Many Hats

Briana Welch is a creator at heart, and bold, bright colors have always played a starring role in the process. That creativity had been centered around cosmetology for many years. She fell in love with that art form at the age of 16, and eventually became a licensed cosmetologist and makeup artist. Briana’s journey to what became Holly and Oak Yarn Company began during the pandemic when she explor...

In 2023, the South Bend Common Council passed an ordinance establishing the South Bend Reparatory Justice Commission. The commission was charged with investigating the harms perpetrated against South Bend’s Black community. While these harms are historic, many of the impacts can still be felt. The commission’s goal was to develop findings and make recommendations to address those harms. The SBRJC...

I’ve had a front row seat to this woman displaying her many gifts for the last 35 years – if you include the courtship period. I can tell you that Gail Alane Dukes has many talents. Organizational skills: She’s the head of hospitality at Greater Holy Temple Church of God in Christ, and the librarian at Holy Cross Grade School. She’s a seamstress who can also knit, as anyone who owns one of her sca...

Regardless of where you fall in your fitness journey, it’s time to get up and move. However, many people don’t know where to start. Fortunately, our community is filled with fitness trainers who have the expertise and patience to meet you where you are, and it’s never too late. Whether you’re an athlete looking for that extra edge, someone taking those first tentative steps back into the gym or yo...

Regardless of where you fall in your fitness journey, it’s time to get up and move. However, many people don’t know where to start. Fortunately, our community is filled with fitness trainers who have the expertise and patience to meet you where you are, and it’s never too late. Whether you’re an athlete looking for that extra edge, someone taking those first tentative steps back into the gym or yo...

DRAFT

When I get together with my daughter, Chloe Dukes, the conversation is free flowing. One minute we can be laughing about an old memory or something we saw on the internet and the next we can be having a serious discussion about the great issues of the day. You will hear that on this episode of the Many Hats Podcast because Chloe is my guest. Why? Mainly because she will be at the Civil Rights Heri...

Laquisha Jackson has been cooking for people for most of her life. Jackson was seven years old with her grandmother asked her cook for her siblings. Jackson accepted the responsibility of being the family chef because she has always had a heart for service. Today that heart full service allows Jackson to bring the joy of food to our community through her catering company, Soulful Kitchen. However,...

The love of music is rooted deep in Chris Rizik’s soul. His mother, who lived to be 101-years-old, was an opera singer. She and her husband raised a large family where everybody could carry a tune. Growing up in Flint in the 1960s and 70s meant that Chris heard a lot of Motown, and he loved all of it. One of his strongest musical memories came in 1972 when he saw the Spinners and Temptations in co...

For Jetta McKinstry, the kettle corn that’s become the treat of choice at wedding receptions, birthday parties and for a snack while watching TV at home was divinely inspired. She had not been a big popcorn or kettle corn eater as a young person. However, after praying for inspiration and direction after many years of working as a school bus driver for the South Bend Community School Corporation,...

The Rev. Lawrence Giden comes from a long line of spirit inspired social justice activists. Rev. Henry Giden, Lawrence’s grandfather, was a highly influential pastor in South Bend, and Lawrence developed and cultivated a love of the Christian faith and social justice work through watching and learning from elders like his grandfather. In his book “The Call To Activism: Messages to Inspire the Afri...

Don Wycliff journey from a boy growing up among his industrious and close knit family in the Jim Crow South to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist began in the East Texas town of Dayton. However, it wound through Ashland, Ky, Denver and Terre Haute, In. before reaching South Bend and the University of Notre Dame. Throughout that journey, Wycliff gained encouragement, love and direction from his pare...

Wife, mother, granddaughter, journalist, executive producer of WSBT’s HomeTown Living, event planner at a local university and member of the D-9 sorority Zeta Phi Beta are among the many roles played and hats worn by Wanda Dudley. In the fall of 2005, Dudley added another hat – caregiver. The road that launched Dudley’s entrepreneurial journey started that year when her husband, Chris, was diagnos...

Mia Diggins. The entrepreneurial journey of Mia Diggins, the first lady of Believers Church of God In Christ, began when she wore the hat of caregiver for her terminally ill daughter. First Lady Diggins saw the impact that rounds of radiation and chemotherapy had on her daughter’s skin and hair. After her daughter, Diamond, passed away and in the throes of grief, First Lady Diggins ask God for com...

Trailer introducing the premier of my podcast titled Many Hats. Anyone who knows me knows that I like my hats. I have dozens of them: fedoras, newsboys, buckets, porkpies, ball caps. The lids on my head reflect the many identities that I’ve worn in my life. Journalist, poet, playwright, educator, and entrepreneur. I know that each of the other hats I wear can make my entrepreneurial hat kind of a...