In the Huddle: How WAHN Allies Move the Ball Forward

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome to W Cast, the official podcast of the Women's Affordable Housing Network.
This is our space to connect, get real, and talk about what's really happening in housing.
From bold leadership to resident stories that ground us in purpose.
We're here to amplify voices, strengthen each other, and share the kind of conversations you'd have with a friend who gets it.

(00:21):
Because when our voices are amplified, our communities grow stronger, and so do we. 6 00:00:28,159.932 --> 00:00:31,999.932 Welcome to WAHNcast, the official podcast of the Women's Affordable Housing Network. 7 00:00:32,59.932 --> 00:00:38,779.932 I'm your host, Angie Truitt, and today we're suiting up for a powerhouse conversation about what it means to be an ally in this industry. 8 00:00:39,229.932 --> 00:00:39,919.932 On the field. 9 00:00:39,919.932 --> 00:00:49,639.932 With me today are Abe Kruger and Ben Goats, our Ally Committee co-chairs who've been calling the plays and leading the charge to build stronger support for women across the affordable housing community. 10 00:00:50,299.932 --> 00:00:54,229.932 We're also joined by two MVPs in the allyship arena. 11 00:00:54,259.932 --> 00:01:01,789.932 Mike Duffy, WAHN's Ally of the Year for 2025, whose leadership has set a high bar for what it means to show up for others. 12 00:01:01,879.932 --> 00:01:08,509.932 And Brian Philps, our indie ally extraordinaire, who's been driving real wins in Indiana with his dedication and advocacy. 13 00:01:08,839.932 --> 00:01:16,189.932 Together we'll break down the game plan for creating more inclusive, equitable industry and talk about the teamwork it takes to move the ball forward. 14 00:01:16,639.932 --> 00:01:18,349.932 So let's kick things off. 15 00:01:18,449.932 --> 00:01:20,279.932 Abe, why don't you introduce yourself. 16 00:01:20,279.932 --> 00:01:22,54.932 Tell us a little bit about you, where you work, what you do. 17 00:01:23,624.932 --> 00:01:24,134.932 Awesome. 18 00:01:24,184.932 --> 00:01:24,784.932 Thank you. 19 00:01:24,964.932 --> 00:01:27,514.932 I'm Abe Krueger with SK Collaborative. 20 00:01:27,754.932 --> 00:01:34,744.932 We're based in Atlanta, Georgia, though we work nationwide and we're green building and building enclosure consultants. 21 00:01:35,554.932 --> 00:01:40,234.932 So we've got active projects in about 20 states, US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. 22 00:01:40,724.932 --> 00:01:52,394.932 I like to say we are that third party verifier, so if you wanna get a energy star certificate or a lead plaque, we're coming out to make sure things were done properly, though we're not actually installing insulation or swinging hammers. 23 00:01:53,754.932 --> 00:01:57,34.932 Do you get to go to the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico? I wish we did. 24 00:01:57,84.932 --> 00:01:59,964.932 I get to send my colleagues now from time to time. 25 00:02:00,64.932 --> 00:02:03,634.932 Those projects tend to mostly be virtual inspections, unfortunately. 26 00:02:03,994.932 --> 00:02:07,984.932 Our other work is in places like, Miami, not too bad, Pittsburgh, pa. 27 00:02:08,14.932 --> 00:02:10,294.932 We do get to go to some interesting places. 28 00:02:11,9.932 --> 00:02:11,699.932 That's good. 29 00:02:11,819.932 --> 00:02:19,239.932 All right, Ben, you're up, Angie, with that rousing intro, I feel like we gotta be like, I coached my son's little league football team, so it's let's go. 30 00:02:19,609.932 --> 00:02:24,419.932 We wanna get up and get moving, right? Because I feel like there's like a virtual high five tunnel. 31 00:02:24,469.932 --> 00:02:25,519.932 When they, it should be run out. 32 00:02:25,789.932 --> 00:02:26,209.932 Totally. 33 00:02:26,209.932 --> 00:02:26,299.932 Yes. 34 00:02:26,429.932 --> 00:02:27,654.932 So everybody get that energy. 35 00:02:27,804.932 --> 00:02:32,669.932 Also, I'm wondering if with Mike's ally of the Year award if that's like the Walter Payton award, like he's gonna get a. 36 00:02:33,29.932 --> 00:02:36,384.932 Like a patch that he gets to wear around now I think we can make that happen. 37 00:02:36,414.932 --> 00:02:36,704.932 Yeah. 38 00:02:36,704.932 --> 00:02:38,469.932 Do you need a patch mic? Yeah. 39 00:02:38,529.932 --> 00:02:39,339.932 Absolutely not. 40 00:02:41,769.932 --> 00:02:42,489.932 Anyway. 41 00:02:42,549.932 --> 00:02:44,349.932 Stoked, stoked to be here. 42 00:02:44,399.932 --> 00:02:45,539.932 Kicking this thing off. 43 00:02:45,599.932 --> 00:02:46,379.932 I'm Ben Goatees. 44 00:02:46,649.932 --> 00:02:50,849.932 I am the Vice president and director of Originations for Churchill Stateside Group. 45 00:02:51,89.932 --> 00:02:57,39.932 We're a nationwide lender specializing in tax credits and affordable housing, workforce housing. 46 00:02:57,39.932 --> 00:03:04,554.932 We're based in Florida, although I am based in the Ohio, near the Ohio State University of Wich. 47 00:03:04,554.932 --> 00:03:07,124.932 I'm an alma mater or an alumni, that's my alma mater. 48 00:03:07,124.932 --> 00:03:10,224.932 And they're doing okay on from last season to this season. 49 00:03:10,324.932 --> 00:03:10,774.932 Love that. 50 00:03:10,774.932 --> 00:03:17,974.932 But yeah, we do all things, 9%, 4% construction firm lending, acquisition, lending, pre-development, lending, you name it. 51 00:03:18,44.932 --> 00:03:18,774.932 We wanna help you with it. 52 00:03:20,174.932 --> 00:03:25,264.932 Well, a lot of UT fans here are not really happy after that game that opened the season. 53 00:03:25,264.932 --> 00:03:27,454.932 But don't, I'm not a UT fan, so it's okay. 54 00:03:27,724.932 --> 00:03:31,244.932 Yeah, I saw a funny meme where Eli and Peyton were like he's adopted. 55 00:03:35,654.932 --> 00:03:39,14.932 All right, Mike, who doesn't wanna patch? Go ahead and tell us a little bit about you. 56 00:03:39,944.932 --> 00:03:40,574.932 Hi everyone. 57 00:03:40,574.932 --> 00:03:41,594.932 I'm Mike Duffy. 58 00:03:41,594.932 --> 00:03:44,894.932 I'm co-owner of Roanoke Construction and the Oakland Group. 59 00:03:45,94.932 --> 00:03:50,734.932 I have been working in affordable housing for 25 years this summer. 60 00:03:50,784.932 --> 00:03:58,94.932 I am also an alum of the Ohio State University, which we are contractually obligated to say every time we talk about it. 61 00:03:58,284.932 --> 00:03:58,494.932 Oh. 62 00:03:59,484.932 --> 00:03:59,784.932 Yep. 63 00:04:00,64.932 --> 00:04:07,294.932 Io and graduated there in 2002 was in graduate school and got an internship at Ohio Capital Corporation for housing. 64 00:04:07,294.932 --> 00:04:10,854.932 Regional tax credit syndicator based in Columbus there. 65 00:04:10,974.932 --> 00:04:12,464.932 And that's where I learned the work. 66 00:04:12,464.932 --> 00:04:20,154.932 I was in a city planning and public policy program in grad school and didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but got an internship and it taught me a trade. 67 00:04:20,244.932 --> 00:04:21,794.932 And I've been doing that ever since. 68 00:04:21,794.932 --> 00:04:25,274.932 So I stayed there for two years and then came back home. 69 00:04:25,274.932 --> 00:04:25,904.932 I'm from St. 70 00:04:25,904.932 --> 00:04:29,534.932 Louis, Missouri originally, and worked three years here in St. 71 00:04:29,534.932 --> 00:04:32,84.932 Louis for Ohio Capital Organization. 72 00:04:32,84.932 --> 00:04:32,804.932 Locally St. 73 00:04:32,804.932 --> 00:04:33,614.932 Louis Equity Fund. 74 00:04:34,44.932 --> 00:04:36,554.932 Both members of the NASLEF organization. 75 00:04:37,34.932 --> 00:04:41,714.932 And then in 2005, got recruited by McCormick Barron Salazar, which is headquartered here in St. 76 00:04:41,714.932 --> 00:04:45,74.932 Louis and works nationwide on large scale. 77 00:04:45,274.932 --> 00:04:53,474.932 Mostly urban inner city redevelopments, primarily fueled by programs like Hope Six and Choice Neighborhoods, and did that for about 14 years. 78 00:04:53,879.932 --> 00:05:01,379.932 Left there in 2019 and took a year back in the equity space working for a state tax credit syndicator out of St. 79 00:05:01,379.932 --> 00:05:04,889.932 Louis to try to figure out what I wanted to do for the balance of my career. 80 00:05:05,279.932 --> 00:05:13,619.932 And an old friend of mine from high school, who's also been in affordable housing his whole career, had started a construction company in 2012 locally. 81 00:05:13,949.932 --> 00:05:23,49.932 And it was other than working for a bank directly, it was the one side of affordable housing I hadn't done yet, which has worked directly for or as a general contractor. 82 00:05:23,499.932 --> 00:05:36,739.932 So I took the leap into entrepreneurship and June of 2020, right at the started the pandemic weirdly and joined his company, bought into the construction business, and we formed a development consultancy called the Oakland Group. 83 00:05:37,444.932 --> 00:05:55,124.932 That we've been working mostly in Missouri but also throughout the Midwest in helping folks, usually nonprofits, but also some for-profit companies that have a really good idea, a really good development that needs to be repositioned and providing them that technical expertise and assistance in, in getting developments underway. 84 00:05:55,249.932 --> 00:06:02,334.932 So in, in five years, we're up to about 500 units under ownership and hope to maybe double that over the next five years. 85 00:06:04,44.932 --> 00:06:04,524.932 Wow. 86 00:06:04,584.932 --> 00:06:16,274.932 And I know you don't wanna patch, but it really is a big deal that Mike was nominated and awarded the Ally Award of the Year by WAHN It's completely driven by our members nominations. 87 00:06:16,274.932 --> 00:06:21,604.932 And there were some incredible ones about Mike, so I'm sure we'll get into that in a little bit more later. 88 00:06:21,654.932 --> 00:06:22,344.932 But thank you, Mike. 89 00:06:22,344.932 --> 00:06:22,824.932 Probably you do. 90 00:06:22,974.932 --> 00:06:23,664.932 All right, Brian. 91 00:06:24,99.932 --> 00:06:25,389.932 Close this out with intros. 92 00:06:25,749.932 --> 00:06:26,49.932 Cool. 93 00:06:26,49.932 --> 00:06:26,409.932 Thank you. 94 00:06:26,409.932 --> 00:06:29,489.932 I'll take the role of the special teams coach on this football squad here. 95 00:06:29,844.932 --> 00:06:38,804.932 But Brian Phelps brand ambassador and outreach manager at ICDA, which is short for all of the syllables and Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. 96 00:06:38,804.932 --> 00:06:56,934.932 We are a state HFA, our housing finance agency and follow the full gambit of everything from mitigating and preventing homelessness to energy programs, to the four 9% tax credits, multifamily single family where we have mortgage products and home buyer programs and the like. 97 00:06:57,94.932 --> 00:07:04,19.932 But really a lot of other things too that revolve around providing housing opportunities, strengthening communities, and promoting self-sufficiency. 98 00:07:04,409.932 --> 00:07:06,419.932 I've been here for 24 years. 99 00:07:06,599.932 --> 00:07:06,749.932 Wow. 100 00:07:06,749.932 --> 00:07:07,979.932 It's a wonderful run. 101 00:07:08,279.932 --> 00:07:13,639.932 And I'm also blessed to be a board member on the Indiana WAHN chapter. 102 00:07:13,759.932 --> 00:07:15,444.932 So glad to be here. 103 00:07:16,429.932 --> 00:07:16,999.932 I love that. 104 00:07:16,999.932 --> 00:07:25,264.932 And I saw Brian and I hadn't met but he's very active on LinkedIn and promoting Indiana WAHN and women in general. 105 00:07:25,264.932 --> 00:07:26,584.932 And we really appreciate that. 106 00:07:26,634.932 --> 00:07:30,774.932 Abe, we're kicking off a new Ally community initiative. 107 00:07:31,164.932 --> 00:07:35,494.932 Tell us a little bit about the Ally Committee's history and about the Ally community. 108 00:07:36,814.932 --> 00:07:37,864.932 Yeah, I would love to. 109 00:07:37,864.932 --> 00:07:45,974.932 So I think we are the youngest of the committees founded in 2023 and our founding chair was Mark Shelburn. 110 00:07:46,694.932 --> 00:08:05,274.932 So originally Mark's kind of task was to figure out how do we engage with allies how do we engage with men within the industry who won this support, their female colleagues within the industry? And one thing we quickly realized was that not everyone wants to join a committee. 111 00:08:06,24.932 --> 00:08:10,974.932 That word capital C committee can be a little intimidating for people. 112 00:08:11,134.932 --> 00:08:26,344.932 They think, ah, what's gonna be the time commitment? Is this gonna be a bunch of meetings? What does this mean? And that's really where the Ally community grew out of this is, yes, we need a committee to help make decisions to help drive our engagement. 113 00:08:26,374.932 --> 00:08:33,794.932 But really we also need to tap into the hundreds, if not thousands of men within the industry who want to support their colleagues. 114 00:08:34,184.932 --> 00:08:38,324.932 And so that is this community initiative that we're launching right now. 115 00:08:38,924.932 --> 00:08:41,54.932 And I'll pass it to Ben if he wants to add to that. 116 00:08:42,254.932 --> 00:08:43,64.932 Yeah, for sure. 117 00:08:43,64.932 --> 00:09:00,474.932 I think it's a natural transition and we gotta give Mark the biggest high fives possible for having established that and creating this culture and this standard of this is where we can come as allies, collectively take all of our individual ideas and motivations, perspectives, whatever, and bring it here. 118 00:09:00,924.932 --> 00:09:14,24.932 And I love that this is really the next iteration of that where early days was, who do we find that really isn't bringing their own agenda, to the table? Which is I think, vitally important. 119 00:09:14,24.932 --> 00:09:22,524.932 I think it's vitally important that any ally that's gonna come in and want to help with Juan in any initiative isn't really bringing their own stuff. 120 00:09:22,624.932 --> 00:09:34,169.932 It's more of how can I be a benefit to the great women in this industry and help them launch their vision, right? I think early days it was, it is difficult to find some of those. 121 00:09:34,169.932 --> 00:09:34,619.932 I know. 122 00:09:34,669.932 --> 00:09:37,489.932 Every good superhero has like an origin story, right? Or whatever. 123 00:09:37,489.932 --> 00:09:47,949.932 And I think it's, it was trying to find all of those hidden superheroes that are out there, like the Mike Duffy's to pull 'em out and and the Brian Phillips and every, and the Abes, like just to identify those. 124 00:09:47,949.932 --> 00:09:59,194.932 I know when I first was made aware of, Juan WAHN at a HF live event when my booth was next to, the grand champion Ashley's booth. 125 00:09:59,434.932 --> 00:10:01,234.932 And I learned all about it. 126 00:10:01,444.932 --> 00:10:06,974.932 And this was like, this was just after the pandemic started to the same thing about the same time, like 20 20, 21. 127 00:10:07,304.932 --> 00:10:09,184.932 And I was just, I was floored. 128 00:10:09,184.932 --> 00:10:09,724.932 I loved it. 129 00:10:09,754.932 --> 00:10:20,504.932 I loved every second of it and I thought, all right, what can I do to just get in at this ground level and help them grow this vision? Because this was at the start of this vision. 130 00:10:20,504.932 --> 00:10:21,24.932 Ashley was just. 131 00:10:21,704.932 --> 00:10:27,334.932 Just so much energy about this is where I want to take it and this is where we want to go, and I have this vision of where we can be in three years. 132 00:10:27,334.932 --> 00:10:30,724.932 And I thought, that sounds amazing and also crazy, but I think you can do it. 133 00:10:30,904.932 --> 00:10:50,484.932 And so then it's bringing those guys in and as we've identified those guys coming in yeah, to Abe's point, having a true committee sometimes can feel like do I have an assignment? What can I contribute? What do the women in this organization really want me to contribute? Because I don't want to give something that they don't want. 134 00:10:50,874.932 --> 00:11:00,274.932 And but also to take away a little bit of the barrier of entry of I don't want to feel like I need to commit resources or time or whatever if I don't have those totally available. 135 00:11:00,274.932 --> 00:11:05,794.932 But I love the vision, rebrand a little bit to community or create two, two different opportunities here. 136 00:11:06,304.932 --> 00:11:16,804.932 Bring 'em into our ecosphere, right? It's come into the community, the water is fine, and we can use your energy, your talents, your time, whatever you can contribute. 137 00:11:17,144.932 --> 00:11:29,49.932 Come and join us and if you have some more ability and you wanna serve a role or an assignment or responsibility, then you know, we'll have a more formal committee that you could contribute to. 138 00:11:29,229.932 --> 00:11:40,484.932 But we want you to be a part of our community so that we can hear you passions and your stories and you can bring your energy to put it behind some initiatives wherever those may be. 139 00:11:40,484.932 --> 00:11:44,744.932 We're doing events and conferences all over the country as we're trying to grow this. 140 00:11:44,804.932 --> 00:11:46,494.932 And we need people everywhere. 141 00:11:48,354.932 --> 00:11:48,564.932 Yeah. 142 00:11:48,564.932 --> 00:11:50,24.932 And I think, all of that's so great. 143 00:11:50,24.932 --> 00:11:56,354.932 You said both of you said some wonderful things and we really appreciate you being pulled in with Ashley's excitement, vision. 144 00:11:56,354.932 --> 00:11:58,334.932 But I love what Mike said. 145 00:11:58,334.932 --> 00:12:04,824.932 We actually used you, Mike, in a commercial for summit this upcoming year when you were interviewed this past summit. 146 00:12:04,824.932 --> 00:12:11,334.932 And he had a really great statement on there that said, usually when I go to conferences, I see a bunch of guys that look like me. 147 00:12:11,754.932 --> 00:12:15,104.932 And it was really great to be in the presence of. 148 00:12:15,869.932 --> 00:12:18,379.932 Women, leading the discussion, women asking the questions. 149 00:12:18,379.932 --> 00:12:20,509.932 But I think it's really critically important. 150 00:12:20,569.932 --> 00:12:26,269.932 Everything we do is for our residents, and the vast majority of residents in our developments are women. 151 00:12:26,689.932 --> 00:12:36,349.932 And so the fact that you guys are willing to come to the table and have conversations and listen and help us grow our vision is huge for us because ultimately we're here to serve them. 152 00:12:36,859.932 --> 00:12:39,889.932 So Abe, tell us a little bit, I know you mentioned some. 153 00:12:40,324.932 --> 00:12:53,784.932 Ally community initiatives when you and I were speaking last about it and you wanted to put some structure behind that just so that people have an idea if they have some time, if they have some capacity, what is it that they can do? We get asked that question a lot. 154 00:12:53,814.932 --> 00:13:05,604.932 I wanna help how You wanna run us through a little bit about what your quarterly goals are? Yeah, so like you said, we wanted to bring a little bit of structure and set quarterly goals for initiatives. 155 00:13:05,874.932 --> 00:13:13,824.932 And so every quarter we have something planned and then obviously on a rolling basis we are here to be tapped to help however possible. 156 00:13:13,914.932 --> 00:13:22,854.932 And so these asks might come from individual chapters, it might come from national, but we wanna be there like in waiting if something needs and we can spring to action. 157 00:13:23,254.932 --> 00:13:29,164.932 But at a minimum in the first quarter of the year, we're doing sponsorship follow ups. 158 00:13:29,194.932 --> 00:13:37,714.932 So a big part of being an ally is simply helping with fundraising, it's helping national with getting sponsorships. 159 00:13:38,199.932 --> 00:13:40,959.932 Either at the national level or for individual events. 160 00:13:41,19.932 --> 00:13:53,929.932 So in Q1, we're getting tasked with, all right, hey, do you know anyone at this organization? Can you help us with our fundraising goals? In Q2, we're volunteering at the National summit. 161 00:13:54,359.932 --> 00:13:56,819.932 So the summit is open to men. 162 00:13:56,879.932 --> 00:13:59,609.932 We are welcome and encouraged to attend. 163 00:13:59,889.932 --> 00:14:06,219.932 But the Ally Committee and Ally community is tasked with all the volunteering support positions. 164 00:14:06,369.932 --> 00:14:12,189.932 So when you go to a conference, oftentimes when you go to registration, it's being manned by women. 165 00:14:12,399.932 --> 00:14:20,329.932 Oftentimes when you are in a session and someone's running a microphone around for the q and a, it's a woman doing that. 166 00:14:20,509.932 --> 00:14:32,799.932 And so we wanted to flip the script on this, and Mark Shelburn gets a lot of credit for this because it was such a wonderful and really simple idea of just Hey, let's let the guys do all those support positions. 167 00:14:33,339.932 --> 00:14:36,999.932 So when you go to summit, it is men who are working at the booth. 168 00:14:37,149.932 --> 00:14:38,979.932 It is at the registration table. 169 00:14:39,219.932 --> 00:14:42,99.932 It's men who are at the merchandise table. 170 00:14:42,129.932 --> 00:14:45,339.932 So if you wanna get some W swag, it's gonna be a guy working there. 171 00:14:45,369.932 --> 00:14:46,869.932 It's guys running microphones. 172 00:14:46,869.932 --> 00:14:52,569.932 It's if you, a speaker has a need with their tech, it's a guy who's gonna be tracking down the tech support. 173 00:14:53,109.932 --> 00:14:58,299.932 So that's what we're doing in the second quarter and third quarter, we're doing panels and education. 174 00:14:58,449.932 --> 00:15:04,59.932 So an event like today where we're talking about last year, our session was on effective allyship. 175 00:15:06,159.932 --> 00:15:14,889.932 And then in Q4 to close out the year, it's the sponsorship asks, but then also we like to do a day of action or visibility. 176 00:15:15,339.932 --> 00:15:22,544.932 So last year it was getting allies to commit to a particular day to promote the Ally pledge. 177 00:15:22,874.932 --> 00:15:26,204.932 And so on social media, you were saying, I took the pledge. 178 00:15:26,264.932 --> 00:15:27,344.932 You should too. 179 00:15:27,644.932 --> 00:15:30,44.932 It's, this is what the pledge means to me. 180 00:15:30,44.932 --> 00:15:32,294.932 This is what allyship means to me. 181 00:15:32,684.932 --> 00:15:34,724.932 And so that's what we're doing in the fourth quarter. 182 00:15:35,834.932 --> 00:15:43,974.932 And I wanna talk about the Ally pledge in a minute, but you mentioned at Summit seeing the men in positions that are traditionally manned by women. 183 00:15:44,394.932 --> 00:15:46,464.932 It has such an impact on our membership. 184 00:15:46,524.932 --> 00:15:50,574.932 We get tremendous amounts of positive feedback just from that. 185 00:15:50,784.932 --> 00:15:52,74.932 Our members who attend. 186 00:15:52,584.932 --> 00:15:57,894.932 Just love the visibility of our allies being there, being helpful and supporting us in that way. 187 00:15:57,984.932 --> 00:16:02,944.932 And I had a great story from this past summit little Claire Melka, who's actually from Columbus. 188 00:16:02,974.932 --> 00:16:12,154.932 And Ben knows her and her dad gave a welcome to our WAHN impact session, but she's nine years old and couldn't quite reach the podium. 189 00:16:12,544.932 --> 00:16:18,194.932 And this the hotel brought some huge box for her to stand on, which wasn't. 190 00:16:18,239.932 --> 00:16:19,409.932 It wasn't workable. 191 00:16:19,619.932 --> 00:16:31,929.932 So I went to the ally table and I said, can someone run to Target please and get us a stool for Claire? And I think Ben Scrambled found a couple of guys who could just leave registration and run to Target, which was a few blocks away from the hotel. 192 00:16:31,959.932 --> 00:16:36,79.932 And they texted me a picture and they're like, does this work? It was perfect, and they brought it back. 193 00:16:36,79.932 --> 00:16:42,979.932 We got a picture of them with Claire, like giving her, but that was just an example of something that we didn't have to worry about putting on the summit. 194 00:16:43,249.932 --> 00:16:46,339.932 We had allies had our back and they, they just ran an errand. 195 00:16:46,339.932 --> 00:16:50,134.932 I'm sure they probably had fun running around Target looking for this stool. 196 00:16:50,134.932 --> 00:16:51,544.932 But we appreciated it. 197 00:16:51,544.932 --> 00:16:54,539.932 It made a tangible difference for us at Summit. 198 00:16:54,539.932 --> 00:17:01,359.932 So we really like having you guys around for all of the reasons, that just takes a lot of pressure off of us when we're trying to put on a big national event. 199 00:17:01,659.932 --> 00:17:05,349.932 Oh, it's a great lesson I learned from my wife about being able to make a midday target run. 200 00:17:05,379.932 --> 00:17:07,694.932 Like she was actually, she's you've been taught well. 201 00:17:09,629.932 --> 00:17:10,619.932 Yes, it was perfect. 202 00:17:10,619.932 --> 00:17:29,174.932 And I know the OG story we like to share about Mark Shelburn, who you mentioned earlier on Abe is the very first one summit that we had in Atlanta, and one of our sessions broke and all the women wanted to go take a restroom break, freshen up a little bit, and there was a line coming out of the women's restroom. 203 00:17:29,444.932 --> 00:17:31,784.932 Mark noticed there was no line at the men's restroom. 204 00:17:31,784.932 --> 00:17:34,214.932 He went in and did a restroom check, no one was in there. 205 00:17:34,214.932 --> 00:17:50,484.932 He stood guard out front and started directing traffic into the men's room and then coordinated with the hotel staff to change the sign permanently during our stay to allow women in there and then directed men to a restroom a little bit farther down, just so that the women could get in, get out, get back into session. 206 00:17:50,484.932 --> 00:17:54,604.932 So just little ways that, that you guys show up for us and we greatly appreciate it. 207 00:17:54,604.932 --> 00:17:56,884.932 So let's talk about the Ally pledge. 208 00:17:57,94.932 --> 00:17:57,754.932 A Ben. 209 00:17:58,624.932 --> 00:18:01,44.932 You guys wanna tell us a little bit about that one? Yeah, for sure. 210 00:18:01,104.932 --> 00:18:01,854.932 I think so. 211 00:18:01,854.932 --> 00:18:11,764.932 The Ally pledge is something that Mark Def, championed last year, and it was a great coordinated rollout with, within our kind of email campaign, with our LinkedIn campaign. 212 00:18:12,64.932 --> 00:18:22,474.932 And it's a very simple statement, essentially of some commitments that I think that any true motivated ally can commit to. 213 00:18:22,774.932 --> 00:18:31,494.932 And it's found on the one website and there's a section of it where lists everyone who's publicly committed to doing that. 214 00:18:31,524.932 --> 00:18:33,969.932 And, essentially it, it puts. 215 00:18:34,584.932 --> 00:19:01,829.932 Our intent and our motivations right at the forefront to say really what we're intending, which is we want to be this resource, we want to recognize where we're at in terms of a true partner and not utilizing our relationship to Juan or to any of the women there in the organization for, things that are not gonna advance the the focus of Juan. 216 00:19:01,879.932 --> 00:19:05,929.932 And there's a few elements to that and I know we, we can talk about some stories about that. 217 00:19:06,29.932 --> 00:19:13,459.932 But I dunno, Abe, if you wanna do we want to go over the each little point that's in the pledge or? I think that's probably good. 218 00:19:13,459.932 --> 00:19:19,529.932 I'm personally, I'm really curious and I'd love just hearing stories from the other panelists that kind of like how you've. 219 00:19:19,924.932 --> 00:19:24,754.932 Made this actionable and how you've actually taken the pledge and put it in practice. 220 00:19:25,204.932 --> 00:19:39,644.932 So I don't know if Mike or Brian wanted to share an example of kind of what that allyship looks like on a day to day, because Ben said, it's one thing to just take this form and sign it and say you're committed, but it's another to actually put it in practice. 221 00:19:42,224.932 --> 00:19:42,974.932 I can go. 222 00:19:43,94.932 --> 00:19:47,184.932 So yeah this pledge was introduced to me about this time last year. 223 00:19:47,184.932 --> 00:19:54,414.932 I was part of the fourth quarter effort by by you all to make the pledge and then be public about it on LinkedIn. 224 00:19:54,834.932 --> 00:20:04,824.932 And it actually resonated with me primarily because when I decided to join my partner Kevin, in his business five years ago. 225 00:20:04,824.932 --> 00:20:08,854.932 And we were sketching our kind of combined business plan on the back of a. 226 00:20:09,394.932 --> 00:20:10,234.932 Of a napkin. 227 00:20:10,294.932 --> 00:20:25,374.932 We talked about, our previous employment experiences over the first 20 years of our career and what we would like to do what we'd like to change about those experiences from past, positions of not being in leadership but being managed by other folks, and then what we'd like to replicate. 228 00:20:25,404.932 --> 00:20:32,124.932 And we both had both positive and negative experiences in our career with various forms of mentorship and the and the like. 229 00:20:32,124.932 --> 00:20:40,344.932 And what we really committed to as partners is, he and I have, basically been raised in very, typical Midwestern middle class, families. 230 00:20:40,679.932 --> 00:20:51,349.932 So we're not, we're not ne necessarily silver spoon kids, but but we've also been given a lot of advantages and a lot of privileges due to the, fact of where we were born and how we were born into what families we were born. 231 00:20:51,709.932 --> 00:20:56,599.932 So we wanted to be very intentional in building our business in who we hired and who we. 232 00:20:56,954.932 --> 00:21:01,124.932 Chose to to mentor and the like, so a lot of, there's three parts to the pledge. 233 00:21:01,124.932 --> 00:21:06,914.932 Professional organizational commitments, individual commitments, and then supporting your one chapter commitments. 234 00:21:06,914.932 --> 00:21:13,674.932 And it really resonated with me based upon what Kevin and I had decided to do in our own kind of hiring and mentorship practices. 235 00:21:13,984.932 --> 00:21:20,464.932 Seeking out folks that probably didn't get the same kind of opportunities we did early in our lives and then early in our careers. 236 00:21:20,464.932 --> 00:21:30,564.932 And really work to to build the next generation of folks that hopefully in conferences I'm going to, when I'm at retirement, look a lot differently than they have been over the last 20, 25 years. 237 00:21:37,44.932 --> 00:21:46,954.932 Brian, what about you? Yeah, for me it, I think, the pledge for me was supplemental to things that were acknowledged that I were, I was already doing. 238 00:21:47,554.932 --> 00:21:50,914.932 So I just, feather in the cap or just an enhancement to what's already happening. 239 00:21:51,194.932 --> 00:21:55,604.932 The way I wound up getting connected with Juan was at the Indiana Housing Conference and they had a booth. 240 00:21:55,604.932 --> 00:22:02,924.932 And without realizing it, they just complimented me on how supportive I've always been and that, oh, this might be a good thing. 241 00:22:02,924.932 --> 00:22:04,64.932 Maybe you should be on our board. 242 00:22:04,94.932 --> 00:22:05,24.932 That just came out of nowhere. 243 00:22:05,24.932 --> 00:22:06,74.932 I wasn't expecting that. 244 00:22:06,74.932 --> 00:22:10,284.932 And, I feel that at the core of all of us, we don't look for the recognition of doing those things. 245 00:22:10,284.932 --> 00:22:11,484.932 We just naturally do them. 246 00:22:11,994.932 --> 00:22:13,194.932 So it's great to hear that. 247 00:22:13,194.932 --> 00:22:16,164.932 And it just motivated me even more to get in and help. 248 00:22:16,164.932 --> 00:22:20,694.932 And one thing I've definitely done is put myself in a position to not try to disappoint them. 249 00:22:21,174.932 --> 00:22:25,414.932 My chapter and, I've taken on the role of doing all the communications. 250 00:22:26,104.932 --> 00:22:29,914.932 Take that off their plates and let me help them tell their story. 251 00:22:30,719.932 --> 00:22:33,689.932 As a board member and as an ally, I definitely take a backseat. 252 00:22:33,689.932 --> 00:22:37,169.932 I don't need to be in the photos, I don't need to be in the videos thing like that. 253 00:22:37,169.932 --> 00:22:39,299.932 So I'm just really here to elevate the profile. 254 00:22:39,299.932 --> 00:23:05,929.932 And that's been my statement is how do I best elevate the profile of Indiana wand and bring national along the way? For me in action is mostly dealing with the events committee outside of the communication stuff and, they do the heavy lifting on get it co getting it coordinated, and I step in and I handle all of the video footage and all the photography and setting up the banners and getting the room set up as much as I can and just being there. 255 00:23:06,149.932 --> 00:23:11,449.932 I try to make suggestions from time to time, but I really just let them tell me what they need and what I can do to help. 256 00:23:11,479.932 --> 00:23:13,739.932 And that's really it for me. 257 00:23:13,739.932 --> 00:23:17,209.932 I'm somewhat proactive, but mostly reactive to things. 258 00:23:17,209.932 --> 00:23:19,839.932 But, again I just don't wanna let them down. 259 00:23:19,839.932 --> 00:23:22,929.932 So I definitely carry a lot of that feeling with it. 260 00:23:22,929.932 --> 00:23:25,439.932 And, as long as they're happy, I'm ecstatic. 261 00:23:25,439.932 --> 00:23:27,509.932 So I love that Brian. 262 00:23:27,509.932 --> 00:23:40,219.932 I love and Michael, that you, what you shared, because, and when I was with Brian in Indiana, the housing conference a couple weeks ago we were talking about making a shirt, right? And it was what was like, ask me how to ally or something like that, right? Yeah. 263 00:23:40,334.932 --> 00:23:42,614.932 And we're just walking around and we're like, I love it. 264 00:23:42,794.932 --> 00:23:44,114.932 That's a brilliant idea because. 265 00:23:44,729.932 --> 00:24:00,799.932 I think the question of individuals outside of the ally community or maybe who hasn't taken the pledge or even reviewed it is what does that look like? What do I do? How do I be a part of the community and be meaningful or even just be around and I think we gotta ask those questions because it's one of these things where. 266 00:24:01,574.932 --> 00:24:04,684.932 You're, you can, you just do, you just be, it's who you are. 267 00:24:04,684.932 --> 00:24:08,164.932 It's ingrained in what you are and we all do it in a different way. 268 00:24:08,404.932 --> 00:24:15,764.932 But I think it's that base level, intentionality that we bring to it, right? So you've got this, these great stories where it's practical. 269 00:24:15,764.932 --> 00:24:25,534.932 I do the same with my Ohio Juan chapter that I love supporting where I do the same thing where I sit back and go, alright, I'm happy to do any, I'll set the table. 270 00:24:25,534.932 --> 00:24:35,839.932 You you tell me when to be there, when to close up shop, set up the banners, or if something simple as that or something larger, like maybe helping provide some content or whatever. 271 00:24:36,149.932 --> 00:24:44,119.932 One of the things that I'm really rewarding is when I'm asked to do a be a part of a panel at an industry event. 272 00:24:44,479.932 --> 00:24:48,949.932 Number one, I am full of imposter syndrome and so I already hate doing that. 273 00:24:49,129.932 --> 00:24:53,449.932 But one thing that we commit to with the ally pledge is. 274 00:24:54,474.932 --> 00:24:57,474.932 Being mindful of what that panel construct looks like. 275 00:24:57,894.932 --> 00:25:22,584.932 And what Mike was saying earlier, he goes to conferences and sees just a bunch of guys like us, right? If I look at the panel construct, I've been invited to number one, after I get over my fear number two, I'm gonna look at, is it just a bunch of guys that look like me? And if that's the case, I have been vocal and I was a little nervous to do it at first, but I've been vocal to, to go to the coordinator and say, I really appreciate the invite. 276 00:25:23,34.932 --> 00:25:30,14.932 However, I've made this commitment as a a supporter of Juan, that I'm not gonna do a panel with a bunch of people that just look like me. 277 00:25:30,194.932 --> 00:25:38,999.932 So what can we do to adjust this and bring in some female voices, 'cause I'd love to help or, maybe I'm secretly saying I would, I don't wanna help 'cause I'm scared. 278 00:25:39,29.932 --> 00:25:40,399.932 But I'd love to help. 279 00:25:40,664.932 --> 00:25:46,124.932 And by so doing, I've been able to change the makeup of that panel and it doesn't. 280 00:25:46,694.932 --> 00:25:49,664.932 At least by my estimation, it's not like ruffling feathers. 281 00:25:50,24.932 --> 00:25:54,464.932 And I think that I believe that the content is better because of it. 282 00:25:54,464.932 --> 00:26:03,344.932 And I've even supplemented myself on a panel and brought one of my female employees in and said I want to give her this opportunity because I think she's great. 283 00:26:03,344.932 --> 00:26:05,694.932 And would she's not as scared as me to do this. 284 00:26:05,844.932 --> 00:26:07,944.932 And she she's fire. 285 00:26:07,944.932 --> 00:26:08,844.932 Like she can do that. 286 00:26:08,844.932 --> 00:26:21,379.932 And it's been, I think it's been really rewarding because it educates upstream to this, to, to individuals who are like I didn't know about Juan and I didn't realize that you're providing this commitment level. 287 00:26:21,934.932 --> 00:26:23,44.932 And that's cool. 288 00:26:23,44.932 --> 00:26:27,694.932 So it starts a discussion and it's making it, it's helped driving awareness. 289 00:26:28,744.932 --> 00:26:28,864.932 Yeah. 290 00:26:30,34.932 --> 00:26:37,289.932 Also, to clarify, Ben, it was, national one, branding or local branding? RU our next ally, that's what it is. 291 00:26:37,289.932 --> 00:26:38,339.932 RU our next ally. 292 00:26:38,519.932 --> 00:26:38,939.932 Gotcha. 293 00:26:39,29.932 --> 00:26:39,419.932 Okay. 294 00:26:39,419.932 --> 00:26:39,719.932 Yeah. 295 00:26:39,719.932 --> 00:26:42,984.932 The other thing, I love all of it, we'll just make a ton of ally shirts. 296 00:26:43,409.932 --> 00:26:43,769.932 Yeah. 297 00:26:43,769.932 --> 00:26:47,339.932 The other thing I wanted to add is, I think it becomes natural that you carry it with you. 298 00:26:48,329.932 --> 00:26:50,129.932 It becomes part of conversations. 299 00:26:50,469.932 --> 00:27:00,629.932 At the conference, a couple weeks ago, I think we made it a point to go grab men and bring them to the table and talk to them and show 'em the QR code and say, this is what we do. 300 00:27:00,629.932 --> 00:27:05,709.932 This is what this is, are you right? And I take that with me in my day to day. 301 00:27:05,869.932 --> 00:27:14,899.932 When I talk to people I say, oh, have you also heard of Juan? And we have this chapter, so it's become part of my walking around talking points and things like that too. 302 00:27:14,899.932 --> 00:27:19,549.932 Naturally Juan is built into my day-to-day interactions and conversations as well. 303 00:27:21,604.932 --> 00:27:23,404.932 I think that's so important because I've. 304 00:27:24,34.932 --> 00:27:25,174.932 I've met some people. 305 00:27:25,174.932 --> 00:27:32,684.932 I was talking to somebody just last week about an episode of the W Cast that we did with a phenomenal woman. 306 00:27:33,164.932 --> 00:27:35,784.932 And he was very interested in the content. 307 00:27:35,784.932 --> 00:27:42,234.932 He said I've seen your posts about W Cast, but I just didn't think that related to me and my work, and clearly I was wrong. 308 00:27:42,714.932 --> 00:27:50,574.932 And that obviously launched a conversation about the Ally community and the Ally Committee and everything that, that I love about what you all do. 309 00:27:51,24.932 --> 00:28:03,104.932 But it's so great for us to have you all as a natural platform to help spread what we do because it isn't just for women, right? It's to benefit the entire industry and your voices carry that message a long way. 310 00:28:03,574.932 --> 00:28:04,924.932 So thank you to all of you. 311 00:28:05,314.932 --> 00:28:18,844.932 For that, Abe, did you wanna share any ally and action examples? A lot of folks just need to take the blue pill or the red pill, they, they need their eyes opened to some of the things at play. 312 00:28:18,844.932 --> 00:28:23,724.932 And that's where being on a panel and pointing out the lack of diversity is so important. 313 00:28:23,724.932 --> 00:28:35,514.932 'cause I do think that there's just some and I say this without judgment, but just some ignorance at play where I think it's just people are oh, I know these people so I'm going to reach out to them and put them on the panel. 314 00:28:35,844.932 --> 00:28:38,64.932 And so there's just these blind spots. 315 00:28:38,314.932 --> 00:28:45,574.932 And so I do think that for a lot of folks, they're well intentioned and when you point this out, they're like, I didn't even think about that. 316 00:28:45,784.932 --> 00:28:50,44.932 And you're just like, Ugh, you should have, but okay, it's okay. 317 00:28:50,344.932 --> 00:28:56,674.932 And so I think that's a big part of allyship is being able to talk to the folks like your peers like that. 318 00:28:56,924.932 --> 00:29:02,84.932 'Cause I do think that oftentimes that message is gonna be received a little bit easier. 319 00:29:02,654.932 --> 00:29:08,234.932 So that's where I see it is definitely as I'm assembling panels or being asked to be on panels. 320 00:29:08,414.932 --> 00:29:25,24.932 So I love Ben's example there, but then it's also as a business owner it's and I'm responsible for hiring, like looking at who are my colleagues and how do we approach diversity? And very much looking at it through the lens of, I want a company that's like reflective of the construction industry. 321 00:29:25,324.932 --> 00:29:28,114.932 I want a construction industry that's reflective of society. 322 00:29:28,474.932 --> 00:29:34,654.932 I want a construction industry that at all levels is reflective of society. 323 00:29:35,319.932 --> 00:29:39,9.932 And like for us, like diversity is a strength. 324 00:29:39,139.932 --> 00:29:48,239.932 It fluctuates and depending on how you slice and dice the numbers, it's we're over a third non-white employees, we're about half female employees. 325 00:29:48,239.932 --> 00:29:51,539.932 But it's I want folks who have different backgrounds than me. 326 00:29:51,629.932 --> 00:29:57,359.932 'cause I want them to approach problems and questions from different directions and from different angles. 327 00:29:57,409.932 --> 00:30:03,79.932 As we're sitting around the table, like I don't want just cookie cutters of me all thinking the same way. 328 00:30:03,199.932 --> 00:30:06,499.932 I want people who are like, oh, that's interesting. 329 00:30:06,589.932 --> 00:30:08,479.932 I approach it from this direction. 330 00:30:08,509.932 --> 00:30:15,459.932 And I can be like, I did not think about it at all that way, but so we do better because of it. 331 00:30:15,759.932 --> 00:30:23,99.932 So again, like I just think about it through this lens of diversity is strength, it's an asset and like the industry benefits from this. 332 00:30:23,99.932 --> 00:30:25,559.932 I benefit as an individual from this. 333 00:30:25,859.932 --> 00:30:26,874.932 I, I agree. 334 00:30:27,24.932 --> 00:30:38,774.932 Mike, so we talked a little bit about you winning the Active Ally Award, which was created in honor of James Kumar, who we lost several years ago in, in a tragic accident. 335 00:30:38,774.932 --> 00:30:45,234.932 But he was known in the community as being somebody who always took a stand for women in the industry. 336 00:30:45,234.932 --> 00:30:55,174.932 And so we take this award very seriously and like I said, reading through the nominations that we receive for all of these wonderful men every year. 337 00:30:55,334.932 --> 00:30:56,384.932 I'm a crier anyway. 338 00:30:56,384.932 --> 00:31:00,74.932 If you guys have seen me at Summit, you, I, chances are you've seen me cry multiple times. 339 00:31:00,104.932 --> 00:31:13,204.932 I couldn't get through reading those nominations without tearing up because being a woman at the table, in a time when the industry I came from the practice of law was a completely different world than it is today. 340 00:31:13,684.932 --> 00:31:17,134.932 I know what it feels like to not be listened to, to be judged. 341 00:31:17,164.932 --> 00:31:21,94.932 I was told by the managing partner in my law firm that he doesn't like to hire women. 342 00:31:21,94.932 --> 00:31:22,894.932 'cause as soon as we get pregnant, we get lazy. 343 00:31:23,614.932 --> 00:31:25,714.932 And I was like, you're a lawyer, man. 344 00:31:25,824.932 --> 00:31:27,894.932 You're not supposed to say that stuff out loud. 345 00:31:27,894.932 --> 00:31:28,674.932 I'm sure you think it. 346 00:31:28,674.932 --> 00:31:35,344.932 But and so I asked to go down to part-time so that I could spend more time and see my daughter when she was actually awake. 347 00:31:35,344.932 --> 00:31:39,604.932 And part-time in law was still 40 billable hours, which translates to 60 working hours. 348 00:31:39,784.932 --> 00:31:41,554.932 And they ignored my request. 349 00:31:41,644.932 --> 00:31:43,534.932 So I just quit the firm and found a different job. 350 00:31:43,534.932 --> 00:31:46,114.932 But it's wonderful. 351 00:31:46,774.932 --> 00:31:49,264.932 Such a small act by an ally. 352 00:31:49,294.932 --> 00:31:57,504.932 As much as if you've noticed that somebody has interrupted a female colleague and you, maybe she doesn't feel comfortable calling them out for the interruption, but maybe you do. 353 00:31:57,954.932 --> 00:32:00,924.932 Something that simple, gosh, makes such a difference. 354 00:32:00,994.932 --> 00:32:04,624.932 And you guys are all practicing it and walking the walk and talking the talk all the time. 355 00:32:04,674.932 --> 00:32:08,184.932 But just for our listeners who may think I don't, I just dunno how to do this. 356 00:32:08,184.932 --> 00:32:19,84.932 You guys have a whole list of simple things that you can do, and I love that we're gonna do a campaign to get people involved and they can just make little changes every day that make big changes for women in the industry. 357 00:32:19,424.932 --> 00:32:22,634.932 Mike, let's talk a little bit more about Winning the Ally Award. 358 00:32:22,844.932 --> 00:32:24,874.932 Tell us a little bit about what that meant to you. 359 00:32:26,474.932 --> 00:32:31,114.932 As as I think you may remember, you learned that I was, that I am a crier as well. 360 00:32:31,174.932 --> 00:32:34,204.932 First of all I was not aware that I was being nominated. 361 00:32:34,204.932 --> 00:32:41,594.932 I found out after the fact and actually first thought it was a practical joke that somebody was trying to play on me. 362 00:32:41,594.932 --> 00:32:42,374.932 I don't really. 363 00:32:42,989.932 --> 00:32:47,999.932 Seek much in my career for any kind of, public acknowledgement of my efforts or anything like that. 364 00:32:47,999.932 --> 00:32:56,339.932 And I've been involved with the Missouri Workforce Housing Association for a long time but very active since I formed my own company five years ago. 365 00:32:56,729.932 --> 00:33:01,259.932 And Jeff Smith, who's our executive director, is the one I think that sort of led the nomination. 366 00:33:01,349.932 --> 00:33:06,499.932 And so he mentioned it offhandedly on a call I was having with him, and I just said, oh, that's funny. 367 00:33:06,949.932 --> 00:33:08,419.932 But but then found out it was real. 368 00:33:08,419.932 --> 00:33:25,9.932 And also, I don't know who wrote those nominating letters but I guess Jeff organized a group of folks, but yeah, many people, who were on the committee that selected me came up to me at the conference and said what you just said, Angie, about, the nice things that people said about me in their letters, which again, was frankly, all the reward I really needed. 369 00:33:25,79.932 --> 00:33:27,164.932 Was to hear that that people with. 370 00:33:28,724.932 --> 00:33:36,514.932 That I obviously know but didn't know they were doing this, were reflecting on my actual kind of behavior and actions that, that they've had with me over my career. 371 00:33:36,514.932 --> 00:33:39,724.932 So that was very humbling and very rewarding to hear. 372 00:33:39,824.932 --> 00:33:50,884.932 But yeah, I it meant a lot to me, and I decided to talk at the conference about what I think has informed me in my allyship over my life. 373 00:33:50,884.932 --> 00:33:59,144.932 And it was all about my mom, who has been the strongest foundation for me and for my success, both personally and professionally in life. 374 00:33:59,174.932 --> 00:34:05,614.932 And so that's what was most rewarding for me is I think it's, basically a testament to her great work. 375 00:34:05,644.932 --> 00:34:08,834.932 She was a single mom of five and I was the middle child. 376 00:34:08,834.932 --> 00:34:11,294.932 So as I like to say, I was the forgotten kid. 377 00:34:11,294.932 --> 00:34:12,464.932 I wasn't allowed to be a kid. 378 00:34:12,759.932 --> 00:34:16,29.932 I was also she had a focus on my older brothers and my younger sisters. 379 00:34:16,29.932 --> 00:34:17,559.932 But I just, I learned a lot from her. 380 00:34:17,559.932 --> 00:34:25,519.932 I learned a lot from her about how to take, a whole set of bad circumstances and make a positive life out of 'em and, raise a strong family. 381 00:34:25,519.932 --> 00:34:27,239.932 And so yeah. 382 00:34:27,239.932 --> 00:34:34,139.932 So it was, that, that's honestly the most rewarding piece of it is how I feel to ultimately attribute to my mom and everything she's done for me. 383 00:34:35,279.932 --> 00:34:41,414.932 Can you share the story that you shared with us at Summit about helping her because you're trying to get me to cry again. 384 00:34:41,414.932 --> 00:34:41,654.932 No. 385 00:34:41,654.932 --> 00:34:46,794.932 You don't need to cry and no one's gonna see it anyway, so you can get sniffly and I'll even edit it out if we need to. 386 00:34:46,794.932 --> 00:34:48,444.932 That's, but it was such a great story. 387 00:34:48,499.932 --> 00:34:49,819.932 I tell it to everybody. 388 00:34:50,269.932 --> 00:34:52,159.932 Not the crying part, but just the great story. 389 00:34:52,164.932 --> 00:34:52,334.932 Yeah. 390 00:34:52,459.932 --> 00:34:52,759.932 Yeah. 391 00:34:52,859.932 --> 00:34:58,24.932 I'm sure there's video out there and someday somebody will find a way to put it up at one of my Missouri conferences or something to embarrass me. 392 00:34:58,649.932 --> 00:34:59,249.932 Which is fine. 393 00:34:59,279.932 --> 00:35:01,859.932 I, I love being embarrassed especially talking about my mom. 394 00:35:01,859.932 --> 00:35:03,799.932 But so as I mentioned, she was a single mom. 395 00:35:03,859.932 --> 00:35:07,139.932 She got married a second time as I was leaving high school. 396 00:35:07,139.932 --> 00:35:09,239.932 And that second marriage didn't work out. 397 00:35:09,239.932 --> 00:35:14,879.932 And I had moved home from grad school and from working at Ohio Capital and started working at St. 398 00:35:14,879.932 --> 00:35:16,619.932 Louis Equity Fund here locally in St. 399 00:35:16,619.932 --> 00:35:17,9.932 Louis. 400 00:35:17,9.932 --> 00:35:18,899.932 And we have a great nonprofit in St. 401 00:35:18,899.932 --> 00:35:19,169.932 Louis. 402 00:35:19,169.932 --> 00:35:23,219.932 It's been around forever that I got to know in my working at St. 403 00:35:23,219.932 --> 00:35:24,959.932 Louis Equity Fund called Beyond Housing. 404 00:35:25,169.932 --> 00:35:27,339.932 And Beyond Housing is based in St. 405 00:35:27,339.932 --> 00:35:36,729.932 Louis County and has primarily focused on building home ownership opportunities, mostly for single mothers through the low income housing tax credit program. 406 00:35:36,969.932 --> 00:35:48,809.932 They pioneered 30 plus years ago this kind of lease purchase concept in in Litech development and has a really great charismatic leader and Chris Kra Meyer and Chris, became a kind of a. 407 00:35:49,124.932 --> 00:35:51,494.932 Somebody I looked up to and a little bit of a mentor of mine. 408 00:35:51,494.932 --> 00:36:01,514.932 And when my mom got divorced, she had nothing going on professionally and was really down and I needed to get her out of the house basically and get her out doing something. 409 00:36:01,514.932 --> 00:36:07,934.932 So I called up Chris one day and said, Hey Chris, you got any volunteer opportunities? I just want to get my mom outta the house for a bit. 410 00:36:07,934.932 --> 00:36:09,404.932 He is absolutely, I'm a nonprofit. 411 00:36:09,404.932 --> 00:36:11,174.932 I'll take any free labor I can get. 412 00:36:11,624.932 --> 00:36:13,124.932 And so I sent her over there. 413 00:36:13,124.932 --> 00:36:16,769.932 She was thankfully a willing willing participant in my little exercise. 414 00:36:16,829.932 --> 00:36:20,119.932 And about a month in, got hired on part-time. 415 00:36:20,119.932 --> 00:36:22,939.932 It was, this is probably oh 3, 0 4. 416 00:36:23,59.932 --> 00:36:31,629.932 And it was, really the kind of starting part of what became that massive, foreclosure crisis and recession. 417 00:36:32,469.932 --> 00:36:36,579.932 2008, 2009, and she was a foreclosure prevention specialist. 418 00:36:36,579.932 --> 00:36:40,609.932 They were getting some grants that were helping folks stay in their homes and not get foreclosed upon. 419 00:36:41,239.932 --> 00:36:47,749.932 And over a short period of time from starting out as a volunteer, she became the head of the foreclosure prevention program at Beyond Housing. 420 00:36:47,749.932 --> 00:36:51,349.932 And worked locally, but became renowned nationally. 421 00:36:51,719.932 --> 00:36:55,89.932 Had an opportunity to meet, all the CEOs of all the major banks. 422 00:36:55,89.932 --> 00:36:57,949.932 Citibank, JP Morgan bank of America. 423 00:36:58,319.932 --> 00:37:03,299.932 Got invited to the White House for a symposium on foreclosure prevention during the Obama administration. 424 00:37:03,299.932 --> 00:37:12,579.932 And just recently retired a few years ago after a late in life 20 year career that really just started with me trying to find a way to get her outta the house for a minute. 425 00:37:12,609.932 --> 00:37:19,439.932 And in winning the award, and this is the realization I had actually literally up on that stage that day back in May. 426 00:37:19,499.932 --> 00:37:22,29.932 That was what I feel like was maybe my first major. 427 00:37:22,474.932 --> 00:37:27,674.932 Act as an ally was helping her find something that, could help her pass the time. 428 00:37:27,674.932 --> 00:37:34,474.932 But then, having just a little bit of a part of having her, basically have a wonderful career that she's super proud of. 429 00:37:34,474.932 --> 00:37:39,404.932 And despite her retirement, she continues to do a little bit of part-time counseling. 430 00:37:39,404.932 --> 00:37:42,864.932 Now it's all about eviction prevention since the pandemic. 431 00:37:42,864.932 --> 00:37:46,974.932 As we know we've had a massive eviction challenge nationwide. 432 00:37:46,974.932 --> 00:37:52,444.932 And so she's basically a professional mediator that's helping folks, who make commitments. 433 00:37:52,444.932 --> 00:37:59,84.932 You sign a mortgage, you sign a lease, you make a commitment to make a payment, and life happens and you gotta figure out a way to, to correct it. 434 00:37:59,84.932 --> 00:38:04,214.932 And so she, she's mediating eviction disputes now as well and helping a lot of people continue to stay in their homes. 435 00:38:04,631.5986667 --> 00:38:07,181.5986667 Mike, that is like superhero level stuff. 436 00:38:07,181.5986667 --> 00:38:10,61.5986667 And the cool thing about it is it's this, it's okay. 437 00:38:10,61.5986667 --> 00:38:11,291.5986667 I'm a big fan of Brene. 438 00:38:11,501.5986667 --> 00:38:16,81.5986667 I think every, a lot of people on this podcast probably resonate with Brene Brown, but it's people first leadership. 439 00:38:16,81.5986667 --> 00:38:16,561.5986667 It's people. 440 00:38:16,561.5986667 --> 00:38:17,311.5986667 That's what she says. 441 00:38:17,311.5986667 --> 00:38:20,551.5986667 So that's your person, your mom's your person. 442 00:38:20,731.5986667 --> 00:38:27,151.5986667 And it wasn't, you had no vision that she was gonna become this national guru right. 443 00:38:27,151.5986667 --> 00:38:30,721.5986667 In this space and helped so many people, but you just cared about her. 444 00:38:30,721.5986667 --> 00:38:43,861.5986667 And I feel like that at the very core is at like the sentiment behind what we want to accomplish with Juan and and as allies, right? Like we, we just, we wanna see people for people. 445 00:38:44,686.5986667 --> 00:38:49,816.5986667 Put them in positions to better themselves just because we care for them. 446 00:38:50,326.5986667 --> 00:38:54,266.5986667 And then superpower stuff can come out like what occurred in your story. 447 00:38:54,306.5986667 --> 00:38:56,586.5986667 I love that, for sure. 448 00:38:56,586.5986667 --> 00:38:56,766.5986667 Yeah. 449 00:38:56,766.5986667 --> 00:39:04,476.5986667 I think we are all creators of our own destiny, so to speak, but it's about putting people in positions for them to either succeed or fail. 450 00:39:04,986.5986667 --> 00:39:06,306.5986667 And that's really what I focus on. 451 00:39:06,306.5986667 --> 00:39:09,186.5986667 My, my entire career, frankly, is an accident. 452 00:39:09,296.5986667 --> 00:39:15,146.5986667 I only went to grad school because my wife now, my girlfriend at the time got into grad school and I fell into it accidentally. 453 00:39:15,686.5986667 --> 00:39:35,206.5986667 I got the job at Ohio Capital that taught me this trade by just, making friends with a former person in my city planning program who worked there and brought me in and so a lot of people just nudged me along and allowed me to be in, to have opportunities to then see if I can flourish or fail. 454 00:39:35,206.5986667 --> 00:39:37,886.5986667 And I took a, I took advantage of those situations. 455 00:39:37,886.5986667 --> 00:39:46,596.5986667 I'm proud of my accomplishments, but also extraordinarily, recognizing of the people that helped me get to those positions where I could succeed. 456 00:39:50,866.5986667 --> 00:39:57,296.5986667 I think everybody on the call has been to a summit or been to an affordable housing conference where WAHN's had a presence. 457 00:39:57,296.5986667 --> 00:40:13,126.5986667 Anybody feel like sharing some experiences that, that you've had? Beyond what we've already talked about, summit registration is open and everyone will want to sign up quickly because we are in San Diego this year at the Paradise Point Resort on its own island. 458 00:40:13,356.5986667 --> 00:40:15,756.5986667 So I can't imagine we're not gonna solve very quickly. 459 00:40:15,856.5986667 --> 00:40:22,426.5986667 All I can say is having attended my first one in Denver this past year a, it is absolutely wonderful to be in an environment where. 460 00:40:23,66.5986667 --> 00:40:25,16.5986667 As a white male, I'm a minority. 461 00:40:25,116.5986667 --> 00:40:28,926.5986667 And so that was just a extraordinarily refreshing experience. 462 00:40:28,956.5986667 --> 00:40:33,716.5986667 'cause frankly, like I've said, I feel like very often I'm not ever in those sorts of environments. 463 00:40:34,76.5986667 --> 00:40:36,416.5986667 And then secondly, the food was second to none. 464 00:40:36,526.5986667 --> 00:40:41,396.5986667 A conference planned by Women for Women has so much better food than every conference. 465 00:40:42,26.5986667 --> 00:40:46,126.5986667 Every time I'd go down for, go out for lunch, it just, it was an incredible spread. 466 00:40:46,126.5986667 --> 00:40:53,686.5986667 My, my recommendation for the One annual conference is at least go for the extraordinarily refreshing environment and delicious food. 467 00:40:56,26.5986667 --> 00:40:58,966.5986667 I, I loved this last year as well. 468 00:40:58,966.5986667 --> 00:41:00,516.5986667 I man, I came away from it. 469 00:41:00,996.5986667 --> 00:41:07,171.5986667 And granted you already, Angie, have already highlighted how busy we were like as registration staff and just behind the scenes and doing things. 470 00:41:07,621.5986667 --> 00:41:14,881.5986667 And you'd think that working a lot of hours doing some of that administrative task and logistical stuff would wear you. 471 00:41:14,881.5986667 --> 00:41:22,796.5986667 But I actually came away from that conference feeling so energized because I, okay, I'm I love to serve, right? That's why I love to be in that role. 472 00:41:23,6.5986667 --> 00:41:28,596.5986667 And I love all the relationships that that I've made through WAHN And so that, that juices me out. 473 00:41:28,596.5986667 --> 00:41:32,26.5986667 That feeds me, right? But it's, there's a lot of conferences I go to. 474 00:41:32,26.5986667 --> 00:41:37,926.5986667 Like I'm at a conference right now out here at the Utah Housing Conference taking a moment to come do this podcast and. 475 00:41:38,416.5986667 --> 00:41:39,16.5986667 It's great. 476 00:41:39,16.5986667 --> 00:41:45,411.5986667 I put out in my booth and I do the things and we hand out all the, what I call adult trick or treating with all the, the stuff we put out on the marketing. 477 00:41:45,631.5986667 --> 00:41:50,706.5986667 That stuff, it wears on you, and you hold your meetings and you get on the flight home and you're happy to go home. 478 00:41:50,706.5986667 --> 00:42:00,306.5986667 But man, I tell you, like the energy, because of the focus, because of the mission of Juan I, I come away from it energized as opposed to drained. 479 00:42:00,376.5986667 --> 00:42:22,416.5986667 And I think it's, when Ashley first told me about this years ago, my, my version that my take on where it could go is like having industry leaders, male or female, across our industry, recognize WAHN and the summit and whatever as the same impactful, insightful type of organization out there to further affordable housing. 480 00:42:22,416.5986667 --> 00:42:31,296.5986667 Just like we have all these other industry groups that, and that means my role as the male ally is to support from behind the scenes, create space for women's voices. 481 00:42:31,836.5986667 --> 00:42:38,336.5986667 Put their perspectives, their wisdom at center stage and to do that with the right reasons. 482 00:42:38,336.5986667 --> 00:42:56,991.5986667 And so I hope that we have, I know Brian mentioned this, I'm gonna be utilizing this as like a recruiting tool to send to my male counterparts to say, this is what we do with the Ally side, right? Certainly, like I have made some great relationships and been able to interface with a lot of amazing women in the industry. 483 00:42:57,261.5986667 --> 00:43:04,801.5986667 And I think if some, ally is or potential ally, should I come to the WAHN Summit? Should I attend? I think the answer is yes. 484 00:43:04,801.5986667 --> 00:43:06,121.5986667 Like for sure. 485 00:43:06,121.5986667 --> 00:43:06,841.5986667 We want you there. 486 00:43:06,841.5986667 --> 00:43:08,881.5986667 We want you there for great reasons. 487 00:43:08,911.5986667 --> 00:43:16,841.5986667 We want you there to become supportive, but we want you to come and get content that you would get from you, fill in the blank from other conference. 488 00:43:16,841.5986667 --> 00:43:22,511.5986667 And to know that it's just because it's coming from women's voices like it is of equal value. 489 00:43:22,601.5986667 --> 00:43:24,701.5986667 And it is, these are wise. 490 00:43:25,106.5986667 --> 00:43:29,406.5986667 Educated, experienced women sharing their their knowledge. 491 00:43:32,16.5986667 --> 00:43:33,666.5986667 Yeah I'll reiterate that. 492 00:43:34,56.5986667 --> 00:43:37,446.5986667 Men can and should attend the conference. 493 00:43:37,596.5986667 --> 00:43:51,646.5986667 That the speakers are industry experts, credible content, but then also volunteer reach access because I, the first summit in Atlanta and it was a lot of fun. 494 00:43:51,916.5986667 --> 00:43:55,486.5986667 I gotta say like just hanging out with folks and getting to everyone. 495 00:43:55,816.5986667 --> 00:44:01,966.5986667 I feel like one of the early things I learned in my career was volunteer at the registration table. 496 00:44:02,206.5986667 --> 00:44:04,156.5986667 That's the best way to meet everyone. 497 00:44:04,396.5986667 --> 00:44:06,826.5986667 'cause everyone has to come down and get their badge. 498 00:44:07,36.5986667 --> 00:44:14,596.5986667 And so getting to work, registration, it was so much fun getting to meet all the attendees and getting to hang out with the other volunteers. 499 00:44:14,756.5986667 --> 00:44:17,126.5986667 And it felt good, right? Being that support role. 500 00:44:17,176.5986667 --> 00:44:20,386.5986667 Highly recommend everyone should attend and or volunteer. 501 00:44:23,116.5986667 --> 00:44:24,886.5986667 Yeah, I look forward to San Diego. 502 00:44:24,886.5986667 --> 00:44:28,756.5986667 I'm gonna seek my authorizations and approvals to get that in place. 503 00:44:29,116.5986667 --> 00:44:31,36.5986667 I feel like that's where I need to be. 504 00:44:31,546.5986667 --> 00:44:56,366.5986667 I did want to just briefly reference the Indiana Housing Conference and, I guess give a couple shout outs because one thing that we have been able to do is incorporate our annual day of service into the housing conference, which is a great opportunity for us to elevate two worthy not-for-profits, but also that's another recruitment tool for us for people that want to use some PTO or just some of their personal time to come out and help with some things. 505 00:44:56,366.5986667 --> 00:44:57,296.5986667 So Girls Inc. 506 00:44:57,356.5986667 --> 00:45:00,416.5986667 Is an organization that cares the young girls. 507 00:45:00,526.5986667 --> 00:45:07,346.5986667 We created some kits for them and then Day Spring is another place here in Indy and we went and did some, painting and tooling up and things like that. 508 00:45:07,346.5986667 --> 00:45:12,211.5986667 But I feel very confident that I got at least three new allies out of that. 509 00:45:13,291.5986667 --> 00:45:15,931.5986667 On top of some new members for the agency as well. 510 00:45:16,241.5986667 --> 00:45:21,281.5986667 But the Indiana Housing Conference the, it's put on by our agency in the Indiana Affordable Housing Council. 511 00:45:21,581.5986667 --> 00:45:27,401.5986667 And the council has been more than supportive of giving us a place and a space and the resources. 512 00:45:27,401.5986667 --> 00:45:32,831.5986667 We are a beneficiary of the charity golf outings, so they, we do get a check from them and that helps us further the mission. 513 00:45:33,161.5986667 --> 00:45:47,21.5986667 And they give us the space, they provide the lunches, they give us all the tools and things to bring those volunteers in and to be able to be philanthropic for the day through the conference and through Juan. 514 00:45:47,201.5986667 --> 00:45:48,511.5986667 And just a really direction. 515 00:45:48,511.5986667 --> 00:45:53,661.5986667 And I feel like that energy is gonna be very similar to what I experienced in San Diego, and I'm looking forward to that. 516 00:45:53,661.5986667 --> 00:45:56,811.5986667 Yeah, just wanted to shout them out and bring that up because the day of services really are big. 517 00:45:56,811.5986667 --> 00:45:58,741.5986667 That's our slam dunk for the year. 518 00:45:58,891.5986667 --> 00:46:00,121.5986667 And there's more to come for that. 519 00:46:00,171.5986667 --> 00:46:00,351.5986667 That's it. 520 00:46:00,351.5986667 --> 00:46:01,791.5986667 I know we're getting close to time. 521 00:46:01,791.5986667 --> 00:46:08,631.5986667 I don't wanna keep you guys after, 'cause I know you guys have busy days, but wanna talk about signing the Ally pledge and joining the Ally community. 522 00:46:08,731.5986667 --> 00:46:22,681.5986667 Any final words on either of those? I know we have a lot of things planned and stay tuned to all Juan channels for additional information, but we'll be separating out those interested in hearing from the Ally community. 523 00:46:22,681.5986667 --> 00:46:30,651.5986667 You guys will get a, your own, email campaign going forward so you guys can stay involved and stay connected once you do find your way to us here. 524 00:46:32,236.5986667 --> 00:46:32,526.5986667 Yeah. 525 00:46:33,921.5986667 --> 00:46:44,586.5986667 My message to any potential allies is that I won't question your sincerity in doing so, but just to encourage you and keep in mind that, many of our, like a board position are being a voluntary it's voluntary. 526 00:46:45,56.5986667 --> 00:46:54,551.5986667 You don't have to commit to a thousand hours of service if you provide one hour of service whenever you're available to do we'll take it. 527 00:46:54,941.5986667 --> 00:46:55,691.5986667 We want that. 528 00:46:56,31.5986667 --> 00:47:04,161.5986667 So feel no pressure to commit a ton of time, but be sincere about making an effort to commit that time when that opportunity arises. 529 00:47:04,551.5986667 --> 00:47:09,511.5986667 We're here, we're present, and that's really the core and the foot in the door for what that is. 530 00:47:09,551.5986667 --> 00:47:10,361.5986667 Don't be scared. 531 00:47:10,421.5986667 --> 00:47:11,411.5986667 We can talk you through it. 532 00:47:11,541.5986667 --> 00:47:14,31.5986667 Any of us will talk you through it and get you comfortable with it. 533 00:47:14,31.5986667 --> 00:47:22,591.5986667 But we are coming for you and we do want you to sign this pledge and we will be assertive and kind and very supportive in the process. 534 00:47:22,721.5986667 --> 00:47:25,91.5986667 And we look forward to you being our next ally. 535 00:47:27,581.5986667 --> 00:47:28,271.5986667 Well said. 536 00:47:29,141.5986667 --> 00:47:29,411.5986667 Thank you. 537 00:47:32,340.5879524 --> 00:47:37,590.5879524 Well, any, Any closing thoughts? Any, anybody think the cowboys might win this week? I don't know. 538 00:47:38,430.5879524 --> 00:47:42,60.5879524 No, that was an easy one. 539 00:47:42,540.5879524 --> 00:47:52,270.5879524 Who does the Ohio State University play this week? Mike, you got that? I should know that off the top of my head. 540 00:47:52,660.5879524 --> 00:47:55,330.5879524 My 14-year-old actually keeps me up on the team. 541 00:47:55,960.5879524 --> 00:47:56,590.5879524 I got you co. 542 00:47:56,590.5879524 --> 00:47:57,880.5879524 Is I got you covered. 543 00:47:57,880.5879524 --> 00:47:59,765.5879524 Is it Penn State already? No, it's Googling it. 544 00:47:59,765.5879524 --> 00:48:01,455.5879524 It's, no it's Ohio. 545 00:48:01,785.5879524 --> 00:48:10,300.5879524 So we always have this issue where it's even in my own home, my, I'll say oh, Ohio, right where Ohio did this? It's the Ohio State. 546 00:48:10,300.5879524 --> 00:48:10,330.5879524 The Ohio Yeah. 547 00:48:11,65.5879524 --> 00:48:13,225.5879524 Versus Ohio Bobcats. 548 00:48:13,435.5879524 --> 00:48:15,835.5879524 So that's, it's the battle of 33. 549 00:48:15,865.5879524 --> 00:48:22,645.5879524 We got Ohio University versus the Ohio State University home rivalry in a way. 550 00:48:23,365.5879524 --> 00:48:32,950.5879524 Abe who are you cheering for? Who's your team or who are your teams? I hope this is not gonna be taken too poorly, but I am from Philadelphia, so Go birds. 551 00:48:33,100.5879524 --> 00:48:33,820.5879524 Okay. 552 00:48:35,290.5879524 --> 00:48:36,700.5879524 I've been in Atlanta long enough. 553 00:48:36,700.5879524 --> 00:48:40,360.5879524 I like the Falcons, but like my heart is always gonna be with the Eagles. 554 00:48:41,660.5879524 --> 00:48:47,240.5879524 That's what Brian, are you a native? Are you a native Indianan? Are you a Colts fan? I am a Colts fan. 555 00:48:47,240.5879524 --> 00:48:48,800.5879524 I am a native New Yorker. 556 00:48:48,860.5879524 --> 00:48:50,120.5879524 But I'm all over the place. 557 00:48:50,120.5879524 --> 00:48:53,220.5879524 So Yankees are Mets, Mets. 558 00:48:53,370.5879524 --> 00:48:54,0.5879524 Okay, good. 559 00:48:54,60.5879524 --> 00:49:01,810.5879524 We could still be friends like Mike, But to my friends Mike and Ben, I will simply say go blue. 560 00:49:02,140.5879524 --> 00:49:02,530.5879524 Yeah. 561 00:49:02,580.5879524 --> 00:49:03,795.5879524 I Michigan through and through. 562 00:49:04,955.5879524 --> 00:49:05,275.5879524 Interesting. 563 00:49:05,615.5879524 --> 00:49:07,650.5879524 Hey, but also go Hoosiers. 564 00:49:07,650.5879524 --> 00:49:10,80.5879524 We're big IU football and all sports. 565 00:49:10,290.5879524 --> 00:49:14,75.5879524 IU produce some, but mostly iu and I'm a big guy. 566 00:49:14,75.5879524 --> 00:49:22,35.5879524 But, my New York Ties take me Mets, Nicks Islanders, and giants. 567 00:49:23,355.5879524 --> 00:49:32,645.5879524 I do think, for the record, just because this is a nearly all male podcast, it was Angie's fault that we decided to use football metaphors through the whole podcast. 568 00:49:32,645.5879524 --> 00:49:34,235.5879524 I think you brought that up at the front end. 569 00:49:34,235.5879524 --> 00:49:37,90.5879524 So I just wanna make sure that for the record we set that straight. 570 00:49:37,840.5879524 --> 00:49:38,470.5879524 Absolutely. 571 00:49:38,470.5879524 --> 00:49:45,980.5879524 I'm a rabid, obviously diluted Cowboys fan I love to talk football, but I am smart about it because I know we aren't good. 572 00:49:46,230.5879524 --> 00:49:48,300.5879524 We have talent, but we can't make it do anything. 573 00:49:48,300.5879524 --> 00:49:50,100.5879524 So we have the same season every year. 574 00:49:50,160.5879524 --> 00:49:52,530.5879524 Just rinse, repeat the Astros though. 575 00:49:52,530.5879524 --> 00:49:54,120.5879524 Make me a little happier. 576 00:49:54,120.5879524 --> 00:50:01,495.5879524 And I know that everybody isn't super happy with us, but it's been years and anyway you take watch, you gotta take, you gotta take it when you can, sure. 577 00:50:01,495.5879524 --> 00:50:01,885.5879524 Yeah. 578 00:50:02,395.5879524 --> 00:50:03,175.5879524 Yeah, we do. 579 00:50:03,295.5879524 --> 00:50:03,805.5879524 I enjoy it. 580 00:50:03,805.5879524 --> 00:50:17,35.5879524 And just a point, so Brian, it's a good thing you said Mets, because I learned in talking to Ashley recently when we were talking to Glen Hops actually at R four on a podcast a couple of weeks ago, that she's a Yankees fan, which I didn't know, and I don't know why I didn't know that. 581 00:50:17,305.5879524 --> 00:50:19,465.5879524 No, you have problems, but I, we do. 582 00:50:19,465.5879524 --> 00:50:26,725.5879524 I told her our dynamic has completely changed, but Yankees have not gone to the World Series since Jose Altuve came on the scene. 583 00:50:27,25.5879524 --> 00:50:31,945.5879524 So I, as much as they boo him when he plays up there, they still can't get past him. 584 00:50:31,945.5879524 --> 00:50:33,565.5879524 So something I'm proud of anyway. 585 00:50:34,195.5879524 --> 00:50:42,895.5879524 I do question when I see a Yankee hat, I question if you, do you even know three players on the team? Like the Yankees hats are so trendy. 586 00:50:42,895.5879524 --> 00:50:44,125.5879524 I don't trust them anymore. 587 00:50:44,185.5879524 --> 00:50:45,985.5879524 Yeah, they just like the logo anymore. 588 00:50:46,165.5879524 --> 00:50:46,975.5879524 Oh, for sure. 589 00:50:47,305.5879524 --> 00:50:50,695.5879524 My wife just ordered a hat for a trip we went on. 590 00:50:50,785.5879524 --> 00:50:51,775.5879524 'cause you just needed a hat. 591 00:50:51,835.5879524 --> 00:50:56,485.5879524 Of course it came with a Yankees logo and I just was like, babe, you never watched baseball in your life. 592 00:50:56,515.5879524 --> 00:50:57,25.5879524 I love you. 593 00:50:57,25.5879524 --> 00:50:58,185.5879524 But just fashion. 594 00:50:58,665.5879524 --> 00:50:59,835.5879524 I do Aaron Judge. 595 00:50:59,925.5879524 --> 00:51:01,665.5879524 I think he's a good human. 596 00:51:01,845.5879524 --> 00:51:06,705.5879524 He's obviously a phenomenal player, so I'm not an all Yankees hater, just the organization. 597 00:51:06,705.5879524 --> 00:51:07,965.5879524 Kinda like everybody hates mine. 598 00:51:08,445.5879524 --> 00:51:08,940.5879524 That's okay. 599 00:51:09,30.5879524 --> 00:51:11,485.5879524 Aaron judges a Michigan grad, oh, okay. 600 00:51:11,965.5879524 --> 00:51:12,655.5879524 There we go. 601 00:51:13,415.5879524 --> 00:51:13,955.5879524 Good deal. 602 00:51:13,965.5879524 --> 00:51:18,415.5879524 Abe, any thoughts on Philly's, Karen? Oh, I have thought. 603 00:51:18,710.5879524 --> 00:51:20,720.5879524 I do, yeah. 604 00:51:20,900.5879524 --> 00:51:21,190.5879524 Wild. 605 00:51:21,190.5879524 --> 00:51:21,755.5879524 That was crazy. 606 00:51:22,5.5879524 --> 00:51:30,435.5879524 I understand, the unwritten rule about leaving your section to go to the other section for the ball, but the dude went like, what? Six seats? 10? He did not go very far. 607 00:51:30,925.5879524 --> 00:51:32,695.5879524 And come on, he gave it to his kid. 608 00:51:32,935.5879524 --> 00:51:44,315.5879524 So I think, yeah, she I do feel bad in this world of social media where she's gonna get identified and this is going to be painful, but I'm like, come on. 609 00:51:45,485.5879524 --> 00:51:47,615.5879524 She was outta control with that dad. 610 00:51:48,65.5879524 --> 00:51:49,835.5879524 Yeah, she might have to move. 611 00:51:50,15.5879524 --> 00:51:53,455.5879524 I think it's gonna be hard to get away from that moniker for her but that's okay. 612 00:51:53,575.5879524 --> 00:51:53,755.5879524 Yeah. 613 00:51:53,755.5879524 --> 00:51:55,315.5879524 I'm just hoping those weren't season tickets. 614 00:51:55,315.5879524 --> 00:51:58,335.5879524 Let, like the misidentified woman, I feel bad for her. 615 00:51:58,395.5879524 --> 00:51:58,935.5879524 Oh my gosh. 616 00:51:58,935.5879524 --> 00:52:02,530.5879524 And her husband, they're like, yeah, seems but I'm a Red Sox fan. 617 00:52:03,695.5879524 --> 00:52:04,425.5879524 It's not me. 618 00:52:04,575.5879524 --> 00:52:05,305.5879524 It's not me. 619 00:52:05,305.5879524 --> 00:52:05,665.5879524 It's not me. 620 00:52:07,430.5879524 --> 00:52:08,720.5879524 Definitely, yeah. 621 00:52:08,720.5879524 --> 00:52:10,240.5879524 Her behavior was abhorrent. 622 00:52:11,245.5879524 --> 00:52:15,595.5879524 Similar to the guy from the US Open that snatched that hat away from that poor kid. 623 00:52:15,595.5879524 --> 00:52:21,465.5879524 But those kids end up getting at least something great from the athletes that witnessed all of that. 624 00:52:21,465.5879524 --> 00:52:21,525.5879524 Yeah. 625 00:52:21,660.5879524 --> 00:52:21,950.5879524 Yeah. 626 00:52:21,975.5879524 --> 00:52:25,215.5879524 If there's an upside to somebody's horrible behavior, it would be that. 627 00:52:25,645.5879524 --> 00:52:27,955.5879524 Thank you all for chatting with me today. 628 00:52:27,955.5879524 --> 00:52:33,505.5879524 And more than that, thank you for being allies to women in the industry and supporting Juan the way you do. 629 00:52:33,505.5879524 --> 00:52:43,135.5879524 We couldn't be what we are without you, and it's really important for us in every conversation we have to let people know we are not just an organization for women, that men are welcome here. 630 00:52:43,435.5879524 --> 00:52:48,475.5879524 We encourage men to join and it's because of leaders like you that men want to. 631 00:52:48,525.5879524 --> 00:52:49,245.5879524 Thank you all. 632 00:52:49,305.5879524 --> 00:52:51,675.5879524 This is the part where we've all put our hands in the middle and go one on three. 633 00:52:51,675.5879524 --> 00:52:52,185.5879524 Yes. 634 00:52:52,285.5879524 --> 00:52:52,585.5879524 Yes. 635 00:52:52,795.5879524 --> 00:52:55,855.5879524 Lead, lead us, us, Ben, because Exactly. 636 00:52:56,285.5879524 --> 00:52:58,925.5879524 And I definitely wanna get together on all the t-shirt ideas. 637 00:52:58,925.5879524 --> 00:53:03,905.5879524 So you guys will be set up at Summit and every other conference you attend and everywhere you'll be on one now. 638 00:53:03,905.5879524 --> 00:53:04,300.5879524 I would love that. 639 00:53:04,780.5879524 --> 00:53:05,260.5879524 I would love that. 640 00:53:05,925.5879524 --> 00:53:07,305.5879524 All right, swag. 641 00:53:07,965.5879524 --> 00:53:08,535.5879524 All right. 642 00:53:08,665.5879524 --> 00:53:09,805.5879524 Thank you guys. 643 00:53:09,865.5879524 --> 00:53:10,435.5879524 Thank you. 644 00:53:10,645.5879524 --> 00:53:11,275.5879524 Thanks everybody. 645 00:53:13,595.5879524 --> 00:53:18,965.5879524 Thanks for being here with us on W Cast, the official podcast of the Women's Affordable Housing Network. 646 00:53:19,355.5879524 --> 00:53:27,575.5879524 Every guest, every story, every listen, helps us keep this space real rooted and resonant, and we're so glad you're a part of it. 647 00:53:27,995.5879524 --> 00:53:30,875.5879524 Big thanks to our guests for sharing their time and knowledge with us. 648 00:53:31,310.5879524 --> 00:53:39,80.5879524 To our sponsors for making this platform possible and to you for tuning in, sharing and helping us keep this conversation going. 649 00:53:39,770.5879524 --> 00:53:45,200.5879524 Be sure to follow rate and share MCAST wherever you listen and bring a friend next time we save them a seat. 650 00:53:46,175.5879524 --> 00:53:46,295.5879524 I.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}In the Huddle: How WAHN Allies Move the Ball Forward

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In the Huddle: How WAHN Allies Move the Ball Forward

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