April 22, 2024 • 20 mins
Have you ever felt the earth's energy humming beneath your feet as you tread along a secluded trail, the serenity of nature a balm to your bustling life? Julie Jenkins, trailblazer and co-founder of Just Trails, joins us to share that very magic. In a stirring conversation, we travel through her personal narrative, from outdoor gear fumbles to her pivotal role with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Julie's journey isn't just one of self-discovery, but also a testament to the power of trails in knitting together communities and sparking vital cultural dialogues. Her insights on the complexities of trail systems and their histories underscore the healing and creative forces of our natural world.
Venture further into the essence of community engagement with our discussion on the collective shaping of outdoor recreation. We shed light on the importance of public input, the necessity of equitable development of public spaces, and the irreplaceable value of volunteers. Julie and I celebrate the triumphs of collaborative efforts, like the open space initiatives in Buncombe County, and advocate for the listener's voice in future trail expansions. This episode is not just a narrative of achievement and growth, but also a call to action for all to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of our trails and parks, laying the groundwork for tomorrow's outdoor legacy.
Website: www.just-trails.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judkins/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laura (00:11):
Morning.
I'm your host, lauraWagner-Kanesh, owner and CEO of
Mosaic Business Consulting, andyou're listening to the Mosaic
Life with Laura W.
A mosaic is a bunch of piecesthat, when put together, make up
the whole in a really beautifulway, and this show plans to
discuss the various pieces of abusiness throughout different
industries and how these pieces,when put together, can help
(00:33):
develop a better, more efficientand effective running of your
business.
To reach me, contact bizradious.
Our guest today is going to bea bit unique and yet so much the
same.
It's really exciting.
Julie Jenkins I apologize, julieJenkins is a consultant and
co-founder of Just Trails, whichis an organization focused on
(00:57):
regenerating nature andcommunities through the
connected power of trails.
Fascinating, very, verydifferent, so this is going to
be interesting.
She consults for trailcommunities around the world,
supporting and growing outdooreconomies through just
transitions for rural and urbancommunities.
(01:18):
An education and outreachdirector for the Appalachian
Trail Conservancy, julie createdaward-winning education, youth
and community programs.
She is passionate about foodsystems, serving as board member
of the Urban Agricultural NGO,supporting policies for
(01:39):
community health and socialjustice.
She has served as a Peace Corpsvolunteer in America and worked
with vulnerable youth atOutward Bound.
She has a BA from NorthCarolina State University and a
Master's in EnvironmentalManagement through Duke's
Nicholas School of EnvironmentClearly a very sharp person.
(02:01):
So please welcome to the show,julie.
Thank you.
Julie (02:05):
Thanks, laura.
Yeah, glad to be here.
Laura (02:07):
Well, it's great to have you.
I am kind of wondering.
You know we think about.
When we think about environment, the first thing that goes
through my head is like climatechange.
And yet there are so manythings to the environment, right
, and I'm wondering what got youinterested in working on this
topic of environment to beginwith.
Julie (02:28):
Well, I think I've had some of my most pivotal moments
and transformative moments whenI'm in nature and when I'm
walking, and even if it's incommunity and with, with, with
friends or with colleagues, likebig ideas or the little tiny
(02:52):
decisions that get you there allare more creative and happen
when I'm moving, and oftentimesmoving outside.
So, um, you know, from as earlyas my experience in college
taking a backpack trip, um, andcrying cause I couldn't figure
(03:15):
out how to deal with all thegear, um, and wondering if I'm
going to get to the top of themountain.
And today, you know, sharingsome similar experiences with my
son.
It's like the, the challengesthat that create resilience
within yourself, but then alsolike the joy of just kind of
being disconnected fromeverything and coming together
(03:38):
to think, think about things ina way that you, that you don't
have time for in a day to dayand day to day living.
Laura (03:49):
So you know, and you, really you, you do, you bring
that that whole concept.
I'm just thinking.
You know, my favorite part ofthe hiking when I go hiking is
when you get to that place inthe middle where you can't hear
cars you can't, you couldliterally hear like a leaf
falling right.
Cars you can't.
You could literally hear like aleaf falling right.
You could hear, you can hearthe whisper of a bug dry, you
know flying by and and they'renot near you, right, yeah, it's
(04:13):
just such a beautiful space andit is, it's, it's like I love
the fact that you can get thereand then what you were saying
about it gives you a place tothink right, a place to not be
connected to, to just breathe.
Julie (04:29):
Yes, yeah, a lot of it is breath work.
It's, it's um.
Laura (04:33):
if you're on a run, you know you're, you're thinking hey
, there ain't no running comingon from girl.
I'm past that.
Julie (04:41):
I like to do every once in a while to get the jitters
out, or if I'm really stressedout, it feels really good to to
head out on the greenway justout of my, out of my back door,
you know, and and and breathe.
It can really, you know, setyour nervous system in a better
direction.
So I think hiking, hiking doesthat, paddling does that a lot
(05:05):
of the activities in theoutdoors do that, and I also I
really do love like systems andhow things work.
So being able to like thinkabout, well, how did this trail
get here and what's the?
What's the history of thiscommunity and what's the
landscape here?
Who owns this?
(05:25):
Who manages it?
Those kinds of questions reallyexcite me, and so I've been
able to take the things that Ilove about being outside and
being on walks and learning fromour dark histories and the
society and putting the twotogether.
(05:46):
So that's what is really coolabout the work and bringing
people together outside is youcan have some of the important
building of culture together asa community to be able to talk
about maybe some of the hardercultural aspects that have
happened through history andthrough the years.
Laura (06:09):
Yeah, yeah.
And so, when you've been onthis journey to start your own
company, I'm wondering whatprompted you to do that, versus
just joining some otherorganization that works on
trails and a particular trailmaybe, or something along those
lines.
I mean, I understand yourinterest in systems, but what
(06:31):
prompted you to start your owncompany?
Julie (06:33):
Well, I.
So I was working with theAppalachian Trail Conservancy
for, as you mentioned in myintro, like 20, a good 20 years
and growing with theorganization and had a true love
of my colleagues and the workthere and they fortunately
introduced me to otherorganizations doing great work.
(06:54):
So I got to work with thepartnership of the national
trail system and understand, youknow, this greater national
trail system that we have acrossthe United States, and then
even working with the WorldTrails Network globally, so that
I get to work withorganizations that are
developing trails for the firsttime just to support rural
(07:17):
communities and as a developmenttool within those communities
and bringing visitors to thatcountry, to that country.
And so I, I, I took a leap, Itook a jump.
I have my partner, is aconsultant, and that was a big
help and having somebodyencourage me and say that you
really have the knowledge andthe wherewithal and that you're
(07:42):
ready and you have a network offolks that you've been working
with and and so, yeah, he really, he probably is a big driver
and reason and why I had thekind of faith in myself to take
that jump, in that leap.
Laura (07:58):
And it's so funny, because don't we all need that
support system, right?
We all.
We never do it on our own.
This assumption that we can dothis all on our own is such a
joke, because we were gettinghelp in other ways.
Right, not necessarily on thebusiness itself, but regardless.
Right, that's right.
Julie (08:17):
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, and and you know,and the people that you were
working with, the people I wasworking with before, I still, I
still see and work with and, youknow, call friends and we, we
help each other throughquestions of things that we're
we're currently working on.
So it's a it's like a growingnetwork always and you're
(08:38):
totally right that you can't doit by yourself.
Laura (08:42):
Yeah, exactly it does take a village um as much as we
like to be out on our own in thetrail, right On the trail.
Julie (08:49):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean I will say that the decision to
instead of look at maybe workingwith the World Trails Network,
which actually is just avolunteer tier network it was
the it does give me theflexibility to kind of to grow
in the consulting business andto to find more and more within
(09:13):
my first year and a half likewhere the niches that really
makes sense for me and where I'maligned in terms of the kinds
of strengths and skills that Ican bring to unique communities,
of strengths and skills that Ican bring to unique communities.
So I I really like thatflexibility that it's given me
to be able to continue my ownlearning journey and figure out
(09:33):
what it is that I can offer forfolks.
Laura (09:36):
Yeah, Well, and you know, I think about a trail.
I think you know so, somebodyyou know shoveled out some dirt,
may, or laid a path of dirt orsomething so that there's a
trail, maybe cut down somefoliage so there's a path or
something along those lines,right, and yet it's so much more
(09:57):
.
So what is all involved?
Like just the big picture.
When you talk about a system,I'm thinking to myself.
You know there's a trail a pathin the woods a path in the
woods.
Yeah, there you go.
Julie (10:10):
Yeah, it's amazing to think about.
So I mean, I'll use theAppalachian Trail as an example.
There was, in the 20s, bentonMackay, who was the, who wrote
an article about how theAppalachian mountains could have
this greenway, this opportunityto connect communities and to
(10:31):
get folks from the urban,industrialized areas out so that
they have a betterunderstanding of nature in order
to protect it.
But also it was just, he was aplanner.
But also it was just he was aplanner, so he was a regional
(11:01):
planner, and it was a means oflike dispersing that
urbanization.
So it's really fascinating tothink that these volunteer
groups latched onto it, as did,you know, some of our, the
agency partners, and then theycame together in a meeting in
1925 to say what do we need todo?
And so they started, theystarted building it and within
(11:22):
like 15 years there was thispath in the woods.
That was a connected path, butthen it really took the act of
lobbying and getting Congress todesignate a National Trails Act
that would, and that thenfollowed with some acquisition
money that allowed the agenciesto be able to build and protect
(11:47):
that and put it into publiclands.
The unique story of it is thatvolunteer piece, though, because
the volunteers are the onesthat continue to build and
maintain and manage and still dotoday.
It takes 6,000 volunteers.
No-transcript.
Laura (12:33):
You don't think about it, but I mean Maine to Florida,
right.
Julie (12:37):
Georgia, yeah.
Maine to Georgia, yeah.
Laura (12:40):
So that's a long, long, long way.
And so when you say 6,000volunteers, I'm thinking wow,
that's a lot of folks, but notreally not really.
It is a lot of folks, don't getme wrong, but that's a lot.
But well, and so this justtrails that you've got going.
What do you do at this companyof yours that can help these
(13:03):
trail systems to become betterin different ways, and what are
those ways that they becomebetter?
Julie (13:10):
Yeah, so I do a lot of community engagement.
I feel very strong and a trailis only going to be sustained
and maintained and thrive ifit's locally invested in.
(13:32):
So to make sure that there's afull representation of folks
that understand the benefit thatthe trails that they have
within their community offer andthen you know, on the other
side of that, how that thatcommunity can support and and to
(13:53):
continue to maybe expand orenhance and activate the trails
that they have.
So it's a mutually beneficialsystem of of health,
environmental, social, you knowbenefits and well if you've got,
yeah, go ahead.
I'm sorry.
If you've got the community atthe heart of it, then sorry,
(14:15):
then it's, it's going to be moresuccessful.
So a lot of the work that I dois is in making sure that if
folks are building outdoorrecreation plans for their
community, that they arebringing community members into
the conversation, developingthose action plans and visions
and understanding what resourcesare available for them to do
(14:38):
that.
In a way, that's very muchpublic participation focused,
and also in working with somecommunities who might just want
to be building their skills incertain areas and understanding
how, you know, equity affects usall in the systems of within
our, within the work that we doevery day, and how we can kind
(15:00):
of think about that with a lens.
Laura (15:02):
Well, what you're talking about is a combination, it
feels like, of networking toreach people and then bringing
together people, acting as aliaison, if you will, between
different groups of people tohave the conversations that may
(15:22):
or may not be taking place.
Yeah, wow, okay, so that's apretty big lift.
That's a pretty big lift.
Yeah, I mean there are a lot of.
I mean I think about governmentmeetings, town hall meetings,
city council meetings, that kindof thing, and there are so many
people involved in government,in different aspects of
(15:43):
government, and then I thinkabout trying to bring those
people together with the, withthe public, and and then also
bringing those with, maybe,private entities that can help,
either sponsor or maybecontribute to the, the trail
system, and that's that's a lotof people to bring together.
Julie (16:04):
It is it is, but I, I think of it as, I mean, as a
it's a public asset, so we'reall kind of responsible for, for
its health.
So I, I, I do think it's it'sto have a big umbrella for, for
that, for the work.
Laura (16:23):
Mm.
Yeah, yeah, if you could nameone thing that the that could be
done better, let's say, just inthis area, just in the Buncombe
County area, what would be thatone thing that you'd want to
have happen in this area?
Julie (16:42):
Oh, wow, it is a big question.
I have to say I think BuncombeCounty and Asheville City have
been doing a really good job.
We had a bond pass and BuncombeCounty last year that was like
30 something million dollars tohelp with space and open space
and trails, and I think that thethe transparency that they've
(17:06):
been um able to provide for thecommunity for some of that work
has been really good.
I think that Asheville City isdoing a great job and, you know,
more and more trying to findways to work with community
neighborhoods and theircommunications department to
(17:27):
have a whole engagement hub andmaking sure that they're getting
as much information and out tothe public and mechanisms for
public to give them theirthoughts.
So you know, I have a lot ofhopes and dreams about more,
more pathways and bikewayswithin our, our community and
(17:50):
but I also, you know, reallyvalue the volunteers that sit on
committees and commissions andare doing the hard work to try
to make those things possiblefor our community.
So I would say the one thingwould just be, if I had to put a
call to action to anyone else,is to, you know, make sure that
you're providing the input tothose, to those committees and
(18:11):
saying thank you to thevolunteers that are doing a lot
of the service for us.
Laura (18:15):
Wow, great, yeah, so true .
Like I, you don't think aboutall the volunteer work that goes
into maintaining and keepingthings alive, let alone the
committee work that you'retalking about.
So that's really critical.
I've got one last question foryou is if people wanted to reach
out to you to to learn more howthey might be able to volunteer
(18:37):
, how they might be able to workwith your company or help have
your company help other trailsystems, how can they contact
you?
Julie (18:45):
Yeah, my website is just trailsorg.
There's a hyphen in betweenJustin trails, so you can find
me on my website.
My email is juliejudkins atjust hyphen, trailsorg.
Laura (19:02):
Great, and I'd welcome a chat with anyone, or a walk, or
a walk that sounds great.
Well, I want to thank you somuch, julie.
It's been fantastic to have youon the show and I really
appreciate you bringing all thisto our attention.
I love what you do.
It's fantastic.
Julie (19:19):
Thank you, thanks for the opportunity to chat about it.
Appreciate it.
Laura (19:23):
Well, and I want to thank you for listening to the mosaic
life with Laura W.
You can listen to this episodeagain and get this great content
by listening to other greathosts and their shows by going
to bizradious and click on shows.
Thanks so much for listeningand have a great rest of your
day.
Morning.
I'm your host, lauraWagner-Kanesh, owner and CEO of
Mosaic Business Consulting, andyou're listening to the Mosaic
Life with Laura W.
A mosaic is a bunch of piecesthat, when put together, make up
the whole in a really beautifulway, and this show plans to
discuss the various pieces of abusiness throughout different
industries and how these pieces,when put together, can help
(00:33):
develop a better, more efficientand effective running of your
business.
To reach me, contact bizradious.
Our guest today is going to bea bit unique and yet so much the
same.
It's really exciting.
Julie Jenkins I apologize, julieJenkins is a consultant and
co-founder of Just Trails, whichis an organization focused on
(00:57):
regenerating nature andcommunities through the
connected power of trails.
Fascinating, very, verydifferent, so this is going to
be interesting.
She consults for trailcommunities around the world,
supporting and growing outdooreconomies through just
transitions for rural and urbancommunities.
(01:18):
An education and outreachdirector for the Appalachian
Trail Conservancy, julie createdaward-winning education, youth
and community programs.
She is passionate about foodsystems, serving as board member
of the Urban Agricultural NGO,supporting policies for
(01:39):
community health and socialjustice.
She has served as a Peace Corpsvolunteer in America and worked
with vulnerable youth atOutward Bound.
She has a BA from NorthCarolina State University and a
Master's in EnvironmentalManagement through Duke's
Nicholas School of EnvironmentClearly a very sharp person.
(02:01):
So please welcome to the show,julie.
Thank you.
Julie (02:05):
Thanks, laura.
Yeah, glad to be here.
Laura (02:07):
Well, it's great to have you.
I am kind of wondering.
You know we think about.
When we think about environment, the first thing that goes
through my head is like climatechange.
And yet there are so manythings to the environment, right
, and I'm wondering what got youinterested in working on this
topic of environment to beginwith.
Julie (02:28):
Well, I think I've had some of my most pivotal moments
and transformative moments whenI'm in nature and when I'm
walking, and even if it's incommunity and with, with, with
friends or with colleagues, likebig ideas or the little tiny
(02:52):
decisions that get you there allare more creative and happen
when I'm moving, and oftentimesmoving outside.
So, um, you know, from as earlyas my experience in college
taking a backpack trip, um, andcrying cause I couldn't figure
(03:15):
out how to deal with all thegear, um, and wondering if I'm
going to get to the top of themountain.
And today, you know, sharingsome similar experiences with my
son.
It's like the, the challengesthat that create resilience
within yourself, but then alsolike the joy of just kind of
being disconnected fromeverything and coming together
(03:38):
to think, think about things ina way that you, that you don't
have time for in a day to dayand day to day living.
Laura (03:49):
So you know, and you, really you, you do, you bring
that that whole concept.
I'm just thinking.
You know, my favorite part ofthe hiking when I go hiking is
when you get to that place inthe middle where you can't hear
cars you can't, you couldliterally hear like a leaf
falling right.
Cars you can't.
You could literally hear like aleaf falling right.
You could hear, you can hearthe whisper of a bug dry, you
know flying by and and they'renot near you, right, yeah, it's
(04:13):
just such a beautiful space andit is, it's, it's like I love
the fact that you can get thereand then what you were saying
about it gives you a place tothink right, a place to not be
connected to, to just breathe.
Julie (04:29):
Yes, yeah, a lot of it is breath work.
It's, it's um.
Laura (04:33):
if you're on a run, you know you're, you're thinking hey
, there ain't no running comingon from girl.
I'm past that.
Julie (04:41):
I like to do every once in a while to get the jitters
out, or if I'm really stressedout, it feels really good to to
head out on the greenway justout of my, out of my back door,
you know, and and and breathe.
It can really, you know, setyour nervous system in a better
direction.
So I think hiking, hiking doesthat, paddling does that a lot
(05:05):
of the activities in theoutdoors do that, and I also I
really do love like systems andhow things work.
So being able to like thinkabout, well, how did this trail
get here and what's the?
What's the history of thiscommunity and what's the
landscape here?
Who owns this?
(05:25):
Who manages it?
Those kinds of questions reallyexcite me, and so I've been
able to take the things that Ilove about being outside and
being on walks and learning fromour dark histories and the
society and putting the twotogether.
(05:46):
So that's what is really coolabout the work and bringing
people together outside is youcan have some of the important
building of culture together asa community to be able to talk
about maybe some of the hardercultural aspects that have
happened through history andthrough the years.
Laura (06:09):
Yeah, yeah.
And so, when you've been onthis journey to start your own
company, I'm wondering whatprompted you to do that, versus
just joining some otherorganization that works on
trails and a particular trailmaybe, or something along those
lines.
I mean, I understand yourinterest in systems, but what
(06:31):
prompted you to start your owncompany?
Julie (06:33):
Well, I.
So I was working with theAppalachian Trail Conservancy
for, as you mentioned in myintro, like 20, a good 20 years
and growing with theorganization and had a true love
of my colleagues and the workthere and they fortunately
introduced me to otherorganizations doing great work.
(06:54):
So I got to work with thepartnership of the national
trail system and understand, youknow, this greater national
trail system that we have acrossthe United States, and then
even working with the WorldTrails Network globally, so that
I get to work withorganizations that are
developing trails for the firsttime just to support rural
(07:17):
communities and as a developmenttool within those communities
and bringing visitors to thatcountry, to that country.
And so I, I, I took a leap, Itook a jump.
I have my partner, is aconsultant, and that was a big
help and having somebodyencourage me and say that you
really have the knowledge andthe wherewithal and that you're
(07:42):
ready and you have a network offolks that you've been working
with and and so, yeah, he really, he probably is a big driver
and reason and why I had thekind of faith in myself to take
that jump, in that leap.
Laura (07:58):
And it's so funny, because don't we all need that
support system, right?
We all.
We never do it on our own.
This assumption that we can dothis all on our own is such a
joke, because we were gettinghelp in other ways.
Right, not necessarily on thebusiness itself, but regardless.
Right, that's right.
Julie (08:17):
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, and and you know,and the people that you were
working with, the people I wasworking with before, I still, I
still see and work with and, youknow, call friends and we, we
help each other throughquestions of things that we're
we're currently working on.
So it's a it's like a growingnetwork always and you're
(08:38):
totally right that you can't doit by yourself.
Laura (08:42):
Yeah, exactly it does take a village um as much as we
like to be out on our own in thetrail, right On the trail.
Julie (08:49):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean I will say that the decision to
instead of look at maybe workingwith the World Trails Network,
which actually is just avolunteer tier network it was
the it does give me theflexibility to kind of to grow
in the consulting business andto to find more and more within
(09:13):
my first year and a half likewhere the niches that really
makes sense for me and where I'maligned in terms of the kinds
of strengths and skills that Ican bring to unique communities,
of strengths and skills that Ican bring to unique communities.
So I I really like thatflexibility that it's given me
to be able to continue my ownlearning journey and figure out
(09:33):
what it is that I can offer forfolks.
Laura (09:36):
Yeah, Well, and you know, I think about a trail.
I think you know so, somebodyyou know shoveled out some dirt,
may, or laid a path of dirt orsomething so that there's a
trail, maybe cut down somefoliage so there's a path or
something along those lines,right, and yet it's so much more
(09:57):
.
So what is all involved?
Like just the big picture.
When you talk about a system,I'm thinking to myself.
You know there's a trail a pathin the woods a path in the
woods.
Yeah, there you go.
Julie (10:10):
Yeah, it's amazing to think about.
So I mean, I'll use theAppalachian Trail as an example.
There was, in the 20s, bentonMackay, who was the, who wrote
an article about how theAppalachian mountains could have
this greenway, this opportunityto connect communities and to
(10:31):
get folks from the urban,industrialized areas out so that
they have a betterunderstanding of nature in order
to protect it.
But also it was just, he was aplanner.
But also it was just he was aplanner, so he was a regional
(11:01):
planner, and it was a means oflike dispersing that
urbanization.
So it's really fascinating tothink that these volunteer
groups latched onto it, as did,you know, some of our, the
agency partners, and then theycame together in a meeting in
1925 to say what do we need todo?
And so they started, theystarted building it and within
(11:22):
like 15 years there was thispath in the woods.
That was a connected path, butthen it really took the act of
lobbying and getting Congress todesignate a National Trails Act
that would, and that thenfollowed with some acquisition
money that allowed the agenciesto be able to build and protect
(11:47):
that and put it into publiclands.
The unique story of it is thatvolunteer piece, though, because
the volunteers are the onesthat continue to build and
maintain and manage and still dotoday.
It takes 6,000 volunteers.
No-transcript.
Laura (12:33):
You don't think about it, but I mean Maine to Florida,
right.
Julie (12:37):
Georgia, yeah.
Maine to Georgia, yeah.
Laura (12:40):
So that's a long, long, long way.
And so when you say 6,000volunteers, I'm thinking wow,
that's a lot of folks, but notreally not really.
It is a lot of folks, don't getme wrong, but that's a lot.
But well, and so this justtrails that you've got going.
What do you do at this companyof yours that can help these
(13:03):
trail systems to become betterin different ways, and what are
those ways that they becomebetter?
Julie (13:10):
Yeah, so I do a lot of community engagement.
I feel very strong and a trailis only going to be sustained
and maintained and thrive ifit's locally invested in.
(13:32):
So to make sure that there's afull representation of folks
that understand the benefit thatthe trails that they have
within their community offer andthen you know, on the other
side of that, how that thatcommunity can support and and to
(13:53):
continue to maybe expand orenhance and activate the trails
that they have.
So it's a mutually beneficialsystem of of health,
environmental, social, you knowbenefits and well if you've got,
yeah, go ahead.
I'm sorry.
If you've got the community atthe heart of it, then sorry,
(14:15):
then it's, it's going to be moresuccessful.
So a lot of the work that I dois is in making sure that if
folks are building outdoorrecreation plans for their
community, that they arebringing community members into
the conversation, developingthose action plans and visions
and understanding what resourcesare available for them to do
(14:38):
that.
In a way, that's very muchpublic participation focused,
and also in working with somecommunities who might just want
to be building their skills incertain areas and understanding
how, you know, equity affects usall in the systems of within
our, within the work that we doevery day, and how we can kind
(15:00):
of think about that with a lens.
Laura (15:02):
Well, what you're talking about is a combination, it
feels like, of networking toreach people and then bringing
together people, acting as aliaison, if you will, between
different groups of people tohave the conversations that may
(15:22):
or may not be taking place.
Yeah, wow, okay, so that's apretty big lift.
That's a pretty big lift.
Yeah, I mean there are a lot of.
I mean I think about governmentmeetings, town hall meetings,
city council meetings, that kindof thing, and there are so many
people involved in government,in different aspects of
(15:43):
government, and then I thinkabout trying to bring those
people together with the, withthe public, and and then also
bringing those with, maybe,private entities that can help,
either sponsor or maybecontribute to the, the trail
system, and that's that's a lotof people to bring together.
Julie (16:04):
It is it is, but I, I think of it as, I mean, as a
it's a public asset, so we'reall kind of responsible for, for
its health.
So I, I, I do think it's it'sto have a big umbrella for, for
that, for the work.
Laura (16:23):
Mm.
Yeah, yeah, if you could nameone thing that the that could be
done better, let's say, just inthis area, just in the Buncombe
County area, what would be thatone thing that you'd want to
have happen in this area?
Julie (16:42):
Oh, wow, it is a big question.
I have to say I think BuncombeCounty and Asheville City have
been doing a really good job.
We had a bond pass and BuncombeCounty last year that was like
30 something million dollars tohelp with space and open space
and trails, and I think that thethe transparency that they've
(17:06):
been um able to provide for thecommunity for some of that work
has been really good.
I think that Asheville City isdoing a great job and, you know,
more and more trying to findways to work with community
neighborhoods and theircommunications department to
(17:27):
have a whole engagement hub andmaking sure that they're getting
as much information and out tothe public and mechanisms for
public to give them theirthoughts.
So you know, I have a lot ofhopes and dreams about more,
more pathways and bikewayswithin our, our community and
(17:50):
but I also, you know, reallyvalue the volunteers that sit on
committees and commissions andare doing the hard work to try
to make those things possiblefor our community.
So I would say the one thingwould just be, if I had to put a
call to action to anyone else,is to, you know, make sure that
you're providing the input tothose, to those committees and
(18:11):
saying thank you to thevolunteers that are doing a lot
of the service for us.
Laura (18:15):
Wow, great, yeah, so true .
Like I, you don't think aboutall the volunteer work that goes
into maintaining and keepingthings alive, let alone the
committee work that you'retalking about.
So that's really critical.
I've got one last question foryou is if people wanted to reach
out to you to to learn more howthey might be able to volunteer
(18:37):
, how they might be able to workwith your company or help have
your company help other trailsystems, how can they contact
you?
Julie (18:45):
Yeah, my website is just trailsorg.
There's a hyphen in betweenJustin trails, so you can find
me on my website.
My email is juliejudkins atjust hyphen, trailsorg.
Laura (19:02):
Great, and I'd welcome a chat with anyone, or a walk, or
a walk that sounds great.
Well, I want to thank you somuch, julie.
It's been fantastic to have youon the show and I really
appreciate you bringing all thisto our attention.
I love what you do.
It's fantastic.
Julie (19:19):
Thank you, thanks for the opportunity to chat about it.
Appreciate it.
Laura (19:23):
Well, and I want to thank you for listening to the mosaic
life with Laura W.
You can listen to this episodeagain and get this great content
by listening to other greathosts and their shows by going
to bizradious and click on shows.
Thanks so much for listeningand have a great rest of your
day.
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