What’s it like combating an entrenched problem like homelessness during a pandemic?  What skills and mindset make the difference in good times and bad? How does one get selected Prescott Woman of the Year?

This week we are sharing an episode from another podcast we produce - The Prescott Woman Podcast. In this interview, we talk to Jessi Hans, a nonprofit director who lives a bold and dedicated life. We talked with Jessi a few hundred years ago when we were just starting out and this interview is just as full of community, leadership, and her bold, crazy mission to end homelessness.  It was great catching up with Jessi and if you missed her the first time, go back and check out episode 8.

In 2018, Jessi and her team set the bold (Crazy?) intention to end homelessness in Prescott.  Since Covid, they have redoubled their efforts to house every member of the Prescott community and connect their clients to the services that will help get them back on their feet and back to their lives.  

We talk with Jessi about the Housing First philosophy, leading her team with authenticity and transparency, the value of partnerships, and how to stay human when things get tough.

Guest Bio:
After 16 years in the human services field, Jessi Hans has an understanding of how addiction, trauma, mental illness, and systemic barriers can put people out on the street. Jessi takes a collaborative approach to problem-solving, bringing together people and organizations with the gifts and skillsets to make meaningful progress on difficult problems.  She also works consciously to shift the narrative around people experiencing homelessness to help everyone see what she sees: human beings, citizens, neighbors, members of the community.

Born and raised in Iowa, Jessi earned her B.F.A. at Northwest Missouri State University and she’s lived in Arizona since 2005. She has a wife and three young children. Jessi enjoys quality time with her family, traveling, reading, creating art, and singing.

Jessi was recently named Women of the Year by Prescott Area Leadership. When we asked her the uncomfortable question of why she was chosen for this honor, she told us she thought the award honored her role more than her actions. We think she might be being too humble, but we’ll let you decide why you think Jessi deserves the win.

This is also a perfect episode for this difficult season. In it, we talk about what it means to serve those less fortunate, what it means to have a safe place to live, and how we can make a difference not just by writing checks, but by extending compassion. Anyone else feeling more of the holiday spirit, just hearing those words? Not yet? Keep listening. 

SHOW NOTES
Key Takeaways: 

• Leadership in a crisis demands transparency & collaboration.
• Vulnerability is actually a precursor to agility and creativity. 
• Courage includes tears.  
• Homelessness is solvable.
• Thinking about people as experiencing homelessness rather than being homeless changes the frame from that of helping others, to working with our neighbors.​

References:

• Housing First model
• Simon Sinek - Leaders Eat Last
• Brene Brown - Dare to Lead ​

​Resources: 

• Coalition for Compassion and Justice 
• CCJ Social Media
  • ​Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
• Not from Prescott? Consider donating to Feeding America ​

Rate &  Review
www.podchaser.com/heretogether
​

​Whether you are an obsessed Pandemic Watcher like Charles or just want to know how to stay un-infected until the vaccines arrive, this episode is for you.  

We bring you interviews with two people who have unique knowledge about the Covid pandemic. Find out what’s going on with vaccine trials, what numbers to look for, and how to make your plan to stay safe through what will undoubtedly be a long, tough winter.  Despite the grim statistics and stories of anti-mask pushback, our conversations this week left us feeling hopeful knowing science is on the case and that human creativity, resilience, and love will, indeed, triumph.

This week we talk with our favorite epidemiologist Christine Stewart, a professor at UC Davis, who helps us make sense of the vaccine trials & rollout. She also explains how her family gets its social and emotional needs met while staying safe and virus-free.

It turns out that Christine is not only a distinguished scientist, she’s a brave research subject. Christine was one of thousands of volunteers in the Stage 3 vaccine trials. You’ll get to hear about her experience with the Moderna vaccine and why I’m really excited to get a sore arm and a fever.

We also talk with our local Health Department’s Information Officer, Terri Farneti, who makes us appreciate the courage and commitment all the hard-working people in our health infrastructures have demonstrated in the face of a massive health crisis combined with incontheivable blowback.

Do a Science:

•  Decide NOW how you are going to change your behavior and habits as cases increase or decrease in your area. Avoid decision fatigue or emotionally contingent decisions by crafting a good plan now. See the Resources section for a link to our Pandemic Behavior Matrix that you can modify for yourself and your family. 

Rate &  Review
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Music Credits: A Hawaiian in Paris by Pierre Grill

SHOW NOTES
Key Takeaways: 

• Create safer communities by supporting institutions and science based decision-making
• Stay informed so you can make good decisions for yourself. See the resources section for links to good data
• Find ways to meet your emotional and social needs that still keep you safe. Be ready to re-think or alter your usual habits or traditions. 
• Resist the urge to re-tweet or re-post suspect public health information. Make sure you are not being manipulated through outrage or click-bait. 
• When overwhelmed, find small ways to help out. ​

References:

•  HERE.together Episode References
  • Episode 22 - How to Think About a Pandemic with Christine Stewart
  • Epi 55 - How to Not Know with Pete Pierson 
• AZ Department of Health Covid Dashboard
• Yavapai County Health Department
• Christine Stewart’s full bio and research page
• CDC: Vaccine roll out plans from each state
• National Academy of Sciences Vaccine Allocation Framework
• Dunning-Krueger Effect

 
Resources: 

• Link to View-only Pandemic Behavior Matrix
  • Go to File-> Download as to create your own editable copy
• Dear Pandemic Facebook Page
• Dear Pandemic on Twitter 
• Covid 101 Facebook Page
• Covid 101 on Twitter
• 100 Ways to Have Fun in Quarantine/lockdown

So We’ve been thinking about the parable of The Two Wolves in the aftermath of the national election. Given how much anger, xenophobia and racism has risen, will a new president make a difference? 

Were we always this awful and now it’s just visible? Or have we become more awful under the influence of a, well, craven and selfish leader? 

Listeners know we’re big believers in the “both/and theory” of everything. So we're going big and ambitious today and working to tackle both the implications of leadership and responsibility of individuals in the battle of wolves. 
 
Hang out with us today as Charles tells a true story of how green wolf leadership created opportunities for excellence and unity in the midst of a crisis.

AND we’ll explore how everyday people (That’s us) can feed the right wolf the right diet and become the kind of leaders in their own lives that, together, transform our culture into one of compassion, responsibility, and inclusion.

​We wrestle this set of weighty subjects with our usual mix of humor and empathy. Stay sharp for 3-4 pop culture easter eggs and a chance to win a HERE.together T-shirt.

Resources: 

• Guide to Happy Brain Hormones
• Simon Sinek - Leadership and Brain Hormones
• Free, short Yoga Videos that Kelly produces and Charles is using every day. 
• Our Favorite Podcasts
  • Pod Save America
  • The Side Door
  • Thoughline
  • My Favorite Murder
  • This is Love
  • Criminal

Episode Show Notes
Key Takeaways for Leadership and Life: 

• We are all a contradictory mess of impulses and desires
• Leadership can nudge us toward compassion, inclusion, and growth OR toward selfishness and fear. 
• Four Ways to Feed the Right Wolf the Right Diet
  • Use good decision making hygiene
  • Choose the right hormones 
  • Get Help and Connection
  • Opt in to the struggle

Relevant Episodes 

• How to Turn a 180 about Hayden Gebler's escape from a White Supremacist Gang
• ​How to Vote for Your Best Self with performance coach Stasia Rivera
• How to Not Know with Engaged Buddhist Pete Pierson

References:

• Relevant AF Podcast
• Annie Dukes Book - How To DecideSimple Tools for Making Better Choices

Rate &  Review
www.podchaser.com/heretogether

If you think of Buddhists as quiet, gentle people who meditate all the time, think again.  

How are you, dear listeners?  We are recording this on Sunday, November 8th.  This has been a week full of all the feels... the stress and joy and fear and sorrow and hope.  We hope you are coping and coming through it ok.  We checked in with a couple of our besties yesterday to process all these feelings and find out what comes next.  

We know that not all of you are political junkies like Charles has become. And many of you are likely ready to move on, with fewer phone calls, fewer flyers in your mailbox. But more people followed this election closely than ever before. More people voted than ever before. By all accounts, it was the most important, most consequential election in a generation. Our generation. All that said, we want to check in with you AND share with you a couple of stories from some dedicated women who were engaged in the election. Their stories are personal and emotional. We think they will touch you. 

Joining us this week, we have pod fave Laura Fitton back to talk about what makes this election different and why her belief in our new Vice President Elect is so deeply, deeply personal.  

For those of you who don’t remember, Laura is a serial entrepreneur and problem-solver. A college chum from Charles's Cornell days, Laura took her smarts and passion and created her own internet start up about monetizing and promoting brands on Twitter. She sold her company to a large inbound marketing company, freeing her up to address climate change through the Enough Company and then the pandemic with the The PPE Index. The throughline in all her ventures was seeing a need and deciding to do something to meet it.

(If you see something, do something!)

In this episode Laura talks about her realization that black women are the backbone of our democracy and what she did to help amplify their voices and work. And, because we’re not done protecting the vote and protecting democracy...

We also have - we are beyond thrilled to say - Kelly's BFF from high school, Elise Durham.  We’ve been promising that you’d get to meet her and we finally get to deliver on that.  She lays it down on the Founding Fathers, voting in Georgia, and moving forward together.  Elise works for Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as the Director of Communications at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - the world’s busiest airport.  Before that, she was a TV news producer, as well as running communications for Morehouse College and Florida A&M University.  She was also Kelly's high school’s mascot Leo the Lion in their senior year.  We are so happy and excited to talk with her, and you’ll hear why.  She’s a smart, savvy badass we know you’ll enjoy.
​

Key Takeaways: 

• Those people who have been marginalized or put off to one side are deeply affected by this election. 
• Those people who are more at the center are also deeply affected. 
• For those at the center, a move toward equality and confusion can feel like oppression = fragility. 
• Fragility is real pain, even if it seems selfish or ridiculous.
• Black women are the backbone of our democracy. Despite being generally unloved by the country, they love it back and vote like no one else. 
• Conversations like this one, across race and gender can make a difference. 

Do a Science:

• Get involved in local and national politics
• Have a conversation with someone who holds a different political position ​

​References & Resources:

• Donate to an HBCU Scholarship Fund
• Laura’s Voting Rights and Get Out the Vote Organizations List
  • Donate
  • Volunteer
  • Amplify on Social Media
• Episode 43 - How to Be Useful with Laura Fitton 
• Prescott Woman Podcast - Women of Service – Turning Passion into Change
• The Enough Company

In case you missed the big news (yes election, yes covid numbers, but the other big news) - this podcast just had its 1st anniversary. To celebrate, we released a Greatest Hits episode, threw a party, AND renamed/rebranded the dang thing.

If you missed the party, fear not! We harvested some of the best moments and arranged them in this thoughtful audio wreath for you to enjoy.

We were so happy and grateful to have some of our favorite humans join us as guests and as audience members on Friday to celebrate, as we said, our one-year anniversary as a podcast. Drew and Candace sang us a couple of awesome songs. Bill Konigsberg, Jim Natal, and Matt Ruff read the perfect passages, and some of our smartest pals talked over how to save the world.
We also made the big announcement that we are re-branding this very podcast. After much consideration, we felt that a new name would serve our audience and get our message out into the world a bit better. Welcome to the HERE.together Podcast.

Key Take Aways: 

• Take compliments and positive feedback graciously. Learn to integrate them into your self-conception. It’s OK to know all your faults AND to know that others can see the truth of your gifts.
• We all crave fairness but to create a workable community, we might need to give each other support while we reach across divides. We will not get reciprocal love and empathy in all our interactions.

Do a Science:

• Send a message or a card to someone who supports a different political candidate than you. Let them know you will still be their neighbor, family member, or co-worker, no matter who wins. 
  Pro-tip: Do this while still remaining 100% true to your own values. 

Rate &  Review
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Music Credits: Serene View by Arulo via www.mixkit.co

References:
We are lucky to know a slew of thought leaders and activists in the field of human connection and communication. Click a name to see their projects. 

• Tracey McConnell
• Tom Check
• Stasia Rivera
• Adam Young
• Breeanya Hinkel
• Melanie Banayat
• Jessica Stickel

Poetry and Literature are important resources, now more than ever. Check out the works and websites of the authors who joined us. 

• Bill Konigsberg, author of The Bridge
• Jim Natal, poet. (Be sure to attend the next Lit Southwest event.)
• Matt Ruff, author of Bad Monkeys and Lovecraft Country

If you buy any books by these gents, be sure to do so at your local book store or online through Indiebound. Please do what you can to help independent bookstores and small businesses survive. 

Resources & Events: 

• Jim Natal’s Literary Southwest Series

We’ll be attending Ben Fountain’s reading on November 13th. Look for us in the YouTube Live comments. 

How many 1-year-olds can say they conversed with 47 notable geniuses, fomented community, provided solace to at least dozens of friends and strangers, and emboldened others to take a creative plunge into unknown waters?   You know a toddler like that??  Cool.  We need to interview that kid.  But seriously. 

​The one-year-old I’m talking about is, of course, the Rocket Feather podcast.  And while we have had a blast building this first year, and only a few arguments, we could not have done it without you - the intrepid Rocketeers. You have been willing to go with us to the difficult places, the challenging places, the confusing, painful, weirdly joyful places.  And it’s made all the difference, especially in the year of covid, for us not to have to make this journey alone.  Sharing our fears and questions and solutions with our 47 amazing guests and with our brilliant and beautiful listeners has made the most challenging year - debatably - of our lives, not only tolerable, but full of meaning and real joy.  So come with us on a walk through some of our favorite moments over the last year as we remember, make meaning, and plan for what’s next.  

One of the big themes of this podcast - the Rocketfeather podcast - is that we do the personal work in order to be in relationship, so we can be of service.  This is how we have designed this walk down memory lane today.  While most of our interviews touched on all three of these phases, we have grouped them according to where we remember having our minds blown and our hearts opened.   This episode would be 14 hours long if we included every bit of goodness, so by necessity, we pared it down to the high points that struck us this week as we were assembling it, which was a delicious torture. It was like cutting up a gorgeous piece of velvet yardage - so hard to cut into when the whole thing is so stunning, but necessary to make the garment we wanted to make.  So we hope you like what we made. Nobody ever promised that creativity was devoid of tough choices.   So true.  Anyway - enough preamble - let’s get started!

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Sign up for the Live podcast:   
https://here_together.eventbrite.com
Music Credits: Singing Bowl Meditation by Ahjay Stelino at mixkit.co

SHOW NOTES
Key Takeaways: 

• We do self-actualization so we can be in better relationship, so we can be of service
• Self-actualization is never complete.
• We are each 100 percent responsible for our relationships.
• If you see something, do something.
• You don’t have to suffer to do good. 

 Episodes We Reference:

• How to Self-Actualize 
  • Episode 4: Opening Your Heart w/ Tony Himes
  • Episode 15: Living an Epic Life with Claire Louge
  • Episode 35: How to Pull a 180 with Hayden Gebler
• How to be in Relationship
  • Episode 44: How to Be Authentic with Kate & Colby Martin
  • Episode 33: How to Empathize for a Living with Matt Ruff
  • Episode 19: How to be a Better We with Rowdy Duncan
• How to Be of Service
  • Episode 29: Don’t Worry Child with Candace & Drew
  • Episode 49: How to Get off the Couch with Rosy & Ren
  • Episode 8: The End of Homelessnes with Jessi Hans
  • Episode 51: How to Raise the Bar with Ruth Ellen & Tim Elinski

Resources: 

•  Our Episode Gallery
• Tony Himes’s Arizona Gestalt Institute
• Claire Louge’s Prevent Child Abuse AZ
• Kate and Colby Martin’s Church Sojourner Grace Collective
• Rowdy Duncan’s Inclusive Activism Podcast
• Drew & Candace’s song, Don’t Worry Child
• Rosy Dixon’s Prescott Indivisible 
• Jessi Hans’ Coalition for Compassion & Justice
• Tim and Ruth Ellen’s Pindrop Travel Trailers

What’s it like to take an unpopular stand for something you know is important?  What’s it like to make public service a pillar of your life?  What’s important in making a good life for your family? Join us for a chat with the First Family...of Cottonwood, AZ as we learn about leadership, service, entrepreneurship, adventure, and more. 

Cottonwood, for those who don’t know, is a former smelter town in Central AZ that nearly dried up and blew away when the mines closed 70 years ago. Over the last decade, though, it had a powerful and surprising renaissance, becoming actually hip... kinda. Now it’s struggling, like many other small towns, with covid, economic chaos, and divisive politics. 

Tim and Ruth Ellen Elinski are right in the thick of it. Tim is the current and recently re-elected mayor of Cottonwood. He is also a contractor, specializing in historic renovations AND builds retro mini camping trailers. His wife and business partner, Ruth Ellen, is an award-winning nonprofit leader and entrepreneur who is currently a Business Analyst for the Small Business Development Center at Yavapai College. Together they are working to build the economic and community strength of a their rural region while raising two daughters and maintaining their new business - Pin Drop Trailers
 
Full disclosure - Tim and Ruth Ellen are old friends of Kelly's.  They are super busy, involved people - the kind we love to have on this podcast - and I’m so grateful they made time to talk with us.  We get into what it was like for Tim, as mayor, and for the Elinskis as a family, to face protesters in front of their house after Tim’s controversial mayoral proclamation.  We go exploring with them to the wilds of Miami, Arizona and the birth of their most recent business venture.  And we find out what it means to them to serve and support their community - the whole community, even the people who boldly disagree.

​Show Notes:
Do a Science:

• Go for a walk outside. Stop. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Take another. 
• Think about a person you’re put in that “I don’t like [him/her/them] box.” Make an effort to reach out and connect about something. The goal is not necessarily to learn to like that person, just to connect. 

References:

• Pin Drop Travel Trailers
• Yavapai Small Business Development Council
• The Verde Valley Wine Trail

Resources: 

• Arizona Local Business Directory
• If you are a small business not in AZ, here are organizations that are likely in your community to support your efforts. 
• Join the rest of the Rocket Scientists on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rfcomlab 
• Follow us on Instagram @rocketfeather1

 Rate &  Review
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Sign up for the Live Podcast: 
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Music Credits: 
Singing Bowls by via www.mixkit.co

What would it be like for the businesses near us to be owned by our friends and neighbors?  What would it be like if the money we spent in those businesses stayed in town and enriched our whole community? What if we all felt like partners in our economy instead of just customers?  

Today’s guest, Thomas Barr, is the Executive Director of Local First Arizona, the largest coalition of local businesses in North America. A proud Arizona native and graduate of Arizona State University, Thomas leads the business coalition of Local First Arizona by advocating for the economic and cultural benefits provided by building strong local economies. 

Thomas’s work is fueled by his values. In this episode, he reveals some of the personal and family stories that forged his values around justice and inclusion. He also explains how his  advocacy for a strong local business community contributes to building vibrant, equitable prosperity across the state. 

In his free time, Thomas volunteers with many causes and organizations throughout the Valley including Young Nonprofit Professionals, Equality Arizona, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Heritage Square Foundation and Phoenix Legal Action Network. Thomas was honored in 2018 as one of Phoenix Magazine’s 40 Under 40, he’s an alumnus of Arizona Leading for Change, and the Valley Leadership Institute's 40th cohort. 

We were so happy that Thomas Barr was able to join us this week to share his passion and plans for a thriving economy. He also shared the sometimes wrenching stories of businesses and business owners that Local First Arizona is working to keep afloat during Covid, the biggest challenge to small business in a century. Keep listening to the end when Thomas reveals his secret “smell test” to find out instantly whether a business is locally owned or not, and for his powerful vision for the next 20 years. 

Rate &  Review
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Sign up for the Live Podcast:  
www.here_together.eventbrite.com

​Music Credits:
 Atop A Mustang by Arulo via www.mixkit.co

SHOW NOTES
Key Take Aways: 

• Local business contributes to multi-generational community wealth
• Big national chains can actually be seen as “extractive” structures that remove wealth from a community
• Local First AZ believes that focusing on sustainability, diversity, and economic justice are integral to supporting local communities and businesses. 
• Ten Reasons to Buy Locally

Do a Science:

• Find out if the businesses you patronize are locally owned. Ask an employee if they know the owner. Thomas says this “smell test” is nearly infallible. 

References:

• Local First AZ
• Shop Local AZ Online Marketplace
• Arizona Local Business Directory

Resources: 

• If you are a small business not in AZ, here are organizations that are likely in your community to support your efforts. 
• Join the rest of the Rocket Scientists on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rfcomlab 
• Follow us on Instagram @rocketfeather1

What would make you get off the couch and take to the streets in the name of justice?  Justice for people like you?  Justice for people who are “different”?  We continue to struggle with these questions, but our guests today got off their respective couches long ago.  Find out what activism is like here in the Prescott area for Ren Manning and Rosemary Dixon, as they fight for healthcare, freedom, and basic respect for all of our neighbors. 

Rosemary Dixon lived all over the world before settling in Prescott 9 years ago. She earned her graduate degree at the University of the Western Cape, in South Africa, and lectured in gender, race, racism and whiteness at the University of Nevada, Reno for eleven years. She is a steering committee member of Prescott Indivisible and the of chair of the recently formed AREA-P (Anti-Racist Education and Action-Prescott). This group operates to educate primarily white people on the hierarchical system we have created, but also acts to spotlight racial injustice and white supremacy in all its forms.
​
Ren Manning is a local artist, organizer, and educator who is deeply committed to transformation and justice. They moved to Prescott in 2011 from Silver City, New Mexico. They’ve also lived and organized in Tucson, New York City, Guatemala, Mexico, and Maasailand, Kenya. Experiences within international struggles for freedom have influenced their moral, ethical, political, and spiritual growth.

Ren graduated from Prescott College with a Bachelors of Arts in Social Movement Studies and a Masters of Arts in Social Justice and Human Rights. They have taught courses in US/Mexico border studies, anti-racist organizing, landscapes of neoliberalism, art & agency, and community outreach.

Their organizing work includes establishing a full ride scholarship for undocumented students at Prescott College called Freedom Education Fund, two years as the Social Justice Coordinator at Granite Peak UU Congregation, research on US involvement in global border militarization for Todd Miller’s most recent book, and helping form a local deportation defense network, Keep Prescott Together. Ren co-founded and performs with the local Preskitt Drag Cabaret Troupe. They are currently working for the Judy Stahl for AZ State House campaign in Legislative District 1, Co-Director of BorderLinks, and on the Board of UU Justice Arizona.

I’m amazed that we could even get time with them to record this podcast, they are so busy, but I’m thrilled that we did.  

This is an intense conversation, but we left it feeling inspired, hopeful, and most important, ready to take action to make things better for ALL of our neighbors.  We hope you’ll come along with us for this talk and then we’ll see you at the meeting after. I’ll bring the cookies

SHOW NOTES:
Do a Science:

• Learn more about the concept of race
• Volunteer for a campaign
• Be curious about what you hear about race and justice organizations

References:

• The Open Letter to the Community
• Find Your Local Indivisible Group 
• Prescott Indivisible 
• Keep Prescott Together
• AREA-P (Anti-Racist Education and Action-Prescott)
  • Email: piar072020@gmail.com
• Volunteer for Judy Stahl’s Campaign
• Volunteer for other AZ Campaigns
• Black Phoenix Organizing Collective
• Black Lives Matter

Resources: 

• Books
  • Pedogogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Fiere
  • Just Mercy - Brian Stevenson’s
• Movies
  • Bisbee 17
  • Hidden Figures
• Video 
  • Message from the Future: The Years of Repair
  • Race: The Power of An Illusion

Quote:

• “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” - Audre Lorde

 Music Credits: 

• Singing Bowls from Mixkit.com