Ashton Gustafson | Let The Music Play

Mike Bagale combines a unique mix of a broadly artistic mind with a calm, pragmatic, and practical approach to running a complex kitchen.Mike’s artistic interests began in film school, attending Ryerson University in Toronto and the New York Film Academy. In 2002 his interest in cooking began when he enrolled at Florida Culinary in Palm Beach.In 2004 he began working at the Four Seasons hotels and spent 4 years in their programs from Palm Beach, Washington D.C., and Miami, ending up as the Chef de Cuisine of the 5 Diamond Resort at the Palm Beach property. In 2009, after a successful 2-day tryout, he joined the team at Alinea as chef de partie.His relentless drive and work ethic moved him quickly up the ladder at Alinea. He was a constant creative collaborator in the kitchen and was promoted to sous chef quickly in 2010. It was that year that he cracked the code to ‘floating food’ with the famous Balloon course. Mike was named Executive Chef of Alinea in 2012.http://alinearestaurant.com/https://www.instagram.

In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean to bar chocolate factory and never looked back.Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. The only chocolate maker working directly with cocoa farmers on four continents, Shawn travels to regions of Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled authentic single origin. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a “Stake In the Outcome,” a principle he learned from author/entrepreneur Jack Stack.Recently named by Forbes "One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America", Askinosie Chocolate has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on Bloomberg, MSNBCand numerous other national and international media outlets.The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to

The WHY behind our new name.

A recap from many of our favorite interviews of 2017!

Grace and peace...Ashton

Phileena Heuertz is an author, speaker, spiritual director, retreat guide and yoga instructor.She is passionate about spirituality and making the world a better place. With a rare gift for communicating the dynamics of the spiritual journey, Phileena gracefully guides others toward personal growth, bringing harmony to the active and contemplative dimensions of life. http://phileena.com/

John Philip Newell, the celebrated author of Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality, is one of the most prominent teachers of spirituality in the Western world.In 2011 he received the first-ever Contemplative Voices Award from the Shalem Institute in Washington DC in recognition of his work in spirituality and peacemaking. His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over 15 books, including Christ of the Celts, Praying with the Earth, A New Harmony, and his most recent visionary title The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings.

Transformation, identity, authenticity, change, perception, process, beauty, and time, these are the great mysteries that an artist seeks to dissect, understand, experience and somehow convey through their craft. When you experience the work of Kyle Steed this is precisely what happens...a universal truth within you is dissected, better understood, experienced, and conveyed. Known for his public mural works, Kyle always finds a way to change the space, the air, and the atmosphere of everywhere his work has a chance to be offered to the world.www.KyleSteed.com

Meditator, writer, and speaker, Yung Pueblo, brings clarity and insight to the hidden things burried within the human experience.

Hugo Ortega is executive chef/co-owner of four of Houston’s top restaurants – Backstreet Cafe, Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi, and winner of Best Chef: Southwest at the prestigious 2017 James Beard Foundation Awards. (He was a finalist for the award for six consecutive years, 2012- 2017.) Ortega has been recognized locally, nationally and globally for his inspirational story and his passion for sharing traditional Mexican cooking and culture.Ortega’s American Dream story started at Backstreet Cafe, a neighborhood bistro started by Tracy Vaught in 1983. He began his career in the restaurant business first as dishwasher and busboy and later as a line cook before graduating from culinary school and later becoming Backstreet’s executive chef. He and Vaught married, and together, they have created an award-winning Houston restaurant family that also includes Hugo’s and Caracol.Ortega was born in Mexico City, the oldest of a family of eight children. At 15, he began working at one of several Procter & Gamble facto

Chef Shota began his culinary journey at the age of sixteen, working for a well-acclaimed sushi restaurant in his hometown of Seattle, WA. At the age of eighteen, Nakajima moved to Osaka, Japan to learn about the art of Japanese cuisine. In Japan, Nakajima had the opportunity to work for Michelin Star rated Chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto. As one would expect, this experience changed Chef Shota’s perspective on cooking. Since returning to Seattle, it has been Nakajima’s dream to convey Chef Sakamoto’s approach to hospitality and Japanese cuisine in the United States.http://www.adanaseattle.com/

America’s in the midst of a bread renaissance – just ask Publican Quality Bread’s Head Baker, Greg Wade. Growing up outside Milwaukee, Greg was raised baking with his mother and grandmother, but it wasn’t until years later that he discovered his passion for whole grains, long fermentation and all the other things he speaks effortlessly about under the humble guise of “nerding out.”After enrolling in The Illinois Institute of Art's Culinary Program, Greg began to notice a void in the Chicago dining scene – excellent restaurants had the desire to serve quality breads made from hydrated doughs and whole grains, but they were hard-pressed to find the space and expertise necessary to bake in their already-bustling kitchens. From that epiphany, Greg found his first home as a baker at Wicker Park’s Taxim, where he specialized in breads and pastries. As his knowledge continued to grow, Greg joined the opening team at Girl & the Goat in 2010. Wade excelled under Chef Stephanie Izard’s tutelage, and in 2013, he mov

Creator of Fearing’s Restaurant and author of The Texas Food Bible, Chef Dean Fearing is known as a “Father of Southwestern Cuisine” and has spent his life cooking for people who love good food.After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and following 20-plus years at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dean opened his own Fearing’s Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas in 2007. Since then, he and his popular menu favorites have been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Food and Wine, Southern Living, Forbes, Fox News, Bon Appétit, Garden & Gun, Robb Report, The Food Network, Guitar Aficionado and more. He was recently recognized as a “Pioneer of American Cuisine” by The Culinary Institute of America, and was also presented with the Silver Spoon Award for sterling performance by Food Arts.Dean is a restaurateur who likes to spend as much time as possible at his restaurant. Most days, he can be spotted in Fearing’s wearing a signature crisp white chef’s coat with colorful boot embroid

Michael Tusk is the Chef and Owner, along with his wife Lindsay, of two of San Francisco’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, Quince and Cotogna. His approach to Italian and French regional cuisine is refined and modern, taking inspiration from the seasonal bounty of Northern California and his close relationships with local purveyors.A native of New Jersey, Tusk graduated from Tulane University with a degree in Art History and attended the Culinary Institute of Americain Hyde Park, New York. After completing his studies, Tusk left for Europe to gain experience in Michelin-starred restaurants throughout France and Italy. His experience in Italy’s Barbaresco region resonated most profoundly and was the catalyst for his sustained interest in Northern Italian regional cuisine.Tusk returned to the United States in 1988 and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area where he contributed to the success of some of thecountry’s most pioneering, influential restaurants including Stars and Chez Panisse. In December 2003

Tyson co-founded Uchi in 2003 as the restaurant’s Executive Chef. Before Uchi, he was a passionate student of the Japanese sushi tradition, training for more than 10 years in a variety of roles from dishwasher to head sushi chef in Tokyo, New York, and Austin, under two different sushi masters. Formative years were spent at Musashino, one of Austin’s top sushi restaurants, where he completed an intensive traditional apprenticeship under owner Takehiko Fuse. The two spent time in Japan, where Tyson experienced the food and gained technical skill. Fuse challenged him to learn the Japanese language, which helped Tyson learn more about the cuisine. He later trained at Bond Street, one of the busiest sushi restaurants in New York City. After Uchi opened in 2003, Tyson was recognized as one of Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs of 2005. In 2010, he opened Uchiko and in 2011, he celebrated the release of the Uchi Cookbook. Later that year, Tyson also received a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southw

Sleeping At Last is the moniker of Chicago-based singer-songwriter, producer and composer, Ryan O’Neal.Sleeping At Last can be heard frequently on popular TV Shows and Films such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, The Fault In Our Stars – Trailer, Grey’s Anatomy, So You Think You Can Dance, Criminal Minds, Bones, The Vampire Diaries, J.J. Abrams & Alfonso Cuaron’s Believe and many more.Show notes: Sleeping At Last http://www.sleepingatlast.com/The Sacred Enneagram by Chris Heuertz https://gravitycenter.com/sacredenneagram/What is the Enneagram? https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/

Jer Swigart is a social innovator, an organizer, a professor, and the cofounding director of The Global Immersion Project, a peacemaking training organization that forms, equips, and mobilizes individuals and communities to enter any kind of conflict to heal rather than to win. He was the founder and lead pastor of The Open Door Community, a courageous collective of people pursuing God’s dream for the San Francisco Bay area, and he is a contributing author to a number of books that focus on theology, leadership, justice, and reconciliation.A modern-day peacemaker, Jer has found himself contending for restoration in beautifully bizarre corners of our global village. Whether in the tribes of northern Pakistan, the slums of India, the red-light districts of Southeast Asia, the violence of Israel and Palestine, or the racial injustice of his own neighborhood, Jer loves people in a way that disarms violence and dismantles divides. His engagement within national and international conflicts has formed him into a gui

Christopher L. Heuertz was first introduced to the Enneagram in the slums of Cambodia. Since then he has trained under some of the great living Enneagram masters including Father Richard Rohr, Russ Hudson, Marion Gilbert, and Helen Palmer, and now teaches the Enneagram in workshops and retreats around the world. Chris is an International Enneagram Association Accredited Professional. He and his wife Phileena live in Omaha with their puppy Basil, and you can join him on Facebook and Twitter in his intentions to love on the margins.Find more information on Chris and his latest book, The Sacred Enneagram, at https://gravitycenter.com/sacredenneagram/.

Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981. Brian is also the author of several books, including, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, and Beauty Will Save the World.For more information on Brian and his books, visit https://brianzahnd.com/books/.

Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: A Manifesto to Rethink How You Think About Work. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together.For information on his Reboot gathering, visit https://www.aaronmchugh.com/rebootworkshop/