Local Voices (Chicago)

Kerl is........very humble, he helped us face our new mic the wrong way. Born in Haiti, he lived with aunts and uncles as his parents earned US citizenship and finally moved to Chicago around age 10, growing up in the Englewood neighborhood. He was basically a prodigy, attending UIC at age 15 and finishing with a double degree in architecture & structural mechanics. Now the president of CARA, Chicago Area Runners Association, he is focused on expanding the sport of running to places like the South Side and suburbs of Chicago where it is less mainstream. Himself having loved running only...

Chris is...........kind of a pro..........we might need a new mic. Born in the Chicago suburbs, he played baseball, basketball, and football in high school, went to Wesleyan undergrad, and ISU for grad school for a degree in sports management. After interning for the Buffalo Bills, he decided to take his first job running the biggest market here in Chicago of the Sports & Social Association back in 1997. Fast forward more than 20 years, and Chris has helped turn Chicago into a mecca of volleyball and full team sport utilization of every inch of sportive real estate. Running events and...

Abi is..........kinda smart. He's figured out the #thing. Born in Puerto Rico, he moved here to Chicago as a baby and grew up mostly near Albany Park. After high school, he found himself working factory jobs and got into IT work for 10 years, before a comedy workshop opened his eyes to the possibility of standup. He hit the mic, and the rest is history. Well, it took a few years, but after cashing out his 401k savings, and leveraging COVID payouts, he eventually quit his job and won the 2020 HBO Latino Comedy Contest, also selling out shows at...

Herschel is...........definitely not fucking my couch. The Lyft Driver does sound like Dave Chappelle tho. Born in North Side, Lincoln Park area of Chicago, he broke his neck playing wide receiver in high school, and found that it didn't hurt his dating game. Fast forward to today, he now invests in paper. Day trading the Asian Markets at night, Herschel learnt some secrets working at the Chicago Board & Trade, and now lives a fire life, driving Lyft, trading stocks, and appreciating the great characters of this universe, like New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, and Kanye West. If...

Chirine is........someone who falls into things. like multiple Olympics. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, she left home when she was 13 years old, to go train as an alpine skiier in France with her coach for 2 years, before moving to the US, to go to school and train in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the exact same slopes as the 2002 Winter Olympics. She went on to carry the flag for Lebanon, in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 games, and was still in her last year at the University of Utah, when she met her husband on a plane after both were standbys and...

AC is.........A blessed soul. Born and raised in Chicago, he lived all over the South Side in his youth, and first started cutting hair at 16, when a friend needed his help for an upcoming job interview. He then starting working at a local salon and after graduating high school, pursued his passion at a barber college in Chicago. After working at a few salons, he answered the call from Ishmael & Zariff, Obama's barber, when the Hyde Park Hair Salon was changing locations back in 2007, and needed new young barbers. Still working there 'til this day, AC is an...

Duncan is mellow........pleasantly smooth. As executive chef of Rootstock Wine Bar near Humboldt Park, he has an appreciation for cuisine one can only gain from travel. Born & raised in the Chicago area, he got his first experience in hospitality at a Country Club, before heading to Honolulu to work at a Chili's and experience something different. After attending culinary school, he got a job at Lula Cafe in Logan Square, and his mentor Jason Hammel eventually pushed him to go travel Europe and acquire some real respect for the art of food. After working at an Agriturismo in...

David is............a man who doesn't stop until he finds.........incredible. Born in Long Island, his father wanted his kids to experience challenges and the raw outdoors, so they bought a farm in Canada. After heading down to Illinois for a soccer scholarship, he transferred back to the Ontario College of Art to fully accept his passion for painting, which his dad inspired in him at an early age. A world traveler, who has always supported himself with the arts, and nothing else, David has a lot of lessons for young artists out there perhaps still chasing the Wow...

KJ is......goin places. An HIIT instructor at places like Eat the Frog Fitness and XSport, a loved co-admin of Lakeview Run Club, and an astute Nutrition Coach, she also holds a fulltime job in Operations. After studying Martial Arts in high school, she got a degree in Supply Chain Management, Accounting, and Communications at the University of Dayton, and freshman year got her first true runners high. A 5 mile 40+ minute run with a friend, the experience opened KJ to a love of running that has continued to this day, many marathons and half-marathons later. Just recently moved out...

Sarah is.......so cool through the fire. A hot yogi momma. After swimming in high school, and studying vocal performance in college, she taught music and had kids, before discovering hot yoga one day with a Groupon at 105F in Wicker Park. Growing in kindness, patience, and compassion, she eventually took a job at a studio in admin management, and took the plunge 8 months ago into a 1 month intensive bikram yoga teacher training with Be Yoga Andersonville. Now thriving and teaching at both Be Yoga and 105F six days a week, she is bringing her vocal training to a...

Tamila is the sound of PURE JOY helping couples and friends climax in their perfect moments. Born in Kazakhstan, her family moved to Russia when she was 2 months old, where she lived for 10 years, before deciding to study music in university. After graduation, she started to travel to concerts in Russia and China before studying in the Kazak National Conservatory, and eventually winning a scholarship to play for the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where she fell in love with the string quartet. She eventually organized her own group and entered competitions, before deciding to pursue her...

Lynmarie is a local run addict. Born in New Jersey, raised outside of Cleveland, she was very active in different high school sports, and ran to de-stress in college at the Miami University of Ohio, but really only got serious about running when she moved to New York and did the NYC Marathon in '95 and '97. After moving to Chicago, she found run clubs a bit more friendly than in the big apple, and found herself making tons of great friends. She is not alone in combining fun and exercise, as the Chicago Marathon is the second largest...

Beth is the true animal lover of Chicago. Born in Michigan to outdoorsy parents, her family moved across from the Lincoln Park Zoo when she was a young girl, and she would go there all the time, eventually working there in her 20's on their traveling bus. After studying animal behavior in college, and starting her own catering business Park West Catering, eventually she got into the traveling zoo business herself, with her friends always asking her to bring her many pets by to birthday parties and other events. Still very active in the exotic animal space, today Beth...

Hope is cool.......exactly where she needs to be. As Executive Director of the food bank and soup kitchen, Care for Friends, she and her team specialize in providing services for the homeless without documentation and without barriers. Raised in the South suburbs of Chicago, she majored in international studies and spend time in China teaching children, before working for the Marriott Foundation and their youth with disabilities program at Chicago public high schools. After going to grad school to study conflict transformation and human trafficking, she went to Taiwan to work with victims there, before returning home and...

William is serious about acting......even if some of his roles are not so serious. Born in Chicago, he moved to Indiana with his family in his teenage years, went to college for business, got into retail management, and had an epiphany at age 22 that he might want to get into acting. After showing up to an open call in 2016 at a community theatre production, he was cast as a cop and was a natural in the role from the get go. He went on to take some acting classes and in 2018 finally acquired some more flexibility in his...

Danny is.......someone with a reason to smile. After moving here to the US with his family after the Holocaust, he got to watch his parents start up their own business, "The Bagel" when he was just 6 years old, and enjoyed working the cash register, typing up menus, and being part of the overall ambience. A restaurant more than a bagelry, Danny learned that certain things just stick, and went on to study psychology as an undergrad, coming back to the restaurant afterwards to help run things. He took over for his father at the end of the '60...

Joel is........someone who embodies the joy of running. After first jogging with his mom in the cornfields of Indiana, he found his passion for racing and started working at a run shop in high school. After walking on to the IU Cross Country Team, he eventually graduated with a degree in marketing, and became a brand ambassador for Cliff Bar. Always heeding the call to adventure, he bought the Universal Soles Running shop from his buddy in 2008, and proceeded to create a loyal community around fun run events. With online shopping and Amazon starting to eat into his...

Fat Linda is.........one of a kind. Probably her own species. Writer, student, artist, fighter, she was born in Kosovo during the war with Serbia, and moved here as a refugee before she was 2. With her name meaning "Lucky Birth", she never cried during the war, and became an extremely well rounded individual. Finishing now her senior year studying Philosophy and Law with a minor in Cinema Studies, she took a gap year during COVID and got a job at LA Fitness here in Chicago. An astute people person, she has excelled at catching "Drag-ins" and opening up new...

Paul is the most hardworking comedian in Chicago. Catch him at your local diner shooting emails at midnight. After playing in a band, and working as one of Illinois's top trial lawyers, he discovered his love of comedy at Second City improv classes a few years ago, and got hooked his first time trying standup. Quite traveled nationwide, with his skill for setting up gigs. you can find him most often at the Laugh Factory on the North Side of Chicago, either at one of his themed shows, or just shooting standup with his colleagues. Follow him on IG...