Kansas couple flies ‘lawn chairs,’ rescues turtles and now vies to be America’s favorite
Jael and Leo Kiesling have done a little bit of everything in their time together.
They own a company called Wichita Paramotor that teaches people how to fly ‘lawn chairs’. They also own an AV production company called River City Production and a full-service special effects firm called KVB Studios.
And they run a company called Wichita Spray Paint that he operated before they even knew each other. In fact, he once did a job for Village Flea Market, where Jael worked, which is what eventually brought them together.
And, of course, those efforts don’t include Great Plains Turtle Rescue, their labor of love, or the re-entactments they used to take part in at Old Cowtown Museum, where Leo proposed to Jael in October 2017 in front of an estimated 500 people.
They were married on June 15, 2018.
“The stuff that we get into,” Leo said during a phone interview with The Eagle on July 13 as they talked about being nominated for something called America’s Favorite Couple. The event is a fundraiser for the Action Initiative Team, a nonprofit that helps communities across the country respond to disasters. The fundraiser also helps support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Oceana, which claims to be the largest international advocacy organization focused solely on ocean conservation.
The winning couple will receive a package valued at approximately $50,000 — $20,000 in cash, the right to be featured in a photo shoot that will appear in an advertorial spread in Variety magazine, and a dinner with actor Jeff Goldblum and Olympic rhythm gymnast-turned-aerialist-and-contortionist Emilie Goldblum in Los Angeles.
The Kieslings, who live about six miles south of Goddard, were in sixth place out of the Top 20 couples in their group as of July 13 at 7 p.m. Pacific time. Voting in this round ends on July 16 at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The top vote-getters move on to the round of 15, with voting from July 16 to July 23, followed by the Top 10, with voting from July 23 to July 30. Voting on the Top 5 couples is July 30 to Aug. 6.
Group finals begin Aug. 6 and go through Aug. 13. Public voting will help reduce total competitors to one preliminary winner in each group finals, who will then advance to the quarterfinals. Rounds of voting will continue until the finals, which are scheduled to run from Sept. 4 through Sept. 10, with the grand-prize winning couple being announced on or around Oct. 9.
The public can vote once a day for the couple of their choice at no cost. They can cast 10 votes for $10, 25 votes for $25, 50 votes for $50, 100 votes for $100 and 250 votes for $250, according to the americasfavcouple.org website.
“This couple is amazing in all the things they do,” said Amanda Treadwell, who met them last July when trying to help them find land for Wichita Paramotor. “When I see people put themselves out there as entrepreneurs and help other people I just want to support them.”
When Leo and Jael were asked if they had any special strategies for competing in America’s Favorite Couple, Leo said: “Just be us, relying on our strengths, making content, and showing off the cool things that we get to do together.”
Added Jael: “It’s a celebration of love. The charity is nice. The prizes are nice. But it’s a celebration of love.”
If they do win the grand prize, they plan to use the prize money to take their motorized flying lawn chairs to fly at the Pyramids of Giza outside of Cairo.