Month: December 2023

I wanted to re-release these episodes in order to emphasize Russ’s legacy and selfishly as a way for me and others who loved him, to hear his voice again.

Russ was the type of person who always saw potential in people that they didn’t see in themselves.

For me personally, he convinced me to speak publicly for the first time and encouraged me to enter into leadership positions as a very young man.  Something that I really didn’t think that I was qualified for, yet he believed in me and encouraged me to take the leap.  Before I was 25 years old, I served as both a club president and Lieutenant Governor within Optimist International.  I never would have entered into those roles if it wasn’t for Russ believing in me and seeing potential that I didn’t know existed within myself.