October 24, 2023 • 63 mins
It is funny how a person can be in our circle of influence and yet we have not met. Kind of like two planes that fly over and past one another is the analogy. I knew Christa Santos before I met her through StarterStudio (previously Canvs) a startup accelerator program. As a marketing consultant, she helped with promotions and launch marketing for the organization. I actually met her in person a year later.
In this episode, I learned even more about her. We talked about the future of the marketing industry and then moved to how Elon Musk is working on a product called neuralink which is a brain-chip implant startup to help individuals suffering from paralysis restore autonomy in their lives.
Wondering what her mentoring advice was, “Teach someone how to do your job, you want to create your successors. We have to give back, that makes your community better.”
Subscribe, download, and leave us a comment on your favorite podcast streaming channel or visit Employers 4 Change YouTube channel and watch our show there.
Hashtags: #iHeartRadio #ApplePodcasts #GooglePlay #Spotify #Stitcher #Podbean #YouTube #Employers4Change #E4C #internships #radio #podcast #innovation #employers #smallbusiness #business #FutureOfWork #ValenciaCollegeRadio
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hi, my name is Isabella Johnstonand I am the Intern Whisperer.
Our show is brought to you by Employers4 Change and today's tip of the week is
continuing our series on unconscious bias.
This one is called confirmation bias.
This type of bias is when we have aninclination to draw conclusions about
(00:32):
a situation or person based on yourpersonal desires, beliefs, prejudices,
beliefs, Rather than an unbiased merit.
So when hiring confirmation biasoften plays a detrimental role at the
very beginning of the process, whenyou first review a resume and form
an initial opinion of the candidatebased on inconsequential attributes,
(00:57):
like their name, where they're from,where they went to school and so forth.
This opinion can follow you into theinterview process and consequently
steer questions to confirm theinitial opinion of the candidate.
So how can you avoid anytype of confirmation bias?
Well, one way is to ask standardizedskills based questions that provide each
(01:22):
candidate with a fair chance to stand out.
This will help prevent your team fromasking too many off the cuff questions
that may lead to a confirmation bias.
We want to thank bulletin.
com that created this list of unconsciousbias tips that we are sharing here.
And we look forward to being a resource.
(01:46):
To the community with this collectivewisdom from out in our world.
Thank you.
Okay.
So I want to welcome to the InternWhisperer shows all about the
future of work and innovation.
Um, Christa Santos.
She is the president of CKS marketing.
She specializes in providingstrategic marketing solutions
for a variety of clients andindustries and holds a master's in.
(02:10):
Public administration from UCF go Knights.
She is active in women's entrepreneurshipefforts and the president elect
with NAWBO, which has over 10million women owned businesses
as members in the United States.
So our show is I'm soexcited to have you Christa.
I'm very excited.
(02:30):
Um, we always talk about education,innovation and the future of industries
and we kick the show off and say,tell us five words that describe
you and why those five words.
Okay.
Well, thank you for having me here today.
I'm excited about the opportunityand looking forward to share
with your listeners and viewers.
A couple of words about me.
(02:52):
I would say trustworthy.
My clients know that they cancount on me to deliver when they
need to, and I'm there for them.
Passionate.
I think as an entrepreneur,you need to be.
Invested and it doesn't makeit feel like work, you know,
it's something that you enjoy.
So you have to findthat passion and driven.
(03:14):
You have to be driven because you're facedwith a lot of challenges and a variety of
tasks, and you can let that get you down.
So you have to be driven, get up.
You know, keep going every day,creative thinking outside the box.
I love innovation and collaborative.
I love teaming with others, uh,exploring opportunities for synergy
(03:37):
and growing those opportunities.
Well, I like how succinctlyyou, uh, package those together.
That's really good for amarketing person to do.
So you have a gift of beingvery concise with words.
So that's excellent.
Thank you.
Uh, next question is always like,how did, where did you go to school?
How did you get to where you are now?
What was that journey like?
(03:58):
So you can wind us down there.
Feel free to add anythingabout CKS marketing and then
also NAWBO if you want to.
Okay.
Thank you.
Well, I started as a student at UCF.
I loved UCF.
It was a great opportunity.
I was involved in student government.
Uh, really got my foot wet by doing publicrelations and helped with preparing the
(04:22):
ads and, uh, you know, flyers that wouldget the students to the football games.
And then I emulated oneof my sorority sisters.
I was an Alpha Delta Phi sorority, andshe was involved in the Miss UCF pageant.
And she put all.
things together.
So I became involved in Panhellenicand created that brochure.
(04:43):
And so over time, use the Mac lab, uh,learned desktop publishing, and then
I graduated and the job market was notgreat for, you know, someone, a female.
And I was, you know, given clericaladministrative opportunities.
That sucks.
It really did.
And.
You know, I felt like I've interned.
(05:04):
I've had all of this experience.
I've written for the newspaper.
You know, why am I not getting thesame opportunities as men with the
same degree, maybe less experience.
So I looked at my resume and, uh,made a few calls and Channel 9 took
me on and brought me in as an intern.
But after graduation, so I had toanswer the phone, do the hotline.
(05:29):
Uh, and then I was exposed, youknow, I just kept asking for more.
I always asked for more thingsthat I could do, try to find
things to make myself useful.
And then I recognized that Ididn't like doing the topicals.
Um, you know, when theteam would come in with.
The video footage and trying to putsomething together for the five o'clock
news, you know, in an hour and 15 minutes,the pressure was I liked working in a
(05:52):
fast paced environment and I did yearbookand newspaper in high school, but this
was not the fast paced environment.
I wanted.
So, I volunteered with non profitorganizations, the Parent Resource Center.
I would write scripts, uh, forspeaking engagements, press kits,
uh, design flyers and brochures, andworked with a lot of non profits.
(06:15):
And one of my sorority sisters neededhelp with the MS Society, and we, I
helped her with that and helped organizeabout 3,000, volunteers for their walk.
And it was a very big undertaking.
So, that led me to, um,Getting a job with Disney.
I learned the convention services side.
(06:36):
I would put the banquet eventorders together and learned about
the fairy tale weddings department.
And then I kept trying to,you know, use my degree.
I wanted to get into marketing andthe opportunities were just not there.
So eventually I got a positionto become executive director
of the arthritis foundation.
And it was a nine County service area.
(06:58):
And, um, I had to builda new board of directors.
I had to go to health fairs.
Uh, you know, some of the majoraccomplishments that I'm proud of is that
we established a clinic for the medicallyindigent and we partnered with the Paul
Newman Boggy Creek camp for juvenilerheumatoid arthritis for the children.
(07:18):
And that was a big milestone.
I'm curious, when did you do thatwith the arthritis foundation?
That was between 94 and 97.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then, you know, we did theJingle Bell run and did lots of
media opportunities, health fairs.
I got a car donated by Saturn of Orlando.
(07:38):
That's impressive.
That's hard.
And the car insurance from progressive,uh, because I read in our arthritis today
magazine that they had an ergonomic.
Uh, steering wheel.
And then I heard on the radio, theywere giving a Saturn car for teacher
of the year to explore Saturn.
And I thought, well, if they woulddo that, you know, maybe they would
do that for us because we have togo through all these nine County
(08:00):
service areas and bring brochures.
And we have, you know, carsthat are not really reliable.
And so sure enough, you know, ifyou can dream it, you can do it.
You put the proposal together, got theirattention and we got the car donated.
They had the logos.
put on the side of the car.
And they did this for five years.
Uh, so is that how long you were ED?
(08:22):
I was there for about four years.
Yeah.
So great experience.
And then I had a couple ofother opportunities, worked with
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, did.
Amazing.
I never thought I could do a walk andraise over 300,000 dollars but we did
330,000 and then did the first BrevardCounty walk and it raised over 80,000.
(08:46):
And the key was getting the CEOsto, uh, commit and then get their
list and then find that common.
Thread, you know, finding someonethat was affected and impacted by
arthritis or rheumatoid or diabetesand helping them tell their story.
And that was really the storytellingpart that came to light.
(09:07):
And then that propelled me.
To Central Florida Innovation Corporation,I almost didn't call them back.
I got this voice message andI was like, what is this?
And, uh, I learned all about the worldof entrepreneurship and it really
opened my opportunities at that point.
And I worked for for about seven years.
(09:28):
What is that called?
CIFIC.
Yeah.
Central Florida Innovation Corporation.
And we put on our first angel investmentconference and that's where I, uh, got
connected with UCF and Tom O'Neill andthe office of research and, uh, you
know, just a lot of Interesting peoplein the community that really worked to
(09:51):
build entrepreneurship to what it istoday and the exposure with the Orlando
regional chamber and the economicdevelopment commission and so many other,
uh, economic service organizations.
And then at that point, uh, CIFICwas closing, um, Central Florida
Innovation District Corporation.
(10:13):
I found the corporation, but it's notthere, but they now have something called
Central Florida Innovation District.
So I wasn't sure.
Yeah, I think that is part of theUCF program, uh, with the business
incubation program and the innovationdistricts that Carol Ann Dykes
Logue and others are running.
So, Okay.
Interesting.
(10:33):
Yeah, but It was a great opportunityand that led me to UCF and I was
able to help open the businessincubation program in 1999 and then
worked with UCF for, uh, 12 years.
Wow.
You're kind of a big deal.
I'm just going to say that because asyou've been talking, I'm over here going,
let me look this up and look this up andyour name is like all over the place.
(10:56):
You're a little fairy of, you know,sprinkling gold dust all over everybody.
That's in here.
And it's very impressive to have raisedover 300,000 for the arthritis foundation.
That is a hard thing to do.
Juvenile, Rheumatoid, Diabetes foundation.
Yes.
KDRF, but yes, it is.
It takes a lot of people and JohnHillenmayer, who was with Orlando Regional
(11:19):
Health at the time he was our chair.
And Mike Means was the one forBrevard County with Health First.
So when you were over thereat the TV station, that sounds
like it was pretty fun too.
And it's hard to get your foot inthe door into anything that's in TV.
I know that it's like getting into sports.
You have to know somebody.
(11:41):
So the fact that you got in there,I mean, it says something for you.
You know, you're tenacious.
I'd add that as a word to you,you know, that describes you.
So, um, and you knowhow to deliver impact.
That's, that's powerful.
Thank you.
It taught me a lot about resilience andabout, you know, not being afraid to
go after things that you need, lookingat your skills and figuring out what
(12:06):
the gap is, you know, and working to,you know, make, uh, less than the gap.
What can we do to make ourself moreattractive for the next opportunity?
And then when you have a goalin mind, you work toward that.
Mm hmm.
That from the short little biothat you did of your journey.
Um, that's what I was gathering as I went.
(12:26):
So you're, you know how toconnect the dots for sure.
And you understood the focusis always on the other person.
So the user experience, whether it wasthe group that you're raising money
for or the nonprofit itself, or thealways the what's in it for me, who
you're asking them to give something.
Mm hmm.
That is good.
(12:47):
I'm going to have to have moreconversations with you because I
think that you you're, I was infundraising too, but I bow to you.
You're really very, very good at this.
Very good.
Yeah, it's not easy.
It is not, but you have a skill for it.
Thank you.
So let's talk about your business now.
Let's hear more about it.
(13:08):
Well, I was, I had it.
Just had my daughter in 2003,and, you know, it was coming
back from maternity leave.
And that's when I got the news that,unfortunately, CFIC was closing.
And at that time, you know, I hadto make a decision about what I was
going to do and came back and I just,you know, kept being surrounded for
(13:31):
so many years with entrepreneurs and,you know, startups, what can we do?
And I really thought, well, youknow, I'll, I'll let people know
that I can do work on projects.
And then it just took that one baseof UCF approaching me about what
I could do to work with them doingthe same kind of work that I did for
(13:53):
CIFIC, but that was a foundation.
And then that was what.
I built the other opportunities andthey were referrals because it was the
good work that you did in your currentposition and the connections that
you made that your work stood out andwas a source of referral for others.
(14:15):
And I always.
I'm mindful of that and tried to makesure that I, you know, when I would work
with my interns, I probably had over ahundred, uh, throughout the course of
my career, making sure that I would givethem the same training because I think,
you know, You get the expectation, yougo to school, you're going to do all
(14:35):
these great things and then reality isa different story and it's a struggle,
but you can make lemonade from it andyou can build or you can be frustrated
and you can be a victim of whatever fate.
You know, hand you so I really wantedto have a career in marketing and so
taking that leap of starting off small.
(14:59):
Uh, I grew over time and, you know,built my business and now I, you know.
Have the reputation and therespect from my clients.
And I value that greatly.
I always try to exceed expectationsand I don't overpromise.
I I'm always honest and I want to makesure that, you know, the companies
(15:19):
that I work with benefit and they,uh, I look at it as extreme home
makeover for clients for businesses.
And I love the creativity andI have to feel connected with
the people that I work with.
So if I'm representing them, I haveto feel like I can believe in their
businesses and I can support them asentrepreneurs and I can, uh, be that
(15:43):
extension and that representative, thatambassador, and I'm happy to do that.
So as a marketing company,what else do you do for them?
Do you write press releases,help publish those, you know?
synthesize what is supposedto be on their website.
You know, how we do all of that.
We're all service.
So, uh, we're a boutique agencyso we can scale up as we need to.
(16:06):
We handle a lot of different industries,uh, defense contracting, high tech
professional services, nonprofits.
Um, we work, you know, we developwebsites, digital marketing, uh,
media advertising, collateral, uh,press releases, media relations.
(16:29):
Is that how you got to StarterStudio because I know that's where
I think I first officially metyou is through Starter Studio.
Yes.
And I started studio is one of thecompanies that organ nonprofits
that I worked with through UCFand the time that I was there.
And then after, um, You know, leavingand creating my own business, then
(16:50):
they approached me about doing someproject work and, you know, help them.
So that's how it usually happens.
And, you know, it's a greathonor to be part of the story.
It was, I was part of themarketing support to help.
Launched starter studio when it cameand, uh, you mean when it was starter or
before that, even with Yes, it was canva.
(17:12):
Well, wait canvas canvas, right?
Kirstie Chadwick and Donna McKenzie.
And that's a Because I feel likeI should have known you then,
but I didn't, I didn't meet youuntil like Lillian stepped in.
Lillian Myers.
Yes.
She was the one that contactedme for starter studio.
Yeah, that is so crazy.
It's like you've always been there.
Kevin Bacon, six degrees.
(17:34):
Yeah, I know.
We're like this.
And just so our listeners know, I'm likemaking my hands going like airplanes,
but they're flying over each other.
So it's like, yeah.
And I had never met you.
And I just think you're amazing.
So yeah, yeah, very much so.
So I love this story, you know, as youcontinue to evolve it even more, what
(17:55):
do you, what are you branching out to?
And what is the next thing thatyou want to branch out into?
Because you said government, nonprofitstartups, you have corporate, I think
we've been talking about podcastingbecause you have a client that wants that.
What?
Yes.
That's my new, uh, you know, area to grow.
We haven't really.
(18:16):
Done anything in that before.
So, you know, I mean, I've been around it.
I've helped with topics on the area toprovide to podcasters, but for me to
develop our own, you know, and moderate,that'll be a new, exciting thing that,
um, you know, Project that I take onso happy to looking forward to that.
(18:37):
And also it's the value of beingable to collaborate with others.
That's where the collaboration comes in.
So, you know, talking to folks likeyou and others along the journey,
like Christina Kofsky and so many,you know, it's great to be able
to share and help one another.
So it is.
You're very relational iswhat I also have discovered.
(18:59):
And I think that's how you, you'revery successful with capturing new
clients is because you are relational.
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you.
That's the secret to sales isreally focusing on again, user
experience, customer experience.
Relationship building it'skey, but I think it's important
to hear what they need.
You know, so many times we, we speak,um, at them, but we need to listen
(19:24):
and we need to understand wherethey're coming from and what are
the challenges that they're facing.
In fact, I had a meeting with apotential client today and it was very.
Moving, you know, they found me froma radio station that I had been a,
a supporter from for a long time.
And we met and we opened with prayerand, uh, you know, they were emotional
(19:49):
about what was going on and, youknow, for me to be able to help them
is such a reward and a challenge atthe same time, but it's exciting.
And at the end of the meeting, it.
Went in my favor and I was gratefulfor the opportunity that I can,
you know, help this organization.
(20:10):
Gotcha.
Well, you're also veryinvolved in the community.
I know you don't have all of yourvolunteering on your LinkedIn because I
was going over your LinkedIn, you know,earlier today just to see, Oh, well,
what are all of the volunteer things?
They are not there, but I know howinvolved you are in this community.
And you're like, again, you know, Isaid that little magical fairy that's.
(20:32):
Just dropping gold dust all around.
You're there.
You're at a lot of things, uh,that, you know, I know I go to.
So what are the things that you'remost involved with right now?
Sure.
Well, right now I'm serving aspresident of NAWBO Orlando, uh,
chapter, which is a very great honorrepresenting, uh, women owned businesses.
I'm also involved, uh, as anadvisor to global women of impact.
(20:57):
I'm serving on the endowment committeefor my church, the cathedral church of St.
Luke.
Uh, we've also re instituted our St.
Mary's chapter of Daughters of the King.
And I am involved in AlphaDelta Pi as an alumni.
Uh, I served previously asan international officer with
(21:18):
the sorority and I would helpcreate alumni associations.
I've also been a mentor with UCF andI try to give back, you know, and, and
either through the intern program ormentoring with other students, share
my knowledge and expertise, because Ithink that's important to always give
back and know where you came from.
And some of these students are, youknow, My colleagues and, uh, having
(21:42):
families and that's really rewardingto see them in positions writing books.
Um, it's so excitingand, um, you know, just.
Involved in any place that, you know,I, I know that I can make an impact.
So lots of nonprofits over the yearsserved on the board for juvenile
research foundation, juvenile research.
(22:03):
Why did you pick that group?
Is there, is that something in the family?
Because I, you know, I thinkpeople, my mother died of leukemia.
So I'm very, very geared towardsthings that are more leukemia and for
drug overdose, because my youngestbrother died of a drug overdose.
So what's your connection?
Well, that was just an opportunitythat arose from, you know, work and
(22:29):
getting the opportunity to work there.
So, you know, I felt inspired bywhat they're doing for research and
the programs that they're offering.
Uh, that was also what drew meto the Arthritis Foundation.
That was a big challenge at the time,taking over, you know, really out of.
School, you know, maybe a year ortwo, um, building a whole board of
(22:53):
directors, but you know, arthritisimpacts so many people naturally.
And um, you know, just making surethat there are programs there to
support the need of the community.
It's, it's helpful.
Mm hmm.
Well, I know you mentioned a sorority too.
I'm guessing that you mustdo something over there.
(23:14):
Yeah.
I'm a member of the alumni association.
So I attend offices with the alumni.
I was the chapter president of,uh, the, or Greater Orlando Aumni
Association twice, so I've, I've wornthat hat and, um, you know, now I'm
happy to serve whenever they need help.
You know, with recruitment or, um, youknow, attending events, uh, speaking,
(23:39):
you know, giving back in those ways.
You, you sound like you never sleep.
So let's talk about NAWBO.
What is NAWBO?
NAWBO Orlando is the NationalAssociation of Women Business
Owners, and we 48th year.
And, uh, it's, it's exciting becausewe are the voice of women businesses.
(24:02):
So our mission is to propel womeninto spheres of influence for economic
impact, um, advocacy, and then alsowith their businesses in society.
So we're really trying to develop.
Programs that are educationaland informative and then
also have that connection.
(24:24):
We we have events on a local level.
We're all volunteer driven.
So we change positions every year and, um,I think that allows the opportunity for
growth and development and we see womenbusinesses of all stages and development.
They're not necessarily technologyfocused, um, but we want them
(24:45):
to be successful because they'rethe backbone of our economy.
And then on a national level, thereare, you know, 40 webinars and
programs with the NABO Institutethat they can connect with.
We have over 60 chapters acrossthe country and international
affiliates and over 5,000 members.
And the biggest.
(25:07):
Part that novel plays is really havinga seat at the table for the SBA,
Small Business Administration andaccess to Congress and being able to
have impact on a legislative scale.
And that's something that'sinteresting to me, because I have a
master's in public administration.
So maybe in the future, thatmight be opportunities to
(25:28):
serve on a national level.
You know, what.
What do, does Congress need toknow to help women businesses?
What are the biggestobstacles that we face?
Funding is one.
And, um, I know a lot of people withjust the certification, the red tape
sometimes of, you know, being able tohave these certifications that can help
(25:49):
your businesses get to the next level.
So, you know, the peer sharing and.
Having access to other women thathave been there and done that.
That's really, reallywhere NAWBO comes in.
And I've been able to getnew clients from NAWBO.
I've partnered with people through NAWBO.
Um, again, it's like a sisterhood.
We call it the teal tribe and,uh, because the colors are teal.
(26:12):
But it really means so much more.
It's, you know, that unconditionalsupport that, you know, that you can call
upon people to, you know, help you ifyou're struggling with a challenge or a
problem and, you know, whether it's on alocal level or a national level, you're
going to get the answer that you need.
And it's going to be the right answer.
It's going to be, uh, rooted.
(26:35):
And knowledge and experience.
You really have a good gift with words.
Really?
You do what, um, when you were at UCFwas, uh, the Nicholson school, was it?
It was not.
Yeah.
Okay.
No, I had Bob Davis andI had the famous speech.
I, I am proud to say that I was.
You know, I got an A in the classand Marla Weetsch was one of the
(26:59):
ones that was his star student.
So I felt like, okay, I, you know,and I was nervous when I was giving
my speech, but I saw a bug on thefloor and I think that just made
everybody freak out for a minute.
And then that.
Sense of anxiety left me andI was able to do a great job.
I did where there's a will.
There's an A, uh, on studyhabits and I nailed it.
(27:21):
So I was so proud of myself, butit was, it was a great experience.
It was a great major and,uh, I love my time at UCF.
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah, I would think so.
And it's the Knight Nation now, you know,the largest university in the country,
but you know, rising in prominence and,um, Are you sure about that though?
Because I think, uh, University ofArizona, they go back and forth on this.
(27:44):
Yeah, they do.
At the time I was there, I know,you know, the numbers kind of
go back and forth, but yeah.
Yeah.
And I think that the reason why, um, Imean, the numbers could be the same, but
you, University of Arizona is so big.
Based on their, um, online programand I think that's where they,
because they count both sides onthe ground and versus the other.
(28:06):
So I think UCF is unique though,because of the collaboration and the
partnerships, you know, our businessincubation program and the innovation
districts that, you know, Carol Annand others are leading is one of the.
Really, uh, crowning accomplishments,you know, it takes a lot of
(28:26):
resources to pull together.
So we're lucky that our city worksin a tangent with our county, you
know, and then we have the NationalEntrepreneur Center, uh, NEC is just
amazing and all of the different, uh.
Chamber organizations that areunder one roof as BBC score.
You know, there's a lot of people, evenlike the person I met today that have
(28:49):
never heard of them and don't know about.
Isn't that amazing.
Right.
So it's like our job to be anambassador, to help bring it to them.
You know, let me tell you aboutit and let me tell you about
NAWBO and how we can help you.
So, well, I, I've enjoyed this littlejourney on the inside of some things
that I did not know, but, um, NAWBOshould have presence over there, do they?
(29:12):
And we are, we're a partner.
We don't have an office, but we'rea partner and we hold our meetings,
our lunch and learn meetings.
Okay.
I was wondering about that.
And you can find us at nawboolando.org.
Perfect.
Perfect there.
Okay.
So we're going to switch gears and we'regoing to go into some more personal
questions so that our listeners can getan idea a little bit more about you.
(29:34):
So they are something that'sa little more revealing.
What is the hardest lesson thatyou learned that changed your life?
I really have to say.
Um, when I was losing the opportunityat CIFIC when it was closing, it was
like a family, you know, we reallyfelt a bond in the beginning, you
(29:56):
know, it was kind of like a regular.
Office and.
You know, people were busy, but thentoward the end, uh, it became a family.
And so when it was closing,it was, it was hard.
And then it was a really big stretch totake the advice that we were giving to
other people and apply it to yourself.
(30:18):
You know, um, it's a stretch whenyou decide that you want to work
for yourself and take that leap.
And then there's some faith,you know, where we don't see, we
can't, we don't know exactly what'sgoing to happen on the other side.
So we have to be a little braveand courageous to take that step.
We could fall or we could.
(30:39):
Stand, you know, and so I justfelt like, you know, all the things
were leading me in that direction.
When you know that you don't faceinsurmountable odds or challenges and
things just sort of open naturally, thatto me is a sign that I am being guided.
But you have to be open to receive.
(31:02):
And when you are, then youknow what you have to do.
I know, just so you know, I have a lotof guests that share their faith here.
It's not, it's not somethingthat we discourage.
We want people to do that.
And this particular response that yougave about the hardest lesson really
ties into what you said your favoritequote was, which was Philippians 4 13.
(31:24):
But I'm going to let you goahead and share that one.
I can do all things inChrist that strengthen me.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that tied in so beautifully with thatstory about the hardest lesson because
you said you have to walk in faith.
And that is truly hard for people.
And I think many times if we couldn'tsee, we would have probably greater faith.
(31:46):
That's true.
Yeah.
And it's, it's the challenges that shapeus to be, you know, we're, we're in
the better servants, a better servantbecause we're all here to serve.
Well, what are you most grateful for?
I'm most grateful for my family and,um, my You know, blessing of having my
(32:09):
work that, you know, fulfills me, uh,being able to leave a positive impact
with people finding places better,leaving places better than I found them.
And just the journey itself withmeeting lots of different people,
you know, there's always someonethat you're going to learn from, I
(32:32):
think when you never stop learning.
And you grow just, it's part of thatmaturing that you go through, we go
through different phases of our life.
And then it's like, Oh,that was what that was for.
Now I get it.
But at the time I didn't, um,I think all of that comes full
circle, but you have to be wiser.
(32:52):
And then through age, aswe mature, we get that.
Yeah, we become more beautiful on theinside, hopefully, then maybe the youth
when we're in our younger years, we, youknow, we may look great, we may have be
taking really good care of our body, orwe take it for granted, honestly, that
we can do things right, you know, whetherit's like being able to just get up off
(33:15):
of the ground or whatever, but yeah.
I don't have that problemyet, but I'm thankful.
But, you know, nonetheless, it's, youreally see a more beautiful person on
the inside than where you were before.
Yeah.
Well, and I think a lot of the challengesthat we face with COVID and, you know,
so many things that have stretched ourway, you know, you don't think, Those
(33:37):
types of things change you, but they do.
And they're still having impact,but you know, we rise and we get
up and we do what we need to do.
But I think it's about the attitudethat you have and surrounding yourself
with people that will bring positiveenergy and then removing those negative.
(34:00):
you know, detract.
Yeah.
Well, who in your life hashad the biggest impact?
I would have to say that probably my mom,you know, my mother has been a rock and
she's always been my best friend and,you know, just being there for me, um,
unconditionally and, uh, supporting me andcheering me on and, um, There's nothing
(34:28):
like having the love of a mom and, youknow, knowing that they're there for you
and just proud of everything that you do.
And I know that every, you know,as my mother is aging, every day
that I have with her is a giftand I don't take it for granted.
And it's important.
You said you have a daughter.
(34:48):
And you have a son, right?
So you're a mom then and you get tosee it from a different point of view.
I think that the best gift thatparents can give their children
is one, uh, the first is likea showing them what a committed
healthy marriage would look like.
Um, I think that's certainly one thing.
(35:10):
The second is to demonstrate howyou love people that have raised
you and then become the caretaker.
So I think those two areas are like thebest gift you can give a child so that
they can carry that out into the world.
I don't think a lot of peopledo that, especially if they've
(35:32):
gone through a divorce.
Um, I think it takes even more.
I sit here and go, wow, if you couldbe such great parents divorced,
and then you're not fighting overyour kid or anything like that.
And you're being super.
Communicative thinking, why couldn't youhave done that when you were married?
But there's reasons, you know, and sonot always there, but I, I feel like
(35:53):
what you're, um, giving your childrenis the best examples of how to be a good
husband, good wife for each of your kids.
And then also how to be agood friend and how you would
like them to take care of you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It's important.
Family is.
Um, just one of the most importantthings and, you know, you can, I think
(36:17):
the biggest thing is understanding thebalance, you know, you can have work,
but it doesn't love you back and youwant to not sacrifice your family.
So it's, you know, that's alwaysthe challenge is how do you
balance all of those things?
But I think, uh, Having faith and,you know, having that higher power
(36:37):
really helps to put things inperspective and keeps you grounded.
Yeah, there was a guest I had beforeyou and he, instead of using the
word balance, and I've used that alot, he used a word that I haven't
heard used before in the podcast.
He said, you know, youhave to govern yourself.
And I went.
You know what?
I really like that word choice becauseI think it's even more powerful
(37:02):
than balance because I don't thinkwe can really stay in balance.
But yet the word govern reallyshows me that I've got choices.
True.
Right?
And I just felt like, but yet.
It's so intentional.
It means that you're really, really,it's not like, Oh, I'm making
a choice or I'm going to try.
There's no try.
There's either do ornot, but there is govern.
(37:24):
And that means that I'm keepingmyself in check, which is
really a very powerful word.
That is.
I like it.
Yeah.
Great.
Thanks.
Well, it's for Roger.
Roger, this one's for you, buddy.
Okay.
So what would you want tobe remembered for in life?
I would like to be remembered for,uh, making an impact in my community.
(37:49):
You know, whether it's through thework I've done, um, with my nonprofits,
the organizations, my children, uh,my church, my family, um, just knowing
that, you know, I was able to be a lightand a good role model for others and,
(38:10):
you know, just bringing about positive.
Yep.
Everything is about impact.
Have you, um, heard of now?
I had not heard of this before, um, agovernment resume and it's all about
the amount of impact that you can bring.
And once I started researching those,and this was just like a few months ago,
(38:31):
but wow, these are powerful numbers.
They're really big numbers, whether it'sthe number of people that you serve or the
amount of money that you may, uh, have.
You know, in your power, I'm goingto use that word again, but to be
able to manage and to do good things,it was just an incredible resume.
(38:52):
And I went, I think we should be learningthis at the beginning when we're first
creating resumes, because it's reallyhard to go back in your life and go.
Well, what did I do with this, youknow, with this opportunity that I had
to be just like you said, you know,something that was, um, a light, you
know, do you have that kind of a resume?
(39:13):
Do you know what I'm talking about?
Have you seen them?
Cause most people have not seen themand I'm going to show it to you offline
because it was really, it was, Justastonishing how much a person has
achieved in their life and, but wedon't measure our lives that way.
No, I would love to see it.
Yeah, I've started teaching thistype of resume because I keep
(39:35):
going back every time I teach it.
I go, okay, I'm going to go put thisover here because I actually did this.
This is how many students I,I taught in this lifetime.
You know, as a publicclassroom teacher, this is.
You know, how many adults I, I workedwith, you know, whether it's in
Employers 4 Change, but there's theseplaces that, um, I think it becomes
(39:55):
the eulogy that would be shared in thislast question that I had asked, right?
Like, what would you wantto be remembered for?
Right.
Yeah.
Oh, that's neat.
I would like to learn.
Sounds good.
Well, we're going to take a momentand acknowledge our sponsor, Cat 5
Studios, and we will be right back.
The Intern Whisperer is brought to you byCat 5 Studios, who help you create games
(40:18):
and videos for your training and marketingneeds that are out of this world.
Visit Cat 5 Studios for moreinformation to learn how Cat 5
Studios can help your business.
Thank you.
Cat 5 Studios.
Now we're back to thesecond half of our show.
And this is where we talk aboutthe future of jobs and industries.
And what is 2030 look like?
And this is where there isno right or wrong answer.
(40:38):
Anything you can imagine.
So put on your director hat.
If you love sci fi movies or if you'rea writer, whatever it is, but it's
science fiction, it's 2030, whichis really right around the corner.
Basically it's like six years away, right?
So what does it look like?
It can be anything.
It's not tied to your industry.
(40:59):
Do you think George Jetson carsare going to really be flying yet?
Do you feel like we'll be living underthe ocean or out on another planet?
It can be anything.
Well, I do think they'regoing to have flying cars.
Cause I think I've heard that.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that's justlike right around the corner.
And then, um, I forget where it was.
(41:20):
I don't know if it's in Dubai.
It was that city that they're raising.
That's like, you know, um, it lookslike a rectangle and, um, you know,
I, when you say that they're raising,do you mean that they're building it
or they're actually excavating it?
I think they're building it.
Um, I, I know I researched somethingand I saw it's like a whole city within
(41:47):
and it's everything contained andit's inside of a bubble or something.
It's not a bubble, but it's likea rectangle and it's flat and
it, it, you know, is long andit's like trying to take up.
Less.
Oh.
Of a footprint.
Okay.
Yeah.
Uh, it says Saudi Arabia is buildingThe Line, a new line, a new city
(42:08):
enclosed, um, through it willsnake through the Saudi desert.
And is that a good idea?
It's 105 miles long.
Um, wow.
A tall and narrow strip of a city.
With 9 million residents and runningentirely on renewable energy.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
(42:29):
That, that like blew my mind.
I was like, wow, that'sgoing to be quite a city.
Hmm.
Well, that's intriguing.
Um, okay.
So I can see that I'venever been to Dubai.
Have you?
I have not.
Is it on your list?
I would like to go there.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Okay.
Uh, so they have very tallbuildings, taller than what we
(42:50):
have here in the United States.
And I always find that interesting becauseI go, but aren't they just on sand?
And how do they stay upin the air that long?
And it just seems like so incredibly hard.
Yeah, it would be, I don't know, they'revery aggressive and the development
over there and you know, it's, Quiteimpressive with the architecture.
(43:11):
That's for sure.
Okay.
So going back flying cars,what else are you envisioning?
Well, I know the way marketingis going to be done, I think
will be, you know, changing.
I know, uh, I've read about Elon Musk,you know, building Neuralink with the
brain and how advertising is goingto target the brain specifically.
(43:36):
Um, That'll be interesting in 2030with our messaging and, um, location
based AI and AR advertising, lookingat, you know, the 5G networks and
location, uh, how that's going to target.
Cause everybody wants to knowyour cookies and where you're at.
(43:58):
I think having the hyperconnectivity will be helpful.
Um, advertising will be based on,uh, physical location and presence
of people with a lot more impact.
I don't think I've heard about this thing.
Uh, oh, a brain chip says ElonMusk brain chip startup Neuralink.
(44:19):
Neuralink.
Oh, that's a little scary.
It is a little scary.
Yeah.
It's going to be implants forhumans to interact with computers.
It says that it's for peoplethat have some type of paralysis.
So that's um, that's interesting.
Do you ever see, have youever seen Black Mirror?
I have not.
Okay.
You should definitely watchthat one for sure because I've
(44:41):
been watching this as a series.
It's on Netflix.
Okay.
And it's also, it's very dark.
I'm not going to lie to you.
It's very dark.
And it's like, what is the worst thingthat we could be doing with, with, uh,
with, with The type of technology andhow we could, if we don't, you know,
harness it wisely, um, govern it wisely,then we could be in a lot of trouble.
(45:02):
Um, they did have something, uh,like this as one of the, the series,
it's like five, there's five episodesin a series that they put out.
And the newest ones are, one ofthem is about something like this.
So it's interesting.
I would, I've been talking about this showfor, I don't know, a year now, but, um,
(45:23):
it's always something that you sit hereand you think and go, well, just because
we can do it doesn't mean we should do it.
Maybe not.
Or it's a cautionary tale as towhat can happen if we are not
being thoughtful and responsible.
Right.
Yeah, and that's the terrifying,you know, thought right now with
(45:46):
Terminator and those types of things.
They used to be very futuristic,but I know Elon Musk has come out
and said, you know, we need to becareful about the AI and, you know.
What the negative impact is.
So, but yet he's doing this thing now.
I know.
Neuralink.
And I'm sitting here and I understandit's for, for people with paralysis.
(46:08):
So there's, you know, we'llsay that there's a good thing.
And I have, I can't even talk aboutit because I have just been, as
you continue to talk, I'm going,okay, what's this, what's this?
And I can, you know, look it up and,Look at it later, but I'm going to
go grab this, this link here andthen put it in the, in the notes.
Um, but I find this intriguing thatwe have people that are doing these
(46:31):
things, but yet, um, I don't knowif they really think through it all.
Do you think Elon?
I don't know.
Does he really think throughthings like he should?
I think it's hard for anyoneto really think through because
there's so many avenues.
You have to have advisors, right?
Yeah.
And, um, it's a risk.
(46:53):
I mean, you know, obviously you wantto progress and then now everything
is Chat GPT and AI and it's kind of,you know, you have to embrace it.
Um, but.
There definitely needs to be somehigher connection, um, you know, so that
doesn't get in the hands of adversaries,but that's, that's the challenge.
(47:18):
I, I totally get it.
I totally get it.
And that can keep you up at night.
So, um, yeah.
So you've been workingremotely since COVID.
I know you mentioned it earlier.
And so when we look at how you wereworking before COVID and how you
work now, do you have a preference?
Um, I have always been remote.
(47:38):
So, you know, it really didn'tmatter for me with COVID.
Um, Now there's been a change with peoplegetting more, you know, back together.
There's, you know, people are starved forthe human contact, you know, networking
has definitely increased with NAWBO.
You know, a lot of our programs werevirtual and then it was a mix, a
(47:59):
hybrid, and now it's all in person.
You know, people are back and,uh, You know, it's there isn't a
replacement for that human connection.
People still need.
I mean, you can still use some of thetools as convenience, but even with AI,
you know, you still need to have thehuman element to oversee and run it.
(48:22):
Um, I think, you know, it,it wouldn't be replaced.
Mm hmm.
I would agree.
I think that there's going to be amovement to make it so that we remember
how to be relational and how to beintentional because we're on these
devices so much when we're connected.
To whether you go to a gym, you're,you're over there on something that's
(48:45):
electronic and it's measuring, youknow, something that you're doing.
If you're on some type of a treadmillor whatever kind of device, you
might have an app connected to you atthe same time that's in your phone.
So there's always a device that'saround us that's listening to us
and measuring and Gathering data.
(49:06):
And I feel like there's going to bethis place where it's going to be more
of like, well, how do we make sure weare really connecting with a person?
Well, and I think that ties into a lotof what's happening with the youth today
with, uh, the rise of depression and,uh, you know, social media and just not
having the physical relationships, the.
(49:28):
Young people are definitely moretuned into scrolling on TikTok or,
you know, what's happening, um, ontheir digital devices and they're not
having those relationships as much.
So it's important for them to get intosports and to get into clubs and to
get back to basics, you know, like.
(49:49):
Um, just, you know, the movement fromfarm to table, knowing where your
food comes from and being part ofthat sustainability, um, just getting
out and playing, you know, recess.
I know they were trying to takethat away for a while, but the
brain needs that to process.
And there is a connectionwith the mind body.
And so, you know, I think thesimpler things that we had, you
(50:14):
know, it shouldn't be replaced.
So there needs to be that governanceor that balance, you know, where
we can have a combination becauseyou know, all digital and no other,
you know, you can't really survive.
Your body needs that, uh, connectivityand just going through it, that immersion.
(50:37):
You know, there's an app, um, that Ihad tested out for a little bit, uh, to
help me sleep, um, help me sleep better.
I don't have a problem withsleeping, but I was intrigued.
I literally just fall into bed andI go to sleep, but I wanted to just
see, well, what was this about?
Because they had had.
We always hear about white noise,and then there's green noise, and
(50:58):
there's brown noise, and there wasjust all of these different types of,
of background noises that can help,help a person fall to sleep better.
And I went, well, I'm intriguedenough to, to try it out.
So I have it, but it tells you thatyou're supposed to keep it, your phone
plugged into the wall so it doesn't die.
(51:20):
And it's always listening, you listeningto you and it can tell if you've been
like moving around, if you're talkingin your sleep, if you're making
snoring, if you make other bodilysounds, it'll tell you all of that.
And I went, I don't know if I like theidea because I mean, that's information
that maybe I want to know, right.
(51:40):
But it's also meaning thatsomebody's gathering that
information for some reason.
Well, and that happens now, like youmight have a conversation and then.
You know, a couple minutes later, youlook on your phone and you got an ad.
Exactly.
And so it's like, really?
They're listening.
Yeah.
Constantly, constantlylistening and where it goes.
(52:03):
I don't know.
Yeah, very much so.
Um, okay.
Robots.
What do you think about robots?
Do you know Wendy Austin?
I'm pretty sure you don't.
She's with the first and they helped.
She's been a guest on my podcast andjust so you know, so was Carol Ann.
So I hope you go listen to Carol Ann.
She, I likened her to that movie hiddenfigures where it was the, uh, the black
(52:27):
women that came into NASA and theywere helping with all of the type of
math issues that they were having.
And she was like that.
So if you watch the, or listen tothe show, you're going to go, wow,
she was one of the first people thatwere pioneering as a woman in this
field of STEM and tech back then.
(52:47):
Yeah, she's amazing.
Anyway, Wendy Austin with the first, um,she is the executive director of a group
that helps from kindergarten to collegeage, build robots, kids, all of all sizes.
Yeah.
And they compete in these competitionsand it's pretty, it's pretty fun.
Um, I was really impressed andher show has been one of the fan
(53:10):
favorites is what I've noticed so far.
It's downloaded a lot, but she's,her background was in theater
and you would love this woman.
You're going to want to meet her now.
Meet her.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that reminds me, as you weretalking about STEM, I forgot
to mention tech sassy girls.
I've been involved withthem for about 10 years, Dr.
Lane Powell.
And uh, you know, they do a lotof program, the pearls in tech.
(53:33):
They just had their, um, over the summer,the six week work internship programs
where the girls learn new skills and,um, Graduate with opportunities for
their career development and the techconference that she usually puts together
once a year, you know, because they'reable to see the role models of people who
(53:55):
have been in these positions and do it.
And then that inspires the girls, soserving the underrepresented middle and
high school girls so that they can pursueSTEM careers, feeding that pipeline.
Mm.
She does great work too.
She does.
Yeah, really, really great work.
And her husband, Courtney,um, ace applications also.
(54:16):
Yeah.
They're a power couple.
They are.
That's what I think of them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're very, very good.
So with the robots coming back overthere, we have robots that are here
in Central Florida and they will bringyou food over there in Osceola County.
There are robots in another restaurantthat I understand that is in Orlando.
I cannot remember the name of it.
(54:36):
But somebody had told me about thatthey're there and there was supposedly
not robots, but it's being run by robots.
No humans are inside of the McDonald's.
It's in Florida and don't knowwhere, but it was in Florida and
you go in and get your order pay.
It's all done on the kiosk.
And then, you know, yourfood rolls out to you.
(54:56):
There's no humans.
And I went, that is sad because I reallylike going into McDonald's to have
somebody say, Hey, have a nice day.
Right.
Yeah.
I know.
That's the, the combination, youknow, the advent of technology and
then what it means for workers.
Yeah.
You know, those first jobs, right, right.
(55:17):
We're talking a lot about youth andthose youth may not be people that would
go for a typical programming degree.
Not everybody.
I was not meant to be a programmer.
And that helps with customerservice because when you.
You know, work a job.
I did customer serviceon the phone for Disney.
So, you know, having thosepositions helps you for other
(55:40):
things, learning how to talk.
Yes.
And understand how to work.
And behave differently in awork environment versus school
versus your personal life.
You know, that's very differentpersonas that we present.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
That's going to be interesting.
Well, that's also one ofthe things for marketing.
They're going to havebought optimized marketing.
(56:01):
So what is that?
Yeah.
Where you're going to be, you know,content and marketing copy is not just
going to be addressing people, butyou're going to be selling to bots.
So, um, you know, whether,how do you sell to a bot?
You're going to be appealingto shopping criteria.
Uh, that's going to be interesting.
I don't know how that works exactly,but we'll have to go find more.
(56:23):
It'll be a trend.
Yes.
I think you should talk about that.
That should be an article you write.
Okay.
Yeah.
When you have extra time.
Yeah.
I would like to, I mean, it is, it'sinteresting to see how technology
is impacting all the things that wedo traditionally, but you know, I
think there's still the combinationof what works in the marketplace.
(56:47):
So I don't think that will goaway, but, um, it's interesting
to see how it changes.
Mm hmm.
So we've been talking a lot about howthis can impact all different types
of people, but what about the ethics?
Something that I was lookingat is, is there an ethics board
that's out there with AI and howit's being used in the world?
(57:09):
And I, I was doing a lot of research onthis, like, I don't know, three weeks
ago to see what committees there were.
I know that World Economic Summit thatalways comes up and they address these
kind of things there, but World EconomicForum does have an interest in this
area of ethics and AI and there's othergroups that are forming around it.
(57:31):
So I was interested in startingsomething if it's not here in
Central Florida, where we address theethics of STEM of technology of AI.
and the.
Impact that it has in our lives, but alsoas it relates to jobs, because if I have
a down syndrome person, they, they will,they may not have the ability to be one
(57:55):
of these things, but they could have beenthe best McDonald's greeter in the world.
So I feel like.
We need to protect some of these thingsthat are there that help remind us to
be aware of other people around us.
Sensitive.
Yeah.
(58:17):
Yeah, there's, there's valuein so many different levels
of work that people can do.
And when you just removeit completely and make it.
Automated I think that is a missedopportunity because it could be
something that humans still do.
So I would like to see.
(58:39):
You know, that's not forgotten, um, sopeople can have those opportunities.
Yeah.
I like how you said that, that it create,it could create a missed opportunity.
That's key.
That is really, really key.
And it's important to remember that theseare always opportunities that we have.
(58:59):
And instead of just racing throughour life, we should be More slow and
just really notice what's around us.
Well, every experience that you haveprepares you for something else.
You know, you may not know it at the time,but when you started out and you were in
customer service and you were, you know,interfacing with the customer and taking
(59:24):
the order or handling the cash that waspreparing you for how to deal with people.
And, you know, then you go to yournonprofit work and you are, you
know, dealing with people thatneed questions about arthritis
and the, you know, aquatic.
Classes or, you know, differentthings that are going on.
So, you know, everything prepares youfor the next part of your journey.
(59:47):
It's just how you approach it.
Maslow's theory being very self aware.
Yes.
Yes.
And self awareness starts withnoticing people around you, not
just, just flowing through life.
Um, this has been agreat, great interview.
It's been very deep, I think, deep.
(01:00:10):
And I, I appreciate that quite a bit.
It's really hard to believe thatthis has almost been an hour.
So, uh, best mentoring advice that youwould want to share with our listeners.
I think it's to teachsomebody how to do your job.
So, you know, when you're looking tomentor others, you're looking to create
(01:00:31):
your successors and you know, holdingthings to the vest, I think limits
because we want to be able to share.
It's about sharing.
And, um, I think.
That's the biggest thing is never stoplearning and then also giving because we
(01:00:55):
have to recognize that when we get to aplace, we have to be able to give back.
And so many times people get to a leveland they forget the stepping stones
along the way, the starter studios,you know, that they need to give
back and fund or, um, You know, help.
It really matters.
You know, spending time at your collegealumni, uh, you know, mentoring children,
(01:01:20):
whatever it might be playing a rolethat makes your community better because
it is all part of the building blocks.
And we all want the same things.
We all want success and happinessand good outcomes, positive outcomes.
Yeah.
How can people get in touch with you?
They can find me on mywebsite and my social media.
(01:01:43):
Uh, my website is cksmarketing.
com and I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn,Krista K Santos and Instagram.
Well, let's spell Christa.
Oh, C H R I S T A.
Yep.
There Instagram, CKSmarket.
Gotcha.
We also included your LinkedIn accountso people can reach out to you there.
(01:02:06):
And I think you mentioned theInstagram one, I think, but yes,
all of this will be published onthe closed card of our guests.
We always do a contact card forthe guests so people can see that
they find that on YouTube for sure.
Great.
Well, it has been delightfulhaving you here as a guest.
You're like awesome.
And I'm really well, thank you.
(01:02:29):
Thank you.
But I, I really learned so much moreabout you that I just didn't know.
Oh, thank you.
Yeah.
We want to thank our sponsor, Cat 5Studios, and thank you to our video
team, Gabe LaPorte, Tommy Myers,Andrew Piggott, and Julissa Hurtado.
Music is by Charles LawrenceLide, and you can visit Employers
4 Change at www.e4c.tech.
(01:02:53):
To learn how you can create realdiversity and inclusive culture while
scaling your people for the future work.
Thank you for supporting the InternWhisperer by subscribing to us on
Podbean, our Employers 4 ChangeYouTube channel, or streaming from
your favorite podcast channel.
Hi, my name is Isabella Johnstonand I am the Intern Whisperer.
Our show is brought to you by Employers4 Change and today's tip of the week is
continuing our series on unconscious bias.
This one is called confirmation bias.
This type of bias is when we have aninclination to draw conclusions about
(00:32):
a situation or person based on yourpersonal desires, beliefs, prejudices,
beliefs, Rather than an unbiased merit.
So when hiring confirmation biasoften plays a detrimental role at the
very beginning of the process, whenyou first review a resume and form
an initial opinion of the candidatebased on inconsequential attributes,
(00:57):
like their name, where they're from,where they went to school and so forth.
This opinion can follow you into theinterview process and consequently
steer questions to confirm theinitial opinion of the candidate.
So how can you avoid anytype of confirmation bias?
Well, one way is to ask standardizedskills based questions that provide each
(01:22):
candidate with a fair chance to stand out.
This will help prevent your team fromasking too many off the cuff questions
that may lead to a confirmation bias.
We want to thank bulletin.
com that created this list of unconsciousbias tips that we are sharing here.
And we look forward to being a resource.
(01:46):
To the community with this collectivewisdom from out in our world.
Thank you.
Okay.
So I want to welcome to the InternWhisperer shows all about the
future of work and innovation.
Um, Christa Santos.
She is the president of CKS marketing.
She specializes in providingstrategic marketing solutions
for a variety of clients andindustries and holds a master's in.
(02:10):
Public administration from UCF go Knights.
She is active in women's entrepreneurshipefforts and the president elect
with NAWBO, which has over 10million women owned businesses
as members in the United States.
So our show is I'm soexcited to have you Christa.
I'm very excited.
(02:30):
Um, we always talk about education,innovation and the future of industries
and we kick the show off and say,tell us five words that describe
you and why those five words.
Okay.
Well, thank you for having me here today.
I'm excited about the opportunityand looking forward to share
with your listeners and viewers.
A couple of words about me.
(02:52):
I would say trustworthy.
My clients know that they cancount on me to deliver when they
need to, and I'm there for them.
Passionate.
I think as an entrepreneur,you need to be.
Invested and it doesn't makeit feel like work, you know,
it's something that you enjoy.
So you have to findthat passion and driven.
(03:14):
You have to be driven because you're facedwith a lot of challenges and a variety of
tasks, and you can let that get you down.
So you have to be driven, get up.
You know, keep going every day,creative thinking outside the box.
I love innovation and collaborative.
I love teaming with others, uh,exploring opportunities for synergy
(03:37):
and growing those opportunities.
Well, I like how succinctlyyou, uh, package those together.
That's really good for amarketing person to do.
So you have a gift of beingvery concise with words.
So that's excellent.
Thank you.
Uh, next question is always like,how did, where did you go to school?
How did you get to where you are now?
What was that journey like?
(03:58):
So you can wind us down there.
Feel free to add anythingabout CKS marketing and then
also NAWBO if you want to.
Okay.
Thank you.
Well, I started as a student at UCF.
I loved UCF.
It was a great opportunity.
I was involved in student government.
Uh, really got my foot wet by doing publicrelations and helped with preparing the
(04:22):
ads and, uh, you know, flyers that wouldget the students to the football games.
And then I emulated oneof my sorority sisters.
I was an Alpha Delta Phi sorority, andshe was involved in the Miss UCF pageant.
And she put all.
things together.
So I became involved in Panhellenicand created that brochure.
(04:43):
And so over time, use the Mac lab, uh,learned desktop publishing, and then
I graduated and the job market was notgreat for, you know, someone, a female.
And I was, you know, given clericaladministrative opportunities.
That sucks.
It really did.
And.
You know, I felt like I've interned.
(05:04):
I've had all of this experience.
I've written for the newspaper.
You know, why am I not getting thesame opportunities as men with the
same degree, maybe less experience.
So I looked at my resume and, uh,made a few calls and Channel 9 took
me on and brought me in as an intern.
But after graduation, so I had toanswer the phone, do the hotline.
(05:29):
Uh, and then I was exposed, youknow, I just kept asking for more.
I always asked for more thingsthat I could do, try to find
things to make myself useful.
And then I recognized that Ididn't like doing the topicals.
Um, you know, when theteam would come in with.
The video footage and trying to putsomething together for the five o'clock
news, you know, in an hour and 15 minutes,the pressure was I liked working in a
(05:52):
fast paced environment and I did yearbookand newspaper in high school, but this
was not the fast paced environment.
I wanted.
So, I volunteered with non profitorganizations, the Parent Resource Center.
I would write scripts, uh, forspeaking engagements, press kits,
uh, design flyers and brochures, andworked with a lot of non profits.
(06:15):
And one of my sorority sisters neededhelp with the MS Society, and we, I
helped her with that and helped organizeabout 3,000, volunteers for their walk.
And it was a very big undertaking.
So, that led me to, um,Getting a job with Disney.
I learned the convention services side.
(06:36):
I would put the banquet eventorders together and learned about
the fairy tale weddings department.
And then I kept trying to,you know, use my degree.
I wanted to get into marketing andthe opportunities were just not there.
So eventually I got a positionto become executive director
of the arthritis foundation.
And it was a nine County service area.
(06:58):
And, um, I had to builda new board of directors.
I had to go to health fairs.
Uh, you know, some of the majoraccomplishments that I'm proud of is that
we established a clinic for the medicallyindigent and we partnered with the Paul
Newman Boggy Creek camp for juvenilerheumatoid arthritis for the children.
(07:18):
And that was a big milestone.
I'm curious, when did you do thatwith the arthritis foundation?
That was between 94 and 97.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then, you know, we did theJingle Bell run and did lots of
media opportunities, health fairs.
I got a car donated by Saturn of Orlando.
(07:38):
That's impressive.
That's hard.
And the car insurance from progressive,uh, because I read in our arthritis today
magazine that they had an ergonomic.
Uh, steering wheel.
And then I heard on the radio, theywere giving a Saturn car for teacher
of the year to explore Saturn.
And I thought, well, if they woulddo that, you know, maybe they would
do that for us because we have togo through all these nine County
(08:00):
service areas and bring brochures.
And we have, you know, carsthat are not really reliable.
And so sure enough, you know, ifyou can dream it, you can do it.
You put the proposal together, got theirattention and we got the car donated.
They had the logos.
put on the side of the car.
And they did this for five years.
Uh, so is that how long you were ED?
(08:22):
I was there for about four years.
Yeah.
So great experience.
And then I had a couple ofother opportunities, worked with
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, did.
Amazing.
I never thought I could do a walk andraise over 300,000 dollars but we did
330,000 and then did the first BrevardCounty walk and it raised over 80,000.
(08:46):
And the key was getting the CEOsto, uh, commit and then get their
list and then find that common.
Thread, you know, finding someonethat was affected and impacted by
arthritis or rheumatoid or diabetesand helping them tell their story.
And that was really the storytellingpart that came to light.
(09:07):
And then that propelled me.
To Central Florida Innovation Corporation,I almost didn't call them back.
I got this voice message andI was like, what is this?
And, uh, I learned all about the worldof entrepreneurship and it really
opened my opportunities at that point.
And I worked for for about seven years.
(09:28):
What is that called?
CIFIC.
Yeah.
Central Florida Innovation Corporation.
And we put on our first angel investmentconference and that's where I, uh, got
connected with UCF and Tom O'Neill andthe office of research and, uh, you
know, just a lot of Interesting peoplein the community that really worked to
(09:51):
build entrepreneurship to what it istoday and the exposure with the Orlando
regional chamber and the economicdevelopment commission and so many other,
uh, economic service organizations.
And then at that point, uh, CIFICwas closing, um, Central Florida
Innovation District Corporation.
(10:13):
I found the corporation, but it's notthere, but they now have something called
Central Florida Innovation District.
So I wasn't sure.
Yeah, I think that is part of theUCF program, uh, with the business
incubation program and the innovationdistricts that Carol Ann Dykes
Logue and others are running.
So, Okay.
Interesting.
(10:33):
Yeah, but It was a great opportunityand that led me to UCF and I was
able to help open the businessincubation program in 1999 and then
worked with UCF for, uh, 12 years.
Wow.
You're kind of a big deal.
I'm just going to say that because asyou've been talking, I'm over here going,
let me look this up and look this up andyour name is like all over the place.
(10:56):
You're a little fairy of, you know,sprinkling gold dust all over everybody.
That's in here.
And it's very impressive to have raisedover 300,000 for the arthritis foundation.
That is a hard thing to do.
Juvenile, Rheumatoid, Diabetes foundation.
Yes.
KDRF, but yes, it is.
It takes a lot of people and JohnHillenmayer, who was with Orlando Regional
(11:19):
Health at the time he was our chair.
And Mike Means was the one forBrevard County with Health First.
So when you were over thereat the TV station, that sounds
like it was pretty fun too.
And it's hard to get your foot inthe door into anything that's in TV.
I know that it's like getting into sports.
You have to know somebody.
(11:41):
So the fact that you got in there,I mean, it says something for you.
You know, you're tenacious.
I'd add that as a word to you,you know, that describes you.
So, um, and you knowhow to deliver impact.
That's, that's powerful.
Thank you.
It taught me a lot about resilience andabout, you know, not being afraid to
go after things that you need, lookingat your skills and figuring out what
(12:06):
the gap is, you know, and working to,you know, make, uh, less than the gap.
What can we do to make ourself moreattractive for the next opportunity?
And then when you have a goalin mind, you work toward that.
Mm hmm.
That from the short little biothat you did of your journey.
Um, that's what I was gathering as I went.
(12:26):
So you're, you know how toconnect the dots for sure.
And you understood the focusis always on the other person.
So the user experience, whether it wasthe group that you're raising money
for or the nonprofit itself, or thealways the what's in it for me, who
you're asking them to give something.
Mm hmm.
That is good.
(12:47):
I'm going to have to have moreconversations with you because I
think that you you're, I was infundraising too, but I bow to you.
You're really very, very good at this.
Very good.
Yeah, it's not easy.
It is not, but you have a skill for it.
Thank you.
So let's talk about your business now.
Let's hear more about it.
(13:08):
Well, I was, I had it.
Just had my daughter in 2003,and, you know, it was coming
back from maternity leave.
And that's when I got the news that,unfortunately, CFIC was closing.
And at that time, you know, I hadto make a decision about what I was
going to do and came back and I just,you know, kept being surrounded for
(13:31):
so many years with entrepreneurs and,you know, startups, what can we do?
And I really thought, well, youknow, I'll, I'll let people know
that I can do work on projects.
And then it just took that one baseof UCF approaching me about what
I could do to work with them doingthe same kind of work that I did for
(13:53):
CIFIC, but that was a foundation.
And then that was what.
I built the other opportunities andthey were referrals because it was the
good work that you did in your currentposition and the connections that
you made that your work stood out andwas a source of referral for others.
(14:15):
And I always.
I'm mindful of that and tried to makesure that I, you know, when I would work
with my interns, I probably had over ahundred, uh, throughout the course of
my career, making sure that I would givethem the same training because I think,
you know, You get the expectation, yougo to school, you're going to do all
(14:35):
these great things and then reality isa different story and it's a struggle,
but you can make lemonade from it andyou can build or you can be frustrated
and you can be a victim of whatever fate.
You know, hand you so I really wantedto have a career in marketing and so
taking that leap of starting off small.
(14:59):
Uh, I grew over time and, you know,built my business and now I, you know.
Have the reputation and therespect from my clients.
And I value that greatly.
I always try to exceed expectationsand I don't overpromise.
I I'm always honest and I want to makesure that, you know, the companies
(15:19):
that I work with benefit and they,uh, I look at it as extreme home
makeover for clients for businesses.
And I love the creativity andI have to feel connected with
the people that I work with.
So if I'm representing them, I haveto feel like I can believe in their
businesses and I can support them asentrepreneurs and I can, uh, be that
(15:43):
extension and that representative, thatambassador, and I'm happy to do that.
So as a marketing company,what else do you do for them?
Do you write press releases,help publish those, you know?
synthesize what is supposedto be on their website.
You know, how we do all of that.
We're all service.
So, uh, we're a boutique agencyso we can scale up as we need to.
(16:06):
We handle a lot of different industries,uh, defense contracting, high tech
professional services, nonprofits.
Um, we work, you know, we developwebsites, digital marketing, uh,
media advertising, collateral, uh,press releases, media relations.
(16:29):
Is that how you got to StarterStudio because I know that's where
I think I first officially metyou is through Starter Studio.
Yes.
And I started studio is one of thecompanies that organ nonprofits
that I worked with through UCFand the time that I was there.
And then after, um, You know, leavingand creating my own business, then
(16:50):
they approached me about doing someproject work and, you know, help them.
So that's how it usually happens.
And, you know, it's a greathonor to be part of the story.
It was, I was part of themarketing support to help.
Launched starter studio when it cameand, uh, you mean when it was starter or
before that, even with Yes, it was canva.
(17:12):
Well, wait canvas canvas, right?
Kirstie Chadwick and Donna McKenzie.
And that's a Because I feel likeI should have known you then,
but I didn't, I didn't meet youuntil like Lillian stepped in.
Lillian Myers.
Yes.
She was the one that contactedme for starter studio.
Yeah, that is so crazy.
It's like you've always been there.
Kevin Bacon, six degrees.
(17:34):
Yeah, I know.
We're like this.
And just so our listeners know, I'm likemaking my hands going like airplanes,
but they're flying over each other.
So it's like, yeah.
And I had never met you.
And I just think you're amazing.
So yeah, yeah, very much so.
So I love this story, you know, as youcontinue to evolve it even more, what
(17:55):
do you, what are you branching out to?
And what is the next thing thatyou want to branch out into?
Because you said government, nonprofitstartups, you have corporate, I think
we've been talking about podcastingbecause you have a client that wants that.
What?
Yes.
That's my new, uh, you know, area to grow.
We haven't really.
(18:16):
Done anything in that before.
So, you know, I mean, I've been around it.
I've helped with topics on the area toprovide to podcasters, but for me to
develop our own, you know, and moderate,that'll be a new, exciting thing that,
um, you know, Project that I take onso happy to looking forward to that.
(18:37):
And also it's the value of beingable to collaborate with others.
That's where the collaboration comes in.
So, you know, talking to folks likeyou and others along the journey,
like Christina Kofsky and so many,you know, it's great to be able
to share and help one another.
So it is.
You're very relational iswhat I also have discovered.
(18:59):
And I think that's how you, you'revery successful with capturing new
clients is because you are relational.
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you.
That's the secret to sales isreally focusing on again, user
experience, customer experience.
Relationship building it'skey, but I think it's important
to hear what they need.
You know, so many times we, we speak,um, at them, but we need to listen
(19:24):
and we need to understand wherethey're coming from and what are
the challenges that they're facing.
In fact, I had a meeting with apotential client today and it was very.
Moving, you know, they found me froma radio station that I had been a,
a supporter from for a long time.
And we met and we opened with prayerand, uh, you know, they were emotional
(19:49):
about what was going on and, youknow, for me to be able to help them
is such a reward and a challenge atthe same time, but it's exciting.
And at the end of the meeting, it.
Went in my favor and I was gratefulfor the opportunity that I can,
you know, help this organization.
(20:10):
Gotcha.
Well, you're also veryinvolved in the community.
I know you don't have all of yourvolunteering on your LinkedIn because I
was going over your LinkedIn, you know,earlier today just to see, Oh, well,
what are all of the volunteer things?
They are not there, but I know howinvolved you are in this community.
And you're like, again, you know, Isaid that little magical fairy that's.
(20:32):
Just dropping gold dust all around.
You're there.
You're at a lot of things, uh,that, you know, I know I go to.
So what are the things that you'remost involved with right now?
Sure.
Well, right now I'm serving aspresident of NAWBO Orlando, uh,
chapter, which is a very great honorrepresenting, uh, women owned businesses.
I'm also involved, uh, as anadvisor to global women of impact.
(20:57):
I'm serving on the endowment committeefor my church, the cathedral church of St.
Luke.
Uh, we've also re instituted our St.
Mary's chapter of Daughters of the King.
And I am involved in AlphaDelta Pi as an alumni.
Uh, I served previously asan international officer with
(21:18):
the sorority and I would helpcreate alumni associations.
I've also been a mentor with UCF andI try to give back, you know, and, and
either through the intern program ormentoring with other students, share
my knowledge and expertise, because Ithink that's important to always give
back and know where you came from.
And some of these students are, youknow, My colleagues and, uh, having
(21:42):
families and that's really rewardingto see them in positions writing books.
Um, it's so excitingand, um, you know, just.
Involved in any place that, you know,I, I know that I can make an impact.
So lots of nonprofits over the yearsserved on the board for juvenile
research foundation, juvenile research.
(22:03):
Why did you pick that group?
Is there, is that something in the family?
Because I, you know, I thinkpeople, my mother died of leukemia.
So I'm very, very geared towardsthings that are more leukemia and for
drug overdose, because my youngestbrother died of a drug overdose.
So what's your connection?
Well, that was just an opportunitythat arose from, you know, work and
(22:29):
getting the opportunity to work there.
So, you know, I felt inspired bywhat they're doing for research and
the programs that they're offering.
Uh, that was also what drew meto the Arthritis Foundation.
That was a big challenge at the time,taking over, you know, really out of.
School, you know, maybe a year ortwo, um, building a whole board of
(22:53):
directors, but you know, arthritisimpacts so many people naturally.
And um, you know, just making surethat there are programs there to
support the need of the community.
It's, it's helpful.
Mm hmm.
Well, I know you mentioned a sorority too.
I'm guessing that you mustdo something over there.
(23:14):
Yeah.
I'm a member of the alumni association.
So I attend offices with the alumni.
I was the chapter president of,uh, the, or Greater Orlando Aumni
Association twice, so I've, I've wornthat hat and, um, you know, now I'm
happy to serve whenever they need help.
You know, with recruitment or, um, youknow, attending events, uh, speaking,
(23:39):
you know, giving back in those ways.
You, you sound like you never sleep.
So let's talk about NAWBO.
What is NAWBO?
NAWBO Orlando is the NationalAssociation of Women Business
Owners, and we 48th year.
And, uh, it's, it's exciting becausewe are the voice of women businesses.
(24:02):
So our mission is to propel womeninto spheres of influence for economic
impact, um, advocacy, and then alsowith their businesses in society.
So we're really trying to develop.
Programs that are educationaland informative and then
also have that connection.
(24:24):
We we have events on a local level.
We're all volunteer driven.
So we change positions every year and, um,I think that allows the opportunity for
growth and development and we see womenbusinesses of all stages and development.
They're not necessarily technologyfocused, um, but we want them
(24:45):
to be successful because they'rethe backbone of our economy.
And then on a national level, thereare, you know, 40 webinars and
programs with the NABO Institutethat they can connect with.
We have over 60 chapters acrossthe country and international
affiliates and over 5,000 members.
And the biggest.
(25:07):
Part that novel plays is really havinga seat at the table for the SBA,
Small Business Administration andaccess to Congress and being able to
have impact on a legislative scale.
And that's something that'sinteresting to me, because I have a
master's in public administration.
So maybe in the future, thatmight be opportunities to
(25:28):
serve on a national level.
You know, what.
What do, does Congress need toknow to help women businesses?
What are the biggestobstacles that we face?
Funding is one.
And, um, I know a lot of people withjust the certification, the red tape
sometimes of, you know, being able tohave these certifications that can help
(25:49):
your businesses get to the next level.
So, you know, the peer sharing and.
Having access to other women thathave been there and done that.
That's really, reallywhere NAWBO comes in.
And I've been able to getnew clients from NAWBO.
I've partnered with people through NAWBO.
Um, again, it's like a sisterhood.
We call it the teal tribe and,uh, because the colors are teal.
(26:12):
But it really means so much more.
It's, you know, that unconditionalsupport that, you know, that you can call
upon people to, you know, help you ifyou're struggling with a challenge or a
problem and, you know, whether it's on alocal level or a national level, you're
going to get the answer that you need.
And it's going to be the right answer.
It's going to be, uh, rooted.
(26:35):
And knowledge and experience.
You really have a good gift with words.
Really?
You do what, um, when you were at UCFwas, uh, the Nicholson school, was it?
It was not.
Yeah.
Okay.
No, I had Bob Davis andI had the famous speech.
I, I am proud to say that I was.
You know, I got an A in the classand Marla Weetsch was one of the
(26:59):
ones that was his star student.
So I felt like, okay, I, you know,and I was nervous when I was giving
my speech, but I saw a bug on thefloor and I think that just made
everybody freak out for a minute.
And then that.
Sense of anxiety left me andI was able to do a great job.
I did where there's a will.
There's an A, uh, on studyhabits and I nailed it.
(27:21):
So I was so proud of myself, butit was, it was a great experience.
It was a great major and,uh, I love my time at UCF.
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah, I would think so.
And it's the Knight Nation now, you know,the largest university in the country,
but you know, rising in prominence and,um, Are you sure about that though?
Because I think, uh, University ofArizona, they go back and forth on this.
(27:44):
Yeah, they do.
At the time I was there, I know,you know, the numbers kind of
go back and forth, but yeah.
Yeah.
And I think that the reason why, um, Imean, the numbers could be the same, but
you, University of Arizona is so big.
Based on their, um, online programand I think that's where they,
because they count both sides onthe ground and versus the other.
(28:06):
So I think UCF is unique though,because of the collaboration and the
partnerships, you know, our businessincubation program and the innovation
districts that, you know, Carol Annand others are leading is one of the.
Really, uh, crowning accomplishments,you know, it takes a lot of
(28:26):
resources to pull together.
So we're lucky that our city worksin a tangent with our county, you
know, and then we have the NationalEntrepreneur Center, uh, NEC is just
amazing and all of the different, uh.
Chamber organizations that areunder one roof as BBC score.
You know, there's a lot of people, evenlike the person I met today that have
(28:49):
never heard of them and don't know about.
Isn't that amazing.
Right.
So it's like our job to be anambassador, to help bring it to them.
You know, let me tell you aboutit and let me tell you about
NAWBO and how we can help you.
So, well, I, I've enjoyed this littlejourney on the inside of some things
that I did not know, but, um, NAWBOshould have presence over there, do they?
(29:12):
And we are, we're a partner.
We don't have an office, but we'rea partner and we hold our meetings,
our lunch and learn meetings.
Okay.
I was wondering about that.
And you can find us at nawboolando.org.
Perfect.
Perfect there.
Okay.
So we're going to switch gears and we'regoing to go into some more personal
questions so that our listeners can getan idea a little bit more about you.
(29:34):
So they are something that'sa little more revealing.
What is the hardest lesson thatyou learned that changed your life?
I really have to say.
Um, when I was losing the opportunityat CIFIC when it was closing, it was
like a family, you know, we reallyfelt a bond in the beginning, you
(29:56):
know, it was kind of like a regular.
Office and.
You know, people were busy, but thentoward the end, uh, it became a family.
And so when it was closing,it was, it was hard.
And then it was a really big stretch totake the advice that we were giving to
other people and apply it to yourself.
(30:18):
You know, um, it's a stretch whenyou decide that you want to work
for yourself and take that leap.
And then there's some faith,you know, where we don't see, we
can't, we don't know exactly what'sgoing to happen on the other side.
So we have to be a little braveand courageous to take that step.
We could fall or we could.
(30:39):
Stand, you know, and so I justfelt like, you know, all the things
were leading me in that direction.
When you know that you don't faceinsurmountable odds or challenges and
things just sort of open naturally, thatto me is a sign that I am being guided.
But you have to be open to receive.
(31:02):
And when you are, then youknow what you have to do.
I know, just so you know, I have a lotof guests that share their faith here.
It's not, it's not somethingthat we discourage.
We want people to do that.
And this particular response that yougave about the hardest lesson really
ties into what you said your favoritequote was, which was Philippians 4 13.
(31:24):
But I'm going to let you goahead and share that one.
I can do all things inChrist that strengthen me.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that tied in so beautifully with thatstory about the hardest lesson because
you said you have to walk in faith.
And that is truly hard for people.
And I think many times if we couldn'tsee, we would have probably greater faith.
(31:46):
That's true.
Yeah.
And it's, it's the challenges that shapeus to be, you know, we're, we're in
the better servants, a better servantbecause we're all here to serve.
Well, what are you most grateful for?
I'm most grateful for my family and,um, my You know, blessing of having my
(32:09):
work that, you know, fulfills me, uh,being able to leave a positive impact
with people finding places better,leaving places better than I found them.
And just the journey itself withmeeting lots of different people,
you know, there's always someonethat you're going to learn from, I
(32:32):
think when you never stop learning.
And you grow just, it's part of thatmaturing that you go through, we go
through different phases of our life.
And then it's like, Oh,that was what that was for.
Now I get it.
But at the time I didn't, um,I think all of that comes full
circle, but you have to be wiser.
(32:52):
And then through age, aswe mature, we get that.
Yeah, we become more beautiful on theinside, hopefully, then maybe the youth
when we're in our younger years, we, youknow, we may look great, we may have be
taking really good care of our body, orwe take it for granted, honestly, that
we can do things right, you know, whetherit's like being able to just get up off
(33:15):
of the ground or whatever, but yeah.
I don't have that problemyet, but I'm thankful.
But, you know, nonetheless, it's, youreally see a more beautiful person on
the inside than where you were before.
Yeah.
Well, and I think a lot of the challengesthat we face with COVID and, you know,
so many things that have stretched ourway, you know, you don't think, Those
(33:37):
types of things change you, but they do.
And they're still having impact,but you know, we rise and we get
up and we do what we need to do.
But I think it's about the attitudethat you have and surrounding yourself
with people that will bring positiveenergy and then removing those negative.
(34:00):
you know, detract.
Yeah.
Well, who in your life hashad the biggest impact?
I would have to say that probably my mom,you know, my mother has been a rock and
she's always been my best friend and,you know, just being there for me, um,
unconditionally and, uh, supporting me andcheering me on and, um, There's nothing
(34:28):
like having the love of a mom and, youknow, knowing that they're there for you
and just proud of everything that you do.
And I know that every, you know,as my mother is aging, every day
that I have with her is a giftand I don't take it for granted.
And it's important.
You said you have a daughter.
(34:48):
And you have a son, right?
So you're a mom then and you get tosee it from a different point of view.
I think that the best gift thatparents can give their children
is one, uh, the first is likea showing them what a committed
healthy marriage would look like.
Um, I think that's certainly one thing.
(35:10):
The second is to demonstrate howyou love people that have raised
you and then become the caretaker.
So I think those two areas are like thebest gift you can give a child so that
they can carry that out into the world.
I don't think a lot of peopledo that, especially if they've
(35:32):
gone through a divorce.
Um, I think it takes even more.
I sit here and go, wow, if you couldbe such great parents divorced,
and then you're not fighting overyour kid or anything like that.
And you're being super.
Communicative thinking, why couldn't youhave done that when you were married?
But there's reasons, you know, and sonot always there, but I, I feel like
(35:53):
what you're, um, giving your childrenis the best examples of how to be a good
husband, good wife for each of your kids.
And then also how to be agood friend and how you would
like them to take care of you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It's important.
Family is.
Um, just one of the most importantthings and, you know, you can, I think
(36:17):
the biggest thing is understanding thebalance, you know, you can have work,
but it doesn't love you back and youwant to not sacrifice your family.
So it's, you know, that's alwaysthe challenge is how do you
balance all of those things?
But I think, uh, Having faith and,you know, having that higher power
(36:37):
really helps to put things inperspective and keeps you grounded.
Yeah, there was a guest I had beforeyou and he, instead of using the
word balance, and I've used that alot, he used a word that I haven't
heard used before in the podcast.
He said, you know, youhave to govern yourself.
And I went.
You know what?
I really like that word choice becauseI think it's even more powerful
(37:02):
than balance because I don't thinkwe can really stay in balance.
But yet the word govern reallyshows me that I've got choices.
True.
Right?
And I just felt like, but yet.
It's so intentional.
It means that you're really, really,it's not like, Oh, I'm making
a choice or I'm going to try.
There's no try.
There's either do ornot, but there is govern.
(37:24):
And that means that I'm keepingmyself in check, which is
really a very powerful word.
That is.
I like it.
Yeah.
Great.
Thanks.
Well, it's for Roger.
Roger, this one's for you, buddy.
Okay.
So what would you want tobe remembered for in life?
I would like to be remembered for,uh, making an impact in my community.
(37:49):
You know, whether it's through thework I've done, um, with my nonprofits,
the organizations, my children, uh,my church, my family, um, just knowing
that, you know, I was able to be a lightand a good role model for others and,
(38:10):
you know, just bringing about positive.
Yep.
Everything is about impact.
Have you, um, heard of now?
I had not heard of this before, um, agovernment resume and it's all about
the amount of impact that you can bring.
And once I started researching those,and this was just like a few months ago,
(38:31):
but wow, these are powerful numbers.
They're really big numbers, whether it'sthe number of people that you serve or the
amount of money that you may, uh, have.
You know, in your power, I'm goingto use that word again, but to be
able to manage and to do good things,it was just an incredible resume.
(38:52):
And I went, I think we should be learningthis at the beginning when we're first
creating resumes, because it's reallyhard to go back in your life and go.
Well, what did I do with this, youknow, with this opportunity that I had
to be just like you said, you know,something that was, um, a light, you
know, do you have that kind of a resume?
(39:13):
Do you know what I'm talking about?
Have you seen them?
Cause most people have not seen themand I'm going to show it to you offline
because it was really, it was, Justastonishing how much a person has
achieved in their life and, but wedon't measure our lives that way.
No, I would love to see it.
Yeah, I've started teaching thistype of resume because I keep
(39:35):
going back every time I teach it.
I go, okay, I'm going to go put thisover here because I actually did this.
This is how many students I,I taught in this lifetime.
You know, as a publicclassroom teacher, this is.
You know, how many adults I, I workedwith, you know, whether it's in
Employers 4 Change, but there's theseplaces that, um, I think it becomes
(39:55):
the eulogy that would be shared in thislast question that I had asked, right?
Like, what would you wantto be remembered for?
Right.
Yeah.
Oh, that's neat.
I would like to learn.
Sounds good.
Well, we're going to take a momentand acknowledge our sponsor, Cat 5
Studios, and we will be right back.
The Intern Whisperer is brought to you byCat 5 Studios, who help you create games
(40:18):
and videos for your training and marketingneeds that are out of this world.
Visit Cat 5 Studios for moreinformation to learn how Cat 5
Studios can help your business.
Thank you.
Cat 5 Studios.
Now we're back to thesecond half of our show.
And this is where we talk aboutthe future of jobs and industries.
And what is 2030 look like?
And this is where there isno right or wrong answer.
(40:38):
Anything you can imagine.
So put on your director hat.
If you love sci fi movies or if you'rea writer, whatever it is, but it's
science fiction, it's 2030, whichis really right around the corner.
Basically it's like six years away, right?
So what does it look like?
It can be anything.
It's not tied to your industry.
(40:59):
Do you think George Jetson carsare going to really be flying yet?
Do you feel like we'll be living underthe ocean or out on another planet?
It can be anything.
Well, I do think they'regoing to have flying cars.
Cause I think I've heard that.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that's justlike right around the corner.
And then, um, I forget where it was.
(41:20):
I don't know if it's in Dubai.
It was that city that they're raising.
That's like, you know, um, it lookslike a rectangle and, um, you know,
I, when you say that they're raising,do you mean that they're building it
or they're actually excavating it?
I think they're building it.
Um, I, I know I researched somethingand I saw it's like a whole city within
(41:47):
and it's everything contained andit's inside of a bubble or something.
It's not a bubble, but it's likea rectangle and it's flat and
it, it, you know, is long andit's like trying to take up.
Less.
Oh.
Of a footprint.
Okay.
Yeah.
Uh, it says Saudi Arabia is buildingThe Line, a new line, a new city
(42:08):
enclosed, um, through it willsnake through the Saudi desert.
And is that a good idea?
It's 105 miles long.
Um, wow.
A tall and narrow strip of a city.
With 9 million residents and runningentirely on renewable energy.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
(42:29):
That, that like blew my mind.
I was like, wow, that'sgoing to be quite a city.
Hmm.
Well, that's intriguing.
Um, okay.
So I can see that I'venever been to Dubai.
Have you?
I have not.
Is it on your list?
I would like to go there.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Okay.
Uh, so they have very tallbuildings, taller than what we
(42:50):
have here in the United States.
And I always find that interesting becauseI go, but aren't they just on sand?
And how do they stay upin the air that long?
And it just seems like so incredibly hard.
Yeah, it would be, I don't know, they'revery aggressive and the development
over there and you know, it's, Quiteimpressive with the architecture.
(43:11):
That's for sure.
Okay.
So going back flying cars,what else are you envisioning?
Well, I know the way marketingis going to be done, I think
will be, you know, changing.
I know, uh, I've read about Elon Musk,you know, building Neuralink with the
brain and how advertising is goingto target the brain specifically.
(43:36):
Um, That'll be interesting in 2030with our messaging and, um, location
based AI and AR advertising, lookingat, you know, the 5G networks and
location, uh, how that's going to target.
Cause everybody wants to knowyour cookies and where you're at.
(43:58):
I think having the hyperconnectivity will be helpful.
Um, advertising will be based on,uh, physical location and presence
of people with a lot more impact.
I don't think I've heard about this thing.
Uh, oh, a brain chip says ElonMusk brain chip startup Neuralink.
(44:19):
Neuralink.
Oh, that's a little scary.
It is a little scary.
Yeah.
It's going to be implants forhumans to interact with computers.
It says that it's for peoplethat have some type of paralysis.
So that's um, that's interesting.
Do you ever see, have youever seen Black Mirror?
I have not.
Okay.
You should definitely watchthat one for sure because I've
(44:41):
been watching this as a series.
It's on Netflix.
Okay.
And it's also, it's very dark.
I'm not going to lie to you.
It's very dark.
And it's like, what is the worst thingthat we could be doing with, with, uh,
with, with The type of technology andhow we could, if we don't, you know,
harness it wisely, um, govern it wisely,then we could be in a lot of trouble.
(45:02):
Um, they did have something, uh,like this as one of the, the series,
it's like five, there's five episodesin a series that they put out.
And the newest ones are, one ofthem is about something like this.
So it's interesting.
I would, I've been talking about this showfor, I don't know, a year now, but, um,
(45:23):
it's always something that you sit hereand you think and go, well, just because
we can do it doesn't mean we should do it.
Maybe not.
Or it's a cautionary tale as towhat can happen if we are not
being thoughtful and responsible.
Right.
Yeah, and that's the terrifying,you know, thought right now with
(45:46):
Terminator and those types of things.
They used to be very futuristic,but I know Elon Musk has come out
and said, you know, we need to becareful about the AI and, you know.
What the negative impact is.
So, but yet he's doing this thing now.
I know.
Neuralink.
And I'm sitting here and I understandit's for, for people with paralysis.
(46:08):
So there's, you know, we'llsay that there's a good thing.
And I have, I can't even talk aboutit because I have just been, as
you continue to talk, I'm going,okay, what's this, what's this?
And I can, you know, look it up and,Look at it later, but I'm going to
go grab this, this link here andthen put it in the, in the notes.
Um, but I find this intriguing thatwe have people that are doing these
(46:31):
things, but yet, um, I don't knowif they really think through it all.
Do you think Elon?
I don't know.
Does he really think throughthings like he should?
I think it's hard for anyoneto really think through because
there's so many avenues.
You have to have advisors, right?
Yeah.
And, um, it's a risk.
(46:53):
I mean, you know, obviously you wantto progress and then now everything
is Chat GPT and AI and it's kind of,you know, you have to embrace it.
Um, but.
There definitely needs to be somehigher connection, um, you know, so that
doesn't get in the hands of adversaries,but that's, that's the challenge.
(47:18):
I, I totally get it.
I totally get it.
And that can keep you up at night.
So, um, yeah.
So you've been workingremotely since COVID.
I know you mentioned it earlier.
And so when we look at how you wereworking before COVID and how you
work now, do you have a preference?
Um, I have always been remote.
(47:38):
So, you know, it really didn'tmatter for me with COVID.
Um, Now there's been a change with peoplegetting more, you know, back together.
There's, you know, people are starved forthe human contact, you know, networking
has definitely increased with NAWBO.
You know, a lot of our programs werevirtual and then it was a mix, a
(47:59):
hybrid, and now it's all in person.
You know, people are back and,uh, You know, it's there isn't a
replacement for that human connection.
People still need.
I mean, you can still use some of thetools as convenience, but even with AI,
you know, you still need to have thehuman element to oversee and run it.
(48:22):
Um, I think, you know, it,it wouldn't be replaced.
Mm hmm.
I would agree.
I think that there's going to be amovement to make it so that we remember
how to be relational and how to beintentional because we're on these
devices so much when we're connected.
To whether you go to a gym, you're,you're over there on something that's
(48:45):
electronic and it's measuring, youknow, something that you're doing.
If you're on some type of a treadmillor whatever kind of device, you
might have an app connected to you atthe same time that's in your phone.
So there's always a device that'saround us that's listening to us
and measuring and Gathering data.
(49:06):
And I feel like there's going to bethis place where it's going to be more
of like, well, how do we make sure weare really connecting with a person?
Well, and I think that ties into a lotof what's happening with the youth today
with, uh, the rise of depression and,uh, you know, social media and just not
having the physical relationships, the.
(49:28):
Young people are definitely moretuned into scrolling on TikTok or,
you know, what's happening, um, ontheir digital devices and they're not
having those relationships as much.
So it's important for them to get intosports and to get into clubs and to
get back to basics, you know, like.
(49:49):
Um, just, you know, the movement fromfarm to table, knowing where your
food comes from and being part ofthat sustainability, um, just getting
out and playing, you know, recess.
I know they were trying to takethat away for a while, but the
brain needs that to process.
And there is a connectionwith the mind body.
And so, you know, I think thesimpler things that we had, you
(50:14):
know, it shouldn't be replaced.
So there needs to be that governanceor that balance, you know, where
we can have a combination becauseyou know, all digital and no other,
you know, you can't really survive.
Your body needs that, uh, connectivityand just going through it, that immersion.
(50:37):
You know, there's an app, um, that Ihad tested out for a little bit, uh, to
help me sleep, um, help me sleep better.
I don't have a problem withsleeping, but I was intrigued.
I literally just fall into bed andI go to sleep, but I wanted to just
see, well, what was this about?
Because they had had.
We always hear about white noise,and then there's green noise, and
(50:58):
there's brown noise, and there wasjust all of these different types of,
of background noises that can help,help a person fall to sleep better.
And I went, well, I'm intriguedenough to, to try it out.
So I have it, but it tells you thatyou're supposed to keep it, your phone
plugged into the wall so it doesn't die.
(51:20):
And it's always listening, you listeningto you and it can tell if you've been
like moving around, if you're talkingin your sleep, if you're making
snoring, if you make other bodilysounds, it'll tell you all of that.
And I went, I don't know if I like theidea because I mean, that's information
that maybe I want to know, right.
(51:40):
But it's also meaning thatsomebody's gathering that
information for some reason.
Well, and that happens now, like youmight have a conversation and then.
You know, a couple minutes later, youlook on your phone and you got an ad.
Exactly.
And so it's like, really?
They're listening.
Yeah.
Constantly, constantlylistening and where it goes.
(52:03):
I don't know.
Yeah, very much so.
Um, okay.
Robots.
What do you think about robots?
Do you know Wendy Austin?
I'm pretty sure you don't.
She's with the first and they helped.
She's been a guest on my podcast andjust so you know, so was Carol Ann.
So I hope you go listen to Carol Ann.
She, I likened her to that movie hiddenfigures where it was the, uh, the black
(52:27):
women that came into NASA and theywere helping with all of the type of
math issues that they were having.
And she was like that.
So if you watch the, or listen tothe show, you're going to go, wow,
she was one of the first people thatwere pioneering as a woman in this
field of STEM and tech back then.
(52:47):
Yeah, she's amazing.
Anyway, Wendy Austin with the first, um,she is the executive director of a group
that helps from kindergarten to collegeage, build robots, kids, all of all sizes.
Yeah.
And they compete in these competitionsand it's pretty, it's pretty fun.
Um, I was really impressed andher show has been one of the fan
(53:10):
favorites is what I've noticed so far.
It's downloaded a lot, but she's,her background was in theater
and you would love this woman.
You're going to want to meet her now.
Meet her.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that reminds me, as you weretalking about STEM, I forgot
to mention tech sassy girls.
I've been involved withthem for about 10 years, Dr.
Lane Powell.
And uh, you know, they do a lotof program, the pearls in tech.
(53:33):
They just had their, um, over the summer,the six week work internship programs
where the girls learn new skills and,um, Graduate with opportunities for
their career development and the techconference that she usually puts together
once a year, you know, because they'reable to see the role models of people who
(53:55):
have been in these positions and do it.
And then that inspires the girls, soserving the underrepresented middle and
high school girls so that they can pursueSTEM careers, feeding that pipeline.
Mm.
She does great work too.
She does.
Yeah, really, really great work.
And her husband, Courtney,um, ace applications also.
(54:16):
Yeah.
They're a power couple.
They are.
That's what I think of them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're very, very good.
So with the robots coming back overthere, we have robots that are here
in Central Florida and they will bringyou food over there in Osceola County.
There are robots in another restaurantthat I understand that is in Orlando.
I cannot remember the name of it.
(54:36):
But somebody had told me about thatthey're there and there was supposedly
not robots, but it's being run by robots.
No humans are inside of the McDonald's.
It's in Florida and don't knowwhere, but it was in Florida and
you go in and get your order pay.
It's all done on the kiosk.
And then, you know, yourfood rolls out to you.
(54:56):
There's no humans.
And I went, that is sad because I reallylike going into McDonald's to have
somebody say, Hey, have a nice day.
Right.
Yeah.
I know.
That's the, the combination, youknow, the advent of technology and
then what it means for workers.
Yeah.
You know, those first jobs, right, right.
(55:17):
We're talking a lot about youth andthose youth may not be people that would
go for a typical programming degree.
Not everybody.
I was not meant to be a programmer.
And that helps with customerservice because when you.
You know, work a job.
I did customer serviceon the phone for Disney.
So, you know, having thosepositions helps you for other
(55:40):
things, learning how to talk.
Yes.
And understand how to work.
And behave differently in awork environment versus school
versus your personal life.
You know, that's very differentpersonas that we present.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
That's going to be interesting.
Well, that's also one ofthe things for marketing.
They're going to havebought optimized marketing.
(56:01):
So what is that?
Yeah.
Where you're going to be, you know,content and marketing copy is not just
going to be addressing people, butyou're going to be selling to bots.
So, um, you know, whether,how do you sell to a bot?
You're going to be appealingto shopping criteria.
Uh, that's going to be interesting.
I don't know how that works exactly,but we'll have to go find more.
(56:23):
It'll be a trend.
Yes.
I think you should talk about that.
That should be an article you write.
Okay.
Yeah.
When you have extra time.
Yeah.
I would like to, I mean, it is, it'sinteresting to see how technology
is impacting all the things that wedo traditionally, but you know, I
think there's still the combinationof what works in the marketplace.
(56:47):
So I don't think that will goaway, but, um, it's interesting
to see how it changes.
Mm hmm.
So we've been talking a lot about howthis can impact all different types
of people, but what about the ethics?
Something that I was lookingat is, is there an ethics board
that's out there with AI and howit's being used in the world?
(57:09):
And I, I was doing a lot of research onthis, like, I don't know, three weeks
ago to see what committees there were.
I know that World Economic Summit thatalways comes up and they address these
kind of things there, but World EconomicForum does have an interest in this
area of ethics and AI and there's othergroups that are forming around it.
(57:31):
So I was interested in startingsomething if it's not here in
Central Florida, where we address theethics of STEM of technology of AI.
and the.
Impact that it has in our lives, but alsoas it relates to jobs, because if I have
a down syndrome person, they, they will,they may not have the ability to be one
(57:55):
of these things, but they could have beenthe best McDonald's greeter in the world.
So I feel like.
We need to protect some of these thingsthat are there that help remind us to
be aware of other people around us.
Sensitive.
Yeah.
(58:17):
Yeah, there's, there's valuein so many different levels
of work that people can do.
And when you just removeit completely and make it.
Automated I think that is a missedopportunity because it could be
something that humans still do.
So I would like to see.
(58:39):
You know, that's not forgotten, um, sopeople can have those opportunities.
Yeah.
I like how you said that, that it create,it could create a missed opportunity.
That's key.
That is really, really key.
And it's important to remember that theseare always opportunities that we have.
(58:59):
And instead of just racing throughour life, we should be More slow and
just really notice what's around us.
Well, every experience that you haveprepares you for something else.
You know, you may not know it at the time,but when you started out and you were in
customer service and you were, you know,interfacing with the customer and taking
(59:24):
the order or handling the cash that waspreparing you for how to deal with people.
And, you know, then you go to yournonprofit work and you are, you
know, dealing with people thatneed questions about arthritis
and the, you know, aquatic.
Classes or, you know, differentthings that are going on.
So, you know, everything prepares youfor the next part of your journey.
(59:47):
It's just how you approach it.
Maslow's theory being very self aware.
Yes.
Yes.
And self awareness starts withnoticing people around you, not
just, just flowing through life.
Um, this has been agreat, great interview.
It's been very deep, I think, deep.
(01:00:10):
And I, I appreciate that quite a bit.
It's really hard to believe thatthis has almost been an hour.
So, uh, best mentoring advice that youwould want to share with our listeners.
I think it's to teachsomebody how to do your job.
So, you know, when you're looking tomentor others, you're looking to create
(01:00:31):
your successors and you know, holdingthings to the vest, I think limits
because we want to be able to share.
It's about sharing.
And, um, I think.
That's the biggest thing is never stoplearning and then also giving because we
(01:00:55):
have to recognize that when we get to aplace, we have to be able to give back.
And so many times people get to a leveland they forget the stepping stones
along the way, the starter studios,you know, that they need to give
back and fund or, um, You know, help.
It really matters.
You know, spending time at your collegealumni, uh, you know, mentoring children,
(01:01:20):
whatever it might be playing a rolethat makes your community better because
it is all part of the building blocks.
And we all want the same things.
We all want success and happinessand good outcomes, positive outcomes.
Yeah.
How can people get in touch with you?
They can find me on mywebsite and my social media.
(01:01:43):
Uh, my website is cksmarketing.
com and I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn,Krista K Santos and Instagram.
Well, let's spell Christa.
Oh, C H R I S T A.
Yep.
There Instagram, CKSmarket.
Gotcha.
We also included your LinkedIn accountso people can reach out to you there.
(01:02:06):
And I think you mentioned theInstagram one, I think, but yes,
all of this will be published onthe closed card of our guests.
We always do a contact card forthe guests so people can see that
they find that on YouTube for sure.
Great.
Well, it has been delightfulhaving you here as a guest.
You're like awesome.
And I'm really well, thank you.
(01:02:29):
Thank you.
But I, I really learned so much moreabout you that I just didn't know.
Oh, thank you.
Yeah.
We want to thank our sponsor, Cat 5Studios, and thank you to our video
team, Gabe LaPorte, Tommy Myers,Andrew Piggott, and Julissa Hurtado.
Music is by Charles LawrenceLide, and you can visit Employers
4 Change at www.e4c.tech.
(01:02:53):
To learn how you can create realdiversity and inclusive culture while
scaling your people for the future work.
Thank you for supporting the InternWhisperer by subscribing to us on
Podbean, our Employers 4 ChangeYouTube channel, or streaming from
your favorite podcast channel.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.