RecReflect with Jordan and Will

Jordan and Will sit down with Mary Hemenes, TRAPS President and Recreation Manager for the City of Round Rock, to talk about how she got started with parks and rec, what she is hoping for this year as TRAPS President and why leadership matters to her so much.

City of Grapevine Parks and Recreation Deputy Director and TRAPS President Trent Kelly joins Jordan and Will to discuss the big plans he has for the upcoming year and how he is encouraging people to get involved with TRAPS. On this episode, they discuss Trent's past and current involvement in TRAPS, his leadership style, the growth of his network and community within Parks and Rec because of his TRAPS involvement and how investing in your job and yourself are essential to a rewarding career. Tune in to learn more about how Trent's experiences and mentors have shaped him into the professional he is today and how he giving back through his invovlement with TRAPS. 

City of Frisco Special Event Supervisor Jennifer Russell joins Jordan and Will to discuss how the Frisco Parks and Recreation Department is creating culturally inclusive community events in a fast-growing community with diverse demographics and interests. 

 Jordan, Will and friend of the show, Jeff Achee, chat with Texas Representative for the 136 district, John Bucy. John shares tips on how to get involved and be proactive with your local representative. Make sure you come out to the Play Day at the Capitol (April 28, 2022).

Luis Ibarra, City of Duncanville, and the guys chop it up at the North Region Conference to talk about a hot button issue, leadership of the future. Luis shares the young recreation professional perspective while explaining how recreation captured his heart. You wont want to miss hearing Luis, future leader/rockstar in TRAPS.

The guys sit down with Mick & Kevin and chat about something that impacts all recreation professionals, facility design. Mick & Kevin describe the entire process from the funding to 20 years out. Come listen to some great advice to get started on your facility.

Jordan and Will sit down with Jen & Kate, City of Allen, and talk all things communication. Whether it is workflow, leadership or avoiding the dread "reply all," Jen & Kate share some great philosophies to help you communicate better.

The guys sit down with an old camp friend turned educator and reflect on how working in recreation helped give them skills to do their jobs now. Make sure to listen to Will's new segment and hear Jordan stumble through questions like you would see on the CPRP exam. 

Season 1 finale "Trappy Hour" It is the last one for season one and the boys are back with an episode that is too conceptual to be funny, not funny enough to be immersive. Jordan interviews Daniel, the producer, and Will and Jordan listen and give feedback. They talk about everything from dealing with difficult coworkers to managing expectations. See you next season!

Rec Besties Jordan and Will get the chance to talk together about their love and passion for recreation. They talked about camping, their best local spots and what everyone can learn if they think about recreation as vital to the human experience. They don't articulate it that well but we love them anyways. 

No. 1 fan, Jessica Burke, finally joins Will and Jordan on the podcast. If you don't know Jessica, you have not been paying attention to TRAPS. They talk TRAPS, education and end the chat talking about the next institute. 

Erin Hart- Grand Prairie, Assistant Director of Parks, Art & Recreation The youngest TRAPS president, Erin Hart, joins the guys and talks about her lifelong love of recreation and her vision for the organization. Fun, engaging but more importantly, incredibly sincere, Erin explains how recreation is important for all of us. If her leadership style could be summarized its “bring them to the table.” 

Proud new father and TRAPS Legislative Task Force Chair, Jeff Achee, joins the guys for a special episode on the importance of everyone in recreation paying attention to legislation. He shares insights on Prop 5 and how we can get involved with TRAPS “Walk the Halls” in Austin. He shares tips on how to get involved and how we can get others to advocate for recreation.

The guys welcome Lauren Reichstein, Camp Director for the Girls Scouts of Middle Tennessee. They talk camp life, how COVID changed programming and all things recreation. 

Jordan and Will sit down with Dr. Danny Twilley, Assistant Dean of the Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative (OEDC). Dr. Twilley talks recreation and leadership in this new episode. He suggests that we should all follow our passions and figuring out each of our purposes. Listeners also get great advice of how to learn from mistakes and failures. 

Dr. Stuart Brown (the power of play genius) and Tom Norquist (PlayCore innovator) sit down with Jordan and Will to discuss the essence and the power of play. Dr. Brown and Tom talk about how injected play into the workplace can only serve to make your organization, culture and morale better. They end up talking about games and even play one on the episode. 

Jordan and Will chat with Dr. Shannon Coates, the Director of Frisco PARD. Dr. Coates shares her journey that guided her from Florida to Play Frisco. She also gives the guys some great advice learning to say yes to the right opportunities at the right time.

Ann Beck, Marketing and Communications Manager at Mansfield. Ann gives the guys some great advice for communicating well as a leader. The chat ends with Ann’s awesome philosophy of “Be Authentic to everyone, everywhere.”

Jordan talks to a Mariella Fernandez, PhD, Assistant Professor of Recreation at Clemson. They reminisce on their grad school days in College Station and transition into talking about Dr. Fernandez's research, park disparities and lack of access for minority populations. She also give practical advice of how to combat this at the local level. 

Malone Ranger, Radio DJ for 95.9 The Ranch, joins Jordan and Will in this episode. We find out that Will has a great voice and Malone teaches the guys that what matters is being authentic, never fake. Malone gives some pointers on getting people to listen and the guys make a ton of mistakes (bless their hearts).

Annie Frisoli, CEO of Creating Community, LLC talks about her leadership style and what got her into recreation. The guys get off track, again, and Annie reminds us of the need to be intentional in how we build community.

Jordan made a whoopsy in scheduling and made the guys 24 hours early to a meeting. They get off track, really of track but end up tieing it all back to what drives this podcast, their love of recreation.

In this episode, Jordan and Will talk to Tiffany White, Recreation Programming Guru for the city of Grand Prairie and one of the 2021 TRAPS Institute "Playmakers." Tiffany shares how she made it to Texas and the role Dr. Michal Lord played in her own transformation as a premiere leader in recreation in Texas. You seriously do not want to miss Tiffany’s leadership and motivation insights.

Are parks, trails, and outdoor infrastructure the key to happy and healthy lives? Trent Matthias of the National Fitness Campaign thinks they just might be! Jordan, Will and Trent, talk about the built environment, how people can change lives with healthy infrastructure and even some hot tips on writing the perfect grant application. Enjoy!

Jordan and Will talk about the importance of volunteers in recreation. There is not silver bullet, not magical elixir that create the perfect situation but there are some things that have helped the guys set our systems that get the most out of the volunteers while still treating them with the utmost respect.

This week on RecReflect, Jordan and Will talk to Dr. Michal Anne Lord, President of TRAPS, about the organization and how her philosophy informs how she leads. We end the conversation with Dr. Lord’s advice for newbies and seasoned rec’s alike.

Reverse Engineering Leadership. Leadership is an easy process to define but, at some point, we have all struggled with it. Jordan and Will talk about having to reverse engineer leadership by seeing it done poorly. Jordan shares an experience where he was not a good example a good employee. Will gets the last word in the podcast by reflecting on how leadership can grow and evolve if you work at it.

Rec, Camps & Coins. Jordan and Will start to chat about why they got into the recreation field and their first rec love, camps. The conversation turns to discuss the importance of educators and practitioners working together and Will gets the last word about the need to love you job, driven to share your field and how excited we are to be doing RecReflect.