Keoni Chats

Nick Moses joins me in this week’s episode of Keoni Chats. Nick grew up alongside my brother and former guest David Rodriguez. We talked about that connection carrying them from high school through college. In the case for Nick and David, we also spoke about their cross country road trip while in high school.  Nick is a mechanical engineer. He has traveled to nearly 10 countries, using his skills...

This week on Keoni Chats: I’m joined by Chris McMullan , an up-and-coming therapist I met through a mutual friend. When I heard about Chris and the work he was doing, I knew I wanted him on the show. Chris is a native Irishman who fell in love with a small coastal city in Oregon—a major life transition that helped kick-start his path toward becoming a therapist. We talk about that move, the challe...

This week on Keoni Chats: I sat down with Geleen Abanjoa , owner of Shop Halo Halo . Geleen was originally set for a career in nursing, but she made a bold pivot—moving to Oregon to pursue her passion for baking. We talk about the challenges of that life-changing decision, how her family supported her from afar, and the journey of turning her festival-based bakery into a brick-and-mortar shop. Tha...

Cameron Jerde finds a rare break in his packed schedule to sit down with me for an insightful and inspiring conversation. Cameron and I met Boy Scouts as kids. After our time there, he poured his energy into various pursuits — one of which was music. What began as a student passion in band eventually evolved into a career, leading Cameron to become a Band Director at a local high school. In this e...

Pauline Lee joins me for this week’s Keoni Chats. Pauline is the founder of the Program for Intellectual Empowerment (PIE). We talk about the beginning of the program and the challenges she encounters with keeping it going. Pauline shares how her religious following has kept her going on the path she is on. She has a strong passion to give neurodivergent individuals opportunities. This led her to...

Arturo Basurto joins me for this week’s Keoni Chats. Arturo and I were one time co-workers and from that time together, he made a positive impression on me with his positivity and curiosity. Arturo is a professional Disc Golfer and we talk about how he discovered the sport. He grew up in California and decided to move to Oregon on a whim. We talked about that decision and all the life adjustments...

In this third episode of the Creator Check-In: The Struggles with Creativity, I discuss editing and marketing. I open up about my overly ambitious approach to weekly episode releases and the mental and emotional limits that took me. As this show was finding its format, I didn’t have the financial capability to purchase the software that was available to me in college. This made me have to resort t...

In the second episode of the Creator Check-In: The Struggles with Creativity, I discuss my growth with interviewing. I grew up with an extroverted father so casually talking with people was easy for me. The issues I encountered was having a guided interview while trying to push a narrative forward. I talked about being too reliant on retaining information (all from memory) and how that led to a po...

In the first episode of the Creator Check-In: The Struggles with Creativity, I broke down the latest break from the Keoni Chats podcast show and the thought process that led to this mini series. As I did the NFL Roster Breakdown series on the KCM Sports show, I realized that I can produce a show that is not in an interview format. Once I got a layout of the topics I wanted to speak about in this e...

Josh Stofiel of Evoke Visual Solutions joins me for this week’s Keoni Chats. I met Josh through my last job. The company he was working for at the time was being absorbed and I remember when I first saw him, I thought that this is a guy that I could enjoy working with. As his time grew at the new place, our passing interactions grew more friendly and memorable. When he left that job for another op...

When making a trip back to Portland, Brian Weber stops by and is this week’s guest. Brian and I were high school classmates. During this conversation, A lot of his stories and experiences started to emulate my own. We talk about his pathway to becoming a Police Officer with the city of Astoria, Oregon. He opens up about the many rejections he faced and how he was able to find an alternate route to...

Adam Becenti becomes the newest member of the two-timer club, as he returns to be this week’s guest on Keoni Chats. A lot of Adam’s first episode revolved around his participation in the Black Lives Matter movement and his support to community causes. We built off that episode and talked about his work as the Tribal Affairs Director at the Oregon Department of Human Services and having a balance b...

Confessions Of A Tiny Teacher Founder Tasha Emmerson joins me in this week’s Keoni Chats. Tasha and I have similar social circles, but this was the first time we’ve talked with each other. Her openness and engaging nature made this conversation quickly comfortable. We talked about her upbringing with absentee parents, and having to be the parental figure for her sisters. Tasha opened up about her...

I met Keith Nelson for the first time in this week’s Keoni Chats.  He was born and raised in Portland, OR and we are both alumni from the same high school and college. I reached out to him through our high school’s facebook group and he graciously accepted. This chat was a challenge for me, not only because this is our first time meeting, but because of his extensive resume and figuring out where...

After keeping up with Angela Lackey through social media for so long, it was time that I brought onto the show for this week’s Keoni Chats. Ever since Angela and I were calling each other “co-workers,” she had talked about clothes and her fashion line Diversified Clothing Brand. We talked about the beginnings of Diversified Clothing Brand and some of her future plans for the company. Angela is a f...

Olan Muller opens up about his journey in this week’s Keoni Chats. Olan was one academic year younger than me but our paths always found a way to each other. During our time together in high school, we did dragon boats together and our social circles overlapped. Olan and I talked about his new look of shoulder length hair and a mustache. We also talked about his unconventional path that began duri...

As Bryton Wilson is getting settled into his new home, he takes a break from unpacking and we reconnect in this week’s Keoni Chats. I met Bryton when I was working at Nike and he was working at Apple. As the Nike Apple Watch was being released, he would be in the Nike store to answer any customer questions. When we weren’t talking about watches, Bryton and I would talk about everyday life. I kept...

Dom Huynh returns for another conversation in this week’s Keoni Chats. The last time we spoke was late 2020 so trying to cover his life since then was tricky but really fun to hear about. After pairing up with Dillon Vibes (former guest), Dom gained some traction in the fitness world as he was casted for some fitness equipment commercials. I asked Dom about that experience and keeping in shape as...

Ashby Rodriguez and I take our usual small talk a step further in this week’s Keoni Chats. Ashby is married to former guest David Rodriguez. We talked about how their relationship started and how they endured long distance. Ashby and David are renovating their homes without any proper training outside of what they call “YouTube University.” We talk about how they handle a home project gone sideway...

Edward Bernier V steps away from the microphone and cameras to join me for this week’s Keoni Chats. I met Edward in middle school and even then, we never had a conversation longer than a sentence. I kept track of Edward's musical career as he dove further and further. He would find traction as he would perform live and start to open for big name artist. He really caught my eye when I saw his music...

Chris Avery takes a moment to reflect on the road traveled in this week’s Keoni Chats. Before becoming a cheerleader for the University of Oregon, Chris played football in California and thrived under the strict schedule of a student athlete. As he started out at the University of Oregon, he found himself missing that routine and structure and his studies showed it. Once he became a cheerleader, h...

Dr. KJ Paik puts the stethoscope down for the day and sits down with me for this week’s Keoni Chats. I have known KJ for the majority of my life. This ranges from our days playing pop warner football to our last days sharing the high schools hallways. We talk about life after high school and his decision to switch to a medical career after studying business. KJ started his medical career during th...

For this week’s Keoni Chats, I reconnect with my former high school classmate Natalie Isaacson. I met Natalie during our junior year as she was fresh off a move from Washington down to Oregon. Prior to coming to Oregon, she made a promise to herself that she would pursue singing and when I first met her, she was excelling in the choir group living up to that promise. Natalie was always easy to tal...

Erick Kelly steps off the sprung floor to sit down with me for this week’s Keoni Chats. Erick is the second youngest sibling out of four boys. I did Boy Scouts with the elder two Kelly brothers with Erick joining as my time was ending. Erick is the co-owner of PDX Tricking. Tricking is a combination of flips and twists. We talked about his shift towards the activity and having to balance four jobs...

Fellow Pinay Michaela Canete joins me for this week’s Keoni Chats. I met Michaela through her partner and got to know her through a couple group dates. Michaela and I covered many topics but her experiences as a Rose Festival Queen in 2017, really set a strong foundation for her for the rest of her life. We also spoke about a new goal for herself that has helped her during all the phases of her li...