Peculiar People Podcast

Todays episode is sponsored by scripturenotes.com

This episode of the Peculiar People Podcast is brought to you by Scripturenotes.com

This Episode is sponsored by Scripturenotes.com

If you’re interested in taking a trip with Monthly Roamers, visit their website at www.monthlyroamers.com or their instagram @monthlyroamers.

Hayden Davis and Dustin Larsen are young professionals living in new york city, they are both active members of the LDS church, openly gay and have been foundational in starting a movement toward inclusion within the church by starting and promoting a weekly scripture study group for LGBTQ members and their friends within their wards. The program has spread like wildfire and not only strengthened testimonies, but helped people find a comfortable place where they can find common ground and help each other along their journey. On this episode, Dustin and Hayden discuss how they came to find and iterate this program, their life and struggle with being gay and Mormon, as well as what has helped sustain them and bring them back to their faith while still having many unanswered questions. They discuss the future both culturally and doctrinally, mental health, pride week, and what a “grandpa gay” is.

Jenn Blosil is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter/musician based out of Orem Utah. born in Vienna, Austria Jenn discovered her love of music at age 4 when she began playing piano. Jenn grew up in Orem, Utah and began writing her own songs at age 12. She took her technical training and transitioned her love of music from classical to rock and has crafted songs of a unique sound that blends every genre in between. Initially shy about performing, Jenn was peer-pressured into her first solo performance at Velour at the age of 16 - and she knew then and there that music was her calling. Jenn used a Kickstarter campaign to launch her first album at the age of 21, and released it days before leaving on an LDS mission to New York. Since then she has performed all over the country, touring and working with some of the most well known artists in the industry. She even had a stint on American Idol, placing in the top 14. On this episode, Nate and Jenn sit down to discuss her life and the role her testimony has played in her music. Jenn dishes on bullying, being uncompromising when you know what you want, and handling the successes and failures that come from chasing your dream. Stay tuned to the end of the episode, where Jenn gives us a preview from her upcoming album with a live performance of the song “woman” (01:17:07).

This episode is sponsored by the new app - scripture notescheck out the best way to study your scriptures at Scripturenotes.com

Judy Pham is a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who grew up Buddhist in Northern California as a child or Vietnamese Immigrants. She moved to New York as a teenager and lived there for 10 years before moving back to the West Coast. Judy has was chosen to share her experiences at the recent Mormon Studies Conference at Claremont University as part of a panel of 4 LDS people discussing Millennials and mormonism. On today’s episode Judy and Nate discuss the fascinating statistics regarding Millennials and their influence on changes in church culture, policy, politics and more. She provides some very thought provoking ideas that were shared regarding LDS singles, LGBTQ issues, Millennial men leaving the church, Race and socioeconomic status within the church and the differences between culture across locations.

Keaton Hill is a BYU student from Arizona, studying politics and living the college life in Provo, UT. He is a member of the LDS church, and also runs the hilarious and highly popular instagram account @basicprovobro, which uses memes to parody the Peculiarities of LDS culture, particularly those of young single adults living in Utah. His instagram account has almost 40,000 followers and, in combination with other LDS focused meme accounts, has received a lot of attention for hilarious content as well as stirring some controversy. On tonight’s episode, Keaton sits down with Nate to discuss his “persona” as basic provo bro, along with some of the memes, moments and controversial posts that have driven conversation among his followers . They talk about misconceptions about social media, what people are particularly offended by and why we all should learn to take ourselves a little less seriously.

Richard Ostler is a 58 year old small business owner, former YSA bishop, husband and father of 6 children. He started a podcast in February 2018 called Listen, Learn and Love which shares the stories of the LGBTQ community within the LDS Church . From their website, “Listen, Learn, and Love was created out of the desire to better understand our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. We believe in God and in His decree to love one another, and this website is one of the ways in which we hope to foster that love and understanding”. Richard has posted almost 100 episodes of his podcast in just over a year! On this episode Nate sits down with Richard to discuss who he is and why he felt it was necessary to devote a website and podcast entirely to LGBTQ issues (05:00). They discuss How his mindset is different from many of his peers (15:30), the concept of “Church Generated Pain (35:30) and Richard tells some of the stories he’s heard that have had a lasting affect on him (50:30). They talk about the perfectionism culture in the church community and feelings of shame that can often come with sin, but how that is the beauty of the atonement and the beauty of progression (1:08:30) and then wrap up with a discussion about how great a time it is to be alive and what he foresees in the future (01:15:30).

Saints Unscripted is a popular YouTube television program that uses a roundtable format of 3-4 “hosts” to discuss a myriad topics relevant to members or investigators of the LDS church. The program was founded in 2016 by BYU students and has since released 231 videos, with topics ranging from the comical to the spiritual, the doctrinal to the cultural and everything in between. On today’s episode Rachel (producer), Justin (host) and Nate discuss the shows beginning, how it has evolved over time from content to hosts to format, its growing popularity and some of the many important topics that the show has taken on. Show content includes topics like - the unique beliefs held by member of the lds church, same-sex attraction, divorce, mental illness, how to handle being a recent convert to the church - and many more. Look for a special episode of Saints Unscripted featuring us at Peculiar People very soon!

Morgan Reber is a professional marketer and advertiser. in her free-time she hosts a podcast called “She Speaks”, which tackles feminist issues young women in the LDS church face today.

Charlie Williams is a recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Having grown up in a religious family in New York City, this smart, thoughtful young college graduate enjoyed years of success in modeling while pursuing her professional goals. After moving back from Miami and taking a job in Manhattan, a series of coincidences and chance meetings led her to reach out to the LDS missionaries, and eventually to baptism. Her story is one of the most interesting and inspiring you will ever hear! she has been featured on Saints Unscripted , podcasts and from many a pulpit. On this episode Nate and Charlie (with cameo’s from her friend and fellow YSA Julie Brooks) discuss her life story, her family and upbringing, their chance meeting in Chelsea Market and the many small instances of fate that led to her finding the gospel. Then they discuss her life since joining the church, and Charlie offers a lot of wisdom regarding what keeps her testimony strong and what gives her doubts.

We are officially back! What a crazy first year we had. Gavin Johnson drops by to discuss whats happening at thepeculiarppl.com and with our community of friends (2:30), then we deep dive with Morgan Jones of LDS Living on 2018 the year of change (10:30)! We discuss some of the impact to the culture that changes in procedure have caused - whether it be 2 hour church or Prophets on social media. Then, we makes some bold prefictions for 2019 and beyond...

Mandie Sherman was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as an infant, and has outlived her initial life expectancy by 11 years. While conquering her disease, she has inspired others struggling with CF by running competitive track in high school and college, getting married and having a child (a feat that is so rare doctors do not even recommend their patience make the attempt) and starting the popular blog shermanarmy.com, which documents her day-to-day as a wife, mother, sibling and “souldier” living with CF. On this episode, Mandie gives Nate an education on CF, including what it does to your lungs and how rare the disease actually is. They discuss her upbringing and how her parents chose to raise two children with CF. They chat about the role her religion has played in her outlook on life and what she can do with her time here on earth, the inspiration behind the “sherman army” and much, much more.

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Bob Gardner is a husband, father of 6 kids, Kung Fu practitioner and personal coach.  In 2017 he founded Liberateaman.com, a website dedicated to "Taking men from the pit of addiction to the heights of freedom by building a life that simply works on every possible level."  On this episode of the podcast, Nate and Co-host Gavin discover Bob's personal journey of addiction recovery, one that started when he was a teenager and persisted throughout his adult life, almost costing him his family, his marriage and even his life.  Bob explains how he turned his life around, and how he took what he learned and developed his method of coaching which he believes can take someone from being an addict for life to being cured for good.  

Kortni Niccoli is a young entrepreneur who started the Swimwear brand Kortni Jeane .  Established in 2014, Kortni launched Kortni Jeane in hopes of bringing you swimmers that represent your personality without having to pay for a custom suit.  Kortni wanted to create a swimmer that every person, no matter their body type, feels comfortable and. confident in, and it all started with a sewing machine and a dream.  Today, Kortni Jeane is a global brand selling to thousands of Women, Kids and Men and not only that, giving back to the community.  Kortni has done all of this while navigating her early twenties, living her faith, getting married and starting a family.  On this episode, Kortni takes Nate back to the humble roots of her swim brand and how a few small decisions here and there led her down a path toward her life's work.  They discuss the amazing community that has been built through Kortni Jeane, including the charity work being done and the girls club that she established to help teens find a place they can feel comfortable and uplift each other.  

Brittany Frank was living the dream as a spirited 21 year old cross country runner at Utah State University when a tragic repelling accident left her paralyzed from the waist down.  In the 6 years since her accident, Brittany has chosen to share her story of resilience and finding joy in her circumstance, while at the same time getting married, working full time, becoming a dog mom and then a human mom to a very cute 8 month old son named Will.   On this episode of the podcast, Nate is joined by guest host Morgan Jones (of episode 29), a close friend of Brittany's, to tell get to the bottom of Brittany's uncanny attitude towards trials and assist in re-telling her inspiring story of healing, hope, joy and grief.    

Olive Oatman was a 13 year old Mormon pioneer heading west when a group of Yavapai Indians ambushed her group, killed her family and took her and her sister as slaves.  She was eventually traded to a tribe of Mohave, where she was thought of as family.  They gave her a face tattoo and raised her as one of their own.  On today's Peculiar Histories episode, we explore the details of her 5 years spent living with Native Americans. Of her time in with the Mohave, she spoke lovingly and with adoration.  They took care of her needs and allowed her to fully integrate.  After a couple of years, she was traded back to white society.  We discuss the rough transition she experienced, as she was visibly marked by another culture.  By many, she was viewed as an outsider, resulting in a clash of cultures.  Having been abducted at such a young age and forced to adapt to a new life, Olive no doubt went through serious psychological strain when she re-entered white society.  The sensational story of her kidnapping and life among Native Americans struck a chord with the American public.  Olive left behind a lasting and impactful cultural legacy.  She is the first documented white American woman to bear a tattoo.  She also is the namesake of the town Oatman, Arizona.  Numerous works in literature, film, and television have used Olive Oatman's story as an inspiration. Her life as a cultural hybrid still resonates with historians, academics, and audiences today.  

Ryan Ogden is from Richfield, Utah and is the Executive Director of Revive Humanity. He graduated from Utah Valley University with a communication degree and loves to do just that, COMMUNICATE. Either in Tagalog, Spanish, or English he loves to interact and be with people. After a two year mission for his Church in the Philippines he founded and became the Executive Director of Philippine Improvement Group (This is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that leads the way to improvement by teaching, healing, and increasing the stability in the Philippines). He has lead many service tours to the Philippines and other places around the world. He taught the language of Tagalog at the Missionary Training Center for 2 years. In 2011 He founded Revive Humanity, an international, non-profit, non-government, non-denominational, humanitarian organization dedicated to the pursuit of providing long-term solutions and sustainability to individuals and communities.  On this episode of the Podcast, Nate and Ryan do a deep dive on his experiences serving all around the world, and the very personal, very inspirational reason he chose to spend the last 10 years living a unique life of service instead of the more traditional path of marriage and family.  

Kimmi Wernli is the President and owner of Crazy Richard's Peanut Butter Co., who's peanut related products range from Peanut butter to almond butter to cashew butter and much more.  As a second-generation business owner of Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter, Kimmi is a leader in the peanut industry and a successful woman entrepreneur. She is a mom of four who values the importance of feeding children and families foods in their natural form.  She values her faith above all else and instills those values into her company.  On this episode, Nate and Kimmi do a deep dive on the peanut industry, her challenges being a wife, mother and business owner, the amazing history of Crazy Richard's and how she came to be the President, and how her faith has inspired all of her family's big decisions.

Michael S Sorensen is a marketing executive by day and a best-selling author and personal-development junkie by night.  Michael's award winning book, I Hear You, was published in 2017 and is consistently the #1 selling book in multiple categories.  Michael is from Provo, Utah and has spent years studying effective communication skills including that of Validation, which his book is based upon.  Michael is also an optimist who believes that opportunities for growth, success, and happiness are unlimited for those who are willing to put in the work. On this episode, Nate grills Michael on his journey to writing his book at the ripe young age of 30, the catalysts and trials involved, the fear and doubt about doing something you don't have experience in as well as the inspiration, successes, setbacks and faith required to get his work written, recorded and published. 

Breea and Cody Bringham are newlyweds, influencers, entrepreneurs and most importantly filmmakers!  They describe their films as small snippets of life's most important moments.  Their films are all set to incredible soundtracks and utilize slow motion.  Breea and Cody have also started vlogging on YouTube where they have documented their story as well as the trials of their engagement, renovating a house together, their many travels and even a film about Cody getting a haircut!  Through these films and vlogs they have developed a community of loyal followers who they provide instructional videos as to how to document life's important moments, what equipment to use, answer Q&A's on vulnerable subjects and ultimately provide lots of examples of what a beautiful partnership they have.  On this episode, Breea and Cody walk Nate through their history together, how they met, their niche in the filmmaking industry and building their business, the rise of their vlogs and the amazing community they've built, the struggles of their engagement, bucket list locations and much more!

Andy Proctor is a Blogger, Academic and Positive Psychology activist.  For the past few years, Andy has dedicated his life to the study of Happiness and the never ending pursuit we all have to live happy lives.  Throughout his journey, he has spent time seeking out the experts in this field, attaining a deep understanding of the science behind the theories, putting them into practice in his own life and sharing his learnings with the world.  Andy's Blog, Morehappylife provides people with resources and training to empower people to live happier lives by utilizing techniques that emphasize positivity, gratitude and practicing an optimistic outlook on life.   On this episode, Nate and Andy discuss Andy's background and what got him so interested in the field of studying happiness, as well as what positive psychology means to them.  They discuss the correlations between LDS culture and happiness as well as the interesting areas where LDS enclaves score higher and lower on the happiness scale.  

Heidi Tucker is an author, speaker, wife, mother and grandmother from Phoenix, Arizona. Heidi won a 2018 Illumination Award for her new release Servie’s Song. She also won a similar award for her first inspirational book Finding Hope in the Journey in 2017.  Her passion for writing and speaking about light and hope has inspired thousands. Heidi is known as a great storyteller who believes that every story not only teaches a gospel principle, but can make you feel it. She has inspired many to rise up, cling to their faith and position their hearts to recognize God’s hand in their life.  When Heidi isn’t writing her next book, or speaking at a conference, you’ll find her spending time outdoors with her husband, four grown children and eight grandchildren. She loves sunflowers, hiking and ice cream … not necessarily in that order.  On this Episode, Nate and Heidi discuss the inspiration behind her books (you will be blown away by her story) as well as some of life's difficulties including separation from loved ones and coming home early from an LDS mission.  They chat about the circumstances that led to her becoming a writer and speaker in the later stages of life and her writing process, as well as the incredible story that inspired her latest release Servie's Song. You can check out more from Heidi as well as buy her books from her website, thepickledsunflower.com

Morgan Jones is a journalist, blogger and editor who began writing for DeseretNews.com as an intern in 2014. She has since published more than 350 stories. Jones is a passionate storyteller and loves having the opportunity to share stories that deserve to be told.  a North Carolina Native, Jones attended BYU, graduating with a degree in Public Relations in 2012.  After a short career in Public Relations, Morgan transitioned into a career in Journalism (which is her passion) after responding to someone looking for an intern for the Des News on Facebook.  Morgan is also an accomplished Blogger.  Her website, alittlepencil.com, is her first person account and opinions based on her experiences as a faith writer for a major newspaper.  in her words, the blog allows her to be "a little pencil in god's hands".   On this episode of the podcast, Nate, Morgan and co-host Elliot discuss Morgan's upbringing in North Carolina, her love of the Tar Heels and initial hate of BYU, her passion to be a storyteller and how that got her to the Deseret News, her opinions and perceptions of BYU and Utah Mormons, giving Kelly Clarkson a Book of Mormon and much more.  They discuss her favorite stories she's told both from the lens of the Deseret News as well as on her blog, Morgan offers up some advice for aspiring writers and the crew spends some time predicting what will happen at LDS General Conference (Spoiler alert** we predicted Elder Gong to the quorom of the 12!).

Alex Balinski is an Entrepreneur from Provo Utah who's directory of missionary preparation interviews and life stories have been viewed millions of times by users all over the world.  His website allows a user to record a "Lifey" - essentially a life story via selfie - and upload to lifey.org where it can be used to offer advice on subjects pertinent to an individuals life experience.  Alex is currently working on a Lifey app which will allow users to crowd source answers to common life questions via video blogs - with the hopes to become a curated "video wikipedia".  Alex currently lives in Provo with his wife and 3 children.

Kirby Heyborne is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, narrator and comedian. He is known for his work in The Three Stooges and LDS films. Heyborne has also worked extensively as an audiobook narrator.  He lives and works in Southern California with his wife and 3 children where he is acting, doing improv, narrating audiobooks and serving multiple callings in his local LDS community.  On this episode, Nate and Kirby chat about his humble beginnings at battle of the bands, meeting his wife, the spawn of LDS cinema and his role in that, the amount of work that goes into audiobook narration, the trials of auditioning in Hollywood, his "controversial" beer commercial and much, much more. 

In our second foray into Peculiar Histories, host Elliot Morris tells us the story of John Koyle and The Relief Mining Company.  A resident of Utah County, Utah in the late 1800's, John Koyle had a dream, a dream that he believed would provide the means to ensure financial stability of the LDS church well into the 20th century and beyond.  Over 100 years later, the Relief Mining Company and the "Dream Mine" is still a subject that inspires fascination, mystery and plenty of controversy...

Brad and Jay are Southern California Natives who are passionate about their families, the church, surfing, and the 12 Steps of Change known as the ARP Program.  They co-host a podcast, The Next Step Podcast which they started in 2016, that discusses the LDS Churches ARP program and the joys of recovery and sobriety.  They focus their discussion on weekly news and each week focus on 1 of the 12 steps to recovery found on arp.lds.org.    On this episode, Nate sits down with Brad and Jay in southern California to discuss their story - including Jay's struggle with opiate addiction and his journey to sobriety - as well as the founding of their podcast and ways to help people whose lives have become unmanageable due to addiction.  They chat about the resources available to people both in and out of the LDS community that can help deal with addiction and the need to discuss this important topic in a more transparent and meaningful way.  

Michelle Gifford is a podcast host, entrepreneur and full time wife/mother.  Her podcast (which she co-hosts with Sarah Allred), The Women With Fire, features LDS women of influence and focuses on sharing advice on how to utilize the spiritual to inspire people to launch careers or go after their dreams.  The goal of The Women with Fire is to build "A nation of warrior women who feel guided by the Divine to build empires of truth at home, in business, and abroad." On this episode of the podcast, Nate and Michelle discuss social media, women empowerment, being inspired and what to do with that inspiration, one sentence descriptions of her favorite guests and much more!

It's a creative round table episode featuring members of the Inspirational Art Association, an organization designed to promote the creation of uplifting, spiritually oriented works of art in all types of media.  Jason Woodward and Gavin Johnson sit down with artists Dan Wilson, Shaun Anderson and Sandra Rast to learn about what inspires their art, with the help of Mark and Cindy Latimore who are the president and show director, respectively.  

Brooke Eliason (pronounced “e-listen”), is a 20 something native of Salt Lake City who was raised in a "blogger family" (her mom and sister also have successful blogs), where her mother taught her the love of all things food and photography. She started Female Foodie in 2010 while she was living in the little touristy town of West Yellowstone, Montana (population 1,321) and decided to document her experiences trying every single restaurant in town. After leaving West Yellowstone, she continued to document and promote favorite foodie spots that she felt everyone should know about. In 2014 she jumped on the social media bandwagon and, for the first time, was able to experience being a part of the foodie community. Today, femalefoodie.com consists of over 30 contributors in 15 cities, who do everything from review popular restaurants to rank the best places to eat in different cities. On today's episode, Nate and Brooke discuss their mutual love of food, and how that love led Brooke to start what was initially a food blog after waiting tables during her summers in West Yellowstone. They chat about the importance of having a catchy name and keeping your url (09:00), the early stages of the blog and how it has evolved over time with help from social media and the "foodie" community (15:00) and how food guides have become their main source of content (20:00). Brooke takes us through her process of selecting her contributors and how she grew her little blog into a fully fledged business (25:00) and some of her most popular/favorite content (29:30). Brooke discusses the feedback she gets from her followers/readers and the cities where Female Foodie has the biggest wealth of recommendations (34:00) including Austin, TX and New York City. Brooke talks about how she chooses her restaurants to review and how she avoids writing negative reviews (44:00). Nate asks what Brooke's favorite foods are and they go off on a Mexican food rant, before finishing with a countdown of her favorite restaurants in Salt Lake City, Portland, Park City, New York and Dallas (50:00). They finish the podcast with a "7 seconds or less" segment where we get to know Brooke a bit better (58:00) before previewing what's upcoming from female foodie in the near future!

Al Carraway is an LDS convert, writer, multi-award-winning speaker, and author to best-selling book, "More Than the Tattooed Mormon," and "Cheers to Eternity!".  Originally from New York, she now lives in Utah with her husband, Ben, and her two kids, Gracie and Christian.  Her passion it is to tell everyone that happiness exists, and it comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She has won multiple awards for her work including the 2016 — Woman + Biz Award and the 2014 — Donald C. Sloan Speech Award.  On today's Episode, Nate and Drew chat with Al (once again from a closet) about her recent disastrous trip to the chiropractor (3:30), her day job working for the LDS church (10:00) and her backstory as a very rambunctious child (13:30).  They start to get into her conversion story before Al calls Nate out for asking the most obvious question about meeting the missionaries (16:30).  They talk about Al's life-changing moment and how she initially took the missionaries commitments as a challenge to prove them wrong (24:00).  Her move to Utah proves to be harder than she initially thought (27:00) but through adversity found her calling.  Al discusses the concept of "re-occuring thoughts" (32:00) and how they help her with decision making, and they discuss the role of faith and how it requires action and sometimes patience (38:00).  They toss around the logic of outcome vs the logic of appropriateness and how it can ease the stress of making important life choices, and how Al has become relevant through her gift to crystalize the feelings we all go through with her writing and speeches (43:00).  in our 7 seconds or less segment we learn a TON more about Al (52:00) including her take on the weirdness of Mormon culture (57:00) before finishing with our favorite hot seat question (01:00:00).   

On the inaugural episode of "Peculiar Histories," host Elliot Morris takes you back in time to the mid-19th century.  Residents of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho were on edge as reports of a creature lurking under the waters of Garden City's Bear Lake.  Was this creature based on something real or was it an elaborate hoax?  How did these stories start? What effect did they have on the community? Are there still sightings today? Join us as we explore these questions and much more on "Peculiar Histories."

Tyler Brown, aka "Ty the Dog Guy", is a world renown Dog Trainer, having spent the last 10 years training dogs all over the world for the likes of professional athletes, celebrities and Police departments.  In 2006, Ty started his business online (tythedogguy.com) and it's success has allowed him to travel the world training while raising a family of 4 children with his wife in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Ty has written multiple books and DVD series' on dog training while also engaging in speaking events and public appearances on TV, Radio and (now) podcasts.  On this episode, Nate and co-host Drew (Business & tech editor) sit down to chat with Ty about his early years of dog training and how being on the verge of bankruptcy launched his dog training career (14:30).  Ty brags about his own dogs - a rare breed that only he breeds called a Cão Fila de São Miguel - and how much it would cost to own one (19:00) and then discusses the most difficult breeds to train (22:30).  The guys drill Ty on some of his most sensational stories including his trip to Oman (28:30), his oblivious work for a drug cartel in Mexico, a Russian mafia boss and a gangster from England (32:00).  Ty has the best Shaquille O'neal story we've ever heard (warning it's not a story for the kids) (41:00), and Drew peppers Ty with questions about his own puppy, Bernie (@berniethelab), (50:00).  They finish the podcast talking about the future of Ty's business  and Ty gives his advice on how to win a "best of state" award (59:00) 

Emily Buckley is a Entrepreneur, storyteller, wife, mother of 5 and founder of Cache Valley Family Magazine.  Originally from the small town of Shelley Idaho Emily founded Cache Valley Family Magazine in 2014 after moving to Logan Utah with her husband's job and deciding to follow her dream of pursuing her passion for journalism.  She came up with the idea based on moving around a lot in her young marriage, emulating ideas she had seen be successful in bringing communities together and adding a few of her own to develop a crowd sourced, locally focused magazine.  On today's episode, she sits down with Nate to discuss everything from Huge mormon families, giving birth without an epidural, having a chip on your shoulder, inspiration from hall of fame coach Lou Holtz and much more.  Most importantly they spend time talking about the success of Cache Valley Family Magazine and how it will expand into more communities in the future.  They talk about the "Best of" awards and what that has meant to the local community and she also teases the release of CVFM's own podcast which will be launching later in January!

It's another Peculiar countdown on the Peculiar People Podcast.  on Today's episode Nate and Gavin countdown their lists of top mormon athletes of all time with the help of a very special guest, former BYU and Utah State Quarterback Riley Nelson!  The guys catch up with Riley since his playing days ended in 2012 and jump into their lists of greatest LDS athletes.  Some of the names on the list will surprise you!  

Trapper Roderick is a young entrepreneur.  at 28 years old, He is the founder and CEO of True Gentleman Supply Co., a bespoke clothing company founded in 2013 that specializes in custom tailored menswear.  Today, True Gentleman is a nationwide brand who has outfitted everyone from NFL players to Billboard award winning musicians and your everyday Groom-to-be.  On this episode, Nate and Trapper talk about the trial and error of becoming a successful Entrepreneur (8:00), the beginnings of TG and what inspired him to start the company (18:00), overcoming fear of failure and his debt riddled rough start (24:00) and his wife's influence on his life and business (26:00).  Trapper discusses some of the highlights of his work including outfitting some famous athletes (31:00) and his plans for growing True Gentleman into new markets (39:00).  They discuss overcoming weaknesses and what he believes is the "secret sauce" to his marketing (47:00).  During fan questions, trapper reveals his feminine side (49:30) and they finish with  a game of hot seat regarding where to turn when life gets difficult (51:00) 

It's a special Christmas themed episode of the podcast featuring Christmas stories, traditions and memories from some our our favorite Podcast guests.  Brooke Romney shares with us her time honored tradition of "Secret Pals" (7:00),  Chelsea Hightower talks about her love of American Girl dolls and sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas eve eve (10:00) and Nate Pyfer talks about his musical Christmases before his son interrupts with a hilarious cameo (15:00).  Lexa Jorgenson talks about her tradition of traveling over Christmas and what country does Christmas best (26:00) and we finish with KC Clyde recapping the year in Movies, Celebrity News and his new tradition of Elf on the Shelf (37:00).  

Richie Steadman is a Radio Host, Producer, Thespian and founder of the popular LDS podcast The Cultural Hall .  Known around Zion as “Richie T,” Richie has worked for the last 14 years as the producer and "mormon voice" of the popular Utah radio show "Radio from Hell".  In 2011 he started the Cultural Hall Podcast and the rest, as they say, is history.  On this episode, Nate and Richie go off on many tangents regarding Richie's past and love for radio/podcasting (12:00), his love of dance and the stigma around straight guy dancers (16:00), sleeping in his car, his caffeine-free lifestyle (19:00) and his beginnings at X96 (25:00).  Richie tells the story of his past relationships, heartbreak, excommunication, re-fellowshipping and his time at clown college in Chicago which changed his life (30:00).  Richie talks his 1st marriage, being a stepdad and what it's like to raise a teenage boy who isn't your own (41:00).  The guys finally discuss The Cultural Hall and its formation, expansion and endurance in mormon media (45:00).   They discuss what makes a good podcast and how he handles touchy subjects and unique approaches to guests (58:00), his influences and favorite podcasts (01:09:00) and what its like to be on an atheist's show (01:11:00).  They finish with the ultimate in fan question segments (01:20:00) and learn about regrets during Hot Seat (01:26:00).

Brooke Romney is a professional blogger, columnist and author who is known for her passionate and personal blog, Brooke Romney Writes.  Via her website brookeromney.com , Brooke blogs about Marriage, Parenting, Holidays, Travel, Food, Books, Love and Life. Aside from blogging, Brooke is a speaker and freelance writer who resides in Kaysville, UT with her husband and 4 boys. One of Brooke's recent and most popular posts is titled, "Why we are taking the FUN out of life."  Brooke also has a monthly column that is published in the Deseret News.  On this episode, Nate jumps outside his comfort zone to chat with Brooke on topics including reading, writing and finding your calling in life.  They chat about her influences, how she met her husband and started her family and how experiencing hardships re-shaped her writing style in a more meaningful and personal way.  Brooke explains how her blog has slowly grown over time and some of the articles she is most proud of.  She gives Nate some future parenting advice and discusses her ideas for the future, including penning her first novel!

Rosie Card is an Entrepreneur, author, former high fashion model and "self-proclaimed paper-doll-making master".  In 2015, Rosie created QNOOR.com  to ensure that women have dresses as special and beautiful as going to the Temple feels.  In her own words, "When shopping for my first temple dress, I felt a little disappointed with the options. The temple felt like such a special and personal experience, but I couldn't find anything that felt very special or "me" at all. As more and more of my friends entered the temple, I've observed that my temple dress experience wasn't unique to me. I created Q.NOOR to ensure that women have dresses as special and beautiful as going to the temple feels."  On this episode, Nate and Rosie sit down and discuss the founding of Q.NOOR Temple Dress and how Rosie was inspired to create her own clothing company.  They branch off on topics including what it means to be a "Stay at home YSA" (03:00), her experience in high fashion modeling (12:00),  what it was like to work for the church (17:00), and what it means to be an LDS feminist in 2017 (26:00).  Rosie discusses her upcoming book Model Mormon, which will be hitting shelves this winter (34:00),  the role of social media in her business and how she separates that from her personal life (36:00) and some of the unanticipated perks of starting your own business (41:00).  Rosie and Nate finish by chatting about how to handle negative feedback and why it's important to have positive dialogues on subjects we don't have the answers to (48:00).   

Wes Eggett and Jason Farrell are the hosts of Talks on Talks, a Mormon-themed podcast that uses stories and humor to revisit talks from LDS General Conference. The hosts of the show are two regular guys who just like to chit chat when they're not studying for medical and dental school.  Every episode begins with a biography and fun facts about the speaker before a discussion of the principles of the talk. At the end of each episode, they have a segment called "The Virtuous, Lovely, Good Report" where they share something positive they came across during the week.  On this episode of PPP, Nate sits down with the guys to discuss their idea for the podcast and how their shared love of spiritual conversation led them to launch their show.  The guys chat about the themes and lessons that seem to be consistent when breaking down a session of conference, how it's benefitted their lives individually as well as within their family, their favorite talks they've broken down on the show and the future evolution of Talks on Talks.  They finish the show with a crossover segment of "The Virtuous, Lovely, Good Report".  You can find their show on the Apple Podcasts directory and check out their website, www.talksontalks.com

Cooper Boice is an American entrepreneur who started the popular LDS dating app Mutual.  To date, Mutual has over 100,000 active users worldwide in over 100 countries and has been featured in many popular news outlets including CNN, Deseret News, LDS Living and more.  On this episode, Nate and Co-host Whitney pepper Cooper and his wife Brittany with questions about where the idea for the app came from, how they came up with the name Mutual (06:00) and how Cooper's own dating history changed his perspective on LDS dating (10:00).  They chat about Tinder and how it changed everything when it comes to online dating (15:00) and how Coopers uncle helped him crystalize his good idea and turn it into a business (19:00).  Nate challenges Cooper to describe what Mutual is to his parents who don't understand online dating (22:00) and why there shouldn't be a stigma around couples finding each other on a dating app (26:00).  Cooper gets into the stats behind Mutual and how the global nature of the app is providing dating opportunities worldwide (30:00), then speculates on what the future of the app will bring (35:00).  Brittany tells the story of how she met Cooper and laughs about how he wouldn't tell her about the business he was working on when they first started dating (40:00).  During fan questions, Cooper offers brilliant dating advice for guys on how to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack (46:00) and asks Whitney and Nate what they like and don't like about the app (49:00).  Cooper and Brittany get invited to a Mutual wedding (01:00:00, video on our instagram), and of course, they finish with a game of Hot Seat (01:07:00).  

Jared Shores is an American movie and television producer, who (along with Co-Creator Matt Meese) founded the wildly popular sketch comedy show Studio C for BYUtv in 2012.  Studio C currently has a YouTube channel with over 1.5 million subscribers and more than a billion total views. Today, Jared lives with is wife and children in Southern California where he works as a movie and television producer.   On this episode, Nate and co-host Gavin take a look at the founding of Studio C, and Jared relays the humble beginnings of getting a job at BYUtv all the way to how studio c became a cultural phenomonon.  They discuss how Jared determined the best way to market the show, the difficulties of trying to be clean while still being hilarious and what it's like to record in front of a live studio audience while a general authority is in attendance!   

A special Halloween themed episode of the podcast! With 10 days until our favorite spooky holiday, Nate sits down with the editors of thepeculiarppl.com to rank the top ten scary movies rated PG13 or below.  We have compiled the ultimate list of movies for those horror fans who enjoy being scared but could use a little less violence, gore, language or sex getting in the way (your welcome).  So have no fear!  The pesky pesky "R" rating doesn't make an appearance in our list.

Conner Castagno is a compliance analyst for American Express who lives in New York City and attends church at a Manhattan singles ward. Matt Peterson works in marketing for a large New York City based music label and also attends a Manhattan YSA ward. Mike Barney works in Finance in New York City and attends LDS services every other week with his boyfriend, who is Catholic. On today's episode, Nate discusses with the guys their unique stories of who they are and how they navigate being active members of the church who are also openly gay. They discuss what options gay members of the LDS Church feel they are presented with when it comes to living the gospel (7:00), how they navigate their desire to have a family and procreate with their desire to live faithfully (15:00) and the questions that are commonly asked by their LDS friends and family about being gay (21:00). The guys explain to Nate how they navigate potential contradictions between lifestyle and gospel doctrine and why they choose to stay in the church (28:00). Nate is surprised at how supportive and accepting the members of the church have been to them, and asks what changes they'd hope to see culturally in the future (32:00). The guys offer differing views and advice for gay members of the church who are struggling to navigate the coming out process and still be active participants in the church (42:00) and how their views of having a family have evolved over time (48:00). They finish the conversation sharing some funny stories and reactions to their coming out process (55:00) and end with a great game of hot seat (01:09:00).

Alexa Jorgensen is a professional marketer and host of the popular podcast Munchin' With Moguls, which highlights "inspiring women who are changing and shaping the community around them".  On this episode Nate jumps into the deep end with Alexa on her unique upbringing and family dynamic (6:00), her decision to ditch school and jump right into her career (10:00), the people she met along the way that inspired her to start a podcast (12:00), starting her podcast and the amazing takeaways she's learned from her interviews (22:00) and some common struggles that she has heard from even the most "successful" people (26:00).  Alexa talks social media obsessions and the logic behind the concept of unfollowing someone because "you love them too much" (30:00) and gives her advice to those who want to follow an unconventional path in life (36:00).  Alexa gives her vision for the future of "Munchin'"(39:00) and how she manages the podcast while trying to maintain a balanced life (42:00), and then finishes with some fan questions (48:00) and hot seat (53:00).  Alexa tells a really funny story to end the show that may or may not embarrass one of the contributors to our website (56:00).  

James Brandt Curran is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. James is more commonly known by his stage name 'James The Mormon'. Although he doesn't make religious music, he believes in being open and true to who you are hence the moniker James The Mormon.  On this episode of the Podcast, Nate, Gavin and Daniel sit down with James in his office and discuss the turning point that inspired him to coin the nickname "James the Mormon" (9:00), How a video blog gone viral on YouTube sent his life in a new direction (12:30), His first foray into Hip Hop music and how he literally fought the inspiration to "rap to share the gospel" (18:00).  James recounts how his hobby of rapping and creating hip hop music with a positive message blew up into an overnight success (21:00) and with that overnight success James is caught of guard by all of the haters thinking he was using the moniker to make money off of Mormonism (24:00).  We then get a glimpse into what James is working on now (30:00), how he turned his fear of public speaking into motivation to share his testimony through firesides on the regular (37:00), and we finish with an inspiring hot seat question (43:00).