September 19, 2025 • 42 mins
On this episode of Growing Our Future, host Aaron Alejandro welcomes Lorie Vincent, Founder & President of ACCELERATION by Design LLC. Lorie shares her inspiring journey from the Texas Panhandle to national leadership, her mission to empower rural communities, and why gratitude, collaboration, and bold vision are essential to growth.
🎥 In the video, Lorie shares her journey from growing up in the Texas Panhandle to leading efforts that empower rural communities nationwide.
💡 What you’ll learn:
- Why gratitude is the foundation for building strong communities
- How listening and collaboration spark real change
- Why honoring heritage and thinking boldly can shape a thriving future
Her story is proof that when we plant seeds of greatness in our lives and communities, the harvest can impact generations.
Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in tothe Growing Our Future podcast,
I'm going to start off by justsaying thank you.
Thank you because you know time, we can't save it.
You know we can't put it in aninvestment account.
The only thing we can do isspend it.
So, the fact that you'rewilling to spend a little time
(00:51):
with us I just want to say thankyou and the fact that we're
able to use this kind oftechnology to bring people
together to share ideas,experiences, insights together
to share ideas, experiences,insights I don't know.
It goes back to what I alwayssay If agriculture has taught me
anything, it's taught me if youwant to know what the future is
(01:13):
grow it Well how?
do we grow it?
We got to have seeds, we got toplant them, we got to take care
of them, we got to nurture them, grow them, then we got to
harvest them and we got to sharethem.
That's what this podcast isabout.
It's the fact that we bring onincredible guests that share
their insights, their experience.
They share seeds of greatnessthat we get to plant in our
(01:36):
lives and maybe grow somethingbetter for ourselves, our
communities, our organization,and today is no exception.
I met this lady recently andit's amazing how many people we
know.
The connections just blew usboth away that our paths had
never crossed before.
But it's an honor to have LoriVinson on here.
(01:57):
Lori is a certified economicdevelopment professional, she's
a speaker, she's an author andmost recently, she put together
she's going to tell you allabout it the Stand Up Rural
America Summit, which wasphenomenal.
But, ladies and gentlemen, lori, vincent, lori, thank you for
being with us this morning.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I'm so excited to be here today, so excited, thank
you.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Well, we appreciate you taking a little time out of
your schedule, lori.
So every guest, every guestthat comes on this podcast, we
start with the same question,and that is what are you
grateful for today?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That's a hard one, because I wake up grateful every
day.
That is part of my routine aswell, aaron, so it's another
thing that we have in common isto recognize those things that
we're so blessed with andgrateful for.
But I will say that yesterday Ihad the opportunity to be in a
(02:57):
client community all day longLiberty Hill, texas, which was a
rural community at one time,obviously outside of Austin, but
Austin is growing, the peopleare growing to it, and having
conversations with them all daylong about how much they love
their community and want tomaintain the heritage and the
(03:20):
pride and the history of theircommunity, while all of this
growth is taking place at thesame time.
So I was so thankful to be withthem.
I'll be in Gonzales thisafternoon, in another community
that is experiencing growth andopportunities, but they're
clinging, you know, and we wantto make sure that they are able
(03:42):
to cling to their heritage andtheir pride and their history.
And I'm a big believer that youcan honor your history and
build for the future at the sametime.
And so for me to have been it'sbeen a very busy summer, but to
be in that community yesterdayand another community this
(04:03):
afternoon and back in thepanhandle tomorrow for a long
weekend.
I'm so grateful, just grateful,for all of these communities
and these people that love theircommunity so much that they're
willing to volunteer their timeto figure out.
How do we make it better, howdo we love it and how do we make
it better for our do we?
How do we love it and how do wemake it better for our kids and
(04:26):
our grandkids?
How do we keep it going?
How do we keep the train on thetrack?
So I'm very grateful for that,super grateful for that.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
All right, we could.
We could probably just stopright there.
That was so good, the the thingthat I appreciate.
Uh, by the way, I agree witheverything you just said.
And Lori, if y'all, if you'rewatching this and you're
listening to it, you can hearher smile.
He's coming through the radiohearing it over the speakers.
You can hear her sense ofgratitude, her passion for what
(04:56):
she does.
When you have that attitude ofgratitude, you have an energy,
you have a little want to.
When you're proud of something,you want to share it, so you
want to share that with othersand I appreciate you sharing
that because I agree with.
That's the reason why we startthis podcast, because I want
(05:17):
people to know this is how youbuild a day, this is how you
build a week, or maybe a monthor a year, or maybe it becomes
the culture of a community.
So that's what we're going totalk about today.
So I met Lori and and learned alittle bit about what she does
and has accomplished in hercareer.
And we were at the Stand UpRule America Summit and I found
(05:43):
it so empowering, so engaging,so equipping that I went there
just to be a presenter, but Icame away the whole week later
going, I picked up this and thisand this and this.
So this was her brainchild.
So, lori, I know you did notjust fall into that chair.
You're sitting in right there.
(06:04):
Something tells me, there is astory, a life journey, something
that led you to where you areright now and why you have this
passion to help communitiesrural communities grow and
thrive and have something topass on for generations, an
(06:25):
incredible legacy.
Take us on that journey, tellus about that, where you came
from, how you started, why thisis such a passion of yours.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Yeah, I have had quite a journey and, with
detours along the way, someamazing, amazing opportunities
and roadblocks that we had tofigure out.
I think that's just life forall of us, but, as I just
experienced a pretty bigbirthday not too long ago, I
(06:55):
have done a lot of reflectinglately about where I started and
how I got to here, and so happyto share that story.
I am a product of the TexasPanhandle and very, very proud
of that.
I grew up in Dalhart, texas,and to me as a child, not really
(07:18):
knowing what happens to keep acommunity going, I was the
benefactor of just a great ruralcommunity.
It was a farming community thatwas our economic base.
My dad was an entrepreneur, mymom had three brothers, she was
a stay-at-home mom, and it feltlike Mayberry to me.
We were probably somewhatsheltered and protected from the
(07:42):
big wide world, but it did giveus a chance to grow in a
community that had values, hadheritage, we had the whole
pioneer spirit from the XITRanch, and I had a wonderful
childhood.
I like most children, though,and my parents had a lot to do
with it I knew that it was a bigworld out there, and I couldn't
(08:03):
wait to experience what wasgoing to happen next outside of
Dalhart, texas, and we traveleda little bit.
When I was young we had a bigfamily and my dad was super busy
, so we made our little treks toColorado and to the surrounding
states.
You know our road trips and ourlittle vacations that that had.
(08:23):
That was my experience until Igot in high school and began to
be able to experience camps andFFA trips and talk shows, and so
high school was a big eyeopener for me.
That um and I began to look atwhere I was going to go to
college.
And um, so I made.
(08:45):
I actually went to college inKerrville, texas, shriner
University.
Uh, loved, love, love, love mytime there.
Uh, found myself working, uh,after that in San Antonio.
So I was an accountant by tradeand moved to the city and I was
ready to embrace everythingthat it had to offer.
(09:05):
But, boy, howdy San Antoniovery different from Dalhart
Texas.
And so I had made theseincremental moves from Dalhart
to Kerrville, which was just alittle bit bigger but still
rural, and then to San Antonio.
And then, to add icing to that,I worked for.
(09:25):
Following, I worked for someCPA firms and then I went to
work for a client of our CPAfirm.
It was a company based out ofMexico.
It was a company based out ofMexico.
So I began to also work inMexico and San Antonio, going
back and forth month here, monththere, two months here, two
months there An amazingdevelopment property development
(09:47):
company.
And so at a very young age I gota very big dose of the world
and what it was like outside ofrural America.
It was a wonderful time for me.
I learned a lot.
(10:08):
I actually met my husband, whowas also from the Panhandle, in
San Antonio, while I lived inSan Antonio.
So I was never going to.
You know, for a kid who wasprobably thought I was never
going to go back.
I just thought, okay, well, theworld is open to me now and I
had all these great values totake with me.
I felt pretty good about it.
But never say never, because Ifound myself back in the Texas
(10:31):
panhandle, married to a guy weeloped.
I didn't even hardly know himand I go okay, well, here I am
back in and I didn't.
I wasn't sure how I felt aboutit, you know I I felt like I was
deviating from my plan.
But I landed in Stratford, texas, which embraced me and I
(10:53):
embraced it and it felt likehome to me.
I began to go.
Well, all those feelings that Igrew up with came back.
The neighbors, the school, thechurches, the caring, the whole
it all just came flooding back.
And so I was so happy and proudto be there, to raise our
(11:17):
daughter there and have anopportunity to start my economic
development career there.
So they started their economicdevelopment program when just I
mean timing.
It could not have been more.
You know, it was coincidencethat I moved there and they
started their economicdevelopment program almost at
the same time and I accepted theposition.
(11:39):
I didn't know what I was doing,they didn't know what they were
doing.
We learned together, but thatwas the beginning of a career
that just grabbed my heart.
I could not believe that therewas a profession where you get
to.
It was a privilege to get upevery day and go.
(12:01):
How can I make my communitybetter?
You mean, you're going to payme for this.
To get up every day and figureout how to make this community
better Sounds a whole lot easierthan it really is in real life,
but what an opportunity.
During that time I also wentback and went to school at West
(12:21):
Texas A&M, so I'm an alumni ofWest Texas A&M too, and that was
when I really truly began tounderstand the value of the
network was my time at WT, thepeople that I met there and then
the people that I began to meetin my very fresh, spanking new
(12:42):
economic development career.
I had the pleasure of doingthat for seven years, and then I
went to work for our regionaleconomic development group,
which at that time had beenadministered by Southwestern
Public Service, and they workedfor I think they covered 26
counties maybe the panhandle,the 26 counties and it was a
(13:04):
regional economic developmentgroup.
I was a member of it, and thenthey came to us and said we're
merging the economic developmentdepartment out where the new
company is.
And this group that I was apart of said no wait, we want to
keep doing what we're doing,and so we had to restructure.
(13:24):
They hired their firstdeveloper, which was me, and
their first executive director,and we expanded to 54 counties
and took in the South Plainsarea so that we could make it
work, and then we had one moreexpansion to 69 counties.
So it was amazing and it becamemy baby.
(13:45):
I began to work for that wholeregion, marketing that region
all over the world.
We traveled all over the worldtalking about how important the
products and the services thatwe offered in a region that
nobody talked about, nobodythought about.
When people think of Texas,they weren't thinking of the
(14:06):
West Texas or the panhandle ofTexas.
They were thinking of Dallas,fort Worth, houston, austin, san
Antonio.
We were the part of Texas thatjust never got to sit at the in
the front seat, and so we saidwell, we'll create our own.
And so I am so proud thatSouthwestern Public Service
(14:27):
administered that organizationfor 10 years before I took it
over.
Then I had it for 17 years andthen they've had two executive
directors since then that havecontinued to move that train
(14:48):
forward and so for well over.
You met some of them at thesummit, but for over 35 years
now that organization has workedevery day for every city in
that region, for jobs,opportunities, services,
marketing, legislative policy.
You know it's an amazingorganization and, as I've said
many, many times, it was myhonor and privilege to work for
them.
It was successful not becauseof me or the other two directors
(15:13):
that we've had.
Southwestern Public Service andthe two COGs in the region get
the credit for starting it,absolutely all the credit for
starting the organization.
It still exists because itexists for the right reasons, in
the right place at the righttime, and so it doesn't matter
who is running the organization.
(15:35):
The culture, the attitude, theprogram, the structure, the
resources, everything is set upso in such a strong way that
it's people will come and go,but it will exist because it
exists for the right reasons.
So then I was swiped away andcame down and ran the state
(15:56):
program for a couple of years,but during that time, I loved it
.
I absolutely loved it.
I loved working for all thecities in Texas, but my heart
was still with rural America.
I kept thinking these citiesdon't need me, they don't need
my voice.
They have amazing practitioners, amazing professionals, amazing
(16:20):
practitioners, amazingprofessionals.
My heart was still with thesmall towns that just needed
encouragement and inspirationand tools, and so I knew at some
point I would start my own firm, and I did.
Finally, I jumped into the deepend with no floaties and in 2018
, I opened an economicdevelopment consulting firm.
I have amazing clients, I havestate clients, I have a lot of
(16:40):
urban clients, but my heart isstill with rural America, and
the Stand Up Rural AmericaSummit is just one product of my
company, which is calledAcceleration by Design, where I
do a lot of consulting and a lotof training of young, young or
old economic developmentprofessionals, people new to the
(17:01):
industry.
I do a lot of action plans,strategic plans for communities
and cities of all sizes, but theStand Up Rural America Summit
that's my baby, that is, that ismy gift back to rural America
is to be able to bring peopletogether and provide amazing
speakers that most of thesesmall towns would never be able
(17:24):
to afford to bring into theircommunities or have the
opportunity to not just hear oneor two or three, three.
But I'm like, if you will giveme a couple of days, I will fill
up your tank and send you backto your community, knowing how
loved you are and how, what anoble profession it is and that
(17:48):
what the work that you are doingis important.
Oh, and here's some tools thatyou can take back with you as
well.
So I'm lucky that my company issuccessful enough that it can
fund my passion project andbecause I'm in the twilight of
my career and so I think a lotabout what can I build now that
(18:11):
will keep on going far beyond me, and I'm excited that a lot of
people are taking it back andthey're starting to do this in
their states or in their regions.
They're saying we're going toget our people together and
we're going to bring in thesespeakers.
That's great.
That's not competition, that isjust making the pie bigger and
(18:31):
making the spotlight bigger andand it just shows America how
important that 80% of ourcountry is to this the economic
prosperity for everybody, forthe whole country.
So that's how I got here todayI it has been a winding road and
(18:54):
I have made a lot of mistakes.
I have learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
It has not always been easy, but it's been worth
it, everything I've done thatbrought me here today.
We could probably sit here and,just based just on what you
just said, we could probablytalk for hours of just the
changes that you've seen overyour career, the communication
technologies that allow us nowto amplify the voice of a
(19:27):
community, to amplify thatculture.
I want to jump back real quickbecause you said something.
I knew what it was, but Ialways want to make sure people
understand.
When you use the word COGS,would you tell everybody what a
COG is?
Speaker 3 (19:43):
I'm sorry, we're really bad about throwing out
acronyms.
So the COGS are councils ofgovernments and they are
agencies.
They have them all over thecountry.
They're called different thingsin different states.
In Texas they're calledcouncils of governments and if
I'm not mistaken there'sprobably 26, 26, 30.
(20:06):
Anyway, the state is broken upinto regions and each region is
represented by what we call aCOG, a council of governments,
what we call a COG a Council ofGovernments, and there is one in
Amarillo, there's one inLubbock, there's one in Odessa,
(20:27):
Midland, one in San Angelo, onein Abilene, you know.
So they are usually located ina more metro area, but they
cover a region X number ofcounties around them, and what
happens is then the federalgovernment funnels funds to the
state, who then funnels fundsfor programs through the
councils of governments, and sothey handle CDBG funds, which is
(20:49):
another acronym that the citydid.
Yes, so that's distributed tothe cities.
A lot of the funds foremergency management, for elder
care, for a lot of work relatedprograms, skills development
programs, that sort of thing arefunneled through the councils
(21:11):
of governments.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I wanted to bring that up because Very important
to the picture is I appreciateLori saying that, because I'm
fixing to unpack a lot of whatLori just said, but the reason I
wanted to just highlight thatis there are these 24 cogs in
Texas.
But if you listen to what Lorijust said, you may find that
(21:34):
there's a there's a jobopportunity there, a career
opportunity there that allowsyou to give back to your
community, your region.
So I just wanted to highlightthat because I have not heard
that term in a while and whenyou said it I thought I want to
make sure everybody understandswhat that means and what that
may translate to in terms of ajob.
Okay, lori just gave us herstory and y'all know that when
(21:57):
we do these podcasts, I like toR2, a2, everything recognize,
relate, assimilate and apply.
So we're going to try torecognize concepts, we're going
to try to relate to them, wewant to take them in and then we
want to apply them.
So here we go, y'all ready forthis.
Listen to what Lori just sharedwith us.
Number one in school getinvolved.
(22:19):
I heard her say that when thatbus left the school, she was on
that bus and she found outthere's a bigger world besides
Dalhart, texas.
There's going to be youngpeople across the country
listening to this podcast.
Get involved, go out and seethings, get on the bus.
(22:41):
Number two, two it's okay tolearn together.
I loved it when she said welearn together.
Well, there, you know, none ofus is as strong as all of us,
and laurie just gave us thatword of wisdom in her experience
of learning together.
She talked about the importanceof a network, network, network,
(23:02):
network.
We give an award at theFoundation Ambassador Program
called the Three Foot Rule, andwe teach kids to get to know
anybody within three feet ofthem, because one day they could
be your customer, your client,your constituent, your colleague
, your governor, your councilmember.
Network, network, network.
(23:23):
And then, in the words of ourgood friend down in the Rio
Grande Valley, carlos, people,no show, no tell, no sell.
And Lori just talked aboutyou've got to show your
community, you've got to tellabout your community or you'll
(23:47):
never sell your community.
And I want to kind of book inthat part of what Lori said.
So far with she and I have amutual friend, ron Kitchens,
who's the CEO of the WichitaFalls Chamber of Commerce, and
Ron's been on this show beforeand I think I really appreciate
something Ron said.
(24:07):
Lori, in light of what you'veshared.
And he wanted to become he wastalking about becoming a chamber
economic development becausethere was satisfaction in
helping create jobs, to knowthat you could give a family a
source of revenue that theycould sustain themselves.
(24:28):
They might even be able to takea vacation, they may be able to
help through charity, but allbecause of that gratification of
knowing that you created a job.
And that's what Lori does.
Lori helps communities acquirethe tools to show, to tell and
(24:49):
sell why they're a good bet tobring a business to create jobs,
and all of that.
I just wanted to highlight that.
All of that came out of whatLori just shared.
That's the reason I love thispodcast, because when people
share their testimonies, whenpeople share their journeys,
(25:10):
there are seeds of greatness tobe found.
And you just did a bunch.
We're not done yet, but you dida bunch.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
I've crammed a lot into my years, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
So let's try to extract from that a little bit.
So the majority of the peoplethat will be listening to the
podcast are going to be studentsor educators some sponsors,
educators, some sponsors.
So what would you say are someof the important components to
being a good advocate foryourself?
And, by the way, that's anotherthing I tell the kids.
(25:46):
I always tell the kids, tell meabout your business, and they
always say, well, I don't have abusiness.
I said, yeah, you are, you'reit.
You know what time do you openin the morning?
What kind of customer servicedo you deliver?
Did you communicate well?
So, lori, in your experience,if you could share what would be
(26:07):
some good advocacy techniques,something that you would tell
people, these are importantcomponents to be successful in
life.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
And I think you nailed it, aaron.
I think this starts as kids.
I think it's important foreverybody, but if we can instill
this in our youth, howimportant a couple of these
things are, I think it helps setthem up for success throughout
life.
One, I think it's important tolisten.
(26:37):
I think we get used to toespecially and I've watched this
with my daughter and nowgranddaughter it's.
It is a different world nowthan it was five years ago or
even 10 years ago.
With technology, social media,we're used to now being a look
(26:58):
at me society Like here's myvideo, here's my picture, here's
my blah, you know, and we andpeople are really good at
selling themselves and beinginfluencers.
I find this even as adults,aaron, with.
Let me give you an example Now,board meetings since COVID are
(27:21):
televised, they're live streamedon Facebook, on you know, or
they're recorded, and that thatdidn't happen for years.
For years, if you cared aboutsomething that was going on at
the city, the school, the countyor an organization, you had to
show up to the meeting and be apart of the discussion.
(27:42):
But I have found this is justan observation on my part and I,
like you, I want to embrace alltechnology and take advantage
of it and use it in the best,most positive way we can.
But what is happening is now wehave become a very performative
society.
(28:03):
What we're losing in that isdiscussion, is a conversation
between two people, between fivepeople, 10 people.
Let's talk about it and alongwith that is a lack of listening
.
It's a.
Instead of listening, peopleare thinking of what they're
already going to say next.
So for everybody, I don't thinkwe'll ever go back to not
(28:27):
having live streamed citycouncil.
I mean, now that we're doing it, I don't know how they ever
don't do it again, because nowthey have larger viewership.
It's a way for them to meetmore constituents.
I get that, I totally get that.
But what we have sacrificed isconversation, is real dialogue
(28:50):
about problems and solutions andopportunities and how we can
make things happen.
Because they're worried aboutwho's watching me, who's going
to, what are they going to sayon social media about what I
said.
So I'm seeing these brilliantpeople who, out in the hallway,
just told me the most amazingideas, but don't say anything
(29:12):
during a meeting because it'sit's being shown to the world
and they're worried about whatyou know somebody might not like
it.
They have a loud voice.
So they're going to slam me,you know, and and these, these
kids have grown up, they don'tremember a time when that didn't
happen, and so I, I would justtell everybody let's listen more
, let's ask more questions andlet's have dialogue.
(29:35):
Let's have dialogue, let's talkabout it, because when we talk
about it, then that's when wetalk about opportunities and we
find solutions and we becomeproblem solvers, and those don't
happen in a silo, they onlyhappen when we're together and
have that discussion.
So that's the first thing.
(29:56):
The second thing is I wantpeople to think bigger and
bolder than they may be.
That might just be in theirnature is I want to encourage
people to let's don't settle.
Don't don't settle If you seesomething and may, if you go on
vacation and you're in acommunity, you're driving
through a community, or maybeit's your destination and you
(30:19):
see something amazing that youenjoy, that you like and you
think that would be a good fitfor your community.
There is not one reason in theworld that can't happen in your
community, with the right toolsand the right resources, which
are available.
By the way.
People think we could never dothat.
Of course you can.
You can do it.
(30:40):
And so I want people to thinkbigger and bolder.
So listen more and have moredialogue and think bigger and
bolder.
And then the last thing iscollaborate.
There are other people thatthink exactly like you.
So collaborate, find thosepartners, even if you just put
(31:00):
out on social media hey, whatdoes anybody in this community
what do you think about this?
Would you like a splash pad?
We would like a new baseballpark.
What do y'all think about atheater?
You know, my kids are the bestat that.
The very best strategicplanning sessions I have
(31:20):
anywhere hands down across thecountry are with the kids, with
the youth, and I mean all theway down to elementary school,
asking them what do they loveabout their community, what do
they wish their community had,and let's brainstorm on how we
can get it.
(31:40):
Those conversations and with thesenior citizens, who people
think well, they don't haveanything to add anymore.
Are you kidding?
Only 50 years worth of wisdom?
That's right.
People assume that they'regoing to go.
Well, we tried that, or wecan't, or they are.
They're just coasting.
Maybe some of them are, butthey have also been amazing
(32:02):
mentors and voices of wisdomthat when you ask them to be
involved, then some.
Those are the things that can.
Literally those two groups canmake things when everybody would
assume it's the ones in themiddle and because those are the
change makers.
But so listen, have dialogue,look, think bigger and bolder
(32:30):
and collaborate.
Yeah, those are my.
That's what I would say.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
This is so good.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
All learned the hard way.
I promise.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You know, one of the things that I like to talk about
is the fact that in Texas Ican't speak for every other
state you know we have over3,000 high schools.
Well, how many of them willhave a graduating class this
year?
Well, every one of them.
That means everybody's going tobe out looking for a job, a
scholarship or an opportunity.
So we have to ask ourselveswhat separates us from everybody
else?
(33:00):
What's our competitive edge?
Well, lori, just gave you someskills that will give you a
competitive edge If you can be agood listener, somebody that
can create good discussions.
I love it when you said askquestions.
I always remind people what isthe root word of the word
question.
It's quest, go on an adventure.
(33:21):
So asking questions allows usto go on an adventure, to maybe
find a new way, to find afoundation, like you said, from
the past, that can grow a betterfuture, to be bold enough to
say what if?
To think big.
And then I love it.
Life is not a solo project.
We were not created to be theLone Ranger.
(33:42):
Now, for some of y'all, you'llhave to Google that, but we were
not created to be the LoneRanger.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
No, we were not.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
We were created to be in communion.
None of us is as strong as allof us.
I believe that to be truementally, physically,
emotionally, spiritually.
I think there's power innumbers and all of those things
give us a competitive edge.
One of my mentors, lori, hetold me at an early age.
(34:11):
He said, aaron, he goes alwayshave 10 friends older than you
and 10 friends younger than you.
The 10 friends older are goingto tell you where we've been.
The 10 friends younger aregoing to tell you where we're
headed and to your point.
That collaboration is bringingthat wealth of perspective into
(34:31):
the discussion for the bigthings.
So that's why I say there's alot of genius if you just listen
to the guests and theirexperiences.
So, lori, thank you for thatAgain.
Y'all, we could keep talking.
I mean, I could talk to Lorifor a day, but we do try to keep
these podcasts short, sweet, sothat they can be shown in a
(34:55):
classroom.
So we're going to go ahead andstart wrapping up, but before we
wrap up, you do get a funquestion.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
So I'm just curious what is the best concert you've
ever been to?
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Oh my gosh, that's hard because we go to concerts
all the time, so I have hardhere.
I'm hard hearing now Thanks tomy husband dragging me to every
concert we could possibly go to.
Oh, we've had great.
We have been to great concertsin every season of our life.
So I'm going to tell youprobably a couple of my
(35:32):
favorites.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
That's why I asked.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Okay, when I was young, before young, young and I
was living first of all inKerrville in college and then
moving to San Antonio, it wasthe same time that George Strait
was getting started.
Oh wow, his band, yeah.
And so I had the opportunity tohear him multiple times around
(35:55):
the region during the first five, six, seven years of his career
before he hit it big.
I was already a fan, and sincethen I've seen him 25 times.
I don't know if that makes meI'm not a groupie, I'm not a
stalker, but I am a huge fan andpeople go Lori, that's crazy,
and I go.
Well, 10, 10 of those timeswere before he had a number one
(36:18):
hit.
He was just that good early onand then once he hit it big, he
hit it big and I remained a fan,so huge, short, straight fan.
And and I've been to every oneof his retirement concerts where
he says, riding away, and thenhe comes back and I'm like, well
, I'll keep coming back with youaway.
And then he comes back and I'mlike, well, I'll keep coming
(36:40):
back with you.
Um, I think he's having anotherone, but um, I think that's
funny.
He's like the Brett Favre ofcountry music.
Um, my husband and I saw theEagles in Lubbock, texas, when
it was still the whole band wasintact.
So that's a memory that wasamazing.
Uh, we have heard every rockand roll band.
I think we heard george tate, Imean, uh, james taylor, george
(37:02):
james taylor, here in austinwhen we first moved here.
He was fantastic.
But I'm gonna this is gonnacrack you up the two most recent
concerts we went to um eltonjohn and absolutely amazing, we
saw him in and it it was amazing.
And I and I wasn't well at thetime and I was still recovering
(37:24):
from West Nile and we almostsold our tickets and that we
were like, ah no, we got to go,it's our only chance, he was
amazing.
And then this last year Iabsolutely drug my husband to go
see Barry Manilow down at thestadium at the Moody Center, and
he was like I'm not going tosee Barry Manilow.
(37:46):
Well, we got there, I made him.
It was my grandmom's, she washer favorite, my mom's favorite.
I grew up on that music.
I play the piano, so I've beenplaying his music forever and I
I mean I laughed so hard when wegot there because there were so
many husbands there that theirwives drug them to it.
But every one of them knewevery word to every song.
(38:10):
And so, yeah, hand it to EltonJohn and Barry Manilow at their
age, still rocking it on stagefor two hours, no breaks.
They were amazing.
And then, of course, we goright back to going and to hear
all of our favorite 70s bands,who are now all in from the 70s
(38:30):
and they're in their 70s so.
But we're big concert goers.
I'm glad you asked that 've.
We've been to some amazingconcerts I have been blessed.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
I'm a big live music person and yeah, we are too
george, obviously, is probablyprobably one of the most popular
hardly afford to go see himanymore.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
You can't even afford a ticket to go see him anymore
my kids know that I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
You know I still am, even though he's left us, but
I'm a big Jimmy Buffett fan.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Diehard Parrothead and I'm a big time Bruce
Springsteen, the East streetband, and you're talking about
times.
They're actually in Septemberof 2025, we'll be celebrating
the 50th anniversary of Born toRun, which is crazy because it's
kind of a staple in rock androll history.
(39:22):
But anyway, I love askingpeople this question because
we've heard everything fromPitbull to the greatest showman
you know and everything inbetween, because that's just the
beauty of the human soul thatwe all have those musical notes
and lyrics that fit something inour life map, if you will,
(39:48):
somewhere along our journey.
There was a song there thatbecame part of that journey, so
thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
Oh, that's fun to go back down memory lane, but it's
hard to pick one because we'veheard so many great ones.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
for sure you and I would be in the same boat
because I haven't got so many.
But, lori, thanks so much forjoining us on the podcast.
This is exactly why we do thispodcast and it's just a very
short window provided so manyincredible seeds of greatness
(40:22):
that if people will just takethose and say, okay, I'm going
to try this one here and I needto start thinking about maybe
looking at this, their what ifcould change the world.
It could change the community,all because we had this
opportunity to come together.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
So Everything is possible, everything mission
possible, all of it.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Now y'all know why I wanted Lori on here.
So thank you so much forjoining us.
Ladies and gentlemen, until wemeet again, you know.
Thank you for stopping by.
If you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
Put these seeds in place inyour life, in your profession,
in your family, in yourcommunity, and there's no
(41:08):
telling what kind of future wecan grow.
I think it's going to beincredible and it's going to be
one that's built on gratitude,because we started that way.
So thank you so much forjoining us.
Until we meet again, go out anddo something great for somebody
.
You're going to feel good aboutit, you're going to make them
happy and guess what?
They may go out and do the samething and change the world.
(41:28):
Everybody be safe.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in tothe Growing Our Future podcast,
I'm going to start off by justsaying thank you.
Thank you because you know time, we can't save it.
You know we can't put it in aninvestment account.
The only thing we can do isspend it.
So, the fact that you'rewilling to spend a little time
(00:51):
with us I just want to say thankyou and the fact that we're
able to use this kind oftechnology to bring people
together to share ideas,experiences, insights together
to share ideas, experiences,insights I don't know.
It goes back to what I alwayssay If agriculture has taught me
anything, it's taught me if youwant to know what the future is
(01:13):
grow it Well how?
do we grow it?
We got to have seeds, we got toplant them, we got to take care
of them, we got to nurture them, grow them, then we got to
harvest them and we got to sharethem.
That's what this podcast isabout.
It's the fact that we bring onincredible guests that share
their insights, their experience.
They share seeds of greatnessthat we get to plant in our
(01:36):
lives and maybe grow somethingbetter for ourselves, our
communities, our organization,and today is no exception.
I met this lady recently andit's amazing how many people we
know.
The connections just blew usboth away that our paths had
never crossed before.
But it's an honor to have LoriVinson on here.
(01:57):
Lori is a certified economicdevelopment professional, she's
a speaker, she's an author andmost recently, she put together
she's going to tell you allabout it the Stand Up Rural
America Summit, which wasphenomenal.
But, ladies and gentlemen, lori, vincent, lori, thank you for
being with us this morning.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I'm so excited to be here today, so excited, thank
you.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Well, we appreciate you taking a little time out of
your schedule, lori.
So every guest, every guestthat comes on this podcast, we
start with the same question,and that is what are you
grateful for today?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That's a hard one, because I wake up grateful every
day.
That is part of my routine aswell, aaron, so it's another
thing that we have in common isto recognize those things that
we're so blessed with andgrateful for.
But I will say that yesterday Ihad the opportunity to be in a
(02:57):
client community all day longLiberty Hill, texas, which was a
rural community at one time,obviously outside of Austin, but
Austin is growing, the peopleare growing to it, and having
conversations with them all daylong about how much they love
their community and want tomaintain the heritage and the
(03:20):
pride and the history of theircommunity, while all of this
growth is taking place at thesame time.
So I was so thankful to be withthem.
I'll be in Gonzales thisafternoon, in another community
that is experiencing growth andopportunities, but they're
clinging, you know, and we wantto make sure that they are able
(03:42):
to cling to their heritage andtheir pride and their history.
And I'm a big believer that youcan honor your history and
build for the future at the sametime.
And so for me to have been it'sbeen a very busy summer, but to
be in that community yesterdayand another community this
(04:03):
afternoon and back in thepanhandle tomorrow for a long
weekend.
I'm so grateful, just grateful,for all of these communities
and these people that love theircommunity so much that they're
willing to volunteer their timeto figure out.
How do we make it better, howdo we love it and how do we make
it better for our do we?
How do we love it and how do wemake it better for our kids and
(04:26):
our grandkids?
How do we keep it going?
How do we keep the train on thetrack?
So I'm very grateful for that,super grateful for that.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
All right, we could.
We could probably just stopright there.
That was so good, the the thingthat I appreciate.
Uh, by the way, I agree witheverything you just said.
And Lori, if y'all, if you'rewatching this and you're
listening to it, you can hearher smile.
He's coming through the radiohearing it over the speakers.
You can hear her sense ofgratitude, her passion for what
(04:56):
she does.
When you have that attitude ofgratitude, you have an energy,
you have a little want to.
When you're proud of something,you want to share it, so you
want to share that with othersand I appreciate you sharing
that because I agree with.
That's the reason why we startthis podcast, because I want
(05:17):
people to know this is how youbuild a day, this is how you
build a week, or maybe a monthor a year, or maybe it becomes
the culture of a community.
So that's what we're going totalk about today.
So I met Lori and and learned alittle bit about what she does
and has accomplished in hercareer.
And we were at the Stand UpRule America Summit and I found
(05:43):
it so empowering, so engaging,so equipping that I went there
just to be a presenter, but Icame away the whole week later
going, I picked up this and thisand this and this.
So this was her brainchild.
So, lori, I know you did notjust fall into that chair.
You're sitting in right there.
(06:04):
Something tells me, there is astory, a life journey, something
that led you to where you areright now and why you have this
passion to help communitiesrural communities grow and
thrive and have something topass on for generations, an
(06:25):
incredible legacy.
Take us on that journey, tellus about that, where you came
from, how you started, why thisis such a passion of yours.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Yeah, I have had quite a journey and, with
detours along the way, someamazing, amazing opportunities
and roadblocks that we had tofigure out.
I think that's just life forall of us, but, as I just
experienced a pretty bigbirthday not too long ago, I
(06:55):
have done a lot of reflectinglately about where I started and
how I got to here, and so happyto share that story.
I am a product of the TexasPanhandle and very, very proud
of that.
I grew up in Dalhart, texas,and to me as a child, not really
(07:18):
knowing what happens to keep acommunity going, I was the
benefactor of just a great ruralcommunity.
It was a farming community thatwas our economic base.
My dad was an entrepreneur, mymom had three brothers, she was
a stay-at-home mom, and it feltlike Mayberry to me.
We were probably somewhatsheltered and protected from the
(07:42):
big wide world, but it did giveus a chance to grow in a
community that had values, hadheritage, we had the whole
pioneer spirit from the XITRanch, and I had a wonderful
childhood.
I like most children, though,and my parents had a lot to do
with it I knew that it was a bigworld out there, and I couldn't
(08:03):
wait to experience what wasgoing to happen next outside of
Dalhart, texas, and we traveleda little bit.
When I was young we had a bigfamily and my dad was super busy
, so we made our little treks toColorado and to the surrounding
states.
You know our road trips and ourlittle vacations that that had.
(08:23):
That was my experience until Igot in high school and began to
be able to experience camps andFFA trips and talk shows, and so
high school was a big eyeopener for me.
That um and I began to look atwhere I was going to go to
college.
And um, so I made.
(08:45):
I actually went to college inKerrville, texas, shriner
University.
Uh, loved, love, love, love mytime there.
Uh, found myself working, uh,after that in San Antonio.
So I was an accountant by tradeand moved to the city and I was
ready to embrace everythingthat it had to offer.
(09:05):
But, boy, howdy San Antoniovery different from Dalhart
Texas.
And so I had made theseincremental moves from Dalhart
to Kerrville, which was just alittle bit bigger but still
rural, and then to San Antonio.
And then, to add icing to that,I worked for.
(09:25):
Following, I worked for someCPA firms and then I went to
work for a client of our CPAfirm.
It was a company based out ofMexico.
It was a company based out ofMexico.
So I began to also work inMexico and San Antonio, going
back and forth month here, monththere, two months here, two
months there An amazingdevelopment property development
(09:47):
company.
And so at a very young age I gota very big dose of the world
and what it was like outside ofrural America.
It was a wonderful time for me.
I learned a lot.
(10:08):
I actually met my husband, whowas also from the Panhandle, in
San Antonio, while I lived inSan Antonio.
So I was never going to.
You know, for a kid who wasprobably thought I was never
going to go back.
I just thought, okay, well, theworld is open to me now and I
had all these great values totake with me.
I felt pretty good about it.
But never say never, because Ifound myself back in the Texas
(10:31):
panhandle, married to a guy weeloped.
I didn't even hardly know himand I go okay, well, here I am
back in and I didn't.
I wasn't sure how I felt aboutit, you know I I felt like I was
deviating from my plan.
But I landed in Stratford, texas, which embraced me and I
(10:53):
embraced it and it felt likehome to me.
I began to go.
Well, all those feelings that Igrew up with came back.
The neighbors, the school, thechurches, the caring, the whole
it all just came flooding back.
And so I was so happy and proudto be there, to raise our
(11:17):
daughter there and have anopportunity to start my economic
development career there.
So they started their economicdevelopment program when just I
mean timing.
It could not have been more.
You know, it was coincidencethat I moved there and they
started their economicdevelopment program almost at
the same time and I accepted theposition.
(11:39):
I didn't know what I was doing,they didn't know what they were
doing.
We learned together, but thatwas the beginning of a career
that just grabbed my heart.
I could not believe that therewas a profession where you get
to.
It was a privilege to get upevery day and go.
(12:01):
How can I make my communitybetter?
You mean, you're going to payme for this.
To get up every day and figureout how to make this community
better Sounds a whole lot easierthan it really is in real life,
but what an opportunity.
During that time I also wentback and went to school at West
(12:21):
Texas A&M, so I'm an alumni ofWest Texas A&M too, and that was
when I really truly began tounderstand the value of the
network was my time at WT, thepeople that I met there and then
the people that I began to meetin my very fresh, spanking new
(12:42):
economic development career.
I had the pleasure of doingthat for seven years, and then I
went to work for our regionaleconomic development group,
which at that time had beenadministered by Southwestern
Public Service, and they workedfor I think they covered 26
counties maybe the panhandle,the 26 counties and it was a
(13:04):
regional economic developmentgroup.
I was a member of it, and thenthey came to us and said we're
merging the economic developmentdepartment out where the new
company is.
And this group that I was apart of said no wait, we want to
keep doing what we're doing,and so we had to restructure.
(13:24):
They hired their firstdeveloper, which was me, and
their first executive director,and we expanded to 54 counties
and took in the South Plainsarea so that we could make it
work, and then we had one moreexpansion to 69 counties.
So it was amazing and it becamemy baby.
(13:45):
I began to work for that wholeregion, marketing that region
all over the world.
We traveled all over the worldtalking about how important the
products and the services thatwe offered in a region that
nobody talked about, nobodythought about.
When people think of Texas,they weren't thinking of the
(14:06):
West Texas or the panhandle ofTexas.
They were thinking of Dallas,fort Worth, houston, austin, san
Antonio.
We were the part of Texas thatjust never got to sit at the in
the front seat, and so we saidwell, we'll create our own.
And so I am so proud thatSouthwestern Public Service
(14:27):
administered that organizationfor 10 years before I took it
over.
Then I had it for 17 years andthen they've had two executive
directors since then that havecontinued to move that train
(14:48):
forward and so for well over.
You met some of them at thesummit, but for over 35 years
now that organization has workedevery day for every city in
that region, for jobs,opportunities, services,
marketing, legislative policy.
You know it's an amazingorganization and, as I've said
many, many times, it was myhonor and privilege to work for
them.
It was successful not becauseof me or the other two directors
(15:13):
that we've had.
Southwestern Public Service andthe two COGs in the region get
the credit for starting it,absolutely all the credit for
starting the organization.
It still exists because itexists for the right reasons, in
the right place at the righttime, and so it doesn't matter
who is running the organization.
(15:35):
The culture, the attitude, theprogram, the structure, the
resources, everything is set upso in such a strong way that
it's people will come and go,but it will exist because it
exists for the right reasons.
So then I was swiped away andcame down and ran the state
(15:56):
program for a couple of years,but during that time, I loved it
.
I absolutely loved it.
I loved working for all thecities in Texas, but my heart
was still with rural America.
I kept thinking these citiesdon't need me, they don't need
my voice.
They have amazing practitioners, amazing professionals, amazing
(16:20):
practitioners, amazingprofessionals.
My heart was still with thesmall towns that just needed
encouragement and inspirationand tools, and so I knew at some
point I would start my own firm, and I did.
Finally, I jumped into the deepend with no floaties and in 2018
, I opened an economicdevelopment consulting firm.
I have amazing clients, I havestate clients, I have a lot of
(16:40):
urban clients, but my heart isstill with rural America, and
the Stand Up Rural AmericaSummit is just one product of my
company, which is calledAcceleration by Design, where I
do a lot of consulting and a lotof training of young, young or
old economic developmentprofessionals, people new to the
(17:01):
industry.
I do a lot of action plans,strategic plans for communities
and cities of all sizes, but theStand Up Rural America Summit
that's my baby, that is, that ismy gift back to rural America
is to be able to bring peopletogether and provide amazing
speakers that most of thesesmall towns would never be able
(17:24):
to afford to bring into theircommunities or have the
opportunity to not just hear oneor two or three, three.
But I'm like, if you will giveme a couple of days, I will fill
up your tank and send you backto your community, knowing how
loved you are and how, what anoble profession it is and that
(17:48):
what the work that you are doingis important.
Oh, and here's some tools thatyou can take back with you as
well.
So I'm lucky that my company issuccessful enough that it can
fund my passion project andbecause I'm in the twilight of
my career and so I think a lotabout what can I build now that
(18:11):
will keep on going far beyond me, and I'm excited that a lot of
people are taking it back andthey're starting to do this in
their states or in their regions.
They're saying we're going toget our people together and
we're going to bring in thesespeakers.
That's great.
That's not competition, that isjust making the pie bigger and
(18:31):
making the spotlight bigger andand it just shows America how
important that 80% of ourcountry is to this the economic
prosperity for everybody, forthe whole country.
So that's how I got here todayI it has been a winding road and
(18:54):
I have made a lot of mistakes.
I have learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
It has not always been easy, but it's been worth
it, everything I've done thatbrought me here today.
We could probably sit here and,just based just on what you
just said, we could probablytalk for hours of just the
changes that you've seen overyour career, the communication
technologies that allow us nowto amplify the voice of a
(19:27):
community, to amplify thatculture.
I want to jump back real quickbecause you said something.
I knew what it was, but Ialways want to make sure people
understand.
When you use the word COGS,would you tell everybody what a
COG is?
Speaker 3 (19:43):
I'm sorry, we're really bad about throwing out
acronyms.
So the COGS are councils ofgovernments and they are
agencies.
They have them all over thecountry.
They're called different thingsin different states.
In Texas they're calledcouncils of governments and if
I'm not mistaken there'sprobably 26, 26, 30.
(20:06):
Anyway, the state is broken upinto regions and each region is
represented by what we call aCOG, a council of governments,
what we call a COG a Council ofGovernments, and there is one in
Amarillo, there's one inLubbock, there's one in Odessa,
(20:27):
Midland, one in San Angelo, onein Abilene, you know.
So they are usually located ina more metro area, but they
cover a region X number ofcounties around them, and what
happens is then the federalgovernment funnels funds to the
state, who then funnels fundsfor programs through the
councils of governments, and sothey handle CDBG funds, which is
(20:49):
another acronym that the citydid.
Yes, so that's distributed tothe cities.
A lot of the funds foremergency management, for elder
care, for a lot of work relatedprograms, skills development
programs, that sort of thing arefunneled through the councils
(21:11):
of governments.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I wanted to bring that up because Very important
to the picture is I appreciateLori saying that, because I'm
fixing to unpack a lot of whatLori just said, but the reason I
wanted to just highlight thatis there are these 24 cogs in
Texas.
But if you listen to what Lorijust said, you may find that
(21:34):
there's a there's a jobopportunity there, a career
opportunity there that allowsyou to give back to your
community, your region.
So I just wanted to highlightthat because I have not heard
that term in a while and whenyou said it I thought I want to
make sure everybody understandswhat that means and what that
may translate to in terms of ajob.
Okay, lori just gave us herstory and y'all know that when
(21:57):
we do these podcasts, I like toR2, a2, everything recognize,
relate, assimilate and apply.
So we're going to try torecognize concepts, we're going
to try to relate to them, wewant to take them in and then we
want to apply them.
So here we go, y'all ready forthis.
Listen to what Lori just sharedwith us.
Number one in school getinvolved.
(22:19):
I heard her say that when thatbus left the school, she was on
that bus and she found outthere's a bigger world besides
Dalhart, texas.
There's going to be youngpeople across the country
listening to this podcast.
Get involved, go out and seethings, get on the bus.
(22:41):
Number two, two it's okay tolearn together.
I loved it when she said welearn together.
Well, there, you know, none ofus is as strong as all of us,
and laurie just gave us thatword of wisdom in her experience
of learning together.
She talked about the importanceof a network, network, network,
(23:02):
network.
We give an award at theFoundation Ambassador Program
called the Three Foot Rule, andwe teach kids to get to know
anybody within three feet ofthem, because one day they could
be your customer, your client,your constituent, your colleague
, your governor, your councilmember.
Network, network, network.
(23:23):
And then, in the words of ourgood friend down in the Rio
Grande Valley, carlos, people,no show, no tell, no sell.
And Lori just talked aboutyou've got to show your
community, you've got to tellabout your community or you'll
(23:47):
never sell your community.
And I want to kind of book inthat part of what Lori said.
So far with she and I have amutual friend, ron Kitchens,
who's the CEO of the WichitaFalls Chamber of Commerce, and
Ron's been on this show beforeand I think I really appreciate
something Ron said.
(24:07):
Lori, in light of what you'veshared.
And he wanted to become he wastalking about becoming a chamber
economic development becausethere was satisfaction in
helping create jobs, to knowthat you could give a family a
source of revenue that theycould sustain themselves.
(24:28):
They might even be able to takea vacation, they may be able to
help through charity, but allbecause of that gratification of
knowing that you created a job.
And that's what Lori does.
Lori helps communities acquirethe tools to show, to tell and
(24:49):
sell why they're a good bet tobring a business to create jobs,
and all of that.
I just wanted to highlight that.
All of that came out of whatLori just shared.
That's the reason I love thispodcast, because when people
share their testimonies, whenpeople share their journeys,
(25:10):
there are seeds of greatness tobe found.
And you just did a bunch.
We're not done yet, but you dida bunch.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
I've crammed a lot into my years, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
So let's try to extract from that a little bit.
So the majority of the peoplethat will be listening to the
podcast are going to be studentsor educators some sponsors,
educators, some sponsors.
So what would you say are someof the important components to
being a good advocate foryourself?
And, by the way, that's anotherthing I tell the kids.
(25:46):
I always tell the kids, tell meabout your business, and they
always say, well, I don't have abusiness.
I said, yeah, you are, you'reit.
You know what time do you openin the morning?
What kind of customer servicedo you deliver?
Did you communicate well?
So, lori, in your experience,if you could share what would be
(26:07):
some good advocacy techniques,something that you would tell
people, these are importantcomponents to be successful in
life.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
And I think you nailed it, aaron.
I think this starts as kids.
I think it's important foreverybody, but if we can instill
this in our youth, howimportant a couple of these
things are, I think it helps setthem up for success throughout
life.
One, I think it's important tolisten.
(26:37):
I think we get used to toespecially and I've watched this
with my daughter and nowgranddaughter it's.
It is a different world nowthan it was five years ago or
even 10 years ago.
With technology, social media,we're used to now being a look
(26:58):
at me society Like here's myvideo, here's my picture, here's
my blah, you know, and we andpeople are really good at
selling themselves and beinginfluencers.
I find this even as adults,aaron, with.
Let me give you an example Now,board meetings since COVID are
(27:21):
televised, they're live streamedon Facebook, on you know, or
they're recorded, and that thatdidn't happen for years.
For years, if you cared aboutsomething that was going on at
the city, the school, the countyor an organization, you had to
show up to the meeting and be apart of the discussion.
(27:42):
But I have found this is justan observation on my part and I,
like you, I want to embrace alltechnology and take advantage
of it and use it in the best,most positive way we can.
But what is happening is now wehave become a very performative
society.
(28:03):
What we're losing in that isdiscussion, is a conversation
between two people, between fivepeople, 10 people.
Let's talk about it and alongwith that is a lack of listening
.
It's a.
Instead of listening, peopleare thinking of what they're
already going to say next.
So for everybody, I don't thinkwe'll ever go back to not
(28:27):
having live streamed citycouncil.
I mean, now that we're doing it, I don't know how they ever
don't do it again, because nowthey have larger viewership.
It's a way for them to meetmore constituents.
I get that, I totally get that.
But what we have sacrificed isconversation, is real dialogue
(28:50):
about problems and solutions andopportunities and how we can
make things happen.
Because they're worried aboutwho's watching me, who's going
to, what are they going to sayon social media about what I
said.
So I'm seeing these brilliantpeople who, out in the hallway,
just told me the most amazingideas, but don't say anything
(29:12):
during a meeting because it'sit's being shown to the world
and they're worried about whatyou know somebody might not like
it.
They have a loud voice.
So they're going to slam me,you know, and and these, these
kids have grown up, they don'tremember a time when that didn't
happen, and so I, I would justtell everybody let's listen more
, let's ask more questions andlet's have dialogue.
(29:35):
Let's have dialogue, let's talkabout it, because when we talk
about it, then that's when wetalk about opportunities and we
find solutions and we becomeproblem solvers, and those don't
happen in a silo, they onlyhappen when we're together and
have that discussion.
So that's the first thing.
(29:56):
The second thing is I wantpeople to think bigger and
bolder than they may be.
That might just be in theirnature is I want to encourage
people to let's don't settle.
Don't don't settle If you seesomething and may, if you go on
vacation and you're in acommunity, you're driving
through a community, or maybeit's your destination and you
(30:19):
see something amazing that youenjoy, that you like and you
think that would be a good fitfor your community.
There is not one reason in theworld that can't happen in your
community, with the right toolsand the right resources, which
are available.
By the way.
People think we could never dothat.
Of course you can.
You can do it.
(30:40):
And so I want people to thinkbigger and bolder.
So listen more and have moredialogue and think bigger and
bolder.
And then the last thing iscollaborate.
There are other people thatthink exactly like you.
So collaborate, find thosepartners, even if you just put
(31:00):
out on social media hey, whatdoes anybody in this community
what do you think about this?
Would you like a splash pad?
We would like a new baseballpark.
What do y'all think about atheater?
You know, my kids are the bestat that.
The very best strategicplanning sessions I have
(31:20):
anywhere hands down across thecountry are with the kids, with
the youth, and I mean all theway down to elementary school,
asking them what do they loveabout their community, what do
they wish their community had,and let's brainstorm on how we
can get it.
(31:40):
Those conversations and with thesenior citizens, who people
think well, they don't haveanything to add anymore.
Are you kidding?
Only 50 years worth of wisdom?
That's right.
People assume that they'regoing to go.
Well, we tried that, or wecan't, or they are.
They're just coasting.
Maybe some of them are, butthey have also been amazing
(32:02):
mentors and voices of wisdomthat when you ask them to be
involved, then some.
Those are the things that can.
Literally those two groups canmake things when everybody would
assume it's the ones in themiddle and because those are the
change makers.
But so listen, have dialogue,look, think bigger and bolder
(32:30):
and collaborate.
Yeah, those are my.
That's what I would say.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
This is so good.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
All learned the hard way.
I promise.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You know, one of the things that I like to talk about
is the fact that in Texas Ican't speak for every other
state you know we have over3,000 high schools.
Well, how many of them willhave a graduating class this
year?
Well, every one of them.
That means everybody's going tobe out looking for a job, a
scholarship or an opportunity.
So we have to ask ourselveswhat separates us from everybody
else?
(33:00):
What's our competitive edge?
Well, lori, just gave you someskills that will give you a
competitive edge If you can be agood listener, somebody that
can create good discussions.
I love it when you said askquestions.
I always remind people what isthe root word of the word
question.
It's quest, go on an adventure.
(33:21):
So asking questions allows usto go on an adventure, to maybe
find a new way, to find afoundation, like you said, from
the past, that can grow a betterfuture, to be bold enough to
say what if?
To think big.
And then I love it.
Life is not a solo project.
We were not created to be theLone Ranger.
(33:42):
Now, for some of y'all, you'llhave to Google that, but we were
not created to be the LoneRanger.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
No, we were not.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
We were created to be in communion.
None of us is as strong as allof us.
I believe that to be truementally, physically,
emotionally, spiritually.
I think there's power innumbers and all of those things
give us a competitive edge.
One of my mentors, lori, hetold me at an early age.
(34:11):
He said, aaron, he goes alwayshave 10 friends older than you
and 10 friends younger than you.
The 10 friends older are goingto tell you where we've been.
The 10 friends younger aregoing to tell you where we're
headed and to your point.
That collaboration is bringingthat wealth of perspective into
(34:31):
the discussion for the bigthings.
So that's why I say there's alot of genius if you just listen
to the guests and theirexperiences.
So, lori, thank you for thatAgain.
Y'all, we could keep talking.
I mean, I could talk to Lorifor a day, but we do try to keep
these podcasts short, sweet, sothat they can be shown in a
(34:55):
classroom.
So we're going to go ahead andstart wrapping up, but before we
wrap up, you do get a funquestion.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
So I'm just curious what is the best concert you've
ever been to?
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Oh my gosh, that's hard because we go to concerts
all the time, so I have hardhere.
I'm hard hearing now Thanks tomy husband dragging me to every
concert we could possibly go to.
Oh, we've had great.
We have been to great concertsin every season of our life.
So I'm going to tell youprobably a couple of my
(35:32):
favorites.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
That's why I asked.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Okay, when I was young, before young, young and I
was living first of all inKerrville in college and then
moving to San Antonio, it wasthe same time that George Strait
was getting started.
Oh wow, his band, yeah.
And so I had the opportunity tohear him multiple times around
(35:55):
the region during the first five, six, seven years of his career
before he hit it big.
I was already a fan, and sincethen I've seen him 25 times.
I don't know if that makes meI'm not a groupie, I'm not a
stalker, but I am a huge fan andpeople go Lori, that's crazy,
and I go.
Well, 10, 10 of those timeswere before he had a number one
(36:18):
hit.
He was just that good early onand then once he hit it big, he
hit it big and I remained a fan,so huge, short, straight fan.
And and I've been to every oneof his retirement concerts where
he says, riding away, and thenhe comes back and I'm like, well
, I'll keep coming back with youaway.
And then he comes back and I'mlike, well, I'll keep coming
(36:40):
back with you.
Um, I think he's having anotherone, but um, I think that's
funny.
He's like the Brett Favre ofcountry music.
Um, my husband and I saw theEagles in Lubbock, texas, when
it was still the whole band wasintact.
So that's a memory that wasamazing.
Uh, we have heard every rockand roll band.
I think we heard george tate, Imean, uh, james taylor, george
(37:02):
james taylor, here in austinwhen we first moved here.
He was fantastic.
But I'm gonna this is gonnacrack you up the two most recent
concerts we went to um eltonjohn and absolutely amazing, we
saw him in and it it was amazing.
And I and I wasn't well at thetime and I was still recovering
(37:24):
from West Nile and we almostsold our tickets and that we
were like, ah no, we got to go,it's our only chance, he was
amazing.
And then this last year Iabsolutely drug my husband to go
see Barry Manilow down at thestadium at the Moody Center, and
he was like I'm not going tosee Barry Manilow.
(37:46):
Well, we got there, I made him.
It was my grandmom's, she washer favorite, my mom's favorite.
I grew up on that music.
I play the piano, so I've beenplaying his music forever and I
I mean I laughed so hard when wegot there because there were so
many husbands there that theirwives drug them to it.
But every one of them knewevery word to every song.
(38:10):
And so, yeah, hand it to EltonJohn and Barry Manilow at their
age, still rocking it on stagefor two hours, no breaks.
They were amazing.
And then, of course, we goright back to going and to hear
all of our favorite 70s bands,who are now all in from the 70s
(38:30):
and they're in their 70s so.
But we're big concert goers.
I'm glad you asked that 've.
We've been to some amazingconcerts I have been blessed.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
I'm a big live music person and yeah, we are too
george, obviously, is probablyprobably one of the most popular
hardly afford to go see himanymore.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
You can't even afford a ticket to go see him anymore
my kids know that I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
You know I still am, even though he's left us, but
I'm a big Jimmy Buffett fan.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Diehard Parrothead and I'm a big time Bruce
Springsteen, the East streetband, and you're talking about
times.
They're actually in Septemberof 2025, we'll be celebrating
the 50th anniversary of Born toRun, which is crazy because it's
kind of a staple in rock androll history.
(39:22):
But anyway, I love askingpeople this question because
we've heard everything fromPitbull to the greatest showman
you know and everything inbetween, because that's just the
beauty of the human soul thatwe all have those musical notes
and lyrics that fit something inour life map, if you will,
(39:48):
somewhere along our journey.
There was a song there thatbecame part of that journey, so
thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
Oh, that's fun to go back down memory lane, but it's
hard to pick one because we'veheard so many great ones.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
for sure you and I would be in the same boat
because I haven't got so many.
But, lori, thanks so much forjoining us on the podcast.
This is exactly why we do thispodcast and it's just a very
short window provided so manyincredible seeds of greatness
(40:22):
that if people will just takethose and say, okay, I'm going
to try this one here and I needto start thinking about maybe
looking at this, their what ifcould change the world.
It could change the community,all because we had this
opportunity to come together.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
So Everything is possible, everything mission
possible, all of it.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
Now y'all know why I wanted Lori on here.
So thank you so much forjoining us.
Ladies and gentlemen, until wemeet again, you know.
Thank you for stopping by.
If you want to know what thefuture is, grow it.
Put these seeds in place inyour life, in your profession,
in your family, in yourcommunity, and there's no
(41:08):
telling what kind of future wecan grow.
I think it's going to beincredible and it's going to be
one that's built on gratitude,because we started that way.
So thank you so much forjoining us.
Until we meet again, go out anddo something great for somebody
.
You're going to feel good aboutit, you're going to make them
happy and guess what?
They may go out and do the samething and change the world.
(41:28):
Everybody be safe.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.