Season One

Episode 1 Tyson “Newlife” Sanchez

(World Music DJ/Physical Therapist/Business Owner)

Tyson “New Life” Sanchez is a DJ whose world travels inspired the creation of the FEX Party (Foreign Exchange) founded in 2009, a party that was dedicated to exposing his hometown of Chicago to different cultural flavors in the nightlife scene and solidifying it as an international destination for music. With a hip hop and house DJ background and mix aesthetic, NewLife honors and upholds this legacy in a unique fashion.

Episode 2 Armando Pérez

(Musician/Band Manager/Music Producer & Engineer)

Founder of ESSO Afrojam Funkbeat and  Sound Events Chicago, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer Armando Pérez began his journey of live music performance in his hometown of Chicago IL. Blending his cultural roots with personal life experiences from growing up in the Windy City, his fusion of genres and energy can be interpreted by all ages and backgrounds. With a long history of national and international touring, he continues to perform for open minded audiences everywhere. 

Episode 3 Rahmaan STATIK

(Visual Artist/Muralist)

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, surrounded by urban art and public murals, Rahmaan Statik became inspired to be involved with the subculture of Street Art. A consequent arrest for “vandalism” put him on a mission to legitimize the production of aerosol murals. This became the main focus of my work: public murals that fuse the graffiti aesthetic with a classical training received from the American Academy of Art. As co-founder of R.K Design, a graphic arts and mural collective, Statik has produced over 600 murals.

Episode 4 Jessie Santiago

(Martial Artist/Videographer/Business Owner)

Born in Montreal, Canada but grew up between the suburbs and Chicago.  Jessie Santiago is a media content creator promoting the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) on his Youtube Channel FMA Pulse.  He achieved his Guro title in 2 different FMA systems, Defensor Method of Filipino Martial Arts and Taboada Balintawak.  Jessie continues to be an avid practitioner as well, traveling and learning different systems.  His goal is to promote and bring awareness to the Filipino martial arts on a global scale through the lens of a documentarian approach.  Jessie teaches in Chicago and seminars outside of Chicago.  Outside of martial arts he's a freelance video content producer and foodie. 

Episode 5 Oscar “The Shank” Jurado Sánchez

(Professional MMA Fighter)

Born in 1997 in Chicago Illinois. His parents decided to move to Cuernavaca Morelos in Mexico when He was five years old, where a year later, his mother registered him in Tae Kwon Do classes. After three years he won his first competition and it made him realize that martial arts were what he wanted to dedicate himself to. When he was 14 years old he decided to give martial arts another chance and started Kick Boxing with professor Juan Guzman may he Rest In Peace at the Kamehameha School. After his first tournament, his passion for martial arts kept growing so he started practicing boxing in a small hometown gym called “lobox”. He moved back to Chicago to follow his dream of becoming a professional UFC fighter. He was lucky to find a gym that was close to where he was living. The gym “Intercept MMA” where he started his amateur MMA career. On August 14, 2022 he had his professional debut and won by TKO in the first round. This was a very important fight to him because it was a big step closer to fulfilling his dream.

Episode 6 Jessica Juarez

(Artist/Counselor/Business Owner)

Jessica Johana Juarez Garcia is an experienced professional with a passion for helping youth, schools, and communities through her work as a counselor, artist, and community leader. She has been working in direct service roles since 2001 and is committed to using transformative and healing practices to support individuals and groups.

In addition to her work with The Venus Collective, Jessica is also the founder of Kindred, LLC, and Co-founder of The Praxis Institute. In her current role as a part-time private practice counselor with F.L.Y Radical Therapy,  a Field Supervisor, and coach, she continues to facilitate various workshops that align with an eclectic approach. She draws from multiple modalities such as holistic practices, arts, identity and culture, social-emotional learning, transformative rituals, and liberation psychology, to create a truly holistic and empowering experience for her clients.

Through her work, Jessica has always been committed to multicultural collaborations and providing culturally responsive support. Her approach is grounded in honoring and celebrating multiple identities, cultural values, and beliefs through the integration of arts and healing. She believes that healing is a collective process and that everyone can play a role in it.

Episode 7 Rafael “Scheme” Navarro

(Hip Hop MC/Artist Manager/Business Owner)

Rafael Navarro Jr. is the proud founder of Beats and Bars. He is a Mexican-American first generation college graduate, as well as a Hip-Hop artist from Chicago, IL. With background experience in both behavioral therapy with children in a group setting, as well as one-on-one with teens at Chicago Public Schools, in combination with his years of experience as an artist, he has created a program he strongly believes in.

His passion for music and working with youth were always two separate worlds, It wasn't until one of the students came across his music online at the school he was working with at the time. This then led to a group of students suggesting he start an after-school music program, which is where Beats & Bars originated. He finally found the place to have my separate worlds come together. He came to realize the value there is in a skill set he taught to himself as a teen and he want nothing more than for the youth in our city to realize how valuable they are to themselves and their community. He wants to give our youth options. “There isn't one correct path to take, but it's our responsibility to help them find the path that works best for them.” He looked forward to the day where Beats and Bars spaces exists throughout our communities and it provides the necessary resources for our teens to realize the options that exist.

Episode 8 Amisha Patel

(Organizer and Former Executive Director)

Amisha Patel has almost 30 years of experience organizing for economic, racial, and gender justice. For 15 years, she served as Executive Director of Grassroots Collaborative in Illinois, which innovated community and labor strategic coalition campaigns that built the foundation for many movement victories, including progressive revenue solutions, subsidy reform, raising the minimum wage, and more.

Amisha first began organizing at the age of 19 against a toxic waste facility in East Palo Alto, CA. She spent years leading arts-based violence against women prevention programming with youth of color in the Bay Area.  The documentary that her youth created, Young Azns Rising! Breaking Down Violence Against Women, screened in film festivals nationwide and won the Asian Emmy for best documentary.  Amisha has received numerous recognitions, including Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 award, and her op-eds have appeared in Crain’s Chicago Business, Bill Moyers, In These Times, and the Chicago Sun Times.

Episode 9 Luis “Logan Lu” Tubens

(Poet, Emcee, Business Owner)

Luis Tubens a.k.a. “Logan Lu” is a Chicago born Puerto Rican poet who has performed poetry across the United States. He has toured Mexico City in 2016 and 2018 and featured in Puerto Rico at “Poets Passage” (2019). He represented Chicago in the 2014 and 2018 National Poetry Slam. He is the author of Stone Eagle (2017) published by Bobbin Lace Press, Chicago. Luis is the resident poet for ESSO Funk (2016 Best New Band and Best International Music Act, Chicago Reader). Currently he is touring his latest theatrical production “Raíces to Roots”. He also owns, Pilsen Mural Tours, and he gives tours of the incredible murals/artwork that cover many walls in Chicago’s neighborhood Pilsen.

Episode 10 Season 1 Roundtable Finale

The 500 and Growing Podcast had an incredible first season filled with inspirational stories. Each guest shared insights on their craft, challenges, and how they stay inspired in order to keep creating and thriving.

In the Season 1 Finale, we invited all the previous guests to come together in a round table and have a dialogue about their creative process and how they relate to one another's stories. The guests that participated were: Tyson "Newlife" Sanchez, Episode 1, Armando Perez, Episode 2, Jessie Santiago, Episode 4, and Rafael "Scheme" Navarro Jr., Episode 7 of our first season.

The Conversation is focused on how we get past creative blocks, and it is incredibly powerful and inspiring. Each guest drops jewels that are universal and can be applied to the listener's experiences.

We hope you have enjoyed Season 1, and we look forward to sharing the new Season 2 guest interviews that will be just as inspiring. We will be off for a couple of months, but follow the 500 and Growing Podcast so you can know when we begin Season 2. You can also follow @500andgrowingpodcast on Instagram for snippets of the new season and 500andgrowing.com for more creative content.

Thank you so much for listening!

Make sure to listen to each round table guest’s episode to hear their inspirational story.