The #beBetter Podcast

Send us Fan Mail We can’t believe we are half way through year 2 of the podcast. The guys take some time during this episode to review the first half of year 2 and reflect on the different topics that our guests have discussed. There are so many great moments and even better guests during year 2 to talk about. The mission of the podcast remains the same, to help people to be better every day, and...

Send us Fan Mail Zach Story is the son of one of our podcast hosts, Mike Story, and he joins the show to talk about a variety of topics. Zach just finished his sophomore season of baseball at UC Davis where he led the team in a few very important batting categories, you are going to have to look him up to find out which categories though. This young man has learned a lot in just 2 seasons includin...

Send us Fan Mail Jim Martineau has been the head women’s basketball coach at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City for 28 years and he has won a lot of games over that time. There is no doubt he is going to be in more than one hall of fame some day both as a coach and as an administrator. He also doubles as the athletic director at CCC as well. It’s not easy being a coach and a parent, but Ji...

Send us Fan Mail Mark Bauer might be the tallest kindergarten physical education teacher in the country but that also means he probably has the biggest heart of any teacher as well. Mark spent his career teaching and coaching, but his favorite athletes has always will be his 2 kids, specifically the most listened to #beBETTER Podcast guest from episode #6, Ashley Bauer. Mark’s teaching philosophy...

Send us Fan Mail The SWOCC Hasbeens are a group of incredible young women who all played basketball together at Southwestern Oregon CC. Kara, Heather, Jillian and Jessica were teammates before they were friends, but their friendship over the years has grown through weddings, kids and careers. Each of them came from different places but quickly learned to buy into the process by being grateful ever...

Send us Fan Mail Paul Rovella was about to become a teacher when a substitute teaching job quickly changed his mind. Substitute teaching tends to do that to people, but we are so glad he changed his path because now he works with farming and ranching families to help them navigate the wonderful world of California law. Get ready to learn some big words like “deleterious” and get some legal advice...

Send us Fan Mail Nikol Baker went to her first job interview with her mom, she wouldn’t recommend that to anyone nowadays, but it could not have worked out any better for her in the long run. We always think about the people who have impacted our lives and Nikol had an incredible mentor in her first teaching job. Her first boss told her she is going to make mistakes, but if anyone wants to get to...

Send us Fan Mail When Meadow McWhorter was 12 years old she had the independence to tell her dad, “No, I don’t want to practice today.” This simple interaction is one of the many reasons that Coach McWhorter is focused on listening to her athletes. She focuses on athletes who are teachable, not coachable, there is a specific difference. The difference is simple because when someone is faced with a...

Send us Fan Mail We typically record in the evenings on the West Coast, which meant that Greg & Kristen Perkins from InclYOUsion Sports ( inclyousionsports.com) were 3 hours ahead in Massachusetts and life happens. Greg was taking care of the kiddos for bedtime but we still had the pleasure of talking with Kristen about their passion to help kids. Greg and Kristen created a quiz for parents to...

Send us Fan Mail Ann Walker has enjoyed exploring all types of things in her life from athletics to acting and mostly traveling. Her life has taken her from a small town in Iowa all over the country coaching basketball and eventually into athletic administration. It is clear that she is very successful at many things, but retiring was not one of them. She came out of retirement for a short time to...

Send us Fan Mail Dom Montiel joined us this past fall to share his point of view on being a collegiate athlete and his decision to transfer from a Div. 1 college to an NAIA college to play football. As he looks forward to his senior season in the fall of 2026, he reflects on how he believes you need to outwork people to be successful, but you must also give yourself some grace. If you are not grac...

Send us Fan Mail LeeAnnDra Marchese was ready to go into the military when a chance encounter opened the door to law enforcement. She is open and honest about how her childhood shaped her into the woman and mother she is today. She shares how she learned to work on her breathing so she could be more mindful on the way to an emergency call but don’t be fooled, if you touch her hair, “it’s on!” Law...

Send us Fan Mail CL Lindsay wanted to be an attorney since he was in the 10th grade and he did it, he made it to the big time and was practicing law in New York with some huge clients. But, as most of us realize, what we wanted at 15 years old is not what we are going to want when we are in our 50’s. A call from his college professor one day changed his professional career and put him on a path to...

Send us Fan Mail Year 1 of The #beBETTER Podcast is in the books and the hosts can’t believe how fast time has flown by. So many great guests, countless amazing stories and this was just the first year. The guys got some questions from some of their faithful listeners and a random guy named Steve from Oregon. All of these great questions gave us some topics to reflect on, remember what to be grate...

Send us Fan Mail ** Friendly Festive Warning**: This episode of The #beBETTER Podcast covers a lot of different topics and we share some great stories with our special guest. If your household is still firmly Team Santa, press play once the kids are asleep. We believe in preserving holiday magic around here. John Egerer is Santa Claus, no one can dispute it and no one would introduce him as John,...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Rod Keller joins our hosts to talk about his personal and professional life where he tells us the secret to being a good teacher, but you have LISTEN to the episode to find out what that secret is. Dr. Keller has retired twice but he is not very good at it, so here is again teaching a freshman seminar course in Idaho. His background is in writing but he is teaching young peopl...

Send us Fan Mail Coach Bagley-Trotter has spent her life coaching softball and she has always worked on finding her direction. Well, she has found her direction and her plan was right because of the perspective she had along the way. That perspective was to find good people and focus on transformational relationships instead of transactional ones. We were fortunate to spend some with Coach recentl...

Send us Fan Mail Aaron Locks has experienced many different failures in his life and he will be the first to tell you that without those failures he wouldn’t be where he is today, which is right where he wants to be. Aaron’s mom was and still is his inspiration, she is the one who would always ask after any of those setbacks, “what is the lesson?” This philosophy has led Aaron to always think abou...

Send us Fan Mail Trina Comerford’s journey from mom to division 1 softball umpire has forced her to make some sacrifices, but she is well aware of the sacrifices her family has had to make as well. She believes that anything worth doing is worth doing well which is why she works so hard to be a great umpire, not just a good one. Her key to being great is simple, communication. Trina is so gracious...

Send us Fan Mail Lt. Col. Seth Barrett was a senior in high school in 1997 on the Santa Rosa High School basketball team where previous guest, Pat Kennedy (Episode #5), coached him and helped shape him into the incredible person he is now. Seth has traveled the world, moving more times than you can possibly imagine, sacrificing his personal life to protect America as well those unable to protect t...

Send us Fan Mail Amy Christensen is the first guest that Jared recruited for the podcast and he could not have picked a better one. Amy was a first generation college student, but she also had some great examples as parents. Amy gives her perspective on family dynamics and the fact that parents don't need to understand their kids to support them. Home is supposed to be a place to recover from...

Send us Fan Mail Justin Clymo graduated from Stevenson School in Pebble Beach California, won a national championship while coaching at UC Davis, but he knew he belonged at the high school level and he’s now back at his alma mater impacting the next generation. Coach Clymo has coached a variety of sports at different schools over his 24 years in education, but if you want to connect with him you b...

Send us Fan Mail Coach Cheryl Holden talks about her journey from a small town in Washington to Vice-President at Columbia Basin College. We discuss the importance of the process and not the outcome as well as what a “normal coach” should look like. If we expect others to act or perform in a certain way, we better provide the appropriate opportunities. If we want more women to coach, then we need...

Send us Fan Mail Courtney Jackson learned to love the game of basketball as a young kid and his passion for the game took him to Sonoma State University, then to the Napa Valley where he coached the boy’s basketball team at the Hanna Academy. Eventually this led to his current position at Principal, but his true impact is in the daily lives of those who need him most. Courtney is exactly what we h...

Send us Fan Mail Rich Shayewitz is and will always be associated with Sonoma State University, but a few short months ago, in the middle of the season as the head men’s basketball coach he was told the college was going to cut all athletics at the end of the season. Listen to how Coach Shayewitz attempted to handle the rest of the season and he is still hard on himself for maybe not doing things p...