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 ..read more

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 pr ..read more

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 ..read more

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.  ..read more

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.  ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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.  ..read more

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 ..read more

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.  ..read more