Lawrence Business Magazine 2017 Q4

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2017 Q4

Publisher: Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC Editor-in-Chief: Ann Frame Hertzog Chief Photographer: Steven Hertzog Featured Writers: Dr. Mike Anderson Julie Dunlap Bob Luder Emily Mulligan Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D. Tara Trenary Liz Weslander On the Cover - Left to Right:

Copy Editor: Tara Trenary

Chris Bay, Erika Dvorske, Dawn Buehler, Pep Selvan Special Thanks to the Lawrence Country Club and their staff for their assistance and for the location.

Contributing Writers: Sarah Bishop Erika Dvorske Marvin Hunt Tim Robisch Caroline Trowbridge

Contributing Photographers: Patrick Connor

INQUIRIES & ADVERTISING INFORMATION CONTACT:

info@LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com www.LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com

Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC 3514 Clinton Parkway, Suite A-113 Lawrence, KS 66047 Lawrence Business Magazine, is published quarterly by Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC and is distributed by direct mail to over 4000 businesses in the Lawrence & Douglas County Community. It is also distributed at key retail locations throughout the area and mailed to individual subscribers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s permission. Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Statements and opinions printed in the Lawrence Business Magazine are the those of the author or advertiser and are not necessarily the opinion of Lawrence Business Magazine.

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2017 Q4

Contents Features: 9

Lawrence in Perspective:

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A Novel Idea

by Liz Weslander

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To Education and Back Again

by Bob Luder

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Life Balance

Anne Diggs - A Powerful Voice

by Patricia Michaelis, Ph.D.

by Emily Mulligan

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Becoming an Artist

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Wine, Restaurants and a Kitchen Store

by Julie Dunlap

by Dr. Mike Anderson

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It’s All in the Family

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Making a Life on the Farm

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Healing Artists

by Sarah Bishop

by Tara Trenary

by Emily Mulligan

Departments: 15

City of Lawrence

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Lawrence Memorial Hospital

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Professional Spotlight

Erika Dvorske, Summers, Spencer & Company

28 Non-Profit: Penn House 52 Media: Career Incubator 72

Local Scene

77 Newsmakers Mission:

Lawrence Business Magazine: Telling the stories of people and businesses making a postive impact on Lawrence & Douglas County. /lawrencebusinessmagazine

@LawrenceBizMag

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com/SUBSCRIPTIONSv

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Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors is a client focused, full service wealth management firm.

We proactively plan and implement customized financial strategies designed to help our clients achieve financial objectives with confidence and personal service.

Zak BOLICK

Madison METSKER

Don DUNCAN

Patti HADL

www.edmondsduncan.com 8

Jason EDMONDS

LAWRENCE & DOUGLAS CO [IN PERSPECTIVE]

Anne Diggs: A Powerful Voice for Reform

by Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D., Historical Research & Archival Consulting Photos from the Kansas State Historical Society, kansasmemory.org

Annie Diggs lived in Lawrence most of her adult life, but she was known throughout the United States as one of the leading speakers for the Alliance and Populist movements. Today, in this era of social media, including Instagram and Twitter, it is difficult to comprehend the importance of the spoken and written word to listeners and readers. Kansans and others were dependent on newspapers and periodicals for news and political opinions, while public speaking added emotion to the ideas expressed in print. This article will focus on the writings of Diggs, one of the most prominent advocates for the “underdogs” of society at the turn of the 19th century.

Annie Le Porte was born in London, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 22, 1853. Her parents were originally from New Jersey, and the family moved back when she was 2. In 1872, at the age of 19, she moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where she worked in a music store. She married A. D. Diggs in March of the next year. He worked for the post office. The couple had three children. Diggs was a mother and housewife before she decided to raise her voice in support of various reform movements.

She began her public-speaking career on behalf of the temperance movement in 1877, reportedly because of the excessive consumption of alcohol by some University of Kansas male students. She continued to develop her oratory skills while serving a year in the pulpit of the Lawrence Unitarian Church. By the 1880s, Diggs became interested in the Farmers’ Alliance movement, an umbrella term for several grassroots farmers’ organizations active between 1877 and 1892, most prominently in the South and the Plains states. These groups sought to ameliorate debt, 9

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poverty and low crop prices by educating and mobilizing rural men and women. They engaged in cooperative economic organizing and asserted their power in electoral politics. This movement evolved into the Populist movement, a third-party movement which sprang up in the 1890s and drew support from disgruntled farmers. Diggs also wrote articles on the populist cause for several newspapers, including the Topeka Commonwealth and the Lawrence Journal, as well as other publications.

Diggs was known as an eloquent speaker and writer. She was described as diminutive and weighing less than 100 pounds, but she made her voice heard in the political movements that originated in the Midwest. She had an impressive vocabulary as her writing shows. Several examples from an article about Carrie Nation published in The New Republic magazine (North Topeka, Kansas) in 1901 illustrate this.

It is not too much to say that Mrs. Carrie Nation is the most conspicuous person in the United States today. The reason for this is two fold; first, the evil stacked is of great magnitude, and next, the method of her attack in unprecedented and spectacular.

Added to these is the personality of Mrs. Nation, which is full of surprises and an unclassified as the method she employs.

Were Mrs. Nation just the ordinary crank, zealously pursuing one purpose for cherishing but one idea, the popular interest, in her would quickly wane, but instead each day and hour reveals some unique, picturesque and strong phase of character. Mrs. Nation is utterly uninfluenced by any vulgar desire for notoriety. She does not pose, she is as simple-mannered, unconventional and spontaneous in utterance as a child. … To the outer seeming Mrs. Nation is just a wholesome roly-poly gray-haired grandmother, whose chiefest mission in life would seem to be to vigorously trot her grandbabies, administer catnip tea, recite mother goose rhymes in her soft, southern accent, and chant lullabies with surprisingly sweet musical voice. This is one view of the woman, then presto change she discloses a totally diverse view; she in puritanical unsparing in judgment, . . .[Mrs. Nation] terrorizes jointists, confounds and intimidates officers of the law, creates panic throughout the state and commands the attention of the nation.

It is easy to imagine the power these words might have if spoken aloud. However, the fight for temperance was not her greatest reform passion.

Annie Diggs became one of the best-known speakers in support of the Alliance and Populist movements. An article in The Arena magazine, published in July 1892 in Boston, described the plight of rural women, one of the groups whose cause she espoused.

Farm life for women is a treadmill. The eternal climb must be kept up though the altitude never heightens.

For more than a quarter of a century these churning, washing, ironing, baking, darning, sewing, cooking, scrubbing, drudging women whose toilsome, dreary lives were unrelieved by the slight incident or by-play of town life, felt that their treadmills slipped cogs.

Climb as they would, they slipped down two steps while they climb one. They were not keeping pace with the women of the towns and cities. The industry [farming], which once led in the march toward independence and prosperity, was steadily falling behind as to remuneration.

She then described how farm women became involved in the Grange and Alliance movements to advocate to improve the prosperity of the lives of farm families. This led to their participation in the political process. In The Arena article, Diggs described the activities of women in various Midwest states but the effort in Kansas as follows: Kansas, however, furnished by far the largest quota of active, aggressive women, inasmuch as Kansas was the theatre where the initial act of the great labor drama was played. This drama, which, please God, must not grow into tragedy, is fully set on the world stage, and the curtain will never ring down nor the lights be turned off, until there be ushered in the eternal era of justice to the men and women who toil.

The great political victory of the people of Kansas would not have been won without the help of the women of the Alliance. Women who never dreamed of becoming public speakers, grew eloquent in their zeal and fervor. Farmers’ wives and daughters rose earlier and worked later to gain time to cook the picnic dinners, to paint the mottoes on the banners, to practice with the glee clubs, to march in processions. … Narrow ignoramuses long ago stumbled upon the truth, “The home is woman’s sphere.” Ignoramus said, “Woman should cook and gossip, and rock cradle and darn socks”—merely these and nothing more.

Whereas the whole truth is, women should watch and work in all things which shape and mold the home, whether “money,” “land” or “transportation.” So now Alliance women look at politics and trace the swift relation to the home—their special sphere Diggs believed efforts to preserve the homes of the nation were more important than the prohibition and suffrage causes.

Before this question of the salvation of the imperiled home of the nation, all other questions, whether of “prohibition” or “suffrage,” pale into relative inconsequence. For where shall temperance or high thought of franchise be taught the children, by whose breath the world is saved, if 11

sacred hearth fires shall go out? The overtopping, all-embracing moral question of the age is this for which the Alliance came. Upon such great ethical foundation is the labor movement of today building itself. How could women do otherwise than be in and of it?

Because of her prominence in the Alliance and Populist movements, Diggs was recognized as a national leader. She was elected secretary of the National Citizen Industrial Alliance in 1892. This led to her serving terms as president of the Women’s Alliance, in Washington, D.C., The Kansas Woman’s Free Silver League, the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association and the Kansas Woman’s Press Club.

In 1898, Diggs was appointed Kansas State Librarian and served in that position until 1902. As state librarian, she continued to be concerned about the lives of rural women. She supported the traveling library program that had been stated by the Kansas Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1897. At least 50 book titles requested by the local community, whenever possible, were shipped to the location as part of the “traveling libraries” program. Eventually, 109 such “libraries” were assembled. The Kansas State Board of Agriculture published a speech she made at their 30thannual meeting, where she described the importance of books to rural youth. “I have been told that one of the greatest objections which young people have to remaining upon the farm is its monotony and the lack of social pleasures and good books. The traveling library fills this last need, and I should think would, in a large degree, cover the lack of social life.”

Diggs spent time in Europe from 1902 through 1904.

While there, she was a delegate to the International Co-Operative Congress in England in 1903 and to the Peace Convention in France in 1904. She moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she died on Sept. 7, 1916.

Even though her name is not well-known today, Annie Diggs was a nationally recognized voice for reform in the 1880s, 1890s and early 1900s. As described, she was a proponent of change for the issues of low farm prices, high transportation cost, temperance and prohibition that she believed impacted farm women.

With no formal higher education, her eloquence in her speaking and writing reflected her intelligence and passion. With her dedication to the causes of Alliance and Populist movements, she succeeded in making her voice heard in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.p

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TRADING THE FAMILIAR FOR THE UNFAMILIAR WITH CAREER DEVELOPMENT

by Marvin Hunt, photos by Steven Hertzog

Here at Peaslee Tech, we see hundreds of people walk through the door, and most of them are concerned about similar issues—how to get the right training so they can succeed in life, how much does it cost, and how long does it take? Many of them have a mountain to climb or a sea to cross before finding their new success. In short, they are considering trading what they know, the familiar, for the unfamiliar. Let’s look at what it means to change careers in 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas. I’ll start with two short stories.

A future student, I’ll call him Rivera, called me once to ask about studying Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) at Peaslee Tech. He had developed his skills to the point that he ran his own renovation business, but he wanted more credentials so he could broaden the scope of his work, make more money and provide better service to his customers. Rivera had already earned various technical certificates, so accomplishing the HVAC cert seemed feasible. He was ready to enhance his career, again.

Another student I’ll call Cheryl had worked several jobs but was ready for a change. A family member worked for several years as a technician in the manufacturing industry and

served as an example for her. Cheryl decided to start a career by studying industrial maintenance, a field dominated by men. We found a way to support her through the Growing Real Opportunities for Women (GROW), a program financed by AT&T that provides mentors, stipends and other support for women in technical studies.

These two examples are typical to the world of technical training. Although each student and each story are unique, there are common ideas. After involvement in workforce development, training and education during the past few decades, I have found that most of the stories provided to me by those seeking technical training lead to one of the following four career-related areas.

Career Starters: These are people who may be working

part-time or are simply looking for a job, but are toying with the idea of a career. They are often unsure of the type of training they want but, instead, are exploring options. They often want better pay and better hours. Typically, they want to “spread their wings” and launch into adulthood in their own unique way. They are motivated to benefit themselves, although the watchful eye of a parent often casts influence.

Some Starters have embarked on a four-year university program only to drop after an unsuccessful first year.

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Career Enhancers:

These are people who may feel unfulfilled in their current job.

They often want higher pay and to move beyond their current coworkers. They are already employed, so they are not typically desperate. They often want to prove to their families that they can advance and improve their home situation. Those Enhancers coming from industry are likely to be the next supervisors and leaders. Peaslee offers apprenticeships for industries that have targeted potential Enhancers who will lead.

Career Switchers: These are individual

who have established, to some extent, a career. They have learned about an industry and believe they can move further, faster, by gaining new skills and moving to another specialized industry and career track. Like Enhancers, Switchers are often more mature and, thus, are thinking about saving for retirement or paying for their children to attend college or training in a few years.

And, by the way, the average student age in technical training is in the early 30s. We train people ranging from 16 to 50 at Peaslee Tech (although we once had a 17-yearold in the same classroom as a 71-year-old).

High School Students: These individu-

als get their own category. Most of us could not begin to envision how we would develop our career when in high school. High school students are often passionate about a content area such as automotive technology or photography, but their dream of a career can become derailed after learning more about the reality of the activities required in a career. For example, students envisioning themselves in the medical profession can decide otherwise once they take a Certified Nursing Assistant course and realize jobs related to their passion may require cleaning bedpans, helping people who may be grouchy and other tasks they had not previously considered. However, the high school category is critical to the future of technical

Top to Bottom Students work together in an industrial wiring class.

A house being built at Peaslee that will be placed at a Kansas State Lake as a cabin.

Students work on repairing an engine exhaust manifold.

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“

Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance, you must keep moving. ~Albert Einstein

” Peaslee Tech lobby

training. In fact, our field must expose more elementary students to technical careers so that, by the time they are in high school, they have had multiple exposures to tech studies and are ready to enroll in and try technical programming as a potential fit for their first serious career exploration.

In relationship to technical training, Lawrence and Douglas County have the highest population in the areas of High School Students and Career Starters. However, opportunities abound, and our county is certainly large enough to support training in each of the categories. Every day, employers call or email us adamantly inquiring about how they can gain access to our students who have attained certificates.

According to Economic Modeling Specialists International, in 2012, 53 percent of skilled trade workers in the U.S. were 45 years and older, and 18.6 percent were between the ages of 55 and 64. These facts were based on the Virginia Manufacturers Association’s definition of skilled trades and as noted in a 2013 Forbes article by J. Wright, titled “America’s Skilled Trades Dilemma: Shortages Loom as Most-InDemand Group of Workers Ages.” In 2017, these workers, if still in the workforce, range from 50 to almost 70 years 18

of age. We are facing a looming crisis in skilled trades because of retirements and increased demand for these skills, especially given the automation interface now prevalent in all skilled trade areas.

Putting it simply, we need newly trained skilled workers at a local level. It is easy to call someone at a call center in India or Mexico if your satellite dish receiver does not work correctly, but if your plumbing or car blows up, you had better find someone local who can help.

Regardless of where you find the data, starting pay for skilled trade jobs, such as manufacturing maintenance techs, construction workers, HVAC techs, computer network specialists and other areas in which Peaslee Tech trains, ranges from $35,000 to much higher. The opportunities are there if the Career Starters, Career Enhancers and Career Switchers can make the leap into new realities that await them.

Trading the familiar for the unfamiliar may take the student down an uncomfortable path in the short run, but in the long run, the rewards will be there. 

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OrthoKansas & LMH

Developing a Regional Orthopedic Center of Excellence

By Caroline Trowbridge, Marketing Communications Manager, Lawrence Memorial Hospital

A vision to develop a regional orthopedic center of excellence recently advanced as OrthoKansas and Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) agreed to a formal affiliation.

Dr. Douglass Stull, OrthoKansas board-certified orthopedic surgeon, says, “We are very excited about the ability to expand our services further into the eastern-Kansas region and beyond, and, at the same time, continue and expand care for the citizens of Douglas County and Lawrence.

To me, this partnership lays the foundation to accomplish those goals.”

Last spring, the two organizations announced they were exploring a broad affiliation with a vision to create a regional orthopedic center of excellence. Since then, the two partners have identified significant opportunities, and a formal relationship is expected to be in place by Jan. 1. In addition, LMH is focusing on identifying a site in western Lawrence to accommodate the orthopedic center.

LMH president and chief executive officer Russ Johnson explains, “The more our two organizations talked about the future, the more we realized that we shared a common vision for the future and a collaborative spirit for working together. The alliance with OrthoKansas will create an opportunity to build a very strong regional presence with a partner who can provide the highest level of orthopedic and sports medicine expertise.”

“We know patients always have a choice, and we’re excited that we’re positioned to provide top-of-the-line, state-of-theart bone and joint care in a new center where we can create the patient experience for the new century from the ground up,” says Dr. Stull. “One of our goals is to continue to cover all types of athletes—from those of us who are weekend warriors to elementary- and secondary-school athletes to elite athletes.”

He says the vision for a new center is a result of discussions the two groups began about the future. They realized they shared a vision for a model of excellent orthopedic care that could incorporate technological advances and serve the patient of today as well as the patient of 2037.

Since the completion earlier this year of the hospital’s new strategic plan, Destination Health, the LMH board of trustees has been discussing acquisition of land in west Lawrence and creation of a facility plan focused on consumer-friendly, innovative services to address LMH’s growing outpatient programs. Other services to be located in a new location have yet to be determined.

Cindy Yulich, chairperson of the LMH board of trustees, says the partnership with OrthoKansas is the embodiment of the hospital’s purpose to be “A Partner for Lifelong Health.”

“Our collaboration with OrthoKansas reflects this commitment to creating partnerships,” she says. “It will be good for 21

Adam Goodyear

Neal Lintecum

Stephan Prô

Luis Salazar

Doug Stull

Richard Wendt

the community—for patients in our community and beyond—because it will enable us to deliver accessible, convenient care.

That’s good for everyone.”

“Whether through arrangements like this with OrthoKansas or by other forms of collaboration, we are interested in working with local physicians and health-care organizations to continue the excellent care they provide and to enhance that where it makes sense,” Johnson explains.

The new center also will mean that OrthoKansas will expand its practice by adding physicians and other health-care professionals.

Dr. Neal Lintecum, of OrthoKansas, says, “We are already recruiting several physicians with fellowship training in orthopedic specialties. This is a direct result of new capabilities made possible by this collaboration.”

OrthoKansas, with services in Lawrence, Leavenworth and Holton, has been a leader in orthopedic care in this region since 1971. Staffed with more than 60 employees, including 20 providers—board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic physicians and surgeons, board-certified physician assistants and board-certified physical and occupational therapists—the practice offers clinical, imaging, therapy and wellness services. Physicians who currently practice at OrthoKansas are Neal Lintecum, Richard Wendt, Doug Stull, Stephan Prô, Luis Salazar and Adam Goodyear.p 22

PROFESSIONAL [ SPOTLIGHT ]

ERIKA DVORSKE

DIRECTOR OF STR ATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS & DEVELOPMENT

SUMMERS, SPENCER & COMPANY, P.A. and SS&C SOLUTIONS What is your organization’s most important commodity or service?

High-quality, easy-to-understand financial and accounting services that allow people to focus on what they do best, whether it is personal, a business or a community good. Beyond the numbers, we are about people and helping people understand those numbers.

What is your organization’s most important priority?

Provide quality service in a timely fashion that leverages the best technology to deliver the most cost-effective solutions that are sustainable and allow leaders to access the information they need to make strategic decisions about their businesses or lives.

What have been some of the most important aspects of your success?

Founded in 1984, Summers, Spencer and Company has grown consistently over the years but continued to focus our energy on serving the clients. Now, with offices in Lawrence, Shawnee, Topeka, Meriden and, just added, Salina, we deliver high-quality accounting, tax and assurance services for individuals and businesses with a growing niche in the nonprofit sector.

In particular, we have additional services available to nonprofit organizations in an effort to assure they are connected to the knowledge they need. These additional services include: board development, executive support and planning, succession planning for board and staff, policy and procedure development, as well as financial benchmarking and dashboard development.

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How many people does SSC employ? Serve, interact with on a daily basis?

We have 26 people working in our Lawrence office. We provide financial services to thousands of people, but each one is facing unique opportunities.

How do you and your organization make a positive impact on the Lawrence community?

In addition to our business and individual client base, SS&C serves a large number of the nonprofits that are working to strengthen the community. We pride ourselves in working with these clients to make sure the infrastructure within their organizations are as strong as can be. For any organization to be effective, they need to be good at their primary business, but they also need to have a high-achieving infrastructure, so, as the business climate changes, they are able to adapt. Financials might not feel like a sexy thing to address to be able to manage that change, but at SS&C, we strive to improve the financial information that our clients are getting so they can effectively manage, plan, build and grow.

What do you see as your personal responsibility and your organization’s responsibility to the community?

We strive to have great relationships with our clients, vendors, employees and neighbors. Our organization’s vision includes creating value for our clients through leadership, relationships and creativity.

What would you change about doing business (or working with businesses) in Lawrence?

There are lots of smart people in Lawrence, but sometimes, we think we are a little too unique. In a world that is constantly evolving and changing, we need to leverage the national and global knowledge, and not think we need to come up with a Lawrence unique answer.

Why did you become involved (what inspired you— is there a specific thing, person or incident?)

One day, over 20 years ago, I was riding the bus home from my job in Sacramento, California, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I looked up at one of the stops, and a visually impaired woman carrying groceries and accompanied by two elementary-aged children greets the bus driver by name and with a smile. She shared her joy with those around her, and I knew I needed to be more of that to others. Everyone carries challenges with them; some are visible, and some are not. We can add to the challenges that our neighbors are trying to address, or we can be kind and lighten the load.

Being kind and meeting people where they are is a way, no matter what sector you are in, to foster a better community.

What is the biggest challenge you feel your organization faces?

Just like other professions, increased automation and incorporation of artificial intelligence will change the type of work that firms like SS&C do. Our time spent listening to our clients, understanding their needs and then finding solutions that address those needs is our best investment. At the same time, staying current on the developments around technology and accounting requires a concerted effort of time and energy.

What do you foresee as being the biggest challenge for the future of SS&C? And how are you addressing or preparing for it?

I would say the challenge for SS&C and so many other businesses, and our community as a whole, are one and the same. People are surrounded by technical tools they are not equipped to effectively use. Artificial intelligence and computers in our pockets make managing our lives and our finances easier and so much harder. SS&C is working to offer our clients the highest quality accounting and tax services, and at the same time, develop systems to offer costeffective and technology-dependent ways to manage larger financial systems.

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At the same time, our broader challenges include addressing the financial stability of people and businesses in the communities where we work. In particular, I am focused on how we do that within the nonprofit sector.

After 16 years of working in the nonprofit sector, and particularly within United Way, I decided that I wanted to use my experience in different ways. United Way provides such a great avenue for people to invest in the collective efforts within the community. But, United Way and the entire charitable sector is challenged because the focus and competition for dollars keeps people from being poised to innovate, experiment and have breakthrough opportunities to transform the community. The business community invests intentionally in the next new idea and the technology and people to develop that next new idea, because they believe it will work and it will generate enough revenue to justify the cost of developing the idea. That is seen as a luxury in the nonprofit sector, and it should not be a luxury. The silos that have been created between the charitable and business sectors are putting both sectors at a disadvantage.

What do I know about this? Businesses are sick of feeling hit up for money to support programs that have no other source of revenue other than charitable contributions. Longtime Lawrence businesses that are struggling themselves to keep people employed are asked to financially support hundreds of programs on an ongoing basis. And they are asking how they can keep doing this year after year. At the same time, charities are exhausted by time-consuming (and not always effective) fund-raising efforts that also restrict their ability to make sure their programs are accomplishing what they are striving to accomplish.

Both businesses and charities want people to be able to work and enjoy family and friends, because they are healthy, drug-free and have access to child care, housing and food.

How much energy are we spending exchanging money and failing to invest our best and sufficient resources (human capital) in addressing the core problems?

If every business was able to make more money because its inventory, personnel and financial-management systems didn’t consume hours of time and energy, then they might hire more people or retain people with higher wages. If every charity was able to focus on its clients and mission because of a streamlined revenue structure, then it could better understand and articulate its clients’ success. And, most of all, if we (profit and nonprofit alike) were successful at working together, sharing knowledge and technical capacity to address these community needs, instead of believing we are in a foot race with everyone else, we could leverage our best selves to change the trajectory of our neighbors who are struggling. p

NON- [ PROFIT ]

Penn House: Helping Those in Crisis

Penn House offers clothing, household items and other services to stabilize individuals and families in crisis. It is also the product of one of the greatest collaborations in Lawrence history. It was established in 1969, and in 1980, the city and a labor force made up primarily of volunteers built the current Penn House in just one weekend using mostly donated materials. Such an effort, coupled with the determination to make something special, not only created the iconic building that still serves more than 50 people each day but also an enduring tradition.

Penn House exists entirely through donations and grants, and charges nothing for the services it offers. The wealth of goods offered to individuals and families in crisis each day are also free. Penn House considers itself unique in Lawrence because of the quality and variety of clothing, shoes, kitchen and household items made available to anyone in need.

The wide variety of programs and services available to those in crisis help to serve its mission of stabilizing families. Penn House recognizes that many Lawrence and Douglas County residents are one problem away from devastation. And, it is with this mission in mind that Penn House strives to help those who are struggling to see them through a crisis and offer a reason to hope for those who have none.

Penn House is located at 1035 Pennsylvania Street.

For more information, call 785-842-0440 or visit www.BallardServices.org/penn-house p 28

PENN HOUSE SERVICES OFFERED INCLUDE: Professional Closet A closet of professional attire for job seekers or those looking for work-appropriate clothing

Clothing Pantry Clothing, undergarments, socks, shoes, coats and jackets year-round for men, women and children

Kitchenware Pots, pans, plates, dishes, silverware, glasses and an occasional microwave or toaster oven to help families restock their homes

Quality of Life Books, games, children’s toys, pictures, and other items that help make one’s house a home

Senior Commodities Boxes of nutritious food available each month to seniors who meet income guidelines

Mobile Food Pantry A truckload of fresh food distributed 10 times each year to anyone in need

Emergency Funds Emergency rent and utility assistance available on a limited basis to those who meet eligibility requirements

“

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. ~Muhammad Ali

”

Author Lucia Orth walks the trails with her dog Loki and her husband John Head.

A NOVEL IDEA

These two Lawrencians chose careers that both depend on the written word.

by Liz Weslander, photos by Steven Hertzog

One started as a lawyer and ended up as a writer. The other started as a writer and ended up as a lawyer. Local residents Lucia Orth and David Brown are examples of two individuals who have made dramatic mid-career changes between two different professions that both rely on the written word.

Lucia Orth (Novelist and Former Attorney) Talking about writing a novel is easy. Actually writing a novel is hard. Local author Lucia Orth gets this. Orth has one successful novel under her belt and a couple of others in the works, but a lot happened before that, including a career as a lawyer and a stint working for a nonprofit overseas.

“Lawyers are sort of famous for saying, ‘Oh, I have a novel in me,’ ” Orth says. “Some of my law school friends would say this too me when I first published, and I would say to myself, ‘Yeah, you don’t know hard it is to get that novel out!’ ” 30

Orth, a Hannibal, Missouri, native, grew up surrounded by books in her father and grandfather’s bookstore She studied English literature and creative writing in the early ’70s during her undergraduate years at the University of Missouri.

However, attending law school was always her ultimate goal, and she never seriously considered writing a novel straight out of college.

“I didn’t want to live on a salary like that,” Orth says. “I was focused on law school and was interested in women’s issues and making a difference. But, I also wanted to wait until I had stories to tell that weren’t just about childhood on the Mississippi.”

Orth attended law school at Notre Dame, concentrating on tax law, and focused much of her studies on political activity by charities. After graduating, Orth clerked at the United States Tax Court and then worked at a law firm in Washington, D.C., arguing international tax cases.

After a few years of practicing law in D.C., Orth and her husband, fellow attorney John Head, decided they wanted to

spend some time living and working overseas. Head found a position in Manila, and in 1983, the couple, along with their first child, packed up and moved to the Philippines, where they lived for five years.

“If I had seen it beforehand, I would not have gone,” Orth says about Manila, which at the time was a third-world city.

“First impressions are really awful in a place like that, but we ended up really loving it there.”

Weeks after their move to Manila, Ninoy Aquino Jr., a longtime political opponent of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, was assassinated at the Manila airport. This incident sparked the nonviolent revolution that ultimately ousted Marcos in 1986.

During her five years in Manila, Orth worked part-time at a nonprofit, traveled and grew her family.

“We went with one child and came home with three, so we were doing a few other things,” Orth quips.

And, although she was still years from becoming a novelist, Orth also found the title for her first book, “Baby Jesus Pawn Shop,” while running errands in Manila.

“We were driving around, going to work, dropping off some kids at preschool, and we turned onto this little back alley in the main part of the city,” Orth explains. “I look over and there was a sign in gold letters that said, ‘Baby Jesus Pawn Shop.’ I just gasped and said, ‘That’s the title for a book.’ ” Not long after moving back to the States, Orth’s family moved to Lawrence so Head could take a position at the University of Kansas School of Law. Meanwhile, Orth qualified for the Kansas bar. Knowing Lawrence law firms were not a good fit for her skill set in international tax law, Orth started looking at bigger firms in Kansas City. But, after a few years out of the business and two moves in two years with a young family, starting up a corporate law firm didn’t feel like the right move.

“It was about that time that I said, ‘I think I’m going to write a novel,’ ” Orth says.

A close friend she met in Manila had just written a successful novel and was encouraging Orth to get back into writing, she says. She also knew Lawrence was close to the University of Iowa’s Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she could take some courses to develop the ideas she had brewing.

“I didn’t just jump in and think I could do it without some training and a peer group,” Orth says. “But the pressure just got stronger, and then you take all the things I saw in Manila that were constantly saying, ‘Here’s a book.’ Moving to Kansas was the right time for me to write a novel.”

Orth set about bringing her already-titled book to life by attending several workshops in Iowa and making a return trip to the Philippines for research. Part of this research involved attending a cockfight.

“I had to see one,” Orth says. “I knew it was something I

Attorney David J. Brown in his office inside the historic Old English Lutheran Church at 1040 New Hampshire

couldn’t quite make up, and that there was some sort of sensory experience there that I needed. My instructors stressed that you should try to get into the body of character in order to ground them, and it’s nice to use some sensory thing to do that.”

The completed version of “Baby Jesus Pawn Shop,” which takes place in the Philippines during the 1980s and has been described as “Dr. Zhivago in Southeast Asia,” came out in 2009. Orth has since completed a second novel, which is set in the Philippines and Lawrence in the late-1898 through 1902, and centers on a young boy who was brought back to the U.S. by an army company after the Philippine-American War. She is also working on a World War II novel set in Italy and has started writing that coming-of-age novella.

“I sort of feel like these books are all planes lined up and waiting to land,” Orth explains.

She says she is pretty sure going back to practicing law is not in her future, but she does enjoy getting involved in the Lawrence community in ways that let her indulge her lawyer skills.

“I helped lead, with the help of David Ambler, the open and affirming process at Plymouth Congregational Church, and although that’s not really law, it felt really good in terms of affecting policy,” Orth says.

Her journey from creative writing major to lawyer to international traveler with a final destination as a novelist has been long and nonlinear, but Orth believes it has worked out just right for her.

“I’m glad I didn’t go right into writing,” she says. “I’m not sure I had blazing talent, and it’s hard to take rejection when you’re young. The solitariness of writing is also much easier at 40 than at 20.”

32

David J. Brown, Attorney at Law (and Former Journalist) Local attorney David Brown’s life plan did not originally include law school. Brown had early aspirations of being a journalist and began his writing career at his high school newspapers. After graduating, he went straight to Ohio State to study journalism.

Working days at Ohio State’s The Lantern, nights at the Ohio State print shop and weekends at the Columbus Post Dispatch writing sports stories gave him plenty of journalism experience but also compromised his studies.

“I was a terrible student because I never went to class,” Brown explains. “I dropped out after a year and a half.”

The next few years were a series of odd jobs—some at newspapers, many not—for Brown. After attending four different universities at five different times, Brown finally graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in journalism. He started his career in earnest at the Corbin Times Tribune, in Corbin, Kentucky, and, after two years, moved to the Albany Times Union, in Albany, New York. There, he covered the general assignment beat then politics, moved to copy editor and, ultimately, advanced to weekend regional editor.

A highlight of Brown’s 10 years at the Times Union was working with editor Harry Rosenfeld, who played a key role in the Washington Post’s Watergate coverage prior to moving the Times Union.

“He was a super editor,” Brown says. “If I only had to work for Harry Rosenfeld, I would probably still be in

“When it was time for me to go out into the market in 1992, no one would hire me,” Brown says. “They didn’t hire me because I was from New York, and I didn’t know anybody in town. I also had a braid down my back and was a wacko liberal. All of these things contributed, so I decided to open my own office.”

Brown gathered his first clients by getting on the criminal appointment list at Douglas County District Court and taking on some Child-in-Need-of-Care cases. He also found a niche in representing members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community.

journalism today; but, there were a whole lot of idiots who were between me and Harry Rosenfeld, and I didn’t get along with most of them. In fact, I told my managing editor more than once in a very loud voice in the middle the of the newsroom to go (expletive) himself.”

But, it wasn’t personality conflicts with editors that led Brown away from journalism and into law. It was physical and mental burnout.

“The bad hours and unhealthy lifestyle had a lot to do with it,” Brown explains. “The hours I worked meant that my social life was pretty much nonexistent, and I was horribly in debt, because journalists don’t make much money. But really, I kind of burned out on what journalism was all about.”

Brown says he originally got into journalism believing that, as a reporter, if he reported the news and uncovered facts, people would make reasonable decisions. He believed his writing might make a difference and hopefully help people.

However, covering local politics in a city riddled with corruption and poor use of public funds dampened this idealism.

Brown wrote many stories highlighting Albany elected official’s mismanagement of fund, but he says the people of Albany continued to re-elect the same politicians year after year.

“What I discovered is that it doesn’t matter what you write, and it doesn’t matter what’s in the paper. People have made up their minds already, and you do not help anyone by being in the press. At least, that is how I felt then,” Brown says.

Ready for something different, Brown applied, and was accepted, to Albany Law School. He graduated with a J.D. (Juris Doctor) in 1989. However, he left law school still unsure whether he wanted to practice law. When his partner landed a job at KU, Brown tagged along with her to Lawrence. He worked for a semester at the KU School of Journalism and then landed a job as a research attorney at the Kansas Court of Appeals. This job gave him a good foundation in Kansas Law and solidified that he did, indeed, want to practice law. After a brief job search, Brown decided to open his own law office in 1992 in Lawrence.

“My whole goal is to help people, and what I realized was that, as a lawyer, I could help that community establish, as much as was possible in the early 90s, protection for their family units,” Brown says. “Working with the LGBTQ community is still a really important aspect of what I do.”

With a well-established family-law practice and long list of local nonprofit board and advisory positions, Brown says practicing law fulfills that desire he has always had to be of service to others. And, he only misses journalism on occasion.

“I miss the adventure and excitement,” he explains. “If something of major import happened, I was always there. I knew every important person, and it was thrilling. I often say that journalism was like a drug for me. There are just incredible highs when you are a journalist, but there are incredible lows—I don’t miss that at all.”p

Chris Bay, an infinite banking coach with Life Success Legacy conducts a “boot camp” seminar for his clients at the Lawrence Country Club

To Education and Back Again

by Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog

Education has always been considered a noble pursuit.

Nelson Mandela called it, “the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

By extension, being an educator can be among the noblest of professions. Noah Musser is an educator after spending a decade at the beginning of his professional life as a journalist. Chris Bay started in education and was a well-known principal in Lawrence for more than a decade before changing gears and going into financial planning.

One moved toward teaching and education, one moved away from it. But, both Lawrence residents insist they always have been educators and always will be. Just because they work or have worked in professions outside the parameters of a school district doesn’t make it untrue.

“The best thing [about changing professions] was learning things about myself, how I’m wired,” Bay says. “And, I learned I love to teach. We [Bay and his partners] are an educational institution. We just get paid by a life insurance commission.”

Musser says, “When I was a journalist, I understood I was educating people. I never got to see if it stuck, but I was getting the truth out there. In school ... you get to see if they get it.”

It was Musser’s legacy that he go into journalism. His father, Rick Musser, was a longtime journalism professor at the University of Kansas (KU). So, it only came naturally that 34

Musser immersed himself in visual communications and journalism, spending 11 years at major metropolitan dailies in the Twin Cities in Minnesota and Kansas City, Missouri.

But, when staff cuts and layoffs began to become the norm in that industry, Musser decided he didn’t want to wait to be the last man standing and moved toward a more stable career: teaching.

Bay also took a rather unconventional route to spending 13 years as principal of one of the top elementary schools in the city. But, when he found his job was leaving him with little energy for his own family, he decided it was time to step away and try something else. A series of chance meetings and associations led him to becoming an infinite banking coach.

“Changing careers seems impossible when you first contemplate it; but it’s totally possible,” Musser says. “If you embrace it, it’s definitely doable.

“You should never be afraid to reinvent yourself,” he continues.

“It never feels like work.”

Growing up as a teenager in Overland Park, Kansas, young Chris Bay entertained thoughts of being the next Frank Lloyd Wright more than the next great educator. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East High School, he enrolled at KU and pursued an education in architecture. He was

“

It is never too late to be who you might have been. ~ George Eliot,

”

Leading writer of the Victorian era

three years into the five-year program when a summer job led to an epiphany.

“The summer between my junior and senior years, I was a summer counselor at Camp Kanakuk, near Branson [Missouri],” he says. “I found that I really enjoyed developing relationships with the young men there and investing in them.

“I’m very much a purpose-driven person,” he continues. “I didn’t have a clear picture of how I was going to change peoples’ lives in architecture.”

Bay transferred to Baker University, in Baldwin City, with the purpose of one day teaching in urban settings. Within two years, he earned his Bachelor of Science in education and quickly landed his first teaching job at Kennedy Elementary, in Lawrence. After three years there, he moved on to Grant Elementary, where he spent six years while beginning work on a master’s degree in education administration.

That’s when he was approached by a fellow teacher who mentioned an opening for a principal at Sunset Hill, an elementary school in Lawrence that, at the time, was in a state of disrepair.

“I remember asking her, ‘I’m 30 years old, no experience.

Why would I apply for that job?’ ” Bay says. “For some reason, I did, and I got the job.”

Bay spent the next 13 years helping build Sunset Hill into one of the most highly regarded elementary schools in Lawrence, though he’s quick to point out he didn’t do so himself.

“It was at least five years until trusting relationships were formed,” he says. “I had a fantastic staff. As a team, we built Sunset to where people felt it was home.

“I’m very proud of my 13 years in that community,” he continues. “By the end of my time there, we had a list of people wanting to transfer there.”

Ah yes, the end. Bay thought at the time that he would spend the remainder of his working life in education. He’d been approached about other positions within the school district, but it had never felt right to leave.

During his tenure, Sunset started what was known as the Watchdogs, a program where fathers of students came to the school and volunteered service and leadership. It was that program that inevitably led to Bay’s departure from Sunset and the education industry.

“I developed relationships with a couple of the dads,” he says. “One day, I asked one how he managed personal business affairs. He brought up the infinite banking concept.

I had already been doing [financial guru] Dave Ramsey’s plan for about seven years.”

Even on the Ramsay plan, Bay found there wasn’t enough disposable income to set aside for family vacations. He, his wife, Shawn, and their two daughters weren’t able to go out for dinner often.

And, while he loved his work at Sunset Hill, he says he found he had little energy left for his family when he got home in the evenings.

“That carrot was so far out on the horizon, it was really depressing,” he says.

He let the infinite banking concept sit for about two months until he asked another Watchdog parent about it and received the same answer. It worked. In the meantime, he read a book, “Becoming Your Own Banker,” by Nelson 35

Noah Musser teaches his graphic design students at Eudora High School

Nash. Another Watchdog parent recommended Bay connect with Mike Everett, a leading proponent of the concept who would become his business partner.

“Nine months later, I started IBC [Infinite Banking Concept],” Bay says. “Twenty-six months later, I paid off our home.

“This concept will change peoples’ lives. My daughters will never have to borrow a dollar from an institution,” he says.

Bay reluctantly resigned as principal at Sunset Hill after winter break in 2013 and has been holding seminars teaching the infinite banking concept for the last five years. He says he concentrates the bulk of his work over 2½ days during the week—Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. A couple days are for preparations and behind-thescenes work, and he leaves Fridays and Sundays free to spend time with his family.

“Friday mornings, my wife and I do dates,” he says. “We never got to do that before.”

Switching from a steady paycheck to an income that’s commission-based has taken some adjustment, he says. He and his family have had to learn how to budget. But ...

“I love my work,” he says. “My office is in my house. I wish I would’ve known about this concept sooner.

“I would really recommend to anyone to spend time with the tools to help you do what you really want to do,” Bay explains. “Then, it never feels like work.”

36

“Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself.”

Following the lead of his prominent journalism professor father, Noah Musser earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in visual communications from KU in 1997. He moved to the snow belt for his first job as a graphic artist at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a year later moved next door in the same position at the Star Tribune, in Minneapolis. After spending a year at the Universal Press Syndicate as a digital imaging specialist, he was able to move his family back to his hometown when he caught on at The Kansas City Star.

“I was basically a graphics reporter,” he says. “I was explaining stories to readers through graphic images. I loved what I did.”

Six years later, however, at the same time the U.S. economy was taking a sharp downturn, the burgeoning internet began changing the way people received news and information, and made life difficult for the print-news industry.

Newspapers throughout the country, including The Star, began cutting staff to survive financially.

“Once people started getting laid off, I told myself I didn’t want to be the last person there,” Musser says.

While working at The Star, Musser moonlighted as an adjunct instructor at KU, teaching upper-level print and online design courses from 2002 to 2004. Once he left The Star, he decided the time was right to seek a graduate degree.

“

Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family. ~ Kofi Annan,

”

Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1997-2006

After earning a master’s degree in math and a secondary math teaching license, he began student teaching in Eudora and also was a teaching assistant at KU, teaching multiple sections of college algebra.

Then, in 2011, in what almost seemed like kismet, a position opened at the Eudora-DeSoto Technical Education Center that suited Musser’s background perfectly. The school needed a teacher for its graphic design department.

“They were looking for someone who could work in Photoshop and tech design,” he says. “I had other offers to teach math, but I loved the art side of it. Students were curious about it. They were not wanting it to be over.”

Every year, Musser added classes to his workload. He took on photo journalism and became faculty advisor for the student newspaper.

“I have eight preps a day,” he says of the number of different setups he has for classes each and every day. “I get up at 5:15 every morning just to make the big push to get ready for every day. I’m not sure how I do it. If I ever left, they’d have to hire two people to do it.”

Musser learned from his days in journalism to not go into anything with preconceived notions, because when you get there, things will likely have changed. All he strives for, he says, is instilling in his students a sense of truth.

“I’m in year No. 6 now,” he says. “It’s been great.”

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“I miss the way [journalism] was,” he says. “But, I know what we had years ago is gone. I miss the old days, but that doesn’t exist anymore. I’m definitely happier now.”

Help promote world understanding and peace through youth and adult exchange programs and scholarships.

Like Bay, whom he has never met, Musser’s family is better off as well since switching careers. His two children, five and one in age at the time he switched careers, are now 12 and nine. He was able to spend more time caring for them when he was going back to school and now has his summers off, freeing up more family time.

Support local projects and charities including the Lawrence Rotary Arboretum and new back-to-school shoes for children.

Society can’t function without a good public-education system, so he says he feels he’s making a positive contribution in that regard.

The Lawrence Rotary Club.

“It’s forced me to put my own view of myself into perspective,” Musser says. “Now, I get to see a cross-section of society. I learned a lot about myself that way.

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“There may be a time, when the kids get in college, when I need to earn more,” he says. “But, yeah, for now, I really love what I do and see myself doing it for awhile. p

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38

And, Musser has been great at his job, as documented by the awards he’s received. This year, he was named USD 491 Secondary Teacher of the Year. In 2014, he received a Kansas Cable Telecommunications Horizon Award and was awarded designation of “Honors” by the University of Kansas Master’s Degree committee. And, that’s just for his teaching and education honors. His journalism awards are too numerous to mention.

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Life Balance

by Emily Mulligan, photos by Steven Hertzog

taloupe. She spent every summer working with her extended family on the farm.

Although they were very different life events that precipitated their career changes, both Dawn Buehler and Kassie Nieters left what they were good at for what they cared about.

Buehler went from accounting to become the Kansas Riverkeeper for Friends of the Kaw. Nieters went from human resources and recruiting to independent massage therapy. Both say their career change improved all aspects of their lives, not just their workdays.

“It was an absolutely wonderful way to grow up. It instilled a work ethic in me, and I am a doer not a sitter now, which stems from always being working and moving as a kid,” Buehler explains.

Buehler’s generation was the first in her family to go to college. She ended up at Baker University, where she worked and paid her own way. She says she fell back on her math skills to pursue a degree in accounting, which she also knew was practical.

Accountant to Riverkeeper: Dawn Buehler

“I knew that every business had accounting people, so I knew I would always have a job to provide for my family. My parents raised me to take care of myself, and accounting provided me with that,” she says.

Buehler grew up working on her family’s 2,000-acre crop farm, Riverview Farms, in DeSoto. It was a vegetable farm in the Kansas River bottoms that grew things such as sweet corn, potatoes, watermelon, tomatoes, pumpkins and can-

Her first job out of college was working as the business manager for an environmental consulting firm. Buehler had worked there for seven or eight years when that company merged with a larger corporation. She then became the

40

“

Open your eyes, look within.

Are you satisfied with the life you’re living? ~Bob Marley

”

“Talking to her, I said, ‘I should have gotten a science degree, but I’m too old.’ She said, ‘Don’t tell me you’re too old,’ ” Buehler says.

That admonishment was enough to make Buehler look into her options. It turned out that because she already had a bachelor’s degree, it would only take her two years to get a Bachelor of Science. She enrolled in classes from Oregon State University online for a degree in Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife Conservation. She completed all of the coursework, without leaving Kansas, online and through local schools, and graduated in 2012—the same year her son graduated from high school.

But, the degree was only part of the challenge. She had no professional experience in her career path, so she had to start with entry-level jobs.

controller and chief financial officer of the board for a $7- to $9-million environmental firm, a job she held for nearly nine years.

“All the time I was doing accounting, I was volunteering with Friends of the Kaw, helping in the Baker Wetlands, participating in the annual butterfly count and other things that were the polar opposite of accounting,” she says. “As controller, I felt like I had come to a place with my accounting work where there wasn’t much more to learn. It was no longer a challenge to me.”

Her first marriage ended in divorce, and she supported her son on her accountant salary. Now, her son was older, and she was in her late 30s and on her second marriage.

The turning point for her career came when she was chatting with her mother-in-law, who had gone to college for the first time at age 45.

“I knew I was competing with young people. I was looking for a place I was going to spend the rest of my career, and they were just getting started. I had to learn from people who were younger than me but had more experience,” she says.

Having volunteered with Friends of the Kaw, Buehler loved the idea of being Riverkeeper, a term coined in a book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his efforts to clear pollution from the Hudson River. However, Laura Calwell, the thenRiverkeeper, had no plans to leave as far as Buehler knew.

She’d told her husband for years she wanted to be the Riverkeeper, but it was not meant to be. Not yet, anyway.

Buehler had to call on her accounting experience to help her get a foot in the door at her first job with her new degree, where she was the finance manager for the Kansas State Extension office in Johnson County. Luckily, her new boss understood her career ambition and had her help on a natural resource program he was overseeing. Her first professional experience in the new career had arrived.

41

Dawn Buehler Kayaks the Kaw River early in the morning

From there, she took a job with the Douglas County Conservation District, working with landowners to install conservation practices. One day in 2014 when she was at work, her husband called her and told her the Riverkeeper job was posted, and he thought she should apply.

The Riverkeeper job has many aspects: environmentalism, law, politics and promoting enjoyment of the great outdoors.

Buehler, a self-proclaimed “lifelong learner,” embraces all of these disciplines.

She and the 15-member Friends of the Kaw board are continually advocating for the Kansas River, monitoring pollution and other hazards, and staying politically active. Recently, Friends of the Kaw was a big component of the pushback against the Tyson chicken plant, which Tyson was looking at locating in Tonganoxie.

“I will always be grateful for my job as an accountant, because otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to give my son what he needed,” Buehler says. “I plan to be Riverkeeper until I am not physically able, or I retire. I am challenged every day, and it has absolutely become the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Human Resources to Massage Therapist: Kassie Nieters Kassie Nieters is a Lawrence native and received the “I Dare You” Leadership Award from the William H. Danforth American Youth Foundation when she graduated from Lawrence High School in 1983. The award encouraged recipi42

ents to influence others by leading balanced lives that promote leadership and service.

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” Nieters says.

She left Lawrence to become a nanny in Massachusetts, but when that did not work out, she visited friends in Iowa and ended up joining the Walter Mondale political campaign in 1984.

She enrolled in college at Emporia State University (ESU) in 1985 and, after connecting with a speech professor, became a speech communication major with a minor in business. She was active at ESU in leadership roles and made the most of her time there, but she knew there was a bigger world than Kansas; so after graduation, she and a friend moved in with the friend’s parents in Washington, D.C., to look for jobs.

Her first job was with a government defense contractor as what they called “administrator.” She oversaw the office operations, including the receptionist, cleaning person and facilities, and kept the personnel files. When the company grew from 42 employees to 100 employees, the “personnel files” aspect of her job became the brunt of it: She was what would now be called human resources (HR).

Meanwhile, she settled into Washington, D.C., made friends, bought a condo and a car. After several years with the contractor, she took a job doing technical recruiting for a different government contractor, where she worked for a couple of years, then became a human resources generalist for a health-care company.

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Kassie Nieters with hand hammered metal bowls used during a Vibrational Sound Therapy (VST) session in which she gently taps the bowls placed on the client’s body, combining powerful vibration and tones to induce an immediate relaxed state.

Then, in March of 1997, Nieters’ older brother committed suicide, and Nieters saw her own unhappiness reflected in her brother’s depression.

“At the time, I thought, ‘What is it that I want?’ I had no idea, but I was unhappy. I made good money, owned a condo, taught Sunday School, owned a Saab convertible—I was checking off all of these things that were ‘success,’ ” she explains.

She knew something needed to change in her life, but she did not know what or how.

“I decided to take a year off work. I gave away a lot of stuff, put things in storage, rented out my condo and began traveling to visit friends and family, and work temp work,” Nieters says. “For so many people, it takes a life crisis to see things differently. We don’t want to leave our jobs, but when we do, it’s a relief.”

Her travels took her to places she had always wanted to visit, including Glacier National Park, the Rocky Mountains and Grand Tetons. She rented a room in Berkeley, California, for a few months, where she says she worked temporary HR jobs, took yoga classes and “watched sunsets.” In the summer, she returned to the church camp of her youth in Michigan, where she worked and lived. She also spent time in Arkansas and Boston.

All the while she traveled and explored, she was thinking of potential career opportunities.

“I was thinking, ‘How do I want to spend my time?’ I wanted a job where I could use my business skills, and I wanted something that, when I was done with my day, I was done— the actual completion of the job was done,” she says.

44

Massage therapy answered those objectives and allowed her to connect with people, which was her favorite aspect of her HR career. Because massage therapy was a career she could locate anywhere, the question became where to go.

She met a man who lived in Kansas City, so back to Kansas she came. (Spoiler alert: He is not the man she married.)

“Staying in Kansas was a draw because of my family. I could drive to the mountains and fly to the ocean. But really, it was the pace of life here; I wanted the Midwestern slower pace,” Nieters says.

She attended massage school part-time while she worked full-time for an insurance company. She knew about networking from her HR experience, so she set that into motion while she was still in school, contacting massage practitioners and requesting informational interviews. In addition to learning best business practices, she exchanged massages with many practitioners so she could hone her technique and approach to her clients.

Beginning in 2002, Nieters became a full-time massage therapist, and she bought a house in Lawrence. She rented a massage therapy room at an existing practice and received referrals. She also worked hard to build her own client base.

“Who did I know? I had just bought my house, and I knew a realtor and a loan officer, so I asked them to let me bring my massage chair to their businesses. I used chair massage as marketing—my hands on people was how I was going to get people to come see me,” she says.

After about a year, Nieters started providing massage in her own space and under her own umbrella, now called Lawrence Massage. Over time, she has built a loyal client base

and specializes in relaxing Swedish massage, deep-tissue massage, pregnancy massage and Reiki healing.

“I provide a safe, comfortable environment to assist clients in their healing process—it happens to take the form of a one-hour massage,” she quips. “I like being that place where people can share what’s going on in their lives.”

She enjoys performing the work on her own terms and with her own touches and specialties, referring clients who need additional work or when her schedule is full.

“It’s more important to me that people receive work, not who does the work,” Nieters says.

With her change in career, Nieters explains she has learned that life is full of shades of gray, and not as much black and white.

“It’s OK not to know what you want to do—that was eyeopening for me. I had to choose the ‘right thing’ [she air quotes] because there is right and wrong,” she says. “Now, I know that the things I think are going to be so hard really aren’t as difficult as I think they’re going to be.” p

“

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? ~Vincent Van Gogh

”

Becoming an Artist

by Julie Dunlap, photos by Steven Hertzog

Meet three of Lawrence’s own who each have taken individual paths—and leaps of faith—landing firmly in thriving careers as artists.

Louis Copt Emporia, Kansas, native and longtime Lawrence resident Louis Copt graduated from Emporia State University in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in art with a concentration in painting. He had a lifelong love of the rolling Flint Hills of his childhood and their ever-changing majesty each season.

Painting may have been his first love, but it didn’t pay the bills of a budding adult who would soon marry his college sweetheart and start a family. Copt was able to use his keen eye, passion for design and education to land several different jobs out of college, including working at a frame shop and art gallery, serving as an art director for a printing company, and writing and photographing for The Emporia Gazette.

“Boring stuff,” Copt recalls with a smile. Though he enjoyed photography, the demand to shoot something commercially interesting for the front page of the paper every day countered his desire to create organically inspired art.

At the encouragement of old friends overseas, Copt and his wife, Phyllis, decided to hit the pause button on their careers and pursue an opportunity to live on a commune in the rural valley of Dortmund, Germany, with their then 2-year-old son.

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“We sold everything we had and moved,” Copt says, adding, “It was a scary time. Terrorist attacks and bombings; it just wasn’t a safe place to have a family.”

The Copts’ time in Europe lasted less than a year before they hitchhiked from Germany to Lawrence, where Phyllis was offered a teaching job. The offer came just in time, as the family was down to 36 cents.

Copt sold his camera to get an apartment for his family and began searching for a job. A chance opening led him to an interview with Tom Maupin, owner of Maupintour, a Lawrence-based travel agency.

“I walked in to (Maupin’s) office and noticed he had a Maxfield Parrish painting on the wall,” Copt recalls. “I asked him if it was an original Maxfield Parrish, and he was so impressed I recognized it, he offered me the job on the spot.”

Copt worked for Maupintour for seven years, marketing the company and planning and leading travel groups.

While the job incorporated his love of travel and desire to see art from all over the world, Copt says, “The business world wasn’t for me.”

In 1985, in his early 30s, Copt took a leap of faith and turned his lifelong passion for creating art into his next— and final—career.

Top: Louis Copt poses with one o his newest creations. This solid clear glass barn is kiln-cast, polished and acid-etched in the Czech Republic. The sculpture is mounted on a base with a unique system of LED lights that can be changed to any color.

Bottom: Louis in his studio painting one of his now signature prairie brush fires.

It had been roughly 15 years since his last formal training when the opportunity to study art with The Art Students League took him to New York City that summer. Copt stayed with a friend in a tiny apartment, and his wife and son made a trip to visit him. Phyllis, still teaching school, fully supported his pursuit.

“I couldn’t have done it without her,” Copt smiles.

Copt quickly discovered that summer the talent in the Midwest was every bit as strong as the talent in New York. He returned to Lawrence ready to amass a body of work he could take to area galleries. After roughly seven months, Copt had produced a collection he felt good about and took it to the Donald Batman Gallery, in Kansas City.

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“

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. ~George Bernard Shaw

”

Alix Stephan-Carson in her home studio

Alix Stephan-Carson “This is where I belong,” Alix Stephan-Carson recalls with a smile.

While the statement could easily and accurately refer to her studio, where she hand-creates pieces for her kids’ clothing line, Crabcakes, she is actually referring to the feeling she had when she first stepped into the textiles studio at the University of Kansas (KU) School of Fine Arts two decades ago.

Without a job, Copt found he could focus much more strongly on his art. He also found that, because of the jobs he had held, he was well-equipped to market himself, advertise his work and promote his business.

The newfound focus and opportunity soon necessitated a studio outside of the home, so he joined with two other local artists to form an arts co-op they called The 8th Street Artists, housed inside the Poehler Building, in East Lawrence.

After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from KU, Stephan-Carson, a Wilmette, Illinois, native, was offered a fifth year as a teaching assistant. She used that year to dabble in other areas of fine art she had not been able to fit into her studies before, including a textiles class with Professor Mary Anne Jordan that ignited what would one day become her passion.

But her path back to a career in textiles was not a short one.

“Once I stepped into the path, it all fell into place,” he says, adding, “At some point, you have to step across the threshold of doubt and have faith in yourself.”

After some time in South America and her hometown of Chicago, Stephan-Carson moved back to Lawrence, where she started working at Wheatfield’s.

Copt now works out of his home-based studio on 10 acres northwest of Lawrence, where he and Phyllis live. Known well around town for his vibrant, moving prairie fire, barn and landscape paintings, Copt also creates sculptures, watercolors, pastels and many commissioned pieces of different media. He is the 2011 Governor’s Award recipient as well as a Phoenix Award winner.

“We all had to wear beige or black baker’s hats,” she recalls of her time mixing and baking in the kitchen at Wheatfield’s.

“I decided to buy some fabric from Sarah’s [Downtown Lawrence fabric store] and make my own by hand.”

His work can be found all over the world and is at your fingertips at www.LouisCopt.com

Waking up well before the sun to bake Lawrence’s beloved bread soon wore on Stephan-Carson, though, and she left

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The upgraded hat caught they eye of her coworkers, and she was soon livening up the standard-issue uniform one hat at a time.

Wheatfield’s to work at Sunflower Bike Shop’s outdoor shop. There, she rose from retail sales to manager and buyer, making buying trips to Utah and being surrounded by stylish, functional clothing for men and women everyday.

After the birth of her first child (daughter Marlo), StephanCarson noticed a distinct lack of fashionable, unique clothing for infants and children, and put her love of textiles and art to work and make her own.

“I decked out onesies and T-shirts,” she says of her earliest creations.

She began embellishing plain articles of clothing into something with a little more flavor, all by hand until she purchased her first sewing machine.

“I asked for a day off of work so I could practice on it,” Stephan-Carson laughs. “My interns sew on it now.”

Within a year of mastering her new sewing machine, Stephan-Carson quit her job at Sunflower and was enjoying a small business creating unique clothing by request.

In 2005, while shopping at the children’s store, Lillibelle, on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, one of her creations caught the eye of the owner.

“I had made Marlo a pink tutu with pom-poms sewn on and an orange and hot pink cowl neck sweatshirt,” she recalls.

“The owner stopped me and asked, ‘Where did you get that?’ I told her I had made it myself. She looked at me and said, ‘We want to sell it.’ ” Lillibelle was eager to start selling, but Stephan-Carson was still gun-shy about creating for the public. She decided to see if she could land an order with the newly opened Blue Dandelion, in Downtown Lawrence, reasoning that a deal with Blue Dandelion would offer her enough validation to take the leap into retail production.

Not only did Blue Dandelion start carrying her clothing, Lauren Alexandra, in Brookside, and several shops in the Chicago area followed Lillibelle’s lead.

As the demand for Crabcakes clothing grew, however, Stephan-Carson’s marriage had come to an end. Now a single mom with two kids and one sewing machine, Stephan-Carson was at a crossroads. She needed help to keep the business going, but she couldn’t afford to hire any employees.

By the work of fate, Stephan-Carson ran into Jordan (her former textiles professor) at Hancock Fabrics, in Lawrence.

“Mary Anne suggested I hire her students to work as unpaid interns,” Stephan-Carson explains. “They get college credit for working for me.”

This chance run-in saved Stephan-Carson’s business, providing her with a thriving career and her interns—and, eventually, paid employees—from KU’s School of Fine Arts

We Never Forget The Individual Within.

Learn about our Alzheimers and Dementia Care homes: www.mybridgehaven.com or call us at 785.371.1106 49

Jeff Ridgway instructing his class in Life Drawing and Anatomy for the Artist at the Lawrence Arts Center

Jeff Ridgway Following a lifelong love of painting, Brookfield, Missouri, native and local artist Jeff Ridgway chose to pursue that passion at what is now called Truman State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in drawing in the 1970s. While he dreamed of one day creating art for a living, Ridgway’s professor presented him with an opportunity to develop a publication studio at the university during his sophomore year, an offer he gladly accepted.

The experience he gained in the publication studio, combined with his natural instinct for eye-pleasing design, launched him onto his first career path. Fresh out of Truman State, Ridgway began working as a graphic designer with Johnson County Community College. a springboard for jobs with designers such as Cynthia Rowley and Martha Stewart, among others.

“My first full-time employee named her first bedding line ‘Marlo,’ ” Stephan-Carson beams.

All of the clothes for her Crabcakes line are made locally using fabric from local retailers in the studio in Stephan-Carson’s home. She hopes to add an adult line soon.

“I get so excited to go to work everyday,” she says. “I love what I do.”

See Alix Stephan-Carson’s designs on Instagram at @crabcakes_clothing.

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Ridgway’s career in what he calls “commercial art” provided much-needed stability as well as training in production and print. He worked in and around Kansas City for many years, enjoying an ever-evolving industry that eventually landed him with an office in the beautiful fifth-floor “Truman Suite,” named after the room President Harry Truman and his wife, Bess, occupied during various stays, at Research Hospital, in Kansas City.

He built a strong reputation for himself within the industry and became highly sought-after, yet all of this success as a graphic artist and art director couldn’t satisfy the artist within him.

“I wasn’t creating,” he says, “I was only reproducing.”

As a single dad working 60 hours per week, Ridgway longed for more family-friendly hours and a job that filled his passion.

“My sister asked, ‘What is it you want to do?’ ” Ridgway recalls. His reply was simple and came naturally: “All I ever wanted to be was an artist.”

With that realization, Ridgway moved his kids to Lawrence in fall of 1988, spending the next five years completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in painting.

“I worked my butt off,” Ridgway says of the five years back in school.

During this time, Ridgway met his friend and future business partner, Fred Henderson. Ridgway got Henderson a job painting houses for a company with him after grad school. One afternoon, while balancing precariously atop a ladder to paint an upper-story exterior wall, Ridgway overheard the homeowner discussing the painting company’s contracted rate with the company owner over the phone. The contracted rate was significantly higher than what the company paid its employees.

He quietly finished his work and, afterward, asked Henderson to meet him for a beer. The two decided to part from the painting company and start their own.

Armed with a revived spirit and, later, a graduate degree, Ridgway and Henderson expanded their business, building furniture, sculptures, decks and other “cool things for rich people.”

Ridgway worked with Henderson for many years and sold his own paintings, as well, specializing in large pastorals and portraits. But, after awhile, he explains, “I ran out of things to say.”

He began teaching at the Lawrence Arts Center, instructing painting, portraiture and human anatomy for the artist, an opportunity he credits for saving his life.

“I went into commercial art to buy the clothes and pay the bills. Now, I’m doing what I want,” he says.

Semiretired now at age 61, Ridgway is looking for something new to do.

“I would love to continue to be an artist,” he says.

“When God gives you a talent, it is disrespectful not to use it.”

Ridgway’s work is displayed at the Lawrence Arts Center, The Jazzhaus and Blue Dot Hair Salon. p

“

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.

And that is why I succeed.

~Michael Jordan

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Career Incubator

by Tim Robisch, General Manager KISS-FM, The Bull and KLWN New FM & 1320, photos by Steven Hertzog

Lawrence is the incubator for so many careers, leaders, innovators and trendsetters. Whether it’s on the court at Allen Fieldhouse or in the classrooms on the campus of the University of Kansas (KU), the impact of this influence is heard across the globe. Broadcasting is a significant contributor to that elite lineup.

In the world of journalism and broadcasting, northeast Kansas made its first marks on the map attributed to William Allen White, who made Lawrence a focal point for so many distinguished journalism careers attributed to the University of Kansas. Lawrence’s own “Hometown Stations” of 101.7 FM and 1320 KLWN, 105.9 KISS FM (and its predecessor Lazer 105), and 92.9 The Bull provided the valuable training and launch pad for many nationally recognized journalism and broadcasting careers.

Particularly in our area of convergence, where journalists must have multifaceted talents at the computer screen, on mobile platforms, behind the mic and in front of the camera, the required skill set has changed. One critical element remains the same: The ability and talent to connect with your constituents (audience, likes, network, viewers and read52

ers) remains the same, while the method or medium has changed.

Many of the journalists and personalities we know have had humble beginnings in our area. Before we explore our Lawrence roots, consider legends and talents like Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News, Carson Daly, The View and Today Show, NBC, Jimmy Kimmel, Late Night, ABC, all have radio roots that honed their skills and provided a platform propelling them to network television and the top of their game.

Lawrence and KLWN boast several hometown heroes who have established the ranks of the elite for broadcasting.

Gary Bender and Kevin Harlan, nationally known for their play-by-play on CBS TV and Westwood One Radio, not just learned at KU but also received firsthand experience behind the mic. KLWN was one of the first stops on the career path of Bob Davis, who recently stepped back from the mic as Voice of the Jayhawks and had several years calling the Kansas City Radio Broadcasts. Brian Hanni is our most recent alum to leave KLWN and Lawrence, and hone is skills in Lubbock, Texas. He has now returned for his second year calling Jayhawk Broadcasts and providing KLWN and our

sister station Big 12 updates.

While sports certainly has a high profile, Lawrence pride still shines brightly for other area “alums” like Tom Hedrick, former voice of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Steve Doocy, now on Fox Television. Lazer FM produced Marty Wall, national voice-over talent and voice of Kansas City television’s 38 The Spot in addition to his work at Memorial Field as the stadium announcer for KU Football.

Speaking of Kansas City, the short drive down I-70 provided opportunity for two more KLWN and Lazer personalities: Scott Parks and Chris Merrill. Parks is still heard on Kansas City radio, and Merrill moved a few years back to the West Coast and has hosted talk radio shows in San Diego and Phoenix, and is now heard in Los Angeles on legendary talk station KFI-AM.

Video production for small business and local organizations.

We have great civic and business pride in our role providing experience, training and exposure to the past generations of broadcasters who have moved on to bigger and better things, and welcome the opportunity to be here for the next generation. p

Top: KLWN On air personality and producer Eric Holcomb, the hardest working man in radio.

Bottom: Chuck Newman, On-air programming and promotion for 92 the Bull

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Wine, Restaurants &

by Mike Anderson, photos by Steven Hertzog

When Brad Moore, a fourth-generation farmer, wanted to open a kitchen store in Lawrence, Kansas, he first had to tell his dad. As you can imagine, this was not an easy conversation to have. They don’t exactly make a card saying, “So you know that occupation that you do, and that your dad did, and that his dad did? Yeah, I think I’d rather open a kitchen store.” Ask Tim Grace what the most nerve-racking part about quitting his steady job in Hawaii working on battleships to start a restaurant in Lawrence was, and he’ll tell you: convincing his parents. And, even though Pep Selvan was well past 40 when he decided to leave his six-figure construction business for a winery in Kansas, the most daunting task was, you guessed it, telling his father. Selvan directly quotes his father: “A winery should be the last thing you do when you move back to Kansas.”

These three individuals decided to leave one career for a completely different career, all in the vicinity of Lawrence.

Even though all were well into adulthood with kids of their own, the approval and support of their parents was still very instrumental. More importantly, their parents’ support was, in each case, directly correlated to their success.

Selvan’s father used his farming equipment to help with costs and construction of his new winery. Moore’s kitchen 54

store on Massachusetts Street would not have been possible without the support of his father. And Grace’s parents couldn’t be happier for him, and now they get to see their grandkids.

So why would someone completely uproot his or her family and change careers? We aren’t talking about going from apples to oranges. We’re talking about going from apples to hair dryers.

Tim and Shantel Grace The husband and wife duo had always wanted to run a business together. They currently own and operate Ramen Bowls and Luckyberry in Downtown Lawrence. The inspiration for both of these restaurants came from their years in Hawaii. “Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures, which opens your eyes to different foods,” Shantel says. The healthy lifestyle of the surfer culture had an influence on her and Tim. The idea of acai smoothies, spicy tuna bowls and coldpressed juices came from that culture.

“The surfers have this ‘Let’s stay out on the water all day and have food to fuel us’ mentality,” Shantel explains. This was the basis for Luckyberry, a juice café that specializes in healthy, protein filled foods and cold-pressed juices, and is operated by the Grace’s and business partner Dalton Paley.

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Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. ~Confucius

” a Kitchen Store The Vineyards in winter at the Bluejacket Crossing Winery

Ramen Bowls was inspired by the Asian influence in Hawaii.

Tim and Shantel would consistently have ramen for happy hour. They appreciated the familiar and comforting feeling of the food. So, when they read about ramen shops popping up in the States while on an airplane, they were hooked. Within 48 hours, they were Skyping with a man in Japan about the best way to make ramen.

For four years before in Hawaii, Tim had been a protectivecoating specialist who worked on destroyers, oil tanks, petroleum tanks and other ships for the Navy and Air Force.

His job was to assess and inspect these water vessels in order to make sure their exteriors could endure the elements and missions. For example, a ship such as the USS Missouri (on which Tim worked) would quite possibly need Macropoxy 920 or Polysiloxane for the topside, and Duraplate for the underwater hull. Tim has gone from talking about underwater coating for destroyers to talking about organic, gluten-free oats for acai bowls.

But, if you think his transformation is remarkable, just listen to Shantel’s old gig. She was a journalist in Hawaii working on her master’s degree in English. She worked for Honolulu Weekly writing stories on everything from Hawaiian culture to sex trafficking. Before that, Shantel was a country singer-songwriter with ties to the Nashville scene. A quick

iTunes search is all you need to find her albums. She even won the Colgate Country Competition for the state of Hawaii and competed in the national competition in Seattle.

Her original and winning song was fittingly called, “What If I could.” She finished her singing career a few years ago when she got to sing the National Anthem at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, before a speech by thenPresident Obama. The President must have loved the rendition, because it was Obama’s staff that ordered Ramen Bowls for dinner when the President spoke on the University of Kansas (KU) campus in 2015.

While in Hawaii, the Grace family decided to move back to Lawrence so their two boys could be closer to their parents and the rest of their family. They knew they wanted to open the shops in Lawrence. Both had attended KU and knew this town embraced global cuisine. They were able to use their past careers to help them succeed at their new ones.

“Being a musician taught me that I don’t wait for people to find me,” Shantel explains. “I’m going to find them.”

Tim used his understanding of the importance of processes and recipes from his old job to help him at his new one. And both have succeeded, but the transition from Hawaii to the restaurant business in Kansas was not without its hurdles.

A couple of weeks before the soft opening of Ramen Bowls, 55

Kate & Brad Moore assist customers at their Delaney & Loew Kitchenalia

Tim and Shantel were supposed to receive help.

The celebrated Malaysian chef who they had been training with for six months was scheduled to spend three weeks with the couple, helping them with their brand-new restaurant. The Graces went to pick up their ramen teacher from the airport, but he was nowhere to be seen. “There we were, watching the last of the baggage go through baggage claim, and he was nowhere to be found,” Shantel explains.

“Finally, we reached someone who told us he has been escorted back on the plane and sent straight back to Singapore. My legs gave out from underneath me, and I just sat there and bawled.”

The chef apparently brought a personal visa instead of the work visa he needed. With no restaurant experience, the Graces embarked on the most difficult three weeks of their life. But, at the end of those three weeks, they opened their first restaurant. It’s been a success ever since. A constant name in the Best of Lawrence competition, Ramen Bowls won Best Take Out in 2017. And, starting in December, Ramen Bowls will expand to its new location on Massachusetts Street.

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Brad and Katie Moore Brad and Katie Moore also met at KU, but instead of taking off for Nashville or the Aloha State, they headed to Oberlin, Kansas.

For 12 years, the couple ran a cow/calf operation that included 3,000 cattle and 150 bulls. They also harvested corn and wheat, farming 5,000 acres of corn and 1500 acres of wheat. Brad was a fourth-generation farmer, and his grandfather was still farming at the age of 83. But, while farming was something Brad was used to, it wasn’t exactly his passion.

“Think of the hardest job mentally and physically and times it by 10,” Brad says of farming. “Farming involves a lot of variables you can’t control. You’re at Mother Nature’s mercy, the mercy of industry, and the mercy of the markets.”

After the particularly unforgiving weather from 2012 through 2014, Brad and Katie started a conversation about leaving. With constant droughts in the summer and blizzards in the winter, the outlook on the farm economy looked bleak. During this time, the couple had become regulars at a kitchen store in Nebraska called Knowlen

and Yates. They had become, as they call it, “kitchen-store junkies.” The conversations of leaving the farm life became more real when Katie suggested they should not only move to Lawrence but also start their own kitchen store on Mass Street.

“We already made one giant move, why not keep that momentum,” Katie recalls. Brad had always wanted to come back to Lawrence, and while their three kids might miss the tractors, they’d always have the best kitchen on the block.

As one can imagine, the 10-month transition between quitting farming and starting a kitchen store is complicated. Not only did the Moore’s fear the unknown of whether a kitchen store would succeed in the Lawrence market, they also had to come up with the inventory. For most people, it’s tough to look at a blank screen and know you have 2,000 words to type. Brad and Katie had to look at a blank store knowing they had to fill it with 11,500 kitchen items.

So, they did their research, spending those months going to trade shows around the nation, talking with sales representatives and leaning heavily on their friendship with the owners of their favorite kitchen store in Nebraska. And, with help from their parents, they opened Delaney and Loew.

The story behind the name is so interesting and unique, next time you’re in the store, be sure to ask.

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Pep Selvan tasting from the barrel his soon to be award winning St. Vincent wine.

A couple of years ago, the couple was standing in a field pulling calves out of cows, and now they’re discussing the latest kitchenware from France. While snow used to signal havoc on the cattle and exhausting days on the farm, now it means the start of holiday season and the busiest time of the year.

“Yeah, I look at snow a lot differently now,” Brad explains. Much like Tim and Shantel, the joy in which Brad and Katie discuss their products is infectious. From Mason Cash mixing bowls to Emile Henry ceramic pots to Vita Craft pans, the store seems to carry it all. The owners want you to go home with an item that will last a long time, and they still carry the same work ethic and grit from their farming days. It’s now directed to your kitchen.

“You got it to do,” is the mentality Brad keeps from his farming days. And, it has paid off.

Delaney and Loew won the Best New Business award at the Best of Lawrence this year.

Because of where Brad and Katie have been, they not only have an appreciation of where food comes from but also have an appreciation of how it’s prepared.

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Pep Selvan Not a stranger to long days, for 20 years, Pep Selvan would often work six-and-a-half days a week. After graduating with an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, Pep decided to head west. A graduate of the University of Oregon in architectural engineering, Pep was supporting his wife and then two kids on an $11-an-hour job at an architectural firm. He realized the real money was in construction.

Pep was raised in a construction family, so the work was familiar to him.

He started his own construction business in which he wore every hat. He negotiated the contract, did most of the design work, managed the construction crew at the job site and often worked on the crew. Pep went from making $11 an hour to $110,000 a year.

dren finished high school to move back to Kansas (coincidentally, all three children decided to move to Lawrence, as well). There was only one problem with his plan: While Pep was familiar with building facilities for wineries in California, he had no experience in viticulture, growing grapes or making wine. So, he went to school, literally. He took classes at Missouri State University.

In between big jobs working on larger buildings, Pep’s crew built a solid reputation working on movie sets. He helped build sets for Nash Bridges, Flubber, The Game, Patch Adams and others. You might have seen Pep’s work in the movie, What Dreams May Come. That’s right, Pep’s team built Robin William’s hell house. Not too many people get to see that side of the movies.

“It’s a fantasy. It’s a combination of a lot of brilliant talented artisans who pull together their skills to give you this moment,” Pep explains.

But after a while, the long days of movie-making and traveling began to take their toll. It wasn’t uncommon to work 12, sometimes 18, hours straight. Then there was the commute. To show up on time often meant leaving the house at 3:30 a.m. “When you have to drive two-and-a-half hours to get out of L.A., that just doesn’t make sense to someone raised in the Midwest,” Pep says.

The seed of leaving California for Kansas had been planted in the early 2000s when Pep made a trip to Kansas to visit his friend, Greg Shipe, at the Davenport Winery and Orchards. There, he had some wine that changed his life. He took a case of the wine back to California to show it to all of his friends, even friends at Dean and Deluca. They were all floored. Californians were not used to liking Kansas wine. At that moment, he had his plan.

At the request of his wife, he would wait until all three chil-

“I was taking as many classes as I could, learning through watching and hands-on experience. Books can only do so much,” Pep explains.

He would also attend seminars at the University of Missouri and Iowa State University. During these several years, he would help Greg at the Davenport winery and volunteer at the Holy-field Vineyard and Winery, in Basehor. For Pep, it was a seven- to eight-year intense learning curve where new challenges gave way to new direction.

“In California, I knew a project was going to take ‘X’ number of months, and I could schedule people for that. I don’t have that now because we’re dealing with Mother Nature all the time,” Pep says. Since 2008, his vineyard and winery, BlueJacket Crossing, has been open and receiving praise.

BlueJacket wines have won bronze, silver and gold medals from the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. His wine has even won a Jefferson Cup Award. Pep has traded in his movie set constructions for semisweet whites and dry reds. He now talks about Titratable acids, pH levels and Brix measurements. His days of constructing sets have helped him transition to constructing wine.

“Consistency in wine-making is so important; that was also a big part of construction,” Pep explains. Managing contracts with people helps you become anal, which helps your attention to detail when growing grapes, he continues. “Each grape is like a different person with a different personality.

When you’re just starting out, they never tell you that; you get to figure that out on your own. The discovery of a small modification can make the difference.”

Transitioning from one career to a completely different career may never be easy. The uncertainty, the fear, the doubt are all heightened by such a decision. Anyone who is will59

ing to tackle something new are seemingly full of confidence. While these three transformations into different careers might seem different, they are also similar in several ways: They all came back to Lawrence because the town holds a special place for them. The idea of children and family played a role in the switch of careers for all of them. Whether it was waiting for kids to graduate, wanting them to go to school here or wanting them to be closer to their larger family, family was a driving force in every decision. And in each instance, the individuals were highly successful in their first career.

These people had attributes that transcend multiple careers. They are marrying their passion with their skills.

Perhaps first careers are about financial responsibility to one’s family, which leads to pointing one in the direction of a passion. Or, as Pep puts it, “Your brain finally opens up.” p

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Top to bottom Tim & Shantel stand inside Ramen Bowl.

Tim, Shantel & Dalton Paley outside their Luckyberry Juice Café.

Tim & Shantel chat it up with customers.

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It’s All in the Family Two Lawrence women who put family first when choosing their careers.

by Tara Trenary, photos by Steven Hertzog

Choosing to start a new career can be a tough decision whether you’re successful or simply treading water until your next gig. But, changing paths mid-career might just be exactly what you need to get to that next level. Julia Child, Ray Kroc, John Glenn, Vera Wang, Jonah Peretti, Ronald Reagan, Donald Fisher: Some of these names you may recognize, some you may not, but all started careers doing one thing and ended up doing something completely different—and becoming extremely successful.

According to an article on Mashable, an online global source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content, a March/ April 2015 survey of 8,000 participants concluded that 58% of the adults in or looking to join the workforce say they actively look at new jobs at least monthly. But, researching the job market and actually taking the leap and switching careers are two completely different things.

According to Monster.com, a global leader in connecting people with jobs, some pitfalls when deciding to change careers include: making rash decisions, choosing a new career based on salary, not researching the job market in your next field, quitting without having another job lined up, neglecting your networking, going back to school prematurely and not adjusting your resume for a career change.

A Dream Realized Not everyone who decides to switch careers does so because he or she isn’t happy or is dissatisfied. “I really wasn’t seeking out something new; I loved my job and the company I worked for,” says Emily Peterson, co-owner of Merchants Pub and Plate, who previously worked in account service for Callahan Creek, a Lawrence brand strategy and marketing agency. “I was passionate about our clients, enjoyed my colleagues and friends; and the hard work I put in came with flexibility and great support from company leadership.”

A University of Kansas graduate in journalism and communications from Chicago, Emily and her husband and Merchants chef, T.K. Peterson, a Lawrence native, had dreamed of owning their own restaurant. The unexpected closing of Teller’s, at 746 Massachusetts St., in 2013 forced the couple to kick their plans into high gear earlier than expected. Although Emily was active in the development of the business, leading ef62

forts to secure funding, developing the brand and designing the space, the initial plan was for her husband to run the restaurant with a business partner while she continued at her Callahan Creek position, where she was happy.

The restaurant industry being a notoriously tough one, the business struggled that first year. “While we were very fortunate to be warmly received by the community … it became clear that the restaurant needed the full focus of our family,” Emily says, “and I left Callahan Creek to make sure Merchants continued to grow and thrive.”

“She saved us when she left Callahan to come here,” Chef T.K. says. “From the beginning, she helped drive the design of the restaurant, she organized the funding, she was the one asking the questions that needed answers. She’s an absolute badass. Besides having the ability to put systems in place, she has a really good grasp on business and brand strategy. She’s the total package.”

Four years later, after making that tough decision to leave Callahan Creek, Merchants Pub and Plate is established in Downtown Lawrence, and the Petersons’ dream of becoming restaurateurs has been realized. And, Emily ultimately credits her job at Callahan Creek for giving her the confidence she needed to take on the couple’s business venture.

“The biggest obstacle I faced was learning the restaurant business,” she explains. “My background was instrumental to me taking over the finances and operations to create a sustainable business plan, but I was really lost when it came to managing the day to day of the restaurant.”

The inherited staff of servers, bartenders, hosts and managers, along with her husband and the tight-knit restaurant community, helped Emily make her way in her new position and allow herself to be vulnerable, which she calls a catalyst to figuring out who she was in this new role. “Owning a family business is a totally different life, so much so that I refer to my days before the restaurant as my ‘past life,’ ” Emily says.

“I am happy now, and I was happy then, but in different ways and for different reasons.”

T.K. continues: “She made a big sacrifice, and a lot of it was for me. So, now I use that when I go into work. It’s not just our vision or our dream; I want this to work for us because of what she had to give up, but it’s easier because she’s right there by my side.”

Science Takes a Back Seat For Sybil Gibbs, Sunrise Project coffee manager and community connector, the road to a new career began with many differing personal interests, including a drive to get involved in the community through volunteer work and a need to supplement her income.

“Sunrise Project offers an opportunity to incorporate more of my talents under one umbrella,” Sybil explains. “I originally left Collier International to expand upon my event coordinating role to manage Culinaria Food and Wine. During my tenure [at Culinaria], I gave much beloved effort to launching their new restaurant component.”

Though she has a bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular biology, early on, Sybil took a break from the “hard sciences” to study culinary arts and complete an internship in a French bakery. “A lifelong baker, I love honing the skill and technique of pastries—it’s a disciplined art,” she says.

“

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.

”

~John W. Gardner After her first daughter was born, she returned to science and research for a time.

But, after moving back to Lawrence with her family in 2009 (she’d lived in town most of her formative years until after high school), she took a position with the Lawrence branch of Colliers International, an industry-leading global real estate company that operates in 16 countries. Though an international company, Sybil says the Lawrence branch of Colliers offered a warm and familial atmosphere, where she evolved into the marketing and research coordinator, studying properties, city regulations, prospects, history and various sundries.

Though she was happy in her position at Colliers, Sybil felt it was time to leave the corporate world and join a small, locally owned and operated business.

After Colliers, Sybil worked with Culinaria Food and Wine as main event coordinator and was motivated to invest in other aspects of her capabilities and her community. “It afforded me autonomy and individualism, which I value to a great degree,” she says. “I realized that my pride in community-building mostly extended from the fact that I was establishing something for myself and my children that we had never had. This experience exposed a more vibrant aspect of community.”

While working in a volunteer capacity with Sunrise Project the past few years, Sybil came to admire the Sunrise mission “to empower people to utilize food for social change through equity in access, multifaceted education and community-building,” and sought ways to become involved whenever she could.

Emily Peterson at Merchants Pub and Plate

She worked with Melissa Freiburger, Sunrise project director of programs, and a small team of highly motivated community members to revitalize the Cordley Farm to School Program. “We shaped our ideas into a fully interactive program, complete with raised bed gardens on the school grounds, biannual community meals, educational components and student-lead harvests,” Sybil explains.

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More recently, Sybil facilitated a half-day seminar for the Sunrise Summer Youth program on food and cultural heritage.

“Sybil not only has vast experience and knowledge in the food industry and the world, but she truly loves our community and believes in building relationships, taking care of each other and working toward a more socially just community,” Melissa explains. “She is the perfect person to create a welcoming space where everyone, regardless of background, feels comfortable and happy ... ” Sybil’s current role with Sunrise Project allows her experience in the service industry and extensive corporate background to translate into a role that is a comprehensive extension of her abilities and beliefs.

“Sunrise Project is a natural fit for my personal philosophies,” she says. “Social justice, equal access, communal cooperation and education are core drivers in what we do, and I am exceptionally honored and excited to be able to share with my community in this capacity.”

As coffee manager and community connector with Sunrise Coffee, Sybil now handles all aspects associated with launching and running the “Coffee” component of Sunrise Project, including initial setup, staff and community outreach, and collaboration on community projects. An anonymous donation made it possible, and Sunrise Coffee will launch after the beginning of the new year to be located at 1501 Learnard. The plan is for the space to embody the same mission of empowerment through food and education, and all proceeds will fuel the Project’s programming.

Ultimately, Sybil explains, “Sunrise is a strong community of extended family. When an opportunity arrived to be in a more directly active role, I could not refuse. After all, I have and would continue to give my efforts to this project for the sheer satisfaction of community-building.”

A Sense of Satisfaction Both Emily and Sybil agree that family and community are the major reasons the careers they ultimately have chosen are the right ones for them at this time.

“My family gave patience and understanding in a way that I had not asked for or experienced before,” Sybil says. “This was not just ‘my choice,’ it was a choice for the family, and every one of us adjusted.”

Emily continues: “The community is at the core of our business, it’s why we do what we do. It is incredibly satisfying to buy food and other products from neighbors and friends, and then with love and thought, prepare those items for other neighbors and friends to enjoy. p

“Sunrise Coffee will serve the community as a gathering spot, a hub, a neighborhood meeting spot for social, business, games, activism—you name it,” Sybil says. “Sunrise is built by the community for the community, and soon, food and beverages will complement our greenhouse community space.”

Sybil Gibbs at Sunrise Project.

Below, Emily Peterson at Merchants bar.

Making a Life On the Farm

Jill Elmers harvesting fall broccoli

by Emily Mulligan, photos by Steven Hertzog

Jill Elmers and Jack and Kathy Wilson could not have been farther from farming in their first careers—literally and figuratively. All were working in the city at fast-paced corporate jobs with their inner compasses pointed steadily toward the urban, corporate lifestyle.

She attended Valparaiso University, in Indiana, where she majored in electrical engineering with a minor in music, performing the violin in orchestra and also piano. In another proactive move, she helped start the university’s first women’s soccer team so she could play soccer.

Now, Elmers, of Moon on the Meadow farm, and the Wilsons, of Washington Creek Lavender farm, are fixtures at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market and steeped in the local farm scene, while most of their customers likely never suspect they haven’t been farming their whole lives.

In addition to her computer and electrical engineering coursework, she paid close attention to the musical equipment that bands were using, familiarizing herself with things like guitar amplifiers and digital processing equipment. That equipment was where her interests seemed to converge most logically.

As all three have learned, times change, jobs change and people change, and when that happens, anything is possible, including farming.

Jill Elmers: Acoustical Engineer to Organic Farmer and Local Food Activist Jill Elmers has always been proactive and a bit ahead of her time. That became evident as she was finishing high school in Arlington, Texas, and trying to decide on a college. She was trying to find a school that wasn’t too big but allowed her to combine her two biggest interests rather unconventionally.

“Ultimately, what I wanted was something that took music and engineering, and made a job out of it,” she explains.

As graduation neared, she sent resumes to every music equipment manufacturer she could find—to no avail. She graduated, moved to Chicago and took a job at Starbucks to pay the bills. After working there a year, one weekend, she picked up the newspaper to hunt for jobs in earnest.

“The job I had for 20-plus years was in that newspaper: designing sound reinforcement systems,” Elmers says.

She came into the job understanding the engineering and knowing something about music, but had to learn about all the ways those could combine when it came to sound systems for commercial buildings such as arenas, performing arts centers and churches. Eventually, she says the job morphed to include audio/visual design.

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“

If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. ~Bruce Lee

”

Front building of the Sunrise Garden Center Jill tending to lettuce inside the Sunrise Garden Center Jill talks with an employee at her Moon on the Meadow Farm.

“When you go to make a sound system sound good, there is an art to that. You can use math, but still, listening is the key,” she says.

Elmers traveled all over the country, and even the world, as the Seoul, South Korea, airport was one of her projects, on which worked with architects and engineers to create systems with Avant Acoustics. She worked her way from an associate to a vice president and partner in the company. But, the travel, the deadlines and the pressure of the projects began to take their toll, and she says she got burned out.

“In 2000, I actually quit. I didn’t have another job; I had nowhere to go. At that point, I was heavily involved volunteering with Girl Scouts, and I wanted to give back more. The company president gave me the summer off and said, ‘You need a break,’ ” she says.

Elmers had always had the idea that she would like to have a self-sustaining life: off the grid, providing all her own basic needs. As part of that, she wanted to learn to grow her own food. So, that spring, she called Mark Lumpe, of Wakarusa Valley Farm, and went to work for him that summer learning about organic farming.

When it came time for her to return to her job at the end of the summer, Lumpe had a proposal for her.

“Mark said, ‘I’d like to give you some land to grow on for one of our CSAs [community-supported agriculture shares].’ I went to the company and asked to work 30 hours a week.

The president said ‘yes,’ ” she says.

So, Elmers worked out a schedule that involved two 10hour workdays and two five-hour workdays at Avant, and the rest of the time, including weekends, farming.

“The transition from the farm to work on those days, from outside to sitting at the computer, was very hard,” she laments.

From working on the farm, Elmers learned that the small farm scene and local food movements around Lawrence were becoming very active. CSAs were growing in popularity, the school district launched its Farm-to-School movement, and she wanted to be involved.

In the end, she felt too strong of a pull from the farming and local food community to return to work full-time.

“Part of it also was I wanted to prove to young farmers that you can make a living doing this,” she says.

Elmers stayed on with Avant in a part-time role from 2001 to 2014, while she established her own farm and CSA program. She now lives and works on her farm just east of Lawrence, in the Kansas River bottoms, and sells CSAs as part of Common Harvest, a group of five small organic farms, nearly year-round. In the summer, she employs four to five 67

LEFT: Jack and Kathy Wilson in their home on the Washington Creek Lavender farm.

The lavender fields at Washington Creek.

RIGHT: Jack (center) hosting the Easter Seals telethon.

Kathy photographing one of her Better Homes covers.

people, and in the winter, she has two employees who tend her 6,000 square feet of hoop houses and other raised beds.

Although she continues to consult with Avant, her heart is in farming. She serves on the Food Policy Council, which is an advisory council to the city and county on all food-related issues, such as food security and insecurity. She also has been active with the local Farm-toSchool program. She loves to think and talk about food, but she also still very much likes being out and about among the fruits and vegetables.

“The whole process of growing food is an amazing process from seed to harvest. I love that whole thing, and I can’t ever imagine doing anything else,” she says.

did leave her successful photography career for farming. And, she convinced her husband to do the same with his career.

Jack began his career in earnest—after going to school to become a teacher and being drafted into the Army after just four weeks in the classroom—as a community relations director for a Chicago public radio station.

Then, he became the vice president of marketing and development for a public television station, which led him to form his own company, JWA Video, producing national PBS programs and television specials, as well as corporate business-to-business videos.

Kathy and Jack Wilson: From Food Photography and Film Production to Lavender Farming

Kathy collaborated on the goat-farm idea with her sister, who is since deceased, figuring out how to make their grandmother’s property their own “Green Acres.”

Rarely have goats played a role in changing someone’s life, but for Kathy Wilson, that was exactly the case.

Kathy was a renowned food photographer based in Chicago, having photographed more than 100 magazine covers and countless cookbooks. Photography was becoming increasingly digital, and Kathy wasn’t sure she wanted to make that technological transition with her work.

“Kathy had said to me, ‘Would you ever consider moving to Kansas?’ I said, ‘As long as we’re together,’ never in life thinking it would actually happen,” Jack says.

So, when she saw a presentation by two women who owned a goat farm, it all fell in line in her mind: She and her husband could transform her grandmother’s former dairy farm, near Clinton Lake, into a goat farm and leave the city life for the farm fields of Kansas.

That is not exactly how things worked out—no goats and different land, for example—but ultimately, Kathy 68

Her grandmother’s farm turned out to lack enough space for a house and had other challenges, but Kathy was set on the idea of buying land and building a home in Kansas, where she and Jack could become farmers.

She oversaw the construction of the couple’s new log home in 2004, while Jack continued to work in Chicago, as he would do for several more years, commuting between the farm and Chicago weekly.

The goat farm concept went by the wayside for various reasons, so Kathy, a master gardener, set out to find a planted crop in which to specialize. She planted more than 200 tomato plants, only to have a hail storm take

them out four weeks later. Then, she planted fields of basil and found a store to purchase her crop. After waking at 4 a.m. each day and aiming the truck lights on the plants so she could pick the leaves, she received her first check, a whopping $17.45.

She planted 800 lavender plants, only to have them all die. So, she tried another spot and another set of plants, and they died, as well. It wasn’t until they purchased some adjacent land up the hill from their house and had the soil tested by the county Kansas State Extension office that she found her farmland and her crop.

“The test said the soil was suited either for grapes or lavender. So, we started eight or 10 lavender plants on a little plot of the land, and now we have close to 6,000 plants,” Jack says.

As the farm grew, it became certified organic, and Kathy and Jack began to find outlets for their lavender products. Kathy sewed bags for sachets and other products in addition to farming, and Jack was on the farm from Thursday to Sunday each week before returning to Chicago.

Jack sold the video production company and moved to Lawrence in 2010. Since then, Washington Creek Lavender is an agritourism site, with its gift shop full of Kathy’s creations and other lavender specialties, and its fields of lavender cleverly landscaped to resemble lavender farms in Provence. The farm is a popular stop on the Kaw Valley Farm Tour and holds events throughout the year.

Lavender farming, even on well-suited soil, is not with-

out its challenges. Too much rain causes the plants to rot, and lack of hot weather affects their growth. The Wilsons have many varieties of plants, hoping to combat blights.

“We don’t make the same mistakes twice, we make them seven or eight times,” Jack jokes. “Farming is much more an art than a science.”

Although the science can spell doom, as well: Bitter cold snaps last winter affected the plants more than ever, and the Wilsons only had about 30 percent of their harvest this year versus previous years.

Even those challenges can’t dampen the couple’s enthusiasm for their newer career.

“If anyone had told me that at my age I’d be in Kansas on a farm raising lavender and loving it, I’d never believe it,” Jack says. “We wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t have a passion for it. If you don’t have a passion, it’s never going to work.” p

Healing Artists:

By Sarah Bishop, Chief Communications Officer, the Lawrence Arts Center

What’s the difference between a sculptor and a surgeon? Not much, it turns outs. Increasingly, we’re learning what makes for a good artist also makes for a good doctor, and the visual thinking acumen of Jackson Pollock was probably shared by Louis Pasteur. From art and music therapy, which help individuals process their feelings, to the incorporation of arts and humanities courses into medical school curricula, giving doctors and pharmacists the creative thinking, problem-solving and empathy skills they need to be excellent health-care providers, the blurring of the boundaries between arts and health is leading to healthier communities for us all.

Margaret Weisbrod Morris in the LAC gallery and her painting titled “Clear Beginning”.

From Artist to Art Therapist to Arts Educator: Margaret Weisbrod Morris Margaret Weisbrod Morris, chief program officer at the Lawrence Arts Center, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison then turned her focus to art therapy when she entered graduate school. “I was living in New York and working in galleries, just being a young artist, and I was finding it empty—I think I was just getting a little disillusioned with the business side of art,” Morris says. “I had a friend who was a VISTA [Volunteers in Service to America] volunteer, and I thought, ‘What a great way to give back.’ ” After getting a VISTA placement at a day treatment center for adults with mental illness and drug-addiction issues, Morris was asked to develop an art program for the clients because of her degree. It was through this experience that Morris first recognized the therapeutic power of art.

“People who felt so disconnected from the world that they hadn’t spoken in weeks would become verbal and lucid while working on art projects,” Morris recalls. “Vietnam vets with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] were able to work out their anger and talk about their experiences with 70

each other while drawing and painting. Art helped people process their feelings and start dreaming again.”

These experiences inspired Morris to get her master’s degree in art therapy at New York University under the guidance of the founder of art therapy, Edith Kramer. After practicing art therapy for several years, Morris took on more administrative roles in the arts but never stopped doing her own artwork or thinking about the power of art to heal. “While I’m not working clinically anymore,” Morris explains, “I consider what I do at the Arts Center as carrying forward the principles of art therapy. Art impacts your brain—it actually makes your brain healthier—and the impact of that has ripple effects that spread far beyond the individual, including how a person connects with their family, interacts with their immediate community and contributes to the cities in which they live and work. My awareness of all the ways that art can create healing in this world underlies everything I do.”

The Arts set the Stage for Careers in Health & Healthier Careers Melissa McCormick in the Dillon Pharmacy and her sculpture titled “Plants and Pants-Calvin”

From Ceramicist to Pharmacist: Melissa McCormick Like Morris, local pharmacist Melissa McCormick started out as someone who felt a deep connection to the fine arts.

Something about the experience of creating hand-built objects out of clay resonated with her in a way that nothing else ever had, so when she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Kansas in the 1980s, she set to work on her artist’s portfolio. But, when she found herself creating work in the day and bartending at night in order to make ends meet, she realized an art career wasn’t going to provide her with the job security or the lifestyle she wanted.

Today, McCormick is a pharmacist at the Dillon’s grocery store on Massachusetts Street, but she still finds time to practice ceramics with her ceramist-turnedfirefighter husband, Ed Noonen. The couple has a home studio with a kiln, and as McCormick’s portfolio demonstrates, just because art isn’t your full-time career doesn’t mean you can’t make great work. “It’s really hard to make a living just doing art,” McCormick admits, “but you shouldn’t let that stop you from making art. Find a balance between your professional life and your creative life, and if you want to make art, keep doing it, no matter what.”

As the connections between art and health continue to emerge, therapists and doctors, painters and potters can start to be recognized not only as either medical practitioners or arts professionals, but as healing artists who use the power of creativity and imagination to actually help people feel better. Regular creative practice can begin to be seen as an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, whether it pays the bills or it doesn’t.

As Morris says, when reflecting on her own practice, “For me, painting in the studio is like working out: I just feel better when I make time to go to the gym, and I feel better when I make time to focus on my art.”p

So, McCormick turned to pharmacy. “I wanted to help people, and I wanted to do something that required me to make creative connections and to focus on the big picture,” she explains. “Lots of people don’t understand that the main thing a pharmacist does is to put together a complex picture of a person’s health—we consider the diagnosis, drug interactions and the individual patient. That takes a lot of creativity in a weird sort of way—there’s lots of pieces of the puzzle to think about.” And, when McCormick started taking prerequisites to get in to pharmacy school, some additional benefits of her art degree surfaced. “Taking organic chemistry, for example,” McCormick says, “I realized I was really good at drawing and memorizing the structure of three-dimensional molecules. I think this was a result of all the three-dimensional thinking I had done as a ceramicist.”

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photos by Patrick Connor

LMH ROCK THE BLOCK: KICK CANCER

THE LOCAL

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LMH PENNY JONES GOLF TOURNAMENT

THE LOCAL

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LAWRENCE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT HALL OF FAME

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HASKELL ARTS FAIR

THE LOCAL

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NEWS [MAKERS] PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Good Energy Solutions, Inc. Awarded “2017 Top 500 Solar Contractors”

by Solar Power World Good Energy Solutions, Inc., a Lawrence-based solar installer, has been ranked by Solar Power World, the solar industry’s leading business to business publication and source for technology, development and installation among the 2017 Top 500 Solar Contractors in the United States. The list is the most recognized annual listing of North America’s top solar contractors working in the utility, commercial and residential markets. Companies are ranked according to influence in the industry in 2016.

“We are really pleased to make the Top 500 list for the third year in a row, and proud to be helping to make the solar industry one of the fastest job-growing sectors in America,” said President, Kevin Good. “As our business continues to grow, we will keep focusing on providing our customers with the best customer service and the highest quality products on the market.”

The Trust Company of Kansas Invests in its Team of Financial Professionals Jennifer Moore, Trust Administrator at The Trust Company of Kansas in Lawrence, recently graduated from the Schools of Banking 2017 Advanced Trust School, held in Manhattan, Kansas on August 22-24, 2017.

Course content is designed for experienced trust professionals and focuses on delivering current industry information in a collaborative and interactive environment. Completion of this course assists students in developing skills which allow them to better serve their clients’ diverse financial needs.

Heartland Community Health Center and Health Care Access to Join Forces Heartland Community Health Center and Health Care Access (HCA) would like to announce that the two organizations have signed a definitive agreement of acquisition. In a decision inspired by a shared vision to expand capacity for accessible health care in and around the community, HCA has agreed to merge their staff and assets into Heartland’s.

The anticipated result is a more unified community health access point with robust resources and staffing to support comprehensive and integrated services The two organizations announced an exploratory process and intent to merge back in June 2017. They now target February 2018 for the close of the acquisition and the transference of staff, services, and assets to Heartland, which will include the HCA’s 330 Maine St. clinic. Current renovations at the Heartland facilities in the Medical Arts Building at 346 Maine St. will further expand integrated service delivery. Neither organization anticipates any disruptions to patient care.

“This merger is about improving access to care, so naturally we are committed to assuring no disruptions to our current patient – provider relationships, “ said HCA CEO Beth Llewellyn. “Scheduling will be synchronized, so that it is as seamless as possible for patient’s to access the clinic as usual, during the integration period.”

Heartland Community Health Center serves Douglas County and surrounding areas with primary care, behavioral health care, psychiatry, dental care, and physical therapy, along with assistance programs and wrap-around services.

Services are available to all, regardless of income or insurance status. In addition to its designation as an FQHC, Heartland is also a Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), a model that emphasizes patient accessibility, as well as coordinated, compassionate and integrated care to ensure that all needs are met.

Health Care Access has been a health care provider to the uninsured poor of Douglas County for 29 years. Health Care Access aims at providing access for patients to a continuum of community-based services in order to promote health and well-being, employing a collaborative spirit and advocacy to support their efforts. The clinic’s comprehensive care approach has included three medical provider teams, counseling, referral and wellness services. Health Care Access is also a Level 3 PCMH. www.heartlandhealth.org www.healthcareaccess.org

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WHOSE DESK ?

Be the first to correctly guess which local business figure works behind this desk. Winner receives a $50 gift card to 23rd Street Brewery. facebook.com/lawrencebusinessmagazine

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