The State I Am In

One year ago, on Seward’s Day, I launched The State I Am In with a simple idea: Alaska is full of incredible people, and their stories deserve to be heard.

A year later, that belief has only grown stronger.

In this solo episode, I reflect on what I’ve learned from sitting across the table from so many individuals—people chasing purpose, facing obstacles, and figuring life out in real time. The biggest takeaway? The human story is far more powerful than we give it credit for.

We’ve been sharing stories since ti...

What does the Iditarod sled-dog race look like in 2026—and where is it headed?

In this episode of The State I Am In, Manny sits down with longtime musher, media voice, and publisher Robert Forto to explore the evolving world of dog mushing. From the ceremonial start in Anchorage to the realities of running a kennel in Alaska, this conversation goes far beyond the race itself.

They dive into the rising costs of competing, declining participation numbers, sponsorship challenges, and the ever-present influence of controversy surrounding the sport. Robert also shares his unique journey—from disc...

Discover the inspiring stories  and expert insights from Dr. Bob Ledda, blending health science, outdoor adventures, and spiritual purpose. A key theme in this part 2 episode is Dr. Bob's observations with his son's recent type 1 diabetes diagnosis, and the significant improvements he's made due to the lifestyle prescription Dr. Bob prescribes. Is remission possible? Whether you're interested in longevity strategies, outdoor pursuits, or building meaningful ventures, this episode offers a rich tapestry of wisdom rooted in Alaska's wilderness and life’s deeper purpose.

Key Topics

In the first return guest episode of the podcast, this conversation with Dr. Bob Ledda, we dive deeper into the worlds of health, wilderness, and the mindset that connects them. What starts with a powerful story about helping his son navigate Type 1 diabetes without insulin quickly opens into a broader discussion about lifestyle medicine, metabolic health, and the gap between conventional healthcare and proactive wellness.

From there, the conversation shifts into the outdoors—where Dr. Bob believes some of the most important ingredients for long-term health already exist. Hunting, fishing, exposure to the elements, and moving through wi...

In this episode, Alaska-based artist AnnMarie Henderson shares her inspiring journey from Texas to Alaska, how she turned her passion into a thriving 6-figure full-time business, and her unique approach to landscape painting, music-inspired posters, and entrepreneurial art ventures. Whether you're an aspiring artist or a creative looking to turn your passion into profit, AnnMarie's insights will motivate you to chase your dreams with confidence and purpose.

Over the last few conversations, one theme keeps rising to the surface: perspective. 

From reclaiming cultural identity, to rebuilding after divorce, to redefining dreams after paralysis, the stories shared by Nikki Corbett, Delana Green, Jake Long, and Clare Henry all carry a common thread — life rarely unfolds the way we expect, but how we choose to frame it shapes what comes next. 

In this solo episode, I reflect on what these Alaskans have taught me about context, resilience, and the freedom we all have to reinterpret our circumstances. Drawing from ideas in The Obstacle Is the...

Most stories of resilience are inspiring, but Clare Henry’s journey might just redefine what you think is possible. At only 18, she faced a devastating spinal cord stroke that left her paralyzed from the chest down — but her response? Pure determination, unwavering faith, and a relentless pursuit to pursue her dreams of music, no matter the odds. This is the comeback story you didn’t know you needed.

In this episode, Clare takes us inside her life growing up on the Kenai Peninsula, sharing how her early love for music shaped her, and the moment everything changed foreve...

In this episode, we explore Jake Long’s adventurous path from growing up in Minnesota skating to becoming a passionate Alaskan paragliding pilot and dog owner. His story highlights the thrill of extreme sports, resilience after an accident, and living authentically and intentionally.

Key Topics:

My guest today is Delana Green, a lifelong Alaskan from the Kenai Peninsula, musician, educator, and founder of Greenhouse Music. She’s also a podcaster and creator who has built a YouTube channel with over 10,000 subscribers—all from right here in Alaska.

In this conversation, Delana shares how her background in music and theatre shaped her creative journey, leading her to teaching and building Greenhouse Music. Through stories about her students, she illustrates the real impact music has on kids—building confidence, emotional regulation, focus, and connection—and what’s truly lost when music disappears from schools.

We di...

After a coworker jokingly called me an “influencer,” I found myself reflecting on why that word makes me cringe—and why influence still matters. 

In this solo episode, I unpack the difference between chasing attention and leading with intention. Using John Maxwell’s idea that leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less, I walk through the five levels of leadership and how they show up in everyday life—as parents, coaches, coworkers, creators, and neighbors. 

This isn’t a conversation about algorithms, virality, or outrage. It’s about connection over controversy, curiosity over noise, and using whatev...

In this episode of The State I Am In, I sit down with an Alaska artist and respected indigenous voice, Nikki Corbett, the creator behind Sew Yup’ik. 

Nikki grew up in Bethel, Alaska, in a childhood marked by both deep cultural roots and real personal hardship. She opens up about navigating family trauma, finding safe spaces in school and community, and how those early experiences shaped the way she sees the world today. 

We talk about her journey back to Yup’ik culture as an adult—learning to sew kuspuks, mukluks, and fur hats, rediscov...

Sexual addiction is often discussed in whispers—or not at all. In this episode, Logan Hufford shares what it’s actually like to live inside it, and what it takes to begin climbing out.

Logan grew up in Anchorage and spent years living a double life marked by secrecy, escalating behaviors, and the slow erosion of trust at home. Rather than focusing on shock value, this conversation explores the mechanics of addiction: how it hijacks the brain, isolates people in shame, and convinces them they’re beyond help.

We talk about why willpower alone rarely works...

What happens when the responsibility to care for animals collides with gaps in the law?

In this episode of The State I Am In, Manny sits down with Megan Merritt, founder of Homebound Farm & Rescue in Sterling, Alaska. A lifelong Alaskan and the self-described “machine” behind the rescue, Megan works daily with animals that have been abandoned, neglected, or left in conditions where help should exist—but often doesn’t.

The conversation centers on a recent video Megan posted showing horse and cows living in exposed winter conditions and in poor health, multiple reports have been mad...

This is the final episode of 2025 — it’s just me.

In this solo episode, I reflect on the first nine months of The State I Am In: what started as a simple “what if” has grown into real conversations with remarkable Alaskans, unexpected lessons about creation and consistency, and a deeper understanding of what this place — and its people — truly represent.

I talk about the transition from podcast listener to creator, the challenges of showing up imperfectly, and the realities of building something meaningful while juggling life, work, and uncertainty. We revisit the heart of this show —...

In Part Two of this wide-ranging conversation, Manny finishes his conversation with Tyler Johnson for a story that takes an unexpected and unforgettable turn.

After surviving a life-or-death grizzly bear attack, Tyler shares another wild moment from his life in the Alaska wilderness—this time on the remote Aleutian Island of Adak. What began as a demanding caribou hunt with his father turned into an emergency when an injury left them stranded in brutal weather, facing isolation, hard decisions, and the reality of self-rescue in one of the most unforgiving landscapes on earth.

As Tyler re...

Tyler Johnson grew up in Sterling, Alaska, raised in the outdoors alongside his dad, a longtime game warden. Hunting, fishing, hiking, and navigating wild places weren’t just pastimes — they were normal to life on the Kenai Peninsula.

In this episode, Tyler recounts his sudden encounter with a grizzly bear in August 2024 at Resurrection Pass in gripping detail. What happened in those moments, what went right, what went wrong, and how even preparing for this exact scenario still wasn’t enough. He walks through the decisions made under pressure, the reality of how fast things unfolded, and what s...

In this episode, Manny sits down with David Bayes, a lifelong Alaskan fisherman, charter captain, and one of the most visible leaders in the movement to reform Alaska’s trawl bycatch system. David grew up in Homer, spent more than two decades working on the water, and now helps lead the statewide conversation through the rapidly growing Stop Alaskan Trawler Bycatch Facebook group.

Manny and David break down what trawling actually is, how it differs from other commercial fishing methods, and why bycatch has become one of the most urgent fisheries issues in Alaska. David explains the st...

My guest today is Chad Hufford; Financial planner, founder of Veritas Wealth Management in Anchorage, author of Forging Financial Freedom, and host of The Blue Collar Millionaire Show. Chad is a lifelong Alaskan whose approach to money is shaped by the realities so many of us face in the Last Frontier: high cost of living, seasonal work, opportunity-rich industries, and a lifestyle full of both challenges and rewards. 

In this episode, Chad breaks down the real Alaskan money mindset , one rooted in habits, purpose, clarity, and the discipline it takes to build a life you’re proud of...

In this episode I sit down with Ben Adams, owner and operator of 4T% Ranch in Soldotna, Alaska, to talk about the work, the cost, and the conviction behind one of the wildest modern ranching stories I have ever heard. 
Ben grew up poor in Canada with a legally blind father, learned responsibility early, and eventually "fluked" his way into a career as a criminal defense attorney. Years later, he walked away from the courtroom, carved a ranch out of the boreal forest on the central Kenai Peninsula, and has been grinding ever since to raise some of t...

In this episode, I sit down with Jordan Kontra, 3rd degree black belt, owner of Holdfast Grappling in Homer, AK, and co-owner of Southside Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Anchorage. Jordan shares his journey from early influences in wrestling to becoming a respected instructor and voice in Alaska’s Jiu-Jitsu community.

We explore how Jiu-Jitsu offers real-world self-defense skills, not just for athletes, but for everyday people—including healthcare workers, first responders, and those who routinely work in unpredictable environments. Jordan explains how Jiu-Jitsu teaches control, restraint, awareness, and the ability to stay calm under pressure—critical skills for de-esc...

 Alaska Day marks the moment the American flag replaced the Russian one in Sitka — a turning point in our state’s story. But over 150 years later, what does that really mean for those of us who call this place home? In this bonus episode, Manny looks back at the handoff between empires, the people who were here long before it, and how Alaska continues to define itself today. From the debate over Indigenous Peoples Day to jokes about “selling Alaska back to Russia,” it’s a reflection on what it means to take pride in where we live, to see it thro...

 In this episode, Manny reflects on what it means to live and think in the middle — that quiet space between red and blue where real conversation still has a chance. 

After watching local elections play out across Alaska, Manny shares how social media and modern politics have made genuine dialogue harder than ever. The algorithm rewards outrage, the headlines crave reactions, and too often we arrive at every conversation already decided. But what if we started differently? 

Manny takes listeners on a thoughtful journey through the way online echo chambers shape our beliefs, the value of lo...

In this episode of The State I Am In, I sit down with Alaskan author, veteran, and homesteader Bob Stark. Bob’s story takes us from the wide-open beaches of Nome, to life in Eagle River and Seward, to the battlefields of Iraq as an airborne infantry soldier, and finally to his family homestead in Happy Valley. Along the way, he shares how identity, family, and faith were shaped through experiences of hardship, loss, and resilience. 

We talk about what it was like growing up in a home marked by addiction and incarceration, and how those early yea...

In this solo episode of The State I Am In, I dive into the meaning behind a phrase I’ve recently started using to close out every show: Keep North. At first, it seemed like the perfect tagline for an Alaska-based podcast, but the more I sat with it, the more layers of meaning it revealed.

Keep North is about honoring Alaska’s past while protecting its future — from preserving its culture and resources, to standing firm in our values and the way of life that makes this place unique. It’s about direction too: orienting ourselves toward f...

In this episode of The State I Am In, I sit down with Bridgett Watkins — Alaskan musher, ER nurse, wife, mother, and author of Marker to Marker. Bridgett takes us deep into her journey from childhood races in Fairbanks to surviving a brutal moose attack just weeks before her first Iditarod. We talk about grit, faith, and family — how she balanced chasing dreams with the realities of motherhood, and how failure 50 miles from the finish line fueled her return to the trail. From long training runs in Alaska’s backcountry to her motivation to press through fear that carried her th...

In this episode of The State I Am In, I talk with Dr. Bretwood “Hig” Higman—geologist, lifelong Alaskan, and founder of Ground Truth Alaska—about life, land, and the very real risks facing our coastal communities. 

We explore Hig’s life in Seldovia and his adventures with wife Erin McKittrick, author of A Long Trek Home. Together, they’ve traveled thousands of miles across Alaska by foot and packraft, raising their kids along the way in one of the most remote corners of the state. Their unconventional approach to life and career is not only refreshing—it’s inspiring...

In this eye-opening episode of The State I Am In, I’m joined by Ryan Astalos and Jackie Boyer from SalmonState to break down one of the most urgent issues facing Alaska today: industrial trawling and the devastating impact of bycatch. We unpack what trawling actually is, who profits from it, and who pays the price—especially the Alaskan communities relying on the return of wild salmon. 

Why do Seattle-based factory trawlers get a pass while sportfishers and subsistence users face tight limits? Why are millions of pounds of wasted fish ignored while rural families are told to do...

In this special virtual episode of The State I Am In, I sit down with Amanda Bowles, the driving force behind Landmark Collective—a powerful community of women entrepreneurs based in the Mat-Su Valley. We dive into how these women are shaping the business landscape in Palmer, Wasilla, and beyond through collaboration, creativity, and a deep commitment to their communities. 

Amanda shares insight into the unique challenges women face—especially the balancing act of running a business while wearing many hats as mothers, partners, community leaders, and more. We also talk about how men can be better allie...

In this episode of The State I Am In, I speak not just as a parent, but as a coach and former Little Leaguer myself. From hitting my first home run to striking out with the game on the line, I share personal stories that shaped how I view success, failure, and what youth sports are really all about.

Now, as a coach and dad, I’ve seen firsthand how much we want to shield our kids from struggle—but that instinct might be doing more harm than good. I make the case for letting kids experience the...

Alaskan bladesmith Zeke Johnston joins me to talk about the craft of hand-forging knives and what makes a blade more than just a tool. We explore the heirloom value of a well-made knife, the stories it can carry, and how the forging process mirrors the shaping of a meaningful life. Zeke shares about growing up on a family farm in Alaska, commercial fishing, and the journey to full-time bladesmithing. We also dive into parenting, values, and share stories along the way. 

Follow Zeke on YouTube @AlaskaBladeStudio and visit alaskabladestudio.com to see his work.

Shoot m...

In this episode, I sit down with Pastor & Chaplain Frank Alioto for a candid conversation about the role of the church in today’s world. We talk about the purpose of gathering, what might hold someone back from faith in God or stepping into a church, and how doubt can actually be part of the journey. Frank shares insight into how meaningful community forms when people walk through life together—mess and all. Whether you’ve been hurt by religion, are searching for something deeper, or just curious about what church could look like today, this episode invites you into a...

In this episode of The State I Am In, Lieutenant Ryan Browning of the Homer Police Department joins us for one of the most important conversations we’ve had on the show. We discuss the real-life events that led him to champion digital safety, the challenges today’s kids and teens face in the online world, and why it’s more important than ever for parents to step up. These topics aren’t easy—but they’re essential. Lt. Browning shares practical tools and tips for having honest conversations, building trust, and leading our families into healthier relationships with technology...

In this episode of The State I Am In, we sit down with Shelby Oden—an inspiring entrepreneur and community advocate based on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. Shelby shares her journey from growing up as a military brat to building a life with her husband Mike and raising their family in Alaska. We dive into the early days of her entrepreneurial path, from launching Briar & Boone Handmade to expanding into Little Alaskan and Kenai Freight Forwarders. We explore the importance of community-centered business practices, the unique opportunities and hurdles for small businesses in the state, and why rethinking the trad...

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Bob Ledda shares his journey from emergency medicine to a focus on preventive health. We discuss his approach to a lifestyle prescription, the importance of hormones, nutrition, and exercise in achieving optimal health and longevity. You'll catch a glimpse of the precision he takes with his patients, and be introduced to the foundations of what he calls, "Medicine 3.0." You can learn more and about Dr. Bob by visiting www.drbobslongevity.com  

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In this episode, Manny Coelho introduces his podcast, The State I'm In, emphasizing the importance of every individual's voice in Alaska. He reflects on the overlooked talents and stories within the community, aiming to create a platform for Alaskans to connect and share their experiences. The podcast seeks to explore the unique culture, struggles, and dreams of the people living in Alaska, fostering a sense of belonging and understanding among listeners. 

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Join host Manny Coelho as he dives into the stories and perspectives that shape Alaska. From experts and adventurers to everyday heroes, this podcast explores the people, places, and topics that matter most to Alaskans. Tune in for insightful conversations and practical takeaways that celebrate life in the Last Frontier. 

Interviews and recordings are now underway, with the official launch scheduled for March 31, 2025. Be sure to subscribe and follow on social media to stay up to date and join the journey.

Shoot me a text, what do you think?