Conversations with Mr. A.

In this episode of Conversations With Mr. A., I’m joined by licensed therapist Maria Gregg for an honest and insightful conversation about her journey as a therapist and working with trauma, unhealthy attachments, emotional healing, and the journey toward healthier relationships. Together, we explore how past experiences can shape the way we think, feel, and connect with others. Maria shares her p...

In this episode, Mr A. talks with the excecutive director of Scarlet Road, Rosie Garbe. Specifically, Scarlet Road is an organization that helps out those who are victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. If you are a victim or going through that please check out their website at scarletroad.org or email them at pavingtheway@scarletroad.org

Mr A. interviews a longtime friend Chelsea Pyper, who has spent the last 10 years as a substitute teacher in a variety of districts. Chelsea shares a lot of insightful and fun stories from her experiences in various districts.

In this episode, Mr. A. interviews his old student Tommy Chilson. Tommy was in 8th grade when Mr A. was his school counselor, now, Tommy will be a Senior die the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. Tommy has ALWAYS loved cars back then and still does!

In this episode, Mr A. interviews K.J. McLean from MC Junk Removal, which is a local junk pickup service in Kitsap County Washington. K.J. shares his passion of wanting to help the community and maintaining a reputation of integrity.

Mr. A. recently attended an excellent two day conference in Tacoma, WA called “Character Strong” which is an SEL (Social Emotional Learning) curriculum that is being used by Elementary and Secondary School Districts around the nation. Mr. A. was fortunate enough to meet one of the co founders of Character Strong and get his story of how Character Strong came to be and his philosophy on students, s...

Welcome to Season 5! Been a long time since I’ve done an interview! Since November 2024! For this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chelsea Hagerman who is a barber at a local place in Bremerton called Plaza Barber Shop. In this interview, Chelsea describes her life as a barber and the hard work that she does working and being a single mother.

In this fourth and final part of this 4 part series “Honoring Veterans”, Mr A. interviews Chimicum alumni Adrian Garcia whom Mr A. interviewed back in episode 10! Since the May 2023 interview from Episode 10, Adrian joined up with the Marines and shares his experience from High School to boot camp!

In this third part of this 4 part series for Veteran’s Day 2024, Mr A. interviews Joe Garasso who gives insight of how the military life was from years gone by.

In the second part of this 4 part series for Veteran’s Day 2024, Mr. A. does a phone interview with Angel Bellido who lives in Virginia. Angel had a 35 year career in the Navy and continues to do work for the government to this day!

In this year’s Veteran’s Day 2024, Mr. A. will be interviewing those who have served in the military or are currently serving in the military. There will be 4 people he will be interviewing today. The first one is Brandt Sword who currently resides in South Carolina. Brandt has worked in the Navy and submarines with some amazing stories and experiences!

In this episode, Mr. A. interviews Lindsey Phillips who shares her perspectives being in the social work field and how she now mentors those who aspire to join the field.

After a brief hiatus, Mr. Abastilla returns with another podcast episode! In this episode, Mr. A. interviews soccer coach Elyssa Quinones, getting her insight of what a soccer coach does.

In this episode, Mr A. interviews his old mentor and friend, Mark Williams who has been a pastor and is currently a financial advisor. There is SO MUCH DEPTH though that Mark covers!

In this season 4 premiere, Mr A. interviews Steve Wood the day before he retires from the Washington Youth Academy. He was there from 2013-2024. Before that, he was in the Navy since 1989. Steve shares his perspectives from the Navy and the WYA.

Been a little while since I’ve done an episode!! Gonna close out this season 3 with a few minutes of thoughts but don’t worry! Gonna upload the season premier of Season 4 within this hour! :)

In this episode, Mr. A. interviews Dr. Krissy Bellido Zakel who works at a top administrative position for Progressive Insurance. Krissy talks about her journey working for Progressive and offers a lot of encouragement for today’s youth!

Back in episode 29, Mr A had interviewed Pastor Jeff Adams who was a prison chaplain. This is a brand new episode with Jeff. Now in episode 42 he works as the transportation director for the Yelm School District. Jeff talks about his dealings with families and students in this episode.

In this interview, Mr. A. interviews Jewel Sheperdson from the Kitsap Black Student Union to ask about Black History Month, what the KBSU does, and other racial issues.

In this episode, Mr. A. interviews Michael Sanchez, principal at EB Walker High School in Puyallap Washington. Mike shares his perspectives of the school and his passion for students. This is actually one of two interviews as the other interview will be available soon at the other podcast channel called WSCA: Inside The School Counselor’s World!

In this telephone interview, Mr. A. interviews Phillip Johnson from the Hyatt Hotels where he works in the Boston, MA branch. Phillip talks about the hotel management industry and his philosophies on working with people.

In this episode, Mr. A. interviews professional wrestler JD Mason who runs an independent pro wrestling organization called Northwest Pro Wrestling. JD talks about how he became a pro wrestler, running NWP, and what it takes to be a pro wrestler.

In this episode, Mr. Abastilla interviews the Tacoma Washington Commissioner for Refugees and Immigrants, Maricres Valdez Castro who was also the 2021 Miss Washington International as well! Maricres talks about her passions in advocating not only for Filipinos but for immigrants and people as well!

Mr. Abastilla interviews 8th grade student Evie Barnes and 9th grade student Emma Webb from the South Kitsap/Peninsula School Districts as they share their perspectives on teenage life.

In this episode, Mr. A. does a phone interview with Moses Lake High School Senior student, April Seiler asking about her experiences doing Running Start.