May 8, 2026 • 8 mins
Tyler Way, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Has Heart joins us for a Talk of the Town!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Talk of the Town on news Radio Wood thirteen
hundred and one oh six nine FM. Steve Kelly and
Rehtkeita from West Michigan's Morning News welcoming Tyler Way into studio,
who is a local artist, designer, and co founder of
has Heart. Tyler, thank you so much for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
You co founded this event with somebody we've talked to before,
Michael Hyacinth, and he's behind Wimmy and we've done a
couple interviews about that as well. But tell us a
little bit more about this Grand Rapids based five oh
one C three that really has some special stuff coming
up as we get ready for America two fifty right.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yes, thank you very much. So Michael and I co
found it has Heart in twenty ten. We first met
over a cup of coffee in Grand Rapids. I don't
have a military background, but when I met Michael and
learned about his experience and his service, I knew I
wanted to do something to support veterans. At the time,
I had childhood friends in Iraq and Afghan Stand and
(01:00):
so I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Like mini Americans, we don't know what to do or
how to support.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
But I knew I could do art and design and
figured that might be an opportunity. And so that's how
Michael and I first met.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
And I chuckle when you said coffee. It met over
a cup of coffee, because the coffee shop is one
of your projects. Tell us a little about this and
congratulations by the way, and a great tie in in
downtown Grand Rapids.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yes, thank you. Coffee.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Like I said, Michael and I first met all of
the veterans and designers that we pair. We'd create collaborative
designs and tell veterans stories through art and design. They
all first meet over a cup of coffee, so it's
just a natural catalyst for conversation. And so we saw
this over the fifteen years of our organization, and the
coffee shop came about twelve or thirteen years after Michael
(01:44):
and I first met, so it was really a long
time coming and it was just one thing led to
the next, and Art Prize had a lot to do
to do with it. Here in Grand Rapids. That's where
we unveiled all of our designs and stories every year,
and that's how we got introduced to the building that
we're in now at Veterans Memorial Park.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And the coffee shop is a great place not just
for a hangout, but helps vet's in a variety of
different ways too. So talk to us a little bit
about that effort that gives either free or discounted prices
to veterans too.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, So our goal is that no veteran has to
pay for their own cup of coffee when they come in.
So we have an ongoing gift card that people can
contribute to that covers that cost. And so when a
veteran comes in, we have a regular batchbrew coffee or
iced coffee for them free of charge, and then anything
else they want to buy in the store is twenty
percent off vetter and discount.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
I love that fact too, because Steve and I always
kid but talk about in retirement and our dads did this.
You have your group of friends right that you meet
for breakfast or your meat for coffee once or twice
a week. But this is so therapeutic in the fact
of meeting other veterans, talking about your stories, talking about
maybe through life struggles that you have, and it's all
centered around the veterans right next to the Veterans Park
(02:56):
and their own little place, their own little hangout.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, it's a beautiful ecosystem.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And because we're across the street from the Chilen's Museum,
we have the Grand Rappids Library right behind us, we
have the park. It's really a blend and melting pot
of our community. We have young families coming in with kids,
we have veterans of all ages coming in.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
We have businessmen and women who are having meetings there.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's really a beautiful moment when you look around and
you see all the different people in the backgrounds that
they come from, and they're all coming over for the
coffee and for the smoothies and for the baked goods,
but they're surrounded by all these veterans stories, and so
it's really a beautiful thing to see.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
We are talking to Tyler Way, who is an artist,
designer and co founder of has Heart. Find out more
at hasheart dot us. Let's talk a little bit about
the Hero Series as we roll into this big celebration
of the United States.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, so America two fifty.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We're excited to celebrate that and we want to do
that in our special way, which is what we call
the Hero Series. And so that's when we partner a
veteran with a graphic designer and we facilitate a do
zion process to help that veteran share their story that
gets translated into art and design and products that we
can sell to help support that veteran. And so with
this America to fifty fundraiser, we're looking for two hundred
(04:12):
and fifty individuals and businesses and organizations to each donate
one hundred dollars to has Heart, which is a tax
deductible donation, but that will go towards enabling us to
partner more veterans and more designers this year that we
can unveil later this fall.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
And if you go to that website again, I'll have
you give all the details on that so I make
sure we get it right. But also if someone wants
to nominate and maybe they know a veteran that has
a great story that needs to be shared, how do
they go through that process as well?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yes, so we have a contact us page on our
website that goes directly to my email, and so if
they have somebody that they'd love to recommend, or when
they donate, there's an opportunity to leave a note in
which they can recommend somebody, or if they want to
donate in honor of somebody, they can also leave that note.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And not just West Michigan, right, I mean this is
a fifty state tour. You've done forty one projects in
thirty nine states.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So back in twenty seventeen, I convinced my soon to.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Be wife to sell everything that we have, buy an
airstream trailer and we took house Heart across the country ourselves,
partner and a veteran and designer.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And that's a whole nother show. Yeah, that's a big
I have a hard time getting nine holes in on
the weekend, my gosh. Man.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yes, it was a dedicated effort. Spent eighteen months going
state to state, partner and veterans and designers, and every
state we had some great partnerships. Fortunately, we ran out
of funding thirty nine states in so we had to
kind of limp our way home to Grand Rapids. But
we're really hoping we can also fundraise to finish that
fifty state tour and then do an ongoing traveling art
museum exhibit, documentary film and get these stories heard around
(05:44):
the country.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I love what you guys do with voices too, and
I'll let you talk a little bit more about that,
but we can't do enough for Kent County Veteran Services.
You guys are tiding with that. And speaking of storylines,
I mean every year and Steve Kelly, my partner here
is the MC for the event we have our Forces
Thanksgiving it, we do Military Mondays. We had a purple
heart recipient in a couple of weeks ago. Remember that, Steve,
(06:06):
what an incredible story. So, I mean there are stories
out there. Please share your stories if you don't get selected,
it's good to have those information so that we can
let people know about the story.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, and we believe every veteran has a story, no
matter if you've were wounded in combat or not. We
believe if you've signed up to serve our country, then
there's a story and a reason behind that. So we
want to emphasize that. A lot of veterans usually come
in and say, oh, I don't have an interesting story,
or you know, they're not going to make a movie
out of me. But there's a lot of things that
(06:37):
they've gone through that the average civilian should be able
to recognize and resonate with.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So we try to pull out those stories as well.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And to that point, talk to us a little bit
about your experience with the healing power of art, right.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, it's been beautiful to see.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So we have a multi day design process that we
walk them through and a lot of it includes post
it notes and little snippets of their story, and so
we kind of put that up on a wall for
them to see, and we wipeboard and kind of do
this creative brainstorming session and for them to be able
to sit back and see their life represented on this wall,
it gives them an opportunity to have a different perspective
(07:16):
of the life experiences that they went through, and they're
able to take a step back and see what they've
gone through, how they've been able to get through it,
and what their life can be going forward.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Tyler Way is to wind us here on this dish
of talk of the town and Tyler, one of the
things I want to make sure that we get out
there again is a timeline as far as if people
want to nominate a veteran for that, and also a
timeline for when to make the donations and be a
part of this.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, our goal is that we reach our fundraising goal
by July fourth, obviously that's a pretty important celebration, so
if we can have the funding wrapped up by then,
that would be our goal. And then July and August
is when we would facilitate the design process and then
ultimately launch this in September and October during our prize.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
The website has Heart h E A r T. Has
heart dot us for more information, for nominations, donations, and
to get a hold of Tyler as well, co founder
of has Heart, Tyler Way. It has been a pleasure.
Thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Thank you so much for allowing us to share our story.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
This is Talk of the Town on news Radio with
thirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM.
It's Talk of the Town on news Radio Wood thirteen
hundred and one oh six nine FM. Steve Kelly and
Rehtkeita from West Michigan's Morning News welcoming Tyler Way into studio,
who is a local artist, designer, and co founder of
has Heart. Tyler, thank you so much for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
You co founded this event with somebody we've talked to before,
Michael Hyacinth, and he's behind Wimmy and we've done a
couple interviews about that as well. But tell us a
little bit more about this Grand Rapids based five oh
one C three that really has some special stuff coming
up as we get ready for America two fifty right.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yes, thank you very much. So Michael and I co
found it has Heart in twenty ten. We first met
over a cup of coffee in Grand Rapids. I don't
have a military background, but when I met Michael and
learned about his experience and his service, I knew I
wanted to do something to support veterans. At the time,
I had childhood friends in Iraq and Afghan Stand and
(01:00):
so I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Like mini Americans, we don't know what to do or
how to support.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
But I knew I could do art and design and
figured that might be an opportunity. And so that's how
Michael and I first met.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
And I chuckle when you said coffee. It met over
a cup of coffee, because the coffee shop is one
of your projects. Tell us a little about this and
congratulations by the way, and a great tie in in
downtown Grand Rapids.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yes, thank you. Coffee.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Like I said, Michael and I first met all of
the veterans and designers that we pair. We'd create collaborative
designs and tell veterans stories through art and design. They
all first meet over a cup of coffee, so it's
just a natural catalyst for conversation. And so we saw
this over the fifteen years of our organization, and the
coffee shop came about twelve or thirteen years after Michael
(01:44):
and I first met, so it was really a long
time coming and it was just one thing led to
the next, and Art Prize had a lot to do
to do with it. Here in Grand Rapids. That's where
we unveiled all of our designs and stories every year,
and that's how we got introduced to the building that
we're in now at Veterans Memorial Park.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And the coffee shop is a great place not just
for a hangout, but helps vet's in a variety of
different ways too. So talk to us a little bit
about that effort that gives either free or discounted prices
to veterans too.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, So our goal is that no veteran has to
pay for their own cup of coffee when they come in.
So we have an ongoing gift card that people can
contribute to that covers that cost. And so when a
veteran comes in, we have a regular batchbrew coffee or
iced coffee for them free of charge, and then anything
else they want to buy in the store is twenty
percent off vetter and discount.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
I love that fact too, because Steve and I always
kid but talk about in retirement and our dads did this.
You have your group of friends right that you meet
for breakfast or your meat for coffee once or twice
a week. But this is so therapeutic in the fact
of meeting other veterans, talking about your stories, talking about
maybe through life struggles that you have, and it's all
centered around the veterans right next to the Veterans Park
(02:56):
and their own little place, their own little hangout.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, it's a beautiful ecosystem.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And because we're across the street from the Chilen's Museum,
we have the Grand Rappids Library right behind us, we
have the park. It's really a blend and melting pot
of our community. We have young families coming in with kids,
we have veterans of all ages coming in.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
We have businessmen and women who are having meetings there.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's really a beautiful moment when you look around and
you see all the different people in the backgrounds that
they come from, and they're all coming over for the
coffee and for the smoothies and for the baked goods,
but they're surrounded by all these veterans stories, and so
it's really a beautiful thing to see.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
We are talking to Tyler Way, who is an artist,
designer and co founder of has Heart. Find out more
at hasheart dot us. Let's talk a little bit about
the Hero Series as we roll into this big celebration
of the United States.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, so America two fifty.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We're excited to celebrate that and we want to do
that in our special way, which is what we call
the Hero Series. And so that's when we partner a
veteran with a graphic designer and we facilitate a do
zion process to help that veteran share their story that
gets translated into art and design and products that we
can sell to help support that veteran. And so with
this America to fifty fundraiser, we're looking for two hundred
(04:12):
and fifty individuals and businesses and organizations to each donate
one hundred dollars to has Heart, which is a tax
deductible donation, but that will go towards enabling us to
partner more veterans and more designers this year that we
can unveil later this fall.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
And if you go to that website again, I'll have
you give all the details on that so I make
sure we get it right. But also if someone wants
to nominate and maybe they know a veteran that has
a great story that needs to be shared, how do
they go through that process as well?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yes, so we have a contact us page on our
website that goes directly to my email, and so if
they have somebody that they'd love to recommend, or when
they donate, there's an opportunity to leave a note in
which they can recommend somebody, or if they want to
donate in honor of somebody, they can also leave that note.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And not just West Michigan, right, I mean this is
a fifty state tour. You've done forty one projects in
thirty nine states.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So back in twenty seventeen, I convinced my soon to.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Be wife to sell everything that we have, buy an
airstream trailer and we took house Heart across the country ourselves,
partner and a veteran and designer.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And that's a whole nother show. Yeah, that's a big
I have a hard time getting nine holes in on
the weekend, my gosh. Man.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yes, it was a dedicated effort. Spent eighteen months going
state to state, partner and veterans and designers, and every
state we had some great partnerships. Fortunately, we ran out
of funding thirty nine states in so we had to
kind of limp our way home to Grand Rapids. But
we're really hoping we can also fundraise to finish that
fifty state tour and then do an ongoing traveling art
museum exhibit, documentary film and get these stories heard around
(05:44):
the country.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I love what you guys do with voices too, and
I'll let you talk a little bit more about that,
but we can't do enough for Kent County Veteran Services.
You guys are tiding with that. And speaking of storylines,
I mean every year and Steve Kelly, my partner here
is the MC for the event we have our Forces
Thanksgiving it, we do Military Mondays. We had a purple
heart recipient in a couple of weeks ago. Remember that, Steve,
(06:06):
what an incredible story. So, I mean there are stories
out there. Please share your stories if you don't get selected,
it's good to have those information so that we can
let people know about the story.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, and we believe every veteran has a story, no
matter if you've were wounded in combat or not. We
believe if you've signed up to serve our country, then
there's a story and a reason behind that. So we
want to emphasize that. A lot of veterans usually come
in and say, oh, I don't have an interesting story,
or you know, they're not going to make a movie
out of me. But there's a lot of things that
(06:37):
they've gone through that the average civilian should be able
to recognize and resonate with.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So we try to pull out those stories as well.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And to that point, talk to us a little bit
about your experience with the healing power of art, right.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, it's been beautiful to see.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So we have a multi day design process that we
walk them through and a lot of it includes post
it notes and little snippets of their story, and so
we kind of put that up on a wall for
them to see, and we wipeboard and kind of do
this creative brainstorming session and for them to be able
to sit back and see their life represented on this wall,
it gives them an opportunity to have a different perspective
(07:16):
of the life experiences that they went through, and they're
able to take a step back and see what they've
gone through, how they've been able to get through it,
and what their life can be going forward.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Tyler Way is to wind us here on this dish
of talk of the town and Tyler, one of the
things I want to make sure that we get out
there again is a timeline as far as if people
want to nominate a veteran for that, and also a
timeline for when to make the donations and be a
part of this.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, our goal is that we reach our fundraising goal
by July fourth, obviously that's a pretty important celebration, so
if we can have the funding wrapped up by then,
that would be our goal. And then July and August
is when we would facilitate the design process and then
ultimately launch this in September and October during our prize.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
The website has Heart h E A r T. Has
heart dot us for more information, for nominations, donations, and
to get a hold of Tyler as well, co founder
of has Heart, Tyler Way. It has been a pleasure.
Thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Thank you so much for allowing us to share our story.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
This is Talk of the Town on news Radio with
thirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM.
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