Deep Dive with Dr D

A salon chair can be the most honest place in town. I am joined by Alisha Gordon, a longtime Ellensburg hairstylist and salon owner, to unpack what really happens when people sit down for “just a haircut” and end up sharing their whole lives. We talk about growing up with constant moves, how coming back to a small town helped her get steady, and why deep roots and familiar faces can change your tr...

People don’t lose trust all at once. It leaks out through small moments: a rumor that spreads faster than a correction, a process nobody can explain in plain English, a decision that feels distant from real life. That’s why this conversation with Brian Elliott hits so hard. Brian is a Kittitas County Auditor, an Army officer, a husband and dad, and a local leader who has to live with the consequen...

A camera doesn’t just record what we look like. It records what we valued, who we were with, and the tiny details we forget until a photo brings them back. I’m joined by Meaghan Bickel, owner of Joy Photography in Ellensburg, to talk about what she’s learned from photographing weddings, family sessions, business headshots, and some of the most tender moments a family can face. We get into the thin...

Shame is a blunt instrument, and we keep swinging it like it’s going to solve addiction, mental health crises, and crime. This conversation with Joelle Dickerson flips that logic on its head and gets practical about what actually helps people change when they’re court-involved, struggling with substance use, or carrying years of untreated trauma. We talk about how one traumatic event can redirect...

A pumpkin patch looks like pure fun until you see the spreadsheets, the permits, and the sleepless nights behind it. We’re joined by Hilary Jensen of Jensen Farms to pull back the curtain on agritourism, the fast-growing corner of farming that blends agriculture, hospitality, and public safety into one high-stakes seasonal business. We talk about the biggest misconceptions people have about agrito...

Growth in a rural county can feel like a slow sunrise or a sudden flood, depending on where you stand. Today we sit down with Amy McGuffin, CEO of the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce, to talk about what’s changing across Ellensburg, Cle Elum, Roslyn, and the rest of the county and what we can do to keep the best parts intact while still building a future people can afford to live in. We get pr...

Spiritual work gets labeled “woo” fast, especially if you’ve been burned by religion or you’re the kind of person who wants evidence before you buy in. That’s why this conversation with Laura White hits different. Laura is the owner of Spiritual Awakenings in Ellensburg, WA, and she’s built a real brick-and-mortar practice around Reiki, tarot, mediumship, and natural healing without talking down t...

You can feel it when someone is building a life on purpose, not just collecting milestones. Hannah Singer is 21, about to graduate college, married young, a homeowner, and already growing Homestead Design Company, and she’s honest about the parts that look exciting and the parts that feel heavy. We talk about what it’s like to be ahead of your peer group in some ways, behind in others, and still u...

A lot of people think a “successful” business is one that expands nonstop, chases scale, and looks impressive on paper. We see something different when we talk with Rolf Williams, an Ellensburg native and the owner of Jerrol's, a long-running local business with deep roots that stretch back to 1947. Rolf shares how a store can survive for generations by staying flexible about what it sells wh...

You can hear it in the way we laugh and the way we hesitate before certain details: some childhoods don’t fade, they echo. I’m Dr. D, and I sit down with my sisters Tina and Cheri for a raw family conversation about what it takes to grow up in chaos and still fight for a better life. We talk about the mix of love and damage that can exist in the same home, the moves that felt like evictions and es...

He comes across calm for a reason. Cecil Velasquez has lived the kind of life that forces you to choose: keep drifting toward chaos or become the person people can count on. Cecil and I talk about the moments that shaped him most, including being in trouble as a teenager, the reality check of juvenile detention, and the gut-punch phone call that his best friend had been shot and killed. We connect...

She looked successful. She felt trapped. That’s the gap at the center of functional alcoholism, and Bailey Duncan names it with brutal clarity. I talk with Bailey, an Ellensburg barber shop owner, wife, and mom, about how addiction can hide inside a full life. She shares what it was like to drink throughout the day and still keep working, how White Claw became the “acceptable” version of dependenc...

Your body keeps score, even when you feel “fine.” I sit down with Dr. Ian Quitadamo, a professor, scientist, and internationally certified integrative health practitioner, to talk about what it actually takes to live better longer and why most of us never get that roadmap in a rushed medical system. Ian’s work became personal when his wife faced cancer, and the experience sharpened his mission: he...

What if integrity isn’t a slogan but a set of small, unseen choices that change lives over time? We sit down with Ellensburg’s own Kevin Willette—a patrol corporal, senior SWAT operator, defensive tactics coordinator, and youth wrestling coach—to unpack a life rooted in service, shaped by family, and tested by the hardest calls a community can face. Kevin takes us from his family’s towing business...

What if your space could make you braver? That’s the question that kept surfacing as we sat down with interior designer and community catalyst Stephanie Castillo of Rumble Interiors. Stephanie started behind a salon chair, felt the strain of long days on her body, and followed a nudge into design school while working full-time and raising two kids. That grit carried into a partnership with Renee,...

A brochure promised safety. What Mandy’s family found after Cooper’s overdose was a six‑bedroom house at the end of a cul‑de‑sac—advertised as inpatient treatment, billing thousands per day, and operating with shocking gaps in oversight. We invited Mandy to tell the whole story: the love and laughter of a blended family, the day the phone rang with news no parent should hear, and the quiet, stubbo...

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What does it really take to build confidence that lasts longer than a winning streak? Coach Tatum Pine, head of the Ellensburg High School girls’ wrestling team, joins us to share how a young program found its voice through grit, gratitude, and a fierce commitment to respect. From Vegas roots to Central Washington mats, Tatum opens up about stepping into leadership at 24, learning from a powerhous...

The room changes when a hospice nurse walks in—not because the end is near, but because presence arrives. Jay McDonald has built houses and built care plans, and today he opens up about what decades of life and years at the bedside have taught him about dignity, acceptance, and the choices that actually matter. We get clear on the difference between home health and hospice: one aims to restore str...

The leap looks loud, but the real shift starts quietly—one routine at a time. Cher joins us to share how she took a lash side hustle from her living room to a thriving downtown studio and, in the process, rebuilt her health, mindset, and confidence. We get into the unfiltered reality of growing a local service business: the early hustle of $10 fills, how to earn trust in a small town, and why movi...

Start with a face you know at the farmers market, a teenager in an open doorway, a neighbor at a stoplight. That’s where community begins—where people feel seen, not sorted. We sat down with our longtime friend and local force, Cathie Day—grandmother, educator, school board member, nonprofit founder, and reserve police officer—to explore how empathy turns into action and why small, consistent gest...

What if the first step toward healing isn’t a grand plan, but a simple, human moment—someone staying with you long enough to help you answer the call when opportunity rings? We sit down with Monica Brown, a certified peer counselor at Peers Rising, whose story threads resilience, harm reduction, and the courage to parent with clarity after growing up in chaos. Monica opens up about becoming a bonu...

A missed calendar invite turned into a masterclass on making change stick. We kick off with a human moment and move straight into the real work: why resolutions collapse, how systems save you when motivation fades, and what it means to choose direction over speed. I read from my 1996 journal—days of high resolve followed by a quick slide—and use that honest snapshot to show how a plan you can live...

Some stories grab you because they’re polished. This one disarms you because it’s real. Hailee joins us to share how a childhood marked by abuse, isolation, and impossible rules became the soil for grit, empathy, and a fierce commitment to connection. She didn’t meet some of her siblings until she was nineteen; today, big sister is the title she wears with pride. Between a neighbor’s spare room, a...

What if recovery had less to do with dramatic turnarounds and more to do with steady presence, clear boundaries, and everyday compassion? That’s the heart of our conversation with Mark Anthony—a devoted son, “fun gunkle,” care coordinator, and pillar in Ellensburg’s recovery network—who arrived in town with a car full of belongings and built a life by showing up for others and himself. We trace hi...