Rapp Strategies Rundown – December
Reflections on 2025 and hopes for 2026
Todd Rapp
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Evolutionary.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
The banjo. Although to be fair, I have been giving the same answer to this question since 1979.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
The remarkable number of Amazon deliveries that arrive when five adults are living in the same household. But Christmas Day smashburgers and the Redpath Sisters concert were also pretty cool.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
On a winter vacation, I re-read Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent, then followed with first time readings Innocent and Presumed Guilty. A lot of fun.
So much good TV … Probably the latest season of The Diplomat, but Landman is catching up.
Movie: A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic. Love seeing the re-dramatization of Dylan going electric.
Rich Forschler
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Worrisome.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
Travel to new locations.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Becoming a Grandfather for the second time.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
Being together as a family.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
Book - Battle Cry of Freedom. Movie - The American Revolution. TV Show - 60 Minutes.
Todd Stone
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Transitions.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
I’m excited to see how we can build on our momentum at Rapp Strategies — expanding and strengthening our services in a year that should bring strong growth and new opportunities for our clients.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Not one single moment, but a thousand small ones — watching our team continue to grow, step up and deliver consistently strong work for our clients.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
That our teen-age boys still enjoy the arrival of Elf on the Shelf – actually, I should say “elves.” We have two -- Roscoe and Paulo.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
TV show: The Pitt. Movie: Sinners (Though Predator: Badlands is inexplicably among my Top 3) Book: Corrections in Ink by Keri Blakinger.
Sean Oyaas
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
How to be the father of two kids (Oyaas baby #2 due in April)
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Becoming a board member for two amazing organizations: Futsal Society and Fentanyl Free Communities. I’m incredibly proud to help lead both of these efforts that are empowering communities across MN, saving lives and creating opportunities for young people.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
Three things:
Influenza A, which hit our house the day after Christmas and had all of us in two weeks of misery.
Officiating my first wedding (New Years Eve) while battling the flu.
James becoming a full-fledged puzzle nerd… errant pieces and completed puzzles have become the biggest safety hazard in our house.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
Book: Project Hail Mary (from the author of “The Martian”) – a fun, science-fiction read about a solo mission to space. Heavy on the science, but very digestible (and has been made into an upcoming movie set to release in March).
Movie: One Battle After Another – lived up to the hype. Highly recommend.
TV: Slow Horses (Apple TV) – I was late to the show, but finally gave it a watch and binged five seasons in a matter of weeks.
Lisa Boyd
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Threshold. 2025 felt like crossing into a new era—major family milestones, wrapping the year with my NY-based strategic communications firm, and now stepping into Rapp Strategies to help clients navigate reputation management with foresight.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
I’m excited to build upon our toolkit to help our clients detect reputational crosswinds earlier and stay ahead. I’m also planning to learn more about how I can be a more effective gardener, and simply stated, just make my yard more interesting – for me and the pollinators.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Moment: I love exploring botanical gardens whenever I travel. On a business trip to Florida, I carved out time for a perfect Miami detour—rented a car, grabbed a café Cubano, and wandered through a magical local garden. People often ask for my favorite: hands down, the San Diego Botanic Garden. The succulents are stunning.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
Snow. It actually snowed. This made me very happy. I was able to cross country ski in the northern Minnesota forest after a few years of sparse snowfall.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
I stumbled on Watershed during a late-night Delta flight—a powerful documentary by Paralympian Mallory Weggemann, a Minnesota native, about resilience, identity, and life’s turning points. It’s unforgettable.
Meredith Mitts
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Growth — This was my first full year as a mom, our first year as a family of three, and my first year as the AI Integration Lead at RSI. There have been lots of fun challenges and learning moments over the past 12 months, but I am proud of my growth and am privileged to see my baby girl continue to learn and grow.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
I am excited to try my garden in a new space where it will be bigger and get more light and to experiment with making my own hot sauces while canning.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Flying solo to and navigating through New York with a 15 year-old and a 7 month-old. It was a great trip and I am glad we survived!
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
I am going to remember that busy does not always mean better. We were very intentional with our travel plans and calendar this holiday season. I don't feel exhausted now that we have reached the end of it, but I still think we were able to be with our friends and family that we hold dear. Overall it’s a win-win to come through a holiday season with minimal sickness, maximum family-unit time, and still feel like we had meaningful connections.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
Book: Not my favorite book I read this year, but the best one was Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger. As I have become more and more interested in birth and birthing practices, I have started picking up books recommended to Doulas. This one highlighted racial injustices and how our histories color current practices and outcomes. It was very insightful and challenged some of my previous thoughts, countering them with statistical evidence and a compelling narrative.
Movie: Klaus — I still freaking love this retelling of how the Christmas tradition of Santa came to be. Its a cute story and beautiful graphics. A close second is Sea Beasts for similar reasons.
TV Show: Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits which is a supernatural/romance anime about a college student, Aoi, who can see spirits and is taken to the spirit world to pay off family debt. A major theme running throughout the show is the power cooking and good food can have on one's soul and physical and mental well-being. Additionally, it explores themes of self-reliance vs. dependence, love and acceptance, and finding/belonging.
Cullen Trobec
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Lifechanging!
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
A Half-Ironman triathlon.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Getting married in August, followed closely by moving back from Madison, WI to the Twin Cities,
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
The sheer number of opportunities to celebrate with friends, family, and coworkers.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
Book: The Red Rising saga. Movie: Wake Up Dead Man. TV Show: Tour de France: Unchained.
Julia Schafer
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Endurance.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
I am going to try my first Olympic distance triathlon!
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
My family and I finally took a long-awaited trip to Norway, where both sides of our family come from. We visited Bergen, Ålesund, and Oslo, with the highlight being an all-day boat trip on the Geirangerfjord.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
The Schafers are absolute game fiends, so we spend as much time as possible playing games. A new one we tried is Really Loud Librarians. For verbose, pedantic monsters, it's a great, fast-paced word game.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
Best book: Project Hail Mary. Definitely pop fiction, but a total blast. Best TV: Severance. Best Movie: Wake Up Dead Man or Sinners.
Alida Mitau
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Formative.
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
Gardening.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Buying a house!
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
Jacob learning "Blue Christmas" by Elvis on the guitar.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
The Studio (TV show).
Jorrun Kuehn
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Fast!
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
One of my goals for the year is to try new physical activities. Rock climbing, roller blading, yoga, and cross-country skiing are all on my list.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Seeing the northern lights in person for the first time was amazing.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
Lots of fun events! I went to a murder mystery party, saw My Fair Lady at Theater Latte Da, sang in a Christmas Eve candlelight service, and tried a few new restaurants.
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
This summer I read The In-Between which is a collection of stories from a hospice nurse. I loved her unique perspective on life. One of my favorite movies was Hamnet — all of the actors were incredible. I also finally got around to watching HBO's Chernobyl.
Marisa Morris
If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?
Metamorphosis
What are you excited to learn or try in 2026?
I’m finally going to learn how to ski this year! Buck Hill better watch out.
What was your single favorite moment or accomplishment of 2025?
Seeing my brother’s first dance at his wedding was the standout moment of the year.
What will you remember most from this holiday season?
I’ll remember playing board games and learning pinochle with family. Oh, and my first Tom and Jerry!
What was your favorite/best book, movie and TV show of 2025?
My favorite book was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, a gorgeous, poetic retelling of the Trojan War. My favorite movie was Sinners, which blew me away with the movie magic of seeing Michael B. Jordan doubled on screen. My favorite TV show was Severance and I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for the next season.
