Galloway developer launches new podcast, The Rise, in hopes of inspiring young minds

Known to many as the man behind a proposed Galloway neighborhood development rejected by voters in 2022, Mitch Jenkins is working on a new project that he hopes inspires others.

Last week, Jenkins launched "The Rise Podcast," through which he interviews different successful individuals about their "origin stories" — how they got started, with the intention of inspiring listeners to "rise to the lives they were created for." The podcast is available on Spotify and YouTube with new episodes weekly.

As of Thursday, Jenkins has released three episodes of "The Rise Podcast." The first episode serves as an introduction to the series. In the second episode, "How Sam Coryell Built A Real Estate Empire From Nothing," Jenkins interviews Sam Coryell, founder of Coryell Collaborative Group. And in the third episode, "The Mindset of Top Real Estate Developers," Jenkins interviews Matt E. Miller, principal and owner of Miller Commerce. The episodes range between an hour and an hour and a half in length.

Though the first two interviews are with local real estate developers, Jenkins has plans to speak with "world-class" celebrities, professional athletes and doctors from elsewhere. He's already conducted interviews with Pavel Bosovik, CEO and founder of 27North, Zach Riggs, listing specialist of Zach Riggs Group of Keller Williams, Tony Danko, CEO of Capital i, and Jessica Cahoy, a CrossFit athlete and nutritionist.

When asked how he plans to make "The Rise Podcast" different that other motivational, career-based podcasts, Jenkins said the project will be a reflection of his life and values of faith and family.

Jenkins said early on in his career, he could have started a private equity firm, but he decided against it because he knew what kind of impact it would have had on his family's dynamics — he would frequently be away from home.

"My family always comes first, even before business and health and everything," he said. "Whatever 'success' looks like from a business or career standpoint, means nothing to me if I lose my family in the process of gaining that success. I'm not going to make decisions in my entrepreneurial journey — and this is going to resonate through the podcast — that would cause me to lose the relationship that is so important to me with my wife, Amanda, and with our two little girls."

Who is Mitch Jenkins?

Jenkins, 32, is a Springfield native, who attended Hillcrest High School, followed by Evangel University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in finance and management. He then attended Missouri State, where he obtained a Master of Business Administration degree.

In the podcast's introductory episode, Jenkins outlines his reasoning for the project, which he traces back to his mindset while finishing up his undergraduate degree at Evangel.

"At the time, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do," Jenkins says in the episode. "I had always been driven, I was competitive as a result of being a collegiate athlete, and I wanted to accomplish big things.

"I grew up in a very middle-class home. We had what we needed, but we didn't have tons of excess. We'd go on a vacation once every couple of years. I had this limiting belief that because I wasn't born into a wealthy family or a family where entrepreneurship was a part of it, am I really — even though I'm ambitious — capable of accomplishing these huge dreams and goals?"

Jenkins goes on to explain that this all changed when Coryell appeared as a guest in one of his classes.

"It wasn't until Sam came and spoke to my class and he shared his story and his testimony about (how) he started investing in real estate in his mid-40s ... it really shattered my limiting beliefs," Jenkins says in the episode.

For the majority of his young adulthood, Coryell worked as a music teacher. In his 40s, he shifted careers and began investing in real estate. He then went on to found the Coryell Collaborative Group and TLC Properties.

Following Coryell's visit to class that day, Jenkins felt capable of chasing the dreams and goals he once thought were intangible.

Jenkins went on to work in both residential and commercial real estate after college, before founding Elevation Enterprises, a real estate investment company. Through Elevation, Jenkins invests and develops various types of real estate in the area, including new construction, retail, office space and self-storage, but mainly multi-family homes.

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One of Jenkins' most notable investments is the four-acre piece of land across from Sequiota Park in the Galloway neighborhood. For more than five years, Jenkins and his wife Amanda have been trying to develop the land. Most recently, the Jenkins proposed a plan for a four-story apartment complex with a series of storefronts along Lone Pine Avenue. But the Galloway Village Neighborhood Association has continually pushed back.

In Nov. 2022, Springfield voters rejected a proposal to rezone the Jenkins' land in a landslide vote, blocking plans for an apartment complex and storefronts.

In an interview with the News-Leader on Wednesday, Jenkins said he had no new updates to share.

"At some point we want to utilize that property in a way that's going to be an asset for our community," Jenkins said. "We don't really have anything necessarily at the moment, still trying to figure out what that asset for the community may be."

Today, the five-acre property sits vacant.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Galloway developer Mitch Jenkins launches new podcast, The Rise