Passion Pod

Bill Doucette aka "Billy Deuce" is a comedian, content creator, and musician based in Milwaukee, WI. A lot of people know Bill as the "Boston Guy" in a bunch of the Charlie Berens videos, but he does a whole lot more than that. Bill is a modest dude and hasn't done very many interviews over the years so we were stoked to be able to share his story. In this episode we discuss his relationship with...

Sam Miller is a stand up comedian based in Olympia, Washington known for his large stature and incredible life story. Sam struggled with drug addiction and homelessness for many years until he hit rock bottom in 2008 and chose to make a change. 15+ years of sobriety later and Sam's life looks a whole lot different. He's found a loving wife, fathered 2 children, and built a name for himself in the...

K00bs is a content creator based in Eau Claire, WI who not only creates motorcycle and luxury car content for his own platforms, but also owns a creative agency that creates content and helps with social media strategy for massive companies like John Deere and dozens of others. K00bs is grew up in the Milwaukee, WI area with a car obsession and started shooting photos at the young age of 10 years...

Tom Higgenson is the lead singer and songwriter for the iconic band the Plain White T's. Everyone knows him as the guy who wrote and sang the mega hit song "Hey There Delilah". Tom and the rest of the band put out a self titled album at the end of 2023 and hit the road on their first tour together since before the pandemic. Their show at the Fine Line in Minneapolis, Minnesota was near the end of...

Tom Thakkar is a Los Angeles based stand up comedian that consistently performs all over the United States. Tom has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, CONAN, Comedy Central and more. We sat down with Tom before his recent performance for Clear Water Comedy in Eau Claire, WI and recorded this podcast interview. In this episode we discuss the benefit's of living in Los Angeles, never wa...

Riley Smithson aka Shrimpnose is a Los Angeles based artist and producer mainly known for his instrumental music on both his own albums alongside many other artists on their music. Shrimpnose grew up in a small Minnesota town in a musical family. He got his first drumset at 4 years old and music never left him. After high school he moved to the Minneapolis area and built a name for himself in the...

Mandy Tietz is a Wisconsin based women's rights advocate and influencer. Over the last few years Mandy has grown a following of over 85K on Instagram and 435K on TikTok. After the passing of her father during the pandemic Mandy realized that her calling in life no longer aligned with her day job. She started speaking up about inequality and the ongoing problems within politics, particularly regard...

Sean Patton is a stand up comedian and actor based in Brooklyn, New York. Sean grew up in New Orleans, but didn't find his calling in life until his early twenties. Fast forward 20 years and his accolades are seemingly endless. Just this past year he released his long awaited debut comedy special "Number One" on the streaming service Peacock and spent 6 months touring the country performing with h...

xChris Kroeze is a country music star born and raised in Barron, Wisconsin. After being the runner up on the hit tv show The Voice his career has never been the same. He used to play 250 shows a year at bars and other small venues, now he headlines festivals and fills large theaters like The Pablo Center. Chris was first a guest on the show back in April of 2022, but we figured it would be fun to...

Dina Hashem is a New York based stand up comedian and tv writer for The Daily Show . Her debut comedy special "Dark Little Whispers" premiered in November on Amazon Prime and can be streamed right now. Dina grew up in a strict muslim home and didn't find her way to comedy until she was attending college. After winning the first stand up comedy competition she became addicted and knew that she want...

Jacob Blaeser is a drone pilot, media relations specialist, podcast host, entrepreneur, and much more that chooses to call Brainerd, Minnesota his home. Jacob attended school for broadcasting and quickly found work in his field of choice, sports. His first interview was with Brett Favre! Talk about being thrown to the wolves. Jacob's career blossomed from interviewing professional athletes after g...

🎙️ Welcome to another episode of the Passion Pod! Join your host, Chris Johnson, as he sits down with the one and only comedy sensation, Sam Tallent! 🎭 Chris and Sam dive into the world of comedy, share hilarious anecdotes, and discuss the passion behind the punchlines. From Sam's early days in stand-up to the triumphs and challenges of a comedic career, this episode is a rollercoaster ride of hu...

Wyatt Eiden in a Wisconsin based content creator known for his short form interview style content. Wyatt grew up in Chippewa Falls, WI and still resides in the area today. However, he now spends a lot of his time traveling the world creating content for his own social media platforms as well as for various brands and organizations. He first began to build a name for himself on TikTok (@wyatteiden...

Danni (@lepus_tattoos) is a non binary tattoo artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They recently opened their own tattoo studio along with a few other tattooers called "Cozy Camp Collective" (@cozycampcollective). In this interview we discuss growing up as an artist in a tiny town, overcoming learning disabilities and health issues, earning a master's degree purely for yourself, finding your co...

Adam DeJarlais is the sole owner of Twelve Vultures curiosities shop located in Minneapolis Minnesota. Adam grew up in northern Minnesota collecting rocks and now collects and sells some of the most unique items you're ever likely to see. Twelve Vultures has everything from taxidermy of peacocks, to human teeth, to vintage medical tools, and so much more. It really is the type of place that you ne...

Dessa is a multifaceted language artist who splits her time between Minneapolis and New York City. Dessa grew up with dreams of having her writings published, but found that to be a difficult task at the start. She instead began entering poetry slams in Minneapolis, which in turn introduced her to the twin cities rap scene. Not long after she became an official member of the hip hop collective Doo...

Shelly Mosman is a twin cities based portrait photographer. Her career began over 30 years ago, but she really found her own lane back in 2011. Her series "Animal Child" is stands out as something truly unique in the extremely oversaturated field of photography. Tune in and hear how she developed her own style, how she maintains her creative energy, how she navigates an ever growing industry, and...

Chris Johnson interviews world renown illusionist Reza in the greenroom backstage at The Pablo Center. Reza grew up in the small town of Brookings, South Dakota, but eventually found a home in Branson, Missouri. Reza has toured and performed all over the world in front of massive crowds alongside stars like Steve Aoki and Trace Adkins , but his success didn't come over night. Reza discovered magic...

Danen Reed and Dillon Jordan make up the other 2/3rds of Charlotte Sands onstage and behind the scenes. Danen drums onstage, but also writes and produces most of the music for Charlotte Sands. Dillon is the guitarist, but also creates a lot of their visual content from photos to their cover art and more. As the day was winding down I spotted them eating some tacos in the lounge backstage and asked...

Chris Johnson interviews Charlotte Sands backstage at Reverb Music Festival 2023 in Eau Claire, WI. In this interview, Charlotte talks about meeting her heroes, writing honest music, performing at festivals, new music coming out, and much more.

Chris Johnson interviews guitarist for of the Plain White T's Randy Winter backstage at Reverb Music Festival 2023 in Eau Claire, WI. In this interview, Randy talks about life personal growth, staying focused, writing honest music, living in the moment, and much more.

Chris Johnson interviews lead singer of the Plain White T's Tom Higgenson backstage at Reverb Music Festival 2023 in Eau Claire, WI. In this interview, Tom talks about all the new music that they have been recording and shares details regarding their new album that is coming soon. He also talks about his newfound love for painting and what keeps the excitement and joy in his music.

Alexander Denning aka Alexander the Great is a Minnesota based male model, influencer, content creator, and entrepreneur. Alexander had a rough time growing up and getting into more than his fair share of trouble. Run ins with the law grew more and more serious before he made a big mistake, and a split second decision changed his life drastically. After spending over a handful of years in prison h...

Milo Rubin is a clothing designer and creative entrepreneur based in New York City. Milo started his clothing brand Takin Over when he was only 14 years old. With his high school career coming to an end a new chapter is about to begin. His journey will be one you want to follow along with. He's accomplished incredible things already, but he's really just getting started. In this episode we discuss...

Walker Ryan is a New York City based professional skateboarder and author. Walker grew up in northern California skating from a young age. By the time he was in high school he was traveling from his small home town to San Francisco to skate the big city. Unlike most professional skateboarders he enrolled in college after graduating high school and that was when he career finally took off. His skat...