Grow With Us

This episode of Grow With Us features Eric James Stephens, entrepreneur and PhD in Rhetoric, Communication, and Information Design. Eric is a passionate and dedicated educator committed to creating a technology solution to the ever-growing demands of professors/teachers/lecturers. In his research and experience in teaching, countless hours of educators’ time can be spent on teaching, or re-teachin...

This episode of Grow With Us features Gloria Arias, the Diversity Outreach Manager at Tulsa Community College’s Education Outreach Center. Gloria is a lifelong student who is dedicated to providing opportunities for Spanish speaking folks in her community in East Tulsa. The Education Outreach Center stands at 22nd and Garnett in Tulsa’s Global District, and the center connects folks to English-sec...

This episode of Grow With Us features Matt Carney, the Executive Director of Root. Matt started his career in journalism and returned to Tulsa to build Root, an event discovery program that helps Tulsans promote and uncover different events and gatherings around the city. Root features events, daily deals at local restaurants, tours and guides around town, and a blog that highlights cool, unique e...

This episode of Grow With Us features Jazzy Tobie, the Culture and Community Conductor at the Fancy Hippie Group. Jazzy is an experienced DEI strategist & facilitator who helps companies implement comprehensive DEI initiatives. Jazzy and Evan discuss the candidate preparation section of Tulsa’s website titled Make Your Career move, the importance of DEI in the corporate world, and the differen...

This episode of Grow With Us features Julia Core, Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Resolve Behavioral Health Services. Julia is an amazing and empathetic mental health professional who also helps companies and people develop effective and meaningful cultures and practices around mental health in the workplace. Julia and Evan discuss burnout and its debilitating effects on workplace productivity,...

This episode of Grow With Us features Krystal Speed, founder of Your HR Strategist. Krystal is an entrepreneur with a heart and passion for helping people and companies learn how to implement meaningful HR Strategies that can help optimize organizational effectiveness. Krystal and Evan discuss Build in Tulsa’s Female Founder’s Pitch competition, Your HR Strategist’s HR accelerator program for peop...

This episode of Grow With Us features Emily Harden, Executive Director of Techlahoma. Techlahoma is a non-profit organization that provides community through user groups, programming and conferences for ongoing education, and opportunities for jobs through its dense network. Emily supports this community in both the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas. On this episode, Emily and Evan talk about the grow...

This episode of Grow With Us features Aaron Whigham, Program Manager of NewU. The NewU program is a personal development program designed to help unlock human potential within ourselves. Aaron has helped countless Tulsans learn how to explore new business ventures, discover alternative career paths, and build new senses of purpose in their lives. On this episode, Aaron and Evan discuss the power o...

This episode of Grow With Us features Grant Bumgarner, Program Director of Experience Tulsa. Grant is a lifelong Tulsan who’s professional career entails serving the Tulsa Remote community. In this episode of Grow With Us, Grant and Evan talk about our experiences growing up in Tulsa and coming back for work, Tulsa fun facts,  Experience Tulsa’s role in the Tulsa business ecosystem.  If...

This episode of Grow With Us features Brooke Randels, Program Manager of Campus Tulsa. Brooke is a dedicated servant to opportunity creation for college students that are looking for an impactful internship experience during their undergraduate career. Through her work at Campus Tulsa, the program creates an summer internship experience with a Tulsa-based company where students get first-hand job...

This episode of Grow With Us features Jamie Leupen, Director of Marketing and Communications at 36 Degrees North. Jamie is a passionate Tulsa-native who enjoys creating and curating space for entrepreneurial development in town by collaborating with business owners, entrepreneurs, and small businesses looking to grow. We talk about 36 Degrees North’s expansion plans for the future, how it’s a grow...

This episode of Grow With Us features Ray’Chel Wilson, Founder/CEO of Raise the Bar Investments and Director of Development at KIPP Tulsa Public Charter School. Ray’Chel is an opportunity seeker looking for ways to grow communities and provide access to financial literacy to BIPOC/underrepresented folx in the city of Tulsa and beyond. In this episode, we discuss the founding of Raise the Bar Inves...

This episode of Grow With Us features Stan Khrapak, Lead of the InTulsa Visa Network. Stan is a dedicated servant to the communities that he’s been apart in Tulsa, be it the Jewish community, the tech community, and the immigrant community. Through his work with the inTulsa Visa Network, Stan leads a team aiming to reduce barriers in the immigration process for Ukranians and other foreign national...

This episode of Grow With Us features Tori Burris, the Assistant Director of Career Services at the Holberton School of Software Engineering. Through her work at Holberton, Tori has helped students and graduates of the software engineering school with career development and job placement opportunities in the growing tech industry. In this episode, we discuss her story with the ecosystem and commun...

This episode of Grow With Us features Luke Scuitto, Membership Coordinator at the Dennis R. Neill Oklahoma Equality Center. Luke is Tulsa-transplant who found a meaningful community at the Equality Center, and he was able to create an opportunity to serve the LGBTQIA+ community of the Tulsa Metropolitan and beyond. In this episode, we discuss Luke’s involvement in programming events for the Equali...

This episode of Grow With Us features Tyrance Billingsley , the founder of Black Tech Street. Tyrance is a Tulsa born entrepreneur and his ancestral lineage connects his family back to the Black Wall Street Massacre. Tyrance is honoring his familial legacy by creating an organization whose mission is to empower Black people to create intergenerational wealth in the tech industry. In this episode,...

This episode of Grow With Us features Jessica Loyd, the Customer Success Manager at Fansub. Jessica is a Holberton student that found out about an opportunity at a local tech startup through LinkedIn messaging from an inTulsa Talent Partner. In this episode, Jessica and Evan discuss her experience at the Holberton software engineering school, her love and passion for music, and how that blended in...

This episode of Grow With Us features Trae Sjogren, the founder of Skillfund. Trae is a Tulsa Remoter that came to Tulsa on a whim, but he was able to find a community of creatives here that helped him make the decision to stay. Trae is elated to create this opportunity for young creatives in Tulsa through Skillfund.  Skillfund is a program designed to invest in young creatives who are hoping...

This episode of Grow With Us features Aaron Sloan, owner and founder of the Engine Room Boxing Studio. Aaron Sloan is a USA Boxing certified coach, judge and referee as well as a certified 1 Star AIBA boxing coach. In addition to his USA Boxing and AIBA certifications Coach Sloan is licensed with the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission and a licensed promoter. On this episode of Grow With Us, Evan...

This episode of Grow With Us features Conor Godfrey, Portfolio Manager for Cybersecurity and Data Analytics at Tulsa Innovation Labs. Conor is a lifelong public servant at home and abroad with over a decade of experience building diverse coalitions to achieve national security goals. On this episode of Grow With Us, Evan and Conor discuss the launch of the Cyber and Data Analytics Skills Center pa...

This episode of Grow With Us features Jake Cronin, Director of Research and Analysis, and Patrick Hosford, Partnerships and Research Analyst, at  inTulsa. In this special episode commemorating the one year anniversary of Grow With Us, Evan, Jake, and Patrick discuss the growth trajectory of Tulsa’s technology economy, the importance of the tech industry to diversifying Tulsa’s economy, and ho...

This episode of Grow With Us features Dr. Laura Latta, the Executive Director of the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium. A lifelong Tulsan, Dr. Latta committed her entire career to education and has held leadership roles as an award-winning teacher, professor, school administrator, community coordinator, researcher, and nonprofit director. In this episode, Dr. Latta and Evan discuss the role of THE...

This episode of Grow With features Marcia Bruno-Todd, Director of Programs & Community Impact at Leadership Tulsa. Marcia supports non-profits with diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and consults on developing authentic community partnerships. Marcia and Evan talk about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workspace and in the fabrics of our communities to facilit...

This episode of Grow With Us features Tracy Spears, founder of Exceptional Leaders Lab. Tracy is an internationally-recognized speaker, trainer, facilitator, and coach with specialties in diversity, equity & inclusion, workplace communication, personal branding, culture development, leadership training, executive team coaching, and strategic planning. Tracy and Evan talk about navigating our o...

This episode of Grow With Us features Derrick Alexander, a Financial Advisor at Northwestern Mutual. Derrick is a lifelong Tulsan and University of Tulsa graduate with a huge passion for equipping folks with financial knowledge that helps them advocate for themselves.  Evan and Derrick talk financial advice, the communities that helped support his personal and professional growth, and how fol...