May 12, 2025 • 42 mins
Talena Barker and I discuss the Leadership Bend program.
There is an informational session on May the 13th with appications opening May 16th.
Leadership Bend Information Session
Talena Barker is the VP of leadership development for the Bend Chamber of Commerce. Talena’s work focuses on strengthening the continuum of workforce, community leadership and talent development through Bend Chamber’s BendNEXT initiative. She has had several board memberships and currently is on the board of Central Oregon FUSE, focused on affordable housing, and the KIDS Center. AND She has a sculpture of herself in the state Department of Human Services.
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Episode Transcript
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Todd Prior (00:00):
thank you for joining another episode of Pacific Northwest.
Told I am your host, Todd Pryor.
Today we have Talena Barker withus chatting about leadership Ben,
which has an upcoming applicationdeadline for the 2026 cohort.
Thanks for being here today.
Lina er is the VP ofLeadership development.
For the Ben Chamber of CommerceTale's, work focuses on strengthening
(00:21):
the continuum of workforce, communityleadership, and talent development through
Ben Chamber's Bend Next Initiative.
With a background in non-profitdevelopment, communications,
entrepreneurship, and lobbyingtale's, passions lie in finding
creative pathways to solve problemsand break down barriers to growth.
She loves reading, hiking, competitivecards and board games, and spending time
(00:44):
with her granddaughters, Lila and Callie.
She has several boardmemberships and currently is
on the board of Central Oregon.
Fuse focused on affordablehousing and the Kid Center.
And this is the one I really like.
And she has a sculpture ofherself in the State Department of
Human Services in Salem, Oregon.
Talina, thanks so muchfor coming in today.
Appreciate it.
Talena Barker (01:04):
Yeah, good to be here, Todd.
Thank you.
Absolutely.
So spoke a little bitabout your background.
And that's high level, butI was really interested.
Just tell me a little bitabout your life story.
What makes you?
That's an interesting question.
I think a lot of times I come back towhat makes me do the work that I do.
And when I was younger,I was a great student.
I was a super good student, butI went from school to school,
(01:26):
had a chaotic early childhood.
And really hard to put down rootsand make long-term relationships.
And those have been so importantto me since I became an adult.
And so I think one thing aboutme that people don't usually know
is I don't have a college degree.
And so everything that I've done has beenby being curious, trial and error finding
(01:46):
out what I wanted to know and who couldhelp me learn it, that sort of thing.
And so I think just having thatmore circuitous, entrepreneurial
track to adulthood makes me.
Absolutely.
I love the fact that you pointedout that, I don't have a, you
don't have a college degree and.
As years progress, it makes more and moresense that it's not important as I believe
(02:08):
it was, both of our generations in thenineties and early two thousands, to have
that education ass background becausefrankly, owning a business, . being a
talented part of society is a trade.
It's not something that you'regonna sit down in class and learn.
And I think that makes tons of sense.
As you said, this kind of unstablechildhood, which makes it a little bit
(02:29):
difficult for individuals to have roots,one of the things that I've noticed is
that you do a really good job now ofhaving those connections and building
those as opposed to some other folks.
So I think the position thatyou're in and those, that
background makes tons of sense.
So I love that.
There's an organization that you're amember of, it's called the Ben Chamber.
Can you tell me a little bit about it?
(02:49):
Oh, the Ben Chamber.
So I've been working at the Chamberfor, I think coming up on seven years
now, which is a really long time.
And I served a term asa as a board member.
Prior to becoming on,prior to joining the staff.
And it's just, it's sucha wonderful place to be.
The whole focus of the Ben Chamber is on.
Helping businesses thrive, helpingbusinesses do better, advocating on
(03:11):
behalf of what they need to be successful.
And for me, for my work, what weknow is important for businesses,
if they want to succeed, theirpeople have to be able to succeed.
Their community has to bestrong and things like that.
Th that's what makes me reallyhappy about the work I do.
I get to focus a little bit more onthe individual and how they grow,
or community leadership, you're amember of Leadership Bend this year.
(03:34):
Really helping people find their feet,become those well-rounded broader
knowledge base individuals as theygo into the community and continue
to look back at where we've been,where are we going and be brave and be
resilient, and take us into the future.
No, that makes sense.
One of the things that you werebringing up and I just, I really
enjoy, the role that you have inmaking sure that you're an advocate.
(03:56):
And I think the Ben Chamber is anadvocate for the folks in the community.
I think it's a wonderfulthing that you have.
Before we go more into the advocacyof Ben Chamber I just want to
jump right into leadership.
Ben, I have a lot to say about it, butLina, I want to hear a little bit about.
What leadership men meansto you, what the program is?
A little bit what an overview what folkswould expect if they were about to apply.
(04:18):
Yeah, so Leadership Bend started in 1993, so we've
been around for what, this willbe our 33rd class coming up.
And it was started by a small groupof people who really felt like, Hey,
it's in our hands to figure out whereour community's going in the future.
And so we need to reallyunderstand, have a broad view of
the landscape of our community,the challenges, the opportunities
(04:41):
and be the leaders that we want.
We, that we saw before us.
So Leadership Bend isa nine month program.
We spend two days together in retreat,getting to know each other, setting
some ground rules for how we'llengage over the rest of the year.
Really building trust with one another.
And then we have nine sessiondays over the subsequent nine
months, and those are full days.
(05:02):
It's a big commitment.
But each day we take a deep diveinto some aspect of the community.
So there's some method tothe madness, so to speak.
So we might spend a whole day learningabout the history, and we're not
talking about like just when folksfrom Minnesota came out here and
started lumber mills, which is areally important part of our history.
But going back even further,what did it look like when
(05:23):
indigenous peoples were here?
What did it look like when.
Oregon in the west started to diversifya little bit more than it had before.
And then maybe taking that andflipping it on, its flip, flipping
it on its side a little bit andtalking about what is collaborative
future thinking leadership look like?
What were the examples of that wesaw in history and what are examples
of that are happening right now?
(05:44):
Another day we might spend the whole daytalking about the county government, how
it works, city, government, how it works.
Water.
You and I are gonna spend alot of time talking about water
here in a couple of weeks.
I'm looking
forward to it, by the way.
It's fantastic.
Did you know we have a position in Oregon
called the Water Master?
I do now, and I am completelyinterested in talking to that person.
(06:04):
I
know, doesn't that sound like the coolest job?
Yeah, absolutely.
That first two days when yougo away in September with your
cohort is exceptionally important.
And I didn't realize how important itwas and why it was set up behind it.
But at the end of those two days, you'vebuilt a relationship with all these
individuals and it's not because youhappen to be in the same room or they
(06:28):
have the same political views or thesame beliefs, or any of these positions.
It's because anyone thatgoes into leadership, Ben.
Already has their walls down.
They've already accepted that they wantto be in an uncomfortable position.
They want to be in a place of learning.
And when that happens with a largegroup of people, you are open to those
individuals in a very fast manner.
(06:48):
And because of those actions, theinteractions, the conversations,
you jump over so many steps of arelationship so quickly it's unbelievable.
And because of that you go into thenext session, you're ready to go.
You're not afraid to ask thequestion that you're uncomfortable,
you're not afraid to disagree withsomeone's point of view or opinion.
It's a lot easier to do thatand you learn so much more.
(07:10):
So that portion's fantastic.
What are some things that youexpect from individuals that are in
leadership bend to take away and todo after they finish the program?
I'm so glad you talked about the value of the
retreat because I think that's beentransformative for the program.
We didn't use to have that priorto four or five years ago, and I
(07:33):
just saw that level of engagementjust ratchet up and that level of
trust, the willingness to get into adifficult conversation and stay there.
With respect.
These are the kinds of things that we wantpeople to carry forward, whether they're
going on to city council or the countycommission, or a board of directors that's
dealing with a sticky, challenging topic.
You want people who can activelylisten, stay in conversation, make
(07:58):
your point known, work together towardcollaborative solutions where there are
more wins for people than there are not.
Things like that.
And the information that you'relearning about the subjects that
we're talking about is important.
The leaders that you're meeting areimportant, but I think even above and
beyond is just working that muscle ofengagement over a nine, 10 month period
(08:20):
and then feeling so comfortable when youleave that it's second nature to you.
Absolutely.
One of the things that I'd noticed injoining which I've been very thankful,
so thank you so much for allowing me theopportunity to be a part of this program.
Sincerely, it's such a help.
There is this relationshipand brotherhood sisterhood.
(08:42):
You human hood, hu, human hood ofeveryone who is a past member that
you have the expectation that.
They will have that, those walls down,you're gonna have those conversations
and you expect them to have thatlevel of expectations with you.
And if you look at the people thatare in this, it's not just individuals
(09:04):
who wanna be a mayor or want to be acommissioner or anything like that.
It's engineers, project managers,wealth managers, loan officers people
that work in the nonprofit area.
And these individuals are going toconnect at another part of their career.
It's just, it's a it's not a questionof if it's when, and having these
(09:27):
relationships built takes care of someof the things where your expectation
of the individual is less nefarious.
You assume good intent, and thatallows you to have a far better
relationship, whether it is talking about.
Water rights, whether it's talkingabout land use, whether it's talking
about the new build, whatever it is yougo in with, the expectation that they
(09:50):
have of good intent for the wellbeingof the community and being able to have
that will change, I think the structureof our community in the future, and
that is a huge part of this program.
And I don't know if there's anythingyou want to add more to that, but
I think that's a big part of it.
I think you're right and it's I don't know if you're finding
this already, but it is so crazy howoften you're at the grocery store
(10:13):
and you start up a conversation andleadership bend comes up and you either
find out that person's gone throughLeadership Bend or someone in their
life has, and it just like level sets.
It puts you on some, it's like youspeak a common language in a way.
Exactly.
Like
we've, we know of this experience or we've been through
this experience, and so we can takethis conversation a little further.
And you were talking aboutthe makeup of the class, which
(10:35):
I think is really important.
So every year we get moreapplications than we have.
Positions or openings for.
And so one of the great things aboutit is looking at the class and thinking
about does this, does the makeup of ourclass reflect the makeup of our community?
And one, one of the cool things aboutthat is on any given day, there's gonna
(10:55):
be a subject matter expert sitting in.
A, a class C. Oh,
absolutely.
Whether we're talking about nonprofits or healthcare or
economic development, you name it,there's somebody in our room that
can speak as an expert on that topic.
And that just makes for, Ithink, more robust give and take
more learning from each other.
If the whole room was full ofbankers and lawyers, it would
(11:18):
be so boring.
It would get really boring.
And my
husband's a lawyer, so I say that with all love.
Yeah.
And No, I completely agree.
I think one of the aspectsthat I didn't realize when we
started was two things actually.
One, if you apply and you don'tget in, it's not because you don't
(11:39):
have the resume, desire or ability.
It is because it is, asyou said, the need for.
A wide variety of individualsfor this cohort to be robust.
I'm lucky enough to do I'm gonna do apodcast in the near future with one of
our members of the cohort who works fora nonprofit and , what she's dealing with
(12:00):
now and what she's, what she has to bring.
Is just a different eye than I would have,and the questions you would bring to the
table are consistent and at the same timeexceptionally important to ask different
individuals through our community, whetherit's education, whether it's government,
whether it's logistics, whatever it is.
And having that eye is so important.
(12:20):
And at the same time, I would beremiss if I wasn't talking to the
people that worked or owned a smallbusiness and how this will affect
me and all these other questions.
So it's a fantastic thing to have.
That's number one.
Number two, I think it's importantto realize is when I started.
I'm almost 50.
I know I look fantastic.
You don't have to say it.
I have almost 25 years in thefinance financial industry.
(12:44):
I have a master's degree, a bachelor's.
That's not that's just stuff, but Ididn't feel like I was prepared to do
this after I've had board experience.
All these things I'm like.
I don't know if I'm ready to do this.
Am I the right person?
Do I have enough experience to do this?
Am I, am I taking away from somebody else?
And then I challenge people that arein their late twenties, in their early
(13:07):
thirties, that have a couple years ofunder their belt of experience that
vastly want to work as a part of theircommunity to jump into this because.
Yeah, there are, there's a range ofages in this, in that room that I didn't
realize, and if I thought about itearlier, I'd have kicked myself to do this
years and years before because I'm gettingso much out of it and I'm like, oh, I
(13:29):
could have done helped my board membershipdoing X, Y, and Z because I now know this.
And it allows you to have thisdifferent set set of eyes.
So if you think you're notexperienced, you're not ready
for this stuff you're wrong.
I think you make a really good point because part of
that diversity and being reflective,our of our community has to do with,
age and socioeconomic backgroundand all different kinds of things.
(13:52):
So I don't think there's any oneright age for leadership bend.
I do think you have to have had enough.
Lived experience to be ready to,kinda, like you said, come in and
have those two days together and letthose walls down and have confidence
in the fact that your voice mattersand that your questions matter.
I. I worry when I see individuals jointhe program and then slip off to the side.
(14:18):
Which is why we limit theclass size to 30 32 max.
It really allows me to keep eye onpeople and make sure that they're
engaged and follow up with individualsbecause, this is such a, you're
putting the time in and it is such aunique experience to have all of these
individuals in front of you, thesecommunity leaders, these decision makers.
(14:38):
And one of the cool thingsabout it is I think.
These leaders are when, even thoughthey don't know you you're, this class
is a brand new class to them, butthe program itself has that capital
of trust built up that they are moretransparent, more open, more curious.
I just, I, my hat isoff to the people who.
(15:01):
Commit to coming in front ofLeadership Bend year over year
and being brave enough to do it.
But knowing that Leadership bend,participants are gonna ask them
difficult, challenging questions,but it's always gonna be.
Yeah.
95% of the time it's gonna bedone with respect and curiosity.
This is not a gotcha group.
And that's something we makereally clear at the beginning.
This is about if you have a question,you're asking a question because
(15:23):
you're hungry for information oryou're curious not because you're
like trying to make a point.
Yeah.
And so that trust, that capital of trust is so important.
Oh, absolutely.
And I'm sure that's beenwell earned over the time.
So thank you for building that up.
And it's been huge because thesefolks do come in and from experience,
(15:43):
it's laughable because I've beenwith presenters that have positions
in the government taking a walkand they'll confide to me something
they've met five minutes ago becausethey have this level of trust.
And I'm like, you, I'm, I appreciatethis, but I didn't expect to
hear this from you at all.
And it's so fun to havethese conversations and.
(16:06):
If you ever wanted to reallyhave conversations with
individuals, this opens that door.
It really does, and it'sa wonderful opportunity.
The reason I'm doing podcastsright now is because of
leadership then period, hard stop.
There's no reason I'd be doingit any reason besides this with
a simple fact that every session.
It's eight hours andit's a long eight hours.
(16:28):
And when I say that,that's not a bad thing.
You have to be mentallyprepared for the day.
You can't be on your phone for work.
You can't be bringing in acomputer and doing all this stuff.
You have to be there.
You have to physically be there if you'rereally gonna get something out of it.
At the end of every session,I am just thirsty for more
information from these individuals.
(16:49):
I wanna sit down and ask more questions,and it's one of those situations where.
They're going to speak to you about thingsthat you may know a little bit about,
but you may not have the full breadth ofknowledge and they're giving you so much
information that you have to really sitback for a while to ask those questions.
So I've reached out and emailed differentmembers of the presenters and they've
(17:11):
been very open to having furtherconversation and it's it's wonderful
to be in that position when you can.
Reach out to your county commissionerand you're emailing each other and
you go out for lunch and we chatabout things and or it's just a
wonderful experience and I would nothave had this without the experience
and whatever it does to my career.
(17:32):
Is, I don't even care.
It really doesn't, it makes mea better community member and
I can't stress that enough.
If you're thinking about LeadershipBend it's a wonderful program
and if you are lucky enough to beadmitted, just accept the fact that
you're gonna be over your head.
And you're also gonna be learning a ton,and it's gonna be super fun, and you're
gonna meet a lot of people that are justfantastic and energetic and interested in
(17:56):
the community, and it's just wonderful.
So I wanna talk more about it, butis there something else that I'm
missing about this program thatI didn't jump on or mention yet?
I'm just gonna go back to I, I think you mentioned
imposter syndrome at some point.
And,
i've been enjoying that for years, by the
way, who doesn't?
I know.
I feel if you, yeah.
(18:16):
So if you apply for Leadership Bend andyou don't get in the first try, I think
you made a really good point about it.
It doesn't necessarily have anythingto do with you or your resume or
what you've put in front of thegroup that's reviewing applications.
It could be the diversity balance,it could be, you know what,
what's not represented here.
We need to really make sure there'sa. A person that represents a sector
(18:39):
or a point of view or a demographicthat might be really important
to have in the class apply again?
Yeah,
I really encourage people to apply again because I've had
individuals who applied three timesand got in on their third try and were
really glad, frankly, that they didn'tget in on their first try because they
weren't quite ready for the experience.
You want to make sure you're doingit at the right time because it is
(19:03):
a huge commitment between the classtime, the reflections, the impact
projects that you're participating in.
It's a commitment.
And if you're like I've got a weddingand I've got a thing and I just
got a promotion, and all of thosedistractions make it more challenging
for you to be fully present.
And the last thing I want is foranybody to be sitting there going,
gosh, I wish I was somewhere else.
(19:24):
Yeah,
absolutely.
It's, it makes total sense to do that.
And as you just said, it's the right placefor you personally before you do that.
I've been blessed with two companies thatI've worked with through this program.
They have given me the time thathas given me the opportunity to do
this, and I've been very thankful.
So also sitting down with yourcurrent employer, whether you're
(19:46):
self-employed or whether you'rework for a company to make sure that
they're gonna give you that time.
And being self-employed, it'sreally important to ask that
question is, can you take that time?
And it's a big deal.
Perfect example if you're a realtorin the, and it's middle, middle of
the summer and you're doing a lot of
business is that gonna work for you?
It's a fair question to ask.
(20:07):
Do you have the preparationand the ability to do the
things that you need to do?
And it's not just aneight hour experience.
You're gonna be meeting with folks.
I meet with my project team.
Every two weeks or less, I email toexternal members of a project, which we
should talk about the projects as well.
And I go to community eventsprobably at least once a week.
(20:28):
It's a lot.
And it's introducing you to a lotof folks to make a decision on
where you want to go next, correct?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I did bring up projects.
There's a project foreveryone in leadership End.
Can you tell me a littlebit about projects?
I.
As long as I've been with Leadership Bend and before,
there has always been a requirementthat the individuals participating
(20:49):
also complete an impact project.
And how that project or projectsare chosen has changed over
the decades of the program.
The way we do it right now isI essentially send out an RF.
P of sorts to nonprofitsin the community along with
municipalities like City of Bend.
We've done projects for Cityof Bend in the past and have
them propose to the class.
(21:10):
Here's a problem or a need that we have.
Here are the resources we have available.
Here's essentially our pitchfor why it's important.
Here's how we can or cannot sustain.
The effort going forward, if it'sa one and done kind of thing, or if
it's gonna be something that needsto be, say, sustained over time.
What is their plan that for that, andthen we bring them forward to the class.
(21:30):
I'll narrow out ones that just really,the scope is too broad or too complex.
And then the class has an opportunity tohave some really healthy debate about.
What's gonna bring methe greatest learning?
What's gonna have the most impact?
Do we have the resources or theexperience within this team?
A lot of times it's a question of Ido numbers all day, so I, that's not
what I wanna do for my impact project.
(21:52):
I wanna tell stories or I wannamarket, or something like that.
So I wanna stretch my wings ina different direction than I'm
asked to all day during the day.
And so we typically narrow that downto anywhere between one and four impact
projects, and then we just have to makesure that the groups then get to enter
into, that, building a team really fast.
(22:13):
Like how do you go from zeroto high performing with a bunch
of people that you've just met?
And these are all a lot of folks whofeel like they're strong leaders.
And so how do you start to work together?
It's a nice social experiment as well.
I think that not just one of the biggestbenefits of the impact projects isn't
just the outcome for the nonprofit.
(22:34):
It's also all of the things that thegroup of you learned together whether
it was five of you or 15 of you, andthose more even tighter relationships
that you're building, like a groupwithin a group of leadership bend.
How's your impact project going?
Oh,
I love the impact projects.
Love them.
Yeah.
Okay.
So what Lina didn't mention was,or you didn't, I don't know if
(22:57):
you've gone into, you said itas strongly as you did, there's.
It's, that's about second orthird session in, so you know
everyone there at this point.
The conversations about theseprojects are fantastic because
you're going back and forth.
You're disagreeing.
What about this?
It's you're, everyone's looking atit from a different eye in a very
(23:19):
fun way, but it's very passionate.
You're like, of course I love children.
Who doesn't love children?
Oh, I love this.
What about this program?
We would never wanna do that.
And then somebody goes.
Let's just take a quick vote.
Who did?
You're like, oh wait.
It's this funny thing where you findout somebody's first or second choice
is a thing everyone's arguing about.
Like, why are we even arguing about this?
It's clear we want to do this.
(23:40):
And it's this fun conversation.
And you start sitting down withthis different group of people.
And everyone has a differentway of showing leadership.
You have the extroverts, the ivers, and Ithink you did a very good job, by the way.
I don't know how you can dothis, but there's a good mix of
introverts and extroverts thatare in the room at all times.
(24:02):
So you're gonna have the peoplethat are in that project group
speak up that are more introverted.
As opposed to the overall team andit, you're getting so much from
those individuals because whenthey say something, it's a little
bit there's a little bit higherbenefit to it, as opposed to folks
sometimes, like myself, sometimes,say things and just, need to be quiet.
(24:23):
That was, and yeah, so it'sthis wonderful thing and I
love the that, that discourse.
My project this year is in regards towalking groups with Envision Bend and the
idea, when I heard about it, I scoffed at.
Then I sat and mulled over a nightand I said, I love this idea.
(24:45):
And the reason behind this isvery much like Leadership Bend.
I would never have the conversationsI've had with the people in that room
unless I was allowed to be in that room.
I would never have the conversationswith my neighbors if I didn't have an
opportunity to do and if all I ever dois wave to them and close my door, I'm
(25:07):
really shut out from my neighborhood.
I just happen to live in a house amongother houses in a neighborhood, but
I'm not part of the neighborhood.
Building something that a community canenjoy is so important and the rationale
behind Envision Bend doing it is thereis a massive uptick in loneliness.
(25:28):
Throughout the country post pandemic.
And that was one of the reasons.
But I looked at it as the subset asbuilding a community, and that was one
of the big things about leadership.
Ben, to me, is building thatcommunity, having people walk together.
It removes the barriers that even if Ihave a red or a blue sticker on my car,
(25:48):
if I could still talk to you as a person.
I can still find loves thatwe both like, do we like both?
Like baseball, do we like different teams?
That's okay.
But we could both hate this one team.
We're both on the same page there.
Building that relationship is soimportant and building that back post
pandemic is huge in multiple ways.
In a community like Bend where we havegrown so quickly, we have people that,
(26:11):
we weren't here four or five years ago.
We did not have remoteworking in that time period.
And people have moved in to do this.
And we have a significantshift in the community.
We have a significant shift inthe age groups and we have new
neighborhoods without having.
This ability to sit down and reallytalk what kind of a community are
(26:32):
we gonna have in 10, 12 years?
So I love the project.
I'm so proud of it.
I'm working with two different groupsright now, trying to set up pilots and
it is something that is so simple andbeautiful and I absolutely love it.
So thank you for that opportunity.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you for participating in that.
I think we are experiencing a crisis of.
Loneliness and disconnection and trustand building trust with each other.
(26:56):
And a lot of this, I think is why.
We have such difficulty havingconversations these days.
We don't take the time tobuild up those relationships.
And so my hat's off to your team forworking with Envision Bend on that.
Yeah.
There's this great book that thatI read some time ago during the
pandemic because I had nothing elseto do except for Read and it's a
(27:16):
book called Why We Hate Each Other.
And I was like, oh I saw the name ofthe cover and it was black and white and
very big letters and I was uncomfortableto read something, but I also wanted
to think more about this question.
And it was this great review ofhow we get into this echo chamber.
If you have one belief through socialmedia or more and more focused news
(27:42):
organizations, they start giving you onlythe information that you want to hear.
And if that continues, it justseparates us more and more, and.
Yeah, that's one of the things thatconcerned me, and it was very, it was
more and more recent as it went along.
In the eighties, senators used tohave cocktail hour, and now they're
(28:04):
basically calling each other somepretty horrible things, and that
trickles down to the local area aswell, and having these connections.
Matters.
I'm sure, like I said, I'm surefolks that are in leadership and have
different political beliefs than Ido, and I'd hope they did, but that
doesn't change my ability to have theconversations and that's the thing
(28:28):
that I've gotten the most out of it.
And ena I hope you understandthe, this foundation that you've
helped create and you should beexceptionally proud of yourself.
Oh, that's so kind.
I think.
I think about that.
Not that I think I'm any sort ofgenius, but you know that phrase about
standing on the shoulders of genius.
It's that idea that there were peoplewho, 33 years ago, decided that these
(28:51):
were, this is important learning andimportant conversations to have, and that
our community's been committed to it.
Over those decades.
That it's continuing to grow and thrive.
And it just, it's likebeing a torch bearer.
You pick it up from the last person,you carry it around for a while.
You you make your mark on the programand hopefully you make your mark
on some people and you make somegreat connections and you see your
(29:11):
community thrive, and then you passthat torch off to the next person.
It's really a treasure of thecommunity and I'm just proud to
get to hang onto it for a while.
I hope you hold onto it fora lot more than just a while.
Before I go into any other topics, Ijust wanna make sure that we're talking
about a little bit of logistics inregards to the application process.
Just so that we can communicate that out.
Yeah.
We're gonna have an informationalsession for folks who are curious
(29:33):
about the program on May 13th, and sothey can go to the Chamber's website.
Register for that.
Usually I'll have 40 or 50 people who cometo that and it's a great opportunity to
really get all of your questions answered.
So you may, it may inspire you,this is my year I am applying.
Holy cow.
I can't wait to be a part of this.
It may also tell you like, whoa, I'mgonna put the brakes on for a little bit.
(29:54):
And that's good thing to know aboutyourself and if the timing's right
for you, or even still for whateverreason, when you say Leadership bend,
if folks don't take the time to really.
Understand what that means.
Folks are gonna think they're enteringa leadership skill development
program, which Leadership Bend is not.
I would argue that you'redeveloping leadership skills by
(30:16):
working on your impact project,by having these conversations
watching leaders in front of you.
It's an ancillary benefit.
But we are not gonna sit around and talkabout, the seven habits of a successful
leader or things like that much.
So really understanding that it'sabout developing your community.
Educational level and yourcommunity leadership skills.
So yeah, May 13th, the applicationwill open that same week.
(30:40):
You'll be able to find a linkto it on the Chamber's website.
And those applications willbe open for about three weeks.
We're doing the retreat a littleearlier this year, so we're gonna open
and close the application process alittle earlier than we normally would.
So folks will know in July whetheror not they're in the class this
year, or whether or not maybethey're gonna apply next year.
And then we will kick it off with aretreat in the middle of August, and then
(31:04):
our first full day session in September.
Todd Prior (31:06):
So the application's open soon.
They're gonna have thatfirst meeting in August.
I have a couple questions foryou that I want to ask that were,
that's important for me personally.
So the first one is.
You have a statue ofyourself in Salem, Oregon.
And if you're listening, if not fromOregon, it is that's the state capital.
(31:28):
I just learned that.
And leadership then tellsyou all kinds of stuff.
It's amazing.
So can you tell me alittle bit about this?
Talena Barker (31:35):
That was so funny.
Again, I have had a circuitouscareer path and one of the things
that I ended up doing was workingat the Department of Human Services
in, in Salem, in the capital City.
And I worked for a coupleof different units there.
And there's a requirement thatwhen a new state building is built,
there's a percentage of moneythat's set aside to fund art.
(31:56):
That becomes a part of that building.
And they commissioned an artist namedTom Randy to create a series of sculpture
that represent the individuals thatserve folks who work for the Department
of Human Services, and then also theindividuals who are receiving services.
And so he was wandering aroundthe building looking for people,
(32:17):
and I guess I would've been.
23 looked like I was 17,really young looking.
And he came up to me and asked if Iwould be interested in modeling for
him and being a permanent fixtureof this building going forward.
I spent a full day with him,got body casted all over.
It was really interesting, hadstraws at my nose so I could breathe.
And the finished product isI. It's me full size of me.
(32:41):
And I represent a young woman who incrisis, who is receiving services from the
Department of Human Services and gettingthat handout that she so desperately
needs to be successful in life.
And so I got to be just alittle picture of the story
I saw and I love it.
And it totally, I totallyshows what it's meant to be.
(33:01):
Have you brought your kidsto be like, Hey, this is me.
Look,
I have not.
That's so funny.
Actually.
I think my older son has seen it.
My younger son hasn't seen it.
We were in the capital city, ayear or two ago and went there.
It wasn't open at the time, but,
I'm bringing my kids.
Okay.
Yeah, I know that lady.
. What would you tell yourselffive years ago or 20 years ago?
(33:25):
I would tell myself, don't be afraid to fail.
And I, we talk about impostersyndrome, we talk about failure,
and we talk about being type A andwanting to always have the answer.
I would tell myself 20 years ago thatit's okay not to always have the answer.
The magic is knowing where to find it.
And that's, again, I'm justgonna talk about leadership Bend.
(33:46):
The connection and the network that youbuild gives you unlimited resources.
So whether I'm curious about somethingor whether somebody's struggling with
something I'll, I get calls all the time.
I need to advocate forX, who can help me do Y.
And just being able to know who toconnect to is way more important
than having all the answers yourself.
(34:08):
So I would tell myself to not keeptrying to fake it, just be resourceful.
Yeah.
I love that.
It's one of the characteristics thatthat I enjoy of individuals, and I
don't know if I've would've had this10, 15, 20 years ago, is curiosity.
The statement of, I'm curious about.
(34:28):
X and they learn if you don't havethat, it's this weird thing where
you scratch your head and go.
Where did you get where you are today?
Do you have all the knowledge?
Clearly not no.
The curious person is far moreinteresting, so I love that.
Isn't that interesting though, to think about?
It felt like for a whilecuriosity wasn't prized.
Oh, absolutely not.
(34:48):
And it
feels like the pendulum is swinging back
now, though, where it's more.
It's okay not to have all the answers.
It's awesome to be curious.
I think so as well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, yeah.
I respect somebody so much more thatif they walk out that if somebody walks
out with this big full chest and they'reexcited and I know everything, that
person at my first few years, perhaps inmy career would've been impressed with.
(35:10):
But now the person that comes in andstarts asking questions of everyone in the
room, I'm like, that person right there, Iwill listen to whatever they have to say.
Yeah.
So it's a great thing to learn.
I love books.
I read books.
I listen to books.
I listen to books a lot.
I love books.
So are there some books that youwould advise people to read and why?
(35:31):
I was I was thinking about that a little bit and realizing
that for whatever reason, rightnow, I'm doing a lot of rereading.
And I love fiction.
I love sci-fi, I love fantasy.
I love just really good storytelling.
I love spy books.
So whether it's Lord of the Ringsor it's, right now I'm rereading
Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.
(35:53):
If you haven't read any ofher books, they're incredible.
They're dystopian in nature,which, can be a little dark.
But it really is a great example.
It's a great story that showsyou what happens when society
is driven by hate and fear.
And what happens when people useviolence to eliminate others.
(36:13):
Wow.
And it's really intense, but there'salso, it is a series of three books.
There's also some really good hopethat's woven in there, and I just
wish that folks could I would highlyrecommend that those books, I'll be
looking that one up.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Do you have any albums that if youwere put on a deserted island and you
had the record player and you had LPs.
(36:34):
Put 'em down.
I was thinking about that this morning and my
musical taste is really eclectic.
I'd probably pick up radiohead's.
Okay.
Computer.
That's a good choice.
I'd
probably pick up Rush's 2112.
I would definitely have anElvis Costello album in there.
(36:56):
I would have to have maybethe cures, the singles.
Standing on a beach.
This seems really cliche, but howmany times do you think you can
listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Sideof the Moon without getting bored?
That would, still
trying to find that answer out.
Probably have to come to I actually made a list for my younger
son a couple years ago of what I thoughtwere like 50 albums that you must
(37:20):
hear that might not come across yourradar as a young man in your twenties.
And that was a really funexercise to go through.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
Good job on that.
Before I talk actually about sonsand before I talk about parenthood
one thing I did not bring up yet,
there's.
There's the ability to buylocal, there's the ability to
have clients that are local.
(37:41):
You can also find low cost leaders.
And that's whether it isbuying an item or a service.
And my question to you is, as a memberof the Ben Chamber of Commerce, why
is it so important to buy local?
Oh it just, it's what makes our economy and
our own social fabric thrive.
Being in relationship with individualshere locally is so important.
(38:02):
My, my dollars speak forme when I make a purchase.
We have so much talent anddepth of knowledge here in Bend.
So many resources.
It's just incredibly important thatwe continue to steward this community
with the resources that we have.
Absolutely.
We had a great example this week.
There was a presentation for what'sbrewing in Bend about fire risk and
(38:26):
different types of disasters and.
If you ever wanna sit down and learn moreabout disasters, and you may wanna bring
some Tums with you because afterwardsyou may feel a little bit stressed out.
However, there was this great conversationthat went on with a local insurance
provider and in the world whereeveryone looks for low cost provider,
(38:47):
that's wonderful until it's needed,
right?
And one of the greatest things thatshe mentioned was her desire to
meet with her clients once a year.
That's not to buy more things from her.
That's to verify what is insured isnecessary for your business to stay going.
Yeah.
Or your personal side tostay going post disaster.
(39:09):
And it's important.
And they're also aware of the changingstructure of insurance the tides that
are changing so that they're aware ofwhat you should and shouldn't be doing.
It's so important.
It's like saying, I don't need a CPA.
At a certain point in your life, youstart needing people to do things for
you to make sure it's done correctly.
(39:29):
And it's fantastically importantand I'm thanking you so much for
being a part of that and buildingthat within our community.
Allison was such a great example of that the other
night, like she is, you wantthese people to have your back.
Absolutely.
They have absolutely expertise.
You don't, again, curiosity, youcan't be an expert in everything.
But you can find the people who canand who I think Allison said at the
end of the day, if the two of you'restanding there watching your house
(39:52):
burn down, you're gonna know thatshe's done everything possible to
make you right on the other side.
And I thought that was really impressive.
No, absolutely.
As a person who was been in the financeindustry for quite a few years, I had
the honor of working with some folksthat have lost their houses after
after fires and, building and doingconstruction loans with them and.
(40:13):
Whenever I heard, like they said,something to the effect of, oh, my
agent it just calmed me down because Iknew I could go and sit down and talk
with that person, pick up the phone.
We can go through it and figure outways to make it work, as opposed to,
I'm working for this large conglomerate.
There's nothing wrong with companies orcorporations, but having somebody local
(40:33):
when you most need them is a big deal.
So that's a huge deal.
One thing I would say too is we're seeing.
Some of our local CPA firms and someof our law firms and others, some
consolidation or, being merged withlarger firms outside of the area and
my husband's firm's an example of that.
But we, I was just talking with somefolks the other day about, ben is
(40:54):
still a place where you wanna beable to look someone in the eye.
Sometimes, it's great you can tap intoCalifornia or Washington or somewhere else
from some expertise and some fine tuning.
Absolutely.
But Ben's still a place where you wanna beable to sit down and have a relationship
and a connection with the person who'sdesigning your house, for instance.
I absolutely agree.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we're both on thesame page on that one.
(41:16):
Cool.
So I would be remiss not to bring up thefact that on Sunday it's Mother's Day.
So happy Mother's Day.
Thank you.
And I just wanted to finish thisoff with some words from this poet.
His name is Tupac, if you've heard of him.
Oh yeah.
He's been around and he had a songcalled Dear Mama and he goes, I
finally understand for a woman, itain't easy trying to raise a man.
(41:38):
He always was committed.
There's no way I can pay you back.
But the plan is to show you thatI understand you are appreciated
and tna, you are appreciated.
Thank you so much for coming in today.
Oh, thanks Todd.
It's so nice to talk to you.
Absolutely.
TNA Barker is the VP of LeadershipDevelopment at the Ben Chamber of
Commerce, and she runs one of thegreatest leadership programs around
(42:01):
and this is Pacific Northwest.
Told I am your host, Todd Pryor.
Thanks for listening.
thank you for joining another episode of Pacific Northwest.
Told I am your host, Todd Pryor.
Today we have Talena Barker withus chatting about leadership Ben,
which has an upcoming applicationdeadline for the 2026 cohort.
Thanks for being here today.
Lina er is the VP ofLeadership development.
For the Ben Chamber of CommerceTale's, work focuses on strengthening
(00:21):
the continuum of workforce, communityleadership, and talent development through
Ben Chamber's Bend Next Initiative.
With a background in non-profitdevelopment, communications,
entrepreneurship, and lobbyingtale's, passions lie in finding
creative pathways to solve problemsand break down barriers to growth.
She loves reading, hiking, competitivecards and board games, and spending time
(00:44):
with her granddaughters, Lila and Callie.
She has several boardmemberships and currently is
on the board of Central Oregon.
Fuse focused on affordablehousing and the Kid Center.
And this is the one I really like.
And she has a sculpture ofherself in the State Department of
Human Services in Salem, Oregon.
Talina, thanks so muchfor coming in today.
Appreciate it.
Talena Barker (01:04):
Yeah, good to be here, Todd.
Thank you.
Absolutely.
So spoke a little bitabout your background.
And that's high level, butI was really interested.
Just tell me a little bitabout your life story.
What makes you?
That's an interesting question.
I think a lot of times I come back towhat makes me do the work that I do.
And when I was younger,I was a great student.
I was a super good student, butI went from school to school,
(01:26):
had a chaotic early childhood.
And really hard to put down rootsand make long-term relationships.
And those have been so importantto me since I became an adult.
And so I think one thing aboutme that people don't usually know
is I don't have a college degree.
And so everything that I've done has beenby being curious, trial and error finding
(01:46):
out what I wanted to know and who couldhelp me learn it, that sort of thing.
And so I think just having thatmore circuitous, entrepreneurial
track to adulthood makes me.
Absolutely.
I love the fact that you pointedout that, I don't have a, you
don't have a college degree and.
As years progress, it makes more and moresense that it's not important as I believe
(02:08):
it was, both of our generations in thenineties and early two thousands, to have
that education ass background becausefrankly, owning a business, . being a
talented part of society is a trade.
It's not something that you'regonna sit down in class and learn.
And I think that makes tons of sense.
As you said, this kind of unstablechildhood, which makes it a little bit
(02:29):
difficult for individuals to have roots,one of the things that I've noticed is
that you do a really good job now ofhaving those connections and building
those as opposed to some other folks.
So I think the position thatyou're in and those, that
background makes tons of sense.
So I love that.
There's an organization that you're amember of, it's called the Ben Chamber.
Can you tell me a little bit about it?
(02:49):
Oh, the Ben Chamber.
So I've been working at the Chamberfor, I think coming up on seven years
now, which is a really long time.
And I served a term asa as a board member.
Prior to becoming on,prior to joining the staff.
And it's just, it's sucha wonderful place to be.
The whole focus of the Ben Chamber is on.
Helping businesses thrive, helpingbusinesses do better, advocating on
(03:11):
behalf of what they need to be successful.
And for me, for my work, what weknow is important for businesses,
if they want to succeed, theirpeople have to be able to succeed.
Their community has to bestrong and things like that.
Th that's what makes me reallyhappy about the work I do.
I get to focus a little bit more onthe individual and how they grow,
or community leadership, you're amember of Leadership Bend this year.
(03:34):
Really helping people find their feet,become those well-rounded broader
knowledge base individuals as theygo into the community and continue
to look back at where we've been,where are we going and be brave and be
resilient, and take us into the future.
No, that makes sense.
One of the things that you werebringing up and I just, I really
enjoy, the role that you have inmaking sure that you're an advocate.
(03:56):
And I think the Ben Chamber is anadvocate for the folks in the community.
I think it's a wonderfulthing that you have.
Before we go more into the advocacyof Ben Chamber I just want to
jump right into leadership.
Ben, I have a lot to say about it, butLina, I want to hear a little bit about.
What leadership men meansto you, what the program is?
A little bit what an overview what folkswould expect if they were about to apply.
(04:18):
Yeah, so Leadership Bend started in 1993, so we've
been around for what, this willbe our 33rd class coming up.
And it was started by a small groupof people who really felt like, Hey,
it's in our hands to figure out whereour community's going in the future.
And so we need to reallyunderstand, have a broad view of
the landscape of our community,the challenges, the opportunities
(04:41):
and be the leaders that we want.
We, that we saw before us.
So Leadership Bend isa nine month program.
We spend two days together in retreat,getting to know each other, setting
some ground rules for how we'llengage over the rest of the year.
Really building trust with one another.
And then we have nine sessiondays over the subsequent nine
months, and those are full days.
(05:02):
It's a big commitment.
But each day we take a deep diveinto some aspect of the community.
So there's some method tothe madness, so to speak.
So we might spend a whole day learningabout the history, and we're not
talking about like just when folksfrom Minnesota came out here and
started lumber mills, which is areally important part of our history.
But going back even further,what did it look like when
(05:23):
indigenous peoples were here?
What did it look like when.
Oregon in the west started to diversifya little bit more than it had before.
And then maybe taking that andflipping it on, its flip, flipping
it on its side a little bit andtalking about what is collaborative
future thinking leadership look like?
What were the examples of that wesaw in history and what are examples
of that are happening right now?
(05:44):
Another day we might spend the whole daytalking about the county government, how
it works, city, government, how it works.
Water.
You and I are gonna spend alot of time talking about water
here in a couple of weeks.
I'm looking
forward to it, by the way.
It's fantastic.
Did you know we have a position in Oregon
called the Water Master?
I do now, and I am completelyinterested in talking to that person.
(06:04):
I
know, doesn't that sound like the coolest job?
Yeah, absolutely.
That first two days when yougo away in September with your
cohort is exceptionally important.
And I didn't realize how important itwas and why it was set up behind it.
But at the end of those two days, you'vebuilt a relationship with all these
individuals and it's not because youhappen to be in the same room or they
(06:28):
have the same political views or thesame beliefs, or any of these positions.
It's because anyone thatgoes into leadership, Ben.
Already has their walls down.
They've already accepted that they wantto be in an uncomfortable position.
They want to be in a place of learning.
And when that happens with a largegroup of people, you are open to those
individuals in a very fast manner.
(06:48):
And because of those actions, theinteractions, the conversations,
you jump over so many steps of arelationship so quickly it's unbelievable.
And because of that you go into thenext session, you're ready to go.
You're not afraid to ask thequestion that you're uncomfortable,
you're not afraid to disagree withsomeone's point of view or opinion.
It's a lot easier to do thatand you learn so much more.
(07:10):
So that portion's fantastic.
What are some things that youexpect from individuals that are in
leadership bend to take away and todo after they finish the program?
I'm so glad you talked about the value of the
retreat because I think that's beentransformative for the program.
We didn't use to have that priorto four or five years ago, and I
(07:33):
just saw that level of engagementjust ratchet up and that level of
trust, the willingness to get into adifficult conversation and stay there.
With respect.
These are the kinds of things that we wantpeople to carry forward, whether they're
going on to city council or the countycommission, or a board of directors that's
dealing with a sticky, challenging topic.
You want people who can activelylisten, stay in conversation, make
(07:58):
your point known, work together towardcollaborative solutions where there are
more wins for people than there are not.
Things like that.
And the information that you'relearning about the subjects that
we're talking about is important.
The leaders that you're meeting areimportant, but I think even above and
beyond is just working that muscle ofengagement over a nine, 10 month period
(08:20):
and then feeling so comfortable when youleave that it's second nature to you.
Absolutely.
One of the things that I'd noticed injoining which I've been very thankful,
so thank you so much for allowing me theopportunity to be a part of this program.
Sincerely, it's such a help.
There is this relationshipand brotherhood sisterhood.
(08:42):
You human hood, hu, human hood ofeveryone who is a past member that
you have the expectation that.
They will have that, those walls down,you're gonna have those conversations
and you expect them to have thatlevel of expectations with you.
And if you look at the people thatare in this, it's not just individuals
(09:04):
who wanna be a mayor or want to be acommissioner or anything like that.
It's engineers, project managers,wealth managers, loan officers people
that work in the nonprofit area.
And these individuals are going toconnect at another part of their career.
It's just, it's a it's not a questionof if it's when, and having these
(09:27):
relationships built takes care of someof the things where your expectation
of the individual is less nefarious.
You assume good intent, and thatallows you to have a far better
relationship, whether it is talking about.
Water rights, whether it's talkingabout land use, whether it's talking
about the new build, whatever it is yougo in with, the expectation that they
(09:50):
have of good intent for the wellbeingof the community and being able to have
that will change, I think the structureof our community in the future, and
that is a huge part of this program.
And I don't know if there's anythingyou want to add more to that, but
I think that's a big part of it.
I think you're right and it's I don't know if you're finding
this already, but it is so crazy howoften you're at the grocery store
(10:13):
and you start up a conversation andleadership bend comes up and you either
find out that person's gone throughLeadership Bend or someone in their
life has, and it just like level sets.
It puts you on some, it's like youspeak a common language in a way.
Exactly.
Like
we've, we know of this experience or we've been through
this experience, and so we can takethis conversation a little further.
And you were talking aboutthe makeup of the class, which
(10:35):
I think is really important.
So every year we get moreapplications than we have.
Positions or openings for.
And so one of the great things aboutit is looking at the class and thinking
about does this, does the makeup of ourclass reflect the makeup of our community?
And one, one of the cool things aboutthat is on any given day, there's gonna
(10:55):
be a subject matter expert sitting in.
A, a class C. Oh,
absolutely.
Whether we're talking about nonprofits or healthcare or
economic development, you name it,there's somebody in our room that
can speak as an expert on that topic.
And that just makes for, Ithink, more robust give and take
more learning from each other.
If the whole room was full ofbankers and lawyers, it would
(11:18):
be so boring.
It would get really boring.
And my
husband's a lawyer, so I say that with all love.
Yeah.
And No, I completely agree.
I think one of the aspectsthat I didn't realize when we
started was two things actually.
One, if you apply and you don'tget in, it's not because you don't
(11:39):
have the resume, desire or ability.
It is because it is, asyou said, the need for.
A wide variety of individualsfor this cohort to be robust.
I'm lucky enough to do I'm gonna do apodcast in the near future with one of
our members of the cohort who works fora nonprofit and , what she's dealing with
(12:00):
now and what she's, what she has to bring.
Is just a different eye than I would have,and the questions you would bring to the
table are consistent and at the same timeexceptionally important to ask different
individuals through our community, whetherit's education, whether it's government,
whether it's logistics, whatever it is.
And having that eye is so important.
(12:20):
And at the same time, I would beremiss if I wasn't talking to the
people that worked or owned a smallbusiness and how this will affect
me and all these other questions.
So it's a fantastic thing to have.
That's number one.
Number two, I think it's importantto realize is when I started.
I'm almost 50.
I know I look fantastic.
You don't have to say it.
I have almost 25 years in thefinance financial industry.
(12:44):
I have a master's degree, a bachelor's.
That's not that's just stuff, but Ididn't feel like I was prepared to do
this after I've had board experience.
All these things I'm like.
I don't know if I'm ready to do this.
Am I the right person?
Do I have enough experience to do this?
Am I, am I taking away from somebody else?
And then I challenge people that arein their late twenties, in their early
(13:07):
thirties, that have a couple years ofunder their belt of experience that
vastly want to work as a part of theircommunity to jump into this because.
Yeah, there are, there's a range ofages in this, in that room that I didn't
realize, and if I thought about itearlier, I'd have kicked myself to do this
years and years before because I'm gettingso much out of it and I'm like, oh, I
(13:29):
could have done helped my board membershipdoing X, Y, and Z because I now know this.
And it allows you to have thisdifferent set set of eyes.
So if you think you're notexperienced, you're not ready
for this stuff you're wrong.
I think you make a really good point because part of
that diversity and being reflective,our of our community has to do with,
age and socioeconomic backgroundand all different kinds of things.
(13:52):
So I don't think there's any oneright age for leadership bend.
I do think you have to have had enough.
Lived experience to be ready to,kinda, like you said, come in and
have those two days together and letthose walls down and have confidence
in the fact that your voice mattersand that your questions matter.
I. I worry when I see individuals jointhe program and then slip off to the side.
(14:18):
Which is why we limit theclass size to 30 32 max.
It really allows me to keep eye onpeople and make sure that they're
engaged and follow up with individualsbecause, this is such a, you're
putting the time in and it is such aunique experience to have all of these
individuals in front of you, thesecommunity leaders, these decision makers.
(14:38):
And one of the cool thingsabout it is I think.
These leaders are when, even thoughthey don't know you you're, this class
is a brand new class to them, butthe program itself has that capital
of trust built up that they are moretransparent, more open, more curious.
I just, I, my hat isoff to the people who.
(15:01):
Commit to coming in front ofLeadership Bend year over year
and being brave enough to do it.
But knowing that Leadership bend,participants are gonna ask them
difficult, challenging questions,but it's always gonna be.
Yeah.
95% of the time it's gonna bedone with respect and curiosity.
This is not a gotcha group.
And that's something we makereally clear at the beginning.
This is about if you have a question,you're asking a question because
(15:23):
you're hungry for information oryou're curious not because you're
like trying to make a point.
Yeah.
And so that trust, that capital of trust is so important.
Oh, absolutely.
And I'm sure that's beenwell earned over the time.
So thank you for building that up.
And it's been huge because thesefolks do come in and from experience,
(15:43):
it's laughable because I've beenwith presenters that have positions
in the government taking a walkand they'll confide to me something
they've met five minutes ago becausethey have this level of trust.
And I'm like, you, I'm, I appreciatethis, but I didn't expect to
hear this from you at all.
And it's so fun to havethese conversations and.
(16:06):
If you ever wanted to reallyhave conversations with
individuals, this opens that door.
It really does, and it'sa wonderful opportunity.
The reason I'm doing podcastsright now is because of
leadership then period, hard stop.
There's no reason I'd be doingit any reason besides this with
a simple fact that every session.
It's eight hours andit's a long eight hours.
(16:28):
And when I say that,that's not a bad thing.
You have to be mentallyprepared for the day.
You can't be on your phone for work.
You can't be bringing in acomputer and doing all this stuff.
You have to be there.
You have to physically be there if you'rereally gonna get something out of it.
At the end of every session,I am just thirsty for more
information from these individuals.
(16:49):
I wanna sit down and ask more questions,and it's one of those situations where.
They're going to speak to you about thingsthat you may know a little bit about,
but you may not have the full breadth ofknowledge and they're giving you so much
information that you have to really sitback for a while to ask those questions.
So I've reached out and emailed differentmembers of the presenters and they've
(17:11):
been very open to having furtherconversation and it's it's wonderful
to be in that position when you can.
Reach out to your county commissionerand you're emailing each other and
you go out for lunch and we chatabout things and or it's just a
wonderful experience and I would nothave had this without the experience
and whatever it does to my career.
(17:32):
Is, I don't even care.
It really doesn't, it makes mea better community member and
I can't stress that enough.
If you're thinking about LeadershipBend it's a wonderful program
and if you are lucky enough to beadmitted, just accept the fact that
you're gonna be over your head.
And you're also gonna be learning a ton,and it's gonna be super fun, and you're
gonna meet a lot of people that are justfantastic and energetic and interested in
(17:56):
the community, and it's just wonderful.
So I wanna talk more about it, butis there something else that I'm
missing about this program thatI didn't jump on or mention yet?
I'm just gonna go back to I, I think you mentioned
imposter syndrome at some point.
And,
i've been enjoying that for years, by the
way, who doesn't?
I know.
I feel if you, yeah.
(18:16):
So if you apply for Leadership Bend andyou don't get in the first try, I think
you made a really good point about it.
It doesn't necessarily have anythingto do with you or your resume or
what you've put in front of thegroup that's reviewing applications.
It could be the diversity balance,it could be, you know what,
what's not represented here.
We need to really make sure there'sa. A person that represents a sector
(18:39):
or a point of view or a demographicthat might be really important
to have in the class apply again?
Yeah,
I really encourage people to apply again because I've had
individuals who applied three timesand got in on their third try and were
really glad, frankly, that they didn'tget in on their first try because they
weren't quite ready for the experience.
You want to make sure you're doingit at the right time because it is
(19:03):
a huge commitment between the classtime, the reflections, the impact
projects that you're participating in.
It's a commitment.
And if you're like I've got a weddingand I've got a thing and I just
got a promotion, and all of thosedistractions make it more challenging
for you to be fully present.
And the last thing I want is foranybody to be sitting there going,
gosh, I wish I was somewhere else.
(19:24):
Yeah,
absolutely.
It's, it makes total sense to do that.
And as you just said, it's the right placefor you personally before you do that.
I've been blessed with two companies thatI've worked with through this program.
They have given me the time thathas given me the opportunity to do
this, and I've been very thankful.
So also sitting down with yourcurrent employer, whether you're
(19:46):
self-employed or whether you'rework for a company to make sure that
they're gonna give you that time.
And being self-employed, it'sreally important to ask that
question is, can you take that time?
And it's a big deal.
Perfect example if you're a realtorin the, and it's middle, middle of
the summer and you're doing a lot of
business is that gonna work for you?
It's a fair question to ask.
(20:07):
Do you have the preparationand the ability to do the
things that you need to do?
And it's not just aneight hour experience.
You're gonna be meeting with folks.
I meet with my project team.
Every two weeks or less, I email toexternal members of a project, which we
should talk about the projects as well.
And I go to community eventsprobably at least once a week.
(20:28):
It's a lot.
And it's introducing you to a lotof folks to make a decision on
where you want to go next, correct?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I did bring up projects.
There's a project foreveryone in leadership End.
Can you tell me a littlebit about projects?
I.
As long as I've been with Leadership Bend and before,
there has always been a requirementthat the individuals participating
(20:49):
also complete an impact project.
And how that project or projectsare chosen has changed over
the decades of the program.
The way we do it right now isI essentially send out an RF.
P of sorts to nonprofitsin the community along with
municipalities like City of Bend.
We've done projects for Cityof Bend in the past and have
them propose to the class.
(21:10):
Here's a problem or a need that we have.
Here are the resources we have available.
Here's essentially our pitchfor why it's important.
Here's how we can or cannot sustain.
The effort going forward, if it'sa one and done kind of thing, or if
it's gonna be something that needsto be, say, sustained over time.
What is their plan that for that, andthen we bring them forward to the class.
(21:30):
I'll narrow out ones that just really,the scope is too broad or too complex.
And then the class has an opportunity tohave some really healthy debate about.
What's gonna bring methe greatest learning?
What's gonna have the most impact?
Do we have the resources or theexperience within this team?
A lot of times it's a question of Ido numbers all day, so I, that's not
what I wanna do for my impact project.
(21:52):
I wanna tell stories or I wannamarket, or something like that.
So I wanna stretch my wings ina different direction than I'm
asked to all day during the day.
And so we typically narrow that downto anywhere between one and four impact
projects, and then we just have to makesure that the groups then get to enter
into, that, building a team really fast.
(22:13):
Like how do you go from zeroto high performing with a bunch
of people that you've just met?
And these are all a lot of folks whofeel like they're strong leaders.
And so how do you start to work together?
It's a nice social experiment as well.
I think that not just one of the biggestbenefits of the impact projects isn't
just the outcome for the nonprofit.
(22:34):
It's also all of the things that thegroup of you learned together whether
it was five of you or 15 of you, andthose more even tighter relationships
that you're building, like a groupwithin a group of leadership bend.
How's your impact project going?
Oh,
I love the impact projects.
Love them.
Yeah.
Okay.
So what Lina didn't mention was,or you didn't, I don't know if
(22:57):
you've gone into, you said itas strongly as you did, there's.
It's, that's about second orthird session in, so you know
everyone there at this point.
The conversations about theseprojects are fantastic because
you're going back and forth.
You're disagreeing.
What about this?
It's you're, everyone's looking atit from a different eye in a very
(23:19):
fun way, but it's very passionate.
You're like, of course I love children.
Who doesn't love children?
Oh, I love this.
What about this program?
We would never wanna do that.
And then somebody goes.
Let's just take a quick vote.
Who did?
You're like, oh wait.
It's this funny thing where you findout somebody's first or second choice
is a thing everyone's arguing about.
Like, why are we even arguing about this?
It's clear we want to do this.
(23:40):
And it's this fun conversation.
And you start sitting down withthis different group of people.
And everyone has a differentway of showing leadership.
You have the extroverts, the ivers, and Ithink you did a very good job, by the way.
I don't know how you can dothis, but there's a good mix of
introverts and extroverts thatare in the room at all times.
(24:02):
So you're gonna have the peoplethat are in that project group
speak up that are more introverted.
As opposed to the overall team andit, you're getting so much from
those individuals because whenthey say something, it's a little
bit there's a little bit higherbenefit to it, as opposed to folks
sometimes, like myself, sometimes,say things and just, need to be quiet.
(24:23):
That was, and yeah, so it'sthis wonderful thing and I
love the that, that discourse.
My project this year is in regards towalking groups with Envision Bend and the
idea, when I heard about it, I scoffed at.
Then I sat and mulled over a nightand I said, I love this idea.
(24:45):
And the reason behind this isvery much like Leadership Bend.
I would never have the conversationsI've had with the people in that room
unless I was allowed to be in that room.
I would never have the conversationswith my neighbors if I didn't have an
opportunity to do and if all I ever dois wave to them and close my door, I'm
(25:07):
really shut out from my neighborhood.
I just happen to live in a house amongother houses in a neighborhood, but
I'm not part of the neighborhood.
Building something that a community canenjoy is so important and the rationale
behind Envision Bend doing it is thereis a massive uptick in loneliness.
(25:28):
Throughout the country post pandemic.
And that was one of the reasons.
But I looked at it as the subset asbuilding a community, and that was one
of the big things about leadership.
Ben, to me, is building thatcommunity, having people walk together.
It removes the barriers that even if Ihave a red or a blue sticker on my car,
(25:48):
if I could still talk to you as a person.
I can still find loves thatwe both like, do we like both?
Like baseball, do we like different teams?
That's okay.
But we could both hate this one team.
We're both on the same page there.
Building that relationship is soimportant and building that back post
pandemic is huge in multiple ways.
In a community like Bend where we havegrown so quickly, we have people that,
(26:11):
we weren't here four or five years ago.
We did not have remoteworking in that time period.
And people have moved in to do this.
And we have a significantshift in the community.
We have a significant shift inthe age groups and we have new
neighborhoods without having.
This ability to sit down and reallytalk what kind of a community are
(26:32):
we gonna have in 10, 12 years?
So I love the project.
I'm so proud of it.
I'm working with two different groupsright now, trying to set up pilots and
it is something that is so simple andbeautiful and I absolutely love it.
So thank you for that opportunity.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you for participating in that.
I think we are experiencing a crisis of.
Loneliness and disconnection and trustand building trust with each other.
(26:56):
And a lot of this, I think is why.
We have such difficulty havingconversations these days.
We don't take the time tobuild up those relationships.
And so my hat's off to your team forworking with Envision Bend on that.
Yeah.
There's this great book that thatI read some time ago during the
pandemic because I had nothing elseto do except for Read and it's a
(27:16):
book called Why We Hate Each Other.
And I was like, oh I saw the name ofthe cover and it was black and white and
very big letters and I was uncomfortableto read something, but I also wanted
to think more about this question.
And it was this great review ofhow we get into this echo chamber.
If you have one belief through socialmedia or more and more focused news
(27:42):
organizations, they start giving you onlythe information that you want to hear.
And if that continues, it justseparates us more and more, and.
Yeah, that's one of the things thatconcerned me, and it was very, it was
more and more recent as it went along.
In the eighties, senators used tohave cocktail hour, and now they're
(28:04):
basically calling each other somepretty horrible things, and that
trickles down to the local area aswell, and having these connections.
Matters.
I'm sure, like I said, I'm surefolks that are in leadership and have
different political beliefs than Ido, and I'd hope they did, but that
doesn't change my ability to have theconversations and that's the thing
(28:28):
that I've gotten the most out of it.
And ena I hope you understandthe, this foundation that you've
helped create and you should beexceptionally proud of yourself.
Oh, that's so kind.
I think.
I think about that.
Not that I think I'm any sort ofgenius, but you know that phrase about
standing on the shoulders of genius.
It's that idea that there were peoplewho, 33 years ago, decided that these
(28:51):
were, this is important learning andimportant conversations to have, and that
our community's been committed to it.
Over those decades.
That it's continuing to grow and thrive.
And it just, it's likebeing a torch bearer.
You pick it up from the last person,you carry it around for a while.
You you make your mark on the programand hopefully you make your mark
on some people and you make somegreat connections and you see your
(29:11):
community thrive, and then you passthat torch off to the next person.
It's really a treasure of thecommunity and I'm just proud to
get to hang onto it for a while.
I hope you hold onto it fora lot more than just a while.
Before I go into any other topics, Ijust wanna make sure that we're talking
about a little bit of logistics inregards to the application process.
Just so that we can communicate that out.
Yeah.
We're gonna have an informationalsession for folks who are curious
(29:33):
about the program on May 13th, and sothey can go to the Chamber's website.
Register for that.
Usually I'll have 40 or 50 people who cometo that and it's a great opportunity to
really get all of your questions answered.
So you may, it may inspire you,this is my year I am applying.
Holy cow.
I can't wait to be a part of this.
It may also tell you like, whoa, I'mgonna put the brakes on for a little bit.
(29:54):
And that's good thing to know aboutyourself and if the timing's right
for you, or even still for whateverreason, when you say Leadership bend,
if folks don't take the time to really.
Understand what that means.
Folks are gonna think they're enteringa leadership skill development
program, which Leadership Bend is not.
I would argue that you'redeveloping leadership skills by
(30:16):
working on your impact project,by having these conversations
watching leaders in front of you.
It's an ancillary benefit.
But we are not gonna sit around and talkabout, the seven habits of a successful
leader or things like that much.
So really understanding that it'sabout developing your community.
Educational level and yourcommunity leadership skills.
So yeah, May 13th, the applicationwill open that same week.
(30:40):
You'll be able to find a linkto it on the Chamber's website.
And those applications willbe open for about three weeks.
We're doing the retreat a littleearlier this year, so we're gonna open
and close the application process alittle earlier than we normally would.
So folks will know in July whetheror not they're in the class this
year, or whether or not maybethey're gonna apply next year.
And then we will kick it off with aretreat in the middle of August, and then
(31:04):
our first full day session in September.
Todd Prior (31:06):
So the application's open soon.
They're gonna have thatfirst meeting in August.
I have a couple questions foryou that I want to ask that were,
that's important for me personally.
So the first one is.
You have a statue ofyourself in Salem, Oregon.
And if you're listening, if not fromOregon, it is that's the state capital.
(31:28):
I just learned that.
And leadership then tellsyou all kinds of stuff.
It's amazing.
So can you tell me alittle bit about this?
Talena Barker (31:35):
That was so funny.
Again, I have had a circuitouscareer path and one of the things
that I ended up doing was workingat the Department of Human Services
in, in Salem, in the capital City.
And I worked for a coupleof different units there.
And there's a requirement thatwhen a new state building is built,
there's a percentage of moneythat's set aside to fund art.
(31:56):
That becomes a part of that building.
And they commissioned an artist namedTom Randy to create a series of sculpture
that represent the individuals thatserve folks who work for the Department
of Human Services, and then also theindividuals who are receiving services.
And so he was wandering aroundthe building looking for people,
(32:17):
and I guess I would've been.
23 looked like I was 17,really young looking.
And he came up to me and asked if Iwould be interested in modeling for
him and being a permanent fixtureof this building going forward.
I spent a full day with him,got body casted all over.
It was really interesting, hadstraws at my nose so I could breathe.
And the finished product isI. It's me full size of me.
(32:41):
And I represent a young woman who incrisis, who is receiving services from the
Department of Human Services and gettingthat handout that she so desperately
needs to be successful in life.
And so I got to be just alittle picture of the story
I saw and I love it.
And it totally, I totallyshows what it's meant to be.
(33:01):
Have you brought your kidsto be like, Hey, this is me.
Look,
I have not.
That's so funny.
Actually.
I think my older son has seen it.
My younger son hasn't seen it.
We were in the capital city, ayear or two ago and went there.
It wasn't open at the time, but,
I'm bringing my kids.
Okay.
Yeah, I know that lady.
. What would you tell yourselffive years ago or 20 years ago?
(33:25):
I would tell myself, don't be afraid to fail.
And I, we talk about impostersyndrome, we talk about failure,
and we talk about being type A andwanting to always have the answer.
I would tell myself 20 years ago thatit's okay not to always have the answer.
The magic is knowing where to find it.
And that's, again, I'm justgonna talk about leadership Bend.
(33:46):
The connection and the network that youbuild gives you unlimited resources.
So whether I'm curious about somethingor whether somebody's struggling with
something I'll, I get calls all the time.
I need to advocate forX, who can help me do Y.
And just being able to know who toconnect to is way more important
than having all the answers yourself.
(34:08):
So I would tell myself to not keeptrying to fake it, just be resourceful.
Yeah.
I love that.
It's one of the characteristics thatthat I enjoy of individuals, and I
don't know if I've would've had this10, 15, 20 years ago, is curiosity.
The statement of, I'm curious about.
(34:28):
X and they learn if you don't havethat, it's this weird thing where
you scratch your head and go.
Where did you get where you are today?
Do you have all the knowledge?
Clearly not no.
The curious person is far moreinteresting, so I love that.
Isn't that interesting though, to think about?
It felt like for a whilecuriosity wasn't prized.
Oh, absolutely not.
(34:48):
And it
feels like the pendulum is swinging back
now, though, where it's more.
It's okay not to have all the answers.
It's awesome to be curious.
I think so as well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, yeah.
I respect somebody so much more thatif they walk out that if somebody walks
out with this big full chest and they'reexcited and I know everything, that
person at my first few years, perhaps inmy career would've been impressed with.
(35:10):
But now the person that comes in andstarts asking questions of everyone in the
room, I'm like, that person right there, Iwill listen to whatever they have to say.
Yeah.
So it's a great thing to learn.
I love books.
I read books.
I listen to books.
I listen to books a lot.
I love books.
So are there some books that youwould advise people to read and why?
(35:31):
I was I was thinking about that a little bit and realizing
that for whatever reason, rightnow, I'm doing a lot of rereading.
And I love fiction.
I love sci-fi, I love fantasy.
I love just really good storytelling.
I love spy books.
So whether it's Lord of the Ringsor it's, right now I'm rereading
Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.
(35:53):
If you haven't read any ofher books, they're incredible.
They're dystopian in nature,which, can be a little dark.
But it really is a great example.
It's a great story that showsyou what happens when society
is driven by hate and fear.
And what happens when people useviolence to eliminate others.
(36:13):
Wow.
And it's really intense, but there'salso, it is a series of three books.
There's also some really good hopethat's woven in there, and I just
wish that folks could I would highlyrecommend that those books, I'll be
looking that one up.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Do you have any albums that if youwere put on a deserted island and you
had the record player and you had LPs.
(36:34):
Put 'em down.
I was thinking about that this morning and my
musical taste is really eclectic.
I'd probably pick up radiohead's.
Okay.
Computer.
That's a good choice.
I'd
probably pick up Rush's 2112.
I would definitely have anElvis Costello album in there.
(36:56):
I would have to have maybethe cures, the singles.
Standing on a beach.
This seems really cliche, but howmany times do you think you can
listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Sideof the Moon without getting bored?
That would, still
trying to find that answer out.
Probably have to come to I actually made a list for my younger
son a couple years ago of what I thoughtwere like 50 albums that you must
(37:20):
hear that might not come across yourradar as a young man in your twenties.
And that was a really funexercise to go through.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
Good job on that.
Before I talk actually about sonsand before I talk about parenthood
one thing I did not bring up yet,
there's.
There's the ability to buylocal, there's the ability to
have clients that are local.
(37:41):
You can also find low cost leaders.
And that's whether it isbuying an item or a service.
And my question to you is, as a memberof the Ben Chamber of Commerce, why
is it so important to buy local?
Oh it just, it's what makes our economy and
our own social fabric thrive.
Being in relationship with individualshere locally is so important.
(38:02):
My, my dollars speak forme when I make a purchase.
We have so much talent anddepth of knowledge here in Bend.
So many resources.
It's just incredibly important thatwe continue to steward this community
with the resources that we have.
Absolutely.
We had a great example this week.
There was a presentation for what'sbrewing in Bend about fire risk and
(38:26):
different types of disasters and.
If you ever wanna sit down and learn moreabout disasters, and you may wanna bring
some Tums with you because afterwardsyou may feel a little bit stressed out.
However, there was this great conversationthat went on with a local insurance
provider and in the world whereeveryone looks for low cost provider,
(38:47):
that's wonderful until it's needed,
right?
And one of the greatest things thatshe mentioned was her desire to
meet with her clients once a year.
That's not to buy more things from her.
That's to verify what is insured isnecessary for your business to stay going.
Yeah.
Or your personal side tostay going post disaster.
(39:09):
And it's important.
And they're also aware of the changingstructure of insurance the tides that
are changing so that they're aware ofwhat you should and shouldn't be doing.
It's so important.
It's like saying, I don't need a CPA.
At a certain point in your life, youstart needing people to do things for
you to make sure it's done correctly.
(39:29):
And it's fantastically importantand I'm thanking you so much for
being a part of that and buildingthat within our community.
Allison was such a great example of that the other
night, like she is, you wantthese people to have your back.
Absolutely.
They have absolutely expertise.
You don't, again, curiosity, youcan't be an expert in everything.
But you can find the people who canand who I think Allison said at the
end of the day, if the two of you'restanding there watching your house
(39:52):
burn down, you're gonna know thatshe's done everything possible to
make you right on the other side.
And I thought that was really impressive.
No, absolutely.
As a person who was been in the financeindustry for quite a few years, I had
the honor of working with some folksthat have lost their houses after
after fires and, building and doingconstruction loans with them and.
(40:13):
Whenever I heard, like they said,something to the effect of, oh, my
agent it just calmed me down because Iknew I could go and sit down and talk
with that person, pick up the phone.
We can go through it and figure outways to make it work, as opposed to,
I'm working for this large conglomerate.
There's nothing wrong with companies orcorporations, but having somebody local
(40:33):
when you most need them is a big deal.
So that's a huge deal.
One thing I would say too is we're seeing.
Some of our local CPA firms and someof our law firms and others, some
consolidation or, being merged withlarger firms outside of the area and
my husband's firm's an example of that.
But we, I was just talking with somefolks the other day about, ben is
(40:54):
still a place where you wanna beable to look someone in the eye.
Sometimes, it's great you can tap intoCalifornia or Washington or somewhere else
from some expertise and some fine tuning.
Absolutely.
But Ben's still a place where you wanna beable to sit down and have a relationship
and a connection with the person who'sdesigning your house, for instance.
I absolutely agree.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we're both on thesame page on that one.
(41:16):
Cool.
So I would be remiss not to bring up thefact that on Sunday it's Mother's Day.
So happy Mother's Day.
Thank you.
And I just wanted to finish thisoff with some words from this poet.
His name is Tupac, if you've heard of him.
Oh yeah.
He's been around and he had a songcalled Dear Mama and he goes, I
finally understand for a woman, itain't easy trying to raise a man.
(41:38):
He always was committed.
There's no way I can pay you back.
But the plan is to show you thatI understand you are appreciated
and tna, you are appreciated.
Thank you so much for coming in today.
Oh, thanks Todd.
It's so nice to talk to you.
Absolutely.
TNA Barker is the VP of LeadershipDevelopment at the Ben Chamber of
Commerce, and she runs one of thegreatest leadership programs around
(42:01):
and this is Pacific Northwest.
Told I am your host, Todd Pryor.
Thanks for listening.
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