October 30, 2023 • 27 mins
Kids need hands-on experience to learn the best, and today's guest has created an app to teach children financial literacy, saving money and spending it wisely. All with parental consent of course. Greg Murset is a certified financial planner and CEO of BusyKids.
Then, we talk about the progress Cincinnati organizations have made in decreasing infant mortality, which was among the highest in this country just a few years ago. Epidemologist Dominique Walker explains why black babies are at more risk and relates the effort to improve the numbers.
Then, we talk about the progress Cincinnati organizations have made in decreasing infant mortality, which was among the highest in this country just a few years ago. Epidemologist Dominique Walker explains why black babies are at more risk and relates the effort to improve the numbers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
This week on iHeart Sency and alot of parents freak out about teaching their
kids about money and oh, mygoodess, I don't know what, just
out know where to start. Doesthat describe you? Today? On iHeart
Sinsey, I'm talking with a certifiedfinancial planner about the importance of teaching kids
how to make and handle money.You've got to work to get the money,
and then once you get it,you've got to do three things with
(00:29):
the money. What are those things? My guest is Greg murcette, who
created an app for that, andwe'll tell you about it and later.
Infant mortality is right up there withthe most important concerns in the Tri State.
Today, I'm going to speak withan epidemiologist who works to identify the
reasons why babies die before their firstyear of life. Here in the Hamilton
(00:51):
County area. We know that it'sa multifaceted pause. We see, you
know, more black babies dying thanwhite babies. No. On iHeart Cincy
with Sandy Collins. Back for anotherepisode of iHeart Cincy on this iHeartRadio station
and on the iHeartRadio app under podcasts. I'm Sandy Collins. My first guest
(01:11):
Greg mrcett is a chief financial plannerand creator of an app that helps you
teach children the importance and the funof making and spending money. So,
Greg, thanks for taking time outof your busy day to be here with
us. The topic today financial planning, And while that may draw a big
yawn from some folks, it's certainlyimportant to know and something you really enjoy.
(01:34):
And this is so important throughout ourlives. Tell me a little bit
about what you do, what you'vedone at busy kids, and also your
credentials, your certified financial planner.So yeah, I'm a certified financial planner,
have been for over twenty years.And I'm a dad of six.
(01:55):
Believe it or not, I've gota bunch of kids. I got grandkids
now, four of us. ButI figured out something a few years ago
while dealing with clients. Mainly mostof my clients were business owners, successful
folks that have worked really hard,and that's what they had. They worked
really hard and they were smart withtheir money. And I thought, huh,
(02:16):
those two primary things is what Ineed to figure out how to get
into my kids so that they canbe successful and leave my house and never
come back. Okay, except tovisit and not want money, okay,
And so that's what I set outto do. And that's what Busy Kid
is. It's an app to teachkids that you need to make that work
(02:37):
of money connection. You got todo some chores, You've got to do
something around the house, get somemoney. And then once you get the
money, what do you do withit? Like, you can't just earn
it and burn it. If youdo that, you're just going to be
in trouble and you're going to bein the spot that most Americans find themselves,
right with no money and little prospectsof a great retirement. So learning
(02:58):
how to manage money, it's actuallykind of difficult these days because the nature
of money has changed. It usedto be dollar bills that we stick in
our pockets or our purses and coinsand stuff like that. It isn't like
that anymore. It's digital. It'swhat I call invisible. And so you've
got to change the way you teachthe next generation. So that's what we've
(03:20):
done. When you don't have thatphysical money anymore, to kids, it
must just feel like video game cash, It must feel like nothing like imagine,
it's not real, right, Yeah, yeah, it's like points that
they earned. Gems are something thatthey earned in a video game, and
they're gone. Yeah. So that'swhy it's really important to make sure they
(03:42):
know where the money came from intothe first place. Right Like when they
slide that card and they see thenumbers change and they think, oh,
man, I had to scoop dogpoop, I had to wash the car,
I had to make my bed,I had to do all this stuff
for two weeks to buy that scooter. Like, that's where it all starts.
To Chris Lie, what age doyou recommend these kids start this?
(04:03):
Oh my, I think it's reallyimportant to start early five years old.
I think that the decade between fiveand fifteen is where you got to nail
this. If you can do thatwhen they're that age, you're setting them
up for success. I mentioned Ihave six kids. Five of them have
left the nest. Okay, andthey learned this stuff when they were younger.
(04:25):
And that's not because I'm like amazing, it's just basic fundamental stuff,
but they learned it. All fivewho have left had more than ten thousand
dollars saved that before they left thehouse. I think that's a big deal
that is a lot of money.Yes, so anybody can do it.
That is tremendous. They say thatkids are powerless when they're little because they
(04:46):
they want all these things, theydon't have any money, they don't have
any way to earn it. Howdoes it actually work? And teach the
kids about is there a way todesignate like these are the things you have
to do because you just live here, and then there's some things that you
can do to to make some cash. Yeah. So there's kind of this
great divide when it comes to choresand allowance and all this stuff. Right,
(05:08):
It's like, I'm not paying mykids. They should just do this
stuff because they live here. I'mproviding the roof over their head and they
should clean the room. Anyways,I get that. I totally get that,
and I think there's just you know, it depends on your family.
But some things are going to behave to do. So some things are
going to be I want them toearn some money because they've got to have
some money to start having these experiences, right and so, and they're too
(05:31):
young to get a real job,right a quote real job, right,
So your home is the perfect littleecosystem for them to start learning this stuff.
So give them chores to do aroundthe house, and hey, maybe
you decide, you know what,we have a lawn service. But I
got this kid who's nine, like, why can't he be the lawn service,
right, and let him start doingthe work outside. I had one
(05:55):
of my daughters who could trim abush like nobody's business, right, and
so why not let that kind ofthing happen so that they understand. You've
got to work to get the money, and then once you get it,
you've got to do three things withthe money. Okay, I'm very adamant
about this. You've got to saveand invest a little bit of it,
you've got to share a little bitof it, and then you've got to
spend the rest. And so ifyou think about it, that's exactly what
(06:17):
we do as adults. We goout, we have a job, we
earn money, we save and investusually in like a four to one k
or something we share with church,charity, something we care about, and
then we spend the rest and wespend it on a card or we spend
it in our phone. Right,That's exactly what busy kid is. It's
exactly the same every time they arein money. Boom, boom, boom.
(06:41):
It goes into those three different buckets, teaching them a balance financial approach
every time they are in money,not just I'm going to get enough to
bite this thing and then I'm notgoing to do anything anymore. Is there
actual cash in the app? Ohyeah, it's real money. It's all
based on parental approval. So thatmoney, let's say the kid busted out
that week and gets twenty bucks.Okay, we divide it up into those
(07:02):
three areas. If they want togo and learn to invest, they can
browse stocks. They can under ohI love Tesla, I love Netflix.
Whatever. They can tap on thatand a request will go to their parents,
say hey, Johnny wants to buytwenty dollars where the Tesla stock.
Parent approove it. Boom, ithappens. You can go into the share
(07:24):
area, learn about charities. Iwant to give to the Autism Foundation because
my cousin has autism. Whatever.I want to donate twenty dollars, same
thing, parent approves it. Boom. We're facilitating that. And then lastly,
in the spend, I want toload twenty dollars onto my visa card.
Okay, great, parent approves it. Twenty bucks goes on the card,
they go to the store, theyswipe, and they learn how it
(07:46):
all works. Right, So yeah, all real money, all things happening.
That's going to teach this kid reallywhat money does. How about busy
adults? Do you have a busyadults app because everything that you're saying sounds
like, oh, I would loveto be able to do that personally.
Yeah, I've been asked that manytimes and we haven't quite created it,
(08:09):
but these are. It is agood thing. When you start doing this
with the family, you start thinkingthat way as well, right as a
parent, and a lot of parentsfreak out about teaching their kids about money.
Oh my goodness, I don't knowwhat to I don't know where to
start. I don't know what todo. I'm not that great out at
myself. So as you start doingthis with your family, your kids,
you're going to start thinking the sameway, so it'll help you regardless.
(08:33):
I was fortunate at a love andI got a paper route to learn about
money and help me understand how thebank works. I got a checking account,
I learned about supply demand, accounts, receivable, who owed me accounts
payable? You know, I hadto pay for my papers, but I
didn't learn anything about discipline. Amazingand saving money. Yeah, the nature
of money has changed. So mylast son just got a first quote real
(08:58):
job, right, and what ifyou need you needed to count so they
could deposit his his paycheck in it. Like you can't really kind of avoid
that step anymore. And and towhat you said earlier, I think is
a really good point. You learnthis stuff by having a paper out.
All these things kind of unpacked becauseyou had a paper out. Experiential learning
(09:18):
is exactly how kids learn the best. They gotta do this stuff right.
They got to understand, oh wow, not only is it just a car
that drives by, but I actuallyown a little piece of that company Tesla
that just drove by or whatever.Right, I'm watching Netflix, but I
actually own a little piece of thatcompany. And I got a dividend?
What is that? Right? Boom? These kinds of things happen just like
(09:41):
you. All these things kind offell out of your paper out. The
same things fall out of any kindof money interning. But now it's all
digital and you gotta you gotta kindof get with it and do it in
that manner. Starting at five yearsold up until they're out of the house.
That's right, and that's the goal. Get them out and don't come
(10:03):
back. Don't come back unless you'revisiting or if you have some grandkids,
come back because they're super fun.Yeah, that's great. Well Greg Greg
Mersett, certified Financial Planner, CEOof Busy Kid. The app is available
in the app stores YEP, bothAndroid and Apple and get your kid busy
doing something that actually matters in life. You know, they sit around and
(10:26):
scroll their lives away these days andwatch a thousand reels. But come on,
let's do something that's actually going toset them up for success in the
future. My guest, Greg Mersett, CEO of Busy Kids, the app
that gives children real world experience inmaking, saving, and investing money.
Well, coming up next, youknow, our biggest thing is it has
(10:48):
to be a collaborative effort. Howa local group is moving the needle to
reduce infant mortality in the Tri State. That's coming up on iHeart Sinsey.
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We are back one iHeart Cinci.I'm Sandy Collins. This show,
along with previous episodes, can befound on the iHeartRadio app under podcasts.
There's a treasure trove of information aboutCincinnati and the Tri State organizations that provide
real solutions to real problems, somereally interesting people you get to meet,
and events as well. Before weget back to the show, I want
(15:18):
to run down some of the volunteeropportunities that are available here in the Tri
State, two of them specifically.Now. First, if you're looking to
find a tangible way to positively impactyour neighbors and improve the lives right there
in your community, People Working Cooperativelyis rounding up volunteers to provide fall clean
(15:39):
up for hundreds of low income,senior citizens, veterans, and folks with
disabilities throughout Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.Those yards don't take care of themselves,
and PWC's mission is to get thesehomes ready for winter weather. It's just
one of the many services they providefor free to those special populations. So
(16:00):
the annual fall volunteer event known asPrepare Affair is going to run all throughout
November but specifically they're looking for abig push on Saturday, November eighteenth.
PWC's president Jock Pitt says they're waitinglist for services as long and the volunteer
events like this is what make itpossible to help as many people as possible
(16:22):
to prepare for the upcoming winter seasonlike raking leaves and gutters, minor winterization
tasks and it's just a few hoursof time. They'll provide all the materials
needed. Go to the PwC websiteto find out more and to sign up.
Here's the address PwC home Repairs dotorg, slash prepare affair, or
(16:45):
you can call PwC people working cooperativelyand talk to their volunteer program manager.
Another place to volunteer in the TriState is may we Help. They're a
good friend of the show and theyare looking for skilled volunteers like electricians,
engineers, industrial designers, inventors,woodworkers, doctors, occupational or physical therapists,
(17:10):
and tinkerers of all types. Yousee, May we Help creates custom
solutions for individuals with a disability whocan't find what they need to be independent
commercially. So May we Help volunteersdesign, build, and deliver custom devices
at absolutely no cost to hundreds ofpeople every year. It's an amazing organization.
(17:33):
If you have time and you wantto be a part of this rewarding
mission, go to their website mayweHelp dot org and click on volunteers.
All right, back to the show. We're going to turn now to one
of the Tri States' biggest problems,and that's infant mortality. For more than
ten years, Hamilton County's infant mortalityrate was ranked among the worst in the
(17:55):
entire country. It may be hardto believe that it was true, and
that's some thing that's changing thanks toan enormous effort by Cradle Cincinnati and their
many partners across this area to reduceinfant deaths and support parents with all the
resources available to help the family thrive. My guest today is from Cradle Cincinnati,
(18:17):
Dominique Walker. She's an epidemiologist.Dominique, thanks for being here today.
We're going to start out with abasic question. Can you tell us
what an epidemiologist does and what isyour role at Cradle Cincinnati. Yeah.
So, as an epidemiologist, Ireally focus on data and looking at how
that impacts through public health blends,and so specifically at Cradle, I look
(18:41):
at a lot of birth and deathdata to see if we can, you
know, kind of get an understandingof infant mortality and the trajectory within the
community. Yeah, and researching issuesfor this program to see what would be
appropriate for this public affairs show theproblem of infant mortality. And he was
right at the top of the list, which unfortunately was a little surprising for
(19:04):
me. Being in the news.I would think I would know more that
you know than the average person.Maybe, but we certainly don't hear about
it very much in the news becauseI guess it's private and it's not really
something that's, you know, suitablefor broadcast. The Department of Health keeps
track of these deaths and the resultsare pretty shocking, including first off,
(19:26):
that black babies are three times morelikely to die than white babies. And
you say they're at Cradle Cincinnati,that it's not the family's fault, it's
not genetics, it's not social class. Can you explain what you believe is
the cause and why black babies arethree times more likely to die than white
babies. Yeah, so we knowthat it's a multifaceted pause we see,
(19:52):
you know, more Black babies dyingthan white babies. The first thing we
do want to call out is systemicracism, and that we know that within
you know, health care settings,historically there have just been a lot of
differences between care for black families andwhite families. And so that kind of
being at the forefront to keep inour minds that there are just some things
systemically we have to address. Andthen just like leading causes of death overall
(20:15):
for infants, we're seeing, youknow, extreme preterm birth related deaths.
Sleep related death is a really bigone that within the black population really disportionately
affects them compared to white babies.But again, we just know that there's
a lot of factors that really playinto this. Yeah, let's stick down
into these sleep related deaths. Canyou run down the ways that parents maybe
(20:38):
incorrectly put their babies down to sleepor for naps. Yeah, so I'll
kind of start with the way thatwe preach is safe sleep, and so
that's the ABC's So babies should bealone on their backs, and they should
be in their own crab or bacinets. So no blankets, no toys,
no siblings, no, you know, and not in the bed with adults,
(21:00):
remove all items from the bed andgive that baby that safe space by
their self to sleep. And lookingat some of the sleep related death data
that we booked at, we doknow that co betting is a major factor
when we are looking at sleep relatedinfant deaths, and so that co betting
being whether it's a parent or asibling, but some type of caregiver sharing
(21:22):
that bedspace with the baby. Yeah, I was surprised when you hear these
deaths in the news where the babywas turned over on his stomach and he
didn't have the muscles or the abilityto roll over, and you know,
would just be so close to thebetting that he couldn't breathe, and you
(21:44):
would not necessarily think that as aparent, you're thinking, oh, this's
a big, fluffy bed, I'lljust put the baby down for a little
while, and that it can becompletely fatal for these kids, and actually
sleeping with the baby, you know, so tempting. You know, you
love your baby, you and awhole baby, and you want to sleep
together, and that is like theworst thing to do. Yes, And
(22:04):
a lot of times, you know, we've heard from you know, moms
in the community that you know,stress and being tired, and you know,
lack of support also just kind offactor into some of those, you
know, cobetting situations. So wereally want to make sure that we uplift
those concerns from the families and atCradle Cincinnati, you know, we do
(22:26):
our best to kind of work collectivelywithin the community to really see how can
we support families to where we reducedsome of those things like stress and you
know, lack of support to helpsupport putting baby down in a safe sleep
environment, and it seems that it'snearly always with a baby under six months
of age. Any indication of aswhy that would be that, I feel
(22:48):
like is one thing that we're tryingto kind of dig into a little bit
deeper because you know, some ofthe we'll call them kind of the myths
that you may hear is that youknow, these aren't such young babies,
and we're really trying to figure out, you know, what's going on with
that. But also is this anarea to make some intervention and do some
different opportunities to re educate families andcaregivers in those early early ages of life
(23:14):
of you know, the best andsafest sleep environment. For a baby all
Rick Cradle Cincinnati's come up with aplan to help reduce these infant deaths,
especially in the black community. Canyou go over just kind of a basic
what you did, how you researched, what was needed to be done,
and then what the plan is now. Yeah, So we just released our
(23:36):
new strategic plan and so in thatwe really took some time to work collectively
with partners in the community, thosebeing healthcare professionals as well as community members
to really co create this strategic planand trying to listen from all angles to
see where Cradle could really reduce eventdeaths that we're seeing in the county.
(23:57):
We are, you know, stillcontinue to build on some of those conversations
to see what some of these kindof individual interventions or programs could look like.
You know, our biggest thing isit has to be a collaborative effort
at Cradle. We cannot do italone. We know that we can't do
it alone, and so really leaningon the entire community to really to support
the community to move us in theright direction. There seems to be a
(24:21):
lot of resources for women, butthe hard part is just about in any
situation, where do I go first, it's just kind of overwhelming. So
if there's a young mother that wantsinformation on what you provide the services and
how you can help eliminate some ofthese problems, where do they go?
(24:41):
Yeah, so we would definitely lovefor them to go to our website,
which is Cradlecincinnati dot org. Fromthere they can see what services we offer
and then really kind of get guidedin the right direction. We do have
a leg of Cradle Cincinnati that ismore direct services, which is our Cradle
Connections team, So that's community helpwork wors and likectation consultants, dietitian and
(25:03):
really trying to provide some of thosemore hands on services. And then,
as usual, if it's something thatCradle feels like, we have a partner
that you know holds a greater capacityto be able to serve or you know
has more dedicated services. By allmeans, we collaborate within the community and
work with those partners to ensure thatwe are collectively serving the families as best
as we can. So I wasimpressed with the amount of emotional support that
(25:29):
you are offering your clients because that'sI guess something that you would take for
granted in this world, but wecan't because not everybody has the same type
of support system. Yeah, andI would say that that's, you know,
something that really came from listening tothe community asking you know, what
do you need, you know,pre pregnancy, throughout pregnancy, postpartum stage,
(25:52):
and really hearing that there's, youknow, just a wrap around need
of support, and so trying tofigure out what that support it looks like
because it's different for everybody in everysituation. So you know, we have,
you know, tried to do ourbest to provide different opportunities for support
to really make people feel seen andmake people feel hard. I appreciate you
(26:12):
being with us here today. DominiqueWalker, epidemiologist at Cradles Cincinnati. For
more information, you can go totheir website and is there anything coming up
that we can help you promote?January twenty fifth, we will be having
a Cradling Cincinnati Summit. We've hostedthe summit the last couple of years where
we bring community members and you know, healthcare professionals together and just kind of
(26:33):
talk about what's going on in infitmortality and how can we work together.
So we do have that coming upand then on November fifth, we have
our Mama's Blessing event inviting pregnant womento come and just be celebrated and supported.
It's a rite of passage ceremony.And we have baby showers that you
know, celebrate baby, and wereally just want to celebrate mom. So
(26:56):
if they visit our website or anyof our social media platform they'll be able
to get more information on those events. Okay, that's Cradle Cincinnati dot org
and that Mom's event is coming upon November fifth. Thanks again to Dominique
Walker, epidemiologists for Cradle Cincinnati.That's a network of organizations and community members
working to measurably improve Cincinnati's infant mortalityrate. And also thanks to Greg mrcett,
(27:22):
who's the CEO of Busy Kids,the app that teaches children how to
manage their real money and allows parentsto control how they spend it. You
can find it in your device's appstore just look for Busykids app. I
Sandy Collins. If you have aquestion, comment, or suggestion an event
or organization you'd like to see highlightedhere, just send me an email.
It's Iheartsinsey at iHeartMedia dot com.Check out the podcast free on the iHeartRadio
(27:48):
app, listen, share and subscribe. Iheartsinsei is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
This week on iHeart Sency and alot of parents freak out about teaching their
kids about money and oh, mygoodess, I don't know what, just
out know where to start. Doesthat describe you? Today? On iHeart
Sinsey, I'm talking with a certifiedfinancial planner about the importance of teaching kids
how to make and handle money.You've got to work to get the money,
and then once you get it,you've got to do three things with
(00:29):
the money. What are those things? My guest is Greg murcette, who
created an app for that, andwe'll tell you about it and later.
Infant mortality is right up there withthe most important concerns in the Tri State.
Today, I'm going to speak withan epidemiologist who works to identify the
reasons why babies die before their firstyear of life. Here in the Hamilton
(00:51):
County area. We know that it'sa multifaceted pause. We see, you
know, more black babies dying thanwhite babies. No. On iHeart Cincy
with Sandy Collins. Back for anotherepisode of iHeart Cincy on this iHeartRadio station
and on the iHeartRadio app under podcasts. I'm Sandy Collins. My first guest
(01:11):
Greg mrcett is a chief financial plannerand creator of an app that helps you
teach children the importance and the funof making and spending money. So,
Greg, thanks for taking time outof your busy day to be here with
us. The topic today financial planning, And while that may draw a big
yawn from some folks, it's certainlyimportant to know and something you really enjoy.
(01:34):
And this is so important throughout ourlives. Tell me a little bit
about what you do, what you'vedone at busy kids, and also your
credentials, your certified financial planner.So yeah, I'm a certified financial planner,
have been for over twenty years.And I'm a dad of six.
(01:55):
Believe it or not, I've gota bunch of kids. I got grandkids
now, four of us. ButI figured out something a few years ago
while dealing with clients. Mainly mostof my clients were business owners, successful
folks that have worked really hard,and that's what they had. They worked
really hard and they were smart withtheir money. And I thought, huh,
(02:16):
those two primary things is what Ineed to figure out how to get
into my kids so that they canbe successful and leave my house and never
come back. Okay, except tovisit and not want money, okay,
And so that's what I set outto do. And that's what Busy Kid
is. It's an app to teachkids that you need to make that work
(02:37):
of money connection. You got todo some chores, You've got to do
something around the house, get somemoney. And then once you get the
money, what do you do withit? Like, you can't just earn
it and burn it. If youdo that, you're just going to be
in trouble and you're going to bein the spot that most Americans find themselves,
right with no money and little prospectsof a great retirement. So learning
(02:58):
how to manage money, it's actuallykind of difficult these days because the nature
of money has changed. It usedto be dollar bills that we stick in
our pockets or our purses and coinsand stuff like that. It isn't like
that anymore. It's digital. It'swhat I call invisible. And so you've
got to change the way you teachthe next generation. So that's what we've
(03:20):
done. When you don't have thatphysical money anymore, to kids, it
must just feel like video game cash, It must feel like nothing like imagine,
it's not real, right, Yeah, yeah, it's like points that
they earned. Gems are something thatthey earned in a video game, and
they're gone. Yeah. So that'swhy it's really important to make sure they
(03:42):
know where the money came from intothe first place. Right Like when they
slide that card and they see thenumbers change and they think, oh,
man, I had to scoop dogpoop, I had to wash the car,
I had to make my bed,I had to do all this stuff
for two weeks to buy that scooter. Like, that's where it all starts.
To Chris Lie, what age doyou recommend these kids start this?
(04:03):
Oh my, I think it's reallyimportant to start early five years old.
I think that the decade between fiveand fifteen is where you got to nail
this. If you can do thatwhen they're that age, you're setting them
up for success. I mentioned Ihave six kids. Five of them have
left the nest. Okay, andthey learned this stuff when they were younger.
(04:25):
And that's not because I'm like amazing, it's just basic fundamental stuff,
but they learned it. All fivewho have left had more than ten thousand
dollars saved that before they left thehouse. I think that's a big deal
that is a lot of money.Yes, so anybody can do it.
That is tremendous. They say thatkids are powerless when they're little because they
(04:46):
they want all these things, theydon't have any money, they don't have
any way to earn it. Howdoes it actually work? And teach the
kids about is there a way todesignate like these are the things you have
to do because you just live here, and then there's some things that you
can do to to make some cash. Yeah. So there's kind of this
great divide when it comes to choresand allowance and all this stuff. Right,
(05:08):
It's like, I'm not paying mykids. They should just do this
stuff because they live here. I'mproviding the roof over their head and they
should clean the room. Anyways,I get that. I totally get that,
and I think there's just you know, it depends on your family.
But some things are going to behave to do. So some things are
going to be I want them toearn some money because they've got to have
some money to start having these experiences, right and so, and they're too
(05:31):
young to get a real job,right a quote real job, right,
So your home is the perfect littleecosystem for them to start learning this stuff.
So give them chores to do aroundthe house, and hey, maybe
you decide, you know what,we have a lawn service. But I
got this kid who's nine, like, why can't he be the lawn service,
right, and let him start doingthe work outside. I had one
(05:55):
of my daughters who could trim abush like nobody's business, right, and
so why not let that kind ofthing happen so that they understand. You've
got to work to get the money, and then once you get it,
you've got to do three things withthe money. Okay, I'm very adamant
about this. You've got to saveand invest a little bit of it,
you've got to share a little bitof it, and then you've got to
spend the rest. And so ifyou think about it, that's exactly what
(06:17):
we do as adults. We goout, we have a job, we
earn money, we save and investusually in like a four to one k
or something we share with church,charity, something we care about, and
then we spend the rest and wespend it on a card or we spend
it in our phone. Right,That's exactly what busy kid is. It's
exactly the same every time they arein money. Boom, boom, boom.
(06:41):
It goes into those three different buckets, teaching them a balance financial approach
every time they are in money,not just I'm going to get enough to
bite this thing and then I'm notgoing to do anything anymore. Is there
actual cash in the app? Ohyeah, it's real money. It's all
based on parental approval. So thatmoney, let's say the kid busted out
that week and gets twenty bucks.Okay, we divide it up into those
(07:02):
three areas. If they want togo and learn to invest, they can
browse stocks. They can under ohI love Tesla, I love Netflix.
Whatever. They can tap on thatand a request will go to their parents,
say hey, Johnny wants to buytwenty dollars where the Tesla stock.
Parent approove it. Boom, ithappens. You can go into the share
(07:24):
area, learn about charities. Iwant to give to the Autism Foundation because
my cousin has autism. Whatever.I want to donate twenty dollars, same
thing, parent approves it. Boom. We're facilitating that. And then lastly,
in the spend, I want toload twenty dollars onto my visa card.
Okay, great, parent approves it. Twenty bucks goes on the card,
they go to the store, theyswipe, and they learn how it
(07:46):
all works. Right, So yeah, all real money, all things happening.
That's going to teach this kid reallywhat money does. How about busy
adults? Do you have a busyadults app because everything that you're saying sounds
like, oh, I would loveto be able to do that personally.
Yeah, I've been asked that manytimes and we haven't quite created it,
(08:09):
but these are. It is agood thing. When you start doing this
with the family, you start thinkingthat way as well, right as a
parent, and a lot of parentsfreak out about teaching their kids about money.
Oh my goodness, I don't knowwhat to I don't know where to
start. I don't know what todo. I'm not that great out at
myself. So as you start doingthis with your family, your kids,
you're going to start thinking the sameway, so it'll help you regardless.
(08:33):
I was fortunate at a love andI got a paper route to learn about
money and help me understand how thebank works. I got a checking account,
I learned about supply demand, accounts, receivable, who owed me accounts
payable? You know, I hadto pay for my papers, but I
didn't learn anything about discipline. Amazingand saving money. Yeah, the nature
of money has changed. So mylast son just got a first quote real
(08:58):
job, right, and what ifyou need you needed to count so they
could deposit his his paycheck in it. Like you can't really kind of avoid
that step anymore. And and towhat you said earlier, I think is
a really good point. You learnthis stuff by having a paper out.
All these things kind of unpacked becauseyou had a paper out. Experiential learning
(09:18):
is exactly how kids learn the best. They gotta do this stuff right.
They got to understand, oh wow, not only is it just a car
that drives by, but I actuallyown a little piece of that company Tesla
that just drove by or whatever.Right, I'm watching Netflix, but I
actually own a little piece of thatcompany. And I got a dividend?
What is that? Right? Boom? These kinds of things happen just like
(09:41):
you. All these things kind offell out of your paper out. The
same things fall out of any kindof money interning. But now it's all
digital and you gotta you gotta kindof get with it and do it in
that manner. Starting at five yearsold up until they're out of the house.
That's right, and that's the goal. Get them out and don't come
(10:03):
back. Don't come back unless you'revisiting or if you have some grandkids,
come back because they're super fun.Yeah, that's great. Well Greg Greg
Mersett, certified Financial Planner, CEOof Busy Kid. The app is available
in the app stores YEP, bothAndroid and Apple and get your kid busy
doing something that actually matters in life. You know, they sit around and
(10:26):
scroll their lives away these days andwatch a thousand reels. But come on,
let's do something that's actually going toset them up for success in the
future. My guest, Greg Mersett, CEO of Busy Kids, the app
that gives children real world experience inmaking, saving, and investing money.
Well, coming up next, youknow, our biggest thing is it has
(10:48):
to be a collaborative effort. Howa local group is moving the needle to
reduce infant mortality in the Tri State. That's coming up on iHeart Sinsey.
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We are back one iHeart Cinci.I'm Sandy Collins. This show,
along with previous episodes, can befound on the iHeartRadio app under podcasts.
There's a treasure trove of information aboutCincinnati and the Tri State organizations that provide
real solutions to real problems, somereally interesting people you get to meet,
and events as well. Before weget back to the show, I want
(15:18):
to run down some of the volunteeropportunities that are available here in the Tri
State, two of them specifically.Now. First, if you're looking to
find a tangible way to positively impactyour neighbors and improve the lives right there
in your community, People Working Cooperativelyis rounding up volunteers to provide fall clean
(15:39):
up for hundreds of low income,senior citizens, veterans, and folks with
disabilities throughout Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.Those yards don't take care of themselves,
and PWC's mission is to get thesehomes ready for winter weather. It's just
one of the many services they providefor free to those special populations. So
(16:00):
the annual fall volunteer event known asPrepare Affair is going to run all throughout
November but specifically they're looking for abig push on Saturday, November eighteenth.
PWC's president Jock Pitt says they're waitinglist for services as long and the volunteer
events like this is what make itpossible to help as many people as possible
(16:22):
to prepare for the upcoming winter seasonlike raking leaves and gutters, minor winterization
tasks and it's just a few hoursof time. They'll provide all the materials
needed. Go to the PwC websiteto find out more and to sign up.
Here's the address PwC home Repairs dotorg, slash prepare affair, or
(16:45):
you can call PwC people working cooperativelyand talk to their volunteer program manager.
Another place to volunteer in the TriState is may we Help. They're a
good friend of the show and theyare looking for skilled volunteers like electricians,
engineers, industrial designers, inventors,woodworkers, doctors, occupational or physical therapists,
(17:10):
and tinkerers of all types. Yousee, May we Help creates custom
solutions for individuals with a disability whocan't find what they need to be independent
commercially. So May we Help volunteersdesign, build, and deliver custom devices
at absolutely no cost to hundreds ofpeople every year. It's an amazing organization.
(17:33):
If you have time and you wantto be a part of this rewarding
mission, go to their website mayweHelp dot org and click on volunteers.
All right, back to the show. We're going to turn now to one
of the Tri States' biggest problems,and that's infant mortality. For more than
ten years, Hamilton County's infant mortalityrate was ranked among the worst in the
(17:55):
entire country. It may be hardto believe that it was true, and
that's some thing that's changing thanks toan enormous effort by Cradle Cincinnati and their
many partners across this area to reduceinfant deaths and support parents with all the
resources available to help the family thrive. My guest today is from Cradle Cincinnati,
(18:17):
Dominique Walker. She's an epidemiologist.Dominique, thanks for being here today.
We're going to start out with abasic question. Can you tell us
what an epidemiologist does and what isyour role at Cradle Cincinnati. Yeah.
So, as an epidemiologist, Ireally focus on data and looking at how
that impacts through public health blends,and so specifically at Cradle, I look
(18:41):
at a lot of birth and deathdata to see if we can, you
know, kind of get an understandingof infant mortality and the trajectory within the
community. Yeah, and researching issuesfor this program to see what would be
appropriate for this public affairs show theproblem of infant mortality. And he was
right at the top of the list, which unfortunately was a little surprising for
(19:04):
me. Being in the news.I would think I would know more that
you know than the average person.Maybe, but we certainly don't hear about
it very much in the news becauseI guess it's private and it's not really
something that's, you know, suitablefor broadcast. The Department of Health keeps
track of these deaths and the resultsare pretty shocking, including first off,
(19:26):
that black babies are three times morelikely to die than white babies. And
you say they're at Cradle Cincinnati,that it's not the family's fault, it's
not genetics, it's not social class. Can you explain what you believe is
the cause and why black babies arethree times more likely to die than white
babies. Yeah, so we knowthat it's a multifaceted pause we see,
(19:52):
you know, more Black babies dyingthan white babies. The first thing we
do want to call out is systemicracism, and that we know that within
you know, health care settings,historically there have just been a lot of
differences between care for black families andwhite families. And so that kind of
being at the forefront to keep inour minds that there are just some things
systemically we have to address. Andthen just like leading causes of death overall
(20:15):
for infants, we're seeing, youknow, extreme preterm birth related deaths.
Sleep related death is a really bigone that within the black population really disportionately
affects them compared to white babies.But again, we just know that there's
a lot of factors that really playinto this. Yeah, let's stick down
into these sleep related deaths. Canyou run down the ways that parents maybe
(20:38):
incorrectly put their babies down to sleepor for naps. Yeah, so I'll
kind of start with the way thatwe preach is safe sleep, and so
that's the ABC's So babies should bealone on their backs, and they should
be in their own crab or bacinets. So no blankets, no toys,
no siblings, no, you know, and not in the bed with adults,
(21:00):
remove all items from the bed andgive that baby that safe space by
their self to sleep. And lookingat some of the sleep related death data
that we booked at, we doknow that co betting is a major factor
when we are looking at sleep relatedinfant deaths, and so that co betting
being whether it's a parent or asibling, but some type of caregiver sharing
(21:22):
that bedspace with the baby. Yeah, I was surprised when you hear these
deaths in the news where the babywas turned over on his stomach and he
didn't have the muscles or the abilityto roll over, and you know,
would just be so close to thebetting that he couldn't breathe, and you
(21:44):
would not necessarily think that as aparent, you're thinking, oh, this's
a big, fluffy bed, I'lljust put the baby down for a little
while, and that it can becompletely fatal for these kids, and actually
sleeping with the baby, you know, so tempting. You know, you
love your baby, you and awhole baby, and you want to sleep
together, and that is like theworst thing to do. Yes, And
(22:04):
a lot of times, you know, we've heard from you know, moms
in the community that you know,stress and being tired, and you know,
lack of support also just kind offactor into some of those, you
know, cobetting situations. So wereally want to make sure that we uplift
those concerns from the families and atCradle Cincinnati, you know, we do
(22:26):
our best to kind of work collectivelywithin the community to really see how can
we support families to where we reducedsome of those things like stress and you
know, lack of support to helpsupport putting baby down in a safe sleep
environment, and it seems that it'snearly always with a baby under six months
of age. Any indication of aswhy that would be that, I feel
(22:48):
like is one thing that we're tryingto kind of dig into a little bit
deeper because you know, some ofthe we'll call them kind of the myths
that you may hear is that youknow, these aren't such young babies,
and we're really trying to figure out, you know, what's going on with
that. But also is this anarea to make some intervention and do some
different opportunities to re educate families andcaregivers in those early early ages of life
(23:14):
of you know, the best andsafest sleep environment. For a baby all
Rick Cradle Cincinnati's come up with aplan to help reduce these infant deaths,
especially in the black community. Canyou go over just kind of a basic
what you did, how you researched, what was needed to be done,
and then what the plan is now. Yeah, So we just released our
(23:36):
new strategic plan and so in thatwe really took some time to work collectively
with partners in the community, thosebeing healthcare professionals as well as community members
to really co create this strategic planand trying to listen from all angles to
see where Cradle could really reduce eventdeaths that we're seeing in the county.
(23:57):
We are, you know, stillcontinue to build on some of those conversations
to see what some of these kindof individual interventions or programs could look like.
You know, our biggest thing isit has to be a collaborative effort
at Cradle. We cannot do italone. We know that we can't do
it alone, and so really leaningon the entire community to really to support
the community to move us in theright direction. There seems to be a
(24:21):
lot of resources for women, butthe hard part is just about in any
situation, where do I go first, it's just kind of overwhelming. So
if there's a young mother that wantsinformation on what you provide the services and
how you can help eliminate some ofthese problems, where do they go?
(24:41):
Yeah, so we would definitely lovefor them to go to our website,
which is Cradlecincinnati dot org. Fromthere they can see what services we offer
and then really kind of get guidedin the right direction. We do have
a leg of Cradle Cincinnati that ismore direct services, which is our Cradle
Connections team, So that's community helpwork wors and likectation consultants, dietitian and
(25:03):
really trying to provide some of thosemore hands on services. And then,
as usual, if it's something thatCradle feels like, we have a partner
that you know holds a greater capacityto be able to serve or you know
has more dedicated services. By allmeans, we collaborate within the community and
work with those partners to ensure thatwe are collectively serving the families as best
as we can. So I wasimpressed with the amount of emotional support that
(25:29):
you are offering your clients because that'sI guess something that you would take for
granted in this world, but wecan't because not everybody has the same type
of support system. Yeah, andI would say that that's, you know,
something that really came from listening tothe community asking you know, what
do you need, you know,pre pregnancy, throughout pregnancy, postpartum stage,
(25:52):
and really hearing that there's, youknow, just a wrap around need
of support, and so trying tofigure out what that support it looks like
because it's different for everybody in everysituation. So you know, we have,
you know, tried to do ourbest to provide different opportunities for support
to really make people feel seen andmake people feel hard. I appreciate you
(26:12):
being with us here today. DominiqueWalker, epidemiologist at Cradles Cincinnati. For
more information, you can go totheir website and is there anything coming up
that we can help you promote?January twenty fifth, we will be having
a Cradling Cincinnati Summit. We've hostedthe summit the last couple of years where
we bring community members and you know, healthcare professionals together and just kind of
(26:33):
talk about what's going on in infitmortality and how can we work together.
So we do have that coming upand then on November fifth, we have
our Mama's Blessing event inviting pregnant womento come and just be celebrated and supported.
It's a rite of passage ceremony.And we have baby showers that you
know, celebrate baby, and wereally just want to celebrate mom. So
(26:56):
if they visit our website or anyof our social media platform they'll be able
to get more information on those events. Okay, that's Cradle Cincinnati dot org
and that Mom's event is coming upon November fifth. Thanks again to Dominique
Walker, epidemiologists for Cradle Cincinnati.That's a network of organizations and community members
working to measurably improve Cincinnati's infant mortalityrate. And also thanks to Greg mrcett,
(27:22):
who's the CEO of Busy Kids,the app that teaches children how to
manage their real money and allows parentsto control how they spend it. You
can find it in your device's appstore just look for Busykids app. I
Sandy Collins. If you have aquestion, comment, or suggestion an event
or organization you'd like to see highlightedhere, just send me an email.
It's Iheartsinsey at iHeartMedia dot com.Check out the podcast free on the iHeartRadio
(27:48):
app, listen, share and subscribe. Iheartsinsei is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
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