Kevin Polky - The Journey

Her Journey Continues… Kylie returns to The Journey for an authentic, transparent conversation about the transition she is going through right now. She shares about the tension between serving others and taking care of herself and listening to the quiet voice within. Beautiful conversation about her process in the Hero’s Journey. It was an honor to have this conversation.

Sports Were his Life, Now He Uses Fitness to Transform Others Justin lived and breathed sports as he was growing up. As he entered the corporate world and started a family, exercise no longer was a priority. After an alarming wake up a call, he slowly and steadily started getting back in shape. As he transformed himself physical, a stirring inside lead him away from corporate America to opening hi...

As His World Changed, He Recreated Himself Alex is a life-long fan of athletics. He loves research and history. He enjoys writing. He went from being on top of the world to the bottom going through a divorce and unemployment. The newspaper industry was changing and downsizing. And, he chose to stay in the area so he could raise his daughters. His options were limited. In the midst of this darkness...

A Star Athlete who is Making a Difference in the Community Tommy was a three-sport athlete in high school who went to Eastern Illinois University to continue his football career. He played numerous years at the semi-pro football level. When his career ended, the drug addiction began. He was committed to his family, so working was never the problem. But, drugs were the demon. A life changing trip t...

A Queen with a Purpose Allie grew up in an ordinary home. Her dad was with her all the time during her younger years, he was her closest companion. He had battled and beat cancer a couple of times since his teenager years. But, everything changed after he had a quadruple heart trauma. Depression and addiction changed his life and Allie’s too. Listen to this conversation as Allie shares her experie...

More than T-Shirts Jarrod is the co-owner of the wildly popular Rockford Art Deli. Over the past years, RAD has evolved from a concept to one of the Rockford’s downtown staple and success story. Listen to this conversation as Jarrod shares his vision for his employees, customers and the environment. Enjoy as Jarrod shares RAD is so much than just T-shirts.

Beauty within this Fighter Beatriz was raised impoverished in Puerto Rico. For the sake of her son, she came to the states to seek better medical care. Against all odds, she meets someone she can trust, love and be loved. Through first MMA and then through the arts she found her voice. And, when I first heard her sing “This is Me” from “The Greatest Showman”, I was blown away. Only later did under...

A Daughter, Sister, Mom and Wife who has been through the darkness. Lynn is an amazing woman whose attitude has been an inspiration to others. She knows what it is like to experience loss through mental illness. Her younger brother and sister died as result of depression and suicide. And 10 weeks after her mom died from a sudden physical health condition, her dad died from suicide. But, listen to...

Carpenter who wants to leave a Legacy Initially, Jason’s story looks fairly normal. But, underneath that calm demeanor and smile there is loss, abuse, uncertainty and pain. It took him until he was 40, a divorce and failed relationships before he faced the pain from his childhood that interfered with his adult relationships. A father of four beautiful children, Jason has a burning desire to raise...

More than just T-shirts. Britney Lindgren is a graphic designer by trade but there is so much more to her story. I absolutely enjoyed this conversation about her journey as an artist, entrepreneur and local activist for the downtown Rockford area. She is co-owner of Rockford Art Deli that is a foundational staple for the resurgence of the downtown business and social scene. And, listen for the sto...

Welcome to Episode #15 of The Journey. This week’s guest is Xavier Whitford. Xavier is an amazing woman who has had an incredible journey. Listen to her tell the story of her first marriage and the struggle of her son’s life to his untimely death and how she has turned her pain into purpose.

Dalton is returning to the podcast to discuss The Hero’s Journey. I hope you enjoy this episode!

Dalton is returning to the podcast to discuss The Hero's Journey. In this episode we discuss the initiation phase. Hope you enjoy this episode!

Beautiful Inside and Out Krystal Bolduc started her first diet when she was in 3 rd grade. Her life she has gained and lost hundreds of pounds. Now after hitting a physical bottom, she is living a healthy life. She came to a point where she had to Grow or Die. Listen to this conversation as Krystal shares the emotional and spiritual transformation of her journey with food and body image.

Skater. Recovering Addict. Activists Will Crandall is trying to make a difference in the community by bringing together artists, musicians and skate boarders to raise awareness of suicide, mental health and addiction. During this conversation, Will shares intimate details his own journey of addiction, recovery and now giving back. Some inside perspective of the mindset of a skater and how connects...

The Artist Finds His Strength Andrew is a dancer, singer, performer, author, artist and composer. Extremely talented young man. During this conversation, Andrew is transparent about his early years and the struggles with being bullied and rejected and not feeling good enough. Today, he is using his wounds and struggles to help others by giving hope through the arts. Great example of strength throu...

Staying True to Her Gifts Bethany Mead is the Community Outreach Coordinator at CEANCI-Career Education Associates of Northern Illinois. Bethany is passionate and faithful women who works hard for her family and the community. She started at beginning position at CEANCI and now is at the perfect for her experience, gifts and skill set. Listen to this conversation about her perseverance and her des...

Creating His Own Path This conversation is with Nick Goellner, Managing Director and Partner at Making Chips and Director of Sales and Marketing at Advanced Machine & Engineering. Nick shares about his experience working in the family business of machining and how he found his place but following his true gifts. Out of this journey, he helped create another company Making Chips specifically fo...

The Vulnerable Warrior This conversation absolutely blew me away. Ryan is a passionate, highly driven man. Initially, it was in the form of football at the high school, collegiate and beyond and now it is as one of the top personal trainers. Check out this check conversation when Ryan shares intimate details of his journey as competitive football player. He shares about big on top and when it came...

Staying true to His Heart. Len has always been creative and a gifted artist. As he was growing up though he passion was art, he was being directed to follow a more traditional route. Following the more traditional path of higher education after high school, Len found one dead end after another. In his late 20’s everything hit rock bottom, the bottom is where he rediscovered his heart and started f...

Walking in faith with a new-found strength. It was a beautiful fall day and then suddenly everything changed. Anne Grindle joins me on The Journey to share about her story of recovery and transformation. She shares about how previous experiences and her faith helped her heal after she was violently hit by a car as she walked across a street. She shares her story of healing and recovery. Learning t...

Husband, father, counselor and friend. I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Pat Spangler. He has over 20 years of experience as an addiction counselor and therapist. He is a husband, son and father of four beautiful, athletic girls. He has a passion for helping others and assisting them on their journey of recovery. It was my pleasure to have Pat on The Journey and to have a conversation a...

Podcast #3 (Part 3): Dalton Bullard & Kylie Lewis The Warrior and the Princess. I had a greater opportunity during this three-part series to have a conversation with Dalton and Kylie about their journey individually and together. This is must for anybody in a relationship or longs to be in that relationship. It doesn’t have to be perfect because it is a journey. It just has to work for the two ind...

Podcast #3 (Part 2): Dalton Bullard & Kylie Lewis The Warrior and the Princess. I had a greater opportunity during this three-part series to have a conversation with Dalton and Kylie about their journey individually and together. This is must for anybody in a relationship or longs to be in that relationship. It doesn’t have to be perfect because it is a journey. It just has to work for the two ind...

Podcast #3 (Part 1): Dalton Bullard & Kylie Lewis The Warrior and the Princess. I had a greater opportunity during this three-part series to have a conversation with Dalton and Kylie about their journey individually and together. This is must for anybody in a relationship or longs to be in that relationship. It doesn’t have to be perfect because it is a journey. It just has to work for the two ind...