The Pratfalls podcast

“I think bands have taught me more about life and business than any other experience I’ve had.”

Don Smithmier is a self-described serial entrepreneur. He's co-founded Rumble Music, GoKart Labs, Sophia Learning, Bring Me The News, Network Music Lab, and the Big Know. Smithmier is also co-founder, songwriter, and performer with the band Rocket Club. And he's a father to three daughters.

In this conversation, Don talks about building a career around the internet without thinking of himself as a tech guy. He talks about the creative work involved in being an entrepreneur, the importance of good people over good ideas, and why he pursues the projects he pursues.

Don also talks about running multiple businesses while being a father to three daughters and how important it is to have a strong marriage in order to be able to focus on business.

“I can’t remember anything pre-children.”

Katy McEwen has been working in the Twin Cities as a performer, writer, and teacher since she and her husband moved from Dayton, Ohio in 1995. She started her career as a performing apprentice and company member at Children’s Theatre Company where she continues to work as a Teaching Artist in their nationally acclaimed Neighborhood Bridges educational outreach program. In addition to being the parent of students at Circus Juventas, she’s also a CJ theater coach. Katy is the Co-Artistic Director at the Brave New Workshop Comedy Theater and has been writing, performing and teaching there since 1998.

In this episode, Katy talks about the work of writing sketch comedy, how improvisation informs the rest of her life, and where funny really comes from. She also talks about how life can feel like it’s just happened without any kind of plan. And she shares stories of trying to get her children to appreciate music from before their time.

"When life gives you rain, puke a rainbow."

Erica Hanna is the creative force behind the content strategy and video production company Puke Rainbows. Erica is also an Emmy-winning television producer, a public speaker, a hyper Twitter user, and someone who gets excited about helping other people do good work. She's also raised over $30,000 for the New York-based organization Charity: Water.

In this conversation, Erica talks about how she started Puke Rainbows, how and why she uses social media to create genuine relationships, and how her personal life and professional life doesn't cleanly divide. She also talks about why raising money for Charity: Water means so much to her and how she works with clients to bring the best out of them and their work.

“I don’t like to think about things being good or negative.”

J. M. Culver is a visual artist drawing and painting work that digs into themes like how memories shift and change, he human psyche, and the fragile nature of being alive. In describing her work Culver says, "I create paintings that have personal significance and create social consciousness to connect and emotionally resonate with the viewer. "

In this conversation, J.M. Culver talks about starting out with a Bob Ross art kit and the evolution of thinking in black and white terms to more nuanced points of view. She talks about making the personal universal by initially creating the work for yourself as the artist and then stepping back and thinking about the audiences experience. And she shares stories of how she physically makes her work and why she does it that way.

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“Anytime I want to feel better I just need a stage.”

On this episode, singer/songwriter Katy Vernon talks about depression, her fairly new relationship with sobriety, how she went from writing songs in her head to process life to being an actual artist and what parenting is like for someone who lost both parents before adulthood.

Born and raised in London, UK, Katy now calls Minnesota home. She has written songs for as long as she can remember and is always happiest when she’s singing, even when dealing with some pretty tough challenges. Katy’s debut solo release was ‘Before I Forget’. This was both a tribute to her parents, whom she lost as a teen, but also an embrace of her new solo direction after discovering the ukulele and the songwriting it inspired.

In a deliberate effort to use her writing to move beyond the grief and sadness of her earlier work Katy wrote the song ‘Pearl’ which she released as a single prior to this full length release. Each song on ‘Present’ is an exploration of the effort to embrace the here and now. Exploring the realities of life, the good and the bad, without being numbed or sugar coated.

Katy Vernon has also used her enthusiasm and knowledge of the local ukulele scene to organize and perform at her successful Annual Uke Fest Concert, now expanded to a two night celebration and fundraiser benefitting Arc GTC. Katy has been featured on TPT’s Almanac, WCCO’s Women Who Rock, The Current, KFAI, and more. In addition to clubs and festivals she has performed at venues including The Guthrie, The Cowles Center with the James Sewell Ballet, and even the Fitzgerald Theater with Garrison Keillor!