SPEAKER_04 0:00

I had been going, going, going my whole life. I, for the first time, I like sat down with myself, my mind, and my realized I was depressed, bro. I was super depressed, um, super anxious in a dark spot. And I think I don't remember how or why, but I guess my athletic history kicked in. I just went for like a or I ran out the house and I just started to run. Yeah. And it made me feel better.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

If you wanna hear about St. Louis, tune into the Bucket List show weekly. Hear what Marissa and Luke say. It drops every Wednesday. Got a dope new guest every single week. Buckle up for the ride. Who's it gonna be? Who's on the show today? They rap St. Louis. What to do in the loo on a late night? I maybe what to do on a date night. Yeah. Bucket list as you covered, they know what's going on. What's going on? They'll give you 18 different things to do on 19. If you need one more to choose, yeah. The city, city, city is a place we call home. A place we call home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

St. Louis. Welcome back to another episode of the STL Bucket List Show. I am your host, Luke Farrell of the STL Bucket List Show. We're recording live here in Maplewood, Missouri. Julia on the ones and twos, our producer, putting out episodes each and every other week. Um, the show's been growing. We've been having good conversations. We do this every single Wednesday. Um new episodes come out, so I can't wait to share one with you today. I got my guy Ricky. I mean, I want to tell a story. So I met Ricky down at the 314 day. Uh, this was probably like four years ago. We were in the dugout, we were taking a picture. Yeah. And and I didn't know who you were at the time, but you had this infectious energy. You saved my life. Did I save my life?

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Remember, I fell back and you like caught. And that's how I met you actually. You saved my life. That's how I met you.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

So we were all in the dugout at Bush Stadium. First of all, it was an amazing experience. I know 314 days evolved. If 314 Day is like, I mean, huge now compared, like that was like the beginning of when things were starting to roll, when like the whole community would get together, and and this past 314 day was on a Saturday, just all all the stars aligned. Um, but when I met you then, I didn't know Run Crew wasn't even a lot. Was it there? Or there wasn't a brand behind Running. You were running early.

SPEAKER_04 2:10

I was running, but I don't think I had credited Run Crew yet. I think I credited Run Crew like a few months after that.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

So I want to learn a little bit because everybody knows you as Run Crew Ricky now, but there's so much more to you than that. So I want to kind of learn about your upbringing, kind of, you know, where you're from, what you were doing before running. Um, you know, we we talked a little bit off air about all these different evolutions of music and production and all these things that you've done. So, you know, just to give people an idea, but you know, besides running, you know, before all that happened, like what who was Ricky at that point? Man, that's a good question. That's a tough question.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

No, that's that's a good question because it's funny because people do know me as like run crew Ricky now, which is only like three years of my past uh of my life so far. But I born in Jennings, uh grew up, me and my uh my younger sister Leslie, uh, grew up in Jennings. Uh I was like an athlete kid. Like I played football, basketball, and track. Humbly said, I'm a state champion in basketball and track. Nice. And uh I just love sports, but also I loved like the entertainment piece of sports. So I play um a football track. I went to uh Missouri Southern State University. I play uh football in college. Um right around that time, I started doing music at that time. Um, this is this could go a whole bunch of different ways, Luke. But uh, I was with a production company at the time called D's Beats. All right, it was me, Lowdy, Tim, Phil, Isaac, Tess. And at the time, we were some of the most popular producers at the at the time. So I was kind of teetered between like um football and music. I'm going to read southern, play football, got hurt, transferred to Mizzou, uh, where I kicked it way too hard. And I was a little too close to St. Louis. So I was keep kept coming back to a point where I had an hour and a half drive coming home every weekend. And then I ended up, I never, I mean, I brought my clothes home. My mom's like, Oh, the clothes you gotta wash. I'm like, no, I'm actually back here. And I started doing music full time. We went to Atlanta, and that's that's a whole like chunk. So I was doing music for a while, a while, a while, a while. Yeah. And then I navigated towards out of music is just kind of like was swallowing me up. I was just like outside, way too much, a lot of like addictions, like drugs, drinking, like the music, just the environment, the lifestyle was like eating me up. I left, and in between that, um, my wife, uh Valerie, we we dated for a while. Ended up getting married, having kids, and started running. And that was like a nutshell of like how I got here.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

So, like this evolution. I know you kind of sped through all those years and stuff like that. So you you and your wife, when did you guys meet? Were you guys young?

SPEAKER_04 4:49

Man, I knew Val in grade school, actually. Oh, really? Yeah. So we went to like rival, like private schools. I went to a Salem Lutheran, she went to uh Emmanuel Lavette. So I knew her family, but we didn't start dating until like college. Yeah, or I was at Mizzou and she was there for our Mizzou party. And we met and well, we reconnected, and then we just we dated. Yeah, and obviously I fell in love and got married and had kids and the whole whole shebang.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Wow. So I when did running, so you mentioned running, you were always an athlete. So, you know, track obviously ran, you know, football, you know, and basketball, all that involved running, but you never probably looked at running itself as what you're doing now. Like, when did that, when did that evolution of STL run crew, like what was that origin story? Did you just start getting people out and just running? Because it seems like you're a social guy. Yeah, you don't want to run by yourself. You're like, let me get some people to come motivate me probably to get going. So tell me about that story.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Yeah, so I started running first in the in the pandemic. It's like 2020, 2020, 2021. I start, I worked for BJC. So I worked in public health, but we were working at home, remote. Yeah. So I had never like, I mentioned football, basketball, music, media, all these things. I had been going, going, going my whole life. I for the first time I like sat down with myself, my mind, and my realized I was depressed, bro. I was super depressed, um, super anxious in a dark spot. And I think I don't remember how or why, but I guess my athletic history kicked in. I just went for like a I ran out the house and like just like died so quick. Because I I I was I ran like 100, 200. So I wasn't a sprinter. I wasn't running any long distance. Um, right around that time, me realizing I'm depressed, one and knowing I need to move my body in some way, shape, or form or fashion, my Aubrey happened. And I remember seeing the video, I went and bought an Apple Watch that day. And I worked at BJC, so we would get like a 60% off ASICs because like the pandemic, like healthcare worker. So I remember I bought a whole family pair of ASICs, the whole family, my dad, my wife, my kids, and Apple Watch, and I just started to run.

SPEAKER_05 6:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

Um, and it made me feel better. And then I realized, dang, like, this is super dope. I didn't know what a run club was. Yeah, I happened to go to LA and I went to Detroit for something totally different. Met Run Cruz, saw what the culture was with the run clubs, and it changed my life. Um, I was in LA with this run club in LA, uh, keep it 100, and I was in Detroit with We Run 313, and I'm like, dang, this is crazy. It's a run club. I had never heard of it. And then I came to St. Louis and like, dang, there are a bunch of run clubs. Yeah, but I just feel like I didn't um uh fit in. Right. So um I didn't want to start a run club, right? I asked, well, I did, but I knew it would be a lot. So I asked Val, can I start a run club? She was like, Yeah. I was like, for real? She said, Yeah. So I still didn't want to start a run club. So I created something called Run a City Tour. I chose five places Jennings, U City, South Side, North Side, North County, created a flyer, threw it up, like, okay, let's do a test, a pilot. This was like November, December. The very first one in Jennings, nobody came. The second one, one person came, Janice, and then four, then seven, then eight, and then I'm like, okay, this is something. January 15th, I started a run crew. So that's kind of how it happened. Like depression, Amai Arbree realizing like run clubs, also realizing I didn't really feel like I fit in in the run club culture in St. Louis. Um and I credit run crew.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

First Community Credit Union is the official banking partner of STL Bucket list. They've been serving St. Louis families for 90 plus years with 40 plus local branches and over 400,000 members from personal credit loans to mortgages to kids and teen accounts. They also have a partnership with the STL Blues. You see, Louie here if you're watching on YouTube. Uh, we're proud to use First Community. I use it for my own family and my own business. Um, we're excited for them to be the official banking partner of STL bucket list. So now you're creating space. So, like, you know, the origin story kind of taking it back to you wanted to create a group that you saw in Detroit, that you saw in LA, but they didn't have that in St. Louis. So that's when some of these best things happened. But so I guess was that the main problem you were trying to solve when you created Run Crew was creating space for people that that you felt like didn't fit in in some of these other run crews and and inviting them out and that that you were kind of strategic about what areas that you guys were starting these runs into.

SPEAKER_04 9:28

Yeah. Uh I that's that's a good question. I think I just wanted to create a space for people to move their bodies and meet other people. Like when you're an adult, uh, it's hard to meet people. And I knew I was changing, my mind was changing. I felt like running was helping me become a better husband, father, community member. And I wanted to create a space where it wasn't about speed or running. It was like diverse, not only in like age, race, gender, but ability too. A lot like running can be overwhelming. Like you got you got Garth or you're racing. I got homies to this day, you know who you are, that'd be like, I'm I'm getting ready to come, Ricky. I'm I'm training to come. Like, no, like you gotta show up because like running is almost secondary at this point. Like it's community first. And I wanted people to feel like how I felt, and specifically, like, you know, the health um disparities in like the black and brown community uh with like hypertension and high blood pressure. And like sometimes movement is the catalyst to kind of create a healthier lifestyle. And that's what I wanted to kind of create. It sounds all polished now, Luke, but originally I was depressed. I wanted to run, I wanted to run with other people, and then in that I found like that God was really pushing me into running. Like running completely changed my life. And now I'm Ricky Run crew guy, which is crazy because I hadn't run a mile in my life until 2021, 22.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

And it opens up all these doors. Like running, like you mentioned, is it's not even about running. It could have been weightlifting, it could have been like uh run it back, like the track meets that that Stasi does and like all like everybody's it's just movement. And we're seeing this in Austin, we're seeing this in Nashville, like all these younger cities, like people are moving to places where they want to be involved. And instead of going out to the bar, they want to wake up early and do cold plunges and they want to go out and work out. So you kind of rode this wave through the pandemic, but like you mentioned, none of that was intentional, like the branding, all that's evolved since you've done it. But it seems like, you know, in in you know, you creating an environment, you know, in in all these stories and all these friendships that have been created there. But this is more of a social movement. I don't even think of it as run, like you mentioned, like skill does not matter. You guys make everybody feel good, whether it's their first time running or they're with you running marathons. Because you guys also do you guys got some serious runners there, but you also got some people that might not even be able to run a mile yet. They're walking, they're power walking. I see some of your sister's stuff on social media, like she's teaching herself how to run and now she's running these big races now. Yeah, she got into it, and that you had a you played a part in that. So, like that's just one small example. But is there any aha moments during the journey of like people that you can touch on of like how you've seen their life change through Run Crew?

SPEAKER_04 12:04

Man, so so many. And I also got to give a shout-out to like our leadership team because I would have burnt out quick. Like when it was one, five people, it was cool. But when it's like 200, 300, and we got multiple runs on each day, and we got races out of town, like our leadership team has really like allowed me the bandwidth to like be not only an executive director, but like a project manager. I'm a project manager by trade. So I fell in love with running and I treated like a startup because I love it and I want to do this like for the rest of my life. Um, but to answer your question, like I see that all the time. Like the newest one is Val. Like, Val, I'm putting her on the spot. Oh, okay. She's running a 10K and I'm coaching her to run a 10K. And she was not with the running. Like, she's a like in the gym, getting fit. And what happened was the marathon weekend this weekend, this year is on her birthday.

SPEAKER_05 12:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:57

So she was like, Oh, I'm not cheering. I'm running. Like, so we're gonna be cheering for her on her birthday, uh, running the uh her 10K for the Greater St. Louis marathon. And that's an aha aha moment for me. Like, yeah, that all running like is just super special. But we got stories of folks that have lost 100 pounds. We got our first uh um I run crew baby we just had. Shout out to uh Chuck and Myesha just had a three baby. Well, they just connected deeper. I mean, we'll take it full credit, but they are obviously we're all already married. They're already married before I run crew. But uh my homie uh Jonathan, uh Solomon, and like Chuck, like bigger body folk that you wouldn't say is a runner. He doesn't look like I look like a runner. Like, look at me. You know, I look I'm thin, I'm I'm in shape, fit, or whatever. But like it's the folks that don't look like runners that are really gonna like change lives. And that's who I want to empower and push.

SPEAKER_05 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

Like through the mass is like you don't have to look like the stereotypical runner to be a runner. We're all runners or movers to your point. Yeah. We do yoga, we do boxing, we do trail walks, trail runs, we do cold plunges, we do all these different modalities because running might not hit for you.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

It might be something else. Exactly. You know? Exactly. So move and connect is all over your website. It says nothing about running, it's moving and connecting. And you've been able to build this culture with hundreds and hundreds of people, you know, just looking at your website. Like uh one of the things that I'm so attracted to is the branding, the, you know, the brand partnerships that you've been able to bring into that. Was there a certain brand partnership that made you kind of sit back and be like, wow, like we did this? Was there a certain moment during your journey?

SPEAKER_04 14:37

Probably the Nike. Of course. Yeah. So I was gonna lead that up. The Nike one was so sad. Yeah, you teed that old great for me. Um, but what's crazy is like that wasn't just like a that was like a community impact grant that.

SPEAKER_05 14:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:49

So it was really dope for Nike to recognize an international brand to like really support us with the work that we're doing, the build-out programming for like the youth mainly, but also just St. Louis in general. Like, so that was like that's kind of like thing. Like I grew up like a Nike kid, like the Nike's and for it to be like you know, a partnership with Nike and like really them to kind of believe in what we're doing was was dope. But also like it's the other partnerships like Great Rivers Greenway, like the local ones that like you know really allow us to like show folks like different spaces. Like we do like trip, we do like a trail run walk um meditation with uh Great Rivers Greenway every year. So that's also special too. Like the big like splashes are dope with Nike, but also like the local partnerships will allow us to like really pour into St. Louis because we run everywhere, like St. Louis Run Crew, we run Northside, Southside, uh North County, West Side, the County, Brentwood, Clayton. We literally run all over St. Louis, showing folks that like, you know, running can be diverse also in where you are moving your body to show people that we can run all over the city. Right. Um, and we have a lot of transplants too, that this is like their kind of introduction to St. Louis, and we say pride in just running all over St. Louis.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

For over 150 years, SSM Health has been providing hope, healing, and opportunities to the St. Louis community. With over 40,000 employees across four states, they're not only delivering exceptional care, they're one of the region's largest employers, shaping the future of healthcare. We're proud to present SSM Health as the official healthcare partner of the STL bucket list show. If you've dreamed of a career where you're truly making a difference every day, SSM Health can help you take that to the next step. Learn more at their website in the link in the show notes. That's a good point because like a lot of these people like, you know, you mentioned meeting people is hard, um, dating people is hard, like all these things that are difficult in a city like St. Louis, where you're from the city, I'm from the St. Charles side, but like I know everybody from growing up. And it's different for these people that I know that move into the city and they're like, man, I don't know where to where do I go to meet people? Where do I go? I can't. They don't want to just go to a bar. They don't want to just go to a club that are like, hey, if I show up on 7:30 on 314 day, I'm gonna meet 300 other people that like to do what I do. Yeah. You know, and and they like to run. But scaling is hard, and you've scaled this so much over the past three to four years. But what have been some of those hardest parts of scaling? You mentioned the bandwidth thing, is because this isn't the only thing you do. You're a dad, you're a husband, you're a community leader. I work, I'm a job, you have a job, you have all these other things going. This is just one, although this is people think this is your whole thing and your whole personality, like you have so many other things. So you mentioned your team. Um, I wanted to kind of talk to you about some of those harder parts of scaling because this has got a lot bigger than you probably ever thought it would be.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Yeah, for sure, man. Um, because it was God that did it. Like for this to happen out of like a dark spot to be here, I'm just super grateful for that. Which why, which is why I have had a lot of just like excitement and like commitment and dedication to it because I know it's bigger than me.

SPEAKER_05 17:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:56

Um, but yeah, the burnout, like, man, like it's gotten because I I coach now and we got multiple runs a day. Like work with brands, I'm an ambassador, uh, you know, all the behind the scene things too, like getting people that people don't see, like getting the signs made and QRL codes and like writing grants, uh, apparel. I'm sorry, I actually got you a hoodie too. Oh, did you? Yeah, and we really lean in. Shout out to Bob Schuster, yeah, our creative director, uh, director of creativity, who really takes our uh apparel to the next, next level. And like we just kind of lean in on all sides.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

You guys lean into everything. Like what attracted me to you guys was the content, the photography, the branding, the colors, the purple, the greens, like all these different colors just felt different than your typical run crew. Like you just when you think of running, it growing up, I'm 30 now, but like back when we were in high school 12, 15 years ago, it's like running was always the worst, last thing you wanted to do. Even if you were an athlete, like punishment. It was punishment. So if in baseball, if if you guys had a bad game, we'd run around the field. And in wrestling, if we, you know, if somebody didn't make weight, we're all running because that one person didn't make weight.

SPEAKER_06 19:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

But now it seems like running, and I never thought of it, I knew running obviously was always a sport, but now more than ever, we're watching the Olympics. I'm seeing watch parties for these runners and these individual athletes when it used to be the sports, the basketball players, the football players. Now these runners are on that same level.

SPEAKER_04 19:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Um, and we just it just has changed so much in the last 15 years. And I think you guys are a big part of that in St. Louis. And I think you guys have probably inspired other, you know, different groups. I mentioned running back. I sponsored that a couple of times. I thought that that was an amazing event.

SPEAKER_04 19:31

It's my cousin, Stasi. Oh, is she? Yeah, I'm so proud of her. She's doing it. Um, and I'm sorry, I mean cut you off, but like I'm I'm hella proud of Stasi and like creating spaces because you know concept. Yeah, the the the idea is the goal is to get more people to run, like get more people to move their body and like, yeah, running was punishment, but we're making it cool, to be honest. Like we make we're making running cool, we're making it um, you know, more than running. Yeah. We're also making it like a way for folks to like meet new people. And I think that's why like it is a special spot for St. Louis. Like all the Nike stuff, the apparel, all that is cool, but we're really changing lives. And uh we're also creating a space for people to like move our body.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

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SPEAKER_02 20:53

And it's just the beginning. I mean, although you've had all the success, like this is just the beginning of something very special. And like there's gonna be another generation and 10 years of runners under you, and you're gonna keep continuing to build and cultivate. And that's why those local partnerships are so important because those local partnerships don't allow you, don't just allow you to grow the you know, the brand itself, but it allows you to get into more spaces and to get into more rooms. And yeah, I love seeing your guys' videos of like, I can't wait for the marathon this year because like I don't know, are you running it? Are you just gonna be running? You're just gonna be running on the side and be filming again.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

You're gonna be filming it. Yeah, filming. We got a chair station, we got like you're more coaching, you're in your coach era now. I'm in coach era in like St. Louis. Like we host like um we host run clubs now from across this, the the country. So actually we do a partnership, um, I guess uh a project rather with um uh go St. Louis to like host and like we want to make St. Louis a tourism spot. Of course. And running across the country is like super big, and some races are like bigger, and we're trying to just bring folks to St. Louis for that weekend. So we host like a uh shakeout run, a cheer station, like an after party that we can call uh running. City weekend. So no, I'll be hosting, cheering, just entertaining people that are. We're gonna have when I'll send them over a hundred folks running uh go St. Louis uh uh the race from the 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon. And they'll all be wearing the yeah, we uh yep, they'll be wearing uh the apparel we got. And we man, we really love like I won't say like a cult lifeline. So we only drop apparel in person. We don't do online anymore.

SPEAKER_05 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Cause it just like, not only does it sell fast, but it just like looks good, man. Humbly said, like I think we just really like appreciate the brand and like the creativity and like it's intentional. Like even like small drops in person. Small drops, like small like capsules, like where we only create one line or something, that's it'll never come out again. Yeah, I love that. Um, and like even like the the green, when when me, me and Bob are going over the colors, like the lime green was intentional because we want to be seen, like from uh um being uh visible from like a safety spot, but also to be transparent, like me being a black runner, when I first started running, I would wear all lime green. Yeah, because I wanted folks to know I was running, uh, not to have any questions, oh, what is he running? Like, what's he running from? Usually you're running from something, yeah, or you're running to something for danger, or you're like running from danger. So I was running, run lime green, neon green all the time to like show people like, hey, if something's gonna be a good thing. Not just to look like a runner, but you're like, I need to be seen. It was a safety um element. So if something happened to me, like it's no question. This dude had on all lime green. He wasn't he wasn't on nothing crazy. Exactly. So we kind of bled that into like the you know, kind of the the colors of being seen, but also from like a safety element. We we run the street, we run the city, so we want to make sure people see us, we're visible, and you know.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

So I want to do a little STL bucket list rapid fire with you. Okay, so I'm gonna ask you a few questions. Uh, how many miles is your ideal run? Oh, ideal run? Like what's your daily? Sweet spot. I say five. Five miles. Five is a cool little what is one word to describe STL run crew?

SPEAKER_04 24:06

Big hyphen energy. Big energy. I love that. Yeah, that's one word.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

That's the one word. Um night runs or sunrise runs. Sunrise for sure. Always, yeah. Um favorite STL running route. Oh, favorite views.

SPEAKER_04 24:25

North side. Okay, past the past. We run from west side to the north side, come back, boom, north side all day. Okay, why? Yeah, especially now, like I think we we run on the north side, it's like post-tornado. Like an area where like that's our way of like energizing the area and letting folks know that we're still there's still hope. We're not scared to run to the north side. We all like we had on three and four days, we had 150 people at 7:30 in the morning running down the north side. Yeah, it's it. You know, and it's also a lot of people be like, dang, it still look like this. Yeah, it still looked like that. Yeah. So we we run from past to pass once a month intentionally because we want to continue to move our bodies on the north side.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

I love that. Yeah. Go to post-run food or coffee spot?

SPEAKER_04 25:10

Coffee. Uh coffee spot? Dang, I'm like already coffee. Oh, you just caught me. Coffee post-run hits the yeah, dang. I can't, I don't know. Like, we depends on where you're at. Depending on where I'm at. We do like a coffee tour Saturday. So we also like to promote small businesses. So we like, man, we we be dropping some bags at these coffee shops, but I ain't gonna lie.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Uh my favorite coffee shop.

SPEAKER_04 25:32

Dang, I can't get or favorite coffee drink.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Like, what's your best?

SPEAKER_04 25:36

Yeah, latte, uh, caramel latte, oat milk, hot. Hot hot in the winter, cold cold in the summer. Yeah, no, I like that.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

That coffee does hit different after the run, not post-run. You don't want to drink that coffee pre-run. Some people do, some people like to, but I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 25:50

I'm gonna say past the past coffee, man.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Yeah, you just said past the past.

SPEAKER_04 25:53

Because that's my favorite. Because also like good energy in there. The community, they're even like their branding like sick. Like, I mean, they're doing other stuff. I mean, they're selling DJ, they sell a bunch of clothes, it's just like the community. Like, they we jail well with them because it's not just about coffee with them, it's also about like community with them.

SPEAKER_02 26:12

Yeah, so you love being able to bring, you know, 50 people in there after a run and just bring business that way because even though those coffees is five dollars, it's like you bring 50 people in there, that changes their whole afternoon. Yeah, for sure. Um, it's such a big impact. What is the biggest myth about running?

SPEAKER_04 26:28

The biggest myth about running, it would be cool to say that is not hard, but it is. Like, I don't know if I necessarily like enjoy running all the time. Right. I enjoy how it makes me feel. The biggest myth about running is I'll say this that it hurts your knees. That is scientifically not true. A lot of times it hurts your knees maybe because you're not strong in the hips, core, or glutes, might be the wrong shoes, might need to just push through the sore. Yeah, some people might have some knee issues, but the biggest myth about running is that it hurts your knees in actuality, it strengthens your joints. Yeah, and doesn't people might say that because they don't want to run.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Yeah, it hurts my knees. It's like it's more healthy to walk. It's like yeah, it's easier to walk though.

SPEAKER_04 27:14

But also, walking is cool. If you look at our page, it says it's SL run crew, but underneath the first line says and walk crew. Yeah. On Tuesdays, we might have 300 people, a hundred are walking.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Right. So connecting, and then maybe 20 of them are sprinting and running, and then 20 of them are.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

I walk with my daughters, and you mentioned about like the legacy of running. Like my daughters are in the running, they love run crew. My daughter Violet asked me, can we celebrate her birthday at Run Crew? Yeah, I'm like, yes, that's a very cheap fun way to celebrate her birthday.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Let's let's do it. And one more other thing. And the community of all those people that she's like the community, like all the kids are involved in it.

SPEAKER_04 27:54

The kids, we got the kid crew, we have 20, 30 kids, we got the we got SL run crew, SL Walker, and SL Stroll Crew. So people out there with their strollers. Uh my family is there. Like you mentioned, my kids, my wife, my sister, my aunt, uh, my the TTs. Uh, my dad was coming at the time. Uh my dad actually passed uh a year ago, but he was big in the running. Like he ran his first 5K at the trap run, and it was like through his old neighborhood, and that like was life-changing binding for us. Um, my sister, who I have to, I'd be uh I'd be remiss if I didn't mention she actually ran a half marathon in like 2010.

SPEAKER_05 28:33

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_04 28:34

When I had to Google how long a half marathon was and act like I knew how long a marathon was. At that time. At that time. So, but you fast forward 10 years. I think you had a wrong crew, got her back act like it. But she is Leslie is uh a true pioneer in running, and I'm gonna put her on the spot too. Yeah, no, that's dope.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

The STL bucket list show is proudly sponsored by Suede Dispensary with 11 Missouri area locations. Suede does so much for the St. Louis community. We've been working with this team for a couple years, back since Medical was here, and we're excited to support their new product launches, events, and community initiatives. We couldn't be happier to work with this premier cannabis brand, and we're excited for them to sponsor the show. Enjoy the rest of the podcast. Isn't she is she gonna be running the Go St. Louis this year?

SPEAKER_04 29:15

Yeah, she went she wanted to have, she won a half marathon, I think. Okay, yeah, yeah. She ran uh Manson, Arizona. She outside, she all over the place.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

We've had her and and your wife on the podcast before.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

So shout out to Frizzfest.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Uh, we had them on twice. Or we had the Frizzfest on twice, your wife, um, the first time, and then we had some of the guests from Frizzfest. But yeah, I mean, you guys are you guys are so embedded in the community because you know, both of you guys are in this nonprofit work and both of you guys are community leaders, and it seems like your family is. Is that something from your upbringing, or is that something that evolved maybe with your generation of you and your sister?

SPEAKER_04 29:46

Man, I think me and Melissa have always been super close. But I think like uh we always have been like just community-driven, like St. Louis, like love St. Louis. Like, yeah, no matter where you travel, no matter where we travel, like I mean, and it's so cool because people really love St. Louis. Um, and I think us championing St. Louis also allows us to like represent something bigger than ourselves, a city that is oftentimes known for something negative. Yeah, and we're talking about Frizz Fest, which is arguably one of the biggest, best feudal festivals in the country, to run crew, which is arguably one of the biggest, best run crews in the in the country. Like, and not to say that in like a braggadocious way, but to show people like St. Louis has like I could name, I could go off the list of like amazing artists, creatives, yeah, spaces that are being created right now in St. Louis. And it's a special time in St. Louis. So we are very intentional on like pouring into St. Louis, uh, me, Leslie, and Val, because man, our kids growing up here. Like we grew up here. So we want what's best for our kids and our and then the younger generation. It's almost up to us to create that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

And give those opportunities and show that it's possible. And I always I have the quote written on my desk, but it's like, if not us, then who? If not now, then when? So if you aren't going to do it, nobody's gonna come here and start this. It's not from the city. So it's like it's on you. And I think that's a pressure, but it's also a privilege to be to have that torch. Like the reason you get you wake up today motivated to come do this podcast is because you know, this is a chance to be able to tell more people about the brand.

SPEAKER_04 31:18

Hell yeah. You know, so I was excited to come here, and what's crazy is like I haven't done a ton of interviews, and I I don't know that that by design, but you know, I just have been like when I mentioned like I've been in this industry of this, I guess, uh entertainment for uh like 20 years. Like back when I was signed to Huey had a manager named Big Angie. Big Angie was managing two R's at the time. It was me and Huey. Really? So like and I just say that to say, like, I have been around St. Louis entertainment and music for a minute, and I love that people don't know that. Yeah, but I'm gonna say it here just so people also put the some respect. Yeah, Ricky being around, but just to say, like, I've seen evolutions from like being on tour with Huey to being an artist myself to like uh run crew, all the different waves of like entertainment and art and lifestyle. And now is a very special time. I was around when it was Huey and Jibs and Kwan, and we were uh in the studio with Murph. This was in like this was in like 20, like 2006, bro. Damn.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

Like we were in the studio with I was talking to Rimrod and he was telling me some stories about that time too. Oh, I've been on Rimrod. He was here, he was here about a month ago.

SPEAKER_04 32:44

Yeah, because Rimrod, me and Rimrod went to high scholar. Yeah. Uh Rimrod actually shot my first music video in like 2009, bro. Yeah, he's been doing he's evolved and now he's doing the small business stuff. That's my yeah, it's my dog. So all to say, like this St. Louis has been popping. It kind of goes through waves, but now um is a very special. I haven't seen it as unified as I see now and feel now. Yeah. So I'm very grateful to have been able to kind of evolve through my career to be here and be able to like witness this special.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

And you have that experience because there's not much different. Like music, obviously, that lifestyle is different than running, but getting people to show up to a show is is just as hard as it is to show up in the morning to run. And it's it's we do different things. And it's now it's you can feel good about, you know, because you mentioned the parties and and the the habits that you had at that time. Yeah. And now you mention the habits that you have now. It's you're on the complete other side of the the spectrum of as far as habits. Like you have healthy habits, you're teaching your kids healthy habits, you're present with your kids on all these things. So like, you know, and then you, you know, you've but you've got to see that side of the music. And I was seeing Huey because I know there was a big three-one four-day party, but like, you know, he obviously passed in 2020. And then, you know, all these other music that came out of St. Louis and Murph is still active. And and and uh I just saw that they're doing the Battlehawks, the the Murph is in the St. Lunatics are back, and it's like cool to see like, and then Chingy, who actually lives, I lives right near me. Um, you know, he's one of my neighbors. It's like, you know, getting to see him still perform. He was just in my, I was talking to him, he's like, Yeah, I'm still performing. I'm in Miami. It's like the music that he made 25 years ago is timeless. And it I feel like what you're creating now with Run Crew, you know, is like, you know, it's timeless, whether you're at the helm leading it or so you put somebody else in as a leadership role. Because eventually, you know, because I I wanted to ask a couple more questions about the leadership is like, what have you learned about being a leader by running this crew? Because you've worked in all these leadership roles in the corporate world, but this is just it's a community, this is a little bit different.

SPEAKER_04 34:44

Yeah. Um that's a great question. I think it really because getting like so managing and leading folks that aren't getting paid, because I'm not, I'm yeah, I'm just now making money with Run Crew, to be quite honest. Like, we have like a all the money that we make goes to Run Crew, of course. Sustain programming and apparel and like events, and like we have some big goals that are coming up. But so just being able to like um show up and lead by example as well as helped me and also show me like how much I need leadership and how and how much of being a leader is empowering other people to lead, where it doesn't have to always go through a Ricky where I give folks uh autonomy to make decisions, give them creative control, which can be not easy for a leader, you know. And I've been there where like I want to make the the last decision, final decision. Like I don't need to talk to anybody about my decisions, but it's it's helped me be a much better communicator and also helped me just realize how important a team of leaders are and not just a leader, like leaders is very important. And I'm super grateful for our leadership team, man, because you know, they make it where we have we can we've had multiple events on on a day before, you know. And you can't be in all those places, you can't be in all those spots, and I I I can't do that. You travel a lot sometimes, and like you have to make sure that this thing runs without you like I got a family, I got kids, like my kids might have a dance or like recital, and like I miss a lot.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

This, you know, so yeah, yeah. And then you mentioned the volunteer aspect is like it's not like you're paying those people to be there. It's like they are volunteering their time and and to lead people that way is is sometimes even more difficult, but that's because they share the same vision as you, and they share this vision of the bigger that run crew gets, the more opportunities that St. Louis gets, the more opportunities that we can get. So my last question, just to kind of tie everything together, is what are some of those big, big goals that you can share with us? I know some stuff you're working on behind the scenes, but like looking ahead to this year, obviously it's still it's just now warming up, so we're gonna start getting out more. But like this year and beyond, like, what are some of those big goals that you have personally and uh professionally for a run crew?

SPEAKER_04 36:57

Okay, okay. I'm gonna say some stuff that's gonna manifest some stuff. Let's go. Uh I want to get a spot. Yeah, a spot where we can host, run from, have yoga, have meetings, have our apparel, just have like a hub. Yeah. I've never said that out loud uh on especially no interviews, but I know words are powerful, so uh I do and manifest, and we are working on a spot. Uh just more like strategic, like programming throughout the city. Like I want to get everybody moving. Um from the young, um, the young kid to Murphy Lee. I actually text Murphy Lee the other day and told him I want to coach him for a five game. I ain't gonna say what he said, but let's just say we all. No, I mean just a whole spectrum, the spectrum. Like, you know, young kids to like the folks that have may not be in the running, but I just know what I want to empower people that are gonna um empower other people. Yeah, uh, so I want to work on program. I want I want to do runs all over the city. Um, whether that be a race, um, that might be uh a foreshadowing, whether that is like um yoga, boxing, like I want to create a hub of programming throughout all St. Louis to get folks moving and grooving. And uh that's what I share right now. But obviously, like running had completely changed my life. It uh, you know, brought me from a dark spot, helped me find community, made me a better husband, father, community member. And I'm just excited about what's to come. And I'm excited what God is doing through me, with with me, and through our um through our team and through St. Louis. And we'll be back Tuesdays, March 31st, Tower Grove Park. Uh, if you've been lurking, if you've been like, dang, I'm gonna come one day, yeah. This is the year to pop out. Uh we back Tower Grove Park, March 31st, 6 p.m. That way.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

This episode is sponsored by Upshot Coffee, three St. Louis area locations in Cottleville, Break Shop in St. Charles, and their new hi-fi location in Clayton. I personally use Upshot Coffee every day at my espresso machine at home, and I try to visit one of the shops at least once a week. They source the beans responsibly from local farms all across the world, um, and they take care of their staff and they take care of the community. Let's get back to the show. And then besides like showing up and besides buying the merch, um, how can like we have a lot of business owners that listen to our show every week? How can the business community get behind what you're doing? Like, what are some of those things that they can do to be a part of what you're doing or help in what you're doing?

SPEAKER_04 39:36

Uh, I would say uh we are about to start a um a farm raising campaign. So that'll and also if there's like a synergy with like what you do and what we can like help like find that uh synergy, whether that's um or find a way to partner, like find a way to like raffle, or like if you wanna, if you work at a business and you want to do like a health and wellness day, like um we can come out and run with you, you know, get the folks moving. We've done that. I've actually done that for a lot of a few like um corps and stuff, corporate conferences downtown where like they I come out and I'll lead runs, which is showing me a whole nother lane of like being a run coach where like I'm running, like leading like conferences to run downtown professions. Yeah, yeah, which is which is a different vibe. Which is really I'm really, I didn't have a blueprint. So I'm really just kind of like creating my own blueprint as I go, but we love to work with small businesses, we love to work with St. Louis. Uh we love to find a way where there may be something that's never been done before, right? You know, so like we're open to like finding ways to like create um authentic and organic partnerships to ultimately like empower the city, man, and empower people.

SPEAKER_02 40:44

Well, Ricky, man, I appreciate you for coming on. I'm glad we made this happen. I do also believe about manifestation too. When you speak these things into existence, they really do happen. And a lot of that stuff has happened in my life as well. So if you guys are looking to support STL Run Crew and support the mission, go to STLrun Crew.com. Um, show up on those Tuesdays. Um, if you can't make it, share these events, share these things for people. But I've been watching what you guys have been doing for a long time. I really love everything about your guys' organization. And I I love you as a person, as as far as somebody that always has good energy when my family sees you and and really, you know, somebody that's a a megaphone for St. Louis that's been in St. Louis for a long time. So I appreciate you for making time for coming on the show today.

SPEAKER_04 41:23

Thank you, Luke. I'm on bucket list, man. We outside. And I I and I put you, I want you the family to come on.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

My kids are they're walking now, so they're ready. They're ready. I've been a stroller too. Yeah, I'll bring the dad through it. Yeah, I need I need some, I need some other dads, you know, with little kids, man. That's that's been that's another challenge when you when you evolve into a parent. Yeah, you you have to evolve your your groups into parent stuff. You know, a lot of stuff we do is you know from nine to noon on a Saturday. My other friends might be going out from midnight to 3 a.m.

SPEAKER_04 41:47

I don't call it late anymore. We make that joke all the time. I'm up at running at four and five. I was getting home at four and five a few years ago. So we we know we we're flipping the script, man. We're flipping the script. I appreciate you, bro. Thank you, Lou. I appreciate you, brother. Bucket list, big bucket list that way.

unknown 42:04

St.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

Louis, thanks for listening. Everything we do here is about telling the story of this city, and that doesn't stop with this show. On the Bucketless Podcast Network, we're diving even deeper into the people, places, and moments that make this city what it is. Meet Me in Music with Neil Salsit captures the sound of the city, past and present, ending each episode with a live performance. For my foodie lovers, the sauce with Lauren Healy brings you inside the restaurants that define our culture every Tuesday. Gateway to Growth with Jamal Cornelius highlights the stories behind the people that make St. Louis work. And every Thursday, Bryce breaks down your weekend with This Week in St. Louis. More stories, more voices. Explore the full bucketless podcast network wherever you listen.