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Joe, Mike and the best advice in the Galaxy*

December 26, 2019
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*Galaxy Grind, 12402 E. Saltese Road

On Wednesdays, Mike and Joe confront Earth’s cosmic challenges at a Galaxy Grind not very far, far away.

What’s wrong, Chewbacca? Not able to make that jump to hyperbole? Fine. Here’s how Mike puts it: “We meet for coffee and cream cheese cinnamon rolls and try to solve the world’s problems.” (The coffee shop is walking distance from Mike’s house, though, so there’s that.)

While the pair may not be going head to head with the Galactic Empire, from the moment I learned about their weekly coffees, I was angling for an invite.

Mike Vlahovich, 75, and Joe Connor, 71, are longtime friends and Spokane legends in their own right. Mike spent more than five decades covering local sports (the first half when his father, John, owned the Spokane Valley Herald), and he is a member of the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame’s Scroll of Honor. Joe spent decades running a successful independent insurance agency in Spokane. A Gonzaga graduate, he is a season ticket holder for men’s basketball games. (The same day I crashed their coffee get-together, they reconvened in the evening with their wives to watch Gonzaga dismantle North Carolina at the Kennel.)

For two hours, we talked politics, life lessons and why Joe believes this year’s Zags are better than last year’s version — a sentiment he’s held since before the season began. I still can’t fathom that last point, but much of what we discussed is still inspiring me these days later. So while the best advice in the Galaxy (Grind) should include trying the cinnamon rolls, here are four even more important gems I hope to carry with me into 2020, courtesy of a conversation with my own version of Obi-Wan and Yoda.

  • Joe Connor, left, and Mike Vlahovich meet weekly at Galaxy Grind in Spokane Valley.

The love of money is the root of all kinds of … generosity?

Joe lists many reasons that drove him to a career as an independent insurance agent, but two are particularly to the point: 1. “I don’t like working for people.” 2. “I like money.”

The former reflects the values of many entrepreneurs who want to reap the rewards (and/or any other related consequences) of their own efforts. The money thing, though? Joe and Mike are lifelong Catholics. I’ve spent most of my life in nondenominational Protestant churches. Some version of 1 Timothy 6:10 rings familiar: “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

“People don’t understand how money is; people think it gives them power and stuff like that,” Joe explained. “I don’t see it that way. It’s like you are a steward, and you have to go back in and help other people out. … It’s the opportunity to help people.”

(Money) is the opportunity to help people.

Joe Connor

As with most things, it’s the misuse and abuse of money that is the problem. You have to avoid the grip of greed.

“Like my dad used to say, ‘You can’t spend your way to prosperity,’” Mike said.

You can, however, give your way into a prosperity of a whole different kind.

Be yourself – the ‘yourself’ that has a plan

Whenever Joe encounters a young person — from neighbors and friends to the stranger taking his restaurant order — he invariably turns the topic to education and asks, “Where are you going to college?”

“You don’t ask a kid, ‘Are you going to college?’ You ask, ‘Where are you going to college?’” Joe smiled. “Assume the sale.”

He explains it’s a process of leading them through questions to embrace a direction for themselves.

“Have a plan,” Joe said. “I think that’s really, really important. The questions that I ask are all intended to … try to get them to think for themselves. What are you going to do? Open ended questions like that help them become the best that they can be.”

It doesn’t have to be a four-year business degree from Gonzaga, it just has to be a plan that honors – and maximizes — one’s own God-given abilities, Joe and Mike explained.

“Everybody is successful if they do the best they can with what they have been given,” Mike said.

A value system serves as a great compass

Before Mike had even declared his major in journalism at Washington State University, he was surprised to be offered the job as sports editor of the Daily Evergreen. Little did he know, another tempting offer was right around the corner from legendary basketball coach Jud Heathcote, who Mike knew from West Valley High School.

“Jud Heathcote calls up and says, ‘Do you want to be the manager on the Cougar basketball team,’” Mike recalled. “It was like the next day after I had committed to (The Daily Evergreen), but I was already committed so I went that way.”

Not only did Mike not seem to regret the choice he made, he talks about the episode with an aura of unblinking clarity: Reneging on his first commitment was never even an option.

“The lesson here is something that’s really important to us, I think: You’ve given your word,” Joe added. “There are times when you’ve given your word and you see, ‘Oh, I think I might have made a mistake.’ You still have to go through with it, and that’s a value system.”

Both Mike and Joe credit family and their Catholic upbringing with instilling the type of value system that serves as an anchor for life, for success and – you knew it was coming back to this – for Gonzaga basketball.

That’s right, Joe is convinced the success of Gonzaga basketball is rooted deep within the Jesuit tradition. He would know. He played for legendary Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald in eighth grade while attending a private Catholic school in San Francisco. Joe also played on the Gonzaga freshman basketball team in 1966. As much as he loves Coach Fitzgerald (who would end up at Gonzaga much later), he believes the enduring success at Gonzaga is more about the school’s Jesuit values than the various GU personalities with accomplished resumes.

“The value systems they had back then are the same value systems they have now,” Joe said. “(The university) has grown and expanded, but the value systems haven’t changed. … We have a core that’s consistent that does not change year after year after year. … That’s why GU is doing so well.”

Don’t shine the spotlight on yourself

Mike spent five decades as a prep sportswriter in the same community. While many sportswriters may dream of working the sideline of a Super Bowl, Mike has found greater fulfillment in celebrating his neighbors. He has spent the equivalent of years of his life at local high schools — walking hallways, visiting practices and pacing sidelines with a notebook in hand. Many area scrapbooks are filled with stories and photos with Mike’s byline, and he is always ready with a story of the joy he has found in celebrating the accomplishments of other people.  

It wasn’t just his job; Mike found ways to encourage others through the years through coaching youth sports and volunteering with schools, a passion Joe shared as well. Both Mike and Joe believe strongly in mentorship (it’s probably why they let me tag along on this particular Wednesday). They are consistently on the lookout for opportunities. In fact, Mike begins a new mentor relationship in January, when he will weekly share lunch with an Opportunity Elementary School student through the PrimeTime Mentoring program. It’s an apt setting, across the street from the first home he purchased in the Valley decades ago.

Maybe this is what Mike really meant by “solving the world’s problems.” It’s not as much about making a political point over coffee; it’s about investing in another person, one at a time.

Coffee Notes

Mike and Joe order the same thing at Galaxy Grind every time they meet: cinnamon rolls and mochas, though Joe takes his hot while Mike likes his iced (even in December). The two regulars have become part of the fabric of the local Valley business, where they know the staff by name and are on the Christmas card list.

  • Thanks to Joe and Mike for allowing a third wheel at their weekly coffee visit.
    The community is better for presence of men (and mentors) like these two.
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Celtic FC)

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

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Katherine’s Final Four of Gonzaga life lessons

March 5, 2020
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A gust of palpably positive energy sweeps into Indaba, swirling into the espresso air to create something of a blissfully caffeinated breeze.

Most eyes look up. As the door closes, there stands a woman clad in stylish jacket, hat and scarf, confidently beaming at everyone in the room like a Spokane Mary Poppins. As she makes her way to the counter, she greets half of the patrons by name before ordering a spicy chai tea. The barista straightens, seemingly inspired to give this his best 8 ounces of the day, and now she is introducing me to the guy working at the backbar who is “just the best.”

In preparing for this interview, I reminded myself of this happy whirlwind that is Katherine Morgan. I was on the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce selection committee that hired her to become its president and CEO in 2014, and I witnessed firsthand the force of enthusiastic will that helped that organization thrive during her tenure. For the past two years, she has served as senior vice president and Spokane/Boise market manager with Bank of America.

But on this day, I’m here because it’s Zag-uary, those months when Spokane exorcizes its gray days with basketball nights, and I know of no bigger Gonzaga fan than Katherine. She received a business administration degree from GU in 2006 and was Outstanding MBA Student of the Year while earning her graduate degree in 2014. She was a Kennel Club member then and is an occasional adjunct marketing professor now. She leaves space in her schedule each March for every possible Gonzaga tournament variable.

With Katherine, there is purpose behind everything. She is no frivolous fangirl, and I ask her for a glimpse at the deeper reasons behind her passion for all things Zag.

  • Katherine Morgan at Indaba’s downtown shop on Riverside

In typical fashion, she responds with a “Final Four” — a quartet of the best life lessons she carries with her as a proud Bulldog.

No. 1: “Have faith”

For Katherine, the link between faith and Gonzaga goes beyond a Jesuit tradition but lies in the values and purposes that make up one’s identity – truly a faith or belief in one’s self.

A huge fan of men’s basketball coach Mark Few, she pointed to his halftime talk on Feb. 20, when Gonzaga scored a paltry 22 first-half points against San Francisco.

“What did Coach Few say in the locker room?” Katherine recalled. “That’s an opportunity he could have just ripped into them. But instead he kept it simple, and he said, ‘Be us. Be us.’ That really caught me off guard because he articulated in two words one of the most important lessons in my own life. Those moments we begin to compromise or take our eye off of who we are or try to be someone we’re not is the times we will never win.”

Gonzaga scored 49 second-half points and won by 17 — which is great, but how is Katherine able to locate and flip that “be us” switch in her everyday life?

“I have never been able to do it on my own,” Katherine said. “I have had a handful — a very, very close circle — of people that stood alongside me in those dark moments, that would take the call, that would remind me who I am. … In my own way, I feel that close circle is my own little Zag Nation. I’m sure the parallels are there for everyone. I think we all have our, quote, fan club who is going to be real for us and help us get out of those moments, help remind us who we are.”

  • Katherine Morgan at a recent GU game in Spokane

No. 2: “Put in the work”

With 21 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and five consecutive Sweet 16s (the longest active streak in the country), Gonzaga has become a model of consistency. Katherine said what’s often overlooked is the work required for such lofty achievements.

“It’s a reminder for me, for those days when I’m in the arena, did I do the work?” she said. “Have I remained disciplined, because it’s going to show if I did or if I didn’t. Gonzaga has shown day in, day out, season after season, that they show up and they get it done every single time because they do the work, unwaveringly, every single day.”

The tough part, of course, is in actually pulling this level of execution off on those days it’s the last thing you want to do.

“Put your shoes on and take that first step whether you want to or not,” she coaches. “I go back to my ‘why.’ What am I trying to achieve here? Why did I accept this role? What’s the greater purpose this team is trying to accomplish? And lace up, get outside and start walking. And eventually, I’ll start to run.”

Oh, and don’t forget about your people.

“In those times I’m vulnerable, I go back to my tribe,” she said. “(When I) come alongside others, eventually that motivation comes, and then I’m unstoppable.”

  • Attending the 2017 Final Four in Phoenix

No. 3: “Know who you are”

Katherine admires the way Coach Few builds self-awareness in his players and helps them see how their individual role fits into the greater team.  

“Every team is different, and every individual on those teams brings forth different gifts, different purpose, different drive and desire,” she said. “If you really take the time to acknowledge that and understand that and listen, it’s amazing the magic that happens.”

She said early in her career, it was tempting to make the mistake that to interview for a job meant to pretend like “I had it all figured out,” as if she could expect to expertly guard the 3-point shooter and block out the big man on the paint in the same play.

“I quickly learned, and how very Shakespeare: ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,’” said Katherine, quoting “As You Like It.” “I was happier when I was brought onto teams when they knew exactly who I was and where my abilities were.”

“Every team is different, and every individual on those teams brings forth different gifts, different purpose, different drive and desire. If you really take the time to acknowledge that and understand that and listen, it’s amazing the magic that happens.”

Katherine Morgan

So, for instance, when she interviewed at Bank of America she didn’t pretend to have financial industry expertise and experience. With the Chamber, she didn’t gloss over her then lack of executive experience.

“(It was about) really just owning where I’m at: This is what I’m wanting to do and what I’m willing to do if I’m supposed to be the next person to fill the role,” she said. “And that taught me that it was OK to be myself and be comfortable in my skin.”

No. 4: “Never give up”

Last March, Gonzaga bowed out of the Elite Eight to Texas Tech. In that final game of the season, only 3 of Gonzaga’s 69 points were scored by players who are back fighting for another deep run in 2020.

Katherine finds this type of personnel turnover from year to year a testament to the power of resiliency.

“I know we’ve all faced those seasons where we’ve tried and tried again and gotten so close to, as some might say, capturing the gold ring,” she said. “It can certainly be discouraging, sometimes causing yourself to question why you are even trying and if it’s worth it again.”

She said she has taken inspiration in her own professional career from the way Gonzaga recommits to excellence after each season.

“I’ve been in roles I have loved and been so honored to serve in, (a part of) teams that were magical,” she said. “To hope to make that transition to the next chapter for all the right reasons can be very difficult and emotional and discouraging.”

And then she remembers that Coach Few got up the morning after losing the 2017 National Championship game and started working on reaching even greater heights the next season.

“You’re going to try and try again, because that’s your why, that’s your purpose — it’s who you are,” Katherine said. “That’s what Bulldogs do. When the world zigs, we Zag.”

Coffee Notes

Katherine and I met for this conversation at Indaba Coffee‘s Riverside location in downtown Spokane, one of Katherine’s go-to spots within walking distance of her Bank of America office. Indaba’s “Love People, Love Coffee” motto is a great match for Katherine’s longtime investment and interaction in the greater Spokane community.

  • Thanks for sharing time over coffee and your always upbeat insight, Katherine. You serve the world around you — and represent GU — with class.
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Orlando City SC)

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

Love yourself first

March 19, 2020
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Guest post by Kylie Johnson

“Before I love someone else, I’ve got to love myself.” Recognize that line from the song “Save Myself” by Ed Sheeran? Or maybe you have heard “Lose You To Love Me” by Selena Gomez? Those two songs talk about loving yourself before you get into a romantic relationship.

But how do I love myself, and why is it important to love yourself before going into a relationship? Like a lot of teens, I have questions on this topic, so I decided to invite my crazily artistic, fun-loving and beautiful aunt to coffee to talk about it.

Hannah Johnson has an undergraduate degree in psychology and was recently accepted into Gonzaga to pursue a masters in school counseling and become a licensed professional counselor. We decided to go to The Garden Coffee and Local Eats, and she brought along her 5-year-old son, Oakley, who was kind enough to take our picture for this story. The coffee was so good! I was trying hard to focus on the subject at hand, but my mind would go back to my delicious blended mocha.

Hannah wisely approached this subject with a definition.

”I think it’s important to define self love as valuing yourself as a whole and having confidence in who you are; it’s important to recognize that it’s different from simply comparing yourself to others or being self-focused,” she said. “Some people think it’s narcissistic, but it’s really just having a value of yourself and where you’re at. Self love is just a healthy view of yourself; it’s healthy for everybody.” 

  • Hannah Johnson and Kylie Johnson enjoy chilly beverages and meaningful conversation at The Garden Coffee and Local Eats (prior to recent COVID-19 restrictions). Photo credit: Oakley Johnson, 5-year-old master photographer

How could I build my self love? Like a lot of people, I can be pretty hard on myself, and I could work on building my self-compassion. Hannah gave multiple great points, such as following positive accounts on Instagram, doing fun leisure activities and building social connections. 

“Your peers can influence you even more than a trusted adult, parent or guardian,” she said. “If your peers are not boosting your self-esteem, then you need to notice that and maybe put some distance there.” 

What does self love look like when you’re ready to go into a romantic relationship? Hannah listed three areas to get right first. The first one is self kindness; don’t criticize yourself for your flaws. Then you need to realize your common humanity, which is that everyone makes mistakes and acknowledging the weaknesses you have makes you human. The final step is mindfulness, which is to be aware of negative self talk. All of us can grow in an area or two, but that’s no reason to beat yourself up about it.

Wait … if you don’t love yourself and you dive into a romantic relationship, is that really a bad thing? How would it affect the relationship? Would it affect the relationship? 

”It can totally affect your relationship because if you don’t recognize your own self worth then you can begin to expect others to fill that hole,” she said. “You also won’t be able to protect yourself and stand up for yourself in tough situations.” 

“Some people think it’s narcissistic, but it’s really just having a value of yourself and where you’re at. Self love is just a healthy view of yourself; it’s healthy for everybody.” 

Hannah Johnson

Hannah also said that if your self love is at an unhealthy spot it will negatively affect both sides of the relationship. One person will need to take more than they can give, which is exhausting for both people.

That makes sense, but what should I do if I’m in a relationship when one person does not have a healthy amount of self love? Hannah suggested that in these seasons, the healthier partner needs to have sensitivity and awareness and help the other person practice self love. Self love isn’t going to be natural for everybody. If it’s at a really unhealthy point, then you may need to break it off and give them time to focus on themselves. If they are hurting themselves, then it will be harder but still be the right thing to do.

”In the end, everyone is responsible for their own actions,” Hannah said. 

If you need to work on self love and you’re in a romantic relationship, you need to realize that it’s not selfish to take time to yourself and break it off, if that’s what you feel like you need to do. You should know that it’s not the other person’s responsibility to carry your negative self talk burden and that you can’t rely on them to feel good. In either situation, it’s never bad to go and talk to a counselor or someone you trust so they can give you input.

Hannah and I sure had some deep conversations about this topic while little Oakley played on his tablet and my phone. Our drinks were amazing, and I absolutely loved the vibe and atmosphere of The Garden. It was a great place to just share a treat with a loved one and talk. I learned so much more about this topic because of Hannah and give her much thanks. I’m glad I could show myself a little love with the blended mocha and whether it’s with a coffee or just giving myself grace, I think I’m going to start treating myself more often.

Guest contributor Kylie Johnson is a freshman at Mica Peak High School in Spokane Valley. She drinks blended mochas, eats ice cream by the pint and plans to marry Five Seconds of Summer drummer Ashton Irwin. Until they get the chance to actually meet, she is focusing on self-compassion.

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

1 Comment
    Rob Hartman says: Reply
    December 31st 2019, 8:59 am

    Inspiring. Thank you for what you have done and continue to do for our community, Mike and Joe!

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