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Explore the world of business and entrepreneurship in Wichita. Learn from local business owners from a variety of industries as they share their experiences with hosts and Evergy leaders, Don Sherman and Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade, who are also small business owners. You’ll learn how they have built and grown their companies and the challenges and opportunities they encountered along the way. This podcast is brought to you by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce and is powered by Evergy.
Ep124_KimDozeLohmannJosephShepard_full
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Don Sherman: [00:00:00] Welcome to another exciting edition of WCBA Powered, of course by Evergy. First, thank you for listening. Don't forget to like us, love us, share us. We truly appreciate you checking us out. In the house, E, Leadership [00:01:00] Wichita.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: That's what's up. Yes, we have two of my favorite people. We have Joseph Shepard up in this piece.
Hi Joseph.
Joseph Shepard: Hey Ebony.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And we have the best Ms. Kim Doze-Lohmann, who was in the best leadership Wichita class ever.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: The best.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: best as well. Yes.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Hey lady,
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Welcome.
Don Sherman: Shut up. Don. Shut up. Don't, don't. It's no.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: True. We know
Kim Doze-Lohmann: you're the best of the bestest.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: see? Yay. Yay, yay.
So with that, would the two of you tell us and share with our listeners who you are and who you're with.
Joseph Shepard: Go ahead, Kim.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: My name is Kim Doze-Lohmann. I'm the Director of marketing at Martin Pringle Law Firm. A title that I shockingly have secured for 18 years. Wow.
Wow.
What?
I'm not even old enough to have had a job for 18 years. Right? Like I'm a child prodigy.
Don Sherman: Yeah. I was,
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Sign me up.
Yeah.[00:02:00] Anyway, I am the immediate past leadership Wichita Chair. Mm-hmm. And I am now serving on the chamber board of directors as the vice-chair of leadership. So I liaise between the leadership Wichita board of trustees, which is obviously near and dear to my heart and the chamber board, which has been super fun.
Joseph Shepard: I should have went first.
Stop.
Well, my name is Joseph Shepard. I'm actually a transplant to Wichita. Been here for about 12 years. Proud to call this city home. Work at Lead for America. We are a national nonprofit organization. I serve as the chief of staff and I just came up on two years.
What?
I have some catching up to do.
No way.
Yeah, just two years. I have where
Kim Doze-Lohmann: you've been promoted, like you didn't start out a chief.
Just twice.
Chief of staff, just.
Just once, actually.
Just twice in one year. I mean, it's not, not a big deal at all.
Joseph Shepard: But our, our job is essentially to keep amazing people like Don Ebony Kim in their hometown [00:03:00] communities so that they don't leave, they make their communities a better place.
I'm Leadership Wichita class 2019. We were the last class standing before the pandemic came, and really had a great opportunity to meet some amazing people, learn more about our community and the difference that we're making in different areas of our community. And now I am the co-chair with Dan.
Dan Shurtz. Yes
Dan man. Yeah. And working alongside him is awesome. I've had the opportunity to also learn from Kim, who did an amazing job leading leadership Wichita during Covid 19. And so excited to be here with you all to talk about this dynamic program.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: So great to have both of you here and to learn a little bit about the program and about your leadership in it. So let's, for those who don't know, can we talk about what is Leadership Wichita? Is it your standard leadership program that, you know, you can just check off the box and be like, well, did that, done that? What is it?
Joseph Shepard: I won't go by the technical definition, but if I had to describe what Leadership Wichita is, it's truly gonna give you the hands-on [00:04:00] experience to not only the challenges, but the unique opportunities that we have to make Wichita a better place.
We attract leaders in our community to be a part of this program. So folks who already have the experience, that know what it's like to care about a community, want to see it grow and want to look at the opportunities and the challenges and take them on to make it a better place. So you're going to, you're gonna be able to not just read on some of the challenges that we have, you get exposed to it upfront and personal.
You're gonna get the opportunity to have a broaden perspective. You're gonna be sitting alongside. Folks who don't think like you, look like you walk like you talk, like you, which is critical in our world today because that's what our world looks like, different people. But you also are gonna have the opportunity to build community not only just by being in a room with folks who are a part of the Wichita community, but you're gonna be challenged to say, okay, you, you've been exposed to this challenge.
You see the opportunities Now what. Now what? Now what? Right. Like it's easy to talk about a tweet about it, Facebook post about it. It's a different thing to put it into action. And so we challenge all of the [00:05:00] members of our community to really not just complain about what you see, but to put some of the things that you've learned through this program and to practice.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I mean, it's an immersive experience. It is. 10 full days, which is a lot to take off from work. We get it, we've all done it, but it is an immersive experience where you are exposed to areas of our community that you would not otherwise have the opportunity exposed to.
So we do, two vision days to set the stage for our entire program. Education, media, economic development, government, community engagement, leadership. Caring community. We do a, a simulated society, which is everyone's favorite
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Yes, it is their favorite.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: those of us that have been through it. And then, you know, then we do a debrief.
So, I mean, it really is a program that is not like, you know, leadership Kansas or [00:06:00] Kansas Leadership Center. It is different. It is immersive and there are opportunities to engage in our community in ways that an exposure that you would never, not never, but generally not be able to be exposed to. That's what that, that's what we hang our hat on.
Joseph Shepard: That's what we hang our hat on.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: In a cohesive manner, right? Because the days are put in place for a reason, right? You have day one and day two for the visioning process, right, to see the overall picture, and then you go to the next day and it's very deliberate, right?
And you're, you're hoping that there's a, a strand that's in between all of those days that allow you to see the big picture of Wichita. Of course, my favorite day is economic development day because it's the best day, obviously.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Weird. My favorite day is media day,
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: that something? And that's my second favorite.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Yeah. You're my partner in crime.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Yes. Yes.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: my partner in
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: So, talk to us a little bit about [00:07:00] some of the things that people may not know about Leadership Wichita and coming out of those days, right? Sometimes people have these preconceived notions of what Leadership Wichita is and who it's for. Is it for only the C-Suite? What I mean like what type of leader are you looking for?
Joseph Shepard: I think folks who have shown a proven commitment to lead within their community, and I think Ebony, you hit the nail right on the head, right? People think they know. Mm-hmm. People think they know what Wichita's all about. And I'll be completely transparent, I was one of those folks. I'm 29 years old now, and I, and I look back on where I was at the age of 2021.
And I think Leadership Wichita was one of those programs that really taught me the importance of things like economic development and the importance of private and public partnership and how we work together to make our community a better place where people wanna live, work, play, and play. and so I say all that to say we're looking for folks who, not just at the C-suite level, mid-level management, we're looking for [00:08:00] entry-level folks who have the capacity even to take off work, be a part of the program.
You just need to have a proven commitment to shown, demonstrate leadership in the community of Wichita.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And so does that leadership take on the form of just work leadership or is it community leadership?
Joseph Shepard: Oh, for sure community. I mean, I think that's some of the most transformational leadership examples we see in Wichita, folks who do the work outside of their nine to five jobs, right?
You see an issue in the community and you take it on maybe not because you have the capacity, but because you simply care. Mm-hmm. That's leadership, that's Wichita. To be completely honest, I think we do it better than anybody else. We believe in bed on our city. And that's what you find in Leadership Wichita, I believe.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Yeah. I, I think that the conversation around our board table as look at the type of people we want to attract to Leadership Wichita has shifted. So, this program started 40 years ago. This is our 40th anniversary, which we're gonna get into in a little bit. But [00:09:00] it's not about employer necessarily thinks is the best candidate anymore.
Mm-hmm. It's more about what is this person doing to forward leadership in our community. And that has transpired through Really intentional conversations around diversity mm-hmm. And inclusion. Mm-hmm. And, who are the leaders in our community? They're, they're not just the C-suite owners of the companies.
I mean, obviously we want their, their voice, but it's really about broadening perspective and, and having diverse voices at our table. That's where our participants in Leadership Wichita really benefit the most. Mm-hmm. Is engaging with people who they wouldn't otherwise generally come in contact with.
And Ebony, you've been a, you, you've been a big part of that. I mean, let's not pretend like you haven't been on our [00:10:00] board.
Like she just, she just left us and we're really,
Joseph Shepard: and now we're sad back for another year. One more, one more year. Come on, Ebony.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Don, stop it. Mm-hmm. No,
Kim Doze-Lohmann: We're not asking Don. We're not asking Don.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: guys are too kind. But you know, Kim, you hit on something because, you know, sitting on the board and as we have these conversations and we begin to think about the future of our region, right?
Cause it's not just the region and we talk about broadening perspective. That was one of them in strengthening our community. Another part of that strategic discussion was changing some of those focal points. So can you talk or speak to that a little bit?
You know, we build community. Bring the power of perspective.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Absolutely. So, you know, the last three years have been really interesting in terms of Leadership Wichita. Which has been true for our entire community.
I mean, like we dealt with Covid. Mm-hmm. And we had to cancel our traditional program for two years. So, [00:11:00] you know, we went through our traditional selection process and that class was on hold essentially for two years. So during that time where we weren't meeting in our traditional capacity we really decided to take a deep dive into what is Leadership Wichita. What? What is our why? Why do we exist? Why did it initially get started? Like, what is the history and why are we here?
We cannot have this conversation without mentioning Gerald Holman.
The man, the myth, the legend who worked at the chamber for many years, I, I don't even know how many, but he, you know, Leadership Wichita was his vision. And it started as far as I understand as a leadership development, Program for the right. individuals, [00:12:00] which Don clearly was a part of.
Don Sherman: I ain't letting y'all bother me.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Oh, stop. Oh, stop.
Don Sherman: I'm sorry.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: No, you're the best. You're the best. Anyway. You know, I mean, that program over 40 years has evolved. It's not. Any longer a program just for the C-suite individuals. It is a program for the community and we are not a leadership development program. So, you know, for the first, I don't know, 37 years of our program, it was inspire, inform, involve. So as we built out our curriculum as trustees it was, you know, how do we inspire people? How do we inform them? And then how do we get them involved? So during Covid, we went through and we looked at every single day. We were like, is this [00:13:00] still relevant?
Mm-hmm. Are we relevant? Mm-hmm. Are there other leadership programs in the United States? We talked to all of them. We talked about how many people. We talked about what is your price point? Who are the people coming to your program? How long does it last? What is the run time? Mm-hmm. Do you start in the fall?
Do you start in the spring? Mm-hmm. So we literally broke it down. Mm-hmm. And decided and confirmed that what we're doing matters and the days that we have committed to matter. Mm-hmm. And they're still relevant. We actually added a day, which I'm gonna let Joseph talk a little bit more about later. But that said, what we did is we reimagined the program so it was no longer inspire inform involve, it became a new mission.
It was [00:14:00] about advancing leadership. Like what did we want to accomplish. Mm-hmm. What was the point of the program? When we broke it down, we wanted to advance leadership, we wanted to broaden perspective, and we wanted to strengthen our community. And how are we going to do that? So it was no longer inspire, involve, inform.
It was connect.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Yes. Connect.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Expose,
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Expose. Mm-hmm.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Challenge. Which is a big one. And that's a tough one.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Because you provoke all of those conversations. Right.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: tough. tough.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And people, you know, when you're going through that, emotions get high. Mm-hmm. But that's when you begin to the way the the program is set up, you begin to understand that other person's perspective, even with all their passion.
And at the end of that, you come back and. With a broader perspective to say, wow, now I see where you are coming from, from that and you've become a stronger leader.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And at the end of the day, [00:15:00] you get your best friends from that.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: A hundred percent. So connect, expose, challenge.
And then the last one is empower. Empower. And you know, we're not, we're not here to tell you how to solve the problems. We're here to tell you. Here's all the infromation These are the behind the scenes things that are happening in our community. We're not gonna tell you how to fix it.
Mm-hmm. You fix it. So that's the empower piece. Right. And that, that's tough.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: But not just that you fix it, but here are the resources. We are connecting you with the people in these different organizations and different areas of community that you may not have been exposed to prior to being a part of the the program.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: And I will tell you, it's so interesting. So at our graduation, we have three class participants speak about their experience. We have found, [00:16:00] we've shifted that in mm-hmm. In the last couple of years and we've found that to be the most, I don't know, meaningful. And one class participant specifically this past year he joined the, the, the group and every day I sat in the back and I was like, oh gosh this is a train wreck. And he was a speaker at our graduation because I, we saw such transformational change in him. Wow. Mm-hmm. And he acknowledged it. And it was amazing. It was amazing. It was like just transforming before our eyes.
Joseph Shepard: yeah. I thought what was most transformational about this particular individual is perhaps this person didn't change their belief system.
Right. Or their values, but how they approached it. Right, because when you, when you have the [00:17:00] knowledge, all the knowledge and all the different perspective, as you've said Ebony, you know, it should kind of allow you to rethink how you're approaching a challenge. And that's what Leadership Wichita does.
We're not here to change your beliefs. We're not here to change what you believe is true, what you don't believe is true. We're here to say, here are the resources, here are the challenges. Now let's, let's push you to go and, and make a difference. And, and tackle that challenge. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging we have room to grow but we also have the people here who have the capabilities to solve the challenges we're faced with.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: He exemplified leadership 1000% to through the program.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And that, that's a true testimony, right, because a lot of times people think they know everything there is to know about a particular. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Subject.
Mm-hmm. But don't know the other side of it. Like, people like Don think they know about economic development.
Don Sherman: Wow. I knew was coming
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: and I have to let 'em know. I know. Yeah.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Shots fired. Shots
Don Sherman: Yeah,
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I love that.[00:18:00]
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Well, no, friends, it's time to hear a word from our sponsors, but we'll be back to learn more about Leadership Wichita and how you can get your employee engaged.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Welcome back friends. We are here with Kim Doze-Lohmann and Joseph Shepard representing Leadership Wichita. So we've been talking a lot about some different things and you know, we, we recognize that Leadership Wichita is a flagship program and that people always wanna join Leadership Wichita, right?
Because it's the place to be.[00:19:00] We talked about Empower earlier. Kim or Joseph, can you please share any of the success stories from leaders who've gone through the program, who have saw that there was a need for something and decided we're gonna take on this challenge and create something.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: So, I have been honored to go through the Leadership Wichita program in 2012. The best class ever with Ebony. And then
Don Sherman: Second. Best.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: of my favorite people on the planet, Kara Hunt, which everyone
too,
in town knows her.
We had the opportunity, she had a really great relationship with someone from the Women's Foundation out of Kansas City. Mm-hmm. Who came and spoke at our Know Your Worth Conference in it was either 2018 or 2019. And you know, the Chung report would tell you that we were exporting women and minority women specifically.
At exponential rates due to a number of things. One of [00:20:00] those included salary. Like we, we were just not competitive locally, and so Kara and I worked together over a year to bring salary negotiation training to Wichita through the American Academy of University women, the A A U W.
And, you know, we had a goal of training a thousand women in person to effectively negotiate their salaries.
Then Covid hit and we didn't quite meet our goal, but I will tell you that the community responded in ways that we could have never imagined. And I believe that we have absolutely made a difference through our, our training. And that partnership would not have happened without Leadership Wichita. I would've not known Kara. Yeah. And I, I can't imagine that there aren't a ton of other stories [00:21:00] like ours. Through the relationships built through Leadership Wichita over the last 40 years. That's just one that comes to mind for me because I was involved in it.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And I I love that that's a true testimony to the work that can be done.
collaborative and you meet new friends through this program, and it's Wendy Doyle
Wendy
yes, she is. She's a phenomenal woman. We have worked with her with our women's economic development task force so just a great organization, so thank you for the work that you and Kara have done.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: My pleasure.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Don.
Don Sherman: Excellent. So, Ebony takes every chance she get to clown me. Oh my gosh. The other day she said I was nominated for Leadership Wichita before indoor plumbing,
Oh, no.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Is that true?
Don Sherman: That's what she said. So, but that's okay. You know.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Wow.
Don Sherman: I'm, I'm, I'm a big boy. I can handle it. But those barbs come quick. Question. That's when I was nominated. Mm-hmm. What's the nomination process now?[00:22:00]
Joseph Shepard: So we, we ask companies, organizations, community leaders, whomever you don't have to be from a particular sector or again, holding a certain position in the community or a level of authority rather.
But if you see someone who has the potential to be a part of this program has something to offer, but also something to learn and has that willingness to learn and grow. We ask that you nominate them through the process. They're nominated, then they receive an application to complete. They will need to complete that application in full which includes a letter of reference as well.
And once they submit those letters of reference, those applications go back to members of the board of trustees and separately. Not together. But separately, we review all of those applications. Every single one.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Every single one.
Joseph Shepard: Every single one. And when we, we make sure we do our due diligence, but using our framework that we have, right?
We're looking at who of of the applicants kind of aligns with what we're looking for in terms of the framework and what we hope to [00:23:00] not only provide, but the perspective that they can bring to the room as well. We then score individually and then our friends at the chamber will tabulate those scores.
And then we have a conversation about, you know, not who is populated to the top, but rather, okay, let's have a conversation about The what, the why, the who and what they could potentially bring to this particular session and what we're hoping to gain out of this year's leadership Wichita class. So again, we, we look for not just C-suite level folks.
We want not just mid-level management folks, we want community leaders. We want individuals who perhaps work a nine to five people who don't, people who are retired and have contributed a lot to our community and our workforce, but perhaps have more to give and more to add. We want individuals who truly have different, varying perspectives of what leadership looks like, what the challenges in Wichita look like, but also an innovative approach to how we can solve these challenges.
Don Sherman: And when I was on the board, was it three references that you [00:24:00] had to get?
Kim Doze-Lohmann: It was,
Don Sherman: What? What is it now?
Oh, just one
Joseph Shepard: right? Just one.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Don, you had three. I'm sure.
Don Sherman: I'm, no, I just know when I was on the board you had to have three references. So with that, what about businesses? What can they do or what should they do if they want their folks to be nominated. I mean, is there a way for them to make that happen?
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Yeah. So, We absolutely encourage our businesses to nominate people for Leadership Wichita, there's a couple things to think about though. One is little known fact is that we generally, according to our bylaws, I think or maybe the Gerald Holman bylaws that have stuck is it's one representative per company. So if two people from Evergy are nominated we will only allow one just because we want to keep in mind that diverse [00:25:00] perspective as we work through the program. So, companies generally don't know that, but I think that's something important to keep in mind. So, you know, we have a lot of big employers in town whether it's Wichita State or Textron Aviation or.
2 59. And so, a lot of companies tend to work in silos. So, you know, if, if a company comes to us and Don and Ebony decide that Jane Doe is best for Leadership Wichita we know that's the Evergy nominee.
Now, Someone might also nominate someone from Evergy from a community perspective. So, you know, just because Evergy nominates their person does not guarantee that they're going to get in.
Ton of stock in the actual application. You need to mean it. I mean, we have a hundred applicants and we read through every single application [00:26:00] and their, their reference. So, the selection process is not insignificant. So, if you wanna be in Leadership Wichita we would love to have you, but you know, you need to spend some time on it.
Don Sherman: It's not a cakewalk, so you got lucky to get in E when you did.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Wow.
Don Sherman: Because now,
Kim Doze-Lohmann: No, our class, the application process for our class was very, very coveted. It was tough to get in. Ebony and I just,
Joseph Shepard: made the cut barely.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Well, Don, I think we have covered a lot of the things that we wanted to cover and talk about Leadership Wichita. I I'll leave it to Kim and Joseph, if you wanna leave us with some inspiring words about Leadership Wichita or something that you just want to share with our listeners as we're getting ready to gear up with another class.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I would say there's a reason this program has lasted 40 years, and I would encourage everyone to [00:27:00] apply. Our board of trustees puts together a world class program. It is an immersive experience. It is intense. But I, I just cannot recommend it enough. It's great for your leadership.
It's great for our community, and we wanna build as many leaders as we possibly can. So,
Joseph Shepard: Hmm. Yeah. I, I think as we look at Wichita and I, and I feel the energy and momentum in this city right now, that we have to really be bold and innovative and take risk and defy expectations. I think leadership Wichita is a unique space to serve as a catalyst for folks who want to understand the other side of an issue or the other perspective that perhaps they've not considered before.
I think one of the most transformational moments, For me and for Leadership Wichita has been the folks who I normally would not engage with. I now have that willingness and that opportunity to engage with those folks because [00:28:00] Leadership Wichita put us in a space where we had no choice but to do that in a respectful and meaningful way.
And as you both have alluded to, be passionate at the same time.
So I would say for folks who if you truly do want to bet on this city, if you find yourself saying, Wow, why hasn't Wichita done X? Wow, Wichita can do this better. Then I invite you to apply for this program to learn how you can be a part of not just talking about it, but being about it.
And that's what Leadership Wichita gave me. Leadership Wichita truly did a lot for me personally, and I think some of my best friends that I talked to today would not, would not have come without this program. So, apply, be a part of it and, and I bet you. Probably won't regret it.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Yeah. My favorite thing about the people that I've met.
Yeah. And that's, that's the number one feedback that we get, is that the relationship relationships that you build it, it's hard to describe. Mm-hmm. Right. I wouldn't have known Joseph or Ebony or [00:29:00] Don without this program, and I can call any number of 200 or 2000 alums and engage with them in ways that would not have been possible without this program.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: I agree 100%. You hear about people, you see read about them you know that they're leaders, but you wouldn't, a lot of times don't have that opportunity to actually get to know them as individuals outside of their titles, outside of that work, right?
Their mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
And then when you begin, you begin to develop that bond and you know let me text because I know this person has gone through this, so let me ask them what I should do. That that is priceless.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: How many times I get texts from Ebony that says, Hey, Chica.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: I know, right?
That's when you know you've made it.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I love it. I was like, oh gosh, what's happening? What's happening right now.
Don Sherman: Need to hold onto your wallet. That's what you need to do. But that's okay.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And the cool thing about it is now you have this network and we do cool alumni things.
Yes.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Right? Mm-hmm. Right? Yes. Jacob Wayman is doing amazing things [00:30:00] with our alumni group. That's one thing that we have heard.
Over and over and over again from past participants is, you know, we go through Leadership Wichita and It's so intense. And then we're like, now what? Like I'm, I, I'm like craving that leadership opportunity and so we actually added a new position to our board. Mm-hmm. Which is alumni engagement and Jacob Wayman who is the master connector of all the connectors in town.
He's done an a, a great job of getting that program off the ground and, and actually It's gonna be evolving into something more than it even is now.
Don Sherman: Excellent.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: So if you haven't been to a, an alumni event, please join us.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Don, sign up.
Joseph Shepard: up. Yeah, Don, come on, come on.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I haven't seen you in anything.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Uhoh. All right.
On that note, I think it's time for some word association.
Don Sherman: Too many demands. Your generation had too many demands.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Oh gosh. You
Kim Doze-Lohmann: we're easy ones.
Don Sherman: No. It's I, I love that. I [00:31:00] will be there. Okay. You dealt with Ebony long enough time for some fun up in this piece. So
Joseph Shepard: let's go.
Don Sherman: Word association. Give you one word. You gimme one word back. It's not wrong cuz it's your word. Are you ready?
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I'm scared. I'm
Don Sherman: give
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: And we wanna hear both.
Don Sherman: Yeah, we wanna hear both cuz Yeah, that's how, here we go. That's how we get down. Ready?
All right. Here we go. Leader.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Don.
answers. Oh, I'm staring at, oh no,
Don Sherman: welcome to my world.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I staring at Don. Let's do it again. Sorry.
Joseph Shepard: day after day.
Don Sherman: can she say, Don?
Yes, she can. Can. Thank you, joseph
Joseph Shepard: I was Shepard. You were
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: doing
Don Sherman: hell. Okay. Nice, nice. Success
Joseph Shepard: Wichita.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Forward thinking.
Don Sherman: College,
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Wichita State.
Joseph Shepard: WSU Tech. I'm gonna go with the other connected to which the
Don Sherman: I'm gonna add
Kim Doze-Lohmann: the fu Listen, [00:32:00] you were student body president.
Don Sherman: Exactly.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Yeah. You can talk about Wichita state.
Joseph Shepard: No,
I You said Wichita State so I said WSU tech.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: I'm with it.
Joseph Shepard: It's like double the Wichita.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Let's do it.
Joseph Shepard: Come on. I love me some. Dr. Utash.
Don Sherman: Did you go to high school here, Kim? Yes. What high school?
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Northwest.
Don Sherman: Boom.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: That's why I didn't wanna ask that question. Yeah,
Don Sherman: it's okay that you went to Southeast. It is what it is.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: It's really boring story. It's like born and raised tennis, played tennis.
Joseph Shepard: It's not, it's not boring.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I was the listen.
Joseph Shepard: See, is why Lead for Americans exists,
Kim Doze-Lohmann: a little known fact.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: No,
Don Sherman: Too bad.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: I am the worst
Don Sherman: off the rails, off the rails
Kim Doze-Lohmann: player in the Wichita State Women's tennis team history.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: No you're not
Joseph Shepard: That's okay. You tried.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: My record was three and 17.
Don Sherman: Three and 17.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: They had a girl quit. That's the only reason
Don Sherman: okay. Failure. [00:33:00] Let me say it right. Failure.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Quitting.
Joseph Shepard: Growth.
Don Sherman: Entrepreneur.
Joseph Shepard: Small business. Oh, that's two words.
Don Sherman: That's okay.
That's okay. That's your world.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: access.
Don Sherman: Wichita.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Amazing.
Joseph Shepard: Relentless
Don Sherman: Vacation.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Beach.
Joseph Shepard: Hawaii.
Don Sherman: Okay. Hero.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: My mom.
Joseph Shepard: Chester I. Lewis
Don Sherman: Oh,
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: I like that.
Don Sherman: Chamber.
Joseph Shepard: John Rolfe.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Okay.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Opportunity.
Don Sherman: Family.
Joseph Shepard: Community.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Irreplaceable.
Don Sherman: Fun.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Me.
Joseph Shepard: Bingo.
Don Sherman: Bingo.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: You like bingo.
Joseph Shepard: Oh yeah. We know. I.
Don Sherman: that's, that's crazy. Last, but not,
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: That's what bingo
All right, last one.
Joseph Shepard: [00:34:00] Last
Don Sherman: but not least. And you gotta tell the truth. Beverage
Kim Doze-Lohmann: peanut Pino grigio. Or Diet Coke or hot Tea.
Don Sherman: Oh,
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: was a lot of different beverages.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: That's what I'm fueled on.
Joseph Shepard: Uncle Nearest.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Ooh, come on, Uncle Nearest.
Don Sherman: Wow. Nice. Love that Uncle Nearest.
Joseph Shepard: Good one. Shout out to Jen Ray for putting me on. Yeah. And the story certainly
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: for having it at her location, because not many people do.
Don Sherman: Truly appreciate you guys coming through.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Thank you both for being here. It's been a wonderful conversation. Joseph and Kim. Always a blast when you're here.
Joseph Shepard: Thank you for having us.
Kim Doze-Lohmann: Thank you.
Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade: Okay, friends, we've come to an end of our segment. If you would, please make certain that you like it. Share it with all your friends and your circle of influence.
Make certain that you nominate a leader that you know. Till next time,
Don Sherman: peace. [00:35:00]