for 17 years in both teaching and administrative
roles. He and Tiffany have four
(02:09):
children, two daughters and two sons.
His personal interests include exercising, following college
athletics, studying languages and staying current on news and
politics. In his church service, Chris
currently serves as a high counselor.
His previous colleagues include ward and stake young men
president, elders Corn president, Bishop, ward
(02:32):
executive secretary, youth Sunday school teacher and cub
master. Welcome Chris.
It's. Good to be here, thanks for
having me. Yeah, excited to talk with you
today. Let's start with your childhood.
What are some of your formative influences or memories?
Maybe some family traditions? Maybe I'll start with some
(02:54):
memories. Growing up, we had a big part of
our life was my mother's aunt, who was never married, but she
was like a grandmother and livednear us and so she was always
there. We were really the only family
she had. And so as she got elderly, we
(03:19):
would go, my dad and I would go mow her lawn and rake her leaves
and take care of her house and she was just always there.
We loved Lucille. It was Aunt Lucille.
And then when I was 11, she passed away.
And it was the first time someone in my life that I really
(03:39):
cared for and knew had passed away.
And all of a sudden she was was gone.
And that was that was a really hard thing.
And I remember the night after her funeral as an 11 year old, I
was 11 years old when she passedaway, that I went up into my
room and knelt down and said a prayer to my Heavenly Father and
(04:04):
just said, Heavenly Father, please tell Aunt Lucille that I
love her. And, and I was feeling sad.
I, you know, losing someone you love like that.
And immediately I just felt thisoverwhelming love that I had
never felt before. And that really witnessed to me
(04:28):
that someone was there, that Godwas real and that he was aware
that and that he knew my Aunt Lucille and that he loved her
and he loved me. And that was really a formative,
meaningful experience for my testimony and one that I look
(04:49):
back to as a youth and, and eventoday that God answers prayers
and he's aware of our individualcircumstances.
Another kind of memory of my childhood would Fast forward to
my teenage years and we when I was 14, we ended up moving quite
(05:12):
a bit and I went to three different high schools and that
was a little bit challenging. And for my freshman year, we
were living in Orem and, and I had like the perfect schedule
and we were starting in a new junior high school the next
year. And, and I had everything set
(05:35):
and I was excited. And then my parents decided to
pursue Graduate School and we moved to Oklahoma of all places.
We didn't even have any experience in Oklahoma.
We left most of our possessions in storage in Utah thinking we
would come back and, and we justhad a van and a little U-Haul
(05:56):
trailer and that's all we had. And and so that brought us as a
family really close together. And after that we moved several
other places. And when you move a lot, you
don't have a lot of friends. It takes some time to make
friends. So that really brought us closer
as a family. But one thing I did when I was
13 is I had a paper out in Orem and that was kind of hard work.
(06:22):
I had to go collect the money and knock door to door every
month and collect. And but in my parents going to
Graduate School, they were not going to get paid.
My dad left his position. He was a junior high counselor
and he was going to get a doctorate in education
(06:44):
administration and he wasn't going to get paid.
And so the, you know, the talk was, oh, we're not going to have
a lot of money. It's going to be tough.
You're going to have to, you know, sacrifice.
And right before we moved, I hadfinished my last month of the
paper route and I had collected A sizeable amount of money for a
(07:06):
13 year old at that time in the mid-eighties, $250.
And we moved to Stillwater, OK. And because we weren't going to
have a lot of money, the first thing that my mom did is took my
brother and I down to the newspaper office and said, Hey,
do you have any newspaper routesthat we could have?
(07:26):
They said, oh, no, these are those are really hard to come
by. They're really in demand.
And we don't have any. You're unlikely to get one, but
you will take your name and you can, you can have it, but don't
count on anything. And even if we do, it's likely
not even close to where you live.
And so we put our name down and meanwhile, I had this money and
(07:50):
I knew that I should pay tithingon it, but I felt justified in
keeping it. I'm like, my family's not going
to have a lot of resources. I could really use this over the
year to get things that I wantedto do.
And I, in a way, had a kind of dialogue internally, like, hey,
I'll be OK not paying it. I paid it before, but this time
(08:12):
I, I think the Lord would understand.
But I knew that wasn't quite right.
And that kind of weighed on me. And so finally I paid my tithing
on that amount. And no sooner had I done that
than the newspaper office calledand said, hey, the the route in
(08:33):
your area, the carrier just quit.
Do you want it? And so yeah, there and there was
2/1 for me and one for my younger brother.
And so we got in newspaper routethat whole year that, you know,
provided a lot more money than Ihad to begin with.
(08:54):
And that was another real testimony builder to me that
Heavenly Father answers our prayers is aware of us and and
when we keep commandments, he takes care of us.
Now it doesn't always happen as quickly or as dramatically as
(09:14):
that, but as a 14 year old youngman, that really again showed me
that my Heavenly Father was aware of me and he cared about
what I did and the choices I made.
Wow. Yeah.
Well, and I mean, it sounds dramatic.
Looking back, it would have beenmore dramatic.
You know, we we think of the check in the mail and that kind
(09:36):
of thing that we hear about. But the Lord providing an
opportunity for you to continue to earn the money.
Yeah, that's that's another big blessing that that we could look
for in our lives. Examples like that.
It's great. Thank you.
So what about in your adult life?
Is there there an example of something that has nurtured your
(09:59):
testimony in your adult life that you'd like to share with
us? You know, I think there's a lot
of example, but I think one thatcomes to mind is when I was a
PhD student, I started with the expectation that I was going to
(10:24):
study leadership and organizational behavior,
management and motivation. And I worked at the Gallup
Organization and as a workplace consultant, which really helped
companies kind of build employeeengagement and help managers
(10:47):
create kind of an environment where employees wanted to be
there and that were thrive. So it was really focused on
leadership and the psychology ofworkers and workplace culture.
And that's what I started studying when I went to school
and, and the Texas Tech hired a new faculty member who was young
(11:12):
and dynamic and, and probably about my same age actually.
But he was the fact that I was astudent and he was looking for
people to work with. And, and so he wanted to do an
independent study with me, whichI did and signed up to work with
him. And, and he was just tough and
(11:36):
hard charging and even kind of mean sometimes.
And in in working this independent study and doing some
research together. And as the classes, our
experience kind of came to the end, I was thinking, I'm never
going to work with this guy death, you know, And but he came
(12:02):
to me at the end of the semesterand said, Hey, if I'm going to
be your dissertation chair, you better do this, this and this.
And in my mind said there is no way I would ever work with you
again. In fact, I already had kind of
things set up to work with another faculty member who is
more on the leadership management side of things.
(12:25):
This faculty member was an entrepreneurship strategy and
faculty member. And so I, I told my dad what had
happened and I said, there's no way I'm going to work with this
guy ever again. And he said, well, did you pray
about it? And I'm like, well, why would I
(12:45):
pray about it? There's no way.
I want to, you know, introduce more misery into my life.
And I said, no, I haven't. And I humbled myself and went
and prayed about it. And as clear as anything I've
had, I got a strong impression you need to work with this guy.
(13:11):
And, and so I did. I told the other faculty member,
I'm going to go a different direction.
And that created a big, a lot ofconflict.
And, but we got through that andI stuck with my impression and
worked with him and it never goteasier working with him.
So I was like, did I listen to that?
(13:32):
Right. And but as I look back on that
decision, I learned more how to do research and how to be an
academic from him then I think Iwould have got from anywhere
where else. And he was instrumental in
(13:52):
getting me publications that helped me get tenure in my
current position at Wichita State.
And had I not acted on that strong impression, I don't think
I'd be where I am today. And, and so I think a lot of
times the Lord, especially when we may go a different direction
(14:16):
and he wants us to go somewhere else, will will give us those
promptings and impressions as weas we seek him.
I'm just glad I had the humilityto listen to my dad and actually
ask Heavenly Father for his direction and getting to the
point where I was open to act onon the promptings I received.
(14:38):
But that and and many others in my career, Little, little things
that Heavenly Father's been so good to me and helping me know
where to go and what to do. And I think that's really shaped
my testimony, knowing that Heavenly Father's there, that
(14:59):
his Son is aware of us and wantsus to be successful and will
help us get to where he needs usto be.
Even if it's not the easiest wayeven.
And it often is not the easiest and it's often that the pay ads,
there's often pain associated with the path that that Heavenly
(15:21):
Father wants to take us. But it's my experience is
wherever where I have the most pain, I experience the most
growth. And that's not always easy, but
but meaningful. That's kind of like the the life
of the Savior. That's almost Christ's life for
us to to recognize the the growth that can come from the
(15:44):
pain to not look for ways to avoid those those opportunities
to them as opportunities rather than punishments or something
like that. So I'm talking about your, your
profession and and this would following the mentor.
(16:06):
Yeah, this mentor, there's otherthings that have influenced you
to take the professional course that you've taken.
So when I was growing up, I had an uncle who was a physician,
and I was convinced that that's what I wanted to do.
Who is to go into medicine and and his sons, my cousins all
(16:29):
went into medicine and I just thought that's, that's what I
want to do. This is I like science.
I like helping people. This is a good fit.
But as I got into my college studies and started getting more
into the, the classes want you to take to sit for the MCAT, I
(16:56):
kind of learned that this isn't the path for me.
And I actually don't really get excited about being around sick
people and fixing things. And, and so I, I pivoted and
went a different direction and, and ultimately went into
(17:20):
political science. I loved government and and
really the social sciences just excite me.
And my grandfather was a professor of sociology of
marriage and family sociology, first at BYU and then he went to
Purdue and so I always looked upto him as well.
(17:45):
And and so it kind of, you know,kind of crystallized that, hey,
this is what I ultimately want to do.
But I thought with political science that I would go into
law. That's what a lot of people who
study poli sci, there's not a lot of jobs you can get the poli
(18:06):
sci degree, kind of have to think Graduate School.
And so I was thinking the law and I worked for an attorney for
a summer and I realized I don't want to do this.
And so I kind of the fall back was business, you know, I hadn't
really ever had that on my, my radar, but I applied to some MBA
(18:28):
schools, was fortunate to get into the University of Arizona
and, and, and then, but I went kind of, I worked for a year for
a software company doing human resource work after my
undergrad, But it wasn't, I mean, it wasn't that long of a
(18:48):
work experience. And so when I got my MBA, it was
challenging to get a job. Everyone wanted three to five
years work experience and I didn't have that.
And so I ended up just getting one job offer after my MBA with
the Gallup organization. And that ended up being the
(19:11):
perfect kind of role for me. Gallup was known for the Gallup
poll and studying public opinion.
But then they have a lot more areas where they apply that
research to look at market research and workplace culture,
which is where I worked for them.
But it was an environment of research and learning and
(19:35):
gathering data and, and so working there really accelerated
my interest in kind of becoming an independent researcher.
When I was at Gallup, I had to rely on other pH DS to do the
research and do the statistics and, and I kind of long to do
(19:56):
that myself and be independent and, and always just love
teaching and training and, and being in front of a classroom.
And so it worked out. That, you know, I left Gallup
and pursued an academic degree, always having kind of my
grandfather and my interest in research and teaching kind of
(20:19):
driving me to follow that path. Wow, so it sounds like somebody
could look or hear that that those experiences and think what
you sure made a lot of mistakes trying to figure out what you
wanted to do. Or they could look at it as it
(20:41):
sounds like the way that you're describing.
You can learn so many things that either that you liked or
that you didn't like. And that inspiration, personal
revelation often comes when we're doing you.
You wouldn't have had you wouldn't be where you are now if
if you just sat back and waited for the Lord to tell you, you
(21:04):
need to be a college professor. The Lord's not going to tell us
those things. Exactly.
It's I had to change my major three times and try different
things. And I think, you know, now that
I teach entrepreneurship and work with small businesses and
entrepreneurs, that's just the reality of that work is you have
(21:29):
to try a lot of things in that the adage is fail fast.
How can you try something so youcan learn and fail as fast as
you can so you can get to what works as quickly as you can.
I like that. And so it makes me think of, you
know, one of my favorite quotes from President Oakes is most
(21:51):
revelation comes when we're on the move, when we're act, taking
action and moving and figuring it out.
And, and I think that's how the Lord operates.
He doesn't show us the whole puzzle.
He gives us piece by piece and kind of expects us to put
together, but he certainly helpsus put pieces together as we go.
(22:12):
While we're learning, right? Exactly.
While we're learning he's not going to do it for us, sometimes
he will. He'll certainly do things for
us. But he wants us to learn and
grow and we do that through experiences of this life.
That's part of why we're here and that fail fast.
(22:33):
Then it's not like. Failing right, it's not.
It's getting to success as quickly as you can, yeah.
Well, are there any other life experiences that you can think
of that have helped you to trustGod?
That's a good, good question. I think, you know, other things
(22:54):
that have really that have helped me to to trust God is
maybe going back to what we weretalking about is when we are in
his his service, when we are serving others, he he blesses
us, he manifests himself to us. And often times it's been my
(23:16):
experience that he really shows us how much he loves the other
people that we're working with and serving.
And I think it's in those instances in church service or
other service activities or justworking with somebody else.
(23:39):
I don't know, there's been many instances where the Lord is just
manifest to me how much he lovesthat other person, right?
And in turn, I, you know, if he loves that other person, I know
he loves me too, right? But it's only through taking
action and either serving in a calling, teaching a class, I'm
(24:03):
doing a service project and working alongside other people
counseling with someone that youminister with that I have had
those really strong impressions just how much the Lord loves
that other person, which makes me think how much he loves me
(24:25):
too and how I can trust Him and He has my best interest at
heart. He wants me to be successful.
So it's through that service in the church and and our neighbors
and our families especially thatI've been able to feel that that
deep love that he has for us. And I think that's really helped
(24:48):
me grow my trust in him. When we loves, when we know
someone loves us, we trust them,right?
I love those examples of that, kind of turning it the other
way, when we know that that God trusts us to answer someone
else's prayer. Yeah.
(25:09):
Then we know that he loves us too, right?
Because he can trust us, right? That's wonderful.
Wonderful. So what recent experienced has
helped bring you closer to Christ?
And to you, I'll not going to a lot of details, but recently
I've experienced a little bit ofconflict at work with some
(25:34):
individuals. I'm in a position where there's
conflict and disagreements and people don't always treat each
other well. And I was on from my view on the
receiving side of some inconsiderate behavior and the
(25:56):
natural man in me, he who responds defensively and, and
not in a natural way, not in a God way.
And you know, the Savior and histeaching the truths taught us to
love our enemies and to pray forour enemies.
(26:17):
And recently I just had the impression I should pray for a
particular individual who I was having a hard time with in the
workplace. And I didn't just say a quick
prayer to bless that person. I really took time and, and
(26:39):
asked Heavenly Father to to bless that person and to help
them to find success. And, and as I did that, it was
transformational for me. Feelings of anger on the left
and were replaced by love and and I, I couldn't have done that
(27:02):
on my own. It was only through the Savior
and his atonement and his grace that I could have that feeling
and go from, you know, negative bad feelings about the person
to, to love and seeing them. How heavenly Father and I, I
never really and had that beforeor really had some an experience
(27:27):
like that where there was some significant conflict and me
needing to kind of grapple with that and, and work through it
and, and apply some of the teachings of, of the savior.
So that's really recently kind of strengthen my testimony of
(27:48):
the Atonement and the grace and mercy of our of our Savior Jesus
Christ. Wonderful.
Thank you for sharing. Yeah, I've really enjoyed this
time together. Chris, will you end up our
episode today with your testimony of Jesus Christ and of
his restored church? Yeah, thanks for the kids first
(28:10):
inviting me and having me be part of this.
I know that Jesus Christ is realand that His Atonement is real
and can heal us. I know as we take His yoke upon
us, as we make covenants with Him that we can find rest, that
(28:34):
we can feel peace and and feel His love and strengthening
power. I know that he has restored his
church to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I know what Joseph reported happened in the Sacred Grove
(28:55):
really happened, and that through that, the ancient New
Testament Church of Jesus Christwith its authority, priesthood
authority and saving ordinances have been restored to the church
to bless the children of our Heavenly Father so they can
(29:16):
return to live with him. I know as we exercise faith and
aim to to work in our imperfect way that we can make a
difference to help gather Israeland bring Heavenly Father's
children back to him. And what a wonderful, amazing
work that is. I know it's God's work.
(29:37):
I know it. Today we are led by a prophet
that President Nelson is the Lord's mouthpiece and his
Watchmen on the tower. And as we learn of his teachings
and follow them, that we'll be safe, that we will be protected
and and grow on our testimony and faith of our heavenly
(29:57):
Father. And I say that in the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
I hope that this episode of the Wichita KS Stick Podcast helped
bring you closer to Christ. I invite you to take some time
today to write about. Or record.
One of your own faith promoting experiences.
Hi friends, welcome to the Wichita, KS State Podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Kitchen, a state history specialist.
This podcast is intended to helpbring followers of Christ closer
to Him and to promote unity within the body of Christ by
listening to our state leaders share their personal stories of
faith. By reflecting on faith.
Promoting experiences, we can strengthen our individual faith
(00:20):
in Jesus Christ together. Welcome to our next episode, I'm
here with Chris Roberg. He was raised in the Provo Orem
area of Utah until the age of 14when his family moved to
Stillwater, OK so his parents could pursue graduate degrees.
He is the eldest of five children.
(00:41):
His father worked as an education administrator and his
mother was an elementary school librarian.
During his youth, Chris enjoyed playing soccer, basketball, and
football and delivered newspapers from age 13 until he
left for college. He attended 3 different high
schools due to family moves and transitions.
(01:02):
After completing a year at Rick's College, now BYU Idaho,
Chris served a mission in Concepcion, Chile.
Upon returning, he attended Brigham Young University,
majoring in Political Science with a minor in Spanish.
While at BYU, Chris met his wifeTiffany at a ward prayer after
she returned from her mission toGuatemala.
(01:24):
They were married in the San Diego, CA temple following
Chris's first year of graduate studies.
Chris earned an MBA from the University of Arizona with a
focus in entrepreneurship and marketing.
He then joined the Gallup Organization as a workplace
consultant, working first in Lincoln, NE and later in
Minneapolis, MN. After six years with Gallup,
(01:48):
Chris returned to school to pursue a PhD in Business
Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Strategy
from Texas Tech University. Since completing his PhD, Chris
has been a faculty member at Wichita State University, where
he has served for 17 years in both teaching and administrative
roles. He and Tiffany have four
(02:09):
children, two daughters and two sons.
His personal interests include exercising, following college
athletics, studying languages and staying current on news and
politics. In his church service, Chris
currently serves as a high counselor.
His previous colleagues include ward and stake young men
president, elders Corn president, Bishop, ward
(02:32):
executive secretary, youth Sunday school teacher and cub
master. Welcome Chris.
It's. Good to be here, thanks for
having me. Yeah, excited to talk with you
today. Let's start with your childhood.
What are some of your formative influences or memories?
Maybe some family traditions? Maybe I'll start with some
(02:54):
memories. Growing up, we had a big part of
our life was my mother's aunt, who was never married, but she
was like a grandmother and livednear us and so she was always
there. We were really the only family
she had. And so as she got elderly, we
(03:19):
would go, my dad and I would go mow her lawn and rake her leaves
and take care of her house and she was just always there.
We loved Lucille. It was Aunt Lucille.
And then when I was 11, she passed away.
And it was the first time someone in my life that I really
(03:39):
cared for and knew had passed away.
And all of a sudden she was was gone.
And that was that was a really hard thing.
And I remember the night after her funeral as an 11 year old, I
was 11 years old when she passedaway, that I went up into my
room and knelt down and said a prayer to my Heavenly Father and
(04:04):
just said, Heavenly Father, please tell Aunt Lucille that I
love her. And, and I was feeling sad.
I, you know, losing someone you love like that.
And immediately I just felt thisoverwhelming love that I had
never felt before. And that really witnessed to me
(04:28):
that someone was there, that Godwas real and that he was aware
that and that he knew my Aunt Lucille and that he loved her
and he loved me. And that was really a formative,
meaningful experience for my testimony and one that I look
(04:49):
back to as a youth and, and eventoday that God answers prayers
and he's aware of our individualcircumstances.
Another kind of memory of my childhood would Fast forward to
my teenage years and we when I was 14, we ended up moving quite
(05:12):
a bit and I went to three different high schools and that
was a little bit challenging. And for my freshman year, we
were living in Orem and, and I had like the perfect schedule
and we were starting in a new junior high school the next
year. And, and I had everything set
(05:35):
and I was excited. And then my parents decided to
pursue Graduate School and we moved to Oklahoma of all places.
We didn't even have any experience in Oklahoma.
We left most of our possessions in storage in Utah thinking we
would come back and, and we justhad a van and a little U-Haul
(05:56):
trailer and that's all we had. And and so that brought us as a
family really close together. And after that we moved several
other places. And when you move a lot, you
don't have a lot of friends. It takes some time to make
friends. So that really brought us closer
as a family. But one thing I did when I was
13 is I had a paper out in Orem and that was kind of hard work.
(06:22):
I had to go collect the money and knock door to door every
month and collect. And but in my parents going to
Graduate School, they were not going to get paid.
My dad left his position. He was a junior high counselor
and he was going to get a doctorate in education
(06:44):
administration and he wasn't going to get paid.
And so the, you know, the talk was, oh, we're not going to have
a lot of money. It's going to be tough.
You're going to have to, you know, sacrifice.
And right before we moved, I hadfinished my last month of the
paper route and I had collected A sizeable amount of money for a
(07:06):
13 year old at that time in the mid-eighties, $250.
And we moved to Stillwater, OK. And because we weren't going to
have a lot of money, the first thing that my mom did is took my
brother and I down to the newspaper office and said, Hey,
do you have any newspaper routesthat we could have?
(07:26):
They said, oh, no, these are those are really hard to come
by. They're really in demand.
And we don't have any. You're unlikely to get one, but
you will take your name and you can, you can have it, but don't
count on anything. And even if we do, it's likely
not even close to where you live.
And so we put our name down and meanwhile, I had this money and
(07:50):
I knew that I should pay tithingon it, but I felt justified in
keeping it. I'm like, my family's not going
to have a lot of resources. I could really use this over the
year to get things that I wantedto do.
And I, in a way, had a kind of dialogue internally, like, hey,
I'll be OK not paying it. I paid it before, but this time
(08:12):
I, I think the Lord would understand.
But I knew that wasn't quite right.
And that kind of weighed on me. And so finally I paid my tithing
on that amount. And no sooner had I done that
than the newspaper office calledand said, hey, the the route in
(08:33):
your area, the carrier just quit.
Do you want it? And so yeah, there and there was
2/1 for me and one for my younger brother.
And so we got in newspaper routethat whole year that, you know,
provided a lot more money than Ihad to begin with.
(08:54):
And that was another real testimony builder to me that
Heavenly Father answers our prayers is aware of us and and
when we keep commandments, he takes care of us.
Now it doesn't always happen as quickly or as dramatically as
(09:14):
that, but as a 14 year old youngman, that really again showed me
that my Heavenly Father was aware of me and he cared about
what I did and the choices I made.
Wow. Yeah.
Well, and I mean, it sounds dramatic.
Looking back, it would have beenmore dramatic.
You know, we we think of the check in the mail and that kind
(09:36):
of thing that we hear about. But the Lord providing an
opportunity for you to continue to earn the money.
Yeah, that's that's another big blessing that that we could look
for in our lives. Examples like that.
It's great. Thank you.
So what about in your adult life?
Is there there an example of something that has nurtured your
(09:59):
testimony in your adult life that you'd like to share with
us? You know, I think there's a lot
of example, but I think one thatcomes to mind is when I was a
PhD student, I started with the expectation that I was going to
(10:24):
study leadership and organizational behavior,
management and motivation. And I worked at the Gallup
Organization and as a workplace consultant, which really helped
companies kind of build employeeengagement and help managers
(10:47):
create kind of an environment where employees wanted to be
there and that were thrive. So it was really focused on
leadership and the psychology ofworkers and workplace culture.
And that's what I started studying when I went to school
and, and the Texas Tech hired a new faculty member who was young
(11:12):
and dynamic and, and probably about my same age actually.
But he was the fact that I was astudent and he was looking for
people to work with. And, and so he wanted to do an
independent study with me, whichI did and signed up to work with
him. And, and he was just tough and
(11:36):
hard charging and even kind of mean sometimes.
And in in working this independent study and doing some
research together. And as the classes, our
experience kind of came to the end, I was thinking, I'm never
going to work with this guy death, you know, And but he came
(12:02):
to me at the end of the semesterand said, Hey, if I'm going to
be your dissertation chair, you better do this, this and this.
And in my mind said there is no way I would ever work with you
again. In fact, I already had kind of
things set up to work with another faculty member who is
more on the leadership management side of things.
(12:25):
This faculty member was an entrepreneurship strategy and
faculty member. And so I, I told my dad what had
happened and I said, there's no way I'm going to work with this
guy ever again. And he said, well, did you pray
about it? And I'm like, well, why would I
(12:45):
pray about it? There's no way.
I want to, you know, introduce more misery into my life.
And I said, no, I haven't. And I humbled myself and went
and prayed about it. And as clear as anything I've
had, I got a strong impression you need to work with this guy.
(13:11):
And, and so I did. I told the other faculty member,
I'm going to go a different direction.
And that created a big, a lot ofconflict.
And, but we got through that andI stuck with my impression and
worked with him and it never goteasier working with him.
So I was like, did I listen to that?
(13:32):
Right. And but as I look back on that
decision, I learned more how to do research and how to be an
academic from him then I think Iwould have got from anywhere
where else. And he was instrumental in
(13:52):
getting me publications that helped me get tenure in my
current position at Wichita State.
And had I not acted on that strong impression, I don't think
I'd be where I am today. And, and so I think a lot of
times the Lord, especially when we may go a different direction
(14:16):
and he wants us to go somewhere else, will will give us those
promptings and impressions as weas we seek him.
I'm just glad I had the humilityto listen to my dad and actually
ask Heavenly Father for his direction and getting to the
point where I was open to act onon the promptings I received.
(14:38):
But that and and many others in my career, Little, little things
that Heavenly Father's been so good to me and helping me know
where to go and what to do. And I think that's really shaped
my testimony, knowing that Heavenly Father's there, that
(14:59):
his Son is aware of us and wantsus to be successful and will
help us get to where he needs usto be.
Even if it's not the easiest wayeven.
And it often is not the easiest and it's often that the pay ads,
there's often pain associated with the path that that Heavenly
(15:21):
Father wants to take us. But it's my experience is
wherever where I have the most pain, I experience the most
growth. And that's not always easy, but
but meaningful. That's kind of like the the life
of the Savior. That's almost Christ's life for
us to to recognize the the growth that can come from the
(15:44):
pain to not look for ways to avoid those those opportunities
to them as opportunities rather than punishments or something
like that. So I'm talking about your, your
profession and and this would following the mentor.
(16:06):
Yeah, this mentor, there's otherthings that have influenced you
to take the professional course that you've taken.
So when I was growing up, I had an uncle who was a physician,
and I was convinced that that's what I wanted to do.
Who is to go into medicine and and his sons, my cousins all
(16:29):
went into medicine and I just thought that's, that's what I
want to do. This is I like science.
I like helping people. This is a good fit.
But as I got into my college studies and started getting more
into the, the classes want you to take to sit for the MCAT, I
(16:56):
kind of learned that this isn't the path for me.
And I actually don't really get excited about being around sick
people and fixing things. And, and so I, I pivoted and
went a different direction and, and ultimately went into
(17:20):
political science. I loved government and and
really the social sciences just excite me.
And my grandfather was a professor of sociology of
marriage and family sociology, first at BYU and then he went to
Purdue and so I always looked upto him as well.
(17:45):
And and so it kind of, you know,kind of crystallized that, hey,
this is what I ultimately want to do.
But I thought with political science that I would go into
law. That's what a lot of people who
study poli sci, there's not a lot of jobs you can get the poli
(18:06):
sci degree, kind of have to think Graduate School.
And so I was thinking the law and I worked for an attorney for
a summer and I realized I don't want to do this.
And so I kind of the fall back was business, you know, I hadn't
really ever had that on my, my radar, but I applied to some MBA
(18:28):
schools, was fortunate to get into the University of Arizona
and, and, and then, but I went kind of, I worked for a year for
a software company doing human resource work after my
undergrad, But it wasn't, I mean, it wasn't that long of a
(18:48):
work experience. And so when I got my MBA, it was
challenging to get a job. Everyone wanted three to five
years work experience and I didn't have that.
And so I ended up just getting one job offer after my MBA with
the Gallup organization. And that ended up being the
(19:11):
perfect kind of role for me. Gallup was known for the Gallup
poll and studying public opinion.
But then they have a lot more areas where they apply that
research to look at market research and workplace culture,
which is where I worked for them.
But it was an environment of research and learning and
(19:35):
gathering data and, and so working there really accelerated
my interest in kind of becoming an independent researcher.
When I was at Gallup, I had to rely on other pH DS to do the
research and do the statistics and, and I kind of long to do
(19:56):
that myself and be independent and, and always just love
teaching and training and, and being in front of a classroom.
And so it worked out. That, you know, I left Gallup
and pursued an academic degree, always having kind of my
grandfather and my interest in research and teaching kind of
(20:19):
driving me to follow that path. Wow, so it sounds like somebody
could look or hear that that those experiences and think what
you sure made a lot of mistakes trying to figure out what you
wanted to do. Or they could look at it as it
(20:41):
sounds like the way that you're describing.
You can learn so many things that either that you liked or
that you didn't like. And that inspiration, personal
revelation often comes when we're doing you.
You wouldn't have had you wouldn't be where you are now if
if you just sat back and waited for the Lord to tell you, you
(21:04):
need to be a college professor. The Lord's not going to tell us
those things. Exactly.
It's I had to change my major three times and try different
things. And I think, you know, now that
I teach entrepreneurship and work with small businesses and
entrepreneurs, that's just the reality of that work is you have
(21:29):
to try a lot of things in that the adage is fail fast.
How can you try something so youcan learn and fail as fast as
you can so you can get to what works as quickly as you can.
I like that. And so it makes me think of, you
know, one of my favorite quotes from President Oakes is most
(21:51):
revelation comes when we're on the move, when we're act, taking
action and moving and figuring it out.
And, and I think that's how the Lord operates.
He doesn't show us the whole puzzle.
He gives us piece by piece and kind of expects us to put
together, but he certainly helpsus put pieces together as we go.
(22:12):
While we're learning, right? Exactly.
While we're learning he's not going to do it for us, sometimes
he will. He'll certainly do things for
us. But he wants us to learn and
grow and we do that through experiences of this life.
That's part of why we're here and that fail fast.
(22:33):
Then it's not like. Failing right, it's not.
It's getting to success as quickly as you can, yeah.
Well, are there any other life experiences that you can think
of that have helped you to trustGod?
That's a good, good question. I think, you know, other things
(22:54):
that have really that have helped me to to trust God is
maybe going back to what we weretalking about is when we are in
his his service, when we are serving others, he he blesses
us, he manifests himself to us. And often times it's been my
(23:16):
experience that he really shows us how much he loves the other
people that we're working with and serving.
And I think it's in those instances in church service or
other service activities or justworking with somebody else.
(23:39):
I don't know, there's been many instances where the Lord is just
manifest to me how much he lovesthat other person, right?
And in turn, I, you know, if he loves that other person, I know
he loves me too, right? But it's only through taking
action and either serving in a calling, teaching a class, I'm
(24:03):
doing a service project and working alongside other people
counseling with someone that youminister with that I have had
those really strong impressions just how much the Lord loves
that other person, which makes me think how much he loves me
(24:25):
too and how I can trust Him and He has my best interest at
heart. He wants me to be successful.
So it's through that service in the church and and our neighbors
and our families especially thatI've been able to feel that that
deep love that he has for us. And I think that's really helped
(24:48):
me grow my trust in him. When we loves, when we know
someone loves us, we trust them,right?
I love those examples of that, kind of turning it the other
way, when we know that that God trusts us to answer someone
else's prayer. Yeah.
(25:09):
Then we know that he loves us too, right?
Because he can trust us, right? That's wonderful.
Wonderful. So what recent experienced has
helped bring you closer to Christ?
And to you, I'll not going to a lot of details, but recently
I've experienced a little bit ofconflict at work with some
(25:34):
individuals. I'm in a position where there's
conflict and disagreements and people don't always treat each
other well. And I was on from my view on the
receiving side of some inconsiderate behavior and the
(25:56):
natural man in me, he who responds defensively and, and
not in a natural way, not in a God way.
And you know, the Savior and histeaching the truths taught us to
love our enemies and to pray forour enemies.
(26:17):
And recently I just had the impression I should pray for a
particular individual who I was having a hard time with in the
workplace. And I didn't just say a quick
prayer to bless that person. I really took time and, and
(26:39):
asked Heavenly Father to to bless that person and to help
them to find success. And, and as I did that, it was
transformational for me. Feelings of anger on the left
and were replaced by love and and I, I couldn't have done that
(27:02):
on my own. It was only through the Savior
and his atonement and his grace that I could have that feeling
and go from, you know, negative bad feelings about the person
to, to love and seeing them. How heavenly Father and I, I
never really and had that beforeor really had some an experience
(27:27):
like that where there was some significant conflict and me
needing to kind of grapple with that and, and work through it
and, and apply some of the teachings of, of the savior.
So that's really recently kind of strengthen my testimony of
(27:48):
the Atonement and the grace and mercy of our of our Savior Jesus
Christ. Wonderful.
Thank you for sharing. Yeah, I've really enjoyed this
time together. Chris, will you end up our
episode today with your testimony of Jesus Christ and of
his restored church? Yeah, thanks for the kids first
(28:10):
inviting me and having me be part of this.
I know that Jesus Christ is realand that His Atonement is real
and can heal us. I know as we take His yoke upon
us, as we make covenants with Him that we can find rest, that
(28:34):
we can feel peace and and feel His love and strengthening
power. I know that he has restored his
church to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I know what Joseph reported happened in the Sacred Grove
(28:55):
really happened, and that through that, the ancient New
Testament Church of Jesus Christwith its authority, priesthood
authority and saving ordinances have been restored to the church
to bless the children of our Heavenly Father so they can
(29:16):
return to live with him. I know as we exercise faith and
aim to to work in our imperfect way that we can make a
difference to help gather Israeland bring Heavenly Father's
children back to him. And what a wonderful, amazing
work that is. I know it's God's work.
(29:37):
I know it. Today we are led by a prophet
that President Nelson is the Lord's mouthpiece and his
Watchmen on the tower. And as we learn of his teachings
and follow them, that we'll be safe, that we will be protected
and and grow on our testimony and faith of our heavenly
(29:57):
Father. And I say that in the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
I hope that this episode of the Wichita KS Stick Podcast helped
bring you closer to Christ. I invite you to take some time
today to write about. Or record.
One of your own faith promoting experiences.
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