Podcasts about Keystone

thanks to HAL and our friends at Eddie Merlot's for partnering with us this week to give away FREE LUNCHES! yes, they are now open weekday at LUNCH at 96th and Keystone!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 10-08-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 10-06-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 10-03-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Join Dave on The Hennessy Report as he interviews Liz Vieira, VP of Human Resources at Reebok, about navigating major organizational transformation and rebuilding HR infrastructure from the ground up. In this episode, Liz shares practical insights on: - HR Transformation: How she rebuilt Reebok's entire HR infrastructure in seven months following a major ownership transition - Change Management: Strategies for supporting employees through multiple organizational changes and ownership transitions - Leadership Development: Building career development and learning programs that drive employee engagement - Collaboration-Driven HR: Creating a culture where HR partners closely with business leaders and employees at all levels - Career Growth: Lessons from her time at MFS Investment Management and what shaped her as an HR leader Liz also discusses her "boomerang" experience returning to Reebok, the importance of being present in your current role, and how her father's influence shaped her commitment to being a voice for those who feel unheard. The episode concludes with our new segment, Keystone's Coach's Corner featuring Mary Cavanaugh, SVP of Career Management, offering networking advice for HR professionals.

Episode Overview This special episode originally aired on The Leverage Lounge Podcast with Mike Collier, where John Kitchens joined as a guest to unpack what it really takes to transition from agent to CEO. If you've ever felt stuck in the production grind—drowning in deals, chasing status instead of freedom, or struggling to scale without burning out—this conversation is your roadmap to clarity. John shares how to shift from chaos to clarity, why systems equal freedom, and the keystone habits every leader must build to escape production and create a business that serves their life. From alignment and accountability to talent attraction and the four levers of scalability, this episode is packed with practical insights and timeless leadership lessons. What You'll Learn in This Episode Chaos to Clarity Why most agents mistake “being busy” for being productive How radical honesty creates true clarity about your current reality The two-part formula for moving from point A to point B without circling endlessly Habits & Reflection The power of weekly strategic thinking time Why half-built bridges kill momentum and how to finally finish what you start Keystone habits for staying in CEO mode Systems = Freedom The four levers of growth every business must master: traffic, conversion, fulfillment, and profit Why retention matters more than acquisition for long-term scalability The #1 most valuable system in your business (hint: it's about talent) Leadership & Alignment Hiring A-player talent—and why it changes as your business grows How to ensure your team is aligned with your vision, values, and purpose Why tens don't stick around eights (and how to level up your leadership) Exiting Production The real signs a team leader is ready to step out of production How to evaluate opportunities and passions outside the day-to-day grind Why chasing freedom beats chasing status every time Resources & Mentions The Leverage Lounge Podcast with Mike Collier →  SmartHireVA.com – VA talent placement for real estate teams The Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents by Hal Elrod Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman & Mark Winters John Kitchens Executive Coaching →  Final Takeaway Escaping production and becoming the CEO of your business isn't about working less—it's about working with clarity, systems, and purpose. The agents and leaders who win in today's market will be the ones who chase freedom over status and build teams aligned with their vision and values. “The size of your business is in direct proportion to the size of your leadership capabilities.” – John Kitchens Connect with Us: Instagram:  LinkedIn:  Facebook:    If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay tuned for more insights and strategies from the top minds. See you next time!

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 10-01-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-29-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Episode 155: Bruce Mayhew & How to Work with Almost Anyone by Michael Bungay StanierABOUT BRUCEBruce is a corporate trainer, keynote speaker, executive coach, and now author. For over twenty years, he's helped leaders grow and organizations thrive by helping turn good intentions into everyday behaviours that build trust, engagement, and results. As president and founder of Toronto-based Bruce Mayhew Consulting, his leadership approach is both human-centered and forward-thinking, blending emotional intelligence, strategic vision, and actionable frameworks. Much of his work involves customizing his business etiquette and soft skills programs to meet the specific needs of his clients and match their culture, strategy, and goals. He delivers practical, research-informed programs on leadership and new-leader development, difficult conversations and/or constructive feedback, generational differences, time management, and email etiquette. Bruce's goal is to help organizations and employees build trust, transparency and respect, hereby sharing their unique values and behaviours, to consistently and confidently improve employee engagement, employee loyalty, productivity and customer satisfaction.CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS• Coaching as a personal investment.• Being an introvert.• Being an introvert & being curious.• Why kids should work at McDonald's.• Experiencing emotions that aren't necessarily yours.• Arguing with yourself.• Going from the best boss immediately to the worst boss.• Transitioning from corporate to one's own business.• Being a good boomer.• Email etiquette: "if we thought about every email as a relationship, it would be very different, right?"• Trust, managing expectations, transparency.• Keystone conversations.• The five questions that serves as catalysts for working with (almost) anyone.• Appreciative inquiry.The MAIN QUESTION underlying my conversation with Bruce is, How intentional are you about addressing what's happened and what you're going to do about it going forward?FIND BRUCE• Website: brucemayhewconsulting.com• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/brucemayhewconsulting/• Instagram: bruce.mayhew• Twitter / X: @BMCtrainercoach• Email: bruce@brucemayhewconsulting.comLinkedIn – Full Podcast Article: CHAPTERS00:00 - The Book Leads Podcast – Bruce Mayhew00:39 - Introduction & Bio02:43 - Who are you today? Can you provide more information about your work?06:51- How did your path into your career look like, and what did it look like up until now?08:33 - Bruce speaks about his introversion.28:26 - Getting empower to strike out on his own as an Entrepreneur46:09 - How does the work you're doing today reconcile to who you were as a child?51:20 - What do you consider your super power?55:09 - What does leadership mean to you?58:02 - Can you introduce us to the book we're discussing?01:04:51- Can you provide a general overview of the book?01:21:32 - Bruce speaks about his upcoming book.This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity. I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations.Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes:Watch on YouTubeListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsRead About The Book Leads – Blog PostFor more great content, subscribe to my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons, if you haven't already!

The Bogong's Song blends storytelling, shadow puppetry, dance and song to tell the story of the Bogong moth, inviting young audiences to experience connection to Country, and to listen, reflect, and wonder.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-26-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Empathy is often described as a “soft skill” — something nice to have, but not essential for business. But what if we've been thinking about it all wrong? In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, I'm joined by Dr. Melissa Robinson-Winemiller — TEDx speaker, executive coach, host of The Empathic Leader podcast, and author of The Empathic Leader: How EQ via Empathy Transforms Leadership for Better Profit, Productivity, and Innovation. Melissa introduces the idea of practical empathy — empathy as a skill you can develop, measure, and apply every day. We explore why empathy starts at home with self-empathy, the leadership keystone. She explains how reflection and awareness drive better leadership decisions, and why empathy and judgment cannot exist in the same space. Along the way, Melissa shares personal stories, research insights, and practical steps leaders can use to build cultures that are more innovative, more productive, and more human. ----more---- Key Takeaways Self-empathy is the keystone. Leaders can't show empathy for others if they don't first understand and connect with themselves. Reflection builds awareness. Daily self-reflection and awareness of impact create the foundation for better decisions and relationships. Empathy is a skill, not fluff. Practical empathy is skills-based, data-driven, and outcomes-oriented — not just “being nice.” Empathy and judgment can't coexist. Removing judgement opens the door for leaders to grow, connect, and build trust. ----more---- Key Moments The key moments in this episode are: 0:01:10 – Why empathy matters more than ever in leadership 0:02:45 – Meet Dr. Melissa Robinson-Winemiller: researcher, coach, author 0:05:26 – A career unravelled: when organisations show no empathy 0:07:05 – What Melissa means by “practical empathy” 0:09:43 – Can empathy be learned, or is it innate? 0:12:30 – Defining self-empathy: the leadership keystone 0:16:27 – The role of judgment and why it blocks empathy 0:22:09 – The path to building self-empathy: reflection, awareness, empathy 0:30:28 – How self-empathy leads to corrective action and growth 0:36:38 – Performative empathy: why saying it isn't enough 0:41:56 – The business case: empathy's impact on profit, productivity, and innovation 0:45:51 – Melissa's three Sticky Notes of advice ----more---- Join The Conversation Find Andy Goram on LinkedIn here Listen to the Podcast on YouTube here Follow the Podcast on Instagram here Follow the Podcast on Twitter here Follow the Podcast on Facebook here Check out the Bizjuicer website here Get a free consultation with Andy here Check out the Bizjuicer blog here Download the podcast here ----more---- Useful Links Follow Dr. Melissa Robinson-Winemiller on LinkedIn here Find the EQ via Empathy website here Listen to The Empathic Leader Podcast here Get "The Empathic Leader" book here ----more---- Full Episode Transcript Get the full transcript of the episode here

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-24-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Send us a text Keystone's education work isn't just about facilitation, it's also about providing trusted data that helps communities act. This episode takes a closer look at the research and reports Keystone has produced on a range of issues, with a special focus on the crisis of unaffordable housing for teachers. Through data, interactive maps, and community insights, we explore how this challenge impacts schools across Colorado and what solutions might make a difference. Please help us continue this podcast by making a financial donation to Keystone Policy Center.Listen to previous episodes of this podcast at Keystone's website or by subscribing to it through any podcast provider.

 In this special takeover episode, Jeremy and Jen step in to host the podcast and shine a spotlight on Keystone's commitment to giving back. They highlight several community-minded organizations in Northern Colorado that are making a real difference for both businesses and individuals. If you're inspired to get involved, you'll find the contact information for these organizations in the episode transcript. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keystonefin/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Keystone_Fin?advisorid=33004651Contact Josh Nelson: https://www.keystonefinancial.comContact Jeremy Busch: https//www.keystonefinancial.comPodcast Editor: Tim Leaman/info.primegen@gmail.com

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-22-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Decode the symbols hiding in plain sight with Mario Garza (Symbolic Studies). We go deep on color magic and music/synesthesia, the rainbow's “rule of seven,” Tarot (Temperance & the Chariot/Cancer link), Sagittarius/Chiron & the wounded-healer, the world axis (North Star, Ursa Major/Minor), Masonic pillars & keystone, labyrinth vs. maze, Jacob's Ladder & dreams, Saturn/Golden Age, the Black Cube/Kaaba and the return of the center. If you've ever pointed at an image and yelled “Illuminati!”—this is the episode that teaches you to read it instead. Symbolic Studies (Mario) — full link hub at SymbolicStudies.com.NEPHILIM DEATH SQUADPatreon (early access + Telegram): https://www.patreon.com/NephilimDeathSquadWebsite & Merch: https://nephilimdeathsquad.comSupport Joe Gilberti: GiveSendGoListen/Watch:Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/nephilim-death-squad--6389018YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NephilimDeathSquadRumble: https://rumble.com/user/NephilimDeathSquadX: https://twitter.com/NephilimDSquadInstagram: https://instagram.com/nephilimdeathsquadContact: chroniclesnds@gmail.comX Community – Nephilim Watch: https://twitter.com/i/communities/1725510634966560797TopLobsta:X: https://twitter.com/TopLobstaInstagram: https://instagram.com/TopLobstaMerch: https://TopLobsta.comRaven:X: https://twitter.com/DavidLCorboInstagram: https://instagram.com/ravenofndsSponsors:Rife Tech – https://realsrifetechnology.com/ (Code: NEPHILIM for 10% off)Purge Store – https://purgestore.com/ (Code: NEPHILIM for 10% off)Credits:Intro Animation: @jslashr on XMusic: End of Days by Vinnie PazBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/nephilim-death-squad--6389018/support.☠️ Nephilim Death Squad — New episodes 5x/week.Join our Patreon for early access, bonus shows & the private Telegram hive.Subscribe on YouTube & Rumble, follow @NephilimDSquad on X/Instagram, grab merch at toplobsta.com. Questions/bookings: chroniclesnds@gmail.com — Stay dangerous.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-19-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

This week on Pushing the Limits, Lisa sits down with performance coach Ben Brown (BodySystems) to unpack the mindset and behavioral design that turn health intentions into daily execution. If you've ever felt that motivation is fickle and life is too busy to train, this conversation reframes the problem: it's not you, it's your systems. What you'll learn Systems > willpower: How to engineer your environment so healthy choices become default. Keystone habits: The 20% that drives 80% of results - sleep anchors, protein targets, steps, and strength. Behaviour loops & identity: Using cue → routine → reward and identity statements to cement new patterns. Time-efficient training: Minimum effective dose programming for busy professionals. Nutrition, simplified: Protein forward meals, satiety, meal structure, and weekend-proof planning. Stress & recovery: Why sleep outranks supplements; practical ways to down-shift sympathetic overdrive. Relapse planning: How to bounce back fast after travel, illness, or deadlines. From goals to calendars: Turning outcomes into calendarised actions and micro-commitments. Share this episode with someone who's “too busy” to be healthy and help them build a system that works in real life. Resources & links Ben Brown: Body Systems Follow Lisa at: lisatamati.com | YouTube: @Lisa_Tamati  Ben Brown Bio: Ben Brown is the founder of Body Systems, a global health and nutrition coaching company behind the revolutionary PrimeFit OS™, a system that has helped clients lose over 15,000 pounds and reclaim their lives. With more than two decades of experience, he has coached Fortune 500 executives, professional athletes, and organizations like the Golden State Warriors, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Arizona Cardinals, along with thousands of driven men and women seeking sustainable health solutions. Holding dual master's degrees in Exercise & Wellness and Clinical Nutrition, Ben also serves as adjunct faculty in the Health Sciences Department at Arizona State University. His coaching programs integrate the science of real-world data, the psychology of behavior change, and the art of coaching to deliver lasting results. A husband and father of three, Ben blends his personal and professional experience to help clients unlock the energy, confidence, and health freedom they need to lead powerfully—without restrictive diets or unsustainable habits.

Send us a text Education is not just one stage of life, it's a journey that begins in the earliest years and continues into the workforce. In this episode, we explore Keystone's Center for Education and its “cradle to workforce” philosophy. From expanding access to preschool and childcare, to building stronger family engagement, to shaping the future of community colleges, Keystone is helping students and families thrive at every stage. Please help us continue this podcast by making a financial donation to Keystone Policy Center.Listen to previous episodes of this podcast at Keystone's website or by subscribing to it through any podcast provider.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-17-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-15-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Jeremy's mission is to provide exceptional customer service to all clients and anyone who engages Keystone for financial advice through utilization of industry knowledge and tactical advice pertinent to each individual's evolving financial needs.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keystonefin/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Keystone_Fin?advisorid=33004651Contact Josh Nelson: https://www.keystonefinancial.comContact Jeremy Busch: https//www.keystonefinancial.comPodcast Editor: Tim Leaman/info.primegen@gmail.com

This week at Keystone, we step away from our Ten Commandments series to address the challenges we're facing in our culture today. Pastor Brandon shares how, even when it feels like the enemy is winning, God calls us to stand firm in faith, seek Him in prayer, and walk in humility. Together, we're reminded of our role as light bringers in a world desperate for hope. This message is both a call to action and an invitation to lean into God's presence—for our families, our communities, and the next generation.

THE BEST BOOK CLUB IN THE MULTIVERSE! The Book Club Bois reunite just in time for a Crisis in Two Cities! Wally West is the Fastest Man Alive… but is he the smartest? With allies being taken off the board around him, The Flash finds himself standing alone against attacks on all sides! With the Rogues running amok in Central City and the Thinker assimilating Keystone, which way will Wally West run? Find out here! Covers The Flash (1987) #182-188 by Geoff Johns & Scott Kolins Time Stamps: 00:00:23 Intro & Whatcha Doin'? 00:26:17 Book Club Begins 02:28:16 Break 02:29:47 Speed Force Mailbag 02:54:25 Patreon Shout-Outs & Wrap-Up Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/c/geeksplained Geeksplained Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/geeksplained Follow us! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/geeksplained.bsky.social Instagram: www.instagram.com/geeksplainedpod/?hl=en Send us your questions for the Geeksplained Mailbag! Email: Geeksplained@gmail.com Check out THE COMICS COLLECTIVE, a comic book discussion podcast hosted by our friends Dallas, Anne and Lexi! Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2LyaMedHGXQ4oOyvXIOP8J?si=4c706a3d3969400d Music Sampled: “Alive” by Warbly Jets

The Murder of Miss Hollywood/ The Murder of Jill Ann Weatherwax - She was beautiful, ambitious, and carried the nickname “Miss Hollywood.” But Jill Ann Weatherwax's dreams of stardom came to a haunting end in 1998, when she was found brutally murdered in a lonely field. Who was behind the killing of this aspiring starlet—and what secrets followed her into the shadows? Join Melissa and Chelsea as they unravel the mystery of the Murder of Miss Hollywood.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-12-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-10-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

In this episode, Jeremy and Jen take over The Wiser Financial Advisor podcast to talk about Jen's exciting transition into her new role. Jen is Series 65 licensed and currently pursuing the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation as she grows into Keystone's third adviser position. She'll be joining client meetings alongside Josh and Jeremy, continuing to build her expertise and deepening relationships with our clients.Before coming to Keystone, Jen spent more than 13 years with Edward Jones, where she guided clients through complex financial decisions with empathy, clarity, and genuine care. Today, her top priority remains providing high-level, personal service—always with a warm smile.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keystonefin/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Keystone_Fin?advisorid=33004651Contact Josh Nelson: https://www.keystonefinancial.comContact Jeremy Busch: https//www.keystonefinancial.comPodcast Editing: Tim Leaman/info.primegen@gmail.com

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-08-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-05-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Where do global bestsellers come from? We hear from Judith Curr on her fascinating worldwide publishing journey. From a one-room schoolhouse in Australia to a career full of international bestsellers like The Celestine Prophecy, The Secret, and breakout bestselling authors like Colleen Hoover and Lisa Jewell, Judith has always had an eye for the next big thing.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-03-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

It's the 11th running of the Race For the Future in Fort Worth, TX on September 14, 2025. This is YOUR chance to make a difference in a industry we all love so much. Important links: All the money goes to The Foundation For Dental Laboratory Technology: https://dentallabfoundation.org/ All about the Race: https://dentallabfoundation.org/news-events/race-for-the-future/ Race website: https://fortworth.californiatriathlon.org/ TO DONATE: https://fdlt.memberclicks.net/donor-form#/ Select: Race for the Future Enter the name of the racer you want to support: BARB WARNER or THE CROWN JEWELS Enter the amount (One Million Dollars) A HUGE thanks to Jensen Dental (https://jensendental.com/) for allowing Elvis to go to one of the greatest regional shows left, the https://www.fdla.net/ Southern States Symposium & Expo. First up we meet two "newish" technicians in our industry. From Alaska to Florida, Savannah Jones taught herself exocad and is now doing removable work at DCS Dental Lab (https://dcslab.com/). Gabriel Jimenez was working at Walmart when he found a dental office that had an in-office lab and it wasn't long before he too found himself at DCS Dental Lab. They talk about their journey, learning new things, and what they think of their first dental show. Then a blast from WAY back comes on to update us on all things Tom Zaleske. Tom was on episode 16 (if you can believe it)! He talks about his journey to become a one person removable technician working out of his house, getting into speaking and what he speaks on, and some thoughts on the future of dental labs. Then we wrap up the episode with another past podcast guest, Josh Williams. Josh is at GPS Digital RPD (https://gpsdigitalrpd.com/) where they are killing it at printing metal frameworks. He talks about their growth, the process of fabrication, and how easy it is to get them a case. Looking for a way to unlock the full potential of your digital dentistry workflow. Take it from Elise Heathcote, associate manager of digital services with Ivoclar. This is all about the Cam Academy. They have a new in-person training experience designed specifically for dental technicians. This hands on course explores the full potential of programmable Cam software, helping you take your digital workflow to the next level. Learn directly from Ivoclar experts, refine your skills and bring new precision and efficiency to your lab. Cam Academy is more than a course. It's your next step in digital excellence. To reserve your spot, visit the Ivoclar Academy website (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us/academy/learning-opportunities?page=1&offset=12&filters=%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%22dateRange%22%2C%22selectedLowerBound%22%3A%222021-12-09T07%3A30%3A45.534Z%22%2C%22selectedUpperBound%22%3A%222022-06-09T06%3A30%3A45.534Z%22%7D%2C%7B%22id%22%3A%22type%22%2C%22advancedFilter%22%3Afalse%2C%22values%22%3A%5B%22In-house+trainings%22%5D%7D%5D) or contact your local Ivoclar sales representative today. Special Guests: Gabriel Jimenez, Josh Williams, Savannah Jones, and Thomas Zaleske, AS.

PSU 46 Nevada 11 Game Review The post Keystone Kickoff Show 09-01-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

Week One Preview The post Keystone Kickoff Show 08-29-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 08-27-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 08-25-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 08-22-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 08-20-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

The post Keystone Kickoff Show 08-18-25 appeared first on Keystone Sports Network.

We have another chill-inducing installment for you tonight, filled with stories of winged creatures, stringy-haired hags, strange lights in the woods, and shadow men on the freeways. Season 19 Episode 36 of Monsters Among Us Podcast, true paranormal stories of ghosts, cryptids, UFOs and more, told by the witnesses themselves. SHOW NOTES:  Support the show! Get ad-free, extended & bonus episodes (and more) on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/monstersamonguspodcast Tonight's Sponsor -  Greenlight debit card for kids & teens - Teach your kids real-world money skills, start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/MAU MAU Merch Shop - https://www.monstersamonguspodcast.com/shop MAU Discord - https://discord.gg/2EaBq7f9JQ Watch FREE - Shadows in the Desert: High Strangeness in the Borrego Triangle  - https://www.borregotriangle.com/ Monsters Among Us Junior on Apple Podcasts  - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/monsters-among-us-junior/id1764989478 Monsters Among Us Junior on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1bh5mWa4lDSqeMMX1mYxDZ?si=9ec6f4f74d61498b Plasmoids - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmoid Signs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUw26F0WfLg "Signs" Scene I'm reminded of - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MlLbApiJ6M Mare - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_(folklore)  Hag - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hag   Predator Light - https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Flashlight-Pressure-Varmints-Batteries/dp/B07M8HT8LM Bird migratory routes - https://www.fws.gov/media/migratory-bird-flyways-north-america The Butler County Gargoyle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgkTrumMs54 Music from tonight's episode: Music by Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse - https://www.youtube.com/c/IronCthulhuApocalypse CO.AG Music - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcavSftXHgxLBWwLDm_bNvA Music By Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio - https://www.youtube.com/@WhiteBatAudio White Bat Audio Songs: The Resistance Pitch Black Zeitgeist Monolith Unsolved Mystery

This podcast and article are free, but a lot of The Storm lives behind a paywall. I wish I could make everything available to everyone, but an article like this one is the result of 30-plus hours of work. Please consider supporting independent ski journalism with an upgrade to a paid Storm subscription. You can also sign up for the free tier below.WhoRob Katz, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Vail ResortsRecorded onAugust 8, 2025About Vail ResortsVail Resorts owns and operates 42 ski areas in North America, Australia, and Europe. In order of acquisition:The company's Epic Pass delivers skiers unlimited access to all of these ski areas, plus access to a couple dozen partner resorts:Why I interviewed himHow long do you suppose Vail Resorts has been the largest ski area operator by number of resorts? From how the Brobots prattle on about the place, you'd think since around the same time the Mayflower bumped into Plymouth Rock. But the answer is 2018, when Vail surged to 18 ski areas – one more than number two Peak Resorts. Vail wasn't even a top-five operator until 2007, when the company's five resorts landed it in fifth place behind Powdr's eight and 11 each for Peak, Boyne, and Intrawest. Check out the year-by-year resort operator rankings since 2000:Kind of amazing, right? For decades, Vail, like Aspen, was the owner of some great Colorado ski areas and nothing more. There was no reason to assume it would ever be anything else. Any ski company that tried to get too big collapsed or surrendered. Intrawest inflated like a balloon then blew up like a pinata, ejecting trophies like Mammoth, Copper, and Whistler before straggling into the Alterra refugee camp with a half dozen survivors. American Skiing Company (ASC) united eight resorts in 1996 and was 11 by the next year and was dead by 2007. Even mighty Aspen, perhaps the brand most closely associated with skiing in American popular culture, had abandoned a nearly-two-decade experiment in owning ski areas outside of Pitkin County when it sold Blackcomb and Fortress Mountains in 1986 and Breckenridge the following year.But here we are, with Vail Resorts, improbably but indisputably the largest operator in skiing. How did Vail do this when so many other operators had a decades-long head start? And failed to achieve sustainability with so many of the same puzzle pieces? Intrawest had Whistler. ASC owned Heavenly. Booth Creek, a nine-resort upstart launched in 1996 by former Vail owner George Gillett, had Northstar. The obvious answer is the 2008 advent of the Epic Pass, which transformed the big-mountain season pass from an expensive single-mountain product that almost no one actually needed to a cheapo multi-mountain passport that almost anyone could afford. It wasn't a new idea, necessarily, but the bargain-skiing concept had never been attached to a mountain so regal as Vail, with its sprawling terrain and amazing high-speed lift fleet and Colorado mystique. A multimountain pass had never come with so little fine print – it really was unlimited, at all these great mountains, all the time - but so many asterisks: better buy now, because pretty soon skiing Christmas week is going to cost more than your car. And Vail was the first operator to understand, at scale, that almost everyone who skis at Vail or Beaver Creek or Breckenridge skied somewhere else first, and that the best way to recruit these travelers to your mountain rather than Deer Valley or Steamboat or Telluride was to make the competition inconvenient by bundling the speedbump down the street with the Alpine fantasy across the country.Vail Resorts, of course, didn't do anything. Rob Katz did these things. And yes, there was a great and capable team around him. But it's hard to ignore the fact that all of these amazing things started happening shortly after Katz's 2006 CEO appointment and stopped happening around the time of his 2021 exit. Vail's stock price: from $33.04 on Feb. 28, 2006 to $354.76 to Nov. 1, 2021. Epic Pass sales: from zero to 2.1 million. Owned resort portfolio: from five in three states to 37 in 15 states and three countries. Epic Pass portfolio: from zero ski areas to 61. The company's North American skier visits: from 6.3 million for the 2005-06 ski season to 14.9 million in 2020-21. Those same VR metrics after three-and-a-half years under his successor, Kirsten Lynch: a halving of the stock price to $151.50 on May 27, 2025, her last day in charge; a small jump to 2.3 million Epic Passes sold for 2024-25 (but that marked the product's first-ever unit decline, from 2.4 million the previous winter); a small increase to 42 owned resorts in 15 states and four countries; a small increase to 65 ski areas accessible on the Epic Pass; and a rise to 16.9 million North American skier visits (actually a three percent slump from the previous winter and the company's second consecutive year of declines, as overall U.S. skier visits increased 1.6 percent after a poor 2023-24).I don't want to dismiss the good things Lynch did ($20-an-hour minimum wage; massively impactful lift upgrades, especially in New England; a best-in-class day pass product; a better Pet Rectangle app), or ignore the fact that Vail's 2006-to-2019 trajectory would have been impossible to replicate in a world that now includes the Ikon Pass counterweight, or understate the tense community-resort relationships that boiled under Katz's do-things-and-apologize-later-maybe leadership style. But Vail Resorts became an impossible-to-ignore globe-spanning goliath not because it collected great ski areas, but because a visionary leader saw a way to transform a stale, weather-dependent business into a growing, weather-agnostic(-ish) one.You may think that “visionary” is overstating it, that merely “transformational” would do. But I don't think I appreciated, until the rise of social media, how deeply cynical America had become, or the seemingly outsized proportion of people so eager to explain why new ideas were impossible. Layer, on top of this, the general dysfunction inherent to corporate environments, which can, without constant schedule-pruning, devolve into pseudo-summits of endless meetings, in which over-educated and well-meaning A+ students stamped out of elite university assembly lines spend all day trotting between conference rooms taking notes they'll never look at and trying their best to sound brilliant but never really accomplishing anything other than juggling hundreds of daily Slack and email messages. Perhaps I am the cynical one here, but my experience in such environments is that actually getting anything of substance done with a team of corporate eggheads is nearly impossible. To be able to accomplish real, industry-wide, impactful change in modern America, and to do so with a corporate bureaucracy as your vehicle, takes a visionary.Why now was a good time for this interviewAnd the visionary is back. True, he never really left, remaining at the head of Vail's board of directors for the duration of Lynch's tenure. But the board of directors doesn't have to explain a crappy earnings report on the investor conference call, or get yelled at on CNBC, or sit in the bullseye of every Saturday morning liftline post on Facebook.So we'll see, now that VR is once again and indisputably Katz's company, whether Vail's 2006-to-2021 rise from fringe player to industry kingpin was an isolated case of right-place-at-the-right-time first-mover big-ideas luck or the masterwork of a business musician blending notes of passion, aspiration, consumer pocketbook logic, the mystique of irreplaceable assets, and defiance of conventional industry wisdom to compose a song that no one can stop singing. Will Katz be Steve Jobs returning to Apple and re-igniting a global brand? Or MJ in a Wizards jersey, his double threepeat with the Bulls untarnished but his legacy otherwise un-enhanced at best and slightly diminished at worst?I don't know. I lean toward Jobs, remaining aware that the ski industry will never achieve the scale of the Pet Rectangle industry. But Vail Resorts owns 42 ski areas out of like 6,000 on the planet, and only about one percent of them is associated with the Epic Pass. Even if Vail grew all of these metrics tenfold, it would still own just a fraction of the global ski business. Investors call this “addressable market,” meaning the size of your potential customer base if you can make them aware of your existence and convince them to use your services, and Vail's addressable market is far larger than the neighborhood it now occupies.Whether Vail can get there by deploying its current operating model is irrelevant. Remember when Amazon was an online bookstore and Netflix a DVD-by-mail outfit? I barely do either, because visionary leaders (Jeff Bezos, Reed Hastings) shaped these companies into completely different things, tapping a rapidly evolving technological infrastructure capable of delivering consumers things they don't know they need until they realize they can't live without them. Like never going into a store again or watching an entire season of TV in one night. Like the multimountain ski pass.Being visionary is not the same thing as being omniscient. Amazon's Fire smartphone landed like a bag of sand in a gastank. Netflix nearly imploded after prematurely splitting its DVD and digital businesses in 2011. Vail's decision to simultaneously chop 2021-22 Epic Pass prices by 20 percent and kill its 2020-21 digital reservation system landed alongside labor shortages, inflation, and global supply chain woes, resulting in a season of inconsistent operations that may have turned a generation off to the company. Vail bullied Powdr into selling Park City and Arapahoe Basin into leaving the Epic Pass and Colorado's state ski trade association into having to survive without four (then five) of its biggest brands. The company alienated locals everywhere, from Stowe (traffic) to Sunapee (same) to Ohio (truncated seasons) to Indiana (same) to Park City (everything) to Whistler (same) to Stevens Pass (just so many people man). The company owns 99 percent of the credit for the lift-tickets-brought-to-you-by-Tiffany pricing structure that drives the popular perception that skiing is a sport accessible only to people who rent out Yankee Stadium for their dog's birthday party.We could go on, but the point is this: Vail has messed up in the past and will mess up again in the future. You don't build companies like skyscrapers, straight up from ground to sky. You build them, appropriately for Vail, like mountains, with an earthquake here and an eruption there and erosion sometimes and long stable periods when the trees grow and the goats jump around on the rocks and nothing much happens except for once in a while a puma shows up and eats Uncle Toby. Vail built its Everest by clever and novel and often ruthless means, but in doing so made a Balkanized industry coherent, mainstreamed the ski season pass, reshaped the consumer ski experience around adventure and variety, united the sprawling Park City resorts, acknowledged the Midwest as a lynchpin ski region, and forced competitors out of their isolationist stupor and onto the magnificent-but-probably-nonexistent-if-not-for-the-existential-need-to-compete-with Vail Ikon, Indy, and Mountain Collective passes.So let's not confuse the means for the end, or assume that Katz, now 58 and self-assured, will act with the same brash stop-me-if-you-can bravado that defined his first tenure. I mean, he could. But consumers have made it clear that they have alternatives, communities have made it clear that they have ways to stop projects out of spite, Alterra has made it clear that empire building is achieved just as well through ink as through swords, and large independents such as Jackson Hole have made it clear that the passes that were supposed to be their doom instead guaranteed indefinite independence via dependable additional income streams. No one's afraid of Vail anymore.That doesn't mean the company can't grow, can't surprise us, can't reconfigure the global ski jigsaw puzzle in ways no one has thought of. Vail has brand damage to repair, but it's repairable. We're not talking about McDonald's here, where the task is trying to convince people that inedible food is delicious. We're talking about Vail Mountain and Whistler and Heavenly and Stowe – amazing places that no one needs convincing are amazing. What skiers do need to be convinced of is that Vail Resorts is these ski areas' best possible steward, and that each mountain can be part of something much larger without losing its essence.You may be surprised to hear Katz acknowledge as much in our conversation. You will probably be surprised by a lot of things he says, and the way he projects confidence and optimism without having to fully articulate a vision that he's probably still envisioning. It's this instinctual lean toward the unexpected-but-impactful that powered Vail's initial rise and will likely reboot the company. Perhaps sooner than we expect.What we talked aboutThe CEO job feels “both very familiar and very new at the same time”; Vail Resorts 2025 versus Vail Resorts 2006; Ikon competition means “we have to get better”; the Epic Friends program that replaces Buddy Tickets: 50 percent off plus skiers can apply that cost to next year's Epic Pass; simplifying the confusing; “we're going to have to get a little more creative and a little more aggressive” when it comes to lift ticket pricing; why Vail will “probably always have a window ticket”; could we see lower lift ticket prices?; a response to lower-than-expected lift ticket sales in 2024-25; “I think we need to elevate the resort brands themselves”; thoughts on skier-visit drops; why Katz returned as CEO; evolving as a leader; a morale check for a company “that was used to winning” but had suffered setbacks; getting back to growth; competing for partners and “how do we drive thoughtful growth”; is Vail an underdog now?; Vail's big advantage; reflecting on the 20 percent 2021 Epic Pass price cut and whether that was the right decision; is the Epic Pass too expensive or too cheap?; reacting to the first ever decline in Epic Pass unit sales numbers; why so many mountains are unlimited on Epic Local; “who are you going to kick out of skiing” if you tighten access?; protecting the skier experience; how do you make skiers say “wow?”; defending Vail's ongoing resort leadership shuffle; and why the volume of Vail's lift upgrades slowed after 2022's Epic Lift Upgrade.What I got wrong* I said that the Epic Pass now offered access to “64 or 65” ski areas, but I neglected to include the six new ski areas that Vail partnered with in Austria for the 2025-26 ski season. The correct number of current Epic Pass partners is 71 (see chart above). * I said that Vail Resorts' skier visits declined by 1.5 percent from the 2023-24 to 2024-25 winters, and that national skier visits grew by three percent over that same timeframe. The numbers are actually reversed: Vail's skier visits slumped by approximately three percent last season, while national visits increased by 1.7 percent, per the National Ski Areas Association.* I said that the $1,429 Ikon Pass cost “40% more” than the $799 Epic Local – but I was mathing on the fly and I mathed dumb. The actual increase from Epic Local to Ikon is roughly 79 percent.* I claimed that Park City Mountain Resort was charging $328 for a holiday week lift ticket when it was “30 percent-ish open” and “the surrounding resorts were 70-ish percent open.” Unfortunately, I was way off on the dollar amount and the timeframe, as I was thinking of this X post I made on Wednesday, Jan. 8, when day-of tickets were selling for $288:* I said I didn't know what “Alterra” means. Alterra Mountain Company defines it as “a fusion of the words altitude and terrain/terra, paying homage to the mountains and communities that form the backbone of the company.”* I said that Vail's Epic Lift Upgrade was “22 or 23 lifts.” I was wrong, but the number is slippery for a few reasons. First, while I was referring specifically to Vail's 2021 announcement that 19 new lifts were inbound in 2022, the company now uses “Epic Lift Upgrade” as an umbrella term for all years' new lift installs. Second, that 2022 lift total shot up to 21, then down to 19 when Park City locals threw a fit and blocked two of them (both ultimately went to Whistler), then 18 after Keystone bulldozed an illegal access road in the high Alpine (the new lift and expansion opened the following year).Questions I wish I'd askedThere is no way to do this interview in a way that makes everyone happy. Vail is too big, and I can't talk about everything. Angry Mountain Bro wants me to focus on community, Climate Bro on the environment, Finance Bro on acquisitions and numbers, Subaru Bro on liftlines and parking lots. Too many people who already have their minds made up about how things are will come here seeking validation of their viewpoint and leave disappointed. I will say this: just because I didn't ask about something doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked to. Acquisitions and Europe, especially. But some preliminary conversations with Vail folks indicated that Katz had nothing new to say on either of these topics, so I let it go for another day.Podcast NotesOn various metrics Here's a by-the-numbers history of the Epic Pass:Here's Epic's year-by-year partner history:On the percent of U.S. skier visits that Vail accounts forWe don't know the exact percentage of U.S. skier visits belong to Vail Resorts, since the company's North American numbers include Whistler, which historically accounts for approximately 2 million annual skier visits. But let's call Vail's share of America's skier visits 25 percent-ish:On ski season pass participation in AmericaThe rise of Epic and Ikon has correlated directly with a decrease in lift ticket visits and an increase in season pass visits. Per Kotke's End-of-Season Demographic Report for 2023-24:On capital investmentSimilarly, capital investment has mostly risen over the past decade, with a backpedal for Covid. Kotke:The NSAA's preliminary numbers suggest that the 2024-25 season numbers will be $624.4 million, a decline from the previous two seasons, but still well above historic norms.On the mystery of the missing skier visitsI jokingly ask Katz for resort-by-resort skier visits in passing. Here's what I meant by that - up until the 2010-11 ski season, Vail, like all operators on U.S. Forest Service land, reported annual skier visits per ski area:And then they stopped, winning a legal argument that annual skier visits are proprietary and therefore protected from public records disclosure. Or something like that. Anyway most other large ski area operators followed this example, which mostly just serves to make my job more difficult.On that ski trip where Timberline punched out Vail in a one-on-five fightI don't want to be the Anecdote King, but in 2023 I toured 10 Mid-Atlantic ski areas the first week of January, which corresponded with a horrendous warm-up. The trip included stops at five Vail Resorts: Liberty, Whitetail, Seven Springs, Laurel, and Hidden Valley, all of which were underwhelming. Fine, I thought, the weather sucks. But then I stopped at Timberline, West Virginia:After three days of melt-out tiptoe, I was not prepared for what I found at gut-renovated Timberline. And what I found was 1,000 vertical feet of the best version of warm-weather skiing I've ever seen. Other than the trail footprint, this is a brand-new ski area. When the Perfect Family – who run Perfect North, Indiana like some sort of military operation – bought the joint in 2020, they tore out the lifts, put in a brand-new six-pack and carpet-loaded quad, installed all-new snowmaking, and gut-renovated the lodge. It is remarkable. Stunning. Not a hole in the snowpack. Coming down the mountain from Davis, you can see Timberline across the valley beside state-run Canaan Valley ski area – the former striped in white, the latter mostly barren.I skied four fast laps off the summit before the sixer shut at 4:30. Then a dozen runs off the quad. The skier level is comically terrible, beginners sprawled all over the unload, all over the green trails. But the energy is level 100 amped, and everyone I talked to raved about the transformation under the new owners. I hope the Perfect family buys 50 more ski areas – their template works.I wrote up the full trip here.On the megapass timelineI'll work on a better pass timeline at some point, but the basics are this:* 2008: Epic Pass debuts - unlimited access to all Vail Resorts* 2012: Mountain Collective debuts - 2 days each at partner resorts* 2015: M.A.X. Pass debuts - 5 days each at partner resorts, unlimited option for home resort* 2018: Ikon Pass debuts, replaces M.A.X. - 5, 7, or unlimited days at partner resorts* 2019: Indy Pass debuts - 2 days each at partner resortsOn Epic Day vs. Ikon Session I've long harped on the inadequacy of the Ikon Session Pass versus the Epic Day Pass:On Epic versus Ikon pricingEpic Passes mostly sell at a big discount to Ikon:On Vail's most recent investor conference callThis podcast conversation delivers Katz's first public statements since he hosted Vail Resorts' investor conference call on June 5. I covered that call extensively at the time:On Epic versus Ikon access tweaksAlterra tweaks Ikon Pass access for at least one or two mountains nearly every year – more than two dozen since 2020, by my count. Vail rarely makes any changes. I broke down the difference between the two in the article linked directly above this one. I ask Katz about this in the pod, and he gives us a very emphatic answer.On the Park City strikeNo reason to rehash the whole mess in Park City earlier this year. Here's a recap from The New York Times. The Storm's best contribution to the whole story was this interview with United Mountain Workers President Max Magill:On Vail's leadership shuffleI'll write more about this at some point, but if you scroll to the right on Vail's roster, you'll see the yellow highlights whenever Vail has switched a president/general manager-level employee over the past several years. It's kind of a lot. A sample from the resorts the company has owned since 2016:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing all year long. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe