Happy When Curious

My name is Brady Ryan and I am a sea salt farmer on San Juan Island in Washington State. Ever since I was a child I have felt like my main skill was not that I was smarter or stronger or harder working or braver than anyone else, I was just a little more curious than the average cat. Since becoming a parent and trying to be a good husband and small business owner have taken so much of my energy and attention, I feel like this one superpower I have has fallen by the wayside. This podcast is my attempt to rediscover curiosity through conversation and contemplation. I will be alternating conversations with guests one episode with a short musing of my own the next. The musing episodes will allow me to try to explore ideas that I've heard or that I've come up with in an open ended way. My theory is that exploration is worth much more than answers and hopefully the interviews and the musings can live up to that principle.

Ben Jacobsen: Growing Jacobsen Salt Co

Today we are joined by Ben Jacobsen-founder of Jacobsen Salt Co in Portland Oregon. Founded in 2011, Jacobsen Salt Co. is the first company to harvest salt in the Pacific Northwest since the 1800s. Since then it has transformed from a local, small business to a nationally recognized brand as America’s leading salt maker. Harvested from the cold, pristine waters of Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast, its flake and kosher sea salts have garnered worldwide favor for their beautiful presentation and...

09-26
37:03

Musing: Here Comes Another Season of Happy When Curious!

The summer craziness has passed, now to get back to the real work of keeping our curiosity and humanity going and growing!

09-12
02:18

Callie North: What happens to you after 72 days alone in nature?

Today we are joined by herbalist, adventurer and teacher Callie North. Born and raised on Lopez Island, Washington, Callie spent her youth engrossed in the nature of the Pacific Northwest. Her love of the outdoors and relationship with sacred plant medicine led her to open Northsea Apothecary in the spring of 2016. Shortly after, Callie got to spend 72 days living alone in the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Patagonia, Argentina as a contestant on Season 3 of the History Channel show Alon...

07-18
58:00

Molly Moon: Making A Better World One Scoop at a Time

Today we are joined by Molly Moon Neitzel! Molly is the founder and CEO of Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, a Seattle institution known not just for its insanely delish scoops, but for its bold commitments to fair wages, progressive values, and community care. Under her leadership, Molly Moon’s has become a model for how small businesses can balance customer happiness and employee wellbeing.

05-23
49:41

Natasha Clower: Exploring Potentials

Today we are joined by Natasha Clower, a Clarity Coach and Mentor for Men and a Best Selling Author. Natasha guides corporate managers, founders, and entrepreneurs to an unshakable inner clarity to attain their destiny and goals with ease. She works to deliver profound transformations in just hours instead of months of ongoing coaching compared to traditional methods. During these recalibrations, she engages all levels of your being - mental, emotional, energetic, ancestral, intellectual, phy...

04-25
01:23:34

Dr. RP Oates: A Life In Science, Aimed at Healing

Today we are joined by Dr. R.P. Oates, founder of INergy Wellness in Friday Harbor, Washington. R.P. is a multidisciplinary scientist who's previous career spans two decades of research experience across chemistry, toxicology, and biotechnology. Holding an MS in Organic Chemistry with a focus on photochemistry and a PhD in Toxicology focused on how physical forces in nature impact biological systems. At INergy Wellness, R.P. now offers personalized sessions of FDA-cleared full body red light ...

03-14
01:06:57

Dr. Andrew Fleming: The Art, Science and Life of Clinical Psychology

Today we are joined by Dr. Andrew Fleming. Dr Fleming is a clinical psychologist, founder of The Seattle Clinic, and a member of the clinical faculty at the University of Washington. He completed his doctoral study in child clinical psychology at the University of Washington, his internship in child & adolescent psychology at the UCLA Medical Center, and fellowship at the UW School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. His research was focused on improving interv...

02-14
01:12:52

Boyd Pratt: Ordinary People Living Through Extraordinary Times

Today we are joined by historian and author Boyd Pratt. Boyd's previous three books about the San Juan Islands were Lime: Quarrying and Limemaking in the San Juan Islands, Island Fishing: History and Seascape of Marine Harvesting in the San Juan Islands amid the Salish Sea, and Island Farming: History and Landscape of Agriculture in the San Juan Islands. His newest book, which came out in 2024 is The Disputed Islands: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times in the San Juans 1850-1874.

01-18
55:37

Musing: The Magic of New People

Host Note: This was recorded about 3/4 of the way through 2024, and eventually I did meet and surpass my goal of meeting 365 new people last year! I hope to do it again in 2025, choosing life (breaking the ice with new people) over comfort (keeping to myself) in small ways day by day.

01-03
05:14

Danny Sherrard: Coming Alive Through Poetry

Danny Sherrard is the founder of Island Verse Literary Collective (IVLC), a nonprofit organization honoring the voices of the San Juans. He is the youngest person to have won the Individual National Poetry Slam in Austin (2007) as well as the World Poetry Cup in Paris (2008). Write Bloody published his first collection of poetry in 2009. Between 2008-2020 Sherrard toured and orchestrated poetry workshops across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. A Pushcart Prize nominee, his poetr...

12-13
01:03:45

Master Chief Brett Percich: Learning the Art of Leadership on a Navy Submarine

In this episode I am interviewing a member of the U.S. Navy. The opinions expressed in this podcast are their own and do not represent those of the Department of Defense or Department of the Navy. Brett Percich is currently serving as an Engineering Department Master Chief (ie the Senior Nuclear trained enlisted Sailor) at Submarine Squadron 17 which is the ballistic missile submarine squadron for the pacific fleet, the largest submarine squadron in the Navy with 14 crews attached to 7 subma...

11-15
01:00:28

Alex Pitschka: Finding the Perfect Sounds for Movie Trailers

Alex Pitschka is the owner and composer/prodcer of Montage Music. Montage Music is a constantly-evolving collection of music and sound design, with the goal of giving trailer and promo editors the best, most-inspiring sonic material for crafting hard-hitting, evocative trailers, teasers, tv spots and promos. Their contributors include multiple Oscar and Grammy winners, and nearly all of their cues get used within months of their release, and can be heard in hundreds of movie trailers a...

10-04
01:10:05

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