Leading with Laughter with Scott Parker

What if the moment that could have ended your life… became the reason you finally started living it?

In this first-ever guest episode of Life Unfolded, I’m joined by Scott Parker—educator, team-building facilitator, and comedy performer—whose story is a powerful reminder that there is always more waiting for us, if we’re willing to listen.

Scott and I first met at the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce Conference in 2022, and we’ve stayed connected ever since—following each other’s journeys, growth, and pivots. It’s a full-circle moment having him here, and a reminder of how meaningful connections can begin in the most unexpected places.

In this conversation, Scott shares how a near-fatal car accident became a turning point in his life… shifting him from a traditional path in Western New York to a life rooted in adventure, creativity, and purpose out west.

We talk about:
 • The quiet feeling of knowing there’s more out there for you
 • The moment everything changes—and what you do with it
 • Following curiosity into a completely new life path
 • Building connection, confidence, and collaboration through improv

Scott’s journey—from retracing the Lewis and Clark Trail to performing comedy around the world, to now helping teams reconnect and thrive—is a testament to what can happen when you choose to fully step into your life.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, restless, or like you’re meant for something more… this episode is for you.

Connect with Scott:

scottparkerleadership.com

Linked In

Connect with Melody:

Instagram

Facebook

mjmediaproductions.net

melodyjordanmusic.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Welcome back to Life Unfolded. Today is a special episode because it's our very first guest. I'm joined by Scott Parker, an educator, team building facilitator, and comedy performer who helps people reconnect through laughter, collaboration, and curiosity. Scott and I actually met back in 2022 at the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce Conference, and we've kept track of each other's journeys ever since, which honestly is such a testament to the power of networking and putting yourself in rooms like that. It's a big reason why I'm such a fan of being involved in local organizations like chambers. You just never know what connections will unfold. What makes Scott's story so powerful is the turning point that changed everything. A near fatal car accident that became a wake-up call to fully live his life. From there, he followed a pull-out west into adventure, creativity, and eventually co-founding a comedy troupe that's performed around the world and now bringing those same principles into the workplace. This conversation is about listening to that inner voice that says there's more out there and having the courage to follow it. So let's get into it. Welcome, Scott.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Thank you. Honored to be your first guest. And now here I am with my Laurel and Hardy mug, Vaudeville.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

I love that. That is very fitting. I'm glad to have you as the first guest, too. Why don't we dive into who you were before the world told you who you should be? Give us a little background info on Scott Parker.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Wow, that is, I'm like wondering how far back to go. So I guess I'll go back to my formative years in Buffalo. I grew up in Buffalo, New York. It's where I went to high school, it's where I went to college. And I was into sports. You know, I played volleyball, basketball, baseball. I kind of always knew I wasn't gonna stay in Buffalo. Because I every sort of every chance in college to get out of town, I did. And so I had an aunt and uncle that lived in Florida. And so on spring breaks, my girlfriend and I would hop in the car and we would go drive to Florida and spend, you know, the spring break week down on the Gulf Coast outside of Newport Richie. And uh, but we would leave, like we would leave right after class, and then we would drive all night so we could get to Florida in the morning. And and one of the trips, I'll never forget, it was April Fool's Day of 1993. I fell asleep at the wheel on the highway, and by luck had swerved. Well, I don't know if it's by luck, was probably going very fast. I don't know because I was asleep, but I'm assuming speed limit-ish, so 50, 60, 70 miles an hour. And I swerved between the highway and the exit, so like right between the two onto the grassy hill. So I woke up on the grassy hill, like panicked, and it was lightly raining. So, you know, hit the brakes and just swerve, swerve, swerve, swerve until you know, right, smack dab head for into a telephone pole. And it was a little Chevy Cavalier, it wasn't like a big truck or anything, and there's no way that we should have survived, other than like I hate to say it, but divine intervention. The the front left tire came up through the bottom of the car. And we both it and there were no airbags in the car, so but we both were able to open our doors and unclick our seatbelts and step out of the car and looked at the car and went, how are we alive? I mean, they could barely tow the car away. That's how badly mangled the car was. And I had, you know, broken blood vessels from where the seatbelt, you know, had impacted my chest. Turned out later I we were the ambulance came, we refused service because we're like, we're fine. Just around the corner was a hotel, and we're 19 years old. I mean, we were babies. And we rented a car. I don't know what company rented a car to 19-year-olds, but we phoned one and we kept going to Florida and sort of made a vow that uh you know we should be dead. And so we basically said, we not not me, I said, I I that moment made me decide to live life to the fullest, really, to take advantage of every opportunity, to not say no to things. If friends are going on a trip, I'm going on that trip. If if there's an opportunity that presents itself, I'm taking advantage of it. So that's I can really look back to that moment in my life that just said, you could not be here. So do the most you can with your your chance. So that's that's sort of the moment where my life changed for sure.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Yeah, no kidding. I'm amazed at obviously the miracle of being able to open the door and get out of the car after something like that. But then to go ahead and continue on with your trip from that point, do you think you were maybe in shock or something?

SPEAKER_01 6:29

So in shock. It was it was pretty stressful. I remember having to call my mom and tell her, and she was like, You're getting your butt back to Buffalo right now. And we were kind of insistent that no, this this is sun's probably the best thing, you know, beach, ocean, hot tubs, you know. Like we gotta we gotta push through with this. And we did. I know, and that drive back white knuckled, holy cow, like talk about a little bit of PTSD driving. But you know, when you're 19, you're dumb, you don't know better.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

So I think that's a blessing and a curse. Yeah, take more risks sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

It turned out I did have a slight fracture of my ankle because I went I went to the I ended up going and getting an X-ray. Because a few a few weeks after that, so I played volleyball in college, we had we had the volleyball national tournament in University of Texas, and I just was not jumping like I used to. And so finally a few months later, I went and had an X-ray, and they're like, Yeah, there's a little bit of scar tissue on this little line of a crack here. So I think when that tire did come up through the floor, it it cracked my ankle a little bit. So I in hindsight, probably should have gone to the hospital. But I'm here now. So yeah. Crazy, crazy time.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Well, I definitely understand how that could be a major turning point in your life. You mentioned that that was a moment that made you want to live your life to the fullest. Do you feel like you weren't doing that until then?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

I don't know. I feel like maybe I was on a path of get my degree, stay in town, get a teaching job, coach sports. You know, a lot of a lot of my friends did that, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I just, I don't know. There was definitely a poll, a poll to be out west, and there was an opportunity that presented itself a couple years after that for me to actually go out west to a ski town. I had a good friend that had lived out there, and it's like, come on, you just graduated from college, come on out to so it's like I had a I had a job offer to teach school in Charlotte, North Carolina, or I could go out west to ski.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Hmm, I see. So you were kind of pulled between the logical or socially acceptable path and the path of not having it perfectly planned and taking a chance.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Yeah. And there's, you know, there's moments I think it's human nature to have self-doubt. You know, I look at my friends who who did the get into teaching right away, and they're, you know, we're at an age now where uh retirement isn't that far down the line for somebody that started teaching right out of college. And I joke that I retired at 23 when I moved to Steamboat, right? Like, I'm gonna be working till I die. So there's that, and then in the same conversation, they say, no, Scott, you have lived such an adventurous, fun life where I've I haven't done that type of thing, and I'm so jealous of you. I've lived in a lot of different states. I've got three kids, they're all born in different states. So we've moved around a bit. And you know, moving out to Colorado at 23, you go on a lot of hikes, you do a lot of backpacking trips, you ski, and then as soon as the ski area closes, you go to Utah and you go mountain biking in Moab or you go on a river trip, you go backpacking in the canyons and you disappear for a week and you don't see another human in some of the most beautiful places on earth. So I have those experiences, and to me, that that's worth any financial stability that I would have had from getting a job right out of college and sticking with it. So yeah, I think I think life life's about experiencing adventure.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

So yeah, I totally get that. Let's fill in the blanks a little bit. You took off to live this adventurous life and follow your adventurous dreams. How did you get from Colorado to working at the chamber in Shahalem? Tell us about how that journey unfolded.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Whoa, that's a long and winding one as well. Um so moved to Colorado. So I lived in Colorado two different times. The the first time was you know, move out there to ski with some friends, but it wasn't it wasn't to just be a ski bum. So I had a uh the friend I moved out there with had this idea of this is sort of when the internet was becoming a big thing in schools, so that'll date myself right there. And he had this adventurous idea of you know, schools are starting to put this internet in their in their classrooms and they're using it as a learning tool. What if, what if we we were out in the field? What if we could be anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world and kids could follow what we're doing because that's the beauty of the internet? As like, yes, that sounds amazing. And so we created this program where we retraced the Lewis and Clark Trail, which, if you're not familiar with Lewis and Clark, which I feel like a lot of people in Oregon are, it was, you know, when Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France, and there was a whole chunk of the country that hadn't been explored yet, going up the Missouri River, you know, through Montana and then into the Pacific Northwest to the Pacific Ocean at Fort Stephen State Park. So we had created this trip where we were gonna, you know, we we had a Subaru full of gear, we were entertainers, we were going to schools with, you know, juggling shows and team building assemblies, and then we would go into classrooms and teach them all about teamwork and so much fun. So we got halfway along the trail and the car died, but we had bikes. So we're like, oh, do we give up? No, why would we give up? Let's bike it. Unplanned biking trip starting in Great Falls, Montana to Port Stephen State Park. So we did like 900 miles in 18 days. We kept our itinerary, we kept going into schools and doing assemblies, and newspapers were writing stories about it. And we we found that you know, the Lewis and Clark thing was fun, the educational aspect was fun, but the biggest feedback we got was you guys are so entertaining. You guys should really focus on doing the performance part. Like, okay, we live in a ski town. There's a couple cute little vaudeville-style theaters here. Let's let's just start writing our own material and doing our own shows. And so we we did. A third friend moved out to Steamboat and we started booking ourselves everywhere possible, all over the state. We wrote a comedy routine that we performed in Montreal at a juggling convention. We came in second place in the biggest juggling convention in the world. And then the next year we went to Europe and we performed on stages across Europe and and came back, and we're like, this is amazing. Like, we we we love performing. I think we just sort of, I just was back in Steamboat last about a year ago to the day, we were doing our 28th anniversary show. Amazing venue there called Strings Music Festival, and they they flew me back because the other two guys still live in Colorado. And we did a show, about an hour and a half long show without even rehearsing, because we're all best friends and we do improv and we've been doing this together forever. So I I'm such this is such a long-winded story, but they're for as amazing of a ski town as Steamboat is, they didn't have a real good uh performing arts venue. So fast forward to 2007, we I moved back east to be near my family. My we had a nice little 20-acre chunk of land out in the middle of nowhere, and we we were back for about five years, and then it just didn't we wanted to be back west. So the opportunity to be the director of a historic performing arts theater in downtown, Steamboat came up. It was an old movie theater that they had renovated to be a live theater. And so I came back and I ran that for eight years. It was my dream job because I got to book music, we did a magic festival, we had stand-up comedy, we had a theater troupe called the Chief Players that did six, seven different shows a year. We had an improv troupe that I helped start. We got to perform with Second City, and then COVID happened. And COVID shut the theater down. We didn't own it, we just rented it. But in 2019, we programmed it with 200 events. In 2019, we had 200 events. It was like the gathering place in downtown, but it closed. They decided to do something different with it, and so we just looked like maybe it's time to get out of steamboat. And so did what everyone kind of was doing during COVID, looking at different places to live. So we sold our place in in Colorado and moved out to Oregon. The chamber was hiring here and they hired me. So we moved in Oregon wine country in 21. So that's how I got out here.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Wow. Well, I could see how the event curating would translate well into the chamber world. Did you have other relevant experience leading into that?

SPEAKER_01 16:49

I think what they were looking for in the role at the chamber was community building. And that's sort of where my jam is in because I sort of made a parallel between the, you know, why do people come to a theater? They want to have a good time. They you need volunteers to help run it. You have sponsors that sponsor shows. You know, it's there is a parallel between the a business community and a theater community. And I think they just liked my it's about the community vibe. And so I'm in five year five, but I've also done uh leadership workshops and team building workshops for the past 20 plus years, and that was part of when I got hired. I said I still want to keep doing that. So I do that a lot, and that's what I'm very passionate about is when I get to go work with a group of like 20 people and say, here are some fun ways that we can get to know each other better. Because I use improv as my basis for teaching these workshops. Because improv, what's it about? It's about being positive, right? Saying yes to things. It's about setting your teammate up for success. It's not about you, it's about making your coworker look good. And and it's just fun. I like to have fun and I like to have fun with groups of people.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

That is so cool. I was gonna ask, but you kind of already answered the question. What would you say a metaphor is for life that you've learned from improv?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Oh boy. Yeah. I I it's again with the I Should Be Dead car accident thing of saying yes to everything, it probably I want to say it's gotta be going on 20 years ago. A small little comedy club opened up in downtown Steamboat, these guys from Detroit, um, Michigan. There's a Detroit and Oregon too, I've learned there's a lot of similar city names where I'm like, wow, what were you doing in Detroit? And they're like, in Oregon? I'm like, oh I still don't know where anything is here. And they opened a comedy club and they wanted to have improv. And so they had these open auditions for improv. Like, we I'm gonna do, I'm doing this, I'm doing improv. And so me and some friends who had sort of just dabbled in it now are getting paid to do two shows a night on Friday nights and Saturday nights for two full ski seasons. We did this, and it was a hoot. But again, it's just that say yes to things, and and if you're having fun, the audience picks up on you having fun. If you're laughing, they're laughing. And it's just I I like I like having fun. I like making people laugh, especially when I'm making my co-actors laugh so that they can't get their lines out. That is the most fun for me. And so, yeah, improv, there's just so many good things you can get out of it. And I think one of my strengths is like some people you say improv and they run out of the room screaming because they think they've got to be, you know, in front of people and and you know, introverts aren't comfortable doing that. And so what I like to say is most of the things I do, we're in a circle, which is a very safe space, and I can pull introverts out of their comfort zone without them even knowing that they left it. It's not it's not about crazy energy, it's not about being loud, it's about just having fun. And so I've got some warm-up games that are just side-splittingly funny, and people get out of this because out of their out of their comfort zone a little bit, and then we just move on to the next thing, and next thing you know, we're all just having fun and laughing together.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

I love the emphasis on fun. I think fun should be a higher priority in business and life in general.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

I'm involved with rotary as well. And so Rotary has this four-way test, right? It's it's you at a rotary meeting, you say the Pledge of Allegiance, and then you everyone recites this four-way test. And it's a very amazing four-way test. I think the world will be a better place if people live by it. It's is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? And is it beneficial to all concerned? So that's the four-way test. I was just at Rotary training about a month ago in Seattle. They've added a fifth thing to the four-way test. And the fifth thing is is it fun? Like when I came back to my club and I told them that, they're like, sure, Scott. And I'm like, no, Google it. It's a thing. Rotary saw the need to make meetings and to make volunteering fun. And so I'm gonna be the president of my club starting in July. And I was like, oh boy, we're in for a treat.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Oh, well, that's exciting. What a cool opportunity. Okay, what are some tips for? I feel like I have a lot of other creative entrepreneurs that listen to this. Or, you know, people who are active in networking and and building a business or who work with teams. So what are your top three tips that you would give them?

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Top three tips. So the name of my company, I mean, I have a website called Scott Parker Leadership, but the name of my company is just go for it. And so that's my number one tip is don't don't overthink it. Just go for it. You're you have the skills and don't be afraid. So that'd be number one. Well number two. Find what gets you out of bed. What what motivates you? What makes you smile? And don't do that thing. And I think so many people are afraid to do what brings them joy that they almost feel guilty about it. So don't don't do that. And then wow, third one. So third one would be surround yourself with people that inspire you. It you know, thoughts are things, thoughts really become things, and you can be so unaware that the people that surround you affect your mood. If you're around happy people, it's hard to be in a bad mood. So surround yourself with good quality people. I think those would be my three tips.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

That's great advice.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Okay. Let's move on to some signature questions. What does life unfolding mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 24:47

I think life unfolding to me, I I literally picture it like a blanket that uh is being uh unfolded. There is stuff in you that could be hidden if you just stay the way you've always been or keep it on a shelf. But if you pull it out and you open it up, to me the metaphor is you know, unfolding is is the metaphor for opening yourself up to the universe or to opportunities or to other people. So to me, when you shared that question, that's just it just jumped off the page at me. That's that's my interpretation of life unfolded is open it up and see what's there.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Ooh, I really like that visualization of the blanket. What are you most excited about? What's unfolding in your life right now?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

What excites me the most is I feel like I'm I'm at a tipping point in a good way right now of being able to do what I'm passionate about more often, which is things like this, talking to people like you and sharing my stories. Because I've got, I'm working on a TED talk right now. I I I don't mean TED talk, I mean a TED style talk. I've got I've got an amazing story that I'd love, if there's time, I'd love to share it with you. I think I think I'm on the verge of of getting more opportunity to do the this type of thing, more workshops, getting in front of people and inspiring them to. I just think where the world's going right now, and this isn't a political statement or an AI statement, I feel like people are going to be craving in-person gatherings. And so I I feel that's where I'm I'm best is you know, COVID, especially, people were so apart. They were on Zoom, they were working remotely. And anytime you get people in a room together that haven't been together in a while, there's just a magic that happens. And I love to facilitate that magic.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

I agree with you on that. It is so much more fun, and you can feel the energy in the room. But now I want to hear a little bit about your TED style talk. Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

So, what what sort of spurred this on, this rejuvenation of wanting to do workshops as a profession? So the story goes like this In my junior year of high school, I had a teacher, Mr. Spruveri. He was US history, and the first day of class, he gets up super deadpan and he rings a bell and he says, Good morning, Cloud. And we're all like, Good morning, Mr. Spruveri. And he pulls a all the seats had numbers and he pulled a number out. He announced who the winner was. They had to get up in front of the class. Everyone applauded and they picked a sucker out of a sucker jar and they won a sucker for that class. And they had to say the flavor of the sucker, like, great. And the whole class would go, ooh, and they would sit back down. And you looked forward to this class every single day because you wanted to win a sucker, right? Sugar is a huge motivator for high school students. And so, and he was a he was a great teacher. He was, he was just, it was just a fun, fun class. So I always said to myself, I always knew I wanted to go into teaching. And I said, if I'm ever a teacher, I'm doing a sucker rap. So I went to college, I got a degree in U.S. history education, but I didn't want to be a teacher right away. So I moved out to Colorado and I did the Lewis and Clark Trail. And so fast forward, you know, many, many years, I actually did get a teaching job. So for the school year of 06-07, I was the eighth-grade U.S. history teacher. And it wasn't, I had teaching jobs in Steamboat were coveted. And I kept coming in second. It just wasn't meant to be. It wasn't meant to be that I got a teaching job. And so I was the president of my HOA in this new development in Colorado, and the principal of the middle school was also, he also lived there, and my phone rings one day. It's like late, it's like late August. And I see that Tim Bishop is calling, and I'm like, oh, he wants to put in a fence or paint his house or something. And he's like, hey, Scott, I got funding to hire a eighth grade U.S. history teacher. The job's yours, you start tomorrow. And I hadn't been in a school in like three years. And I was like, oh my God. I'll take it. And I literally reported to school the next day with like teacher meetings, teacher meetings, just go for it. And so then I'm like, okay, you said you'd ring a bell and do a sucker raffle. So on the first day with students, I gotta do this. I can't, I gotta. They're gonna laugh at me or they're gonna love it. So this first day of class, I ring a little bell and I say good morning, class, and they all say good morning, Mr. Parker, and I raffle off a sucker. And I had the greatest year, one of the greatest years of my life teaching that class. They loved it. They loved the sucker raffle. So fast forward to the I had we had moved, we had left Colorado and moved back to New York. These kids are now seniors, and I get a DVD in the mail, and one of the kids' senior projects was, We miss you, Mr. Parker. And she interviewed all my old students about that class. They're like, We miss you so much. And they talked about the sucker apple. And I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that I made that much of an impact on these students' lives. And then now, fast forward even four years later, one of my students reached out to me, and she's now a teacher, a history teacher at Steamboat Springs High School. She's like, Your class inspired me to go into teaching. She's now in her second term as a Colorado State Representative from Steamboat Springs. And she said, Your class was so much fun that it set me on my path. And I'm pretty sure she will end up being a U.S. senator one day. And so I pull myself back from this and go, had I not taken this chance of making myself look like an idiot in front of eighth graders, ringing a bell that stuck with me from my high school years. And so the talk that I want to create is about how the littlest thing of buying a little bell and ringing it in front of a class can inspire somebody years down the road to go and make serious positive change in the state of Colorado. And so that just go for it attitude. I just feel like if you ever have this inkling of something you might want to do, you just gotta do it. And so I I don't know if I conveyed that story as eloquently as I could have, but oh my gosh, no, that was great.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

And I love what you said too. That risk of making a fool of yourself or embarrass myself, or it could go really good. You have to be okay with failing and really just go for it because you might not. And you have this testimony that essentially inspired change in a whole state. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Yeah, I got up when I was considering doing this, I actually got on the phone with her and I said, I need, I need to hear it from you. Did my class, did your eighth grade history teacher put you on that path? And she said without hesitation, you may absolutely say that because it's absolutely true. And so I just like a US history class, bringing a bell and a sucker raffle to her making amazing change, like just that the path of that of things that had to happen for that to happen is just like that is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Thanks for sharing that. Were there any final thoughts that you wanted to share with listeners? And where can folks look you up and learn more about what you do and your team building workshops?

SPEAKER_01 33:33

My website is scottparkerleadership.com and LinkedIn. I love connecting with people on LinkedIn. So maybe I don't know, in my bio we can put links to those if if we're able to. Otherwise, yeah, I mean, we we the chamber is super fun. I run a really fun networking event every Friday morning. It's open to everybody. So, you know, the chamber website is Shahalamvalley.org. But uh yeah, I just I like to connect with people. So I appreciate you having me on and letting me ramble about my stories. And honored, honored to be your first guest.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Yeah, honestly, I think you were the perfect first guest. I really appreciate your your story and learning more about you. And you definitely have a knack for making things fun. I remember that was the impression that stuck with me after we met at the chamber conference. I can't remember exactly what our interactions were, but I did that has just lingered. Like, oh, I remember Scott Parker. He yeah, he was really fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

I think if I recall correctly, I had just done an improv workshop that Joya Goodrum was part of. And so she's like, you should do some improv. So I I actually think I had some people get up on stage and do a little bit of improv while I was there.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

I think I vaguely remember that. And I was probably terrified because improv is scary to me because I don't want to mess up. I don't like making mistakes. Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

No, and that's not, yeah, anyway, that's not how I normally do it, where I'm like, I need people on stage now to do this thing. It's more of a safer small group. But anyway, yeah, I I appreciate your time. And uh anytime you want to have me back, I will come back and ramble for you.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Yeah, totally. Maybe after your TED style talk, you can come back and share with us your new insights.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

There we go, yes.