The 3W Podcast: Women with a Mission

Discover how a group of dedicated women is reshaping health care through collective philanthropy. Joined by Mary Heman, Alison Levin, and Brie Madden, we explore the remarkable work of Mercy's Women with a Mission group. Mary offers insights from her marketing career at Ocean Spray and her long-standing involvement with the organization. Brie shares her journey from real estate law to business development and her newfound passion for the group's mission. Alison, as a Senior Development Director at Mercy Health Foundation, underscores the vital contributions of the steering committee and the transformative power of pooled resources.

Experience the thrilling and educational side of Women with a Mission. From mastering CPR techniques to understanding the life-saving potential of Narcan, we recount the valuable skills learned during our community gatherings. We also share our excitement for upcoming self-defense training, reinforcing our commitment to personal safety and empowerment. These events not only equip us with essential knowledge but also strengthen our bond as a community dedicated to making a difference.

Prepare for an elegant and inspiring evening with guest speakers Savvy Shields Wolfe, Miss America 2017, and her mother, Karen Shields. Enjoy a fall-themed menu crafted by Catering Unlimited, featuring a special cranberry mocktail courtesy of Ocean Spray. As we celebrate the impact of Mercy's services and the importance of local health initiatives, you'll hear personal stories of change and inspiration. Join us for an episode filled with passion, camaraderie, and the joy of giving back.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, casey Yokely, here at the 3W Podcast
home of the who, what, where,thanks for joining us today.
This is a super special one tome.
So today we're going to talkabout Mercy's Women with a
Mission group.
So I've got three girlfriendshere with me.
I'm going to start to my leftMary Heeman, allison Levin and

(00:20):
Bree Madden.
So thank you, ladies, forjoining.
We're going to jump right in.
So, mary, tell us who you are,please.
Oh, loaded question.
I know, go big, okay, okay.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
Well.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
I currently work for Ocean Spray.
Forgot for a minute, let's goback.
Edit that out for me.
Let's go back.
Okay, mary, tell us about you alittle bit.
Yes, so I currently work atOcean Spray.
I'm an omni-channel inmarketing Currently just been
there for not that long, but areally hot second.
I'm really enjoying my time.

(00:53):
I love being in the suppliercommunity and I've actually
lived in Bentonville for almost20 years now.
It's kind of like a local.
At this point I know I've gotto just own it right.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
I know right, I still feel like I just moved here,
but I didn't.
06 was not yesterday, exactly,exactly, okay.
So are you a woman with a?

Speaker 2 (01:11):
mission member I am.
I've been a member for 10 yearsnow.
Okay, awesome, congratulations.
That's exciting.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Bree tell us a little bit about you.
Well, historically I am a realestate attorney.
I've kind of recently movedinto the world of business
development over the last threeyears, and actually this is my
first week.
I just started a new role atBuff Studio.
I know I love this.
So, for all of you that don'tknow, ryan Faust is on our Mercy
Board, so shout out to Ryan andBuff, and he's who got me

(01:40):
involved with the corporatecouncil and led me to get
involved with women with themission.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
That's fantastic, I love that he's a great
ambassador.
He is so great.
How many, how long?

Speaker 4 (01:50):
Very new With women with the mission just over a
year.
I love this.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
So we have like seasoned people and then new,
and I love that because we'llcircle back to that later on.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
But I'm like I love the new vision.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
I'm like.
I love the new vision.
I think you just called me old.
I'm older than you.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
Thank you.
Seasoned was the word I had,that's true, I did not say spicy
Seasoned is spicy.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
I like it I like it, we'll roll with that Okay.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Spring chickens Okay.
Allison welcome, Thank you, youand I have done this before.
We have done this before.
We have done this before Acouple years ago, I think so
tell everyone what your officialrole is.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
So I work for Mercy Health Foundation and I'm Senior
Development Director.
Been with Mercy for 12 years ohmy gosh.
Been a member of Women with aMission for 11 years.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
And I get to meet with the incredible people, like
everybody in this room.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
You're the glue that holds women with a mission
together.
Absolutely, I try.
You do.
I try.
Sometimes the steeringcommittee meetings are.
They're a little crazy but,that's okay.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
That's okay, we love them, yeah, and you know what?
I think I have that way down inmy notes.
But let's just touch on thesteering committee.
Um, it's pretty original, it is.
It's pretty original.
It is Like with the foundingmembers, the year one members
and then we haven't had muchrotation off, and I think that's
a true testament to mercy, towomen with a mission, but to

(03:15):
also your leadership.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Oh well, thank you.
It is really a lot of funbecause we, as Casey said, we
have members that have beenthere for 15 years and then we
have brand new members, so it'sreally.
There's a lot of creativity.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
There's a lot of herding cats.
There's a lot of storiesNothing gets really.
I don't think a whole lot getsaccomplished in those meetings,
but I love them because I loveto see the original members, I
love to hear their stories.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Well, it fills your heart, it does.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
It tells us why we're there.
Essentially, I think Okay, solet's just dive right in to
Women With a Mission, becauseyou're my go-to for helping me
with words.
Do you have an elevator speechas to what we do?

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Oh my goodness gracious, I should have read
that script.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
I fumble it every time and add words and take away
words and make words up, butthat's what's good about it,
because you can create it anyway you want it.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
So my elevator speech is really it's a wonderful
group of women that gathertogether.
We have 125 members, we poolour funds and we vote on where
we want that money to go to.
So it is an organization thatyou get what you give, and I
really feel again I'll say itagain it fills my heart when I

(04:33):
see what we're able to do forour hospitals and our clinic.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
It does so.
I just recorded a spot for 4029this morning for Women With a
Mission and my line was hellowho I am.
And then Women With A Missionis a philanthropic group,
philanthropic organizationcomprised or made up I knew it
earlier, I knew it an hour agomade up from all walks of life

(05:00):
to make a positive difference inthe community.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
So I was like, oh, that's good, but we should
mention every person.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
All 125 members have donated $1,000 annually, so we
are a giving circle.
You have to pay to play, yes,and then every year you touched
on, which I totally forgot inthe notes.
That's awesome that we cometogether and we have a voting
meeting.
The hospital supplies us withprojects that they want and we
vote on those to see what we'regoing to actually fund so that

(05:30):
we can purchase a NICU room, forexample.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, and I think it's really interesting because
you know, I look back 11 yearswe really were just doing women
and children's and now the otherleadership within the hospital
know, and they know theexistence of Women With a
Mission and what we have funded.
We're getting requests from alldifferent departments.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
We bought something from cardiology a few years ago.
Only during COVID Do I rememberit?
Because of the significance ofthe Zoom.
Yes, right and so that's, andthe cardiologist was Zooming and
his wife was like I didn't knowabout women with a mission.
If you fund that, I will join.
And she joined, yeah, and shejoined.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know also we did microscopes for the lab.
Now, who would have everthought you know somebody would?
Yes, a couple years ago, or webought those a year ago or
something right ago um, theywere using antiquated
microscopes and we just got agreat thank you note from them
saying um, I can see clearly nowI mean, it was really.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
I thought you're gonna bust out into song.
You should know.
I can see clearly now youbought me microscopes.
I think those are my favoritemeetings actually those are
pretty good ones because theyall do like a little
presentation.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yes, yes, so you learn so much about the
different aspects.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
I had no idea what I was walking into.
I guess it was at the end oflast year, yes, and I just got
the invite and I was like Idon't know what this is, I'm
going to go.
I didn't really know what I waswalking into and I was blown
away.
It's neat, my office.
After that I was like that wasthe best way to spend work time
ever.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
I think that one was at Sterling bank.
Right, they're top floor.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
Yep, I was really.
I had a blast, it was reallycool and I you actually feel the
impact right there.
You do.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
So as a steering committee member, so Allison
gets these list of projects andthen they filter them down and
then we see them right at thatmeeting And'm like okay,
whatever, I don't know what any?
Of this means, and I usually goin very close-minded.
But as soon as I hear all theirlittle zooms with or not zooms,
but their little presentationswith their boards, I'm on the
hook for all of them I know it'sreally hard to make decisions,

(07:37):
extremely hard to choose, andthen math, then we have to do
math, forget the math, just pick, pick your top five.
But to get to, spend $100,000plus dollars every year on
whatever the hospital needs isvery impactful.
Yeah, it is very impactful.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
I'll never be able to spend $100,000 in any other way
.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
No, ever Right, true Right.
So why not?
On high quality health care forour?

Speaker 4 (08:02):
community and also even the groups that don't get
chosen that round the platformthey get to have with all those
women, because I've connectedwith a couple outside and
connected them with other groupsand it was really cool.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
It's crazy and that's why you're such a good Women in
Mission member.
And that's what it is.
It's all this networking thatwe're able to do and connecting
those dots.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
That's what makes a difference.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, it's a solid 100-plus women on a mission.
A full mission.
A full mission.
We're with a mission, yes, allthe things.
So we have a big anniversarycoming up 15 years, which means
we have pumped more than 1million plus into northwest
Arkansas, that's correct, whichis amazing.

(08:50):
Which is incredible.
Do you know any well?
I know you know what we havepurchased.
I can only name, like well, wejust said, some microscopes and
some cardiology equipment umbreast cancer, navigator bags,
which which I only know recently, and then maybe some panda
warmers.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Yes, A C-section table.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
That was our very first purchase 15 years ago and
I'll never forget it.
And then, ironically, when Iwas up at the hospital this
morning, we were right next toour NICU room that we funded,
which I feel like was over$90,000.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
So we had money left over that year.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
So there's a placard and everything like our name is
on room 546.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Oh, there you are, 546.
Yeah, 546.
We have funded hearingequipment for babies.
We have done fetal monitorslike wireless fetal monitors for
moms, so that they're able toget up and walk.
We have done reach out and readprograms.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
Oh, I forgot about the book program.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
We funded money for the Ronald McDonald Family Room
when they were first starting inour hospital.
So we've really touched a lotof different departments.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
We have Do you have a favorite?
Do you think over the last 10years?
It's hard to remember.
It's hard, we're not medicallyminded people Absolutely Right.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
I think I lean towards the NICU and the baby
focused ones, and that was oneof the main reasons I joined
Women With a Mission is becausemy firstborn was in the NICU for
a little while Right, and sothat one was just a full circle
moment for me.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
It is.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
And really felt like I was making a difference in the
community.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
And the NICU is huge, so I hadn't been up to the
hospital or to the well.
I've been at the hospital, notthe NICU, since the tower opened
.
You haven't Five, I'm sure Ihave but, not, I really hadn't,
since the tower opened and wedid the tours five years ago
right the tower opened fiveyears ago right on our 10 it

(10:48):
opened just before, covid, okay,so I just hadn't taken the tour
since it was like open, open tothe public and I forgot how
giant the nicu is in the bestway possible, like it used to be
.
Like.
I felt like you walked in ahallway and it was like the size
of this piece of paper um,actually, it was probably the
size of this room.
It was and all the like.
Little incubators were like ina u-shape, yeah, and now that

(11:09):
there's so many rooms, it's sospaced out and as a parent as
well that had a NICU baby, itjust felt peaceful, yeah it's
very quiet it is so.
You know we weren't quiet, butit was you're outside 546 she's,
there's a baby in there.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
I was like, okay, I just wanted to go in, and I also
think you know what it givesparents the opportunity to bond
with their child.
Oh, totally, they can staythere.
They can sleep in that roomwith that child.
We are actually outgrowing thatspace right now, wow, so it's
time to add on a little bit.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
It's amazing.
What did they say?

Speaker 1 (11:47):
We have over 200 births.
I love a pop quiz.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yeah, Okay here it is Love a pop quiz on camera.
I think we have over 200 births.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
Skip that.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Okay, cut that, cut that, because I think it's like
2,000 a year, okay, and I thinkabout 10% of those babies end up
in our NICU, okay, and now thatwe're having multiples, many
times multiples are ending up inour NICU as well.
Just, they need to grow alittle bit, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, I had a huge baby, so they referred to him as
the wimpy white boy.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
oh, thank you, they're like we don't ever have
nine pounders up here and I'mlike I don't know what to do.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
They're like we're used to four pounds.
I'm like well, just add ittogether.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
It's just like twins right there one baby one child
and see we didn't have a NICU.
So when our son was born he waspremature and literally it's
like here you go, yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
No, no, you fix it.
Fatten it up.
So I know what to do.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
It's just dumb.
I didn't think anything wasgoing to go wrong.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
They really should come with manuals.
They should, that would bereally helpful actually.
It would be so nice, okay.
So let's circle back to womenwith a mission, because we will
get off topic all day, becausethat's just who I am, and I'm
know all three of you are aswell.
Okay, so our women with amission was founded, I believe,

(13:20):
in fort smith.
They had the first one, theyhad the right.
Okay, that correct.
Are we number two?
Yeah, we are number two.
Okay, but ours is uniquebecause ours was supported with
a generous gift from Linda Scottto honor Susan Barrett, yes,
who was the CEO of St Mary'sslash Mercy, right, correct.
So ours I think ours is veryspecial.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
So ours, I think ours is very special.
You know, I think that was areally nice gift and a really,
really special way to honorSusan Barrett Right.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
So now ours is called the Susan.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
Barrett, women with a Mission Giving Society right,
that is correct.
Okay, I love that.
Yeah, I just think that's likea warm hug on her name and then,
okay, so now let's stay ontrackish, um, so just focusing.
So you give your money, right,and then we have four learning

(14:13):
gatherings a year right, and youand I have done a couple
together.
Yes, we more than that.
But the ones that stick out inmy head are cpr yes, yeah, my,
did yours.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
Mannequins live my mannequin did not live.
I'd rather not talk about it umI learned a lot, I learned a
lot and I was told that I dideverything I wasn't supposed to
do totally so I feel really goodwe took it before covid,
actually in like february of 20,and then the world shut down
and I feel like we've had onesince.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, my mannequins got a bit better and maybe we
need a refresher.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
We might need a refresher just for us.
It's 100% mine.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Never have a green light, I have a red light and
I'm like it's hard, it's so hard, but I've learned that in order
for someone to essentiallysurvive, right, you need to
break their sternum, their ribs.
I it's alarming and thegentleman's like either you want

(15:15):
broken ribs and live or you dieso pick your battle and you
gotta sing to them.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
You gotta sing stay alive.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
And I think there's another song that they've just
introduced.
At that, yeah our last one?

Speaker 4 (15:26):
I can't remember.
We need to do another one ofthose I want to do it it's good
it's good, it's a fun one wasvery helpful I haven't done hard
, hard, anything like that inlike 20 years, yeah, and there's
like an app that you can signup and be like I'm certified and
I didn't do that.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
Because I'm not certified, don Don't call me.
I did not do that either.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
I did learn there's things on the walls in most
locations.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Oh, the defibrillators.
Yes, yes, and it talks to you.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
And that was brand new information.
Yes, so that is something I dokeep an eye out for yes.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
And they shouldn't be scary because it walks you
through it, even though you'reelectrocuting somebody sort of.
Back into rhythm.
Oh and then a fun note, becausea girlfriend stopped by the
office, jennifer Allison.
She's at Walmart right now.
She was on a single-handedmission.
She has fought fordefibrillators in all Walmart

(16:19):
and Sam's Clubs across thecountry.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
So isn't that great, that is great.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
So I was like, oh, that's nice to know, I know how
to use that.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
And you'll find if there is one in that building.
They have a sign on their door.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
There's a special sticker.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
There's a special sticker, Okay.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
I didn't know that.

Speaker 3 (16:36):
There you go.
I love that.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
Now I'm going to look every time I walk in anywhere.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
You will.
You will now see it.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
It's like one of those glass shattering moments?

Speaker 2 (16:43):
No, you will.
You just turn it on and ittells you, it walks you through
it.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
It talks the whole time yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
It's amazing, it tells you.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
It's very cool.
And then another favoritelearning Go ahead, keep going.
Learning pop-up of mine was theNarcan.
I was just going to say thesame thing.
I know, I know not that Ireally know what an opioid is,
but I'm like I can solve theproblem for you.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
I learned so much information.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
So, much.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
I walked up to like the pharmacy and like hello.
I would like some of the Narcanthat you're supposed to give me
for others, not for me, andwent through this whole thing
and they're like here, you go Tohave it with you.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
You literally went and got some on your own,
without the like, free takeaways.
You literally went and got someon your own, without the like,
free takeaways Not free, butthey were free, but the
takeaways we got that night.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, well, I have multiple locations, now I'm on
alert everywhere.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
I go, I love this, but you can't.
You know it's a temperaturesensitive thing which is
annoying.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
It's probably not going to work if it's been over
100 in the car, well, keep it inyour purse.
Yes, we don't have.

Speaker 4 (17:43):
Oh yeah, you do have a bag big enough, so you can go
to a pharmacy and ask for that.
Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
Because it, but also it only works on opioids.

Speaker 4 (17:53):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Like it doesn't work on anything else and I was about
to say other things, but thosethings could have been opioids.

Speaker 4 (18:01):
I don't even really know I need to take this class.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
But it was amazing, it was the Rogers Fire.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
Department did it for us.
Captain Mason was incredible,am I?

Speaker 4 (18:10):
insane.
Am I making up that there was aself-defense?

Speaker 3 (18:14):
We had to cancel that because of the tornadoes.
That's right.
Yes, we're bringing it back.
We're bringing it back, we'rebringing it back.

Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, okay, yeah, that'll be a good one.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
I gave up the gun tactics part of that training,
which is really unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
Really, I've never done that.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I'm like I think I don't own a gun.
Would it be like taser?

Speaker 1 (18:31):
guns.
I'm kind of intrigued by whatwe're talking about.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
I would kind of love to just I don't know if we I got
a guy.
Okay, I really do well, becauseI was always like talking about
common sense, gun legislationand I'm like I don't know
anything about guns.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
I don't either.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
So I learned and I paid a guy to teach me all the
things and a safety course andthen also a tactical course and
what to do in case there's aactive shooter course and all
kinds of things.
And then I started going to therange just to learn like so
have you fired it?

Speaker 1 (19:05):
that's amazing.
I never have I.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
Well then I started shooting sporting play because
it was so much fun.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
Oh my gosh, really taking a turn.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
So it actually like put me in a different mindset,
but then just having a whole lotmore information and what is
responsible ownership educationand I can talk about it like in
a way where I make some sense.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
Yes, I love that yeah okay so I got a guy I agree, he
has a guy she's got a guy he'smy neighbor, he's awesome I
think we should do this.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
Okay, I need you to come to the next.

Speaker 4 (19:38):
He loves to teach women like he did a whole thing
in our neighborhood where, likeany woman in our neighborhood
could just pay $20 to join theclass.
This is awesome when it costs alot more.
And we all went.
That was the first gun safety.
It was all women in ourneighborhood.
This is so great.
He's a really cool guy.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
He trains police forces Okay.
We're going to roll past.
Our next one is actually nextweek, which is Alzheimer's, and
next week which is Alzheimer's,and then we have our celebration
, but then we're totally doingthis in the new year.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
So the gastric, oh yeah, that was a good one, that
was an awesome one.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Oh, that was a good one.
I learned a lot.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yes, I kind of changed my lifestyle after that.
Oh, look at you.
Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
That was awesome, that was back in the mercy.

Speaker 4 (20:14):
She's in the mercy clinic, for is it all same?

Speaker 3 (20:24):
no, not all time diabetes, diabetes.
She was awesome.
And then the gastro surgeonsomething.
It was a long complicated.
Dr Miller, dr ChristopherMiller, he was incredible, he
was good.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, it's lovely to hear from the doctor it is yeah
he was.
So that was.
I'm sure we're not his normalcrowd.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
No, well, he had to dumb it down a little bit.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
I appreciate that, not for me, yeah.

Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
I'm like bring it down to non-medical terms please
.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
Yeah, it was a lot of medical terms, yeah, but he was
funny Like I enjoy that.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
So a lot of information, but that's good,
because we've had so many greatones over the years and one of
my most favorite ones, and Iwrote it.
I have two favorite ones, butthe one I can only really
remember.
One takeaway was you shouldalways eat mustard over ketchup,
and I can't remember the reason, so it obviously wasn't that,
it was something to do withsugar, and I don't know where my

(21:15):
notes are.
But oh, the mental health.
We've had one on mental healthand there used to be this
charismatic doctor at Mercy.
He's moved away, but he didthis like brain scan test with a
neurologist and had two scans,one of a female and one of a
male.
Do you remember this?

(21:35):
Okay, and he held them up onthis fancy board thing and he
was like which one's the maleand which one's the female?
And the neurologist was like oh, that's easy, this is the male.
And he goes.
Oh, my like, literally, it'sthe inside of a brain, right,
and he goes.
How do you know that?
And he goes it's not as activeas the female brain.
Oh yeah, he was like so whenpeople, when men, tell you

(21:58):
you're crazy Crazy is not theright word but you all females
are just on another level thanmen.
Their brains are just a milliontimes busier than men's brains.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
And I was like I just read something about that.

Speaker 4 (22:13):
Yeah, we got a lot of stuff here.
Apparently, we also see like2,000 more colors.
I just read this last night.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
That sounds a lot better than the meme I have
about a bear.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
But it's like we pick up on color nuance because our
brains are more active.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
I just read something about that last night.

Speaker 4 (22:31):
I don't remember the terms, but we see 2,000 more
nuances in colors.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Oh, that's amazing.
That makes sense.
It does when you think aboutthe conversations you've had
over your lifetime.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
It's like that makes sense, right, it does.
When you think about theconversations you've had over
your lifetime, it's like that'sgreen, right, it's lime green
Right.
It makes sense yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
That's a little bit more scientific than the lady,
the mom.
She's like doing dishes and allthese thought bubbles are
popping up of all these thingsshe has to do.
And then the man's over hereand he's like I could totally
take a bear.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Take a bear.
Take a bear 100 that feelsright, well, how?

Speaker 4 (23:08):
many times really comfortable at my house, spouse
or, uh, all fiance, fiance andthey're like wait a minute, wait
a minute.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
I'm focused on this and it's kind of like seriously,
oh, I've got like all thesedifferent conversations going on
.
This just happened last nightwhen I got home.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
I was like do you even know that we went to the
dentist yesterday?
And he's like I saw a textthat's so funny.

Speaker 4 (23:28):
Over this last weekend.
We just had the multitaskingconversation and he was like
there's no such thing asmultitasking.
People can't do it.
I don't believe in it.
I said you can't do it and he'slike but you can't do it and do
any of the things well.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
And I said but yet I do them.
Well enough that it keeps thewhole world turning, Well enough
that you don't notice.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
Your life is just fine Multitasking extraordinaire
.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
This is a constant in my life, right now you All the
lists, all the lists, all thethings.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
So many different directions and it feels man
bashing, but I don't mean it tobe.
Oh, it's not.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
He can focus on one task way better than.
I can Does it super well, hecan do it from like A to Z in a
straight line and complete it,and do it to perfection.
And well, is it complicated.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
Oh yeah, Does.
Is it complicated?
Oh yeah, Does he overcomplicateit?
My husband overcomplicateseverything and I'm like that's
good enough, Totally, I'm likecan we hang this real quick and
he's like, oh, go get this, goget that.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
And I'm like no, we're eyeballing it, Don't nail
it to the wall we're eyeballingit yes.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
That's exactly it.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
So there's strengths in both, because I certainly
cannot sit and focus on one taskfor more than a certain amount
of time.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
Oh my gosh, that would drive me crazy If my life
depended on it.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
we would be, in trouble I need to move to the
next one.
There's things to do.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
I'll circle back to that Right and I have a happy
hour to get to later.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Where's the tequila?

Speaker 4 (24:57):
That one works.
True crime podcast yes.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
But this is the true testament.
I love all this natural,authentic conversation, because
this is women with a mission.
Yeah, this is our steeringcommittee meetings.
This is our learning pop-ups.
This is our social gatherings.
They all turn into this, righthere.
This is us leaning into whatwe're good at.
Yes, I love that.
Well, let's talk about 15because we're turning 15.

(25:22):
Yay, good, yes, I love that.
Well, let's talk about 15because we're turning 15.
And years, well, five years ago, we had a huge blowout in the
new tower at 10, and then beforethat I don't know if it was a
significant number the big eventat Crystal Bridges was
beautiful, it was gorgeous, sowe've done several giant events
and we're doing another one andit is on october 17th.

(25:44):
I was going to say the day, butI don't really know the day.
I think it's thursday, I thinkit's a thursday it's a thursday,
you wouldn't know yeah, yes ohyeah, you would know yeah,
she'll be hiking a beautifulover bluff that day.
Okay, so we're going tocelebrate dumping donating
dumping's not a good worddonating over 1 million dollars
back into our local hospital.
We've already talked about allthe amazing things we have

(26:06):
purchased.
It is on thursday, october 17th, from 4 30 to 7 30 pm at osage
house.
It's going to be beautiful.
Our theme is pink and black,but not really.
It's more like a, a black withsome subtle.
Uh, what's the blush andbashful movie?
Blush and bash what's the?
Uh?

Speaker 4 (26:24):
still magnolia yes, yes, her colors are blush and
bashful.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yes, yes, exactly that's exactly what our colors
are, allison's like.
I'm thinking of black and pink,and I'm like barbie was last
summer we've reinvented it.
My colors Well, if it's workingout well, we're going to make
it happen.
So we have a beautiful speakercoming in.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
We do.
We have Savvy Shields Wolfe,miss America 2017, graduate of
Arkansas University of Arkansas.
She is going to join us andshare her generational growth,
you know, from going to, frombeing Miss America and serving
on that platform, to just havinga baby and changing into being

(27:12):
a mom and being married andliving in New York, and her mom,
karen Shields, is also going tojoin us.
Karen also is an influencer andhas a podcast, and so they're
going to kind of share theplatform of going from just here
, going from Miss America, togrowing to the motherhood and

(27:34):
being a grandmother.
So I think it'll be a lot offun.
She is super excited to comeback.
And she's bringing the crown ohmy, that was.
She had to bring the crownBecause I want to know if.
And she's bringing the crown ohmy, that was.
She had to bring the crownBecause I want to know if she
vacuums in the crown.
I'm going to have to put it onjust temporarily.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
I know I want to try the crown on.
Don't you want to put the crownon Can?

Speaker 2 (27:51):
we get a few pictures I know yes.
Yes, we can, just for a moment,she probably has a copy she
travels with.

Speaker 4 (28:03):
That's what I would do, because I would lose it.
She probably has like a wholecase of like.
I know it's probably like somepreserved thing, but I wouldn't
want a fake one to just weararound.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Well, I also want the sash.
Open the door.
I want the Miss America sash,welcome to my shop.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Hello Amazon drivers, Hello Walmart, speak before and
.

Speaker 4 (28:29):
I cannot remember where, but it was years ago and
I really enjoyed it.
She's great.
She was on the circuit locally,uh, between Miss America and
COVID, and then, right then, shemoved to New York.
And she moved, yeah, gotmarried.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
This was like 2018-19 , so she was uh, she emceed our
charity ball in 20 must be, 2018.
I yeah, I think it was 2018.
She's just beautiful inside.
She is.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
I think it'll be good because, like to your point and
to your point, like we've seenher, but this is a different
stage in her life.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
Yeah, a stage you, all of us are in.
I remember moving here in 2016.
Yeah, 2016.
And right after that is whenshe won right, yeah, she was
like everywhere.
And I remember seeing her at agrocery store once and
everybody's like that's her,that's her, and just just,

(29:11):
anytime I've been around her,just the little light that comes
off of her.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
So I mean I don't know, you're totally right, I
don't know, she just has like adraw.
Yes, she does have a light.

Speaker 4 (29:20):
Yeah, everybody was so excited.
But and I remember her gettingmarried at Record.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
I think she was like the first thing at Record.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yes, and her wedding was in every magazine and all
over the internet.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, it was quite the thing.

Speaker 4 (29:30):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, you're totally right.
Yeah, because you haveexperience with the Record.
So, yeah, you know all thethings.
Okay, so Savvy and her mother,so I think that's really fun.
And then you all at Ocean Sprayare curating a cocktail for us,
a little mocktail, a littlemocktail, yes, a fun cranberry
mocktail.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Well, you know, mocktails are so much fun and
they're just a littledifferentiating and I feel like,
at events, um, it's a littleexciting to change it up right,
yes, so we're gonna, we're gonnado a little mocktail with
cranberry juice just to providesome options.
I like it and we're full andfall right Full and fall.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
Yes, full and fall, so we're doing a fall curated
menu.
Three of us.
I don't think you were out oftown, but we did a tasting at
Catering Unlimited.
Thank you Appreciate that andit was an amazing buffet of food
for us that day.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
You gave us 24 plates .

Speaker 1 (30:27):
Yeah, easily.
Oh, I miss that Easily.

Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yes, Too bad you weren't there.
We're not serving the chickenpot pie that we all wanted.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Which is so weird.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
Chicken pot pie.
I think it's weird.

Speaker 4 (30:39):
That was my pregnancy craving.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
Chicken pot pie and I think it's weird, that was my
pregnancy craving.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
Oh, chicken pot pie.
Chicken pot pie and fruitypebbles?

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Oh, hopefully not together, no, but but even if
yeah, it's okay because you'repregnant, is that?

Speaker 4 (30:48):
not weird.
I love that my doctor said it'scomfort food.
It's things that comforted youin childhood.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
Oh, that's lovely.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
I serve chicken pot pie and my kids are like mine
won't eat it either, but it'stoo homey and weird looking
everything.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
We are gonna bring back the pop.
We're gonna bring it back.
Yes, it was amazing, but we'renot having about it because mary
looked up what the weatherwould probably be like.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
It would probably be 190 that day, yeah, well, yeah,
it'd be warm inside right, sowe're going to have these
beautiful chicken kata kebabsand a fall vegetable medley
salad and a fall fingerlingpotatoes.

Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yes, which were amazing.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
They were delicious.
I love potatoes.
Those were delicious.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Those were amazing.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
A positionado of potatoes and they nailed it.
Oh my God, these are reallygood.
I like those, and some I don'tknow harvest salad thing.
Yes, it's going to be great,it'll be wonderful, It'll be
delicious.
It's going to be delicious withyour mocktail.

Speaker 2 (31:42):
But we also have the Blake.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Oh, I'm sorry, Keep going.
No, go ahead.
Okay, but you are greeted atthe event with the Blakeman's
wall with their Prosecco in it.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
So that's exciting.
That is exciting and delicious.
We've got a lot going on there.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
We do, but that's just a few things.
We also have 15 door prizes,15?
.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
One for every year.
I'm currently wearing a doorprize from the previous year.
Those are pretty, so I'm hopingI have good juju for the next
one as well.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
I love that those were from Kendra Scott.
Those are beautiful.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
I love that Yay.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
But I'm looking forward to 15.
I'm kind of jealous about that.
There's going to be so manydifferent options.
There's some great things.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
I can't remember anything we're giving away
except a membership or a packageto Sawn, which is the like
downtown Bentonville, bougie,yes.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
A lot of these.
That place is beautiful.
It is beautiful.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Yes, they kick my butt weekly.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
So they kick my butt weekly.
So, yeah, it's gorgeous.
I don't know what else we have,so we have gift baskets from
dillard's.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
We have kendra scott we have fresh harvest.
Um olive oil.
Yes, we've done several pop-upsthere.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Membership pop-ups there uh, dotted pig and also
the mercy gift shop at thehospital.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
They're gonna put something together that's a
great gift shop, I know, right,I can't remember either.
But I'm like that's a good giftshop, it is a good spread.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
So do we just get it for attending, or is your name
in the mix?

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yes, how do I?

Speaker 2 (33:11):
put my name in multiple times.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
So we have a new system.
Maybe, I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
I think Three or five .

Speaker 1 (33:19):
That's up to y'all.
Okay, that's mercy internal.

Speaker 3 (33:21):
So you will get little tickets and then you can
decide out of all the prizes.
What do you want to put yourname in for?

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Oh and then we'll draw.
I know something a littledifferent.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah, I love it, that's a good idea, isn't that
fun.
Then you can play the odds too.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
I know, right, I saw that at another event I was like
, oh, that's a fun takeaway,instead of just rifling through
all the names again.
Yeah, yeah, I like that.
I thought that was cool, okay,and then, oh, this is another
why we're here today, because Ihave, like, I wrote this and
I've already forgotten it does.
It just keeps coming.
So new for us this year.

(33:59):
Normally we have emcees fromthe news, emcee our event, but
we're not this year.
We're keeping it more local, andI like that.
So all three of us are emceesof the event, and then we have
another two that aren't.
We only have room for fourchairs, so then we have a couple
more joining us as well.
So we're using members as ouremcees this year.

Speaker 3 (34:20):
That's awesome.

Speaker 4 (34:21):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
It'll be fun, it'll be good.
Surprise I don't know if youwant to give me a microphone,
but I'm really excited.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
I've got to assume you and me on a mic are pretty
similar and I think you probablykeep it together a lot better
than the two of us would.
Depends on the crowd.
Well, I don't have any of that,it's just insert foot
constantly with me and Clarkloves that about me.
It's his favorite.

Speaker 4 (34:48):
I saw UMC, but I guess this is long before I knew
about any of this.
Behind the scenes it was anevent at.
I think it was a Mercy event,I'm sure it was Years ago at
Aaron Rowe is the Chef.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Oh, at Brightwater.
Was this at Brightwater?

Speaker 4 (35:05):
No it was the one at.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Gina.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
Davis one.
It had to have been On HighStreet.
The ballroom on High Street, oh, ballroom on High Street, and
we had Aaron and Allison speak.
Yes, right, yes, the art, theart.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (35:22):
Allison Hopp-Wibbo.
Yeah, that's right, that waswhere I met her.
That was Brunch, bubbles andBFF, that's right.
You or Leslie or somebodyinvited me and I came, or maybe
Aaron, maybe the chef did, Ican't remember.
And that was my first intro andI've now realized that, looking
back, that's what that was.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
But you were awesome.
Oh yeah, I know you were reallygood.
No, it's dangerous, it's takingthe microphone away.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
Yeah, I don't like to give up a microphone.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
Love to hold it.
I love you hand the microphoneall day.

Speaker 4 (35:46):
If I could just pick it up and hold it 100%.
We are so lucky I can't sing,because I would just take.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Does it take you back to pretending you could sing?

Speaker 2 (35:55):
as a kid.
That's what it takes me back to.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
And I'm like, oh, please, please, yeah, just give
me the mic.

Speaker 4 (36:02):
It's lucky I don't have any talent or I would be on
a microphone all the time.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Yes, what about you, mary?
I'd love a good microphone.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
I'm not going to lie.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
But I might not be at their level.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
So I'm going to have to step up my game.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
I'm going to start practicing now.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Now you know in a month, well, no, you're not
going to be there.
So now we're pivoting, butAllison didn't know.
So okay, just kidding, you'renot going to be in a meeting I
didn't At first.

Speaker 4 (36:28):
I'm hearing this Was I supposed to emcee it?

Speaker 3 (36:31):
I was like yes, it's a surprise.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
And I booked my honeymoon instead.
Did you tell me this?
Probably not, no.

Speaker 4 (36:43):
I had no idea.
I was supposed to see this.
So what we're doing is we'regoing to no idea.
What's up, Crap.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
I want to do it, I'll take her part.
You could call in if you reallyneed to oh my gosh, what a
bummer.
That's so funny.
Shoot, I'm going to doublecheck my calendar.
Problem solved.
No, we're not skipping thehoneymoon, we're just going to
pivot and you will host andemcee the gun thing the self

(37:12):
defense situation where shouldwe set that we can't have a gun
in the hospital?

Speaker 4 (37:17):
so he's got his.
He does a classroom at the gunthing in Rogers there's a
shooting range.

Speaker 3 (37:30):
I've taken a class from him.

Speaker 4 (37:31):
Lowell Woody yeah, woody, he's awesome, he was
great his name is Woody like ToyStory.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Lowell Woodson like Woody yeah, he's gonna be like
so.

Speaker 4 (37:40):
I did my.
That's so, I did my.
That's what I did.
Gun safety- I love it.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
Naked my boot.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
I did some other classes somewhere else but he
was my first ever safety and buthe does the whole thing.
He does like the active shooterstuff.
I have some friends that havetaken that from him.
I did it somewhere else butyeah, he's my neighbor.
He's awesome dude.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
He's a cool guy.
His wife's really fun too.
She might be somebody we needto get involved with.
Well good, because at the veryend, of our thing is, we'll just
go ahead and hit it off rightnow.
Our goal is 24 new members in2024.
Oh cool.

Speaker 4 (38:13):
And we're well on our way.
I'm still starting to even haveto.
I'm sorry she's like no, no, no, You're great, but back to me
yeah.
Okay, go ahead.
It was just playing it apart.
We'll talk later.
We'll talk, we'll talk off mic.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
Yeah, let's just go.
We probably have about 12 newmembers.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
I know, so we're halfway there, I think we are
probably 10 to 12.
And I haven't done anythingabout it.
Did Jennifer Brothers join once?
I tell them I've been seeing, Ifeel like that will be the draw
.
I mean the floodgates will opensign me up, sign me up.
Wait, who were you talkingabout?

Speaker 4 (38:47):
an old co-worker in front of mine who I who'd you
say Jennifer Brothers.
Oh, I thought you said someoneelse's name, so.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
I was like oh my god, I know her too.
That's what I I think she wantsto come?

Speaker 3 (38:58):
I think she wants to come to our celebration, yeah,
and then I think she's thinkingabout joining yeah, awesome, but
she's got other people.
Yeah, I know I enjoyed meetingher, so I have a list.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
It's huge, isn't that ?
A pretty large amount for oneyear.
I think 24 was a stretch.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
It was a stretch.
Yeah, actually we've got someco-workers that have started you
know, I think we're talkingmore.
They're seeing the votingmeeting and they're seeing that
we're buying equipment for allthese other service lines and
they're like oh, the votingmeeting is cool.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
Yes, Like where else can you that just blew me away.
I was already sold, but I waslike totally in after that.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
Like you can join it.
There's lots of giving circlesaround here.
I will say I think Women with aMission was one of the very
first, If not we were the second.
But in other giving circles andI'm a member of quite a few,
because it's just, I don't knowyou ask me.
I'm going to say yes, but youget a choice on where your money
goes, and that doesn't normallyhappen in the nonprofit world.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
We both just joined.
We did.
I forgot about that, yeah.
Well, I was going to say, and Imissed that meeting last week.
Okay, well, they changed thedate.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Yes, I could go to the original.
I was on my pre-honeymoon, yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:11):
I was in Washington.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
But they, I mean they weren't secretive about it,
kind of being based off of oh,yes, yes, it is how well this
does.

Speaker 4 (40:26):
Yes, um, and there's a relationship between mercy and
that organization.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
So, yeah, it's very, very, very transparent it's
going to be great, but I'm like,yes, if you ask me to donate,
I'm going to donate versusvolunteer, because I don't have
the time for that I'm not aboots on the ground non-profit
person.

Speaker 3 (40:39):
I'm a dot connector you're kind of boots on the
ground, probably just for Mercy.
You're in sync of it.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
So there you go.
Mercy calls her like can you dothis?

Speaker 1 (40:49):
And I'm like it's fine, I'll be right there.
I get to talk on camera.
Yes, I'm all in.

Speaker 4 (40:54):
The best thing about the giving circles and the best
thing about women with themission is and I haven't had
experience in other givingcircles yet but what women with
the mission has done for me islike spoon feed me philanthropy
like it's such a little like.
It's such little for me, like Idonate monthly right to hit my

(41:14):
mark and then you just tell mewhere to show up and I do it,
and then I just tell other womenabout this amazing experience
I'm having, like how easy isthis?

Speaker 1 (41:22):
We want it to be low maintenance.
It's so easy, like you, getwhat you put into it, yeah.

Speaker 4 (41:26):
Y'all send me the invites and I show up.
Right, it's so easy andwonderful.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
We have learning sessions, and if you can come,
great.
If you can't, that's fine too.

Speaker 3 (41:42):
We pop-ups like the olive oil harvest olive oil.

Speaker 4 (41:43):
We did a financial.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
It's a good financial pop-up.
That was really good.
Women women in finances, right,I mean that's really important
and it's really easy to bringfriends because I think, once
you pay for that event, itcovers your first.
Yes.
Yes, is that right?

Speaker 1 (41:54):
yes, membership, yeah so one thousand dollars
annually is 84 a month, which ismy always my big go-to.
It's cheaper than your cellphone bill.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
I was going to say, or going to Starbucks all the
time, the whole month I want todo both Leave me alone oh okay,
you can do both too.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
You just want you to be a member.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
Insert heroes or airship into that.
I want to do both.
Yes, you can do all of themMercy first and then coffee.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
So one thing I want to point out is this event is
for all past members and currentmembers.
So if somebody has been amember in the past and maybe
their membership has lapsed, westill want you to come.
We still want you to come andcelebrate this million-dollar
mark and maybe you'll join again, maybe you'll see how much fun

(42:40):
we are and join again.
And then we want people fromall outside of the area to say
$84.
I want to come.
I want to hear Savvy Shieldspeak, I want to see what this
is all about.
And, mary, as you said, that 84bucks goes right to you towards
your membership.
It does.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
Yeah, it doesn't go.
It does not go towards theevent or anything, it literally
goes back into the hospital viaequipment or whatever needs the
hospital has.
Yes, I want you to speak andthen I'll get to the two of them
about the whys.
But I like your story becauseit's unique, because you are a
Mercy employee, which makes youa coworker, yes, but you also

(43:16):
buy into Women with a Mission,and not every coworker and or
foundation member does that, andeveryone has their own
preferences, right.
But I like women with a mission, and not every co-worker and or
foundation member does that,and that's.
Everyone has their ownpreferences, right, but I like
that.
So what's your why?

Speaker 3 (43:27):
you know probably my why is I had a premature baby.
Um, and, like mary, I just lovegoing up to our NICU and seeing
all the good work that we do upthere.
Um, I'm just passionate aboutit.
It is the.
It's an incredible group ofwomen.
It's just fun to sit and laughand visit and, again, it fills

(43:50):
my heart.
I feel good.
My $1,000 makes an impact.
You know I can't do it withoutmy 124 peeps, so it's just fun.
It's a lot of fun.
I am so grateful I have theopportunity to kind of be the
ringleader and I couldn't do itwithout our incredible steering

(44:12):
committee.
So, yeah, you guys are a bunchof fun.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
I enjoy it.
We are fun, you are fun.
Steering committees are fun.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
Yeah, I have to.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
usually I rest up yes , before it's a good way to kick
off your friday.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
It is a good way, yes , it is a good way, and then you
can leave a little bit early.
Yes, exactly just happened.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
What's your favorite piece of equipment or what's
your favorite purchase we'vemade?
Do you?

Speaker 3 (44:38):
think you know what I'm gonna gonna say.
The NICU room mm-hmm 246 546.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
I'm pretty sure I took a picture this morning.
It's 546.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
That, to me, was so impactful because we filled that
room with much-needed equipment, whether it was one of the
giraffes or if it was some ofthe feeding tubes, you know it.
Just that's our room.
That, to me, is pretty special.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
You know what I enjoyed this morning on my walk.
We were filming in 547.
But on my walk down is I knewall the names outside of all the
rooms and I thought that was sospecial to Mercy and our
community.
It's a very philanthropiccommunity.

Speaker 3 (45:27):
You know, it's so interesting when you look at
those names.
A lot of those names have astory, you know, and that story
goes to that particular room andthat's the reason that family
made a financial contribution tofund that.
So, yeah, I like that.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yeah, I do too.
Okay, that's your favoritepurchase.
What's your favorite bit ofinformation you've learned, like
from a gathering, a pop-up, canyou pinpoint?

Speaker 3 (45:57):
I'm going to say I think CPR Okay, I think that CPR
training I mean I used to be alifeguard.
We always did mouth-to-mouthand CPR.
You don't do mouth-to-mouthanymore, you just do hands only,
and I think Captain Mason madeit so easy.
You know, and don't be afraidof it, I think CPR it's

(46:18):
something you can.
I mean, heck, look at thefootball player.
Oh right, tamar Hamlin yes, Ifthey had known how to do CPR, he
wouldn't be playing this year.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
I know that was amazing, that's amazing to me
and he's back.
I think he's starting thisweekend.

Speaker 3 (46:32):
I heard he is.
He's starting this weekend, soCPR, everybody needs to learn
CPR.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
It's still scary, though, but yes, I totally agree
, it is scary.
Yes.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
Particularly when they bring out that little baby
oh yes, yeah, yeah, we'll dothat again.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
Yeah, I want to do it .
How about you One?
You're in, okay, my why?
Yeah, what's your why?

Speaker 4 (46:52):
Lots of.
There's lots Right, lots ofwhys.
One I am a boots on the ground.
Nonprofit person.
You are, I'm on lots of boards,lots of committees.
I show up at work events.
But you work events.
But you know I've kind of.
I turned 40 a year and a halfago and moved to into a new

(47:13):
place in my career and, um, I'mable to financially help more
than I used to just be like I'mthe one who's showing up to
volunteer at everything, rightsweat equity.
Yeah, I was a single mom withtwo little girls and, like you
know.
So I wasn't always able to likefinancially invest, but I was
always sweat equity and beingable to work with groups where
it's like I don't have to showup necessarily do the work I can

(47:35):
financially support and show upand enjoy the fun that
surrounds it.
So I thought that was a reallycool new view for me.
And then also I am on a lot ofother boards and one benefits
children, one benefits othernonprofits, one benefits women
in a professional setting andthere's a couple others.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
But this was like it sounds like you have your
pillars.
I do have my pillars.
I don't have my pillars, butthat's awesome, thanks to my
therapist.

Speaker 4 (48:06):
I love this.
Yeah, my buckets.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
Okay, yeah, I do have my pillars, I don't have my
pillars I do have my pillars.

Speaker 4 (48:08):
That's awesome.
Thanks to my therapist.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
I love this.
Yeah, my buckets, okay yeah, Icall them my buckets, okay yeah.

Speaker 4 (48:11):
I had, like COVID helped me step back and be like
which things I rolled off of alot of stuff during COVID and
then kind of focused my beeninvolved in and going to my
first ever Mercy CorporateCouncil.

(48:32):
Like this is stupid, that's agood meeting, but like I didn't,
and that, sitting there in thatroom, I realize health care
touches everything andeveryone's yes, even as.
I'm a commercial real estateattorney.

Speaker 1 (48:43):
It touched you know, like it's its own city.
It is if you look at it thing.
It's its own entity, like itemploys everything from the
ground to the top yeah, andhearing about mercy's initiative
, like I was just like this iscool.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
This is a community I want to learn more about and be
involved in, and because ittouches all of our lives, and so
just the emphasis on women andchildren's health, and also I
had a prophylactic bilateralmastectomy in 2020.
And that was kind of my firstlike big deal other than having

(49:19):
children, giving birth.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
Right, but it's like a chore, like health care, yeah,
and I did it during COVID Right.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
And, like I, saw another side of things.
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (49:26):
It just piqued my interest.
And then I was like, and then Ilove the women I'm surrounded
with when I show up at theseevents.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
So I have a lot of wives Right.
I like it, though, but it'swell-rounded and, like I said,
it's spoon-fed to me.
Yes, like y'all make it, Itotally agree, I like that.
I love that.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
How about you?
I feel like I spoke about it alittle bit, but I think my why
really started with when.
I had the NICU and I hadexperience in NICU and I was
just floored with all the mercytouch points from the NICU
nurses to the doctors.
everyone in between there feltlike there was like a passion

(50:05):
behind what they were doing andI wanted to be part of that and
similar in your story of likehealth care touches everything.
I wanted to be part ofsomething within the community
that I was raising a family in,and this one felt very impactful
.
Also, I was force-fed bysomeone to join um and so that
that helps when you have friendswho tell you that this is

(50:28):
different.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
I own that on the microphone.
At the closing of everything, Iwill bully you.
Let me know who I need to bullyand I will bully you into
joining.

Speaker 2 (50:36):
It didn't take much to be honest, it's always
helpful to know that you havefriends too, so I brought a few
people along as well and it'sjust been really rewarding, and
I don't think you'll be able toget rid of me for a while good,
we're not.

Speaker 1 (50:52):
You're in, do you and I?
I'll come back to you on yourone year, because I forgot this
question.
Do you have a favorite purchase?

Speaker 2 (50:59):
purchase.
You know what?

Speaker 1 (51:01):
it's really just all of the purchase feels weird, but
I don't know what other word touse the gifts.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
I think um women's health, and baby health is such
a hot topic right now inarkansas especially.
Yes that, um, I feel like thathas really made a difference,
just right here down the block.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
So that's yeah, that's my side how about you?

Speaker 4 (51:22):
so this year I've been to one of those right and
there were three things weren'tthere.
Or did we voted on three?
What was chosen?
This year I've been to one ofthose Right and there were three
things weren't there.
Or did we vote it on three?

Speaker 3 (51:29):
Yeah, what was chosen this year, so we did, oh Okay.

Speaker 1 (51:33):
I know I can't remember either.
Let me tell who's on camera.

Speaker 3 (51:37):
We did.
Oh, we did, the Nick you LittleStore, that's okay.

Speaker 4 (51:41):
Yes, because that was my number two vote, so I was
it's hard.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
It's so hard.

Speaker 4 (51:50):
I was like so pumped about that.
So it's for those of youlistening, it's like it's almost
like a food pantry, but it'sfor equipment for families with
newborns in the NICU, and soit's diapers and bottles and
things Specially sized Breastpumps, yes, and all kinds of
stuff.
And I thought that's genius.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
Why has nobody like?
I've never heard of that before, I'm sure it?

Speaker 4 (52:11):
exists somewhere.
But I thought that was so cool,I was so blown away by so many
things that I think the woman,the nurse that wanted to train
nurses and that was for bettermaternal health care.

Speaker 3 (52:25):
That was awesome.

Speaker 4 (52:28):
And I can't remember all the details she wanted to do
a statewide training program.
Yeah, for delivery nurses, safedelivery.
Yeah, it was really cool.

Speaker 3 (52:38):
To decrease C-sections.

Speaker 4 (52:41):
Yes, but I loved that NICU closet.
Yes, it was really cool yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
I like that.
What about?

Speaker 4 (52:49):
you.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
You haven't answered what's your why?

Speaker 1 (52:52):
Oh, because I was told to 15 years ago.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
Why have you?

Speaker 1 (52:56):
continued.
Let's be real clear Clark and aformer Mersey employee, Linda
Phillips, who's at thechildren's shelter.
Anything Linda says or Clarksays, I say yes to oh, wait a
minute.

Speaker 3 (53:10):
Or I say yes, you, yes, I'm just going back to 15
years ago.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
I will do anything you ask me always.
15 years ago took us to lunchat Pinnacle I can still.
We're in that, like down in thebottom area in the big corner
round table.
I can picture and, and the bigcorner round table I can picture
.
And Martha Burgent was theretoo and they pitched it and
we're like okay.
And they're like and the threeof you are the tri-chairs and
we're like okay.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
Okay, you were volunteer Okay.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
And I will be completely honest.
I'm always honest to everyonewho asks me, and we just had
this conversation last weekHealthcare is a hard sell is a
hard sell because, um, a childwith a band-aid is a much easier
sell than like some needles andtables and whatnot.
But without quality health carewe're all six feet under.

(53:55):
And until you physically burnthat into your brain, then we
need health care.
We need mercy go health.
We need the mercy hospital thatI was at in may with my son who
was what's the word?
Anaphylactic.

Speaker 4 (54:09):
Is that how you say it?
Yep.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
So we need that, we need these resources.
I don't want to have to gooutside of our community to seek
care.
If you need care, seek care.
I want to seek care at Mercy,first and foremost.
And we are a fancy.
We have all kinds of fancyratings at the hospital.
And we are a fancy.
We have all kinds of fancyratings at the hospital Things
that I can never remember.
We have Leapfrog and IBM Watsonand Grade A and all the

(54:32):
whatevers, and we're one of thefanciest hospitals in the
country to have all the thingsright.
Right, isn't?

Speaker 3 (54:38):
it that we are one of five hospitals in the country
that have both the Leapfrog.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
A rating.

Speaker 3 (54:45):
Yes, and the IBM Watson, something, something,
something.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
Yes, safety rating yes, we like have all these
accolades so why wouldn't wewant to continue making our
hospital bigger and better?
And it's going to be bigger andbetter within a few short years
with our half a billion dollarcampaign campaign and expansions
of all the things, and it'samazing.
So, through my work with Womenof Mission, I was gifted a seat

(55:16):
on the board, which has openedmy eyes to all the amazing
things that we have coming downthe pike constantly.
Dr Cooper is the most what'sthe word?
He is Charismatic and energeticspeaker that we have at the
meetings every quarter and hetalks about all these doctors,
or what do we call them?

Speaker 3 (55:34):
We don't just call them doctors, we call them
providers.
I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
Starting all the time .
And it's not until you realizehow short we as a community not
we, Mercy, but we as, like thetwo county area are so short on
providers for our population andpeople are always frustrated
that you called to get in andit's a year and a half out.
Um and, but we're working on it, we really are working on it.

(56:02):
Like that was my firstappointment pre COVID I I needed
a neurologist for headaches andthey're like okay, well, we'll
see you in 18 months, and I'mlike no, I just want injections,
so let's go ahead and handlethat now.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
I don't have another year and a half.
We're talking quality of life.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
So we're expanding neurology and we're expanding
electro, so we just got somefancy cardiologist type
electrician.

Speaker 3 (56:28):
He's the electrician doctor.
He's the electrician.
Yes.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
I'm like we're doing those things at Mercy and we're
doing these things with WomenWith a Mission, and so that's
always my why it goes in amillion different circles like
what you're saying.

Speaker 4 (56:43):
But that's always my why that first corporate council
meeting I went to at mercy?

Speaker 1 (56:47):
it's mind-blowing.

Speaker 4 (56:48):
They had everybody go around and just mention a
experience they've had at mercyand they wanted to know the good
, the bad the ugly absolutelyall.
Everybody had a really scarybut heartwarming story yes,
including myself when my kidfell off a trampoline onto a
cement sidewalk at a friend'shouse and she immediately

(57:09):
started vomiting and like,didn't stop for hours.
And that was my first time goingto Mercy and they was, it was
and they made I was losing it,of course, way more than she was
my five-year-old at the time,and they took care of me.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (57:26):
And so I was just like.
That really made me think, man,these people's lives have been
fully impacted by Mercy.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
It's a full family approach, right?

Speaker 3 (57:34):
My mom was here visiting from Myrtle Beach, and
she had a heart issue and sheended up in the ICU.
And I wasn't working for Mercy,I was working for another
nonprofit at that time.
But we were living up here andI was just like, well, you tell
me where to take her.
You're the ambulance driver,took them to Mercy.

(57:55):
She's in the ICU.
They're actually delirious.
They're cutting her clothes offand I see somebody from the
side go.
It was just kind of like thiseye look.
All of a sudden I had a pastor.
Somebody from our ministry camein and said, oh my gosh, I'm
going to cry and put his armaround me.

(58:16):
He goes, you know what, let'sjust walk over here.
And they took me to a privateroom and it was the scariest
moment, but it also to yourpoint, it was nurturing for
someone to take care of me.
Obviously good story.
She survived.
She survived, um.
But that was my firstexperience at mercy and I knew

(58:39):
you were where you were supposedto be, this was the right place
.
Yeah, everybody was so kind.

Speaker 1 (58:44):
That's another aspect .
We didn't even touch on it.
But mercy is faith-based and itall stems back to our foundress
, Sister Catherine McCauley,from Dublin, Ireland, on Bagot
Street.
She had a calling and wasgifted a lot of money a million

(59:05):
years ago, which I don't evenknow how much it is, but anyway
she started helping the poor andhealing the poor per se, like
nursing type stuff, and that'show we are the sisters we're
founded out, of the Sisters ofMercy and that truly leads us
back to Women with a Mission,because their mission was to

(59:27):
take care of women and theirchildren.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
So full circle.

Speaker 4 (59:31):
That was another thing I learned at that
corporate council meeting.
And then you approached meabout Women With A Mission and I
thought man, this is like thismassive network system,
corporation, community thing,and it was founded by a
sacrificial woman like she did.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
So much, you know, and it was just she's incredible
.
Her story is amazing trulyincredible, because they did not
want her there.
Bagot Street was like theinfluential street in Dublin it
was the financial district andshe built this the house of
mercy right in the financialdistrict.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
So everybody with money and she built this, the
House of Mercy, right in thefinancial district so everybody
with money could see the poor.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Yes, that's unbelievable.
That's my why.
That's a good why.
That's my why I think that'sthe best way to close, don't
y'all?
Yeah, I think so.
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:00:22):
Can we do this every week?
Yes, we can.
Yeah, absolutely, we totallycan.
Let's bring coffee, though,next time.
I don't know, champagne works,I've got some bubbles in here
some cranberries.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
We can have a splash of cranberry juice with our
champagne yes, I've got thebubbles and I've got the
stemless plastic glasses that wecan have.
So we don't break anything,because I would break the TV,
knowing me.
But thank you, this was fun.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
I appreciate all of you joining us and don't forget
to join us on October 17th atOsage House, from 430 to 630.
If you need a ticket, you canalways reach out to any of us,
but also blow Allison up.
She will be more than happy tohandle it for you.
If you have more than $84 amonth to spare, I will come

(01:01:10):
bully you and sign your checkfor you.
So to join Women With A Mission, right?
I love it.
Yes, okay, thanks for joiningus.
I say this every time on theclosing.
If you've stuck with us thislong, thank you, I'm really
appreciative of it.
Always tune into the 3W Podcast, home of the who, what, where,
and keep inspiring a culture ofgiving.
Thank you, thanks.