Andy Feinstein: In the People Business

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Katie Kramer, President and CEO of the Boettcher Foundation. Welcome to Colorado Leadership Stories, where we talk to everyday, courageous leaders who have made transformational impacts in their communities and are building a better state for everyone. You'll hear from leaders and organizations and communities throughout the state as we explore the idea that leadership is an activity that anyone can do.

[00:00:27] Since becoming the 13th president at the University of Northern Colorado in 2018, Dr. Andy Feinstein has spearheaded transformative initiatives to strengthen the university's impact in Colorado. Central to his students' first vision is the UNC's tuition promise, which offers free tuition to Colorado high school graduates from families earning under $65,000, expanding access to higher education for students from diverse backgrounds. Andy's approachable leadership style fosters community engagement.

[00:01:01] As he regularly hosts students and faculty for dinners at his home. Under his guidance, UNC has recently secured significant state funding to establish Colorado's first public college of osteopathic medicine, addressing critical health care workforce needs and earning him the recognition as a 2024 power broker by the Denver Business Journal. We're so excited to be here on the UNC campus to interview you, Andy. Thanks for coming.

[00:01:27] Thank you, Katie, so much. And thank you for saying all of those wonderful things about me. I really appreciate that. But I also want to thank you and the Betcher Foundation for all of the incredible things you do for our students across the state in supporting their future and across the nation for that matter. So my hats off to all the wonderful work the Betcher Foundation does for our community.

[00:01:47] Well, thank you very much. And as you know, we have some deep investments on this campus and are excited about potentially more. So we're going to talk about that coming up today.

[00:01:56] It's always wonderful to be here in beautiful Greeley. And we've had the pleasure of hosting the Betcher Scholarship interviews here the past several years.

[00:02:04] For listeners who may not be familiar with UNC and the Greeley community or maybe have an outdated perspective, could you share what you love about living and working here?

[00:02:13] Absolutely. I have now lived here for six and a half years. I came from California at San Jose State University. And San Jose is a very large city of over a million people. Greeley is about 120,000 people. It's located an hour north of Denver in about 45 minutes drive east of Fort Collins.

[00:02:38] It is primarily an agricultural community. That's where it's where it's where it started. But it's really evolved into energy as well as health care and other diverse businesses.

[00:02:52] It's an incredible place to live. It still feels like a small town. I know my neighbors. We share cookies and desserts from time to time. I see children playing in the streets in our community.

[00:03:06] I go to the grocery store and say hello to friends and colleagues from across the community. So it really feels like a small town.

[00:03:14] It's located about an hour and 20 minute drive from the Rocky Mountain National Park. And my family and I, we spend a lot of time up there.

[00:03:22] So it's very close to the mountains if you like to hike or enjoy the outdoors or seeing wildlife. It's only a couple of hours away from ski resorts, some of the best ski resorts in the world.

[00:03:35] And so it's really ideally situated in Colorado. And the university is right in the center of it.

[00:03:42] And we have about 9,000 students, approximately 6,700 undergraduate students and roughly 2,300 graduate students.

[00:03:51] We've been around for 135 years. We consider that a comprehensive public university.

[00:03:57] We offer roughly 200 different degrees in all types of disciplines.

[00:04:01] And our graduates go on to be, you know, a whole gamut of professional experiences in Colorado and beyond.

[00:04:11] So it's a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to work.

[00:04:15] Awesome. Well, I know achieving Hispanic serving institution status was a recent major milestone for UNC.

[00:04:21] What does that designation mean for the university?

[00:04:23] And how are you working to further support inclusivity and success for students from underrepresented communities?

[00:04:29] It's very important to me personally that we have this designation and it's very important to the university.

[00:04:37] Hispanic serving institutions are institutions whose undergraduate student population exceeds 25% Hispanic Latin A students, as well as there's some other criteria, but primarily it's about the number of undergraduate students that are Hispanic or Latin A.

[00:04:55] But what we wanted to focus on here was the serving this part.

[00:04:59] It's a Hispanic serving institution, not a Hispanic enrolling institution.

[00:05:02] So a big part of this was certainly we're at about 27% Hispanic Latin A student population undergraduate.

[00:05:09] But what we've really done is focused on programming and ensuring that we have opportunities for our Hispanic Latin A students to really feel a part of our community, as well as their families.

[00:05:22] And so we have a lot of opportunities to engage across the campus and showcase why we think being an HSI designated institution is vital to our success.

[00:05:33] That's great.

[00:05:34] That's great.

[00:05:34] When I was getting ready for this podcast today, Andy, I learned something about you that I didn't know.

[00:05:39] You have come from a unique background in academia and that you were a food and beverage professor, right?

[00:05:46] At UNLV and the Dean of the College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona.

[00:05:52] Tell me about that.

[00:05:53] Talk about your background and how that's helped you in your leadership role as a university president.

[00:05:57] Well, I think it started when I was a young child and had an opportunity to work with my mom.

[00:06:07] She loves to cook and she would actually come to school with me and showcase her culinary skills with my classmates.

[00:06:16] It must have been second, maybe first grade.

[00:06:19] I remember making little pizzas out of English muffins and using olives as eyes and bell pepper slices as smiley faces.

[00:06:27] And my friends just thought I had the coolest mom ever.

[00:06:30] And I think along, you know, I guess over time, I realized that I too had a passion for cooking and really providing an experience for others that they enjoyed.

[00:06:42] And I found great ways of making people happy and satisfied through food at a young age.

[00:06:49] And when I graduated high school, I actually worked at a ski resort in food and beverage operations for a while, kind of pursuing my passion.

[00:06:58] And it was shortly thereafter that I had an opportunity to go back and pursue a bachelor's degree in hospitality management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

[00:07:07] And that's where I really refined my appreciation, my enjoyment of hospitality.

[00:07:11] And I think what I liked was being able to engage with others and make them happy through food and through hospitality experiences.

[00:07:20] And that kind of carried on through my undergraduate experiences.

[00:07:23] I worked after undergraduate education in the technology area, but I always was drawn back to hospitality.

[00:07:32] And since I've been a university president for six and a half years, I think I've utilized a lot of those experiences as a hospitality professional in my current work.

[00:07:42] There's a book, in fact, I read recently by Will Gadara.

[00:07:47] It's called Unreasonable Hospitality.

[00:07:49] And I think he really eloquently explains the benefits of leveraging your experiences in hospitality management to leadership roles,

[00:07:58] not just in higher education, but a whole host of opportunities in which you really can understand ways to ensure that people are having a wonderful experience,

[00:08:08] that you're relating to their needs, that you have a servant-based leadership style.

[00:08:14] Those are things I certainly learned from the book, as well as in my own life's experiences.

[00:08:18] That's great. I'll have to check that out.

[00:08:20] And what I hear you saying, too, is just leading with empathy, right?

[00:08:24] Yes.

[00:08:24] And I see that, knowing you, too, as I do.

[00:08:28] That's really cool. That's really cool.

[00:08:30] I want to talk a little bit more about higher ed, because it's not every day that you get university president on this podcast,

[00:08:35] but it's always fun to talk to all of you, because we have a chance to work with all of you so much.

[00:08:39] And I'm just thinking about some of the trends in higher ed.

[00:08:41] And I know we see this at our work with the Betcher Foundation and thinking about it, too,

[00:08:45] as we have all these Betcher scholars that are applying for the scholarship,

[00:08:48] and are they going to use AI on their application?

[00:08:51] And so I'm curious, is that showing up for you in higher ed?

[00:08:55] How is that affecting your world?

[00:08:58] Please, tell us about that.

[00:09:00] Well, personally, I have been using for a couple of months now Grammarly.

[00:09:04] Uh-huh, right.

[00:09:05] Because I'm not a great writer.

[00:09:07] And so a friend of mine shared that application with me, which certainly has a lot of AI characteristics.

[00:09:15] It helps me write my own words better.

[00:09:18] It helps me with punctuation and when to use or not use an Oxford comma and all those things.

[00:09:25] Very important things.

[00:09:25] It helps me maybe reframe some of my narratives to be more persuasive or to be more complimentary.

[00:09:33] And so I've personally seen the benefits of using AI.

[00:09:36] I have not used a lot of chat GPT to write, like, you know, speeches and letters for me,

[00:09:42] but I've seen others who have benefited from using that technology to help them just maybe prepare for or get ready for a speech

[00:09:52] or to use it in everyday communication.

[00:09:55] I was in a meeting today, in fact, talking about a conference that I'll be participating in,

[00:10:01] in which one of the moderators had used chat GPT to come up with some preliminary questions to ask the audience and some of these speakers as well.

[00:10:11] So I've seen it just personally how it's really benefiting the way in which we still use our own ideas, our own intelligence,

[00:10:18] but AI is helping us refine that and be more effective in the work that we're doing.

[00:10:23] At the university level, I see it, you know, all over the place.

[00:10:27] I see it in the way in which we're using it as a predictive analytic to help us in determining whether or not students may need a little bit more help in advising if they're struggling in a class.

[00:10:38] And maybe they failed a particular exam, and we know historically that if you fail this initial exam that you may have a difficult time in completing this course,

[00:10:47] and ultimately maybe you don't graduate on time.

[00:10:50] So we're leveraging AI technologies and predictive analytics to even help students with their, you know, their grades and their homework and their assignments.

[00:11:00] And we're also using it in the way in which we're teaching students.

[00:11:04] You know, we have new statistics programs, certificates.

[00:11:08] We have a data analytics program.

[00:11:09] We have a software engineering degree.

[00:11:11] And so all of those are incorporating, I think, AI and its technologies that help, you know, I think make better informed decisions.

[00:11:20] And we're going to see that, I think, become even more ubiquitous moving forward, both at the educational level,

[00:11:27] but also in the way in which we're doing good just business practices.

[00:11:30] And then, as you heard personally, how I think we can benefit from using AI in helping us be more effective in our day-to-day lives.

[00:11:40] Well, I totally agree.

[00:11:41] I think that even at the Betcher Foundation, we're looking at how to leverage it to do all those things,

[00:11:46] to serve the community better, to maybe make it easier, encourage people to use it for grant writing,

[00:11:51] and certainly even with the scholars, like, use it for what it's good for relative to keep your voice,

[00:11:57] but let's correct the grammar, you know, or whatever.

[00:12:00] So I appreciate that.

[00:12:02] Can it help me be a better cook?

[00:12:04] That's what I want to know.

[00:12:05] How does it help me?

[00:12:06] Not so far for me, but I have used it to get some great recipes lately.

[00:12:09] Yes, yes.

[00:12:10] But even if you, you know, I think about just the studies of chemistry in cuisine and, you know,

[00:12:17] knowing maybe different techniques might produce, you know, better flavor profiles or better textures.

[00:12:23] I would love to see how AI can be used to help us with that, too.

[00:12:26] That's fun.

[00:12:27] It's a fun time to be alive with all of this.

[00:12:29] It's this innovation.

[00:12:30] Very fun.

[00:12:31] Well, and speaking of innovation, I want to turn to, we mentioned this in your intro a little,

[00:12:36] but one of the things that I'm most excited about for UNC and this region and for Colorado

[00:12:42] is the leadership role you're taking in regards to our health care in Colorado

[00:12:47] and particularly rural health care in north and eastern Colorado.

[00:12:51] And I think it's amazing.

[00:12:53] You were able to secure $169 million, right?

[00:12:58] Isn't that?

[00:12:58] To establish the first public college of osteopathic medicine.

[00:13:01] And it's a huge accomplishment.

[00:13:03] And so we're excited about thinking about supporting that project.

[00:13:08] How do you envision this new college addressing the state's health care workforce needs?

[00:13:13] And what do you see UNC playing a role in that workforce development?

[00:13:18] Well, it's a long story.

[00:13:19] I don't know how much time you have, but I'll give you the abridged version.

[00:13:23] It started about three years ago, three and a half years ago, really, in conversations I was having with Margo Carson,

[00:13:31] who is the regional president for Banner.

[00:13:34] And she approached me and said, Andy, we really have a legitimate doctor shortage in Colorado.

[00:13:41] And I'm worried about whether or not we'll be able to fill all of these vacant positions

[00:13:46] that we believe we're going to be having in the next decade or two.

[00:13:49] How can UNC help us address this doctor shortage that we have right now, but also into the future?

[00:13:55] At the same time, I was meeting with a family who is very supportive of the university,

[00:14:01] who also expressed interest in helping us address health care shortages in our community.

[00:14:07] And those two pieces really fit together quite nicely.

[00:14:10] We started looking at the possibility of building a medical college at UNC to support our community and beyond.

[00:14:17] And we realized that there were only two medical schools in Colorado.

[00:14:22] There is an allopathic medical school as part of the University of Colorado system, Anschutz.

[00:14:29] And there is also a small private for-profit medical college, an osteopathic school in Parker, Rocky Vista.

[00:14:38] But there was nothing in northern Colorado and nothing really serving our communities north and east of us.

[00:14:44] And so we saw a tremendous opportunity to make a difference.

[00:14:48] And with the support of that family, the Richardsons, and the backing of Banner,

[00:14:53] we really got to work on making this a reality.

[00:14:56] And we had to do a lot of work.

[00:14:57] We did not realize initially that there were laws disallowing us from offering medical education at UNC.

[00:15:03] So we actually had to change by statute laws that allowed us to offer medical education.

[00:15:10] And then, as you mentioned earlier, we had to raise a lot of money for this project to be successful.

[00:15:14] And what started as resources to help us with the operating capital and the actual building that we're under construction with right now,

[00:15:22] turned into almost a $250 million medical education initiative for the state of Colorado.

[00:15:28] So we raised money not only for UNC and our medical program, but also we provided support for Colorado State University

[00:15:38] and their veterinary science program for $50 million.

[00:15:41] We've worked with Metro State in Denver University, MSU Denver, on their health care facilities and programs.

[00:15:51] And Trinidad State College in Alamosa for their nursing program.

[00:15:55] So it's been not only an effort to support medical education at UNC, but certainly across the state.

[00:16:02] And we know it's needed.

[00:16:03] We have seen that the majority of communities in Colorado and counties have doctor shortages right now,

[00:16:10] and they're expected to get worse.

[00:16:12] We know even in our local community that the wait time sometimes to see a doctor can be long.

[00:16:18] And we can see that the aging population of doctors in Colorado is only getting older.

[00:16:24] And so I think that the impact that this medical program is going to have on the state will be significant.

[00:16:30] And in fact, from a health care perspective, it's certainly going to have an impact on our communities,

[00:16:34] but also economically.

[00:16:35] The College of Osteopathic Medicine is going to have about a $1.4 billion economic impact over the next 20 years in Colorado,

[00:16:45] and a half a billion economic impact just in Weld County.

[00:16:47] So this is a big initiative, and it has a lot of benefits, and I just can't wait for it to get going.

[00:16:55] We're in the midst of construction right now.

[00:16:58] Right. I saw the fence out there.

[00:17:00] It's exciting.

[00:17:01] And so we actually had a groundbreaking a couple of weeks ago.

[00:17:03] It will open its doors July of 2026, so we're less than two years away.

[00:17:09] That's great.

[00:17:09] Our first cohort of students will begin that fall, fall of 26.

[00:17:13] We'll start with about 75 students, and slowly we'll grow that to 600 future doctors.

[00:17:21] And it's amazing.

[00:17:23] And a lot of people really work to make this happen.

[00:17:26] So great.

[00:17:27] And such a Colorado story relative to coming together and some collaboration and being smart about resources and serving the community.

[00:17:37] So that is wonderful.

[00:17:38] If people want to find out more about this, how would they do that?

[00:17:41] Is it on your website somewhere?

[00:17:42] Oh, it's all over the place.

[00:17:44] But yes, come to unco.edu.

[00:17:47] There's links.

[00:17:48] We have economic impact study reports.

[00:17:50] We have conversations with our founding dean.

[00:17:54] We have information about all of the people that we're in the process of hiring right now.

[00:17:59] Awesome.

[00:17:59] There's renderings of the new building.

[00:18:01] That's great.

[00:18:02] And potential applicants, too, I'm sure.

[00:18:04] That's right.

[00:18:05] So we're about a year away from starting recruiting for our first cohort of students.

[00:18:11] That's just around the corner and very, very exciting.

[00:18:14] Exciting times.

[00:18:15] Absolutely.

[00:18:16] Well, Andy, I want to turn it away from UNC and Greeley a little bit and talk about you a little bit, your personal journey and you as a leader as well.

[00:18:24] I know, like me, you're an avid outdoors person.

[00:18:27] Yes.

[00:18:27] And I wanted to ask you about, I know you're a climber, right?

[00:18:31] And you and your wife, Carrie, have been working on the 14ers and all 58 of them.

[00:18:37] And I know that this has now become a way to honor your late son, Nick, along with setting up an endowment in his name.

[00:18:43] Can you share more about your personal journey and the impact it'll make on others?

[00:18:47] Yeah, our son, Nick Feinstein, died two years ago in an avalanche with me.

[00:18:52] And one of the things that we loved to do together was be in the outdoors.

[00:18:59] We spent a lot of time hiking and climbing and skiing and fishing.

[00:19:03] But one of the ways in which we really fell in love with Colorado is in the backcountry hiking and climbing.

[00:19:10] And prior to his death, he and I had climbed 25 of Colorado's 58 known 14ers or mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation.

[00:19:23] And it was a way for us to connect and bond and share our love of the outdoors.

[00:19:28] And we had talked about finishing them all together.

[00:19:32] And, you know, we had just begun that journey.

[00:19:35] And it was something that stuck with me when he passed away.

[00:19:41] And my wife and I talked about our desire to kind of complete and fulfill that relationship that we had.

[00:19:49] And so Carrie and I have spent the last couple of summers, first of all, going back and reclimbing a lot of the mountains that we had done without him.

[00:20:00] And then climbing a lot of the mountains that he had not done yet.

[00:20:03] So we leave a little bit of him on every one of those summits.

[00:20:07] And we have one left to go.

[00:20:10] Wow.

[00:20:10] So we have Mount Sneffels, which will be the finisher.

[00:20:15] That's what they call it.

[00:20:16] Pretty one.

[00:20:16] Southwestern Colorado.

[00:20:18] Yes.

[00:20:18] That'll be next summer.

[00:20:20] But in the interim, we've climbed a lot of mountains.

[00:20:24] And always remember and appreciate the short time we had with him.

[00:20:30] Well, thank you for sharing that.

[00:20:32] I can't imagine that loss and the resilience to continue on after that.

[00:20:38] So that's a beautiful way to remember him.

[00:20:40] And so thank you.

[00:20:42] Thank you very much for sharing that.

[00:20:43] You're welcome.

[00:20:44] I want to focus, too, on you as just a leader.

[00:20:48] And we've talked about Greeley in addition to the leadership role you have here at the university.

[00:20:54] One of the things I've noticed is how you've really engaged deeply in the community as well.

[00:21:00] Remember, the Greeley Downtown Development Authority, the Chamber of Commerce.

[00:21:04] And I'm just curious about those experiences.

[00:21:07] How have those shaped your approach to leadership both at UNC and sort of with the broader Greeley community?

[00:21:13] I go back to our earlier conversation about being a hospitality professional.

[00:21:17] Right.

[00:21:17] It's a people business.

[00:21:19] I'm in the people business.

[00:21:20] And that's getting to know individuals, caring about them, sharing in our challenges and our joys.

[00:21:29] And so I think it's natural for me.

[00:21:32] It's in my DNA to want to get to know people.

[00:21:34] It's something that I've been fortunate to have here is just a very welcoming and open community.

[00:21:40] And so this morning I had Breck with the mayor and John Gates and I are good friends.

[00:21:46] And we meet once a month and just share stories about our work and our lives and our care for Greeley.

[00:21:51] I meet once a month with a city manager.

[00:21:54] I meet regularly with city council members and county commissioners and the superintendent of the school district.

[00:22:02] And it's a way for us to keep connected and to align our values and our work towards bettering this community.

[00:22:09] And it's something that is probably the most enjoyable part of my job is realizing that I have a network of people in Greeley that care about the university, that care about each other.

[00:22:20] And it's just a very fortunate opportunity that I have here.

[00:22:25] And I think it makes me certainly a better leader to be surrounded by people that support the work that we're doing.

[00:22:32] It allows me also to not only focus and share the successes of the university, but also contribute to the successes of so many different dimensions of Greeley.

[00:22:44] Whether it be the school district, our superintendent, just one superintendent of the year in Colorado.

[00:22:50] Awesome.

[00:22:50] It's amazing.

[00:22:52] It's amazing.

[00:22:52] We have a wonderful school district and district six here, but also just sharing in the successes of the city and the work that they're doing to revitalize and engage some of our neighborhoods.

[00:23:02] It's something that's a part of who I am in my DNA to be fully engaged in the community.

[00:23:08] And I am.

[00:23:08] I'm on the Greeley Chamber of Commerce.

[00:23:11] I'm the incoming chair.

[00:23:13] I am the chair of the Downtown Development Authority.

[00:23:16] And both of those give me opportunities to not only showcase ways in which the university can be involved in Greeley, but also it allows me to learn more about this town and how the university can be a great partner.

[00:23:33] That's great.

[00:23:34] And we see that everywhere in Colorado with our universities, right?

[00:23:38] They are such an anchor institutions in the communities, no matter where they are, whether that's Alamosa or Gunnison or Fort Collins, anywhere.

[00:23:46] Amazing that you are a leader here and also in the community.

[00:23:50] So a great, great role model in that way.

[00:23:53] I think you know that at Betcher, our mission is to connect and build up Colorado's doers and difference makers.

[00:23:58] And Andy, one of the things I love about you, you are known for your approachability, your ability to galvanize people,

[00:24:04] and even those who may be some of your competitors, I would say, in the higher ed field.

[00:24:12] Where does this collaborative spirit come from and why is it so important in your line of work as a higher ed administrator?

[00:24:19] Goes back to hospitality again.

[00:24:21] It's just another way to engage with people that have common interests.

[00:24:26] Colorado is an interesting state in the way in which we approach higher education.

[00:24:31] We're one of the least funded states in the country for higher education on a per capita basis.

[00:24:38] We've been as low as 47th out of 50 states in funding.

[00:24:43] We've gotten a little bit better, but still we're at the bottom.

[00:24:45] And we don't have a higher education system like I experienced in California, like the California State University system or the University of California system.

[00:24:56] There are 13 governing boards in Colorado.

[00:24:59] Each have their own trustees or regents that provide oversight.

[00:25:05] And we work kind of in this collective ecosystem, I would say, in supporting each other.

[00:25:10] We come together around resource allocation from appropriation funding.

[00:25:16] We come together on political issues and legislative initiatives that impact education.

[00:25:22] And what I found is that the leaders of higher education in Colorado are just a great group of individuals, wonderful leaders,

[00:25:31] very supportive of each other, aligned in mission to ensure the success of our students

[00:25:38] and the future of Colorado.

[00:25:41] And so it was natural to work with them and find ways for us to collaborate.

[00:25:46] But it really, I think, initially centered around resources.

[00:25:51] When I first arrived here, we had a formula that basically was a mechanism by which resources were distributed to the universities.

[00:26:01] And it was extremely complex and confusing.

[00:26:05] And so having conversations with CFOs from the other higher education institutions and presidents and chancellors,

[00:26:12] we worked on coming up with a new way of distributing resources that was, I think, a lot more, a lot easier to understand.

[00:26:19] Not simplistic, still pretty complex, but I think it was much easier to understand and explain,

[00:26:26] as well as I think it was a more equitable way of distributing resources.

[00:26:29] And then we started coming together also to talk about how we share our story and the value of higher education in Colorado

[00:26:37] and explain that the investment in higher education reaps significant rewards for the future economy and society in Colorado.

[00:26:47] And so we've come together on those topics.

[00:26:49] And then during times of crisis, like the pandemic, which was such a challenge for all of us,

[00:26:57] but I think it posed some very specific and interesting dilemmas for higher education.

[00:27:03] And just we were dealing with thousands, tens of thousands of students and trying to ensure their safety,

[00:27:09] but also ensure that they are making progress to their dreams.

[00:27:13] And so we came together many times in those topics as well.

[00:27:16] And I felt privileged to be helping in organizing those conversations and bringing forward ideas and solutions.

[00:27:25] So it's just, I think, part of my interest in engaging with people.

[00:27:31] And it goes back to, I think, my love and appreciation of hospitality.

[00:27:37] That's great.

[00:27:38] Love that full circle.

[00:27:39] And what a great group of humans, truly, are presidents and chancellors.

[00:27:45] Truly.

[00:27:46] It's a pleasure working with all of you and grateful for your role in that mix.

[00:27:51] So thanks, Andy.

[00:27:52] I have a number of mentors and friends amongst the leaders of higher education in Colorado that I'm very thankful for.

[00:27:59] Well, you've survived and we are at the lightning round.

[00:28:01] There's just four questions left.

[00:28:09] It's hiking and climbing.

[00:28:10] My wife and I climbed Hallett Peak this past weekend.

[00:28:14] We were trying to sneak one last in before the weather turned.

[00:28:16] It's cold, right?

[00:28:17] It was cold and windy.

[00:28:19] And I don't know if your audience has climbed Hallett Peak.

[00:28:23] But if you haven't, it's not a difficult climb.

[00:28:27] It's in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

[00:28:29] It's in the trail right behind Bear Lake.

[00:28:33] And it's one of the most beautiful scenic hikes in Colorado.

[00:28:38] And it's primarily trail the whole way.

[00:28:41] And so that's how we certainly enjoy Colorado.

[00:28:44] And I would definitely consider that my favorite Colorado hobby.

[00:28:48] Excellent.

[00:28:49] We'll see if you have the same answer.

[00:28:52] What's your favorite Colorado landmark?

[00:28:53] Oh, another mountain.

[00:28:54] Yeah, okay.

[00:28:55] In fact, I was looking at that from the top of Hallett Peak Sunday morning is Longs Peak.

[00:29:00] So I've climbed it several times.

[00:29:05] It's this iconic, beautiful mountain that I can see as I'm driving west out of Greeley.

[00:29:11] And it kind of highlights the entire skyline.

[00:29:15] And when the sun is setting behind that and the clouds are perfectly poised above it,

[00:29:20] it is just a breathtaking view.

[00:29:23] And it just reminds me of so much of what I love about the state.

[00:29:27] Love that.

[00:29:28] What is an action hero that you most identify with?

[00:29:32] You know, you're probably going to laugh at me.

[00:29:34] But if you have seen the movie Chef by Jon Favreau, that's my superhero.

[00:29:40] This is a person who just embodies what it means to be an incredible chef.

[00:29:46] And the way that he prepared the grilled cheese for his son in the beginning of the movie.

[00:29:51] And just unrelenting in his pursuit of excellence, even when he was dealing with Dustin Hoffman,

[00:29:57] who was the crazy restaurant owner.

[00:29:58] Right.

[00:29:58] And then he pursued his dreams, you know, unapologetically in, you know, building a food truck and traveling the country with that.

[00:30:09] Is I don't know if that's a superhero, but he's.

[00:30:12] We'll take it.

[00:30:12] But I'll take it.

[00:30:13] I just love that movie.

[00:30:14] That is could be the most unique answer to that question.

[00:30:17] I love that.

[00:30:17] That's great.

[00:30:18] That's great.

[00:30:19] Okay.

[00:30:19] Finally, this will be fun to hear about.

[00:30:22] You just shared one book that you're reading.

[00:30:24] But it's always fun to ask smart, engaged people what they are binging as far as a show, a book, or podcast,

[00:30:32] whether it's intellectual or completely fun.

[00:30:35] So the book right now I am listening to is All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.

[00:30:42] And it's probably about a third of the way done.

[00:30:46] And I won't give away any tips, but it's just a, it has a little bit of mystery and detective work and relationships.

[00:30:54] And it's a, it's just, it has a wonderful storyline.

[00:30:57] And it's a way when I read fiction kind of to get away from my job and work and just enjoy a great story.

[00:31:09] And I listened to it on Audible.

[00:31:11] And the challenge is sometimes I listen to it in the evening and I fall asleep.

[00:31:15] So I've read the same chapter, sometimes three and four times.

[00:31:18] So that's the tough thing about Audible.

[00:31:20] Right.

[00:31:21] But I do love listening to, to fiction and I keep them probably going and probably read a one or two books a month.

[00:31:30] And then I try to also read a nonfiction books as well, like the Unreasonable Hospitality book I mentioned earlier.

[00:31:36] Love that.

[00:31:36] Well, thanks for sharing that.

[00:31:38] Thank you for your time today.

[00:31:39] This has been so fun to visit with you, especially here in Greeley on campus.

[00:31:44] So thank you for your leadership and your role in the community.

[00:31:48] We appreciate you very much.

[00:31:49] Thank you for joining Colorado Leadership Stories, where we hope to inspire the next generation of Colorado community builders, doers, and difference makers.

[00:32:01] Colorado Leadership Stories is presented by the Betcher Foundation.

[00:32:05] The Betcher Foundation supports Colorado by empowering leaders and communities with tools to tackle challenges and pursue opportunities, building a better state for everyone.

[00:32:15] With an 85-plus year legacy of giving back, we're committed to amplifying our impact for future generations.

[00:32:24] That's the spirit of Betcher.