   Bonnie Bishop talks about what it was like to be the first person in Tell Us Something history to share her story in a live-streamed setting. We talk about the pandemic, about collective grief, and about what it means to begin returning to life beyond quarantine. After our conversation, you can hear the story as Bonnie shared it on the Tell Us Something live-streamed stage.   Bonnie Bishop encounters a personality at work that has some interesting ideas about what constitutes professional attire. Bonnie calls her story “GREATER THAN MY PANTS”.   Bonnie Bishop is originally from Northern Virginia and moved to Missoula site unseen after working a few summers in Yellowstone National Park, where her love for wild things took hold. Since then Bonnie has gotten her Master’s degree in Public & Community Health from the University of Montana, which has fueled her passion for health equity and social justice. Bonnie values authenticity, laughter, empowerment, courage, and swears by blasting Evanescence in the bathtub as the remedy for a bad day.    

Tell Us Something

Interview With Bonnie Bishop

Tell Us Something Podcast Trade with A Rhythm Runs Through It     Tell Us Something believes that everyone has a story. We believe that all stories matter. We believe that storytelling brings us together as a community. We believe that stories connect us as community members, open our hearts, change our minds, change our community and change the world for the better. A Rhythm Runs Through It podcast helps Montana musicians tell their stories. You get the behind-the-scenes stories of the music, the bands, the musicians. They suggested to Tell Us Something that we have a podcast trade. So here we are! Listen to this podcast and get ready to hear insights into the non-profit world, into local music, and hear some beautiful music from Maria Zepeda from Montana Area Music Association (MAMA). Check out Maria playing as Emzee & Silas here. Find them on Spotify. You can subscribe to the A Rhythm Runs Through It podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about the team behind A Rhythm Runs Through It over at Attack and Release Sound and listen to Maria’s music on her Bandcamp page. You can learn more about MAMA at their website. All the IGs: @arhythmrunsthroughit @mama4mt @zealous.medicine Remember to get your tickets to the live in-person Tell Us Something storytelling event on August 10. Get your tickets here.

Tell Us Something Podcast Trade with A Rhythm Runs Through It

 Tell Us Something believes that everyone has a story. We believe that all stories matter. We believe that storytelling brings us together as a community. We believe that stories connect us as community members, open our hearts, change our minds, change our community and change the world for the better. PLEASE, IF YOU CAN, GIVE GENEROUSLY DURING THIS YEAR’S MISSOULA GIVES. For the past 11 years, Tell Us Something has supported the community through the art of storytelling and reaches people through live events, storytelling workshops, podcasts, our YouTube channel, and now live streaming storytelling events.

Missoula Gives 2021

This week on the podcast, we check in with Anna Haslund, the first Deaf storyteller to have shared a story on the Tell Us Something stage. We talk about her story and what it was like to share a story on the Tell Us Something stage. We also talk about her excitement to compete in the Miss America Pageant representing her state as Miss Montana. During our conversation, Anna also shares some of the unique challenges Deaf people face during the pandemic. After the interview, stick around for the story that Anna calls “Joe + Balthazar”. Anna’s story takes us on a wild horse ride in which she performs a daring horse rescue on a forest service road in Montana. 

Interview with Anna Haslund

Our first storyteller is Kellie Grandone, whose creative father fashions some homemade skis as a Christmas gift when times were tough at the Grandone household. Kellie Grandone was born and raised in Polson, Montana, and now calls Great Falls home.  She is a mother to 4 wonderful, creative children, and has been married to her husband Ryan for 21 years.  Kellie teaches 7th-grade art in the Great Falls Public Schools and has been teaching art for the last 10 years.  In her spare time, Kellie loves to read, draw, paint, travel, and spend time with her family enjoying Montana’s outdoors.    Our next storyteller is Jen Certa, who, after years of hating the tattoo on her foot, endeavors to have it covered up with a more meaningful piece of artwork. Sensitive listeners, please be aware that Jen’s story acknowledges sexual trauma. Jen Certa is originally from New York but accidentally began a love affair with Montana in 2009. She is grateful to have called Missoula home now for the past decade. Jen earned her MSW from the University of Montana in 2016, and currently works as a school-based therapist at Hellgate Elementary School. When not at work, Jen can most often be found hiking with her dogs, listening to podcasts, and running late for something.  Travis Doria shares his story of three different relationships that left him feeling betrayed, which, with the benefit of time, he was able to forgive and see the humanity in each of these folks who meant a great deal to him at one time. Sensitive listeners be aware that Travis’s story mentions drug use and suicide. Travis Doria has signed an autograph, cried in public, crowd surfed, defecated in his pants while running in Pattee Canyon, lost a hot dog eating contest, and held a human brain. He currently lives in Missoula with his beautiful wife and daughter. Willi Prince is the band director at Corvallis School District. She takes her students on a trip to Silverwood amusement park in Idaho, a place with over 70 rides, slides, shows and attractions, the perfect place for a student to get lost. Willi Prince is the band director at Corvallis School District in the heart of the Bitterroot Valley.  She and her husband play saxophone duets in their spare time when not playing with their 5-year-old daughter, fishing or enjoying the outdoors.   Reese Jacobson saves the day by donning a uniform when her little brother’s little league team will have to forfeit the big playoff game because they don’t have enough players. Reese Jacobson teaches 5th grade at Target Range in Missoula.  She spends her non-working hours with her husband, their two boys, and their dog.  She loves playing in the water, hiking in the mountains, and catching fish.

Come As You Are

 Nerma Dobričanin has been teaching English for 14 years. She loves to play volleyball and is passionate about traveling. One of her childhood dreams was to visit the United States which finally came true when she arrived in the US to participate in the STUDY OF THE U.S. INSTITUTE ON SECONDARY EDUCATION through the Mansfield Center at the University of Montana. Nerma spoke about her daughter Iskra during the conversation and requested that we share some photos of her daughter. They are below. Nerma Dobričanin, fresh off the plane from Rožaje, Montenegro, is disoriented by her surroundings in Missoula. Feeling lonely and hungry, she finds a friend who helps her adapt. Nerma calls her story “Resident Evil Fairy Tale” or “Salvation in Missoula”.

Interview with Nerma Dobričanin

Today we feature four storytellers who worked hard during a Tell Us Something corporate storytelling week-long workshop. Members of the Montana Economic Developers’ Association, or MEDA shared their true personal stories from their homes and offices during a corporate workshop hosted by Tell Us Something. The storytelling workshop helped people harness the power of personal storytelling to talk about the work that they do every day. Why is that work important to them, why that work is important to those that they serve and why that work is important to the communities where they live and work across the state of Montana. The MEDA members who are sharing their stories with you today know that it is with our stories that we can reach people with our mission. They left the graphs and pie charts at the office. They saved the data points for later. Our storytellers today used their true personal stories to share the story of the important work that they do in communities across Montana. Around 20 or so MEDA members joined me every day for a week. During our two hours every day, I taught them what I know about storytelling. We talked about techniques and structure and helped each other develop and improve our stories. I tailored the workshop specifically for the MEDA members.  Usually, a Tell Us Something event is focused on a theme. We hadn’t discussed a theme for these stories, but, listening to them, a theme emerged. We can say that the theme is  “Why am I here?” or “Why I do this”. Call it “Passion.” Whatever you call it, you’ll see that these storytellers are personally bonded to the work that they do, and that their passion really comes through in the stories that they share. Our first storyteller is Gloria O’Rourke. Gloria has been a MEDA member since 1995 and self-employed since 2003. She and her business partner, Mike, share an office and have been married for 44 years.  Mike and Gloria enjoy spoiling their four grandsons and then returning them with sugar highs to their parents. We call Gloria’s story “My Desk”. To learn more about the Montana Economic Developers Association, visit medamembers.org Our next storyteller is a world-traveler from a small town. Heather McCartney is a 5th generation Montanan. She works as an outreach and consumer education specialist with the non-profit child care resource and referral agency, Family Connections. Her passions include hunting for good decaf, long reads, and connecting people to great resources. She lives in Choteau with her conservation officer husband, her artistic and whimsical daughter, five freeloading chickens, three cats, and a dog named Bear. Green is her favorite color. We call Heather’s story “Family Connections”. To learn more about Family Connections, visit familyconnectionsmt.org. Russ Fletcher is an old retired guy who escaped from San Francisco 25 years ago to live in Missoula with his retired attorney wife, Alexis.  They have two children. His son lives in San Francisco and works for Google. His daughter has “Come Home” from L.A. and works for Hulu. Russ spends a lot of his day looking at a computer screen, drinking coffee, and pondering the future of Montana. Russ calls his story “How I Found My Last Best Job in a Missoula Dive Bar”. To learn more about Russ’s passion project, Montana Associated Technology Roundtables, visit matr.net. Teresa Schreiner is the Investment Director at the Great Falls Development Authority. She’s a former ‘Butte Rat’ who teases that she came ‘kicking and screaming’ to Great Falls with her husband, although loves to sell folks on the Electric City. Teresa just celebrated ten years with her larger than life husband, Casey, who equally challenges her efforts. Together they have three scrappy and smart little boys that love to give them a run for their money: Aiden, Liam, and Finn. Teresa calls her story “Nose Down Ass Up”. You can learn more about the Great Falls Development Authority by visiting growgreatfallsmontana.org

Live Storytelling with Corporate Workshop Participants MEDA

photo by Jason Davis Tabitha Martinez originally hails from Rawlins, Wyoming, and earned a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Montana. she has since dedicated herself to becoming a full-time artist. Tabitha is a Teaching artist at SPARK Arts Ignite Learning. She lives in Missoula Montana where she rides her bike everywhere, paints on recycled wood materials, and regularly shows her work at Draughtworks Brewery on Missoula’s Westside. You can see the mural that she painted on the outside of the brewery while quaffing a pint or two. Tabitha knows that art is for keeping wild children busy. Tabitha is still a wild, busy kid, making art under the name BMartinez. She works on wood salvaged locally from neighborhood alleys, Home Resource Center, and scrap bins from places like Superior Hardwoods, BlueDog Furniture…recycled, reclaimed and liberated woods and wood products. You can sometimes visit her at Upcycled on the Hip Strip in Missoula, where you can buy her beautiful custom artwork. This week on the podcast, Tabitha Martinez chats about being car-free, project bikes, the idea behind her Tell Us Something poster, and more.    

Interview with Tabitha Martinez

   Since around July of 2020, I have been interviewing Tell Us Something storyteller alumni about their experience sharing a story on the Tell Us Something stage, why they chose to share a story and what they’ve been up to since having shared their story. I have a lot more of those interviews to share with you. This week, though, I am going to introduce you to one of the Tell Us Something poster artists. Because storytelling is an art, I’ve always hired local artists to design a poster for each event. The posters of Tell Us Something are amazing in their own right, and I thought that it would be fun to sit down with some of the artists to chat about their process and see what makes them tick. What inspires them, how they work, and how they came to design the poster that they designed for Tell Us Something. So, this week on the podcast, join me as we go behind the scenes with local artist Courtney Blazon. Courtney designed the poster for the June 2019 show. The theme that night was “What Are the Chances?” Courtney Blazon is an artist and illustrator living and working in Missoula, MT. She graduated from Parsons School of Design, where she earned her BFA in Illustration. She’s shown her work in Missoula at the Brink Gallery, Dana Gallery Allez! Gallery and the Missoula Art Museum. Outside of Montana, she has shown work in Seattle, Portland, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and most recently at the Center for the Arts Theater Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming. Courtney’s work has been featured in New American Paintings (Western Edition), Studio Visit Magazine, and juxtapoz.com. She is a past recipient of a Montana Arts Council Artists Innovation Award. She is represented by Radius Gallery in Missoula, MT. Courtney Blazon’s pen and marker drawings reference fields of science, history, cultural studies, myths, and fairy tales. Her images take us someplace between the known world and dreamscape, a surreal marriage of naturalism and fantasy. The results can be simultaneously whimsical and grotesque, witty as well as disturbing. The tension of these unions suggests our own struggle to achieve balance in a chaotic world. I caught up with Courtney Blazon last summer. We chatted about the historical context much of her work references, life as a professional artist, and some of the large-scale works that she has done recently before finally talking about the poster that she made for the Tell Us Something show in June 2019. I’ve also been thinking about these interviews as a record of a specific time in our collective pandemic history. They share glimpses into the moments of life during quarantine, how we’re coping, and how we are somehow continuing to go about our daily lives. You can also see Courtney’s work in person at the Radius Gallery, and you can shop online there. Until March 2021, you can check out the historical mural Courtney mentioned in the interview in the alley next to Radius called Allez! Gallery. To see the detailed process Courtney undertook, head over to her website. While you’re there you can check out her huge body of work, as well as learn more about commission and illustration inquiries. You can also purchase Courtney’s work at her Etsy shop. You can also follow her on Instagram: @courtneyblazon .   

Interview with Courtney Blazon

   In today’s show, Tell Us Something Director marc Moss explores the challenges, successes, and opportunities Tell Us Something faced in 2020. We’ll look at some of the things we tried that failed, things that worked, things we learned and opportunities for the future in 2021.

2020 Tell Us Something Year in Review

Tell Us Something director Marc Moss worked with the team at Gecko Designs to rethink the Tell Us Something website back in 2017 and they have been providing hosting and routine maintenance for the website ever since. Join head honcha Melissa Kaplan and Marc for an in-depth vist about Gecko Designs, the Tell Us Something experience, and telling a story on the Tell Us Something stage. After the conversation, you can hear the story as she shared it with her husband and head honcho of Gecko Designs, Gabriel Silverman.   Melissa Kaplan Silverman & Gabriel Silverman met in Chicago in 2005. Gabriel grew up in Missoula and enjoys all forms of biking and skiing, building things with his hands and creating world-class websites. Melissa is a Detroit-born Missoulian-at-heart who enjoys running and baking. Melissa has been an organizational leader within Gecko Designs since 2005. In addition to her expertise in the customer service and project management arena, Melissa is always the last person to see a final project before it is sent to the client, allowing her to give a thorough and unbiased opinion. Together, Melissa and Gabriel run a graphic design and marketing firm. Tugboat, their Golden Retriever, can be seen sunbathing in the glass window of their office on Higgins when they are not working from home. A stolen road bike leads Gabriel Silverman & his then-girlfriend Melissa Kaplan to embark on their own little episode of Cops to reclaim the goods. Their story was recorded in front of a live audience on August 6, 2016, at The PEAS Farm in Missoula, MT. The theme that night was “That’s Not How it Happened”. They call their story “You Stole My Bike!”   

Interview with Melissa Kaplan of Gecko Designs

 For years, Ana Soulia won best physical therapist in the local paper’s Best of Missoula voting. She eventually split away from the office where she worked to form her own practice – Inertia Physiotherapy. Inertia Physiotherapy helps Missoulians get to the root of their pain and heal their injuries so that they can live the active healthy lifestyle that they enjoy. Ana sits down with Tell Us Something director Marc Moss to talk about some of her favorite Tell Us Something stories and how we can heal our bodies through movement on the next Tell Us Something podcast. After their conversation, you’ll be able to listen to a story that stood out for her. The story that Ana selected was from Steven T! Millhouse. Steven T! Millhouse was born in Bozeman and grew up in Missoula. He graduated from Sentinel Highschool, and the University of Montana. Steven’s story was recorded in front of a live audience on September 24, 2019 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. Steven takes us on a journey walking from Missoula, MT to Los Angeles, CA, regaining a lost hope in humanity along the way. He calls his story “Homage for the Homeless”.

Interview with Ana Soulia – Founder and Owner of Inertia Physiotherapy

   When Molly decided to share her story at Tell Us Something, she also extended an offer of in-kind sponsorship to Tell Us Something. Molly is the CEO of Gatherboard. The Gatherboard.com site tells us that Molly Bradford has been involved in sales and marketing in the greater-Missoula area for nearly 15 years, working with 500+ small businesses on successful marketing and advertising strategies. Through her roles at local businesses and on local volunteer boards, she has delicately guided customers, and even her employers, through grand openings, moves, promotional events, sales and closures. Since coming on board as co-owner of Gatherboard with Colin Hickey in 2009 Molly has co-created GatherBoard and upped the bottom line over 600%. Molly offered Tell Us Something a great in-kind sponsorship opportunity: a month before each Tell Us Something live event, advertising on MissoulaEvents.net and indoor ads through the Missoula Indoor Ads company that is part of the Gatherboard family. Molly joins me today to chat about the exciting new service that Gatherboard is working on: CheddarBoard!    

Interview with CEO of GatherBoard Molly Bradford

   Dagny is a 2nd-year graduate student at Montana State University where she is the current coordinator for the Sleep and Development Lab. Dagny grew up in the small town of Salmon, Idaho where she has been a whitewater river guide for the past 12 years. Dagny guides on the Middlefork of the Salmon, which is Shoshone-Bannock tribal land. It is her favorite place in the entire world. If you can’t find her on the Middlefork of the Salmon, expect to find her with her nose in a book, community building, or project managing somewhere. Dagny’s current research focus looks at the intersection of sleep and positive psychology constructs such as mindfulness and self-compassion. When Dagny isn’t working, you can be sure to find her with a paintbrush, on a dancefloor, or cooking good food for good friends. In 2019, Dagney organized the Stories of Salmon and Steelhead project for the Idaho Conservation League. Dagny’s story was recorded in front of a live audience on March 29th, 2016, at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. The theme that evening was“Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me?”. Dagny calls her story “Gettin’ In The Groove”. Dagney, guiding a river trip on the Salmon River, tries her best to be empathetic to Ken, a client who is having difficulty adapting to being outside in such an unfamiliar environment.

Interview with Dagny Deutchman and ‘Gettin’ in the Groove’ Story

Born in Kalispell MT, Jennie Pak has deep Montana roots. A love of history and theater lead to her current stint as a living history presenter for Humanities MT. Jennie travels the state performing her one-hour programs at libraries, schools, assisted living facilities and museums. In her day job, she is a senior care provider for Home Instead Senior Care, where the biggest perk is listening to stories from her clients. In her spare time, Jennie helps as a volunteer organizer for Stories and Stones, an annual historical storytelling event at Missoula Cemetery. Jenny Pak joins us this week as we talk about her visit to Hong Kong where her in-laws live. Jenny’s story was recorded in front of a live audience on March 29th, 2016, at The Wilma in Missoula, MT.  The theme was “Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me?”. Visiting her brother-in-law in Hong Kong, Jennie had an adverse reaction to all of the walking she’s enduring. In an effort to help her heal, she undergoes a regimen of acupuncture, smudging and drinking a mysterious concoction whipped up by a Chinese Medicine Man. Jenny calls her story “Drink This, it’s Good for You”. We mention her story about The Labyrinth during our conversation. If you’d like to watch that story, you can watch it here.

Interview with Jennie Pak and her story ‘Drink This, it’s Good For You’

Tell Us Something awakens imagination, empowers storytellers and connects the community through the transformative power of personal storytelling. It is a celebration of each other, our stories and how we move through the world together. All of the stories at Tell Us Something are true. Stories last for 10 minutes and are told from memory.