Voices of OKC

Before They Break: GNWY on Mental Health, Purpose & Hope

Some students are carrying pain they do not yet have words for. They may not know if they are angry, sad, scared, overwhelmed, or simply tired. They just know something feels off. And too often, the adults around them rush to correct behavior before they understand what is underneath it. In this episode of Voices of OKC, Jed Chappell sits down with Jordan Miller and Stuart Bennett from Generation Why, a mental health advocacy team serving students through school assemblies, creative arts, mentorship, media, internships, and purpose-driven programming. Generation Why speaks in schools about mental health, anti-bullying, and suicide prevention. But what makes their work powerful is not only the message. It is the way they deliver it. They use rap, spoken word, dance, live painting, DJing, photography, videography, and storytelling to create an environment where heavy conversations can become a little easier to enter. Jordan shares why vulnerability is central to the work. Stuart talks about the importance of asking better questions and giving students time to answer. Together, they describe what it means to meet young people where they are, help them name what they are feeling, and show them that there are more options than the obstacles in front of them. This conversation is about mental health. It is about purpose. It is about mentorship. And it is about the kind of adults young people need in the room. Not perfect adults. Present adults. In This Episode Jed, Jordan, and Stuart talk about: * Generation Why’s mission and school-based work * Mental Health Awareness Month * Anti-bullying and suicide prevention * Why creative arts help open up hard conversations * The power of asking students “why” and waiting for the answer * Healthy vulnerability in mentorship * The WHY Lead program at John Marshall * How people can volunteer, sponsor schools, pray, give, and share the work * Why students need mentors who help them see more options for their future Links Mentioned Generation Why: https://www.pursueyourwhy.org/ [https://www.pursueyourwhy.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Donate to Generation Why: https://www.pursueyourwhy.org/ [https://www.pursueyourwhy.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Generation Why Instagram: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mental-health-breakthroughs-for-young-adults-families/id1653016005 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mental-health-breakthroughs-for-young-adults-families/id1653016005?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Urban Bridge: https://www.urbanbridge.org/ [https://www.urbanbridge.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County: https://www.bgcokc.org/ [https://www.bgcokc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] John Marshall High School / OKCPS: https://www.okcps.org/ [https://www.okcps.org/] Chicken N Pickle OKC: https://chickennpickle.com/oklahoma-city/ [https://chickennpickle.com/oklahoma-city/] City Center: https://okcitycenter.org [https://okcitycenter.org] About Voices of OKC Voices of OKC is a podcast from City Center featuring thoughtful conversations with people helping shape Oklahoma City through leadership, service, creativity, restoration, and hope. Learn more about City Center: https://okcitycenter.org [https://okcitycenter.org]

Life Needs Vision: Carey Conley on Vision, Mental Health, and Young Adults

Some people feel behind before they have even had a fair chance to begin. Behind in their career. Behind financially. Behind relationally. Behind the version of life they thought they were supposed to have by now. Carey Conley hears that often from young adults. And in this episode of VOICES of OKC, she talks with Jed Chappell about why vision matters so deeply in that season of life. Carey is an author, speaker, and vision leader who helps people create a clear written vision for their lives. Her story also carries deep grief. After losing both her husband and son to suicide, Carey chose to build her life around purpose, hope, and helping others find direction through pain. This conversation moves through grief, mentorship, mental health, young adults, negative self-talk, and the courage it takes to start. Carey shares how a mentor helped her realize she could create a life with intention, and why she now wants young adults to understand that their life can carry purpose even when the path is unclear. For City Center, this conversation matters because so much of our work with students is about helping young people see beyond the pressure of the moment. They need more than instruction. They need vision. They need mentors. They need safe places where someone can help them see what is already inside them. Key themes in this episode: * Why many young adults feel like they are already behind * The role of written vision in grief, purpose, and healing * How negative self-talk can shape a person’s future * Why mentorship matters at every age * How to take the first step before everything feels clear * Why every person’s life deserves vision * What gives Carey hope right now Guest: Carey Conley Website: https://www.careyconley.com [https://www.careyconley.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carey.conley/ [https://www.instagram.com/carey.conley/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/careyconleyinc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/careyconleyinc/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Facebook: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2QiVK5LIIA0CeneDEeAcsw [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2QiVK5LIIA0CeneDEeAcsw?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Carey’s Podcast: https://www.careyconley.com/podcast [https://www.careyconley.com/podcast?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Free eBook mentioned in this episode: Vision is Victory https://bit.ly/VisionisVictory [https://bit.ly/VisionisVictory] Additional resource from Carey Conley: Keep Looking Up: Transforming Grief into Hope After Tragedy https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Looking-Up-Transforming-Tragedy/dp/0996699929/ [https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Looking-Up-Transforming-Tragedy/dp/0996699929/] Watch and follow VOICES of OKC: Podcast Website: https://www.voicesofokc.com [https://www.voicesofokc.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] YouTube: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-of-okc/id1847725322 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-of-okc/id1847725322?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nUpFLOsHGVtrN8tZz6nlM [https://open.spotify.com/show/3nUpFLOsHGVtrN8tZz6nlM] Podbean: https://voicesofokc.podbean.com [https://voicesofokc.podbean.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Learn more about City Center: https://okcitycenter.org [https://okcitycenter.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide, grief, and mental health. If you or someone you love is in crisis in the U.S., call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Hope in Hard Places: Jabee Williams on OKC, Violence, and Hope

What does peace look like before it becomes a headline? Sometimes it looks like a phone call before a fight turns into a shooting. Sometimes it looks like a trusted person sitting down with two families. Sometimes it looks like fixing an air conditioner because the heat in a house is adding fuel to somebody’s grief. In this episode of Voices of OKC, Jed Chappell sits down with Jabee Williams — artist, Emmy Award winner, entrepreneur, and community advocate — for a conversation about Oklahoma City, violence, art, proximity, and hope. Jabee shares about growing up on Oklahoma City’s Eastside, losing people he loved to violence, and the responsibility he feels to show young people that their world can be bigger than the block, the neighborhood, or the cycle they inherited. He also talks about two major pieces of his work: Live Free Oklahoma, a community violence intervention effort working to reduce gun violence and build safer communities across Oklahoma. With Love OKC, an art initiative helping young people tell their stories through murals, creative expression, and public art. This conversation is about more than programs. It is about presence. It is about why the people closest to the pain often carry the clearest wisdom. It is about what Oklahoma City can become when social development matters as much as economic development. And it is about why hope is not a soft idea. Sometimes hope is the very thing that keeps someone from giving up on their city. In This Episode Jed and Jabee talk about: * Growing up on Oklahoma City’s Eastside * The reality of violence and incarceration in families and neighborhoods * Why credible messengers matter * What community violence intervention actually looks like * The role of art, murals, and storytelling in healing * Why development must include the people most affected by it * The future Jabee still hopes to see in Oklahoma City Links Mentioned Jabee Williams: https://www.mynameisjabee.com/ [https://www.mynameisjabee.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Jabee on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mynameisjabee/ [https://www.instagram.com/mynameisjabee/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Live Free Oklahoma: https://livefreeoklahoma.com/ [https://livefreeoklahoma.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Live Free Oklahoma on Instagram: https://www.withloveokc.org/ [https://www.withloveokc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] With Love OKC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withloveokc/ [https://www.instagram.com/withloveokc/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Juneteenth on the East: https://www.withloveokc.org/juneteenth [https://www.withloveokc.org/juneteenth?utm_source=chatgpt.com] STAAR Foundation: https://www.staarfoundation.org/ [https://www.staarfoundation.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Urban Bridge: https://www.urbanbridge.org/ [https://www.urbanbridge.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County: https://www.bgcokc.org/ [https://www.bgcokc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Millwood Public Schools: https://www.millwoodps.org/ [https://www.millwoodps.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Oklahoma City Public Schools — Emerson South: https://emersonsouth.okcps.org/ [https://emersonsouth.okcps.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] City Center: https://okcitycenter.org [https://okcitycenter.org] About Voices of OKC Voices of OKC is a podcast from City Center featuring thoughtful conversations with people helping shape Oklahoma City through leadership, service, creativity, restoration, and hope. Learn more about City Center: https://okcitycenter.org [https://okcitycenter.org]

Use Wisely: Adam Coury on Leadership, Learning, and the Next Generation

Some conversations are really about more than the topic on the surface. This is one of them. In this episode of Voices of OKC, Adam Coury joins the conversation to talk about AI, but what emerges is really a deeper reflection on discernment, responsibility, and leadership. As technology moves faster into daily life, work, and education, the question is no longer whether it matters. The question is whether people are willing to understand it before it begins shaping them. Adam speaks honestly about the danger of avoidance. He argues that AI should be treated as a tool, not a voice to follow, and that the people who refuse to engage with it may leave the next generation to carry consequences they did not choose. This conversation matters because it pushes past fear and novelty and asks something more grounded: how do we remain fully human while learning to live wisely in a changing world?

Beyond Winning: Bryan Fetzer on Pressure and Perspective in OKC

Bryan Fetzer has spent years around elite performance, but this conversation is not really about sports. It is about people. About what pressure reveals, what success can conceal, and how leadership often fails when it becomes too focused on outcomes and not enough on transformation. In this episode, Bryan reflects on his own evolution as a coach and leader. He talks honestly about the tendency to become transactional, the importance of filtering out noise, and the responsibility leaders carry when the people around them are struggling in ways they cannot always see. The conversation moves from athletics into business, schools, churches, and everyday life, with a simple but weighty reminder: no one becomes their best self alone. For Oklahoma City, that kind of conversation matters. Because strong communities are not built by talent alone. They are built by leaders with perspective, humility, and the courage to care about what is happening beneath the surface.