Main Street Moxie
by Thorunn Kristjansdottir and Mary B. O'Neill
Main Street Moxie was born out of our love of the spoken word and constantly being inspired by people, businesses, and organizations that are mavericks in their own way. Our guests took a leap, all because they believed in themselves, and as a result, made something out of nothing. They had a vision and the necessary belief, and paved a new way – they had MOXIE! You can learn from these moxie stories. We're all capable of moxie in our lives and through our conversations with guests, you'll learn how to move your own moxie along the moxie meter.
Episodes
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Episode 53: Kelly Finley
Send us Fan Mail Kelly Finley's moxie comes in hot. As "The Queen of Spice," she's built a readership on shameless love and heroines who refuse to be intimidated — and she wears that crown, black leather and all, with pride. By day, Kelly is a Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Advisor for the...
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Episode 52: CB Wismar
Send us Fan Mail It takes a particular kind of moxie to show up every day for someone you love, while watching them decline and diminish, and your life takes on new responsibilities and roles. CB and his wife, Kathy Wismar, were living a full life on their family farm in rural Northwest…
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Episode 51: Silda Wall Spitzer
Send us Fan Mail Silda’s moxie comes from a lifetime of engagement, a willingness to evolve, creativity, and a deep trust in the power of people to catalyze change when they are seen, supported, and brought together. She has a strategic approach to moxie that is purpose and service-driven. Silda...
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Episode 50: Tracy Hayhurst
Send us Fan Mail Tracy whips up moxie every time she steps into her kitchen. A Ballymaloe-educated chef, organic farmer, and food educator, she is passionate about mixing those ingredients to create meaningful experiences for people through her new adventure, Undermountain Pantry Cooking School…
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Episode 49: The Good News Girls: Mimi Madden and Susan Wheeler
Send us Fan Mail What do you get when you combine two moxie-fueled individuals? Moxie synergy that’s off the charts! Mimi Madden and Susan Wheeler are the driving forces behind Good News Girls, a social collective for women over 50 in northwest Connecticut. The Good News Girls started as a musing...
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Episode 48: Mary O'Neill
Send us Fan Mail Happiness is a moxie job! To kick off the 4th Moxie season, Mary O’Neill, co-creator and co-host of Main Street Moxie, explores the connection between happiness and moxie. Happiness is a topic on which Mary is well-versed. She has immersed herself in the topic through the lens of...
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Episode 47: Sara Cousins
Send us Fan Mail Got holidays? Then you need moxie to get through them. The expectations, the standards, and the idealized version of the season can wear us down. Not anymore! This episode of Main Street Moxie with Sara Cousins is here to help you celebrate the holidays in line with your values…
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Episode 46: Olivia May
Send us Fan Mail Olivia finds and expresses her moxie through stand-up comedy. In this episode, Olivia explores how she grew her comedy moxie, describes her comedic process, and reflects on the challenges of leaving a highly structured, results-oriented career to dive into the unpredictable world...
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Episode 45: Elaine Gonzalez Johnson
Send us Fan Mail Elaine’s moxie is exuberant and engaging. Her humor and encouragement make you feel like you got this–you got moxie! Elaine has put in the time and miles to discern who she is and how she wants to show up in the world in each season of her life. That unshakeable belief in herself...
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Episode 44: Lisa Worth Huber
Send us Fan Mail We all want peace, but the road toward it can be elusive. Our perceived differences loom large and seem insurmountable. Yet, some individuals like Lisa Worth Huber labor tirelessly to educate people about the self-work required to build peace and understand how the creative arts...
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Episode 43: Housatonic Valley Regional High School International Travel Club
Send us Fan Mail Traveling both takes moxie and builds moxie. Just ask the Housatonic Valley Regional High School International Travel Club. Reinvigorated by Club faculty advisor Social Studies teacher John Lizzi, the club has taken students, faculty, staff, and parents to destinations such as…
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Episode 42: Moxie by Proxy: Nat Benchley on Peter Benchley
Send us Fan Mail Fifty years ago, a human vs. beast thriller set in a summer beach town was published and devoured by readers. That book was Jaws, a best-selling novel that spawned a blockbuster movie the following year. Between the book and the film, we were all afraid to go back in the water....
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Episode 41: Keith Moon and Special Olympics, CT
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Main Street Moxie, Keith Moon shares stories about his longstanding involvement with Special Olympics, an organization with moxie built into its DNA. Keith’s secret moxie sauce is recognizing a need and then finding a way to use his talents and skills to make a...
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Episode 40: Bill Johnson
Send us Fan Mail Bill Johnson believes moxie is essential for pursuing purpose, which he defines as becoming one's best self in service of at least one thing larger than oneself. This self-knowledge and action directed outward are why we’re here—and why he’s here, too. Known as the “Dream Dean,”...
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Episode 39: Pieter Lefferts
Send us Fan Mail Pieter Lefferts is a visual artist, author, and musician who draws deeply from the natural world for creative inspiration and moxie. Over the years he has sought deeper communion with Nature to find balance and better understand himself and the world around him. In this work, he...
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Episode 38: Moxie by Proxy--Pamela Hogan on Iceland's Women's Day Off
Send us Fan Mail In this Moxie by Proxy episode, we discuss the moxie of the women of Iceland through the camera lens of Pamela Hogan, Emmy award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and media executive. In her latest documentary, The Day Iceland Stood Still, Pamela, and her collaborator, acclaimed...
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Episode 37: Craig Peterson
Send us Fan Mail Craig Peterson’s moxie is a well-conditioned muscle, one of the many that he’s developed as a professional athlete in the Arena Football League (AFL), Indoor Football League (IFL), and the National Arena League (NAL). Craig’s moxie has been built by long hours of doing the work…
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Episode 36: Mini Moxie 2023 Wrap-Up with Thorunn and Mary
Send us Fan Mail Another moxie-filled year has passed with fascinating guests from all walks of life. In our monthly episodes, our guests joined the ranks of Honorary Agents of Moxie. We hope you found their stories as interesting and inspiring as we did. We are incredibly grateful to you, our...
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Episode 35: Pano Koukopoulos
Send us Fan Mail Pano believes that we earn moxie through putting in the work and paying the price, not instant gratification. As a lover of the outdoors and wild places, he finds opportunities to cultivate moxie and apply the lessons of nature to his life and the lives of those he encounters...
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Episode 34: Simon Critchley
Send us Fan Mail Simon Critchley's curiosity is on steroids, and that curiosity, love of learning, and genuine interest in other people fuel his moxie. In this episode, we explore with Simon the role of philosophy in creating moxie. He shares his wisdom on how we have more in common than we think...
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Episode 33: Janine Gordon
Send us Fan Mail Janine has been flexing her moxie muscle throughout her life. In every phase of her career, she has identified her strengths and pursued roles that would build on them. Her path has been a moxie mix of serendipity and strategy and an openness to embrace the opportunities…
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Episode 32: Faye Hess
Send us Fan Mail Chef Faye Hess has the winning recipe for moxie. She mixes love, joy, curiosity, fearlessness, resilience, and gratitude to produce a moxie souffle that won’t collapse. In this episode, Faye explores how she came to her love affair with food and how cooking for herself and others...
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Episode 31: Michael Kevin Baldwin
Send us Fan Mail Michael oozes moxie and uses his passion for the stage to help others cultivate their own. He believes educating people of all ages in the theater arts is empowering, cathartic, and fosters empathy—and moxie. He loves drama—on the stage. And he loves the community that surrounds...
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Episode 30: Kelley Vickery
Send us Fan Mail For Kelley, moxie involves seeing the gaps and finding ways to fill them. She strategically uses her considerable skills to create something that adds value and beauty to the world. Then she goes for it, bringing others along to develop collaborations and community. When Kelley...
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Episode 29: Clem Loew
Send us Fan Mail Clem’s moxie starts with his mother’s efforts to keep him alive and safe from the Nazis in Poland during World War II. As a child, Clem witnessed his mother’s fierce bravery and moxie in the face of Nazi atrocities, alongside the kindness of Catholic nuns in the convent where he...
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Episode 28: Jenny Hansell
Send us Fan Mail Jenny’s moxie is like a snowball that keeps getting bigger! She adds a bit more moxie with every opportunity and experience she encounters. She has worked to improve the lives of others in ways that use her skills and talents while also getting out of her comfort zone and…
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Episode 27: Nadim Sadek
Send us Fan Mail Part of Nadim’s brand is moxie. He has founded, built, and led three major businesses: Sadek Wynberg Research, a qualitative research agency; Inish Turk Beg, an island off the coast of Ireland from which he built an award-winning whiskey, food, and music brand; and ProQuo AI, the...
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Episode 26: Leo Marzen
Send us Fan Mail Leo believes moxie can benefit from solid financial planning and a long-term approach. Taking risks feels less risky when you know your big picture and are clear about your life and fiscal priorities. In this episode, Leo shares his financial planning, entrepreneurial, and life...
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Episode 25: Unlocking Connecticut's Lora and Bev
Send us Fan Mail Lora Karam and Bev Canepari are unlocking the riches of Connecticut one town at a time through their website, blog, and social media platform, Unlocking Connecticut. In this episode of Main Street Moxie, Lora and Bev discuss their joyous exploration of the fabulous small...
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Episode 24: Gratitude is the Attitude Thanksgiving Mini Episode with Thorunn and Mary
Send us Fan Mail We are thankful for so much this year! And Thanksgiving is the perfect time to show that. In this mini-episode, we talk about what we’ve learned from guests about gratitude and moxie. We also briefly explore the science of gratitude, how it benefits our well-being, and the power…
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Episode 23: Anne Makepeace
Send us Fan Mail A life of making documentary films takes moxie, and Anne is proof of that. She has sought out people with moxie who do what they can to make lives better for themselves, their families, and their communities. Her films put real faces to issues such as social justice and...
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Episode 22: Lexi Ryan
Send us Fan Mail Lexi’s got moxie–and so do the characters in her romance and fantasy novels. Her lifelong dream of being a writer has been achieved through grit, trial and error, and a whole lot of imagination. In this episode of Main Street Moxie, Lexi explores the vicissitudes of the…
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Episode 21: Carita Gardiner
Send us Fan Mail Carita adores words, and much of her moxie is fueled by writing them, reading them, speaking them, and encouraging others to love them as much as she does. In this episode, Carita helps Main Street Moxie launch a new literary genre called Mox Lit. She came prepared with a...
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Episode 20: Rachel Doriss
Send us Fan Mail Rachel has a designer’s moxie. Her creativity and observation skills serve her in life and in her career in textiles. A college class field trip allowed her to imagine a professional path working with fabric and weaving, a craft she lovingly pursued as a child with her…
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Episode 19: Tara Sullivan
Send us Fan Mail Tara has a set of moxie skills and traits that she packs up and takes with her in whatever professional or volunteer position she finds herself in. She uses her moxie for public benefit and to raise awareness of the history of the Hudson Valley and that we all have a role to play...
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Episode 18: Thorunn Kristjansdottir and Mary O'Neill
Send us Fan Mail Here we are again. It's another rascally federal holiday that falls on a Moxie Monday. Today it's Labor Day. According to the Department of Labor website, Labor Day honors the achievements and contributions of American workers to the social and economic vitality of this country.…
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Episode 17: Kathy Davies
Send us Fan Mail This episode of Main Street Moxie with Kathy Davies explores design thinking as a method for moxie. Life design is a way to get unstuck in your life by ratcheting up the curiosity, creating opportunities for incremental action, and understanding your life is a process that…
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Episode 16: Vemilo
Send us Fan Mail We’re bringing the average guest age way down and amping up on the moxitude in this episode with Vemilo (he/him). He brings energy, wisdom, creativity, and love to his moxie. He talks about the power of chosen families and a good bargain, using performance to heal, the...
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Episode 15: Laurie Lisle
Send us Fan Mail Laurie’s moxie is expressed through her writing. Through this creative medium, she has explored herself and others, tackling challenges, embracing change, understanding setbacks, and making sense of universal themes in the human experience. In this episode, Laurie shares her...
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Episode 14: Susan Gibson
Send us Fan Mail Susan Gibson brings her moxie to the volunteer world, sharing her observations and advice so others can discover how international volunteerism and travel, as well as local involvement, can change the world, their communities–and themselves. She is the author ofHow to be an…
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Episode 13: Moxie by Proxy--Sarah Getz on Arthur Kimmig Getz
Send us Fan Mail In this Moxie by Proxy episode, Sarah Getz explores the moxie of her father, The New Yorker magazine cover artist Arthur Kimmig Getz. We talk about Arthur’s creative and pragmatic moxie and explore the intergenerational and intentional moxie of Sarah in her yoga instruction and…
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Episode 12: Moxie by Proxy--Roger Berkowitz on Hannah Arendt
Send us Fan Mail Roger Berkowitz, Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College, shares the story and ideas of political thinker Hannah Arendt in this Moxie by Proxy episode. Hannah was a bold and fiercely independent political thinker. Born...
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Episode 11: Thorunn Kristjansdottir and Mary O'Neill
Send us Fan Mail There's one downside to Moxie Monday--and that's when it falls on a holiday. Memorial Day is for honoring those who gave their lives during military service for our country and it's a day for spending with family and friends. Today, you get us--your hosts Thorunn and Mary! In…
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Episode 10: Abby Auerbach
Send us Fan Mail Abby is the Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at TVB (Television Bureau of Advertising), the national not-for-profit trade association representing the U.S. television stations. Abby’s moxie results from chutzpah and intention, and she’s cultivated it over...
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Episode 9: Fred Rutberg
Send us Fan Mail Fred is the president and publisher of New England Newspapers, Inc., which owns The Berkshire Eagle located in Pittsfield, MA. The Eagle is a daily paper that serves all of Berkshire County and adjacent areas of Connecticut and New York State. Along with partners John C. "Hans"...
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Episode 8: Ned Sullivan
Send us Fan Mail Ned Sullivan locates the roots of his moxie in his relationship with the outdoors. Pivotal experiences in nature have helped him navigate change and uncertainty, as well as cultivate leadership and collaboration skills and the ability to change his focus and direction when...
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Episode 7: Judith Monachina
Send us Fan Mail Judith Monachina has understated moxie and wonders if she even possesses it! We've convinced her otherwise. She is currently the Director of the Housatonic Heritage Oral History Center at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, MA. In that role, she records and archives the...
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Episode 6: Stephanie Stanton
Send us Fan Mail Stephanie Stanton is the founder and owner of High Vibe Chick where she is an empowerment coach & branding photographer for intuitive women. She also facilitates a community of high vibe chicks for mutual support and encouragement. Stephanie’s work with clients involves helping...
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Episode 5: Moxie by Proxy--Historian Peter Vermilyea on Eleanor Roosevelt
Send us Fan Mail Moxie by Proxy is a feature of Main Street Moxie in which a historian or writer introduces us to the moxie of someone from the past. In this episode, we talk to local historian and educator Peter Vermilyea about the moxie of Eleanor Roosevelt. Pete brings Eleanor to life and…
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Episode 4: Mayor Kamal Johnson
Send us Fan Mail Kamal Johnson is the first Black mayor of Hudson, NY--and its youngest. In our conversation, he talks about how his early years shaped the person and leader he has become. He describes his vision of governance as an all-hands-on-deck endeavor, seeking out people and partnerships...
About this show
Main Street Moxie was born out of our love of the spoken word and constantly being inspired by people, businesses, and organizations that are mavericks in their own way. Our guests took a leap, all because they believed in themselves, and as a result, made something out of nothing. They had a vision and the necessary belief, and paved a new way – they had MOXIE! You can learn from these moxie stories. We're all capable of moxie in our lives and through our conversations with guests, you'll learn how to move your own moxie along the moxie meter.
Hosted by
Thorunn Kristjansdottir and Mary B. O'Neill
Categories