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A Time to Sharpen

A Time to Sharpen

By: Axel Liimatta & Brandon Maxwell
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About this listen

A bi-weekly podcast that examines how working with teenagers can make us better versions of ourselves: better teachers, better counselors, better parents…better people. Join two of Whetstone Boys Ranch's co-founders, Axel Liimatta and Brandon Maxwell, as they discuss what twenty years of serving struggling teenagers and their families has taught them about how to address the most challenging of behaviors. You'll find answers without dogma, encouragement without false hope, and sharpening without shame. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/time-to-sharpen/supportAxel Liimatta & Brandon Maxwell Parenting & Families Relationships
Episodes
  • Next-Gen
    Jan 9 2026

    Everyone likes new things. New phones. New systems. New news. That’s weird phrase, but you catch my drift.

    The problem is, new doesn’t always mean better. On the other hand, old doesn’t automatically mean wise either. And somewhere between those two instincts is a lot of tension—especially when you start talking about generations. That’s the space that Whetstone lives in - the uneasy balance between holding fast to what matters and staying flexible enough to grow. Not throwing the baby, or in our case, the boy, out with the bathwater.

    Join us this week on A Time to Sharpen as we talk about the next generation—what’s worth keeping, what needs pruning, and how to pass on wisdom without turning it into a museum exhibit.

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    47 mins
  • Self Care
    Dec 23 2025

    Self-care doesn’t announce itself at Whetstone with spa music and soft lighting. It shows up in the mundane: brushing teeth, washing clothes, tending a cut, making a bed that will be messed up again by nightfall.

    And yet, this is where a lot of the real therapeutic work lives. When a boy learns to care for his body, he’s often learning—sometimes for the first time—how to care for himself at all. In therapy we talk about patterns that repeat themselves across systems. Messy rooms, messy days, messy relationships. The same choreography, different stage.

    So we slow it down. We name it. We reshape it.

    Join us this week on A Time to Sharpen as we talk about Self Care and why the smallest habits often do the heaviest lifting.

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    41 mins
  • Money
    Dec 5 2025

    No one likes to talk about money. The very word is a little cringy. We prefer to talk about wealth, finances, the budget. These are more palatable.

    The same thing applies to the term fund-raising. People tend to tune out a little bit when it comes up in conversation. Most of us already have causes that we give to, and speaking for myself, very little left over to give to more.

    Sure, I could be more generous. I could cut back on subscriptions, and eating out, and a few other things that aren’t necessary, but at the end of the day, you can’t get blood out of a turnip. That’s how I feel at least.

    So it’s not something that I particularly like to do. It makes me uncomfortable.

    But it’s part of my job. I don’t have a choice. Of course, you have a choice also. You can just stop listening, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I wouldn’t know any different.

    However, if you do decide to keep listening, I can promise you that there is more to this episode than just Brandon and I talking about how we’re trying to raise another $900,000 dollars to pay for Whetstone’s expansion. There is a lot more to this topic than meets the eye.

    So please join us this week, on A Time to Sharpen, as we talk about “Money.”


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    50 mins
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