Pay Love Forward

In this episode, I had the honor of sitting down with Lily Mae, a leader and advocate whose work in domestic violence has strengthened and protected countless lives across our community. Lily Mae's nonprofit, the Montana Domestic Violence Underground Railroad, helps women all over Montana escape captivity at the hands of domestic violence.  The Underground Railroad is so much more than a charitable organization.  It is a living network of people who are coming together to help others escape domestic violence.  This is Part 3 of our series focused on women's issues. According to the CDC, more than one in five women in the United States report experiencing completed or attempted rape during their lifetime, and nearly half experience some form of sexual violence. Many cases are never reported, with only about one in three sexual assaults reaching law enforcement. Experts consistently say the true numbers are significantly higher because many survivors never report what happened to them. These statistics should haunt all of us.  They also demand that we do better, that as a community, we stand up, ask hard questions, and then get to work.  Lily Mae needs our help.  She needs volunteers, money, and everything else a new nonprofit needs to be successful. 

In this limited series, Pay Love Back: Cops, Robbers, and Rappers, we focus on the interconnected story of leadership, mentorship, and redemption surrounding a young man named Koa Hutchinson.Three men, Officer Brett Hilde, Coal Hill, also known as Killa C, and myself, have each invested in Koa in very different ways. When I first moved to Billings, I worked in a group home at Youth Dynamics. That is where I first met Koa. I worked with him for several years.  I took him fly fishing and rock climbing. I cared deeply about him. And then, as often happens in the system, I lost track of Koa. His story did not stop. He became a prominent gang member in Billings. He was an enforcer and recruiter for one of the most notorious and dangerous gangs in our city before being arrested by Officer Brett Hilde.Years later, while I was sitting in the hospital with my son Gentry, battling his leukemia, Koa called me from prison. In many ways, we were incarcerated together during that season, him behind bars and me beside a hospital bed, as our mentoring relationship resumed.What Koa did next was one of the most courageous decisions I have ever witnessed. While still in prison, he left the gang. Because of the risk this put him in, he spent much of the nextseveral years in administrative segregation, isolated from the general population and trying to survive the bounty placed on his head by the gangs he once worked for.  Over the remainder of his sentence, I spoke to Koa every single week. I believe the phone calls meant as much to me as they did to him.    Six months before recording this podcast, Koa was released from prison. Since then, I have watched him make one difficult and disciplined decision after another. Reentry is not kind to former inmates. The world does not rush to welcome them home. But he has continued moving forward.On January 29th, 2025, Koa stood before fifty community leaders at United Way and spoke about how mentorshipchanged the trajectory of his life. In that room, our community saw something powerful, the possibility that those we once counted out might return and help rebuild the very neighborhoods they once harmed.This series tells the story of how we got there.  It is a miracle we did.  Recorded on Father’s Day, June 21st, 2026, this is and will be one of the proudest and most meaningful moments of mylife.  Thank you, Koa for being willing to share your story.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey.  What you shared and the courage it took to make it to where you are now is going to bring more healing and hope than you can possibly understand.  I love you like a son.  I am so proud of you.  And we are just getting started. 

In this limited series, Pay Love Back: Cops, Robbers, andRappers, we focus on the interconnected story of leadership, mentorship, and redemption surrounding a young man and ex-gang member named Koa Hutchinson.Three men, Officer Brett Hilde, Coal Hill, also known as KillaC, and myself, have each invested in Koa in very different ways.  Part Two is with Coul Hill, aka Killa C, a juggalo and shock horror rapper who gained national notoriety after the Insane ClownPosse was officially declared a gang by the FBI.  The Rolling Stone ran a piece on this declaration, and Coul’s picture was featured on the cover, leading me to hum the song “The Cover of the Rolling Stone,” every time I see him.  Both his career in the music industry, and his involvement in organized crime, led Coul down a dark path towards an inevitable outcome, either death or incarceration.  Instead, Coul found Jesus.  His conversion to a life of faith is nothing short of astounding, demonstrating that salvation and redemption do not exclude those we counted out.  Author of the book from Crime to Christ and nearly a dozen albums, featuring artists like Grave Plot and Tech 9, Coul has since dedicated his life to serving others and bringing his gifts to the places and communities where he once, like Koa,caused harm.  Coul is a force of nature, and once he repurposed his gifts for Christ, he has been an unstoppable force.  He has received a doctoral degree in education and is now serving as a principle in an alternative school for youth on their last chance.  Because of his background and life experience, Coul is able to reach the kinds of kids that others simply cannot, kids just like Koa.  Like officer Hilde, Coul has done more to prevent gang violence in our community than anyone I know.        When I think of Coul, Brett, and Koa, I think of a seminal pieceof longitudinal research by Faith Scanlon and her fellow researchers on social support and protective factors.  Scanlonlooked at youth with high ACE Scores in the criminal justice system, examining those who were able to get out and go on to live meaningful and productive lives verses those who went on to recitivize.  The single common denominator the study identified was that all of those who made it out could cite a single thing.  They all had someone in their life who believed in them, saw the good in them even when they fell down, and cared enough to stay in the fight.  Coul, Brett, and myself have all done that for Koa.    I do not want to pretend for a second that this is a story witha happy ending.  What happens next in Koa’s life is unknown.  It is a battle between those who believe in him, his innate capacity for good, and the forces that would drag him back down.  Life isnever straightforward.  It exists in the interconnected spaces of impact, love, and redemption, made up of those of us who grieve and bleed and hurt, but choose to stand up and fight for what is good regardless.  IF YOU ARE ONE OF OUR LISTENERS, PLEASE SHARE, LIKE, AND SUBSCRIBE to the Pay Love Forward Podcast. We need your help making sure these stories are heard.  I’m going to pause right here while you dothis.The world needs more mentors, and Pay Love Forward intends to tell their stories. 

In this limited series, Cops, Robbers, andRappers, we focus on the interconnected story of leadership, mentorship, and redemption surrounding a young man and ex-gang member named Koa Hutchinson.  Three men, Officer Brett Hilde, Coal Hill, also known as Killa C, and myself, have each invested in Koa in very different ways.Part One begins with Officer Brett Hilde, Koa’s arrestingofficer, who shares the path that led him into law enforcement and onto the Billings gang task force. Since Koa’s arrest in 2022. Officer Hilde has done more to disrupt gang violence in thiscity than anyone I know. His story of relentless service is as compelling as Koa’s.  To learn more about Officer HIlde, check out his YouTube channel, Primal Advancements.  He also does contract work in tactical security for our city, providing his expertise and knowledge, to help keep homeowners andbusinesses safe.  

For this episode, I sat down with one of my mentors and one of the founding builders of the program I benefited so muchfrom.  Dr. Mark Manzanarez was one of the founders of Adam’s State’s online Counselor Education Program where I receivedboth my Masters and PhD.  Mark also received two degrees from Adams State, both as a football player during hisundergraduate degree in psychology and then in his master’s degree in community counseling.  He was hired on to Adam’sState’s counseling program while completing his PhD in Education and Human Resource Studies at Colorado State University.Dr. Mark Manzanares continues to teach Counselor Education atAdams State University and is a former chair of the Counselor Education Department.  He spent decades as a counselor, counselor educator, administrator, and mentor, helping traingenerations of counselors throughout the Rocky Mountain region. He was my professor through multiple stages of my education and mentored me while working on my PhD at Adams State as I wrestled with a traumatic brain injury and myson’s diagnosis of first Down syndrome and then leukemia.  Without his guidance, I would not be where I am today.  Dr. Manzanares has been recognized by Adams State as an Outstanding Alumnus and recipient of the Presidential Teaching Award.  It was an honor to sit down with him, reflect on the profession, and discuss the people, ideas, and experiences that have shaped so many counselors over the years.  It was an honor to hear his story, learn about the adversity he overcame, and the why behind what he has dedicated his life to building.  Thisconversation is also a continuation of the series on faith and the Holy Spirit, and how our shared belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the driving force behind both of our lives, careers, and ministries.  Thank you, Mark, for everything you have done in my life, for believing in me, and for being a guardian at the gate of the sacred profession of mental health counseling. 

For this Episode about faith and the Holy Spirit, I sat down with two pastors at the Grey Cliff Mill, Matt Brandstadt and Jake Klingen-Smith.  I have felt for a very long time that Billings is a spiritual battle field.  As a follower of Christ, I am called to spread the story of salvation.  My faith has been an unfolding journey. In so many ways, this conversation is a continuation of my testimony of faith.  I believe Jesus was who he said he was, and when I found out that was true, it changed everything for me.  What I understood as the living water of Christ was only starting to form when I shared my story.  My encounter with the Holy Spirit at Grey Cliff Mill has indelibly shaped my understanding of faith and God’s plan here on earth.  I will be forever grateful for the presence of both Matt and Jake in my life.  They are spiritual mentors who have deeply walked out Christ’s vision for the gospel as living word on earth.  We recorded this a month after a fire that very nearly consumed Grey Cliff Mill.  This conversation is, at its heart about miracles and the living phenomenon of the Holy Spirit.  This fire raged up to the gates of Grey Cliff Mill.  It was an inferno.  Fireteams worked day and night.  As the conflagration reached the fences of Grey Cliff, it suddenly turned, and Grey Cliff Mill was spared.  We intended to talk about this as one of the miracles, but our conversation took us in so many other directions and coveredso many other topics and miracles that we never did.  The news story and video speak for itself.  I am an academic, a writer, anda scientific thinker.  The stories they told me exceed the rational.  They require faith to believe.  For the record, I believe them.  I have never met more genuine, deeply good people.  Theyoverflow in generosity and hospitality.  They have built a sanctuary and invited others inside.  There is a healing force flowing like a fountain from Grey Cliff Mill.  They representexactly what Christ meant when he said we will be known by our fruits.    

This series on story as nonviolent resistance has been aboutone thing: who controls the narrative landscape and what does it mean to tell an authentic story.  This episode was recorded in May of 2026, right before the pivotal June primaries and November elections, we are faced with the daunting reality of the level of bad-faith influence and deception surrounding politics.  In the age of AI, dark money, news networks that act like propaganda machines, and billionaires that seem to care about only one thing, more power and wealth, how can we possibly know who to trust?      This episode is a recorded Zoom rally for Alani Bankhead’svolunteers.  Unpacking and understanding the structure of how this is set up is essential.  It is one thing to tell a better story, butit only matters if people are listening.  This episode demonstrates multiple converging techniques that canimprove reach and engagement that can all be replicated by any candidate.  These kinds of tactics are things future storytellers will have to account for in order to get the right stories to translate.  I live streamed this on my account.  Multiple live streams would improve engagement as demonstrated in the previous episode, Asymmetrical Warfare.  We also sent out invites beforehand, announcing it on Facebook and inviting anyone to log on via zoom.  Because of the multiple angles of engagement, we were ableto translate this to a significant audience that wasn’t just confined to this podcast release, which is more didactic than story-driven itself.  In this episode, we cover three things.  A pitch for Alani, Alani’s story and her why, and the campaign outreach coordinator.  Any candidate can do this with their team.  Russ Cleveland did something very similar on his 42ndbirthday.  For candidates, this kind of Zoom meeting is an incredible way to charge up the change makers out there campaigning for you.    

In this episode, I sit down with Ed Doctor, Brian Miller,and Sam Lux.  Ed and his crew at the Beer, Buds, and Big Sky podcast have been defending our. information streams.  The BBBS podcast has amassed a significant followership by telling a better story, through comedy, and an authenticity that Montanans and Americans are flocking to.  Brian and Sam are and running for congress in the same election and doing something almost unheard of in this day and age, campaigning together.      In this episode, I talk about asymmetrical warfare.  For me, this is about one thing, building a narrative platform that transcends the confusion and obfuscation that plagues our democracy.  This series is about taking back our stories and finding ways to elevate the right people, the right politicians, and the right leaders.  It is also about beta-testing new tactics that undercut the influence of dark money and can be repurposed and reused by those individuals willing to put themselves out there and stand up for what is right.  The narrative reality of politics is a live, unfolding story.  To get at the heart of it, we need to tell a live unfolding story.  For this episode, we used a video game streaming service that allowed all of us to live stream on all of our various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and others, essentially combining the outreach capacity of all four of us.  We garnered thousands of views and interactions at a time when Montana primaries are decided often by hundreds of votes.  As far as I know, this hasn’t been done, and it allowed us to reach an audience far larger than any one of us could have.  If we are ever going to take back our information streams,these are the kinds of methods and tactics we are going to have to deploy.  We are simply going to have to get smarter, more creative, and work together if we stand any chance at fighting back against the insidious forces that seek to keep us divided, in the dark, and weak.Help us grow our platform as we fight back.  Please follow and subscribe.  Share this episode or any other that has moved you with a friend.  The world needs better stories, and Pay Love Forward and Resilient Stories intend to tell them.

In this episode, the second of our women’s issues series, congressional candidate Alani Bankhead and I sat down with Ashley and Talee to discuss the disappearance of Jamee Grossman, Ashley’s sister, and Talee’s mother.  Jamee went missing in 2012 and has not been seen since.  According to the nonstop local, Jamee was last seen at a party with her boyfriend Frank Hammontree who reported dropping her off at a gas station.  According to channel 8, there was no footage of this drop off ever taking place.   This episode was recorded an hour after a vigil held for Shawna Hart.  Shawna was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, a man she had a restraining order against and had previously been incarcerated for assaulting Shawna with a deadly weapon.  Just like in Jamee’s disappearance, questions remain as to why this horrible crime was not prevented, and our city is going to have to answer those.  More than that, we are going to have to do better.  We are sick and tired of our women going missing. We are sick and tired of the abuses of power, of the corruption embedded in our systems that allows these crimes against women to continue to happen.  As a city, we are calling for change.  We can no longer accept the levels of domestic violence and sexual assault against women. This is a call to our city, not to place blame or scapegoat, but rather to look this problem in the face, and hard questions while demanding we address them with everything we have, at every level.      

This is part one of a series focused on women’s issues. One in five women in the United States report experiencing sexual assault in their lifetime. One in three women experience some form of sexual violence. Many cases go unreported, with only about one in three assaults ever reaching law enforcement. Experts consistently say actual numbers are significantly higher due to underreporting. These traumas cannot be addressed if communities remain silent about them.For episode one of this series, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth sits down with Lea Bossler. Leah is a wildland firefighter, white water rafter, political activist, big game hunter, and all-around bad ass. She is also a survivor of multiple sexual assaults across her life, including a near abduction while passing through Billings.This episode contains discussion of sexual violence, trauma, and loss. Listener discretion is advised. If you or someone you know needs support, you can call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or dial 211 to connect with local resources. You can also reach the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE.Lea, thank you for trusting us with your story. What you went through was “fucked up,” and it is time more people stood up and stumbled through talking about it.

This is Part Three of the series on Story as Nonviolent Resistance. It was recorded in an open Zoom meeting and live-streamed on Facebook.Dr. Matthew Leavenworth is joined by Brian Miller, a Helena attorney and congressional candidate in Montana. Brian has spent the last fifteen years practicing law across the state, working in both state and federal courts. He is now running for Congress in Montana’s eastern district against Trump loyalist Troy Downing.This series continues to develop as a consistent live platform connecting with Montanans about issues in the state, including Brian’s bid for Congress.In this series, Matthew argues that an election is ultimately a war of stories. He makes the case that we can learn to fight with stories, and that meeting the demands of this moment requires understanding the narrative landscape and engaging it directly. If we do not, we will continue to lose, and the stakes are too high.The conversation explores how authoritarian movements do not begin with force, but with distortion and division. They begin by taking over the stories we tell about ourselves and the world around us, eventually demanding that we forsake objective reality.At its core, this episode centers on a question of identity: who we are as Americans, echoing earlier conversations with Penny Ronning about who we are as a moral people, and who we want to be moving forward.The world needs better stories.And Pay Love Forward intends to tell them.The world needs better leaders,And Brian Miller is one of them.

In this episode of the Pay Love Forward Podcast, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth sits down with Alani Bankhead, a third generation military veteran who served more than twenty years in the United States Air Force. Her career included counterintelligence investigations, human intelligence operations alongside special operations targeting terrorist networks, and service as the senior bodyguard to a top Pentagon official. She later led investigations into human trafficking and child exploitation and worked with law enforcement teams protecting vulnerable children and families. Now she is running for the United States Senate in Montana. This conversation explores the experiences that shaped her life in service, the moments that tested her resolve, and the path that ultimately led her to enter the political arena. Matthew and Alani discuss military life, investigations into trafficking and exploitation, the responsibility of leadership, and the deeper motivations that drive someone to step forward and serve in public life.The Pay Love Forward Podcast is part of a broader effort to strengthen compassionate communities through mentorship and civic engagement. In partnership with Resilient Stories, the podcast seeks to uncover the story within the story. The moments of struggle, conviction, and transformation that shape the people who lead our communities. The world needs better stories.And the world needs better leaders.Alani Bankhead is one of them.

For Part Two of Story as Nonviolent Resistance, I sat down with Danielle Dahl, a doctoral candidate and the founder of Resilient Stories.  Resilient Stories is an organization dedicated to creating spaces for people to share lived experiences shaped by adversity, recovery, and resilience. Danielle works in my home town of Billings Montana, facilitating storytelling events, supporting community dialogue, and working to strengthen connectivity and healing through the power of story. In this episode, we continue our conversation about story as a form of nonviolent resistance. We talk about how story, art, poetry, music, and compassionate listening can function as stabilizing forces in times of conflict and polarization. Authoritarian movements thrive on distortion, division, and spectacle. Story slows things down, restores humanity, and can be an antidote to outrage and tribalism. This series is intended to provide resources, techniques, and methods to resist the rise of authoritarianism and maintain what is most sacred, our sense of who we are as a moral people.The world needs better stories, and Pay LoveForward intends to tell them. 

Story as Nonviolent Resistance (Part One)In this first lecture of a new series, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth explores how story shapes power, perception, and belonging, and why narrative has always been one of the most effective tools for resisting authoritarian systems.Drawing from history, psychology, literature, and lived experience, Matthew examines how fear compresses human complexity into rigid binaries, while safety and connection make space for dignity, nuance, and moral imagination.The talk traces how figures like George Orwell, Pablo Picasso, and Jesus of Nazareth used story, art, and parable to challenge dehumanizing systems without reproducing their logic. It also looks at how modern information ecosystems reward distortion, outrage, and simplification, and how communities can choose a different path.Recorded in front of a live audience, this lecture invites listeners to see storytelling not as entertainment or branding, but as a civic, moral, and spiritual practice.This episode lays the foundation for a broader series on how individuals and communities can tell truer, braver stories in an age of polarization, propaganda, and fear.

In this episode of the Pay Love Forward Podcast, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth sits down with Penny Ronning, a nationally recognized advocate whose life’s work has helped shape Montana’s response to human trafficking and sexual violence through survivor-centered policy, public safety, and moral leadership.Rooted in Pay Love Forward’s mission to build compassionate communities for the at-risk and underserved, this conversation moves beyond credentials and into the deeper question Penny returns to again and again: who we are as a moral people. What began with notes and an outline quickly became nearly three hours of honest, grounded dialogue about story, voice, and responsibility.Together, Penny and Matthew explore how story transforms, how truth can be carried without turning suffering into spectacle, and how a steady, courageous voice can heal the divide that fear and hate keep alive. This episode is not only about what Penny has done, but about the kind of people we are called to be when dignity, courage, and compassion become our measure.

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend and longtime climbing partner, Alex Saunders. Over the years, Alex and I haveshared ropes and storms, long runouts and longer conversations. We’ve stood together on ledges halfway up the world, and we’ve stood beside each other as best men at our weddings. Our lives have been braided together by miles ofgranite and sandstone and years of trust.We talk about big walls like The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley and the Northwest Regular on Half Dome, including our climb on Half Dome after the 2014 rockfall, when we became the first team to cross the new blank section with a lasso toss and help piece the route back together.But the real story isn’t simply about climbing. It’s about what the mountains revealed, and what friendship had to carry.At Pay Love Forward, we believe that telling the story within the story is a mechanism for healing. This conversation includes descriptions of trauma, addiction, and witnessing death.  These were moments that shaped us and who we havebecome.  When we tell them truthfully, they help us recognizeone another’s humanity, and they turn isolation into community.This episode is about a friendship that refuses to let go and about the mountains that keep calling us back.

My name is Dr. Matthew Leavenworth, founder and director of Pay Love Forward.This episode was recorded live during a Zoom meeting with small group leaders at Harvest Church on December 21, 2025.Over the past six months, pastor Alex Falder and I have been working with the small group leaders on how story shapes community while taking them through our certification in Mentoring, Coaching, and Leadership Development.   For Alex and I, leadership means going first.  During the last session, Alex shared his testimony.  This is mine.  It is a personal account of where I came from and how I got here. I talked about growing up in and around the church, losing my way, my battle with mental health and addiction, and the long stretch ofdarkness that followed. I talked about the things that kept me tethered to my humanity when I might have otherwise drifted away.  I talked about my son’s battle with cancer and the traumatic brain injury I suffered at 37.  Ultimately, I talked about what finally allowed to surrender my life to Christ.This testimony was clipped from a longer discussion.  Present were the Harvest small group leaders, my parents, and two people I care very deeply about, Coul Hill and Tammy Zemliska. Thank you for your support.  It meant more than you know.   

In this episode, I sat down with Russ Cleveland, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. And before long, his wife Kate joined us. What unfolded was not a political conversation, but a human one.Russ and Kate shared how their story began, long before policy or campaigns, when two fourteen-year-olds met on twoboats off the coast of Washington and began a love story that would one day carry them through the unimaginable.We traced Russ’s own journey: from an injury that ended his military career and a cross-country bike ride for childhood health, to cofounding Rocky Mountain Kids. And now, to returning to his Montana roots with a renewed sense of purpose, carrying forward the lessons forged in both love and loss.We spoke about their daughter Madison, about her battle with leukemia, and about the devastation of the loss that has now become their purpose for fighting for those who are still fighting silent battles in hospital rooms across our country as our nation turns its back on them.We talked about the research that saved my son Gentry’s life — research that is now being cut. We talked about how it feels to raise an immunocompromised child in a world where preventable illnesses like the measles and whooping cough are returning, and how families like ours are navigating dangers most people never have to think about.There is a campaign behind this, and the stakes are incredibly high in a political climate that is becoming more divisive by the day. But beneath all of that, this is a conversation about how our children become our why — even in pain and loss.This podcast is dedicated to four remarkable children: Cole, Madison, Ally, and my son, Gentry.Your struggle was valiant, and your story will not be forgotten, even for those who are not with us now. We will carry you with us always.I am personally asking you to share this episode. Russ and Kate’s story carries something we cannot afford to lose. We must return humanity and compassion to politics, and that happens when we lift up the human story before we debate the political one.🎧 Available onSpotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube🌐 www.payloveforward.net🌐 www.resilientstories.com

In this episode of the Pay Love Forward Podcast, I sit down with my father, Dr. Paul Leavenworth, founder of the Center for Mentoring, Coaching, and Leadership Development. His work represents the culmination of a lifetime devoted to leadership, transformation, and the building of compassionate communities.Together, we trace the story of how the Center was born and explore what it means to lead in a way that multiplies love. We talk about transformation, the death and rebirth that shape every life of purpose, and the moment when two rivers that once ran separately finally converge.Fresh off trainings with School District Two and Harvest Church, we are bringing compassionate listening to the Billings community, helping leaders, mentors, and neighbors rediscover the healing power of presence. In a world that feels sick, fractured, and forgetful of how to listen, this practice may be one of the few remaining pathways to connection and renewal.After walking separate paths of loss and growth, my father and I now share a stage, standing side by side in a work that has reshaped us both. It is a story of faith, transformation, and the return to something true.The world needs better stories. This is one of them.🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.🌐 www.payloveforward.net🌐 www.resilientstories.com

In this episode of the Pay Love Forward Podcast, I sit down with my mother, Leslie Leavenworth, an award-winning watercolor artist whose work captures both the beauty of the world around her and the sacred interior landscape within.Our conversation traces the arc of her creative journey, from the docks of the James River where she first painted beside her father, to the long season of quiet sacrifice while raising her family, and finally to her return to painting as vocation and spiritual practice. We talk about art, family, and faith, the three threads that have always been woven through her life and her work.It is, at heart, a conversation about joy: where it hides, how it waits, and how it comes alive again through color, love, and perseverance.At Pay Love Forward, we believe the world needs better stories. This is one of them.To see Leslie's work, visit her webpage at Leslie Leavenworth Fine Art🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.🌐 www.payloveforward.net🌐 https://resilientstories.com/

In this episode, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth sits down with Dr. Bob Wilmouth, physician, educator, and president of Rocky Mountain College. His journey from heart surgery to higher education reveals what leadership looks like when it is rooted in love, humility, and service to others.Dr. Wilmouth often says that leadership is more difficult than heart surgery and that ninety percent of life is showing up. Across decades of service, he has done exactly that—with faith, presence, and a deep commitment to prepare the ground for those who will come after.The conversation traces the arc of his life, exploring medicine and mentorship, leadership and legacy, and the quiet strength that defines a life lived in service to something larger than itself. It is a reminder that we are all in this together, and that leadership, at its best, is an act of service.

Welcome to the Pay Love Forward Podcast.My name is Dr. Matthew Leavenworth, founder and director of Pay Love Forward. This series focuses on telling stories of our unsung heroes unfolding in the great state of Montana.At Pay Love Forward, our mission is to build compassionate communities for the at-risk and underserved through mentorship. This podcast is one way we live out that mission.In this episode — Part Two of “Loving from the Sidelines” — we turn from Mitch Bohn’s vision for inclusion to the life story that forged it. Mitch, advocate, storyteller, and founder of Access Billings, shares what it was like growing up with spina bifida, the mentors who shaped his confidence, and the people who carried him through more than thirty surgeries.We also talk about his why — what kept him resilient through pain, adversity, and doubt — and how his love for people and purpose became the foundation for everything he’s built.Our conversation also touched something deeply personal for me — our shared experience of spending long seasons in the hospital: Mitch through his surgeries, and me walking beside my son through leukemia. Together we reflected on the medical professionals who served us with tireless compassion, and how those moments of care became turning points in both our lives.This is a conversation about perseverance, identity, and the quiet grace that comes from loving life — and others — despite hardship.It’s my deepest honor to share Mitch’s story. The world needs better stories — and Loving from the Sidelines is one of them.

Welcome to the Pay Love Forward Podcast—where we share stories of the unsung heroes shaping the heart of Montana. I’m your host, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth, founder and director of Pay Love Forward, a nonprofit dedicated to building compassionate communities for the at-risk and underserved through mentorship.In this episode—the first of a two-part series titled “Loving from the Sidelines”—I sit down with Mitch Bohn, advocate, storyteller, and founder of Access Billings. Born with spina bifida, Mitch has spent his life navigating challenges most never see, becoming a powerful voice for accessibility, inclusion, and quiet perseverance.Fresh off his recent TED Talk, Mitch shared a line that has stayed with me:“We celebrate trophies, titles, promotions, and highlight reels—but the game isn’t the same without those who love it from the sidelines.”That sentiment became the heart of our conversation. Together, we talk about his talk, his podcast Wide Left Sports, his love for baseball, and his work amplifying voices that deserve to be heard. Beneath it all, this episode is about resilience, belonging, and the power of love expressed not through spotlight, but through presence.And there’s a special moment in this one—when my son Gentry joins the conversation. Gentry needs the world Mitch envisions: a world built on accessibility, compassion, and the simple belief that everyone belongs.Mitch reminds us that accessibility isn’t about charity—it’s about recognizing that every role matters. The sidelines, as he says, aren’t a place of limitation—they’re a place of strength.It’s my deepest honor to share his story. The world needs better stories—and Loving from the Sidelines is one of them.

Host: Dr. Matthew Leavenworth (Pay Love Forward Podcast) Guests: Dr. Don Harr, Pam Harr, Senator Mike YakawichAt 101 years old, Dr. Don Harr carries history in his voice. In this episode I sit down with a living legend of Billings — a WWII veteran, the city’s second psychiatrist, a founding memberof the Suicide Prevention Coalition, a leader at the Mental Health Center, and a quiet healer who still offers free counseling and grief groups from his home. We’re joined by his daughter Pam and by Senator Mike Yakawich, who has beenmentored by Dr. Harr for more than a decade.This conversation moves between wide-open stories and hushed moments. Dr. Harr tells of growing up in Kansas,of the war (including a near miss from a sniper’s bullet), and of a lifetime spent mentoring and shepherding others. We revisit a moment that became deeply personal for me — the day he fell before a cross-community reconciliation panel and, refusing to stay home, rose to speak about faith and healing. We talktheology and philosophy, the steady, practical faith that guided his work, and the veteran’s aphorism he lives by: pain is weakness leaving the body.If you lean in, you’ll find enormous wisdom: practical,pastoral, and full of grace. It was an honor to record this — a rare sit-down with one of my personal heroes. I hope Dr. Harr’s story inspires you the way it inspires me.

In this episode, I sit down with Elyssa Leininger, a Billings native and leading voice in the public art movement. Elyssa is an accomplished artist whose work spans the state and beyond, but she is best known for her public murals, artworks that have transformed spaces across Billings, from the iconic 6th Street Underpass to the Mental Health and Crisis Centers, bringing light and beauty to some of our most vulnerable neighbors.We begin with the 6th Street Underpass, where Elyssa painted her very first mural in 2020. Contracted through the city for less than a thousand dollars, she poured over a thousand hours into her concrete canvas. The result is a tapestry of sunrise and wildlife, featuring buffalo, elk, and eagles. If you haven’t walked through or driven by, it’s worth a stop and a honk of appreciation.It was an honor to share this conversation. I hope her story inspires you as deeply as it has inspired me. The world needs better stories, and Pay Love Forward exists to tell them.

In this first episode, Dr. Matthew Leavenworth, founder of Pay Love Forward, sits down with world-renowned concert pianist Tanner Jorden to explore his remarkable journey from Billings, Montana to the international stage.Recently accepted into the master’s program at The Juilliard School, Tanner has already performed across the globe, from Israel to Carnegie Hall. In this conversation, we talk about his development as a musician, his spiritual connection to music, and the role that mentorship has played in shaping his growth.Tanner also shares about his partnership with his wife, violinist Caroline Jorden, who he first met while performing with the Aspen Grove Trio. The trio’s cross-country, garage-band-style tour brings them full circle to Billings, the last stop before the next chapter of their journey in New York.The episode closes with a profound moment: Tanner’s performance and interpretation of Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2, a piece forged in the shadows of World War II and the Holocaust. His reflections reveal how music not only moves us but also serves as witness to history’s deepest wounds.This episode captures the heart of Pay Love Forward’s mission to build compassionate communities through mentorship and storytelling. Tanner’s story is a testament to resilience, creativity, and the transformative power of human connection.