Episode 21: Chris Schlichting
Also Humans
Chris Schlichting makes people laugh for a living. Both on stage and in a high school classroom. However, sitting in a hospital for three months with one of this newborn twins clinging to life was anything but funny.
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Episode 20: Darrin Fletcher
Also Humans
Newly married and making $800 a month in the minor leagues, Darrin Fletcher began to question the only thing he had ever known: baseball. After a miserable season, it was a seemingly chance encounter with the legendary Tommy Lasorda and Sandy Koufax that led Darrin to the big leagues and, eventually, to the All-Star Game.
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Episode 019: Talia (Hayward) Melton
Also Humans
Growing up as an orphan in Zambia, Talia (Hayward) Melton had no money, no opportunity and—of course—no parents. Bi-racial and bullied, her early years were difficult at best. But times have changed. Talia has a beautiful family of her own, limitless opportunities and enough money to make breathtaking art out of it.
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Episode 18: Chris Widlic
Also Humans
Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Olympics. Each is just another day at the office for Chris Widlic. And while he gets into them all for free, earning the right to work the world’s greatest sporting venues didn’t come cheap. This TV sportscaster has seen a lot. He has done a lot. And early on, it cost him a lot.
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Episode 017: DJ Step
Also Humans
As the guy in charge of mixing the soundtrack at professional sporting events, downtown clubs and corporate events, DJ Step has his fingers firmly on the pulse of today’s culture. He gets paid to be the life of the party but, for awhile, Step’s life was much more pity than it was party.
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Episode 016: Leigh Holt
Also Humans
Her job is to connect artists with audiences and audiences with artists…and Leigh Holt has done it incredibly well. Just ask Oprah and Lauren Daigle and more than a handful of others so powerful she can’t publicly talk about them. But beneath Leigh’s breathtaking success lies an ever-present fear of failure.
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Episode 015: Dr. Glenn Livingston
Also Humans
Coming from a family of 17 psychotherapists—and with the last name Livingston—there was no question that Glenn Livingston would be a doctor. And while the weight of his highly-stressful career, painful divorce and near bankruptcy could have easily done him in, it was Glenn’s battle with his actual weight that nearly did it instead.
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Episode 014: Brett Melton
Also Humans
As one of the best high school players in America, Brett Melton was determined to turn four years at his dream university into a lucrative NBA career. But after an injury, a transfer, and a coach’s unethical behavior Brett realized: when it comes to basketball, the difference between pro and amateur is often just a few unfair bounces of the ball.
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Episode 013: Hunter Smith
Also Humans
He was one of the best punters in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. But Hunter Smith has learned that fame and fortune and football don’t fulfill him. In fact, just two years into his professional career he realized on the outside he had everything, but on the inside he felt nothing.
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Episode 012: Angela Schaffner
Also Humans
She was known for being smart and musical and athletic…but it was what people didn’t know about Angela Schaffner that truly defined her. At least for awhile. As an author and psychologist, Angela now spends her days helping people work through their issues, but she first had to learn how to deal with her own.
info_outlineAs the guy in charge of mixing the soundtrack at professional sporting events, downtown clubs and corporate events, DJ Step has his fingers firmly on the pulse of today’s culture. He gets paid to be the life of the party but, for awhile, Step’s life was much more pity than it was party.
Thankfully, family and friends stepped up to pull the aspiring DJ through the lowest of lows, ultimately catapulting him to his dream gig…and to being named one of NPR’s “Five Chicago DJs to Watch in 2019.
From rocking mainstream clubs like Studio Paris in the heart of the Chicago to leading the music direction for the city’s professional soccer team, the Fire, DJ Step turned his love for creating mix tapes at 16-years-old into a full-time career. So much so that Step has been named by NPR to their list of Five Chicago DJs to watch in 2019.