August 21, 2025 • 33 mins
What happens when compassion meets healthcare innovation? In this illuminating conversation, Mike Baker—CEO of Heritage Health, author, musician, and self-described "renaissance man"—reveals how community health centers are transforming access to medical care across America.
Baker shares the remarkable origin story of Heritage Health, founded by Lydwin Dirne who escaped World War II in Holland before settling in Northern Idaho. After losing a friend to diabetes due to lack of healthcare access, Dirne established what would become a vital healthcare resource serving 25,000 patients annually with over 125,000 visits each year.
The conversation delves into the practical solutions Heritage Health offers—sliding fee scales that make office visits as affordable as $25, foundation scholarships for those who can't afford even that, and street medicine programs reaching those experiencing homelessness. "We don't ever want the financial side to get in the way of getting the care that you need," Baker emphasizes, challenging the misconception that such centers serve only those with limited resources.
Baker's personal philosophy of "realistic optimism" shines through as he discusses his book "The Optimist's Way" and how creative pursuits like music and art help him become a stronger healthcare leader. His message is powerful: whether you're driving a Mercedes but recently lost your job, or facing any other life circumstance, community health centers nationwide stand ready to provide dignified, quality care.
The episode offers practical guidance too—listeners learn about the network of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across America and how to find one in their community. Baker's urgent plea resonates throughout: don't delay seeking care because of financial concerns. "If you find a health problem, something concerning, get in. The quicker we deal with it, the better."
Have you or someone you know delayed healthcare due to cost concerns? This episode might just be the lifeline needed. Share it with someone who could benefit from knowing these resources exist in their own community.
This podcast is a proud member of the Mayday Media Network. If you have an idea for a podcast and need some production assistance or have a podcast and are looking for a supportive network to join, check out maydaymedianetwork.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Kindness Matters
podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
On this podcast, we promotepositivity, empathy and
compassion, because we believethat kindness is alive and well,
and there are people andorganizations that you may not
(00:21):
have heard of in the world,making their communities a
better place for everyone, andwe want you to hear their
stories.
On this podcast, we talk aboutmatters of kindness because
kindness matters.
Hey, welcome everybody, thankyou.
Thank you, thank you forshowing up today, for taking.
(00:42):
Thank you, thank you forshowing up today, for taking.
You made the conscious decisionto take 30 minutes out of your
time, out of your very, veryprecious time to listen to this
podcast, and I want you to knowthat I appreciate you and I
appreciate your being here andlistening.
And if you hear anything onthis podcast that is inspiring
(01:06):
to you or motivating or makesyou feel a certain way, please,
please, please, don't hesitateto share it with your family and
your friends and anybody elseyou think that might appreciate
a little uplifting conversation.
I would appreciate that, andI'm sure your friends would too,
(01:27):
or family or coworkers orwhoever.
I have such an amazing show foryou guys today.
My guest and I've beenstruggling for two weeks trying
to come up with an introductionfor this man and the only thing
(01:48):
I can say is Renaissance man,right, he is a singer,
songwriter, he is a author, heis a so many things and he's
involved with a healthcarecompany that's doing some
amazing work out there forpeople who really can't afford
healthcare.
(02:08):
And I mean, what do you sayabout a guy like that, right?
Please welcome to the show,mike Baker.
Thanks for coming on today,mike.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
You are so welcome.
Thanks for having me, andthat's you know.
I love just this is Mike Baker,and especially when we're doing
a podcast with two Mikes, sothis is perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well, Mike, yes, Mike yeah it is.
It is perfect.
I'm going to get like twoseparate tracks on here and
they're both going to say Mike,that's right.
So what came first?
(02:51):
The singer-songwriter, theartist did I say artist?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
because I don't know that.
I said artist, that's all right, because you're a visual artist
too, right out there.
Yeah, you're just fine um, sohow did?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
how did Mike Baker come to be?
Did you?
Were you always a singer,songwriter?
Were you always a visual artist?
Were you always a writer?
And then what, what?
What happened?
Not what happened.
That sounds like it was anegative thing.
You're good.
What brought all this together?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
This is a great question.
So I always love the chickenand the egg conversations,
because you just never know.
So, growing up for me, like Ihave always loved music, I've
always loved to write, I'vealways had these connections.
But, um, I have add and like,as I've been growing up and
evolving with that, likelearning what that means and how
that impacts my life, like it'sbeen interesting, like I I take
(03:50):
a music lesson, I, you know,take piano lessons or guitar
lessons, and I'd hit a wall andI would give up, you know, and I
do that.
So music and all that stuff,like I you know, without the the
tools that I use, right, likethey'd still be trapped in my
head, and so it's been reallycool to just sort of grow up.
So I mean, I would say whatcame first was just the Mike
(04:11):
Baker that you know I'm here,I'm just, I'm developing into a
leader, I'm trying to do my verybest to make the world a little
bit better every single day,and so my work has really driven
me into the world of healthcarethrough the lens of community
health centers, which is just,it's a fascinating world.
I love it and I've been doingthat for almost 30 years and
(04:33):
it's just.
It's so cool to see whathealthcare looks like when
you're connected with peoplethat are doing it for the right
reasons.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
That's also needed these days.
It is it is.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I mean it's really important.
And so I think for me that thatalso really lends to it's
lonely.
It's hard to be a leader there.
I mean, I have to figure outhow to take care of myself.
And so for many years my boardhas always said Mike, you need
to find an outlet, you need todo something other than work.
And so over the last few yearsI've really evolved into having
some other hobbies and somefamily situations like help me
(05:07):
get into some of this faster.
But you know, I play hockey andI create music and create art
and do these other things, andit's just this, it's, it's
almost the therapy for me tohelp me be a stronger leader.
You know when I go back to workthe next day.
So I think it's all justevolved.
Naturally.
It's been pretty fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, I would imagine Now, were you diagnosed as a
child with ADHD, or were youdiagnosed as an adult?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So in high school, yeah, I mean was kind of the
first time that that entered thevocabulary.
I mean, I think just watchingme growing up, people were like
what is up with this guy?
He's all over the place.
You know, I think it was highlyfunctional.
As you go through it, I've beenable to do a lot, but I didn't
like how the medication made mefeel in high school and so I
(05:57):
didn't do much with that untillater on.
You know, within the last 10years have I really done more on
that side?
But from the medication front,but it's been fascinating, you
know, sort of just getting overthe stigma of oh hey, I'm broken
, there's something wrong withme, versus like okay, here's
what I have.
(06:18):
Let's figure out how to dealwith it and how do I do
something in the world and alsolearn how to cope and do it, and
so that's a whole otheradventure.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, and the only reason I ask that I should put
that question into context.
When I was in middle school, Iwas diagnosed with hyperactivity
.
That's what they called it.
I'm guessing that's the samething as what we call ADHD today
(06:52):
.
Yep yeah, and they put me onmedication.
I couldn't tell you.
It might have been Ritalin.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
But then eventually I just went off it and I
continued on my life.
They said I was cured am Icured?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I don't know if that can be a thing but I wonder,
nowadays, do I still have that?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
am I still ADHD?
But I never wanted to go gettested.
And now here I am.
I just celebrated a milestonebirthday and I'm like, does it
matter?
At this point it can even be asuperpower.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So you know, that's great.
It's all how you use it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, that's great.
It's all how you uh, it's allhow you use it.
Yeah, uh.
So now you are, are you thepresident of heritage health?
So I'm just your title yep, I'mthe ceo.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Um, we are okay.
Yep, a private non-profitorganization.
Um, so my board of directors ismy governance side, and it's
really fun to work with partnersas we try to solve some of
these problems.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
And there's so many out there right Now, you serve
us northern Idaho, I believe.
Is that correct?
Yep, yep, and there are layers.
That's how I wanted tointroduce you, there you go.
Like the donkey and shreklayers leaders parfaits have
layers, mike baker has layers,exactly um talk about adhd, holy
(08:38):
crap um so how?
How did heritage Health comeabout?
Was it like we saw a need andwe decided to do something about
it?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, it's an incredible founding story.
So the founder of ourorganization her name was Lydwyn
Durney and she was in Hollandduring World War II.
She was escaping World War II,ended up in Canada and then she
ended up in North Idaho and justwas part of our community.
She's this incredible person,but she had a friend that passed
(09:11):
away, a single mom.
She had diabetes.
She didn't have access toreally good healthcare.
She ended up passing away andLidwin was just like we've got
to fix this.
This is a real problem.
And so she started a volunteerclinic that operated a couple
nights a week and they startedreally seeing patients in our
community and then it just itgrew so, um, you know, it ran
(09:32):
from a free clinic to 1985 to2004 and then it became a
community health center and thenI joined it at the end of 2009
into 2010 and since then we'vejust been having a lot of fun
expanding, doing everything wecan to provide medical, dental,
mental health and substance usetreatment services for our
community.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
And it's so cool too, because when we talk about the
health care system here in theUnited States, because when we
talk about the health caresystem here in the United States
, oh let's.
My feeling is that those whohave insurance through their
(10:16):
employer, for example, are finewith it.
It may be irritating a littlebit for a while here or there,
but as a general rule they'reokay with it, whereas people who
are self-insured, or they maketoo much money for Medicaid but
(10:37):
not enough money to affordregular healthcare, find the
system frustrating anddemoralizing and all kinds of
other words.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So and these are the people that you reach out to,
I'm guessing- yeah, I mean weprovide care for anybody that
comes through the door, but ourgoal is to I mean, our mission
statement is to improve life,and so we all know the
healthcare system's complex andcrazy and we're trying to do
everything we can to just makeit easier to access so that we
can identify problems earlierand engage people so that we can
(11:11):
extend life.
Right, we want people to livehealthier, fuller lives.
We know we can do that, but wealso we've got to find a way to
partner with people to get there.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Right, right, right, right.
And and I mean we probablydon't always make the best
choices when it comes to livinghealthier, do we?
Yeah, we all have as apopulation mm-hmm, I just got on
medicare because I just turnedthat magic age, yeah, and I
(11:46):
joined the y.
That's great, and now I gothree times a week and I use the
, the e-gym and and all thatgood stuff and I mean so that,
and trust me, that's huge for me, oh it's it's perfect.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I mean, really if we could just increase our physical
activity, take care of ourmental health and eat a little
better.
I mean the health impact ofthat is it's huge, and just
being mindful and thinkingthrough it it is.
It's little steps.
I go for a walk after dinner,you know.
Connect with people, don't belonely, you know.
Listen to great podcasts, feedyour brain, you know.
(12:21):
Stuff like that, like these,are the keys to really getting
through it.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
so it doesn't have to be complicated.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
I mean the listening podcastpart, exactly.
Um, yeah, because I mean if weall did those things, you guys
would have less work, and Idon't think that would
necessarily be a bad thing,right.
Right, if you guys would haveless work and I don't think that
(12:45):
would necessarily be a badthing, right.
Right, if you guys weren't quiteso, but it's.
It's daunting, I would imagine,at times, to do the work that
you do.
I saw, and when we're talkingabout healthcare and you said
(13:08):
you wanted to make it simplerfor people, and that reminds me
of a story I heard.
A friend of mine was justrecounting, just recounting.
They had to have a surgery andthey found a doctor in network
out of a building, right, thedoctor was in network and the
(13:31):
doctor would be doing thesurgery in that same building
and the person found out afterthe surgery that, while the
doctor was in network, thefacility that she had the
surgery done in was not innetwork.
It's so confusing, and I don'tthink the anesthesiologist was
(13:52):
in network either, even thoughthey all worked out of the same
building, you know, in roughlythe same 5,000 square foot area.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, it's crazy.
I mean, there's thecomplexities within it.
You know, we we really hurt thehealthcare system and we need
to find our way back.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Yeah, I think some people were so hopeful when the
ACA came through and and it wasgood because I mean, I had a
pre-existing condition, mystepson had a pre-existing
condition there was a realchance that neither of us would
be, you know, get insurance ifwe had to go out and shop for it
(14:35):
on our own.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yeah, there's lots of good things.
That was huge, but I don'tthink it's necessarily worked
out as well as maybe everybodywas hoping for.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Very true, very true.
We have lots of improvement.
No-transcript, good look forsomething beautiful.
(15:31):
Trust the strengths that I have, knowing that I can work
through any problem.
So when I, when I want, when Ishare that, hey, I'm optimistic
about the future, because Ireally am.
It's because I know that we canfigure out how to solve health
care problems.
I know that we can find a wayto take better care of ourselves
and serve our communitiesbetter.
(15:51):
It takes that optimisticoutlook to help us kind of get
into the mindset and that reallydrives you know, back toward
kindness and happiness and allof the great things that we're
trying to get to.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Right, absolutely.
And you, speaking of looking onthe bright side, you wrote a
book called the Optimist's Way.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
yeah, that one really , like we talked earlier, it's
sort of the the evolution of mywork.
But, um, you know, I was, I hadbeen in a board meeting and and
over the years, like peoplehave just said, mike, you're too
optimistic, you know, andthat's that sometimes that I
feel that in my heart I'm like,well, I know there were some bad
things.
Yeah.
But so I really wanted to finda way to just tell the story
(16:43):
about, like, when optimism isgood, so I get it.
Like there's a thing calledtoxic positivity, like if you
were just always sunshine andrainbows, and there's no
substance to it.
Right that that doesn't feelgood either, but there is, and I
call it realistic optimism,right, like it's based on
reality.
I know that when a businesschallenge comes, when a health
(17:04):
challenge comes, when somethingcomes at me as a father, I know
that I can have an optimisticoutlook on it, like I know that
we're going to solve thisproblem.
It doesn't change that it'sgoing to be hard and we have a
lot of work to do to get throughthat process.
But part of my job as a leaderis to bring people through the
(17:25):
mess, and I can, as a leader, ifI'm up here saying, oh, the
world's going to end like,that's not very inspiring, but
if I can say, look, I know thatthere's a better place, come
with me, let's do the work,let's get there, and so that's
really what the book does.
It's really it's sort of adaily reader.
Um, you open it up and there'sa good passage in there.
Um, I hope to inspire peoplethrough that.
And then I tied the music andart into that, um, just as a way
to like sort of wrap all myworlds into one little project.
(17:48):
And so it's been fun, it's beena had a great reception out
there and just a fun project toget out into the world nice,
well, and helpful too.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
So back to my heritage health.
What is?
How does this work?
I mean, it's not free, mm-hmm,but it's affordable and you work
with the clients.
Is that the patients?
Yeah, both.
Okay, how does that?
How does that work?
I, I don't, let's say, I justlost my job and therefore my
(18:27):
insurance, but I really need xyz, yeah, so we're here, come into
a.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
My hair, go ahead yeah, I just say we're here all
the time.
So our goal is to make sure youhave a.
You have constant access tohealthcare, whether or not you
have insurance.
Right, just show up, we'regoing to take care of you.
We'll figure out how to how tofund it through the process.
So we're, we're here.
We take care of about 25,000patients in North Idaho.
People come see us about 125 to150,000 times a year for all
(18:57):
the different services.
So we're a very busy place, butwe do this and we're part of a
network of independent communityhealth centers out there, so
you can find one in yourcommunity and they're all going
to have a similar feel to them.
We're here to take care of you.
Just show up and we're going todo it.
Now, if you don't haveinsurance, we offer what's
called the sliding fee scale andso, based on your income, we
(19:21):
take the office visit and weslide it down to an affordable
amount.
So most people pay about $25for a visit with us.
So you know it's similar to acopay that you know that people
would have.
We have, you know, things inplace that if that's too much,
we'll still work with you, butwe don't ever want the financial
side of it to get in the way ofgetting the care that you need,
(19:42):
and so that part's great.
So you just, you know, find ahealth center and show up with
your health care problems andthen establish that and work on
improving your health as you gothrough the process.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and even you even have
some um funds.
Uh, there's a scholarship,there's a, is it dime?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
foundation.
So journey, uh-huh.
Yep, that's our founder.
So lidwin durney was ourfounder.
So the durney foundation, yougot it.
Um, that's actually one of thereasons why it's no longer
during.
It used to be durney healthcenters.
People really struggled withwith pronouncing it.
So the Dernie Foundation, yougot it.
That's actually one of thereasons why it's no longer
Dernie.
It used to be Dernie HealthCenters.
People really struggled withpronouncing it.
So now that's actually whywe're Heritage Health.
But yeah, we have the DernieFoundation.
But again, we do differentthings to make sure that people
(20:31):
always have access to care.
So if you can't afford yourco-pays, you know you can apply
for a scholarship through thefoundation and we'll evaluate
that and do what we can to help.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Just make sure you're getting the care that you need.
Okay, perfect.
And it's not just one location,is it?
It's not just like a clinic innorthern Idaho, somewhere you
guys are out and about as well.
We correct, yeah, we do somestreet work yep, we have a
street medicine program.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Um, so we have a.
We have people in our communitythat are struggling with
consistent housing, right, andso we're doing our best to make
sure that you know we're we'reconnecting people with resources
to help with housing, but alongthe way we're providing health
care service.
We want to make sure that ourmission is to provide that
health care, and then we workwith our partners that come
alongside of us and help us withother social needs, which is
(21:29):
it's really fun to have thesereally cool partners in your
community.
But we are in all of the mainservice areas.
Here in North Idaho we have oneof my really good friends runs
the health center.
Another community health centerup in Sandpoint, bonner's Bay
area.
It's called Keniksu Health.
They're incredible.
And then there's one below us,in just the county down from us,
(21:49):
called Marieman Health, andthen over in Spokane, washington
, there's a place called Chaz,and so we are all friends, we
all do the same work, but weserve our communities in
different ways, and that's themagic of a health center.
So people out there listening,you know they can go to you.
Just Google find a health, findan FQHC.
It'll take you to a website youcan put in your address and
(22:12):
it'll tell you where a communityhealth center is nearby you I
think we should put.
I'll put a link to that in theshow notes that's great, is it f
?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
what was it?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
fqhc, fqhc.
Yeah, but I'll send you thelink.
So foxtrot.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
quebec hotel, california.
Yep, yep, sorry.
H-c Hotel, california.
You're spelling it phoneticallyand I think that's one of the
cool things too really is allthe networking, the connections
(22:57):
of it, and you may be connectedto a food bank if one of your
patients is having troublegetting fresh food or a shelter,
or there are so many differentorganizations in every community
that really want to help people, and I think people that maybe
don't know.
Do you find that to be the casefor your patients?
(23:18):
They don't know there's thathelp in their own community.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
We do, yeah, 100%.
It's sort of this hidden secretin lots of communities and you
know, we do a lot of outreach,we do a lot of marketing but
they're just people that don'tunderstand, or they don't
understand that they wouldbenefit from the services.
Sometimes, and I think that youknow, early on, one of the
images that we worked onchanging was that this was just
for the poor people right likewell, sure, we're here for
(23:44):
anybody.
But some people found themselvesin a situation where they may
need our help but because theyweren't poor, um, they wouldn't
come see us.
They thought, well, well,that's not for me, well, we're
here for everybody we have.
Incredible, like my family goesto our providers, like so many
people just use us as a resourcebecause we're a really great
(24:05):
place for healthcare.
And if you don't have theresources, if you're not insured
, we don't care, show up, we'regoing to take care of you care,
show up, we're going to takecare of you.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, yeah, and that talking about that, we're not
poor enough or we're not poor,or what have you.
There's a great story I heard.
I was talking to a woman by thename of Susan Dearson and she
works.
She was at the time she was theexecutive director of a food
shelf up near me.
Now she's the executivedirector of a food shelf up near
me.
Now she's the executivedirector of a Meals and Wheels
chapter.
(24:41):
But she was talking about thisstory that happened to her where
they were all working at thefood shelf one day and, you know
, cars would come and go.
They'd come, they'd pick their,their groceries and and they'd
go, but for the longest timethis mercedes-benz was sitting
(25:03):
in the parking lot and theystarted to.
You know they're like well,what's the story with that?
They got curious and andeventually one of the employees
went out and one of thevolunteers went out and talked
to him.
And they came back in and saidto Susan, you need to talk to
this person.
And Susan went out and the galsaid I've never found myself in
(25:27):
this position before.
My husband and I used to makereally good money until about
six months ago, when we werelaid off both of us at the same
time, and now we need yourservices and she was embarrassed
to come in.
She didn't want to come inbecause she was driving a
(25:50):
Mercedes-Benz, right, and I justthink that's so sad's sad to me
I think it really points backto the whole.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
You never know what battle anyone's facing and we're
all a couple paychecks frombeing the person that needs help
in lots of ways, and so youknow the judgment side of it,
where we we work really hard tomake sure that it's very
dignified process, like again,everybody's welcome here.
You just might fall into thisbucket where you need some help.
That's great, um, but right,don't, don't use that as a
(26:24):
reason not to come.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yeah because and I had, I personally have never
been too proud.
I know, when my wife and Ifirst started our business, we
also were laid off.
On the same day I went back towork.
I found a job fairly quicklyand then was really really
(26:48):
really bad at it.
It was in the mortgage industry.
I knew nothing about themortgage industry, but at any
rate, another story for anotherday.
By the end of 2005, I waslooking for a job again.
I was so tired of looking for ajob and so we decided to start
(27:11):
our own home cleaning business,cue the, you know, the
self-insured part.
But we made so little moneythat we qualified for basically
the Minnesota version ofMedicaid.
I'm like I don't care, and atone point we were so poor how
(27:35):
poor were you that we actuallyqualified for the free version,
I mean we didn't pay a dime andthen eventually, as we started
to get back on our feet, wequalified for Medicaid.
but the part where you pay amonthly fee and then, full on,
go fend for yourself healthinsurance right.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yep, oh, that's what those problems are for.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Before we knew anything about brokers and all
that good stuff, yeah, and thatis I mean, I don't know how I
found out about it, but itliterally saved my bacon one
time, nice scar, yeah.
I bake in one time, nice scar,yeah.
So yeah, you know, if you needsomething, there is help out
(28:22):
there for you, right?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Absolutely.
I mean, I think for me that'sthe hardest thing is we find
people that put you know, theyfind a lump or they have a
concern, and then they put itoff and they don't come in.
And you know lots of reasons.
I don't ever want that reasonto be.
I can't afford it.
You know, like if you find ahealth problem, something that's
concerned, yeah, get in thequicker that we deal with it,
the better.
You know you've, you know wehave people like I felt this
(28:47):
lump like a year ago, and now wecome in and it's, you know,
it's progressed to somethingthat's really really hard to
treat.
And so you know, for us, justthe financial side of everything
we are here, and you knowcommunity health centers across
the nation, like that's whatwe're here to do.
We want to take care of peoplethat need the services so that
(29:07):
we can just keep our communitiesstrong.
And you know, be there for ourcommunities, it's an incredible
program.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yeah, yeah, it's.
It's so fantastic what you guysdo, what you do and I.
There will be links galore inthe show notes of this episode
Mikebakerhqcom,myheritagehealthorg, maybe even
(29:38):
a link to the Optimist's Way.
Thank you so, so, so much, mike, for taking 30 minutes to chat
with me and give us all a littlehope that there's a solution
out there.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
You're welcome when we're all feeling so down.
Yeah, it's definitely.
You know it is hard out thereand I think if we can just
continue to wake up every dayand it's okay to have bad days
and say, look, today's not theday and I'm just going to be
down, that's okay.
But you know, find that rhythmand find that spot and if you
can't find something beautifulin your life, go serve somebody,
(30:13):
go do something else.
You'll find it.
There's beauty out there andthat's something that helps lift
your spirits and gets you backinto the groove where you can
look at tomorrow and know thatit'll be a better day.
So love your podcast, love yourwork and thank you so much for
having me here today.
It's a real honor.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Thank you so much.
Take care and we'll be in touch.
Take care, thank you so much.
Take care and we'll be in touch.
Take care.
I want to thank you so much fortaking the time to listen to
this episode with my guest, mikeBaker, such an interesting guy.
All of his links will be in theshow notes.
(30:53):
Please hop over there and takea look, maybe while you're
listening to the episode.
But I hope you leave thisepisode inspired or motivated,
or just feeling uplifted andmaybe a little bit better about
the way things are in the worldtoday.
If that's the case, if you feelthat way, you know what?
(31:16):
Go ahead and tell your friends,your family, your co-workers,
the deli guy at the grocerystore, whoever, that you found
this great podcast called theKindness Matters Podcast and it
makes you feel pretty good whenyou listen to it.
I would really, really reallyappreciate it.
(31:37):
I'm always striving to offeryou a better podcast, so you
know, give me some feedback,leave a message wherever you're
listening to this podcast, leavea critique, a thank you,
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And also, please feel free tocheck us out and follow us or
(31:57):
subscribe to us on our socialslike YouTube, facebook,
instagram, linkedin, tiktok.
For heaven's sakes, I wouldappreciate that too.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast, let's say and you need
(32:19):
some production assistance, oryou already have a podcast and
you're just looking for asupportive network to join.
Check out maydaymedianetworkcomand make sure you check out the
many different shows they have,like Afrocentric Spoil, my
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(32:41):
Dream with D'Anthony Palin, staxO'Pax and the Time Pals.
We will be back again next weekwith a brand new episode and we
would be honored if you wouldjoin us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters podcast.
I am your host, mike Rathbun.
Have a fantastic week.
Hello everyone and welcome to the Kindness Matters
podcast.
I'm your host, mike Rathbun.
On this podcast, we promotepositivity, empathy and
compassion, because we believethat kindness is alive and well,
and there are people andorganizations that you may not
(00:21):
have heard of in the world,making their communities a
better place for everyone, andwe want you to hear their
stories.
On this podcast, we talk aboutmatters of kindness because
kindness matters.
Hey, welcome everybody, thankyou.
Thank you, thank you forshowing up today, for taking.
(00:42):
Thank you, thank you forshowing up today, for taking.
You made the conscious decisionto take 30 minutes out of your
time, out of your very, veryprecious time to listen to this
podcast, and I want you to knowthat I appreciate you and I
appreciate your being here andlistening.
And if you hear anything onthis podcast that is inspiring
(01:06):
to you or motivating or makesyou feel a certain way, please,
please, please, don't hesitateto share it with your family and
your friends and anybody elseyou think that might appreciate
a little uplifting conversation.
I would appreciate that, andI'm sure your friends would too,
(01:27):
or family or coworkers orwhoever.
I have such an amazing show foryou guys today.
My guest and I've beenstruggling for two weeks trying
to come up with an introductionfor this man and the only thing
(01:48):
I can say is Renaissance man,right, he is a singer,
songwriter, he is a author, heis a so many things and he's
involved with a healthcarecompany that's doing some
amazing work out there forpeople who really can't afford
healthcare.
(02:08):
And I mean, what do you sayabout a guy like that, right?
Please welcome to the show,mike Baker.
Thanks for coming on today,mike.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
You are so welcome.
Thanks for having me, andthat's you know.
I love just this is Mike Baker,and especially when we're doing
a podcast with two Mikes, sothis is perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well, Mike, yes, Mike yeah it is.
It is perfect.
I'm going to get like twoseparate tracks on here and
they're both going to say Mike,that's right.
So what came first?
(02:51):
The singer-songwriter, theartist did I say artist?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
because I don't know that.
I said artist, that's all right, because you're a visual artist
too, right out there.
Yeah, you're just fine um, sohow did?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
how did Mike Baker come to be?
Did you?
Were you always a singer,songwriter?
Were you always a visual artist?
Were you always a writer?
And then what, what?
What happened?
Not what happened.
That sounds like it was anegative thing.
You're good.
What brought all this together?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
This is a great question.
So I always love the chickenand the egg conversations,
because you just never know.
So, growing up for me, like Ihave always loved music, I've
always loved to write, I'vealways had these connections.
But, um, I have add and like,as I've been growing up and
evolving with that, likelearning what that means and how
that impacts my life, like it'sbeen interesting, like I I take
(03:50):
a music lesson, I, you know,take piano lessons or guitar
lessons, and I'd hit a wall andI would give up, you know, and I
do that.
So music and all that stuff,like I you know, without the the
tools that I use, right, likethey'd still be trapped in my
head, and so it's been reallycool to just sort of grow up.
So I mean, I would say whatcame first was just the Mike
(04:11):
Baker that you know I'm here,I'm just, I'm developing into a
leader, I'm trying to do my verybest to make the world a little
bit better every single day,and so my work has really driven
me into the world of healthcarethrough the lens of community
health centers, which is just,it's a fascinating world.
I love it and I've been doingthat for almost 30 years and
(04:33):
it's just.
It's so cool to see whathealthcare looks like when
you're connected with peoplethat are doing it for the right
reasons.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
That's also needed these days.
It is it is.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I mean it's really important.
And so I think for me that thatalso really lends to it's
lonely.
It's hard to be a leader there.
I mean, I have to figure outhow to take care of myself.
And so for many years my boardhas always said Mike, you need
to find an outlet, you need todo something other than work.
And so over the last few yearsI've really evolved into having
some other hobbies and somefamily situations like help me
(05:07):
get into some of this faster.
But you know, I play hockey andI create music and create art
and do these other things, andit's just this, it's, it's
almost the therapy for me tohelp me be a stronger leader.
You know when I go back to workthe next day.
So I think it's all justevolved.
Naturally.
It's been pretty fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, I would imagine Now, were you diagnosed as a
child with ADHD, or were youdiagnosed as an adult?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So in high school, yeah, I mean was kind of the
first time that that entered thevocabulary.
I mean, I think just watchingme growing up, people were like
what is up with this guy?
He's all over the place.
You know, I think it was highlyfunctional.
As you go through it, I've beenable to do a lot, but I didn't
like how the medication made mefeel in high school and so I
(05:57):
didn't do much with that untillater on.
You know, within the last 10years have I really done more on
that side?
But from the medication front,but it's been fascinating, you
know, sort of just getting overthe stigma of oh hey, I'm broken
, there's something wrong withme, versus like okay, here's
what I have.
(06:18):
Let's figure out how to dealwith it and how do I do
something in the world and alsolearn how to cope and do it, and
so that's a whole otheradventure.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, and the only reason I ask that I should put
that question into context.
When I was in middle school, Iwas diagnosed with hyperactivity
.
That's what they called it.
I'm guessing that's the samething as what we call ADHD today
(06:52):
.
Yep yeah, and they put me onmedication.
I couldn't tell you.
It might have been Ritalin.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
But then eventually I just went off it and I
continued on my life.
They said I was cured am Icured?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I don't know if that can be a thing but I wonder,
nowadays, do I still have that?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
am I still ADHD?
But I never wanted to go gettested.
And now here I am.
I just celebrated a milestonebirthday and I'm like, does it
matter?
At this point it can even be asuperpower.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So you know, that's great.
It's all how you use it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, that's great.
It's all how you uh, it's allhow you use it.
Yeah, uh.
So now you are, are you thepresident of heritage health?
So I'm just your title yep, I'mthe ceo.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Um, we are okay.
Yep, a private non-profitorganization.
Um, so my board of directors ismy governance side, and it's
really fun to work with partnersas we try to solve some of
these problems.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
And there's so many out there right Now, you serve
us northern Idaho, I believe.
Is that correct?
Yep, yep, and there are layers.
That's how I wanted tointroduce you, there you go.
Like the donkey and shreklayers leaders parfaits have
layers, mike baker has layers,exactly um talk about adhd, holy
(08:38):
crap um so how?
How did heritage Health comeabout?
Was it like we saw a need andwe decided to do something about
it?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, it's an incredible founding story.
So the founder of ourorganization her name was Lydwyn
Durney and she was in Hollandduring World War II.
She was escaping World War II,ended up in Canada and then she
ended up in North Idaho and justwas part of our community.
She's this incredible person,but she had a friend that passed
(09:11):
away, a single mom.
She had diabetes.
She didn't have access toreally good healthcare.
She ended up passing away andLidwin was just like we've got
to fix this.
This is a real problem.
And so she started a volunteerclinic that operated a couple
nights a week and they startedreally seeing patients in our
community and then it just itgrew so, um, you know, it ran
(09:32):
from a free clinic to 1985 to2004 and then it became a
community health center and thenI joined it at the end of 2009
into 2010 and since then we'vejust been having a lot of fun
expanding, doing everything wecan to provide medical, dental,
mental health and substance usetreatment services for our
community.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
And it's so cool too, because when we talk about the
health care system here in theUnited States, because when we
talk about the health caresystem here in the United States
, oh let's.
My feeling is that those whohave insurance through their
(10:16):
employer, for example, are finewith it.
It may be irritating a littlebit for a while here or there,
but as a general rule they'reokay with it, whereas people who
are self-insured, or they maketoo much money for Medicaid but
(10:37):
not enough money to affordregular healthcare, find the
system frustrating anddemoralizing and all kinds of
other words.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So and these are the people that you reach out to,
I'm guessing- yeah, I mean weprovide care for anybody that
comes through the door, but ourgoal is to I mean, our mission
statement is to improve life,and so we all know the
healthcare system's complex andcrazy and we're trying to do
everything we can to just makeit easier to access so that we
can identify problems earlierand engage people so that we can
(11:11):
extend life.
Right, we want people to livehealthier, fuller lives.
We know we can do that, but wealso we've got to find a way to
partner with people to get there.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Right, right, right, right.
And and I mean we probablydon't always make the best
choices when it comes to livinghealthier, do we?
Yeah, we all have as apopulation mm-hmm, I just got on
medicare because I just turnedthat magic age, yeah, and I
(11:46):
joined the y.
That's great, and now I gothree times a week and I use the
, the e-gym and and all thatgood stuff and I mean so that,
and trust me, that's huge for me, oh it's it's perfect.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I mean, really if we could just increase our physical
activity, take care of ourmental health and eat a little
better.
I mean the health impact ofthat is it's huge, and just
being mindful and thinkingthrough it it is.
It's little steps.
I go for a walk after dinner,you know.
Connect with people, don't belonely, you know.
Listen to great podcasts, feedyour brain, you know.
(12:21):
Stuff like that, like these,are the keys to really getting
through it.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
so it doesn't have to be complicated.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
I mean the listening podcastpart, exactly.
Um, yeah, because I mean if weall did those things, you guys
would have less work, and Idon't think that would
necessarily be a bad thing,right.
Right, if you guys would haveless work and I don't think that
(12:45):
would necessarily be a badthing, right.
Right, if you guys weren't quiteso, but it's.
It's daunting, I would imagine,at times, to do the work that
you do.
I saw, and when we're talkingabout healthcare and you said
(13:08):
you wanted to make it simplerfor people, and that reminds me
of a story I heard.
A friend of mine was justrecounting, just recounting.
They had to have a surgery andthey found a doctor in network
out of a building, right, thedoctor was in network and the
(13:31):
doctor would be doing thesurgery in that same building
and the person found out afterthe surgery that, while the
doctor was in network, thefacility that she had the
surgery done in was not innetwork.
It's so confusing, and I don'tthink the anesthesiologist was
(13:52):
in network either, even thoughthey all worked out of the same
building, you know, in roughlythe same 5,000 square foot area.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, it's crazy.
I mean, there's thecomplexities within it.
You know, we we really hurt thehealthcare system and we need
to find our way back.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Yeah, I think some people were so hopeful when the
ACA came through and and it wasgood because I mean, I had a
pre-existing condition, mystepson had a pre-existing
condition there was a realchance that neither of us would
be, you know, get insurance ifwe had to go out and shop for it
(14:35):
on our own.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yeah, there's lots of good things.
That was huge, but I don'tthink it's necessarily worked
out as well as maybe everybodywas hoping for.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Very true, very true.
We have lots of improvement.
No-transcript, good look forsomething beautiful.
(15:31):
Trust the strengths that I have, knowing that I can work
through any problem.
So when I, when I want, when Ishare that, hey, I'm optimistic
about the future, because Ireally am.
It's because I know that we canfigure out how to solve health
care problems.
I know that we can find a wayto take better care of ourselves
and serve our communitiesbetter.
(15:51):
It takes that optimisticoutlook to help us kind of get
into the mindset and that reallydrives you know, back toward
kindness and happiness and allof the great things that we're
trying to get to.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Right, absolutely.
And you, speaking of looking onthe bright side, you wrote a
book called the Optimist's Way.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
yeah, that one really , like we talked earlier, it's
sort of the the evolution of mywork.
But, um, you know, I was, I hadbeen in a board meeting and and
over the years, like peoplehave just said, mike, you're too
optimistic, you know, andthat's that sometimes that I
feel that in my heart I'm like,well, I know there were some bad
things.
Yeah.
But so I really wanted to finda way to just tell the story
(16:43):
about, like, when optimism isgood, so I get it.
Like there's a thing calledtoxic positivity, like if you
were just always sunshine andrainbows, and there's no
substance to it.
Right that that doesn't feelgood either, but there is, and I
call it realistic optimism,right, like it's based on
reality.
I know that when a businesschallenge comes, when a health
(17:04):
challenge comes, when somethingcomes at me as a father, I know
that I can have an optimisticoutlook on it, like I know that
we're going to solve thisproblem.
It doesn't change that it'sgoing to be hard and we have a
lot of work to do to get throughthat process.
But part of my job as a leaderis to bring people through the
(17:25):
mess, and I can, as a leader, ifI'm up here saying, oh, the
world's going to end like,that's not very inspiring, but
if I can say, look, I know thatthere's a better place, come
with me, let's do the work,let's get there, and so that's
really what the book does.
It's really it's sort of adaily reader.
Um, you open it up and there'sa good passage in there.
Um, I hope to inspire peoplethrough that.
And then I tied the music andart into that, um, just as a way
to like sort of wrap all myworlds into one little project.
(17:48):
And so it's been fun, it's beena had a great reception out
there and just a fun project toget out into the world nice,
well, and helpful too.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
So back to my heritage health.
What is?
How does this work?
I mean, it's not free, mm-hmm,but it's affordable and you work
with the clients.
Is that the patients?
Yeah, both.
Okay, how does that?
How does that work?
I, I don't, let's say, I justlost my job and therefore my
(18:27):
insurance, but I really need xyz, yeah, so we're here, come into
a.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
My hair, go ahead yeah, I just say we're here all
the time.
So our goal is to make sure youhave a.
You have constant access tohealthcare, whether or not you
have insurance.
Right, just show up, we'regoing to take care of you.
We'll figure out how to how tofund it through the process.
So we're, we're here.
We take care of about 25,000patients in North Idaho.
People come see us about 125 to150,000 times a year for all
(18:57):
the different services.
So we're a very busy place, butwe do this and we're part of a
network of independent communityhealth centers out there, so
you can find one in yourcommunity and they're all going
to have a similar feel to them.
We're here to take care of you.
Just show up and we're going todo it.
Now, if you don't haveinsurance, we offer what's
called the sliding fee scale andso, based on your income, we
(19:21):
take the office visit and weslide it down to an affordable
amount.
So most people pay about $25for a visit with us.
So you know it's similar to acopay that you know that people
would have.
We have, you know, things inplace that if that's too much,
we'll still work with you, butwe don't ever want the financial
side of it to get in the way ofgetting the care that you need,
(19:42):
and so that part's great.
So you just, you know, find ahealth center and show up with
your health care problems andthen establish that and work on
improving your health as you gothrough the process.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and even you even have
some um funds.
Uh, there's a scholarship,there's a, is it dime?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
foundation.
So journey, uh-huh.
Yep, that's our founder.
So lidwin durney was ourfounder.
So the durney foundation, yougot it.
Um, that's actually one of thereasons why it's no longer
during.
It used to be durney healthcenters.
People really struggled withwith pronouncing it.
So the Dernie Foundation, yougot it.
That's actually one of thereasons why it's no longer
Dernie.
It used to be Dernie HealthCenters.
People really struggled withpronouncing it.
So now that's actually whywe're Heritage Health.
But yeah, we have the DernieFoundation.
But again, we do differentthings to make sure that people
(20:31):
always have access to care.
So if you can't afford yourco-pays, you know you can apply
for a scholarship through thefoundation and we'll evaluate
that and do what we can to help.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Just make sure you're getting the care that you need.
Okay, perfect.
And it's not just one location,is it?
It's not just like a clinic innorthern Idaho, somewhere you
guys are out and about as well.
We correct, yeah, we do somestreet work yep, we have a
street medicine program.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Um, so we have a.
We have people in our communitythat are struggling with
consistent housing, right, andso we're doing our best to make
sure that you know we're we'reconnecting people with resources
to help with housing, but alongthe way we're providing health
care service.
We want to make sure that ourmission is to provide that
health care, and then we workwith our partners that come
alongside of us and help us withother social needs, which is
(21:29):
it's really fun to have thesereally cool partners in your
community.
But we are in all of the mainservice areas.
Here in North Idaho we have oneof my really good friends runs
the health center.
Another community health centerup in Sandpoint, bonner's Bay
area.
It's called Keniksu Health.
They're incredible.
And then there's one below us,in just the county down from us,
(21:49):
called Marieman Health, andthen over in Spokane, washington
, there's a place called Chaz,and so we are all friends, we
all do the same work, but weserve our communities in
different ways, and that's themagic of a health center.
So people out there listening,you know they can go to you.
Just Google find a health, findan FQHC.
It'll take you to a website youcan put in your address and
(22:12):
it'll tell you where a communityhealth center is nearby you I
think we should put.
I'll put a link to that in theshow notes that's great, is it f
?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
what was it?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
fqhc, fqhc.
Yeah, but I'll send you thelink.
So foxtrot.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
quebec hotel, california.
Yep, yep, sorry.
H-c Hotel, california.
You're spelling it phoneticallyand I think that's one of the
cool things too really is allthe networking, the connections
(22:57):
of it, and you may be connectedto a food bank if one of your
patients is having troublegetting fresh food or a shelter,
or there are so many differentorganizations in every community
that really want to help people, and I think people that maybe
don't know.
Do you find that to be the casefor your patients?
(23:18):
They don't know there's thathelp in their own community.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
We do, yeah, 100%.
It's sort of this hidden secretin lots of communities and you
know, we do a lot of outreach,we do a lot of marketing but
they're just people that don'tunderstand, or they don't
understand that they wouldbenefit from the services.
Sometimes, and I think that youknow, early on, one of the
images that we worked onchanging was that this was just
for the poor people right likewell, sure, we're here for
(23:44):
anybody.
But some people found themselvesin a situation where they may
need our help but because theyweren't poor, um, they wouldn't
come see us.
They thought, well, well,that's not for me, well, we're
here for everybody we have.
Incredible, like my family goesto our providers, like so many
people just use us as a resourcebecause we're a really great
(24:05):
place for healthcare.
And if you don't have theresources, if you're not insured
, we don't care, show up, we'regoing to take care of you care,
show up, we're going to takecare of you.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, yeah, and that talking about that, we're not
poor enough or we're not poor,or what have you.
There's a great story I heard.
I was talking to a woman by thename of Susan Dearson and she
works.
She was at the time she was theexecutive director of a food
shelf up near me.
Now she's the executivedirector of a food shelf up near
me.
Now she's the executivedirector of a Meals and Wheels
chapter.
(24:41):
But she was talking about thisstory that happened to her where
they were all working at thefood shelf one day and, you know
, cars would come and go.
They'd come, they'd pick their,their groceries and and they'd
go, but for the longest timethis mercedes-benz was sitting
(25:03):
in the parking lot and theystarted to.
You know they're like well,what's the story with that?
They got curious and andeventually one of the employees
went out and one of thevolunteers went out and talked
to him.
And they came back in and saidto Susan, you need to talk to
this person.
And Susan went out and the galsaid I've never found myself in
(25:27):
this position before.
My husband and I used to makereally good money until about
six months ago, when we werelaid off both of us at the same
time, and now we need yourservices and she was embarrassed
to come in.
She didn't want to come inbecause she was driving a
(25:50):
Mercedes-Benz, right, and I justthink that's so sad's sad to me
I think it really points backto the whole.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
You never know what battle anyone's facing and we're
all a couple paychecks frombeing the person that needs help
in lots of ways, and so youknow the judgment side of it,
where we we work really hard tomake sure that it's very
dignified process, like again,everybody's welcome here.
You just might fall into thisbucket where you need some help.
That's great, um, but right,don't, don't use that as a
(26:24):
reason not to come.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yeah because and I had, I personally have never
been too proud.
I know, when my wife and Ifirst started our business, we
also were laid off.
On the same day I went back towork.
I found a job fairly quicklyand then was really really
(26:48):
really bad at it.
It was in the mortgage industry.
I knew nothing about themortgage industry, but at any
rate, another story for anotherday.
By the end of 2005, I waslooking for a job again.
I was so tired of looking for ajob and so we decided to start
(27:11):
our own home cleaning business,cue the, you know, the
self-insured part.
But we made so little moneythat we qualified for basically
the Minnesota version ofMedicaid.
I'm like I don't care, and atone point we were so poor how
(27:35):
poor were you that we actuallyqualified for the free version,
I mean we didn't pay a dime andthen eventually, as we started
to get back on our feet, wequalified for Medicaid.
but the part where you pay amonthly fee and then, full on,
go fend for yourself healthinsurance right.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yep, oh, that's what those problems are for.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Before we knew anything about brokers and all
that good stuff, yeah, and thatis I mean, I don't know how I
found out about it, but itliterally saved my bacon one
time, nice scar, yeah.
I bake in one time, nice scar,yeah.
So yeah, you know, if you needsomething, there is help out
(28:22):
there for you, right?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Absolutely.
I mean, I think for me that'sthe hardest thing is we find
people that put you know, theyfind a lump or they have a
concern, and then they put itoff and they don't come in.
And you know lots of reasons.
I don't ever want that reasonto be.
I can't afford it.
You know, like if you find ahealth problem, something that's
concerned, yeah, get in thequicker that we deal with it,
the better.
You know you've, you know wehave people like I felt this
(28:47):
lump like a year ago, and now wecome in and it's, you know,
it's progressed to somethingthat's really really hard to
treat.
And so you know, for us, justthe financial side of everything
we are here, and you knowcommunity health centers across
the nation, like that's whatwe're here to do.
We want to take care of peoplethat need the services so that
(29:07):
we can just keep our communitiesstrong.
And you know, be there for ourcommunities, it's an incredible
program.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yeah, yeah, it's.
It's so fantastic what you guysdo, what you do and I.
There will be links galore inthe show notes of this episode
Mikebakerhqcom,myheritagehealthorg, maybe even
(29:38):
a link to the Optimist's Way.
Thank you so, so, so much, mike, for taking 30 minutes to chat
with me and give us all a littlehope that there's a solution
out there.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
You're welcome when we're all feeling so down.
Yeah, it's definitely.
You know it is hard out thereand I think if we can just
continue to wake up every dayand it's okay to have bad days
and say, look, today's not theday and I'm just going to be
down, that's okay.
But you know, find that rhythmand find that spot and if you
can't find something beautifulin your life, go serve somebody,
(30:13):
go do something else.
You'll find it.
There's beauty out there andthat's something that helps lift
your spirits and gets you backinto the groove where you can
look at tomorrow and know thatit'll be a better day.
So love your podcast, love yourwork and thank you so much for
having me here today.
It's a real honor.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Thank you so much.
Take care and we'll be in touch.
Take care, thank you so much.
Take care and we'll be in touch.
Take care.
I want to thank you so much fortaking the time to listen to
this episode with my guest, mikeBaker, such an interesting guy.
All of his links will be in theshow notes.
(30:53):
Please hop over there and takea look, maybe while you're
listening to the episode.
But I hope you leave thisepisode inspired or motivated,
or just feeling uplifted andmaybe a little bit better about
the way things are in the worldtoday.
If that's the case, if you feelthat way, you know what?
(31:16):
Go ahead and tell your friends,your family, your co-workers,
the deli guy at the grocerystore, whoever, that you found
this great podcast called theKindness Matters Podcast and it
makes you feel pretty good whenyou listen to it.
I would really, really reallyappreciate it.
(31:37):
I'm always striving to offeryou a better podcast, so you
know, give me some feedback,leave a message wherever you're
listening to this podcast, leavea critique, a thank you,
whatever the case may be, andjust let me know how you think
I'm doing.
And also, please feel free tocheck us out and follow us or
(31:57):
subscribe to us on our socialslike YouTube, facebook,
instagram, linkedin, tiktok.
For heaven's sakes, I wouldappreciate that too.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast, let's say and you need
(32:19):
some production assistance, oryou already have a podcast and
you're just looking for asupportive network to join.
Check out maydaymedianetworkcomand make sure you check out the
many different shows they have,like Afrocentric Spoil, my
Movie Generation Mixtape In aPickle Radio Show, wake Up and
(32:41):
Dream with D'Anthony Palin, staxO'Pax and the Time Pals.
We will be back again next weekwith a brand new episode and we
would be honored if you wouldjoin us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters podcast.
I am your host, mike Rathbun.
Have a fantastic week.
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