July 1, 2025 • 33 mins
Janel Schmitz has called Bismarck home since she was six years old. She is married to Mayor Mike Schmitz, and they celebrated their 40 th anniversary in July 2024. Together they have two sons, Jason and David who is married to Kate and they have two children, Hazel and Harrison.
Janel’s career has followed many paths. Graduating with a degree in dietetics in 1984, she washired by MedCenter One as a clinical dietitian. She accepted many opportunities at the hospitalin program development and eventually left dietetics to start a variety of programs including theDakota Children’s Advocacy Center, the first comprehensive program in the state to assessabused children.
After 15 years at MedCenter One, she joined the nonprofit management world, working indifferent positions with Charles Hall Youth Services, Girl Scouts, the American Lung Associationand the American Red Cross. While at the American Lung Association, she played a significantrole in passing smoke free workplace legislation in North Dakota. During the 2011 floods, shemanaged national and international communications for the Red Cross. During this time sheachieved a master’s in business administration from the University of Mary.Working in the nonprofit sector concluded in 2011 when she accepted the Communications & Marketing Manager position at Bank of North Dakota where she is working today.
She enjoys walking, working with her church, reading, wine tasting and hosting dinner parties.Mike and Janel love their new role as grandparents and are frequent visitors to their grands andchildren who all live in Minnesota.
https://www.makeyourmarkbisman.com/
Janel’s career has followed many paths. Graduating with a degree in dietetics in 1984, she washired by MedCenter One as a clinical dietitian. She accepted many opportunities at the hospitalin program development and eventually left dietetics to start a variety of programs including theDakota Children’s Advocacy Center, the first comprehensive program in the state to assessabused children.
After 15 years at MedCenter One, she joined the nonprofit management world, working indifferent positions with Charles Hall Youth Services, Girl Scouts, the American Lung Associationand the American Red Cross. While at the American Lung Association, she played a significantrole in passing smoke free workplace legislation in North Dakota. During the 2011 floods, shemanaged national and international communications for the Red Cross. During this time sheachieved a master’s in business administration from the University of Mary.Working in the nonprofit sector concluded in 2011 when she accepted the Communications & Marketing Manager position at Bank of North Dakota where she is working today.
She enjoys walking, working with her church, reading, wine tasting and hosting dinner parties.Mike and Janel love their new role as grandparents and are frequent visitors to their grands andchildren who all live in Minnesota.
https://www.makeyourmarkbisman.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to These Are Your Neighbors, a podcast hosted by
the City of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee and produced by
Dakota Media Access. The purpose of the podcast is to
celebrate change makers in Bismarck whose contributions break barriers, build connections,
and redefine what is possible for our community.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to These Are Your Neighbors, a podcast hosted by
Tia Jorgensen and Sergiana Woitsky, both members of the City
of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee. Thank you for joining us
as we highlight the individuals driving positive change and making
a lasting impact on our community. Their stories inspire progress
and shape the future of our city.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Our guest today is Janelle Schmidtz. Janelle is called Bismarck
Holms since she was six years old. She was married
to Mayor Mike Schmidz and they celebrated their fortieth anniversary
in July twenty twenty four. Together, they have two sons,
Jason and David. David is mayor to Kate, and they
have two children, Hazel and Harrison. Janelle's career has followed
many pass graduate with the degree in dietetics, she was
(01:05):
hired by Mensenter one as a clinical dietitian. She accepted
many opportunities at the hospital in program development and eventually
left dietetics to start a variety of programs, including the
Dakota Children's Advocacy Center, the first comprehensive program in the
state to assess the abuse children. After fifteen years at
mensenter One, she joined the non profit management world, working
(01:28):
in different positions with Charles holl Youth Services, Girl Scouts,
the America Lung Association, and the American Red Cross. While
at the American Lung Association, she played a significant role
in passing smoke free workplace legislation in North Dakota during
the twenty eleven floods. She managed national and international communications
for the Red Cross. During this time, she achieved a
(01:50):
master's degree in Business administration from the University of mary
Working in the non profit sector concluded in twenty eleven
when she accepted the Communications and Marketing manager position at
Bank of North Dakota, where she works today. Janelle enjoys walking,
working with her church, reading wine tasting, and hosting dinner parties.
Mike and Janelle loved the new role as grandparents and
(02:12):
our frequent visitors to their grands as well as their children,
who all live in Minnesota. Welcome Janelle, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
So, I guess my first question is why is Bismarck home.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
You know, we've had opportunities to move in the past,
and what's always kept us here was family and friends
and the people here are just so amazing. And the
one thing that I always think is so different about
Bismarck or North Dakota in general, is that it's easy
to make really great things happen because everybody knows somebody.
(02:45):
So like they talk about the six degrees of separation
around here, it's like one, you know, it's not hard
to find somebody to help make a really great thing
happen if you want to.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I think that's the first time we've heard that response,
and it's so true, Like it really is. That's awesome,
it's true.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
So can you kind of explain to us what the
role of a clinical dietitian is in a hospital setting? Well,
you know, I can tell you about that in the
mid eighties, because it's been a long time since I've
been there. I'm assuming some things haven't changed much. You know,
you assess the nutrition status of patients, the drug and
nutrient interactions that could happen with those who provide nutrition
(03:26):
support when needed, also patient education. You know. So it's
a very rewarding career for the right people. I would
say that I wasn't matched well with the career as
a dietitian. So why did you decide to go into that?
Because it was the only major I could get done
in two and a half years. That was not a
really great decision on my part my dad. It was
(03:48):
helping my mom, and dad helped me pay for college.
I didn't pay for all of it, but they helped
me out. And I really was kind of floundering with
what to do for a major. I was one of
those people who went to college and didn't have it
figured out right. And my dad said, you got to
get out of there. And I was like looking through
the book and it's like, I can get dietetics done,
and so there was.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So did you go to college then right after high school?
I did see And I know parents are going to
hate me for saying this, but I think for some
people it is better to take a year, possibly two
years off to kind of figure out what you want
to do. Because I was the same way I wanted
to study gangs. There was just no way.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You know, so, right, But yeah, I would say, now
my work at Bank North Dakota, and of course we
do work with student loans that we say that's you
don't like to think that you want to just go
to college for a year or two to start figuring
it out. Is not the best financial decision for many people, right,
so you need to consider that option. And I think
what's more popular now than it was back then? For me,
(04:51):
it was like all the tech positions, So you could
start a job as a tech in a certain field
to see if you think you'd like it, and then
you can go from there. So I think that's a
really great reco mandation.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, because some of us are forty and still don't
know what we want to do with our lives. But
then you kind of transitioned from that. What made you
decide to leave that setting and go into the nonprofit
management sector?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
So already I was at mid Center one at the time,
so already I was doing a lot of program management.
So it just seemed like the next best step for
me to kind of I was like a person who's
comfortable saying I could learn on the job, and I
think I always faked it well and said, yep, I
can do that, and even though I'd never done it before,
and I had the confidence that I'd be able to
(05:33):
make it happen, so I was able to do that.
My first job was at Charles Hall Youth Services, which
is now closed. I was a development director there but
got some great education. I was only there for nine
months and actually then went to the Girl Scouts, which
was one of my favorite jobs ever. Did it any
of your job at Men's Center help prepare you for
going into the nonprofit sector? Oh, every part of it did.
(05:56):
And so that's one thing that I always think about
that all of the different jobs I've had, they all
make sense to where I am today, Like I'm in
my perfect job. I got my perfect job at the
age of fifty when I went to Bank of North
Dakota is It was a job that fits me like
a glove. I love every literally love everything about it.
(06:16):
But everything made sense along the way, and I think
that's you know, that's something that young people make a
mistake that they think they need to go to college
and know what they're going to do. You will continue
to grow and understand yourself better and you transfer skills.
You don't need the exact degree to do the job.
I was a dietitian, But then when as a dietitian,
(06:38):
I learned how to communicate with patients and I had
to learn how to get a message to people who
did not feel well. Well, I did do it quickly.
I became a really good communicator doing that.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I think that's something too, that's a little bit different
that I'm seeing in younger people now than when I
grew up, was we were kind of it was ingrained
in us that you find a job and it's bad
to go from position to position. And you're seeing that
a lot more where people are staying a couple of
years in a role, And I think I kind of
see the value in that as well now too. But again,
(07:10):
probably parents don't want me sae.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
But well, every new job I took, it expanded my resume,
so there was a reason for it. I never nick
took a step backward. I always expanded.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So then can you talk to us a little bit
about the positions that you held in the nonprofit sector.
So after I left Charles Hall, I was at Girl
Scouts and I did program management and fundraising there and
so got to manage some staff, worked with a lot
of great Girl Scout leaders, helped create programs for young girls,
and I just think that model is so amazing for
(07:45):
girls today to this day. It was a very good
place to work as a female. I learned to be
strong as a female in that environment and so that
was great. And then after that, I was recruited to
be the executive director of the American Lung Association Office
and was excited to do that. It was around the
mid two thousands, and in two thousand and five it
(08:07):
was very exciting. We as twenty years ago we passed
smoke free workplaces in North Dakota. So it's been twenty
years since we smelled smoke in restaurants and had non
smoking versus smoking sections and I'm very proud of being
involved with that.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
So then kind of with all of your nonprofit work,
you also ended up being a part of establishing the
Dakota Children's Advocacy Center. Well, what was your role in that?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So that was when I was at met Center one yet,
and so the state actually came to Terry Brusso, who
was a president at met Center one, and said we
need an abuse assessment center and can you do that?
And so I was tapped. I was running a lot
of children's assessment programs at the time, so it was
a fascinating experience. It took twenty eight agencies from the city, county,
(09:00):
state and federal level. All were represented, social services, law enforcement,
judicial system. Like all of those people, we came together
and needed to create a common set of policies and procedures.
Being the Pollyanna that I am, I thought this would
just others call this meeting and we'll do that. Well,
there was a lot of pushback because you know, our
local police department said, no, we don't need that. You know,
(09:23):
the social services wanted it, but the healthcare system we
had two healthcare facilities in Bismarck, and to get everybody
on that same page. And so I just what I did.
I had that first meeting and took it all in
and then I said, okay, this is a new story
for me, and I understood why people said it usually
takes seven years to get one of these established. And
(09:45):
being at mediciner one at the time, and if anybody
who was listening remembers Terry Bruce Sow, you did not
have seven years to get anything done. And so what
I did was within a period of like two and
a half weeks, I knocked off twenty eight meetings and
with each individual, you know, each agency, and got them
one by one to sign on and for each one
(10:06):
of them, what's in it for them? And I establish
that this is why we need you there. And so
we did that, and within six months we saw our
first child. And so it was very rudimentary compared to
what it is today. They're far more sophisticated today, but
at least we started doing things the right way as
a community. So that was a very exciting time and
(10:27):
energizing for me to be a part of something so important.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Did you know med Center and One played a part
in that? No, I hear no idea. I don't know
if you know the answer to this. But why was
law enforcement hesitant at the time? Do you know?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Well, do you I do it? You know, it's a
great story because it was chief The chief of detectives
was Duff Duffy Hinley and he was this great He's
just like I'd have expected him to be on NYPD Blue.
And I went to meet him and he said, you know,
miss Smith, I think you're a very nice lady, and
(11:00):
what you're doing is a good thing. Maybe, but we
don't need it in Bismarck. We don't. He said, We've
got good detectives, and you know, we've had everything that
we need here. And I said, I appreciate that, and
I'm glad and I'm happy that I live in Bismarck
that that service is available to me. But I said,
if a little child is molested in a small town
(11:21):
of one hundred miles from here, what happens? I said,
are there detectives as good there as they are in Bismarck.
And he said, well no, And I said, maah, that's
what I would think. And I said, duffy, I said,
what if that child moluster comes to Bismarck and then
there's a child in Bismarck that gets hurt? And he said, oh,
(11:45):
you're right. I said, that's why I need you, because
we could have stopped that child molester when it was
from the small town, because they would bring their child here.
And that's why, because then you would help with that investigation.
And he said, you're right, I would. So I get
goosebumps still thinking about that. And so then One of
the things we did was we held an inaugural inaugural
(12:05):
conference about nine months after we had had our first meeting.
Then I also held this big conference to tell everybody
about what we were doing, and brought in a national
speaker and Duffy. We had a social that night and
Duffy bought me a drink and so since then he's
passed away and he is just one of my favorite
(12:27):
people of all time that I've ever gotten to work
with because it meant so much to him. And he said,
you did it, You did it, thank you, And I said, no,
we all did it, but all came together.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So so when you were a part of that beginning process,
was it targeted just for Bismarck initially or did it
was the intent right away to kind of expand to
the rural area.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
And it was already Yeah, the intent was. So that's
why we had the federal so we had, you know,
for reservations involved, we have FBI, BCI, all those organizations
were involved as well. So it it really it expanded
me where that anybody wanted to come.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
That's really incredible. I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Did you base that concept off of other advocacy centers
in the country. It was it was a children's advocacy
center model. And was it the first one in North Dakota.
It was, Yeah, we were the first one. So really
didn't have any advice I went to. I remember going
to a conference in San Diegogo, San Diego and going, oh, baby, Okay,
we're just gonna go. But then you know, they kept
reinforcing be patient seven years. I'm like, going, no way
(13:26):
in heck, am I getting seven years for this thing?
If I want to keep my job, I better get
it done right away.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So so what you're saying is when people need something
done in this town, just you up.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
That's what I'm hearing. Well, No, I just like to
think that it's a model that works. And if you
just everybody has a place, what's in it for me?
And that's a basic communication strategy, is what's in it
for me? And if you can answer that, people are
all in because the bismuck people care, they do care.
So you touched a little bit about the smoke free
(13:59):
workplace legislation. Can you expand on that and what that
looked like in your role at the American Lung Association.
So I worked very closely with the American Heart Association.
June Hermann was a government advocate there she has since
passed away, and loved her just like crazy. And then
the American Cancer Society, and then there's a local network
(14:19):
of county health workers and so we all worked together
to get this legislation written up and then had different roles.
So a lot of my role at that time was
I coordinated the activities with the county staff people, so
then they were getting their people to advocate for it
(14:41):
to their local legislator. So that was part of the
part that I played. Like the Heart Association and Cancer Society,
they could afford to have boots on the ground at
the legislature, so they played some of that legislative role,
and it just it happened, and it was kind of
a miracle. I was a little shocked that it happened, actually,
and I think we ended up at whatever for that
(15:03):
legislature in two thousand and five just kind of I
think it passed without them really thinking too much about
the potential impact. I think it's been very positive and
obviously it's what is it, you know, the standard in
most states in the country today.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
That's what I was going to ask that was North
Dakota kind of on part timing wise or were we
a little bit behind national?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
You know, I think we were kind of on par
There were states like a California, you know that was
you know, those more I should say, more liberal type states.
I think that we're a little bit ahead. But for
being North Dakota, we were. Actually it was pretty great
and it was a really solid law that passed.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
So one other thing about your bio that really intrigued
me because I'm from Mi not how did you end
up doing national and international communications for the Red Cross
during that and how what did that entail?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, so I was executive director at the American Red
Cross office here out of Bismarck. And what happened though,
is so this is an interesting model for the Red Cross.
When there's a disaster in your community, you typically do
not work that disaster because you're usually impacted personally. Right,
So the Red Cross brings in a team of people.
They swoop in and they take care of housing and
(16:22):
food distribution and communications and all aspects that need to
be taken care of. Well, Red Cross swooped in with
this entire team. And I said, and the communications person
is and they said that's going to be you. And
so it was an incredible time. It was like the
longest running disaster in American Red Cross history because right
(16:43):
that flood never went away. Usually you're in and out
in a flood. And that was several months long, and
we worked and I'm not kidding you, for like that
two and a half months. I would get into the
office like we were in this with the basement of
what the new was Good Shepherd Lutheran Church up on
the North Washington. We had gotten that area, We rented
(17:04):
that area and had everybody's workstations set up there and
I would get to work at seven in the morning,
and I would come home at ten at night, sometimes
eleven or midnight, and it was every single day. I
remember on fourth of July we got done at noon
that day. That was the only day we took off
between then and then, and so I was the only
one to run communications. And so I just ended up
(17:27):
taking the calls from Al Jazeer and from some London
Times person and all these people that wanted to come
into North Dakota to do this story. It was just
by default. So then what happened was the American Red
Cross said Oh, you're doing such a great job, We're
going to have you deploy you across the country for
more disasters. And I was like, that does not fit
into my lifestyle. And you know, Mike had business needs
(17:51):
that I needed to be around for as well. And
so that's when the job at Bank North Coda opened up,
and I was really blessed to be able to get
that job.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And when you're running point as like in communications, there
were you like, who are you communicating with on the ground?
Is it emergency services? Is it the National Guard? Is
it local law enforcement? A combination of everybody?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Right, So my primary was with the American Red Cross,
right because I hadn't been trained and how they wanted
messaging to happen or anything like that. So I first
would call them and then I would help arrange if
I needed to get interviews arranged, boots on the ground
kind of thing, that I would call the JICK the
Joint Information Center at the state at the time, you know,
and then I say, okay, I need an interview for
(18:35):
this done and this done, and so then we would
work together to make that happen. But writing media releases
and all that, but they don't do it because it's
such an impact on you personally. And I will say
that it took it probably took about five years for
me to be able to sit in a room with
other people and talk about the flood. I would have
to just get up and walk away. The post traumatic
(18:57):
stress from that was incredible for me. It it just
filtered every part of my life because it was such
an intense part of my world and it was so hard,
you know, I'd go up to mine, not and checking
how things were going. And I remember I still remember
this little four year old girl coming up and she
just came up. I was sitting there. She just came
and just crawled into my lap and started crying, you know,
(19:18):
and he just she just lost everything, and so it
was highly emotional time.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I think that's one thing too about PTSD people don't
realize is like you don't necessarily I don't mean you
weren't directly impacted, because obviously you were, but it wasn't
your house lost. You know, you can still experience at
nine one one dispatchers for example, right, you know, right, yeah, And.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
We did move out of our home because we lived
in South Bismark, and so there was oh I remember
Mary Singer, who was with Burley County Emergency Services still today,
and I was in the Red Cross office. It was
that Saturday morning and the river was still blocked with
the ice and they and Mary called me. Was nine
o'clock in the morning and she said, you know, all
of self Bismarck is going down from Maine, self prepared
(20:05):
to house twenty five thousand people. And then like that's
where I live, right, And so that was like why
red Cross you don't work it. You don't work the
disaster fits in your area because you're personally impacted and
a good thing. That's why Red Cross is so important.
But anyway, it broke and I can't remember why broke
(20:27):
if that's the day we you know, put the oh
they opened it up with a bombing or I can't.
I still don't really remember what happened.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
But when was the Bismarck flood was before or after
the mine?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
It was concurrent?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Oh it was I didn't realize, okay, yeah, so that
makes okay.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah. And so that started like that would have been
at the end of May, and they closed up the
Bismarck Red Cross office like the middle of August. So
we even had to fight to keep the Red Cross
office open here because they are you still only coming
in for a week or to it a shot or
maybe a month and leaving and no, disaster's not done yet.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, I didn't realize they were run together.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Another amazing thing that's talked about in your bio. Thought.
While all this was going on, you also were going
to get your master's degree. So what was that experience
like working towards the school of getting your master's degree
while having a full time job. Yeah, you know, it
was an MBA and so what it really did was
it reinforced a lot of what I was already doing.
(21:33):
I had such a vast work experience that for me,
the NBA wasn't about learning a lot of new concepts.
But you know, it was hard for It was getting
harder for me to move forward in my career with
just a clinical dietitian or with a dietetics degree. You know,
it's like, yeah, you can look at the resume, but
I needed something else for some credibility. So it really
was other than the accounting courses. My husband had to
(21:57):
literally pull me through pork. It's like, you're not qualified
to take this course. I know, but I am, so
you're going to teach me? Those are some challenging evenings.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
So you kind of answered what I was going to ask,
was it like what made you want to go back?
So I guess what advice then, would you give to
somebody who was kind of maybe in that position that
you were, where you couldn't move forward without that degree,
that may be struggling with that decision.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Right, Well, I think what happens is you really count
on your experience is to helping create where you're going
to go next. So you choose a master's degree in
something that makes sense for you to expand. So the
NBA gave me a broad background that I could use
that as a platform. Then, so then you were in
(22:48):
the nonprofit sector for a while, giving this degree, doing
all that. What made you then switch or what happened
to banking? You know? It was communications And I remember
so Banker North Dakota. This job opened up, and I
was like, oh, I might as well stick my name
in there. And I remember coming home from the interview
(23:10):
and saying, you know, it's banking. It's got to be
kind of boring, but it's a nice job. It's a
beautiful building and all of a sudden, like, you know,
asn't the nonprofits, I'd be like, I worried if I
could buy sticky notes the next week and some new pens,
you know, And so it was stable. So I took
the job, not realizing how much I would love the
(23:31):
job right and it quickly it became almost like another
child to me, like do not my bank's reputation is
I'm in charge of that, and do not hurt my bank.
And it's just such an incredible institution with being the
only state owned bank in the country, the impact that
it has on the state. So what it did for
me is what was hard for me in the nonprofit
(23:54):
world is that I didn't always get to act as
much like a business as I wanted to. Whereas Bank
North Dakota, it has to operate like a bank. It's
got to make a profit. But then we also do
things for the exactly the right reasons, like when there's
a disaster in the state, we are right there. So
for me, it's like this perfect combination that it's a
heart job for me, it really hits my heart as
far as our mission and our purpose. I'm highly driven
(24:18):
by that. So it really has worked well and so
I had fifteen years when I was at med Center,
ten years as a dietitian and five years in program management,
fifteen years of a nonprofit sector and then we'll be
finishing my career at Bank in North Dakota. Then it'll
be fourteen years in August, and I got a couple
of years left.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
That's that's awesome. And I feel like we should be
asking Mayor Schmid's this question, like what's it like to
be your husband? But with him being in the public eye,
kind of what's that like being married to a mayor?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
You know, it's not much different, you know, North Dakota, Bismarck.
You're just another person. So it we've always been strong partners.
Like so, I remember when when we were going through
pre marriage counseling and so MICA's Catholic and I'm Lutheran,
and so we got to go through both sides. But
the priest said something that really stuck with both of us,
(25:11):
and he said, your vocation for the two of you
is to be married. Like some people are called to
be priests, some people are called to me nuns, you
are called to be married. That is your vocation. There's
something that only the two of you. There are things
that only the two of you will achieve together that
nobody else is called to do. And so we just
really look at this as a calling. It's a partnership.
(25:32):
The fact that he's a mayor, obviously he's a CPA.
I'm a communications person, so we have a really good balance,
and so we talk a lot. We take a lot
about what's happening, you know, my perspective, things that he
needs to think about. He So I would just say
we're it's a strong partnership.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
So I guess that would be kind of what's the
secret to a forty year marriage?
Speaker 3 (25:56):
I would say the secret is to protect other's hearts.
I and Mike would say the same. He never wants
to say anything that would hurt me, and I would
never want to hurt him, and so I'm very protective
of him, who is ready to reputation is and whatever
I would say about him. And as long as we're
(26:18):
they're absolutely loving each other more than anybody else walking
on earth. We're in good shape. You know. We've got
a strong faith. Even though we come from different religious backgrounds,
we were very strongly committed faith wise together. So one
of the neat things I think that you get to
do is help on different initiatives, and one that's just
(26:40):
started is the Bismark Man and Welcome initiative. Can you
talk about that and what your role is in it? So,
you know, one thing that I was always concerned Mike
and I and we actually experienced it ourselves. We were
both you know, grew up pretty well much in Bismarck,
him me since I was six six, Mike when he
was ten. But after we got married, i'd gone to
(27:01):
UND he was at University of Mary. We did not
even have common friends, and I remember being we just
remember being really lonely at night. You know, it's like,
when how do we get to meet new people? How
do you know We've had this change in lifestyle And
just because you have high school friends doesn't mean you
like the other person's spouse and you know all of that.
And so it took, you know, probably a good five
years for us to start establishing those friendships. And one
(27:23):
thing that we heard from people was that it's really
hard to move to Bismarck. That you're a tight community.
People are friendly, they walk when you walk by on
the street, they say hi if they see you have
a flat tire, they'll help you. But nobody says come
over for coffee, or meet me for a drink, or
come join my book club. And that just doesn't happen enough.
(27:44):
I shouldn't say nobody, but it just doesn't happen enough.
So that was one of the things when he was
elected that we said we wanted to help change. So
we started working with the Bismarck Mandan Chamber and got
a group of people who cared about this kind of
an activity and why it's important. And it's important to
us economically. Right, if people make Bismarck home, they're more
(28:06):
likely to stay. If this is just a place to
land for a job and they don't feel like they
have any other ties to the community, it's easy to
pick up and go. So we, you know, Mike use
it from a mayor's perspective, and politically it's just something
we need to do economically for our community. I view
it as a quality of life for anybody. Yeah, and
if it's a great thing. So I have a nonprofit
and Janelle, I've actually said something to me about this,
(28:30):
and I put in my nonprofit as far as information
about it. So you just go on a website called
what does it Make your Mark? It's make your Mark,
or it's right ground to hear it is make your
markbizman dot com. So if you're just going to the website,
it has a list of like all a bunch of
(28:50):
different nonprofits who've signed up, churches and their addresses are
on there. It also talks about different places you can
go to even the community. Just basically everything that you
would need to know in one place, and nonprofits can
submit and it took me literally not even five minutes
to submit a little bit about my nonprofit and then
contact information and then I'll link to my website so
(29:13):
people can go on just click it, and I'll go
onto my website and I'll talk about volunteer opportunities we have.
So I strongly encourage anybody who has any of those
to go in there, or if you're wondering what's going
on in Bismarck, to access that because it's very user
friendly as well. And I think if I remember right
that the saying is where home is more than a hello. Yeah,
(29:33):
this maarkmandan or home means more than hello. So in
addition to nonprofits like there's clubs like biking clubs. There's
a doll club in Bismarck too, Who I mean, how
cool is that? I saw that?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
To damn Like, I had no idea there was a
doll club in Bismark. Hey, we can put the French
club on it? Yes, yes, so, and it's easy to
sign up. You go to this makrormarkbizman dot com and
this is the website was already in place. It's from
the Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce and it's a beautiful site.
So this is really enhancing that site. So any clubs
and organizations you just click on the upright corner there's
(30:05):
a Hamburger drop down it say sign up your club
and then they'll place it on the website for you.
And so it's one place that people then can go
and learn about what can I join if I'm new
in talent right, what opportunities do I have?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
That's awesome And if you're listening on our streaming platform,
I will make sure that we put the link to
that website in the description here so you guys can
easily access it.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And it also has like a list of different banks
in the community and what their different addresses are. So
if you want to have a bank that's close to
you because maybe you don't have a vehicle or you
ride the bus. I mean it's very user friendly. I
strongly encourage anybody because I've used it to use it.
So another thing your bio mentions that you enjoy wind tasting.
Is that something that you do locally or do you travel?
(30:51):
We do world like, I all taste wine anywhere. This
invite me. We've been to Italy and Greece, We've been
to the Willamette Valley in Oregon and Napa out in California,
but I will We just think it's fun to try
different things. And I'm certainly not any connoisseur. I know
what I like and but yeah, we enjoy that a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
So what's your favorite type of wine?
Speaker 3 (31:18):
My favorite wine is probably a cab Okay summer Chardonnay's
I'm a pino noir. You wow, Then you need to
go to the Willamette Valley. They're incredible out there. But
what we love is when we do those tours is
you get to know the vineyard owners and the stories
are so much fun, you know, and that makes it
(31:39):
really special.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, that's awesome. But we are already out of time,
and so this is a question that we ask everyone
who's on who's a guest, it's how would you encourage
others to be a good neighbor.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
I would encourage people to make the first step. Everyone
thinks that it's awkward to go up and say hello
to somebody, and knowing everybody can be that lack that
confidence is means that everybody should be able to do it.
We're all like that, So step up, make the first hello,
Offer to go for coffee, come over for dinner, whatever
(32:14):
it is. It's not hard, all right. Well, thank you
Janelle for joining us, and thanks to everyone for tuning
into These your Neighbors. Thank you for wanting to get
to know your neighbors as we hold these important and
necessary conversations. If you found this conversation as important as
we do, please make sure to share it with your neighbors.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Thank you for tuning into These Are Your Neighbors, a
podcast hosted by the City of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee
and produced by Dakota Media Access. We hope you were
inspired by the stories of citizens driving meaningful change in Bismarck.
For more info on the HRC, visit bizmarckand dot gov.
Welcome to These Are Your Neighbors, a podcast hosted by
the City of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee and produced by
Dakota Media Access. The purpose of the podcast is to
celebrate change makers in Bismarck whose contributions break barriers, build connections,
and redefine what is possible for our community.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to These Are Your Neighbors, a podcast hosted by
Tia Jorgensen and Sergiana Woitsky, both members of the City
of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee. Thank you for joining us
as we highlight the individuals driving positive change and making
a lasting impact on our community. Their stories inspire progress
and shape the future of our city.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Our guest today is Janelle Schmidtz. Janelle is called Bismarck
Holms since she was six years old. She was married
to Mayor Mike Schmidz and they celebrated their fortieth anniversary
in July twenty twenty four. Together, they have two sons,
Jason and David. David is mayor to Kate, and they
have two children, Hazel and Harrison. Janelle's career has followed
many pass graduate with the degree in dietetics, she was
(01:05):
hired by Mensenter one as a clinical dietitian. She accepted
many opportunities at the hospital in program development and eventually
left dietetics to start a variety of programs, including the
Dakota Children's Advocacy Center, the first comprehensive program in the
state to assess the abuse children. After fifteen years at
mensenter One, she joined the non profit management world, working
(01:28):
in different positions with Charles holl Youth Services, Girl Scouts,
the America Lung Association, and the American Red Cross. While
at the American Lung Association, she played a significant role
in passing smoke free workplace legislation in North Dakota during
the twenty eleven floods. She managed national and international communications
for the Red Cross. During this time, she achieved a
(01:50):
master's degree in Business administration from the University of mary
Working in the non profit sector concluded in twenty eleven
when she accepted the Communications and Marketing manager position at
Bank of North Dakota, where she works today. Janelle enjoys walking,
working with her church, reading wine tasting, and hosting dinner parties.
Mike and Janelle loved the new role as grandparents and
(02:12):
our frequent visitors to their grands as well as their children,
who all live in Minnesota. Welcome Janelle, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
So, I guess my first question is why is Bismarck home.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
You know, we've had opportunities to move in the past,
and what's always kept us here was family and friends
and the people here are just so amazing. And the
one thing that I always think is so different about
Bismarck or North Dakota in general, is that it's easy
to make really great things happen because everybody knows somebody.
(02:45):
So like they talk about the six degrees of separation
around here, it's like one, you know, it's not hard
to find somebody to help make a really great thing
happen if you want to.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I think that's the first time we've heard that response,
and it's so true, Like it really is. That's awesome,
it's true.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
So can you kind of explain to us what the
role of a clinical dietitian is in a hospital setting? Well,
you know, I can tell you about that in the
mid eighties, because it's been a long time since I've
been there. I'm assuming some things haven't changed much. You know,
you assess the nutrition status of patients, the drug and
nutrient interactions that could happen with those who provide nutrition
(03:26):
support when needed, also patient education. You know. So it's
a very rewarding career for the right people. I would
say that I wasn't matched well with the career as
a dietitian. So why did you decide to go into that?
Because it was the only major I could get done
in two and a half years. That was not a
really great decision on my part my dad. It was
(03:48):
helping my mom, and dad helped me pay for college.
I didn't pay for all of it, but they helped
me out. And I really was kind of floundering with
what to do for a major. I was one of
those people who went to college and didn't have it
figured out right. And my dad said, you got to
get out of there. And I was like looking through
the book and it's like, I can get dietetics done,
and so there was.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So did you go to college then right after high school?
I did see And I know parents are going to
hate me for saying this, but I think for some
people it is better to take a year, possibly two
years off to kind of figure out what you want
to do. Because I was the same way I wanted
to study gangs. There was just no way.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You know, so, right, But yeah, I would say, now
my work at Bank North Dakota, and of course we
do work with student loans that we say that's you
don't like to think that you want to just go
to college for a year or two to start figuring
it out. Is not the best financial decision for many people, right,
so you need to consider that option. And I think
what's more popular now than it was back then? For me,
(04:51):
it was like all the tech positions, So you could
start a job as a tech in a certain field
to see if you think you'd like it, and then
you can go from there. So I think that's a
really great reco mandation.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, because some of us are forty and still don't
know what we want to do with our lives. But
then you kind of transitioned from that. What made you
decide to leave that setting and go into the nonprofit
management sector?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
So already I was at mid Center one at the time,
so already I was doing a lot of program management.
So it just seemed like the next best step for
me to kind of I was like a person who's
comfortable saying I could learn on the job, and I
think I always faked it well and said, yep, I
can do that, and even though I'd never done it before,
and I had the confidence that I'd be able to
(05:33):
make it happen, so I was able to do that.
My first job was at Charles Hall Youth Services, which
is now closed. I was a development director there but
got some great education. I was only there for nine
months and actually then went to the Girl Scouts, which
was one of my favorite jobs ever. Did it any
of your job at Men's Center help prepare you for
going into the nonprofit sector? Oh, every part of it did.
(05:56):
And so that's one thing that I always think about
that all of the different jobs I've had, they all
make sense to where I am today, Like I'm in
my perfect job. I got my perfect job at the
age of fifty when I went to Bank of North
Dakota is It was a job that fits me like
a glove. I love every literally love everything about it.
(06:16):
But everything made sense along the way, and I think
that's you know, that's something that young people make a
mistake that they think they need to go to college
and know what they're going to do. You will continue
to grow and understand yourself better and you transfer skills.
You don't need the exact degree to do the job.
I was a dietitian, But then when as a dietitian,
(06:38):
I learned how to communicate with patients and I had
to learn how to get a message to people who
did not feel well. Well, I did do it quickly.
I became a really good communicator doing that.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I think that's something too, that's a little bit different
that I'm seeing in younger people now than when I
grew up, was we were kind of it was ingrained
in us that you find a job and it's bad
to go from position to position. And you're seeing that
a lot more where people are staying a couple of
years in a role, And I think I kind of
see the value in that as well now too. But again,
(07:10):
probably parents don't want me sae.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
But well, every new job I took, it expanded my resume,
so there was a reason for it. I never nick
took a step backward. I always expanded.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So then can you talk to us a little bit
about the positions that you held in the nonprofit sector.
So after I left Charles Hall, I was at Girl
Scouts and I did program management and fundraising there and
so got to manage some staff, worked with a lot
of great Girl Scout leaders, helped create programs for young girls,
and I just think that model is so amazing for
(07:45):
girls today to this day. It was a very good
place to work as a female. I learned to be
strong as a female in that environment and so that
was great. And then after that, I was recruited to
be the executive director of the American Lung Association Office
and was excited to do that. It was around the
mid two thousands, and in two thousand and five it
(08:07):
was very exciting. We as twenty years ago we passed
smoke free workplaces in North Dakota. So it's been twenty
years since we smelled smoke in restaurants and had non
smoking versus smoking sections and I'm very proud of being
involved with that.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
So then kind of with all of your nonprofit work,
you also ended up being a part of establishing the
Dakota Children's Advocacy Center. Well, what was your role in that?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So that was when I was at met Center one yet,
and so the state actually came to Terry Brusso, who
was a president at met Center one, and said we
need an abuse assessment center and can you do that?
And so I was tapped. I was running a lot
of children's assessment programs at the time, so it was
a fascinating experience. It took twenty eight agencies from the city, county,
(09:00):
state and federal level. All were represented, social services, law enforcement,
judicial system. Like all of those people, we came together
and needed to create a common set of policies and procedures.
Being the Pollyanna that I am, I thought this would
just others call this meeting and we'll do that. Well,
there was a lot of pushback because you know, our
local police department said, no, we don't need that. You know,
(09:23):
the social services wanted it, but the healthcare system we
had two healthcare facilities in Bismarck, and to get everybody
on that same page. And so I just what I did.
I had that first meeting and took it all in
and then I said, okay, this is a new story
for me, and I understood why people said it usually
takes seven years to get one of these established. And
(09:45):
being at mediciner one at the time, and if anybody
who was listening remembers Terry Bruce Sow, you did not
have seven years to get anything done. And so what
I did was within a period of like two and
a half weeks, I knocked off twenty eight meetings and
with each individual, you know, each agency, and got them
one by one to sign on and for each one
(10:06):
of them, what's in it for them? And I establish
that this is why we need you there. And so
we did that, and within six months we saw our
first child. And so it was very rudimentary compared to
what it is today. They're far more sophisticated today, but
at least we started doing things the right way as
a community. So that was a very exciting time and
(10:27):
energizing for me to be a part of something so important.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Did you know med Center and One played a part
in that? No, I hear no idea. I don't know
if you know the answer to this. But why was
law enforcement hesitant at the time? Do you know?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Well, do you I do it? You know, it's a
great story because it was chief The chief of detectives
was Duff Duffy Hinley and he was this great He's
just like I'd have expected him to be on NYPD Blue.
And I went to meet him and he said, you know,
miss Smith, I think you're a very nice lady, and
(11:00):
what you're doing is a good thing. Maybe, but we
don't need it in Bismarck. We don't. He said, We've
got good detectives, and you know, we've had everything that
we need here. And I said, I appreciate that, and
I'm glad and I'm happy that I live in Bismarck
that that service is available to me. But I said,
if a little child is molested in a small town
(11:21):
of one hundred miles from here, what happens? I said,
are there detectives as good there as they are in Bismarck.
And he said, well no, And I said, maah, that's
what I would think. And I said, duffy, I said,
what if that child moluster comes to Bismarck and then
there's a child in Bismarck that gets hurt? And he said, oh,
(11:45):
you're right. I said, that's why I need you, because
we could have stopped that child molester when it was
from the small town, because they would bring their child here.
And that's why, because then you would help with that investigation.
And he said, you're right, I would. So I get
goosebumps still thinking about that. And so then One of
the things we did was we held an inaugural inaugural
(12:05):
conference about nine months after we had had our first meeting.
Then I also held this big conference to tell everybody
about what we were doing, and brought in a national
speaker and Duffy. We had a social that night and
Duffy bought me a drink and so since then he's
passed away and he is just one of my favorite
(12:27):
people of all time that I've ever gotten to work
with because it meant so much to him. And he said,
you did it, You did it, thank you, And I said, no,
we all did it, but all came together.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So so when you were a part of that beginning process,
was it targeted just for Bismarck initially or did it
was the intent right away to kind of expand to
the rural area.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
And it was already Yeah, the intent was. So that's
why we had the federal so we had, you know,
for reservations involved, we have FBI, BCI, all those organizations
were involved as well. So it it really it expanded
me where that anybody wanted to come.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
That's really incredible. I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Did you base that concept off of other advocacy centers
in the country. It was it was a children's advocacy
center model. And was it the first one in North Dakota.
It was, Yeah, we were the first one. So really
didn't have any advice I went to. I remember going
to a conference in San Diegogo, San Diego and going, oh, baby, Okay,
we're just gonna go. But then you know, they kept
reinforcing be patient seven years. I'm like, going, no way
(13:26):
in heck, am I getting seven years for this thing?
If I want to keep my job, I better get
it done right away.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So so what you're saying is when people need something
done in this town, just you up.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
That's what I'm hearing. Well, No, I just like to
think that it's a model that works. And if you
just everybody has a place, what's in it for me?
And that's a basic communication strategy, is what's in it
for me? And if you can answer that, people are
all in because the bismuck people care, they do care.
So you touched a little bit about the smoke free
(13:59):
workplace legislation. Can you expand on that and what that
looked like in your role at the American Lung Association.
So I worked very closely with the American Heart Association.
June Hermann was a government advocate there she has since
passed away, and loved her just like crazy. And then
the American Cancer Society, and then there's a local network
(14:19):
of county health workers and so we all worked together
to get this legislation written up and then had different roles.
So a lot of my role at that time was
I coordinated the activities with the county staff people, so
then they were getting their people to advocate for it
(14:41):
to their local legislator. So that was part of the
part that I played. Like the Heart Association and Cancer Society,
they could afford to have boots on the ground at
the legislature, so they played some of that legislative role,
and it just it happened, and it was kind of
a miracle. I was a little shocked that it happened, actually,
and I think we ended up at whatever for that
(15:03):
legislature in two thousand and five just kind of I
think it passed without them really thinking too much about
the potential impact. I think it's been very positive and
obviously it's what is it, you know, the standard in
most states in the country today.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
That's what I was going to ask that was North
Dakota kind of on part timing wise or were we
a little bit behind national?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
You know, I think we were kind of on par
There were states like a California, you know that was
you know, those more I should say, more liberal type states.
I think that we're a little bit ahead. But for
being North Dakota, we were. Actually it was pretty great
and it was a really solid law that passed.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
So one other thing about your bio that really intrigued
me because I'm from Mi not how did you end
up doing national and international communications for the Red Cross
during that and how what did that entail?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, so I was executive director at the American Red
Cross office here out of Bismarck. And what happened though,
is so this is an interesting model for the Red Cross.
When there's a disaster in your community, you typically do
not work that disaster because you're usually impacted personally. Right,
So the Red Cross brings in a team of people.
They swoop in and they take care of housing and
(16:22):
food distribution and communications and all aspects that need to
be taken care of. Well, Red Cross swooped in with
this entire team. And I said, and the communications person
is and they said that's going to be you. And
so it was an incredible time. It was like the
longest running disaster in American Red Cross history because right
(16:43):
that flood never went away. Usually you're in and out
in a flood. And that was several months long, and
we worked and I'm not kidding you, for like that
two and a half months. I would get into the
office like we were in this with the basement of
what the new was Good Shepherd Lutheran Church up on
the North Washington. We had gotten that area, We rented
(17:04):
that area and had everybody's workstations set up there and
I would get to work at seven in the morning,
and I would come home at ten at night, sometimes
eleven or midnight, and it was every single day. I
remember on fourth of July we got done at noon
that day. That was the only day we took off
between then and then, and so I was the only
one to run communications. And so I just ended up
(17:27):
taking the calls from Al Jazeer and from some London
Times person and all these people that wanted to come
into North Dakota to do this story. It was just
by default. So then what happened was the American Red
Cross said Oh, you're doing such a great job, We're
going to have you deploy you across the country for
more disasters. And I was like, that does not fit
into my lifestyle. And you know, Mike had business needs
(17:51):
that I needed to be around for as well. And
so that's when the job at Bank North Coda opened up,
and I was really blessed to be able to get
that job.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And when you're running point as like in communications, there
were you like, who are you communicating with on the ground?
Is it emergency services? Is it the National Guard? Is
it local law enforcement? A combination of everybody?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Right, So my primary was with the American Red Cross,
right because I hadn't been trained and how they wanted
messaging to happen or anything like that. So I first
would call them and then I would help arrange if
I needed to get interviews arranged, boots on the ground
kind of thing, that I would call the JICK the
Joint Information Center at the state at the time, you know,
and then I say, okay, I need an interview for
(18:35):
this done and this done, and so then we would
work together to make that happen. But writing media releases
and all that, but they don't do it because it's
such an impact on you personally. And I will say
that it took it probably took about five years for
me to be able to sit in a room with
other people and talk about the flood. I would have
to just get up and walk away. The post traumatic
(18:57):
stress from that was incredible for me. It it just
filtered every part of my life because it was such
an intense part of my world and it was so hard,
you know, I'd go up to mine, not and checking
how things were going. And I remember I still remember
this little four year old girl coming up and she
just came up. I was sitting there. She just came
and just crawled into my lap and started crying, you know,
(19:18):
and he just she just lost everything, and so it
was highly emotional time.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I think that's one thing too about PTSD people don't
realize is like you don't necessarily I don't mean you
weren't directly impacted, because obviously you were, but it wasn't
your house lost. You know, you can still experience at
nine one one dispatchers for example, right, you know, right, yeah, And.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
We did move out of our home because we lived
in South Bismark, and so there was oh I remember
Mary Singer, who was with Burley County Emergency Services still today,
and I was in the Red Cross office. It was
that Saturday morning and the river was still blocked with
the ice and they and Mary called me. Was nine
o'clock in the morning and she said, you know, all
of self Bismarck is going down from Maine, self prepared
(20:05):
to house twenty five thousand people. And then like that's
where I live, right, And so that was like why
red Cross you don't work it. You don't work the
disaster fits in your area because you're personally impacted and
a good thing. That's why Red Cross is so important.
But anyway, it broke and I can't remember why broke
(20:27):
if that's the day we you know, put the oh
they opened it up with a bombing or I can't.
I still don't really remember what happened.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
But when was the Bismarck flood was before or after
the mine?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
It was concurrent?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Oh it was I didn't realize, okay, yeah, so that
makes okay.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah. And so that started like that would have been
at the end of May, and they closed up the
Bismarck Red Cross office like the middle of August. So
we even had to fight to keep the Red Cross
office open here because they are you still only coming
in for a week or to it a shot or
maybe a month and leaving and no, disaster's not done yet.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, I didn't realize they were run together.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Another amazing thing that's talked about in your bio. Thought.
While all this was going on, you also were going
to get your master's degree. So what was that experience
like working towards the school of getting your master's degree
while having a full time job. Yeah, you know, it
was an MBA and so what it really did was
it reinforced a lot of what I was already doing.
(21:33):
I had such a vast work experience that for me,
the NBA wasn't about learning a lot of new concepts.
But you know, it was hard for It was getting
harder for me to move forward in my career with
just a clinical dietitian or with a dietetics degree. You know,
it's like, yeah, you can look at the resume, but
I needed something else for some credibility. So it really
was other than the accounting courses. My husband had to
(21:57):
literally pull me through pork. It's like, you're not qualified
to take this course. I know, but I am, so
you're going to teach me? Those are some challenging evenings.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
So you kind of answered what I was going to ask,
was it like what made you want to go back?
So I guess what advice then, would you give to
somebody who was kind of maybe in that position that
you were, where you couldn't move forward without that degree,
that may be struggling with that decision.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Right, Well, I think what happens is you really count
on your experience is to helping create where you're going
to go next. So you choose a master's degree in
something that makes sense for you to expand. So the
NBA gave me a broad background that I could use
that as a platform. Then, so then you were in
(22:48):
the nonprofit sector for a while, giving this degree, doing
all that. What made you then switch or what happened
to banking? You know? It was communications And I remember
so Banker North Dakota. This job opened up, and I
was like, oh, I might as well stick my name
in there. And I remember coming home from the interview
(23:10):
and saying, you know, it's banking. It's got to be
kind of boring, but it's a nice job. It's a
beautiful building and all of a sudden, like, you know,
asn't the nonprofits, I'd be like, I worried if I
could buy sticky notes the next week and some new pens,
you know, And so it was stable. So I took
the job, not realizing how much I would love the
(23:31):
job right and it quickly it became almost like another
child to me, like do not my bank's reputation is
I'm in charge of that, and do not hurt my bank.
And it's just such an incredible institution with being the
only state owned bank in the country, the impact that
it has on the state. So what it did for
me is what was hard for me in the nonprofit
(23:54):
world is that I didn't always get to act as
much like a business as I wanted to. Whereas Bank
North Dakota, it has to operate like a bank. It's
got to make a profit. But then we also do
things for the exactly the right reasons, like when there's
a disaster in the state, we are right there. So
for me, it's like this perfect combination that it's a
heart job for me, it really hits my heart as
far as our mission and our purpose. I'm highly driven
(24:18):
by that. So it really has worked well and so
I had fifteen years when I was at med Center,
ten years as a dietitian and five years in program management,
fifteen years of a nonprofit sector and then we'll be
finishing my career at Bank in North Dakota. Then it'll
be fourteen years in August, and I got a couple
of years left.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
That's that's awesome. And I feel like we should be
asking Mayor Schmid's this question, like what's it like to
be your husband? But with him being in the public eye,
kind of what's that like being married to a mayor?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
You know, it's not much different, you know, North Dakota, Bismarck.
You're just another person. So it we've always been strong partners.
Like so, I remember when when we were going through
pre marriage counseling and so MICA's Catholic and I'm Lutheran,
and so we got to go through both sides. But
the priest said something that really stuck with both of us,
(25:11):
and he said, your vocation for the two of you
is to be married. Like some people are called to
be priests, some people are called to me nuns, you
are called to be married. That is your vocation. There's
something that only the two of you. There are things
that only the two of you will achieve together that
nobody else is called to do. And so we just
really look at this as a calling. It's a partnership.
(25:32):
The fact that he's a mayor, obviously he's a CPA.
I'm a communications person, so we have a really good balance,
and so we talk a lot. We take a lot
about what's happening, you know, my perspective, things that he
needs to think about. He So I would just say
we're it's a strong partnership.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
So I guess that would be kind of what's the
secret to a forty year marriage?
Speaker 3 (25:56):
I would say the secret is to protect other's hearts.
I and Mike would say the same. He never wants
to say anything that would hurt me, and I would
never want to hurt him, and so I'm very protective
of him, who is ready to reputation is and whatever
I would say about him. And as long as we're
(26:18):
they're absolutely loving each other more than anybody else walking
on earth. We're in good shape. You know. We've got
a strong faith. Even though we come from different religious backgrounds,
we were very strongly committed faith wise together. So one
of the neat things I think that you get to
do is help on different initiatives, and one that's just
(26:40):
started is the Bismark Man and Welcome initiative. Can you
talk about that and what your role is in it? So,
you know, one thing that I was always concerned Mike
and I and we actually experienced it ourselves. We were
both you know, grew up pretty well much in Bismarck,
him me since I was six six, Mike when he
was ten. But after we got married, i'd gone to
(27:01):
UND he was at University of Mary. We did not
even have common friends, and I remember being we just
remember being really lonely at night. You know, it's like,
when how do we get to meet new people? How
do you know We've had this change in lifestyle And
just because you have high school friends doesn't mean you
like the other person's spouse and you know all of that.
And so it took, you know, probably a good five
years for us to start establishing those friendships. And one
(27:23):
thing that we heard from people was that it's really
hard to move to Bismarck. That you're a tight community.
People are friendly, they walk when you walk by on
the street, they say hi if they see you have
a flat tire, they'll help you. But nobody says come
over for coffee, or meet me for a drink, or
come join my book club. And that just doesn't happen enough.
(27:44):
I shouldn't say nobody, but it just doesn't happen enough.
So that was one of the things when he was
elected that we said we wanted to help change. So
we started working with the Bismarck Mandan Chamber and got
a group of people who cared about this kind of
an activity and why it's important. And it's important to
us economically. Right, if people make Bismarck home, they're more
(28:06):
likely to stay. If this is just a place to
land for a job and they don't feel like they
have any other ties to the community, it's easy to
pick up and go. So we, you know, Mike use
it from a mayor's perspective, and politically it's just something
we need to do economically for our community. I view
it as a quality of life for anybody. Yeah, and
if it's a great thing. So I have a nonprofit
and Janelle, I've actually said something to me about this,
(28:30):
and I put in my nonprofit as far as information
about it. So you just go on a website called
what does it Make your Mark? It's make your Mark,
or it's right ground to hear it is make your
markbizman dot com. So if you're just going to the website,
it has a list of like all a bunch of
(28:50):
different nonprofits who've signed up, churches and their addresses are
on there. It also talks about different places you can
go to even the community. Just basically everything that you
would need to know in one place, and nonprofits can
submit and it took me literally not even five minutes
to submit a little bit about my nonprofit and then
contact information and then I'll link to my website so
(29:13):
people can go on just click it, and I'll go
onto my website and I'll talk about volunteer opportunities we have.
So I strongly encourage anybody who has any of those
to go in there, or if you're wondering what's going
on in Bismarck, to access that because it's very user
friendly as well. And I think if I remember right
that the saying is where home is more than a hello. Yeah,
(29:33):
this maarkmandan or home means more than hello. So in
addition to nonprofits like there's clubs like biking clubs. There's
a doll club in Bismarck too, Who I mean, how
cool is that? I saw that?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
To damn Like, I had no idea there was a
doll club in Bismark. Hey, we can put the French
club on it? Yes, yes, so, and it's easy to
sign up. You go to this makrormarkbizman dot com and
this is the website was already in place. It's from
the Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce and it's a beautiful site.
So this is really enhancing that site. So any clubs
and organizations you just click on the upright corner there's
(30:05):
a Hamburger drop down it say sign up your club
and then they'll place it on the website for you.
And so it's one place that people then can go
and learn about what can I join if I'm new
in talent right, what opportunities do I have?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
That's awesome And if you're listening on our streaming platform,
I will make sure that we put the link to
that website in the description here so you guys can
easily access it.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And it also has like a list of different banks
in the community and what their different addresses are. So
if you want to have a bank that's close to
you because maybe you don't have a vehicle or you
ride the bus. I mean it's very user friendly. I
strongly encourage anybody because I've used it to use it.
So another thing your bio mentions that you enjoy wind tasting.
Is that something that you do locally or do you travel?
(30:51):
We do world like, I all taste wine anywhere. This
invite me. We've been to Italy and Greece, We've been
to the Willamette Valley in Oregon and Napa out in California,
but I will We just think it's fun to try
different things. And I'm certainly not any connoisseur. I know
what I like and but yeah, we enjoy that a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
So what's your favorite type of wine?
Speaker 3 (31:18):
My favorite wine is probably a cab Okay summer Chardonnay's
I'm a pino noir. You wow, Then you need to
go to the Willamette Valley. They're incredible out there. But
what we love is when we do those tours is
you get to know the vineyard owners and the stories
are so much fun, you know, and that makes it
(31:39):
really special.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, that's awesome. But we are already out of time,
and so this is a question that we ask everyone
who's on who's a guest, it's how would you encourage
others to be a good neighbor.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
I would encourage people to make the first step. Everyone
thinks that it's awkward to go up and say hello
to somebody, and knowing everybody can be that lack that
confidence is means that everybody should be able to do it.
We're all like that, So step up, make the first hello,
Offer to go for coffee, come over for dinner, whatever
(32:14):
it is. It's not hard, all right. Well, thank you
Janelle for joining us, and thanks to everyone for tuning
into These your Neighbors. Thank you for wanting to get
to know your neighbors as we hold these important and
necessary conversations. If you found this conversation as important as
we do, please make sure to share it with your neighbors.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Thank you for tuning into These Are Your Neighbors, a
podcast hosted by the City of Bismarck's Human Relations Committee
and produced by Dakota Media Access. We hope you were
inspired by the stories of citizens driving meaningful change in Bismarck.
For more info on the HRC, visit bizmarckand dot gov.
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