The 39/94

Bob Wollenman has been doing business in St. Joseph since 1967, and Deluxe Truck Stop has served the trucking and agriculture industries since 1979. Today it's much more than a fuel stop. It offers truck washing, a tire shop, and food-grade, kosher-certified tank washing that handles well over 100 trucks a day. In this season two episode, Bob talks with Jodie about more than trucks. He describes l...

Season two of The 39/94 kicks off with one of the most fearless young entrepreneurs in Northwest Missouri: Miu Sutton, founder of Miuze Marketing. Born and raised in Bangkok, Miu grew up in Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Laos, and Australia, learning English after moving abroad and making friends from around the world at international schools. A college fair in Bangkok led her to Missouri Western Sta...

The 39/94 is officially one year old! 🎉 For this special anniversary episode, the microphone changes hands. Gina Calderwood of Gina’s Café & Catering turns the table and interviews Jodie (after Jodie asks a ton of questions). We hear about Gina's journey and they discuss female friendships, but we also get the story behind the podcast and everything that has happened during its first year. Jo...

Louie Guardado joins The 39/94 for a conversation about finding his path, building a career in real estate, becoming a husband and new dad, and learning what it means to give back. After struggling to figure out what came next, Louie joined the Army, a decision he says was one of the best he ever made. Today, he's a young realtor navigating a competitive industry while building relationships and e...

Tom Brand, St. Joseph author, storyteller, and weekly columnist for about 12 Missouri newspapers, and director of the St. Joseph Community Alliance joins Jodie O'Brien this week on The 39/94 to talk about his unusual hobby of buying old photographs at thrift stores and inventing fictional stories for the strangers pictured in them, a project he sees as a way of preserving people who might otherwis...

Wes Simmons played on back-to-back NCAA Division II national championship teams at Northwest Missouri State, then spent his career coaching coaches...not just in athletics, but in business, education, healthcare and beyond. Today, he is the founder of the 3D Institute and founder/president of the Joseph Company, the group behind St. Joseph's movement to reclaim its identity as the “City of Coaches...

For over 50 years, the Bartlett Center has been a fixture in Midtown St. Joseph, child care, preschool, after-school programs, and a lifeline for families across a low-income part of the city. This year, it's also been in the headlines: financial strain, a request to the city for rent relief, and hard questions about what comes next. In this episode, I sit down with Tama Wagner , Vice President of...

Northwest Missouri author Sieglinde Othmer is proof that life doesn’t stop at 80, it can actually begin a whole new chapter. On this episode of The 39/94 , Sieglinde and I talk about resilience, reinvention, purpose and what it means to embrace aging with joy and intention. After losing her longtime husband and navigating significant changes in her life, Sieglinde turned her experiences into wisdo...

What if one unexpected opportunity completely changed the direction of your life? That’s exactly what happened to Tracy Lindley . A Missouri Western graduate, nationally recognized voice actor, LinkedIn educator and entrepreneur, Tracy has voiced projects for brands including Google, Walmart, Uber, NASCAR and realtor.com, all from her home studio in St. Joseph. In this episode, Tracy shares how sh...

This week on The 39/94, we sit down with Dr. Lenny Klaver, President of North Central Missouri College, for a conversation about his path into higher education leadership and his perspective on a statewide issue that affects every college campus in Missouri: funding. Dr. Klaver walks us through his career, from Wayne State College to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to a small Michigan univers...

Election Day is coming up on August 4th, and if you're anywhere in the 39/94 corridor, this is your chance to weigh in on some big ballot measures that'll shape local government and community resources for years to come. In this episode, I sit down with Melissa Ross , a retired Savannah R3 teacher who spent her career teaching history and government, to break down what's actually on the ballot, no...

Some people measure success by what they build. Lute Atieh measures it by the people he impacts. In this episode of The 39/94 , Lute shares the journey that shaped his life and career—from the lessons that guided him to the relationships that opened doors and the mindset that led him to build businesses while investing in the community he calls home. This isn't just a conversation about entreprene...

For nearly 14 years, Siobhan Jackson , victim advocate with the Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, has walked alongside survivors of domestic violence through some of the hardest moments of their lives. In this powerful conversation, Siobhan shares what really happens behind closed doors, why leaving an abusive relationship is far more complicated than most people realize, and how frie...

Stacey Schneitter Blake grew up in northwest Missouri surrounded by a family business that's been lighting up celebrations for more than 130 years. Today, she's helping lead that fourth-generation company while also serving as the first female president of the National Fireworks Association . In this episode of The 39/94 , Stacey shares the remarkable story behind Schneitter Fireworks, how the bus...

Michael and Chrissy Troyer, proprietors of the local Scooters Coffee franchise in Northwest Missouri, join us to elucidate the intricacies involved in operating a successful business within a local community. This episode delves into the unique dynamics of managing a franchise alongside one’s spouse, highlighting the complexities and rewards of entrepreneurial life. We explore the significance of...

The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the remarkable journey of Sam Taylor , affectionately known as the "Cosby flower girl," who embodies the spirit of community and entrepreneurship in rural Missouri through her establishment, Treasure Gardens. In our engaging conversation, we delve into her innovative segment, "Tipsy Tuesday," which serves to blend gardening wisdom with a da...

For generations, county fairs have brought communities together—and the Andrew County Fair Board is working hard to make sure that tradition continues. In this special bonus episode of The 39/94, Jodie sits down with Bryce Howard and Lindy Holt of the 2026 Andrew County Fair Board to discuss the exciting events planned for this year's fair and the volunteers working behind the scenes to make it ha...

What does it take for a kid from St. Joseph, Missouri to spend four decades capturing the sound of Hollywood's biggest stories — and then come home to tell one of his own? This week on The 39/94, we sit down with Robert Maxfield — known in St. Joe as Bobby, known on set as Max, a production sound mixer and boom operator whose credits include Mission Impossible , Stranger Things , The Walking Dead...

Wakefield Hare is known throughout Northwest Missouri as a financial advisor, community leader, teacher, mentor, and pastor, but this conversation goes far beyond business and finance. In this episode of The 39/94 Podcast, Wake reflects on losing his father in a plane crash at just 14 years old and how that experience shaped his faith, perspective, and understanding of what truly matters. We discu...

What if one measly mile a day could change your life? For Justin Alvarez , it started as a simple bet between friends in 2022. Today, nearly 900 people in Northwest Missouri are running at least one mile every single day — and St. Joseph has quietly become the run streak capital of the world, with more active run streaks than New York City. Justin is one of the founders of the Measly Mile Mafia, a...

What St. Joseph's Kelly Evans has built in the last five years is incredible. Mama Mystery is an internationally ranked, Cosmo Top 40 true crime podcast, and @TrueCrimeKel on TikTok has racked up more than 35 million views in the last year alone. A recognized voice in the true crime space who regularly appears at major events like CrimeCon, Kelly is the author of Wicked Women, host of the new show...

How Jennifer Jarvis is Changing Her Community One $100 Check at a Time On this episode of the 39/94 Podcast, Jodie sits down with Jennifer Jarvis — project delivery engineer at Missouri American Water, mom of a two and four year old, and founder of 10 Squared Women of Andrew County. Jennifer shares how a few nudges from a friend turned into a giving circle that's already put thousands of dollars b...

What do Coco Chanel, Michael Jordan, and a golf course in Savannah, Missouri have in common? Gerald McCullagh . This week on the 39/94 Podcast, Jodie sits down with British PGA member and Golf Magazine Top 100 Teaching Professional Gerald McCullagh — a man who grew up 50 yards from a golf course in Northern Ireland, coached royalty in Vienna, developed LPGA and PGA Tour players, and now calls Sava...

She works full time, serves on the fire department, and right now she's driving to Kansas City to sit with a sick baby who isn't even hers on paper — but is absolutely hers in every way that matters. This week, Jodie sits down with Atheah Erickson, a foster mom and foster parent ambassador from Andrew County. In a year and a half, Athia and her husband have welcomed somewhere between 12 and 16 kid...

Karen Rudolph grew up in Savannah, Missouri, earned one of the first women's athletic scholarships in University of Missouri history, and spent decades in sports media, education, and coaching. Now she's written the book women's college sports history has been waiting for. In this episode, Karen takes us back to the turbulent decade after Title IX - the battle over who would actually control women...