Voices of OKC

Artie Brylev left Russia to escape religious persecution and built a career at Battison Honda. He talks work, family, reputation and making opportunity intentional in Oklahoma City.

Artie grew up in the former Soviet Union, where his religious family practiced under a system that restricted public faith. In New York, $20 in spending money gave him an early reality check. Later, a busboy job at Junior’s gave him a picture of the family life he wanted, while years of work taught him that success without character or trusted relationships does not hold.

With Jed Chappell, Artie talks about leading a family-owned dealership, protecting a reputation, putting family before the office, and why Oklahoma City needs intentional places where young people can encounter mentors and real opportunity.

Content note: Brief, non-graphic references to religious restriction, incarceration, addiction, and youthful legal trouble.

What you’ll hear

- What $20 in spending money taught Artie about expectations
- Why reputation outlasts a single transaction
- How family became a priority rather than an afterthought
- The moment bussing tables changed the life Artie wanted
- Why opportunity for young people should not be left to chance

Chapters

- 00:00 Welcome and Artie Brylev
- 02:55 Growing up under communism
- 06:09 Arriving in New York with $20
- 15:35 The illusion of instant success
- 22:18 Family before the office
- 25:21 Making opportunity intentional
- 29:40 Building a family-owned business
- 41:23 The other side of the table
- 48:20 Investing in young people
- 51:03 Transparency in the car business

Links and Resources

- Artie Brylev / Battison Honda team: https://www.battisonhonda.com/team-battison-honda-in-oklahoma-city-ok
- Battison Honda: https://www.battisonhonda.com/
- City Center: https://okcitycenter.org/
- Junior’s of Oklahoma City: https://juniorsokc.com/
- Putnam City Schools Foundation: https://www.putnamcityfoundation.org/
- Eskridge Auto Group: https://www.eskridgeautomotive.com/
- Jim Norton Toyota of Oklahoma City: https://www.jimnortontoyotaokc.com/ [verify this is the location meant]
- CARFAX: https://www.carfax.com/
- Victory Church: https://victory.church/ [verify this is the congregation meant]

Watch and listen to VOICES of OKC: https://www.voicesofokc.com/watch-listen/  
Episode hub: https://www.voicesofokc.com/episodes  
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@voicesofokc  
Instagram: https://instagram.com/voicesofokc  
Podbean: https://voicesofokc.podbean.com/  
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-of-okc/id1847725322  
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nUpFLOsHGVtrN8tZz6nlM  
VOICES of OKC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/voices-of-okc/  
Jed Chappell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jed-chappell-7a745332/  
Show email: info@voicesofokc.com

Watch the full conversation, then share it with someone thinking seriously about leadership, family, or mentorship. Subscribe for more Oklahoma City stories.

VOICES of OKC is a conversation platform from City Center. Through long-form interviews with local leaders, builders, artists, advocates, and neighbors, the show explores the stories shaping Oklahoma City through service, creativity, courage, restoration, and hope.

City Center champions youth and families in under-resourced communities by creating empowered pathways to relief and restoration.

Chris Crook, founder of the Chris Crook Foundation and an Oklahoma City youth mentor, uses basketball mentorship to meet middle school boys on common ground. He traces the path from Millwood and McPherson College to an Oklahoma City Blue workout opportunity, then speaks candidly about entitlement, gratitude, faith, and the work of rebuilding authentically.

In this conversation:

- The childhood camps that shaped Chris’s sense of possibility
- How the Chris Crook Foundation grew from a basketball-camp invitation
- Why the mentoring relationship matters more than the drill
- What the Oklahoma City Blue opportunity revealed
- How faith and self-awareness changed his approach to rebuilding

Chapters

- 00:00 Intro
- 00:23 Meet Chris Crook
- 01:14 The camps that shaped him
- 02:13 From Millwood to McPherson
- 02:29 The Oklahoma City Blue opportunity
- 02:52 How the Foundation began
- 04:28 Mentoring matters more than money
- 04:58 Basketball as common ground
- 07:16 Impact after camp
- 09:20 Not ready for the opportunity
- 12:04 Rebuilding authentically
- 14:28 Look up and be patient

Guest bio

Chris Crook is an Oklahoma City-raised former McPherson College guard, youth mentor, and founder of the Chris Crook Foundation. McPherson College athletics lists him as an Oklahoma City native and Millwood graduate and documents his collegiate play. A public 2025 profile describes his youth mentoring and basketball-training work and says he trained with the Oklahoma City Blue.

Resources

- Chris Crook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c_crook1/ `[confirm official/current]`
- McPherson College athletics profile: https://macbulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2016-17
- Oklahoma City Blue: https://oklahomacity.gleague.nba.com/
- Santa Fe Family Life Center: https://mail.sfflc.com/about/
- Kids Across America: https://kaakamps.org/
- VOICES of OKC: https://www.voicesofokc.com/watch-listen/
- City Center: https://okcitycenter.org/

Content note: Brief references to housing instability and professional disappointment.

Listen to the full conversation, then share it with a coach, mentor, or parent who is helping a young person grow.

Les Thomas Sr., Urban Bridge's Executive Director of Community Engagement and Oklahoma State's Hype Man of Hope, shares what it took to move from anger without a blueprint to a life of mentorship and service. The conversation explores fatherhood, emotional growth, afterschool access, and why Oklahoma City must see potential before problems in its young people.

What this conversation explores:

- The personal cost behind a public life of joy
- Growing up without an active father or a clear blueprint
- How fatherhood, military service, and mentorship shaped Les
- Urban Bridge's work with young people in Northeast Oklahoma City
- Why afterschool opportunity and restorative justice matter
- How Oklahoma can invest in its future leaders

Chapter markers:

00:00 Meet Les Thomas Sr.
03:21 The cost behind the Hype Man of Hope
07:44 Where Les's anger began
13:38 Choosing fatherhood and the military
17:11 Military life, pressure, and leadership
24:32 Why Les keeps showing up
29:19 Urban Bridge and youth opportunity
36:40 Advocating for afterschool programs
39:32 Becoming Oklahoma State's hype man
54:45 Where Hope Culture began
1:02:43 What Les hopes for Oklahoma City's youth
1:08:11 Closing: We can win together

Guest bio:

Les Thomas Sr. is the Executive Director of Community Engagement at Urban Bridge and a 2026 Afterschool Ambassador. A native Oklahoman and retired Oklahoma Air National Guard veteran, he is also known as Oklahoma State University's Hype Man of Hope and works across mentoring, youth leadership, speaking, and community engagement.

Links and resources:

- Les Thomas Sr.: https://www.lesthomassr.com/
- Les on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/les-thomas-sr-hype-man-of-hope-400a70a6
- Urban Bridge: https://www.urbanbridge.org/
- Hope Culture Leadership: https://www.urbanbridge.org/hope-culture
- Afterschool Alliance — Oklahoma: https://afterschoolalliance.org/policyStateFacts.cfm?state=OK
- Oklahoma State Athletics: https://okstate.com/news/2017/8/27/general-les-thomas-joins-oklahoma-state-gameday-experience
- Hope Culture clothing line: No current store or URL was stated.
- Heroes In Waiting: https://heroesinwaiting.org/assemblies/
- “Will and Cubis” podcast: `[Name/spelling and link needed]`

Content note: Includes non-graphic discussion of neighborhood violence, juvenile court involvement, incarceration, depression, anxiety, and absent fathers.

Follow VOICES of OKC wherever you listen, and find every episode at https://www.voicesofokc.com/watch-listen/.

An apartment fire can take a home in minutes. Recovery takes much longer.

Sabrina Smith joins Jed Chappell to talk about losing her home, business equipment, and irreplaceable family memories in a devastating apartment fire. With her daughters depending on her, Sabrina moved into crisis mode before she had time to process what had happened.

She shares the practical and psychological realities that can follow a disaster, including the gap between immediate emergency assistance and the long work of rebuilding a stable life. That experience became part of the vision for 1155, an effort Sabrina is developing to provide temporary housing and basic necessities for people displaced by fire.

The conversation also moves through Sabrina's Georgia upbringing, her creative work with Crystal Pink Events, the relationship between style and dignity, her connection to Oklahoma, and the hope she found in the middle of loss.

Content note: This episode includes non-graphic discussion of an apartment fire, displacement, loss, and the emotional aftermath of disaster.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR

- The night the apartment fire changed Sabrina's family life
- Why parents may enter crisis mode before they can grieve
- What temporary shelters and short-term assistance can miss
- The need for stability, privacy, and practical support after a disaster
- Sabrina's vision for 1155
- The grief of losing photographs and family history
- How interior design led Sabrina into event planning
- The story and creative philosophy behind Crystal Pink Events
- Why Sabrina is drawn to Oklahoma City
- How family, faith, and purpose helped restore hope

CHAPTERS

00:00 Opening
00:23 Meet Sabrina Smith
01:42 Growing up in Georgia
03:55 Family, sports, and early influences
05:40 The fire that changed everything
07:57 Crisis mode and starting over
11:34 Serving other families while displaced
12:11 Building the vision for 1155
15:02 What emergency response can miss
15:48 The psychological side of recovery
18:40 The memories that cannot be replaced
21:57 Crystal Pink Events and Sabrina's creative work
25:45 Style, confidence, and dignity
27:10 Why Sabrina loves Oklahoma
29:20 A new chapter in Oklahoma City
30:26 Supporting others after tragedy
31:58 Finding hope after loss
33:42 Closing thoughts

ABOUT SABRINA

Sabrina Smith is an event planner and designer with a background in interior design. She is the creative force behind Crystal Pink Events and is developing 1155, a vision for temporary housing and practical support for people displaced by fire.

CONNECT WITH SABRINA

Crystal Pink Events: https://crystalpinkevents.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Crystalpevents/
Email: sabrina@crystalpinkevents.com

FOLLOW VOICES OF OKC

Website: https://www.voicesofokc.com/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@voicesofokc
Podbean: https://voicesofokc.podbean.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nUpFLOsHGVtrN8tZz6nlM
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-of-okc/id1847725322
Instagram: https://instagram.com/voicesofokc

VOICES of OKC is a student-produced podcast from City Center highlighting the leaders, stories, and ideas shaping Oklahoma City.

City Center serves youth and families across Oklahoma City through practical support, mentorship, and relationships rooted in dignity. Through VOICES of OKC, students help tell the stories of the people shaping our city while building skills, confidence, and a deeper connection to their community.

Learn more about City Center: https://okcitycenter.org/
Support City Center: https://okcitycenter.org/donate/

Follow the show wherever you listen, and share this episode with someone who cares about disaster recovery, family resilience, faith, entrepreneurship, or helping people rebuild after loss.

Caitlin Ferguson spent years trying to understand where she belonged.

Growing up biracial, navigating different faith traditions, and later surviving sexual assault, addiction, and mental-health crisis, Caitlin often felt unseen and uncertain about her identity.

In this honest conversation, Caitlin shares how faith, healthy relationships, and serving others helped her begin rebuilding her life. She also describes the encounter during a City Center mission trip that clarified her calling: a woman looked at her and said, “No one sees me.”

Today, Caitlin is preparing to create a ministry where women experiencing trauma and instability can find safety, dignity, practical support, and a place to start again.

This episode is a powerful reminder that pain does not have to define a life—and that it is never too late to keep going.

Content note: This episode discusses sexual assault, addiction, and mental-health crisis.

Learn more at voicesofokc.com and okcitycenter.org

Lydell Rhodes is 33-9 with 17 knockouts. He fought a world title eliminator his opponent's own coach told him he'd won, watched the fighter ranked seventh skip past him to the belt, and came home to Oklahoma City to build the thing he never had growing up. This is a conversation about obsession, being robbed, and what you do next.

What this explores:
- The Pepsi warehouse job at 4 a.m. that turned him into a fighter
- Getting kicked out of UCO — and why he calls it the best and worst thing that happened to him
- What he learned training alongside the Mayweathers, Manny Pacquiao, and Zab Judah
- The title eliminator against Edner Cherry, and the fighter who leapfrogged him to the championship
- Why Oklahoma has all the talent and none of the infrastructure
- Coaching, promoting, and the first combat sports event on the downtown canal

Chapters
00:00 Welcome · 03:47 Growing up in Spencer and Choctaw · 05:03 UCO · 07:33 Pepsi at 4 a.m. · 09:33 Obsession · 12:31 The record · 16:21 The Cherry fight · 18:04 Five minutes before the walkout · 20:02 Fight night on the canal · 21:17 Bringing Las Vegas home · 23:19 The gym · 25:55 The mental game · 34:26 Why Oklahoma starts late · 36:15 What's next

About the guest: Lydell Rhodes is a professional boxer from Spencer, Oklahoma who trained in Las Vegas alongside the Mayweathers and rose to a world title eliminator in the super featherweight division. He now coaches at Western Avenue Boxing Gym in Oklahoma City and co-promotes fights through Hackman Boxing, working to build a competitive boxing pipeline in Oklahoma.

Find Lydell — Western Avenue Boxing Gym, https://www.westernavenueboxinggym.com/ · Instagram @lydellrhodes · Hackman Boxing, hackmanboxing.com

VOICES of OKC is a conversation platform from City Center. Follow the show wherever you listen so you don't miss next week's conversation.

Lee Roland led a school turnaround through relationships at Tulakes Elementary - starting with trust, adult culture, and the belief that families had already sent the best children they had.
He says the school's final two years under his leadership saw one student suspended, stronger achievement, and teachers waiting for openings.

Summary

Lee sits down with Jed to trace the roots of that leadership model: growing up in Spencer during the 1960s and 1970s, watching national violence and the civil-rights struggle through a child's eyes, and learning from a father who pastored and a mother who taught. Those experiences shaped his conviction that children who are marginalized economically or socially deserve adults who see their full worth.

At Tulakes, Lee says progress began when the adults stopped treating relationships as a side issue. Teachers needed to trust one another and their principal. Parents needed to feel respected. Students needed to hear that expectations existed for their benefit, not simply for adult control. Lee also explains why he changed as little as possible in year one, how shared power allowed teachers to lead, and why a person can hold a leadership position while nobody is truly following.

The conversation closes by carrying the Tulakes model into churches, businesses, nonprofits, and public life: healthy organizations make it safe for quiet or overlooked people to bring their full selves, and justice is measured partly by the world adults leave to children.

What You'll Hear

• How Lee's childhood in Spencer shaped his concern for marginalized children
• Why Tulakes started with teacher trust, parent respect, and student belonging
• The first-year decision to change almost nothing before changing the culture
• How the school moved toward stronger achievement, near-zero suspensions, and a teacher waiting list
• Why shared power, vulnerability, and listening matter in schools, churches, and organizations

Chapters

• 00:00 - Meet Lee Roland
• 01:16 - Spencer, civil rights, and empathy
• 04:39 - Experience, purpose, and justice
• 07:54 - The Tulakes turnaround
• 10:36 - Relationships before curriculum
• 13:56 - Change almost nothing in year one
• 17:18 - One suspension in two years
• 20:30 - What school looks like in heaven
• 23:29 - Sharing power and building trust
• 25:00 - When leaders are out front but no one follows
• 31:39 - Voyage Consulting and healthy organizations
• 38:29 - Leaving children a better world

About Lee

Lee Roland is a longtime Oklahoma educator, pastor, author, and leadership consultant with more than 35 years of professional experience. His career has included teaching, school administration, service as principal of Tulakes Elementary, and executive leadership roles. He founded Voyage Consulting to help schools, businesses, nonprofits, and churches strengthen leadership, trust, parent and community engagement, and organizational culture.

Guest & Resource Links

• Voyage Consulting - https://voyageconsulting.co/ - Official site and service overview.
• Email - lee@voyageconsulting.co - Public contact listed by Voyage Consulting.
• Phone - Public contact listed by Voyage Consulting: 405-650-6553.
• Tulakes Elementary - https://academy.putnamcityschools.org/o/TE - Official Putnam City Schools campus page.
• Fantastic Voyage: A Story of School Turnaround and Achievement by Overcoming Poverty and Addressing Race - Author: Lee Roland Published: January 16, 2017 Official purchase link: Purchase on Amazon Publisher: Storied Publishing, under Gray Sparrow Books ISBN: 978-0-9973984-5-8

- Subscribe to Voices of OKC for more conversations with the people shaping this city.

- Share this episode with a teacher, principal, pastor, or organizational leader who is trying to change culture without losing people.

 

City Center serves youth and families across Oklahoma City through practical support, mentorship, and relationships rooted in dignity. Through VOICES of OKC, students help tell the stories of the people shaping our city while building skills, confidence, and a deeper connection to their community.

#VoicesOfOKC #OklahomaCity #SchoolLeadership

Zack Davis — OKC realtor, investor, and host of the Keep Going Podcast — is a direct descendant of Quanah Parker. He shares the story of his first Comanche gourd dance, two years after losing his grandfather, and the $300-paycheck low point that nearly ended his real estate career before it started.

What this conversation explores:
- Growing up in Del City and Moore with a single mom and "a lot of alone time"
- Basketball as first identity and first community
- Comanche and Caddo heritage, and descent from Quanah Parker
- His first gourd dance — the eagle wing, the elders, his grandfather's medicine
- The garage moment: $300 every two weeks and best friends who said keep going
- People-over-money selling, calmness, and getting 1% better

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Zack Davis
01:26 Del City, Moore, and growing up with alone time
04:09 Basketball becomes an identity
07:39 Losing a friend at 21
08:56 Comanche & Caddo heritage and the Quanah Parker lineage
14:41 The first gourd dance and the eagle wing
19:59 Walk-on years: no minutes, no quit
21:52 The garage moment: $300 every two weeks
22:52 Fired on a technicality
25:56 People over money: how he sells
29:42 Keep going: advice for anyone on the edge
34:17 The Keep Going Podcast & how to reach Zack

About the Guest:
Zack Davis is a realtor with Copper Creek Real Estate and a real estate investor with Local Guy Buys Houses in Oklahoma City, working in real estate since 2017 and licensed since 2019. He hosts the Keep Going Podcast and is Comanche and Caddo, a direct descendant of Quanah Parker.

Connect with Zack:
Instagram: @zdsellsokc
Phone: 405-740-5399

Follow Voices of OKC wherever you listen so you never miss a story from the people shaping Oklahoma City.