A Southern Girl's View with Sandy Adams

Today on the show, I am chatting with Stephanie Espy. With chemical engineering degrees from both MIT and UC Berkeley and an MBA from Emory, Stephanie’s background is indeed impressive, but not nearly has impressive as her current mission to inspire and educate the next wave of female STEM leaders as the founder of MathSP based in Atlanta Georgia. Stephanie and I chat about growing up in a family of engineers, the scarcity of girls, especially minorities in STEM, and how she juggles being...

In today’s episode, I’m sharing a story about the 1914 World Welterweight Boxing Champion, Perry “Ivan” Graves. Graves was born July 11, 1892 in Rock Bluff, Nebraska and died at the age of 71 on July 24, 1963 in Rock Bluff, Nebraska. Listen in as I share the limited history we have of this man and a bit of the background of the once thriving town of Rock Bluff Nebraska.

On this Veterans Day episode, I revisit a blog post I wrote back in 2010 on what this day means to me with a few updates. I share memories of veterans from my childhood, my family, my college days and more recent stories. Below are links to my previous conversations with military veterans: Colonel Michael Vaughn, USAF Retired https://ASouthernGirlsView.podbean.com/e/19-colonel-michael-vaughn-usaf-retired/ LCDR Steven Cooper, USN...

Today on the show, I am chatting with Nat Sheidley, CEO and President of Revolutionary Spaces in Boston Nat and I chat about his childhood in rural Connecticut, his love of African history, the days he spent living in Cape Town, his path into Colonial American history. Then we dive into the importance of Crispus Attucks and why defining “we the people” is still as complicated today as it was in 1776. All this and so much more. I so appreciate Nat taking the time to chat with me today. You...

Beginning in 1986, Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) went on an incredible run with 8 consecutive national titles in the sport of Handball. All led by famed Coach Charlie Mazzone. Today on the show, I am chatting with one of those Memphis State Handball Champions, Mr. Chris Jennings. Chris and I chat about growing up in Toronto, his young days as an athlete, the majestic lure of Memphis State, his days as a linesman for the Central Hockey League and why he moved back...

Today on the show, I am chatting with Mr Richard Hyde, the British Consul-General for the South Central United States based in Houston Texas Richard and I chat about his days growing up in Liverpool, his lifelong obsession with politics, how being a girl dad is his greatest honor, his passion for diversity and how green energy can live side by side with oil & gas. And of course, we discuss how COVID has shaped his job over the past few months. I so appreciate Richard taking the timeout to...

Today on the show I am chatting with former Librarian, Mona Batchelor. She’s a hometown girl with a zest for the best life has to offer. From her roots in small town Tennessee to New Orleans and back, and virtually to towns across China, she is educating the world both virtually and by living life on her terms. Mona and I chat about growing up in a small Tennessee town, her current job with VIP Kid teaching English virtually in the heart of China. We talk about the early days of the...

Today we are kicking off season 3 of A Southern Girl’s View podcast with educator, political activist, politician and my college political science professor, Dr. George Kieh, Jr. George is the current Dean of the Barbara Jordan - Mickey Leeland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University in Houston. George and I chat about his long path from growing up in the Firestone district of Liberia to his current position at TSU. We talk about the inspiration for his political activism...

Hello everyone I’m Sandy Adams, the host of the podcast A Southern Girl’s View. Growing up in the south, the best part of the summer was the late nights sitting outside on the front porch listening to my mom and my aunts laugh and tell stories about their childhood. Those were some of the best evenings when life was simple and the only thing to focus on was catching fireflies at dusk. Those conversations and that summer feeling was pretty much my inspiration for this podcast. I’m...

Today on the show I am chatting with Adventure and Vow’s Traci Edwards, she’s an elopement photographer based in Arizona who travels to the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Southern Utah and Iceland for elopements. Traci and I chat about her roots in North Carolina, her road path to Arizona, living in a van with a cat and what she’s learned along the way. For any of you out there looking for more out of life, then Traci’s story is especially for you. We also delve into the emotional...

Today on the show, I am chatting with Kate Gunderson, an Aerospace Engineer with NASA, the Johnson Space Center here in Houston Kate and I talk about her roots in North Dakota, her lifelong dream to work at NASA, how running has done more than just build her endurance, her quest to be an astronaut and what role she will play later this month on May 27, when astronauts will life off from US soil for the first time in almost 9 years. ——————————— Friends, Thank you so much for sharing this...

Today on the show I am chatting with Houston-based Wildlife Photographer & Safari & Custom Trip Guide, Mr. Andy Biggs. Andy is an avid adventurer, conservationist, teacher and outdoor photographer whose images celebrate the African landscape and its rich wildlife, people and culture. Andy and I talk about his path from Silicon Valley to the awe-inspiring and magical Serengeti, the lure of the African landscape, the importance of storytelling and how black and white photography pushed him...

Today on the show, I am chatting with a long-time friend from high school, Master Sergeant David Rich from the 172nd Security Forces Squadron out of Mississippi David and I talk about growing up in Tennessee, his path from army to Air Force, his deployment days, his love of UT football (Tennessee not Texas) and his obsession with Nascar and what makes it so enthralling. ________________________ Friends, Thank you so much for sharing this past hour (more or less) with David and I. We...

Today on the show, I am chatting with Mr. Murilo Queiroz. Murilo is a native of Brazil, but he now calls Houston home. Murilo and I talk about growing up in Brazil and his later years in Angola, the lure of America, his family tradition in oil and gas, and his very interesting and unique path to immigration. _________________________ To find out more about the Immigration Route EB-5 https://www.uscis.gov/eb-5 To discover more about JS101 visit the website...

Today on the show, I am chatting with Dr. Dirk Van Tuerenhout, a curator of Anthropology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Dirk and I talk about his childhood in Belgium, his love affair with the Aztec and Maya, the lure of the Big Easy and a little lady named Lucy and her connection to my pup. Friends, Thank you so much for sharing this past hour (more or less) with Dirk and I. For those wishing to connect with Dirk, you can find the Houston Museum of Natural Science online at...

Today on the show, I am chatting with yet another old college buddy of mine, Mr. Donnie Young. Donnie is a musician and a business owner based in the Yucatan Peninsula’s Puerto Aventuras. Donnie and I talk about his early days in Memphis, how Christmas caroling propelled him into the music industry, his days trimming trees, his IT job in Denver and how even a simple trip to burning man has set him up for success. Well it is that time again and another episode is ending. For those wishing...

Today on the show, Sandy is chatting with Dr. Sushma Jansari, a curator with the British Museum in London, England. They talk about working during a pandemic, growing up in England, the brilliance of hairspray (the product not the movie), her dream podcast guest and just what exactly keeps her busy. For all my listeners out there, Sushma and I met last fall here in Houston. I was working with local non-profit, Archaeology Now, and we brought her over to Houston to give a talk about the...

Today on the show, I am chatting with another old college buddy of mine, Mr. Todd Evans. He is the Director of Professional Development with ProLiteracy based out of Syracuse NY. Todd and I talk about our college days at Memphis State and how they prepared us for who we are today, his desire to educate the voting population, and how we as a community, can help adults learn to read. And for me, Adult Literacy is a very personal topic. There is an estimated 36 million adults in the U.S.—and...

Today on the show, I am chatting with my old college buddy, retired navy pilot Lt Commander Steven Cooper, call sign “Booger”. I…. on the other hand, have only known him simply as Coop. We talk about our college days at Memphis State, traveling the world, living in Italy during a pandemic, riding a camel even and his good ole flying days in the United States Navy that sometimes even resembled a blockbuster movie. Friends I really hope you enjoyed today’s conversation with retired Lt Cmd...

Today on the show I am chatting with Boston real estate guru, Mr. Collin Bray. We talk innovative ways to use social media to market your business, the beauty of Boston and the Back Bay, a little bit of sports and his phenomenal James Bond research skills. You can follow Collin on Instagram at @collinbray or contact him direct through his website at www.collinbray.com For those wanting to see Collin’s mad instagram stories skills, you can follow him @collinbray I have more interesting...