The James Protin Podcast

Our guests for Episode #57 are Quinton Martin, along with his aunt and uncle…Deanne and Shawn Martin.  Quinton is a junior football player at Belle Vernon Area high school, in Pennsylvania. He is a well known 5 star athlete who dreams to make it to the NFL. Martin is #1 recruit in Pennsylvania, and in the top 30 players around the nation.  One of his biggest achievements was leading the Belle Vern...

Hekima Place is a safe, loving and faith-based home for orphaned vulnerable girls in Kenya.  Joining us for Episode #56 of the podcast is the Founder of the organization, Kate Fletcher, Executive Director, Laura Bright, and Maggie Wambui, a Hekima Place Alum.  “Every human being deserves compassion, care, and respect.”  Those words jumped out of the Hekima Place Vision Statement and wrapped themse...

We shuffled the deck a little for this week’s episode. We received a call from our good friend Tom Mosser regarding an event he is putting together April 1st at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh.  We visited 412 Studios in Etna for Episode #55 of the Podcast. You may remember Tom from our show featuring his “Really Big Faces” Exhibit last year. He is organizing an event he calls “Make You...

Episode #54 of the podcast is a special one. Our guest is the one and only Kelli Robbins. My friend Kelli us everyone’s friend Kelli. She  is a dynamo in the arena of marketing, advertising and branding, serving entrepreneurs of all sizes. Kelli is an author, speaker, trainer, entrepreneur, and community leader. She manages a firm that delivers business results through better communication. For ov...

Brookline Teen Outreach  Our podcast is built upon the foundation of Live. Love. Learn. Pray. Inspire. It’s about becoming your authentic self. That’s being better, doing better…and paying it forward.  Our guests for Episode #53 come to us from Brookline Teen Outreach. BTO is a Pittsburgh nonprofit offering free opportunities and resources for youth ages 10-18.  All you need to know to see that BT...

One-Year Anniversary  Hard to believe…but it happened. The Podcast is one-year old. Time to celebrate and glance in the rear view so we can catapult into our second year on a high note.  And so, we give you…The Best of the James Protin Podcast.  We’ve pulled together a heartfelt thank you all our guests and included excerpts from some of our  favorite conversations over the last 12 months. it’s al...

Episode #51 of the podcast is a special one for me. Our guests this week are Ashley Reed and Tyler Watts, two amazing young women. Both Ashley and Tyler are engineers with GPI.  Ashley Reed is a Cleveland native with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Akron. Upon graduation, she relocated to West Virginia to work as an engineering consultant helping communities maintai...

For Episode #50 of the podcast, we’re joined by the delightful Katie Unger-Chipps, Executive Director of Leadership Washington County (LWC), the leading resource for leadership identification, connection, and development in Washington County.  Under Katie’s leadership, LWC has received local and national recognition for governance and innovation. But don’t think Katie merely steers the ship. Her d...

Nick and I took the podcast on the road to Pittsburgh’s Southside for Episode #49. We sat down with my amazing friend ⭐Kelly Frost⭐  for her second appearance on the show and then we were joined by my friend, the amazingly talented Dominique Murray for a great conversation.  Kelly updated us on the very successful launch of PEEL (Pittsburgh’s Elevated & Emerging Leaders), while Dom provided...

Episode #48 is a special one for the podcast. We sat down with Lisa Aprea, one of the owners, along with Nancy Ogburn and Jim Martin, of Chicco Baccello, a small coffee house, bakery and deli located in the heart of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.  Of course, Chicco’s Canonsburg, PA location is home base for the show.  Lisa and her team are the most gracious hosts…the coffee is may be the best in the re...

As our Podcast approaches its One-Year Anniversary, we decided to do something a little different. I sat down with the newest member of our team, Melissa Migliaro for Episode #47. We’re calling this show “The Way We See It” In this episode we touch on a wide variety of topics…and of course we have some fun with our in-house “Creative Genius” Nick who doesn’t like the spotlight but without him none...

Our guest for Episode #46 is Ron Mozer, Mayor of the City of Monessen, Pennsylvania. Unlike his predecessors, Mayor Mozer arrived in Monessen from Alamogordo, New Mexico by way of Pueblo, Colorado.  But don’t let the fact that Ron is a transplanted Monessen Greyhound fool you. Like his predecessors, he loves this small city straddling the Monongahela River.   Mayor Mozer’s belief that if you alway...

For Episode #45, Nick and I found our way to Sharpsburg, specifically, the 1028 Podcast Studio. Our guest is Corey Ochai, Producer/Host of the The 1028 Podcast.  Corey is a Braddock-born painter and a longtime resident of Sharpsburg, where he has served as Curator of Atithi Studios. Atithi is bigger than just creating art, it's about creating relationships and developing skills to help commun...

Joining us for Episode #44 are our special guests, Officer Joe Risher, Trooper Melinda Bondarenk, and Deputy Chief Shawn Hudinzski, from Allegheny County Communities & Police Together.  Once again, our Melissa Migliaro was in the co-host chair for this episode.  Officer Joe is an Army veteran and a member of the Allegheny County Police Department, Trooper Melinda from Troop B of the Pennsylvan...

Our guest for Episode #43 is Maria Allshouse. Not many people have the courage to make a major life transformation at age 43. But then again, not many people are Maria Allshouse. Maria speaks from her heart with passion and enthusiasm.  Maria’s story of overcoming a lifetime struggle of disordered eating and releasing 130 pounds is inspiring and engaging. Her journey from someone who was barely su...

We are very excited to present Episode #1 of our special series, “Amazing Kids”. Our guests is Jace Churby.  In April, 2019, then 6-year old Jace won his first race in Lebanon, Missouri, and he hasn’t looked back. He raced the Hoosier Arenacross Series and the Missouri State Championship Series with multiple Top 5 finishes. In 2021, Jace was Selected for the KTM Jr Supercross at Camping World Stad...

We have a very special show for Episode #42 of the podcast. Today is our Christmas Special, and we’re very excited to be joined by a very special guest…Santa Claus.  Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa…was able to take some time away from his Christmas preparations to stop by and say hello to everyone and answer some questions from...

Joining us for Episode #41 of the podcast is Vinnie Borrelli.  Vinnie is a man of many talents and has been successful in his career for over 16 years. He has dedicated his life to helping people find their passion and teaching them how to make that passion light up their life.  Through his childhood experiences as the child of Italian immigrants and his experiences with his older sister, Gina, wh...

Our guest for Episode #40 of the podcast is my dear friend Connie Capiotis.  Connie is a business consultant and catalytic growth specialist who thrives on building deep relationships with her clients. She believes that the key to growth lies in supporting each individuals’ needs from a holistic perspective.  Connie gas created two custom programs, the Bold Boss Bootcamp and Full Flavor Leadership...

Our guests for Episode #39 are my senior colleagues at GPI, Diane Altland, PE, Ifeanyi Odigboh, PE, and George Sarapa, PE. Three professionals from very different backgrounds, who have travelled very different career paths to come together at GPI.  This is a talented and experienced team of professional engineers with more than 70 years in the engineering industry. But this is not a podcast about...

Our guests for Episode #38 are Kelly Cain and her son Clayton. Kelly is not only the Executive Director of the Autism Caring Center, she built the entire organization from the ground up over a span of just four years.  The mission of the Autism Caring Center is to enhance the lives of individuals and families by working diligently to provide support, resources, advocacy, and training to community...

Our guest for Episode #37 is Jim Shorkey, Sr., retired owner of the Jim Shorkey Family Auto Group. Jim retired at 59 from a 37-year career as the owner of the Jim Shorkey Family Auto Group.  Over the course of his professional life, Jim has experienced all the highs and lows. Going from bankruptcy-imminent to one of the most successful dealerships in the Pittsburgh region. But he didn’t do it alon...

Our guests for Episode #36 are Vivien Luk, Executive Director, and Richardson Antoine, First Mile Impact Manager at WORK. It was awesome to have the newest member of our team, Melissa Migliaro spending time in the co-host chair.  The team at WORK believes every individual has potential. The organization’s mission is to accompany families in Haiti out of poverty through good, dignified jobs. They w...

Our guest for Episode #35 is Spencer Lynn. Spencer is a local guy…a Mon valley guy. He’s a Belle Vernon Area High School alum and a California University of Pennsylvania graduate.  During his time at both schools, he was a standout football player and was just recently inducted into the Belle Vernon Area Football Hall of Fame.  After college, Spencer had many paths available to him…he chose a comm...

Our guest for Episode #34 of the podcast is Jennifer Toprani. Jen is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Associates in Counseling & Wellness in McMurray.  Jen‘s husband Steve was our guest for Episode #25 and she shares the story of how a chance encounter in Paris turned into a love story for the ages.  Jennifer works in schools and in private practice addressing anxiety, depression, trauma,...