S05E05 – 5-Year Anniversary Episode

Apr 15, 2021 | Full Episodes, Season 5

Ken’s Think Tank was an idea hatched in my head in 2017.

Hi, I’m Ken Collins, the host of Ken’s Think Tank and we’re going to take a few minutes to explore this show and what it means to me, our sponsors, our guests, and our viewers.

  • If you are interested in sponsoring the show, please visit KenCollinsMarketing.com and click the Think Tank button – and be a part of something really great!
  • If you have something really cool you want to talk about, schedule a Think Tank Coffee Run!  I’ll come pick you up, buy you a cup of coffee, and drive you around town!  We’ll film the whole thing and put you on the show!
  • If you are a fan, and just want to help support the show to ensure it stays on the air, you can do so with a tiny monthly support amount as low as $1/month!
  • Just go to KenCollinsMarketing.com and click the Think Tank button!  You can sponsor the show, support the show, or be a guest on the show!
  • If you don’t want to do any of those things, but just love the show anyway . . . smash the Like button every time you see a new episode . . . that helps more than you know!  Seriously, get in your vehicle, strap in, and run over the Like button like you’re trying to avoid my driving – smash it!

We launched our first episode in April of 2018 with 1 camera and a REALLY low-budget audio setup.  I had no idea what I was doing . . . so I invited Scott Michlin to be my first guest.  I figured, if I got stuck, Scott would help me get though the interview – I mean, he IS an expert at it!

That first episode was followed by Steve Holland and Randy Large – a couple of friends that I could talk into trying this crazy thing with me.

With a couple of interviews under my belt, I wanted to feature a big personality . . . so I reached out to Jenny Lee Ryan and she chose a great challenge for me as a topic – feminism in pop culture!

Jamie Church was still at Childhaven and was running the Focus on Farmington coffee events, so we put her on the show – she’s now at the Farmington Chamber of Commerce and a regular guest.

Jamie’s episode was followed by what may be my most important episode.  Adam Savage had many reservations about coming on the show and talking about his past struggles with drug addition and how he overcame those.  I talked him into revisiting this painful chapter in his past – and it was a GREAT episode.  It only recently hit me just how important this episode was when I was approached by a man at Walmart.  I didn’t know the man, but he told me he knew who I was because he was a fan of the show.  He explained that his favorite episode was the one featuring Adam.  He told me that episode changed his life.  He watched it while he was also struggling with drug addition, and Adam’s story helped him turn his life around.  He said that episode literally changed his life.  That conversation with a stranger at Walmart will remain in my head as a constant reminder that this is not JUST a show.  The sixth show we ever produced completely changed the life of at least one person for the better – and that means the world to me.  This is something that provides meaning for our viewers.  That meaning can range from a fun and silly break from life to an in-depth look into the story of an individual or organization to life-altering revelations.

Following Adam’s episode we featured Curt Walters while he was in town because Hello – it’s Curt Walters the super famous artist!  We had Carol May talking about the Connie Mack World Series, Linda Rodgers talking about the Farmington City Council, and Robb Rocket talking about his art.

I made a new friend in Punch Buck when he asked to come on the show and talk about his work with young men.

And I got to fly a plane with Clay Jaqua to wrap up our first season.  Yeah – you should have been very afraid that day!  If my driving makes you nervous, imagine me with control of an airplane!

We got a couple more cameras to add to the mix and opened Season 2 with Justin Hunt and his son.  Justin told me during this interview that I was really good at this.  The guy who makes award-winning documentaries is telling me that I’m really good at interviewing people?  But how can this be?  I’m just a guy chatting with people in a moving vehicle!  I’ve tried to honor Justin’s compliment ever since.

The Zia Chicks sang some songs on the show, which remain our most popular podcast episodes by far – and gave me my most-favorite version of Fix You by Coldplay.  Yeah – I like it better than Coldplay’s version!

Mario Bernardone gave me my biggest laughs ever!  I don’t know how I made it through that interview!

I went on a college scouting trip across the country to film Adriana Miller over the course of many amazing days on the road with her and her father, Travis Miller.

My brother, Brian Collins, tried to give me a heart attack in his Mustang race car.  Luke Renner did some yo-yo tricks in the truck – not an easy task!  And T Greg Merrion told me this was the coolest interview he had ever done – I’ll take it!

I put the Mayor, Nate Duckett in the truck and drove him around town, and traveled to Albuquerque to film Steve Stucker.

Season 3 came along and we were in the zone!  We had lots of local favorites on the show, I made more friends, and I got to top off the season with Quinton Aaron – best known for his role as Big Mike in the movie The Blind Side.  Quinton is a really funny guy!  He lives in Bernalillo now, and he’s is an executive at a production company

Quinton is my most-famous guest to-date.  But I still view every guest we feature as a bonafide celebrity!

Season 4 came along, we had much better sound equipment, and we were ready to rock and roll with an even better season!  Four shows in . . . we had to shut the show down . . . just like every other business in 2020.

Ken’s Think Talk is one of the most fun things I spend my time with.  It started as a fun thing to try.  It grew into a passion project, and now it’s an integral part of my life.  I love to spend an hour with my guests and uncover their story – or help a non-profit get the word out.

My guests tell me that I make them feel really comfortable – not an easy thing to do since I’m the one driving!  Ha Ha!  Also not easy because the first thing I do is stick a mic on them and strap them into a seat with no way to escape while 3 cameras stare at them.  Ha Ha!

Our audience continues to grow – and I’m always approached by people I never knew before that tell me they are fans of the show.  I always find joy in those interactions when strangers want to meet me because they’ve been following the show.

Because Ken’s Think Tank is a web-series talk show, our episodes continue their lifespan long after their initial release date.  People are still discovering our first episodes from Seasons 1 and 2 – and our sponsors are still benefiting from those episodes.  Our sponsorship opportunity is a temporary investment for a permanent affect.

We try to produce meaningful, positive content – content that makes our little corner of the world a better place.  We will continue that dedication – to our guests – to our viewers – and to our sponsors.

To our sponsors, guests, and especially our viewers . . . thank you so much for taking this ride with us!  But, don’t unbuckle just yet . . . Season 5 is already in progress, and we will continue this journey for the foreseeable future!

  • Don’t forget . . . If you are interested in sponsoring the show, please visit KenCollinsMarketing.com and click the Think Tank button – and be a part of something really great!
  • If you have something really cool you want to talk about, schedule a Think Tank Coffee Run!  I’ll come pick you up, buy you a cup of coffee, and drive you around town!  We’ll film the whole thing and put you on the show!
  • If you are a fan, and just want to help support the show to ensure it stays on the air, you can do so with a tiny monthly support amount as low as $1/month!
  • Just go to KenCollinsMarketing.com and click the Think Tank button!  You can sponsor the show, support the show, or be a guest on the show!
  • If you don’t want to do any of those things, but just love the show anyway . . . remember to smash the Like button every time you see a new episode . . . that helps more than you know!  I mean hit it hard – make it feel like it was just hit by a bus!

And watch for our new, live, in-studio talk show called Shop Talk with Ken that should launch this year in 2021 when we finally lift health department restrictions.

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