The SPU Voices Podcast

Lori Brown '20 is the Director of the Center for Career and Calling at Seattle Pacific University. She likes to say that she is a matchmaker at heart and loves connecting people and organizations to create win-win situations. And today, she’s going to help us envision how to create some of those situations for ourselves.

In her new book Discovering Dyscalculia, Laura Jackson ('02 grad in Christian Ministries) writes about her child’s struggle with numbers, their shared discovery of dyscalculia, and her family’s journey supporting their daughter in school and in life. Though Dyscalculia impacts about 1 in every 20 children and adults, it is not widely recognized or understood. This math learning disability not...

Speaker and author Dr. Bob Petterson has carried on the time-honored tradition of storytelling, weaving unique, life-changing, and inspirational stories into all of his personal interactions with his readers. He has been senior pastor at some of America's most well-known churches, counselor to community and industry leaders, has served on the boards of major nonprofit organizations, and was a...

Speaker and author Dr. Bob Petterson has carried on the time-honored tradition of storytelling, weaving unique, life-changing, and inspirational stories into all of his personal interactions with his readers. He has been senior pastor at some of America's most well-known churches, counselor to community and industry leaders, has served on the boards of major nonprofit organizations, and was a...

Amanda Heath Stubbert '95 and Corbett Stubbert '97 present a special Christmas episode, the personal story of Jesus Christ. There are many different readings at Christmas, if you go to Christmas services, including Christmas carols and concerts. One of the most loved traditional Christmas festivals is the Nine Lessons and Carols , which are broadcast every Christmas Eve from King's...

When Karen Springs '04 graduated from college at SPU in 2004 with a degree in theater and communications, she had no idea her future would include living in Ukraine and working with a Christian broadcasting network to promote adoption. Her new book, Adoption Through the Rearview Mirror , comes out of her latest adventure crisscrossing the US and interviewing over 60 families who had adopted c...

Former SPU soccer player and assistant coach Bobby McLaughlin '89 shares his journey toward becoming a kidney donor. It started when he had a bicycle accident in 2016 and, through a life-giving surgery,  he is showing the world how active and healthy live organ donors can be.

Philip “Sharp Skills” Jacobs ’07 is a modern-day renaissance man, as an entrepreneur, award-winning hip-hop artist, speaker, author, consultant, and inventor. He was the first executive director of Washington Employers of Racial Equity or WERE, a coalition of 80 plus companies in Washington state, committed to making the region equitable for Black Washingtonians and all people of color. He's...

Pam Nolte '76, co-founder, actor, and teaching artist at Taproot Theater Company, has been teaching improv classes to Alzheimer's patients since 2010. Not only has this work been rewarding for Pam, but her students have also been experiencing incredible results.

Scott Nolte '76, co-founder and producing artistic director at Taproot Theatre Company for 44 years, recently retired. And in 2018, in preparation for that retirement, Scott took the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, the Way of St. James, walking nearly 500 miles in just 32 days.

We sat down with Ineliz Soto-Fuller, the director of Undergraduate Admissions at Seattle Pacific University. She was a first generation college student and is passionate about access to higher education. She didn't set out to work in admissions, but has now spent over 13 years helping students find their way. This episode originally aired  Oct. 17, 2019.

Jamie Crespo '12, an applied human biology major, was already a healthcare worker when she suddenly found herself caring for not one, but both of her parents. Her newfound passion for running provided her escape and a new community of support when she needed it the most. She is now using that passion to raise money and awareness for the prevention of colon cancer.

If you are a fan of the podcast, you know we love to end interviews with our famous last question: "If you could have everyone in Seattle wake up tomorrow and do one thing differently that would make the world a better place, what would you have us do?" Here are ten of our favorite answers to that question. You’ll hear from nursing professors, a Nobel Prize nominee, our athletic director...

As a therapist (she received her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from SPU in 2000) and a writer, Cami excels at helping people figure out what it is they really have to say. She is the author of the quest memoir Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents . This episode originally aired on March 25, 2019.

Terresa Davis '07 is an accountant, a lawyer, a dedicated mother of four, a Kung Fu student, and an orange belt in Kenpo karate. She and her husband are the masterminds behind incredible Seattle restaurants including Blueacre Seafood, Steelhead Diner, Orfeo, Zane and Wylie’s, and Tempesta Coffee and Doughnuts. Born and raised in Australia, Davis recalls her journey to the United States and ho...

Kimberly Segall, PhD, directs the social justice and cultural studies major at Seattle Pacific University. In this episode, she talks about her podcast on the comic book series Ms. Marvel .

Chantel Vinson is a senior wellness instructor at Culver Academies where she has coached volleyball and basketball. Prior to that she taught health and physical education at Plymouth High School and coached junior high basketball. She has won awards for her selflessness and is beloved by so many students and parents because she has chosen to pay forward the gift she was given growing up. Listen to...

JoAnn Flett, PhD, is the executive director of SPU's Center for Faithful Business, a leading think tank on the integration of faith and business. She's a frequent speaker, collaborator, and organizational consultant, teasing out the intersection of faith and business that promotes human flourishing.

Jeff Van Duzer's teachings draw on his distinguished career in higher education, law, and financial management. At Seattle Pacific University, he held several positions including provost, dean of the School of Business and Economics, and professor of business ethics and business law. He practiced as a partner with the international law firm Davis Wright Tramaine for more than 20 years and is...

Lauren Pattie ’09 serves Seattle Pacific University as a content manager for Pivot NW, a team that works with Seattle area faith communities to better understand the experiences of young adults by working with them to design, launch, and evaluate new ministries. In this episode, we sat down with Laurie to discuss why young people aren't going to church and what to do about it. Stream online n...

Andy Ekblad '84 is the founder and director of Beautiful Gate Ministries and provides training to pastors and leaders in developing nations, principally in Africa. He received much of his training in The School of Life, raising a profoundly disabled daughter until her death in 2013 and serving as a pastor for 30 years. Andy holds a master's of divinity and a master's of theology, an...

Emma Burke graduated from SPU in 2021 with a degree in psychology, but she saw her education as more than a degree. She saw a ticket to the rest of her life. After working in a national park and volunteering with an interpretive park ranger, she hopes to spend the first chapter of her career playing outside.

After graduating from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in individual and family development, Carina Durkin Taylor ’12 experienced a series of tragedies, leaving her in a new city with a new trajectory, but filled with hope for the future. When she and her husband were expecting their first child, they discovered that they both carried the gene for sickle cell anemia, and starting their fam...

Doctors of nursing Bomin Shim and Julie Pusztai are working together on a qualitative study exploring the spiritual life of those suffering from dementia. Prior to Seattle Pacific University, Dr. Shim worked with those caring for loved ones with dementia and Dr. Pusztai did her doctoral work on the process of aging.

 Tim Hanstad ’85 is the chief executive officer of the Chandler Foundation. Prior to his work there, Tim co-founded and was the longtime CEO of Landesa, the world's leading land rights organization. Tim led its growth from a two-person team to a leading global NGO with more than 20 offices around the world and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. He has been personally recognized by the Scholl Soc...