There’s no place on Earth like St. Jude Children’s Hospital. No family ever has to pay a cent for treatment. The hospital runs solely off of donations and fundraising which has been very affected by the Corona Virus shutdown. So much love lives in the halls and rooms of St. Jude with the children, staff and supporters. The Country Music community is deeply committed to St. Jude and it has been such an honor to get to experience some of the events benefiting the children. Life changing really. Emily shares stories of how she has been touched by the children in hospital and what she has learned working so closely with hope and sadness. Please please listen to this podcast and let yourself be moved by the power of St Jude. To support @stjude #countrycares, visit www.we won’t stop.org and become a Partner in Hope.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Carol, she's a queen and talking. She's getting really not
afraid of fings. So so just let flu no one
can do we cry? Car learned? Is so care learned? Hey,
I am so excited to be joined by Emily Callahan today.
(00:36):
She is such a phenomenal woman. I love to focus
on phenomenal women on my podcast who are changing the
world and doing amazing things, and no one is doing
that more than Emily. Emily is the Chief Marketing and
Experience Officer. What a title for St Jude. Chief Marketing
(00:57):
and Experience Officer. And I have to say I came
in too. I've always loved St. Jude because I've always
known about St. Jude, but I've really gotten to know
St Jude, to walk the halls of the hospital, to
meet the people that worked there, to meet some of
the children and the families in St. Jude, and it
(01:18):
is unlike any other hospital experience in the world. And
so to have the job that you have, which is
the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for St. Jude, along
with so many other things. I mean, you're also in
charge of like fun fund raising, awareness, you do brand marketing, marketing,
research and strategy crisis communications. I mean that sounds complicated.
(01:41):
UM entertainment, marketing, patient relation relations. You oversee event experiences,
so you are basically the experience guru for St. Jude.
Talk to me about this role, what it means to you,
and how you kind of got here. Oh my gosh. Well,
first of all, I'm thrilled beyond words to be on
your show. I feel like I must be the slide
(02:03):
in holiday guest with all the other amazing women you
talk to. So I'm like, oh, I'm come true. But
I'm glad you said what you said because my story
of coming to St. Jo was recruited to come here,
and I will never ever forget my first moments on campus.
And the first thing they do when you're interviewing here
is they take you on a tour and it was
(02:24):
life changing. And so I'm happy to tell a little
bout my family story. But I grew up in hospitals
and other systems. My mom is a nurse and my
father was actually a funeral home director when I was
a kid. So I've been in a lot of hospitals,
and You're right, this doesn't feel like one, it doesn't
smell like one, it doesn't feel like one. And so yeah,
I mean, this is a dream of a lifetime job.
(02:44):
I am, I can't believe I'm here. I actually I've
been here for ten years, which is really weird because
most cmos stay in their job less than two years.
So I'm officially a dinosaur in my industry. But um,
I got called. It's really hard, it's it's growing, it's phenomenal.
I mean, it's pinched me type of work. It's it's
changed my life. I'm a better professional and I'm a
(03:07):
better person and a better partner and a better mom
because I work here. So yeah, I got called. Um,
I know exactly where I was. I was driving home
from my hometown in Oklahoma and back to my house
in Texas with my one year old baby at the time,
and my husband and I got called to come work
at St. Jude, which I was like, no way. They
actually never had a chief Marketing officer. So I got
(03:27):
the call to to see if I would do that.
I met the CEO, Rick Shadyac, who I think you
guys have met on your tours here. He's an amazing
visionary and uh and together we dreamed and I said,
I feel like this could be not just a great
brand and iconic brand, and the chance to work here
to help find cures and save children around the world
is a as a dream come true. And the stuff
I've been able to do in the last decade, no way,
(03:50):
no way. If someone had told me that I would
have gotten to have this job at thirty one years old,
that I would get to be in the seat I
am now and experience the things I've experienced, dream of
a lifetime. So tell me how this job has changed you,
because you said it's made you a better person, And
what are some of the things that you cannot believe
that you've gotten to be a part of and create
(04:10):
experiences with. I'll tell you the thing that's changed me
the most, and there's gotten bad to this, it's the
patients and the families, all right, That the fact that
I get to work in a place that I'm surrounded
by kids and their families that would really be the
darkest times in their lives in many ways. Yet it's
not um. It's changed me forever. There there are so
(04:32):
many moments we call them St. Jude moments here, and
whether we whether you want to say that they're magical
or mystical, or godly or otherworldly. I could point to
so so many of those. Um, but I've learned about
the best of humanity here and the power of people.
I mean, I think too about the people of Caroline.
You've you've gotten involved. I think about the country industry.
I mean, there are people who have never even set
(04:54):
foot on this campus. They may not even know a
saint you patient, and yet millions of them give and
they sacrifice ice, and they do lemonade stands and give
out of the retirement checks. So, um, I'm blown away.
I'm blown away by the patients. And they're and they're tiny,
often really young lives. How wise and powerful and amazing
(05:14):
and funny they are. They remind you of what really
matters in life when we often get tangled up and
strangled at other things that don't matter. And I'm happy
to dork out on favorite moments. There's so many cool ones.
I don't even know where to begin, but we can
have some fun stories from from having lunch with Chadwick
Boseman um not knowing that he was sick, and seeing
the kids react to black panther. Um, You're actually watching
(05:36):
the mothers react to black and think about I think
you came with Florida Georgia Lyne right, I mean and
like watching people go berserk with that or the justin
timber Lakes, or I mean Domino's Pizza, and I mean
raising and having them commit a hundred million dollars and
the smiles and joys that can come from just pizza.
So I work with all the coolest people on the planet. Um,
(05:57):
but yet we're all united in the same purpose, which
is taking care of these little kids need us most.
And that is something that I um, I mean, I
think so many of us struggle with just the I'm
always freaking emotional new days ever since I've had a child,
Like everything makes me cry. But like St. Jude is
so special. It's like seeing those children and their innocence
(06:20):
and you know it's just and y'all don't make the
parents pay for anything. Everything is completely funded. And it's
not just like let's try to heal them with modern medicine.
It's also like, let's give them fun. Let's make this
like a joyful hospital hospital experience. Let's have art, like
you're saying, like artists, recording artists come through and we'll
(06:41):
play songs and there's like pizza parties, and there's playgrounds
and over I want one time over Christmas and there's
like cookie decorating and you know, it's it's like everything
at St. Jude is, Yes, the treatment is happening, but
then everything else is how can we keep these the
innocence of this of these children, How can we help
them grow into the people that they came to this
(07:03):
earth to be and give them opportunities to flourish even
though they are fighting this most you know, deadly disease
that sometimes it's often uncurable, sometimes it is curable, and
it's just like, but y'all bring so much hope and
you bring so much hope to the families and financial relief,
which I think is just it's just incredible. Well you
(07:25):
keep saying, you all that I needed it to be said,
We really don't. I mean the fact is is that
the people make this place possible are our supporters and donors.
That that blows me away. Like if you came into
our lobby right now and you want to ever buy
the bus that Danny Thomas and you can rub his
nose for good luck. They're There are two letters on
(07:45):
the wall. One is from a man named Ira who
was a long time monthly giver to St. Jude and
found out that he had cancer himself and wrote us
a letter saying, I need you to find someone to
take my place, because he knew up to promise families,
which we've done from day one, that no family will
ever receive a bill. And your point, we pay for
their treatment and their travel and their housing and their food,
(08:08):
and then we try to get the best quality of
life here with school and fun activities because we want
them to get to be kids. That's me possible by
people like Ira, I mean, and I can assure you
we found thousands to take Irish place for the little
girl who sends in, you know, seven dollars and forty
cents out of our piggy bank. And he said, I
wanted to send it to St. Jude because miracles, and
it's not the miracles are spelled correctly, but you know
(08:29):
how kids, right, miracles happen. They're like what we get
to do here is because everyone from all walks of
life said, heck, we might not agree on the lock,
we might not believe the same. Politically, we might not
think the same religious, we might look different, we might
be from different economic backgrounds, but this is like the
one thing that unites everybody that we can all agree upon.
And that's what I mean about seeing the best of
(08:50):
humanity here um And then man, the kids that I
have gotten to meet, they they've what do you what
do you learn from the kids? Because I find that
to be always the most inspiring. Like I go in
with a heavy heart, feeling so sad because they I mean, like,
as an adult, I'm like, this isn't right, this, this
is so not fair. Why is this happening? But then
(09:10):
you see these kids and oftentimes these kids are the
most joyful children that you've ever seen, and they're teaching
you about life. What have you learned from kids in
this like in this walk of life? One of those
powerful observations I had early on. So when I started
as a brand, we often talked about kids in their cancer.
But the one thing that struck me immediately, if you
(09:31):
talk to a job with cancer, that's not what they
talk about. Their cancer doesn't define them. And that was
a life changing moment for me. They know that they
have it, they're they're not at all unaware of it.
They're extremely aware of that. But they'll talk to you
about they're the horse that they love, are the dog
(09:53):
that they love, the sports that they love, their favorite
subject in school, they're they're dancing, they're singing, whatever. They're
just kids, so they don't let it define them. One two,
I found out that adults are a bunch of winers.
And I don't minimize that. I totally tease when I
say that, because if you think about what's going in
our world today, right, real and tough struggles. But I
(10:14):
watched these kids have extreme um determination and strength and
resiliency and hope they encourage one another, they encourage us.
And then I've said this often, I cannot figure out.
I cannot figure out if the kids who have cancer
are so shaped by that experience they were wise, or
if they were that way to start and the cancer
(10:34):
experience just brought it out in them. But they say
some of those wise and profound things. So I think
about Adam. He's diagnosed in high school, right that a
typical teenage boy like living his best life. Totally was
I think he was out on a day eating pizza
with his girlfriend when he's diagnosed. But when he gets here,
Adam realizes that he's a teenager. He can speak for himself.
(10:55):
So many of these other kids are young, they can't.
So he said, I'm gonna be the voice for the
voiceless who thinks that way as a teenager and says,
I'm gonna be the voice for the voices. I'm going
to carry them forward. He's raised over a million dollars
for St. Jude run marathons, all by battling with his
own journey. So, man, I've learned a lot about perspective.
I've learned so much about empathy, and I have learned
(11:17):
that they are always bright spots even in the darkest
moments of life, thanks to these kids. So to be
you and to have the job that you have, I
feel like you have to be a super empathetic person
like you. This is not just a job that you
just like go in and you know, run an organization.
This is a very heartfelt job that you are in
(11:38):
charge of. So how do you brainstorm your experiences, your fundraisers,
your ways to draw people in. Because like right now
with the country music industry, the all the T shirts,
it was this shirt saves lives in every single country
music artists war. When I'm put on the feet and
now it's we won't stop and I love that. And
(11:59):
the country music community is so supportive of St. Jude,
which I think is it makes country music even more
special to have this as the backbone of what country
music believes in. It's fighting for children and fighting for cures,
and there's so much support and the way that that
fundraiser has gotten going and it's become so cool, like
it's so cool to wear the shirt. It's so cool
(12:22):
to wear the St. Jude shirt Like it was so
cool now it's like we won't stop. Like it's such
a it's such a proud moment for these people of
influence to wear the shirt and support it. So how
do you create those types of experiences that revolution type
movement and they become so cool? And obviously it's helping
something so great, But there's so many charities out there.
(12:43):
Not all charities get this kind of like intense love,
which I mean you want them all to. But St.
Jude is so loved. Is it partly? Probably because everyone
loves children and as such a great cause, But how
do you create these experiences that just get everyone on board?
Oh my gosh, this is why I was nervous about
talking because you asked like seven great questions and one.
I know that's my problem. I asked at once, and
(13:06):
I've tried to like write questions ahead of time, and
I'm like, I'm so bad at writing questions because I
just sort of like spin them all into one. Why
don't weven do this? I just complimented you. It was
like the best question ever. And they're like, oh no,
I tried, like you did an amazing question and you.
I love that your question started with empathy and heart
and authenticity. So and then I love that you segue
that to the country industry, which is I don't leave
(13:28):
the country music industry gets enough credit for what he
has done for the good in the world. We're probably
the most shining example. And I know what it's raised,
what it's done for sting you the way people have
engaged UM. But it's real. So first of all, let's
back up for a second. Yes, my empathy is off
the charts, and so my father says, this is the
perfect job for me. I told the story a couple
(13:49):
of times. But when I was a little kid, UM,
I hated Disney movies and and because they're all sad,
the mom always dies, a kid gets lost and I
cannot makeet like it broke my heart. So my father
tells the story about when the theater manager had to
come in and ask me to leave the movie theater
both in Banby and in Et because I was crying
(14:09):
so loud I disrupted the other patrons. And so when
I got this job, Dad was like, perfect, perfect, You
can cry for a living, you can love on kids,
you can do all this good in the world. But
that's the thing about here, And it's amazing to be
started by an entertainer. But remember Danny Thomas, who who
was a brilliant entertainer, humanitarian like it should. It's striking
(14:32):
to me to be reminded when I walk over to
the garden, because he's buried here on campus, that he
only wanted one word on his tombstone, and that was founder. Founder.
This is what he was about. And so I think
the fact that he invited other entertainers to have this
unbelievable authentic experience. Randy Owen and now generations of country
music stars and and their networks and artists and labels
(14:52):
and all that have come here. I think it's the
same thing because when you come here, you have this
authentic experience when you were around the kids. Even though
I know it's often the celebrities. So many of my
talk to say I'm not the real celebrity that kid is,
or I'm changed by being here, and so you're right,
I'm I'm so proud of the team because it was
our team of people, including several survivors who are now
(15:13):
thrivers that work for us, came up with this T
shirt idea and nothing makes me happy or I want
to infect my husband's like could you not do that?
So before, when we could travel, we'd be at the airport,
Like we walked off the airplane in Bozeman, Montana and
the first thing we see is a guy wearing at
this moment stop this shirt saves Live shirt. And of
course I had to run over and be like, where'd
you get your shirt? Like my kids wear them? And
(15:34):
so I think it's because to your point, this mission
connects to us. People want to help kids. You made
the cool shirt, and then it matters, like it matters
when influencers and celebrities and others use their network and say, hey,
this is what I love, Well you love it too,
Like that's their power personified that I love and I'm
so thrilled that we took it to the we won't
stop because this world needs a rallying cry right now.
(15:55):
We need a rallying cry. Stop in the pandemic, the
work it's seeing you didn't stop. I love that we
took one of our most motivating messages and put it
on a T shirt and said, let's all get behind this.
And you bring up a great point. And the pandemic
cancer hasn't stopped. St. Jude hasn't stopped. How has life changed?
How have you had to pivot in this time when
(16:18):
we can't gather, when so many of the fundraisers probably
are gathering people together, posting events, doing a lot of
stuff with a lot of people. So how has St.
Jude pivoted in this time? Oh? My gosh, so many ways.
So yeah, I mean, prior to this, we were part
of the reason I'm the experience officers because we do.
We did thirty one events here, what thirty one thousand,
(16:41):
that's all chicken dinners. That's a lot of late events
and they're all cool and they're great, but you know,
when it's also kids at preschools and trike events and
schools and colleges but so then that that can happen,
we can't gather. And so there's so many ways we
have pivoted and changed our business. A lot of it
went to virtual events and lives reams. I'm amazed at
the number of artists who just popped on a Facebook
(17:03):
Live and said I'm gonna do a concert from a
house and raise money, which people loved. Because Mark Zuckerberg,
you know who created Facebook. If you read this book
talks about how it hard. We're all bowyers. We love
a glimpse into people's lives. So I actually think people
secretly like this whole Facebook live zoom. You can see
people's lives and backgrounds. A lot of virtual events, right, Um.
A lot of we amped our communication, And one of
(17:26):
the things I'm most proud of Carolina is um we
already had a platform called St. Jude Inspire, but our
teams are like, it's dark, it's hard, it's depressing. We're
sitting on all these amazing stories of hope, and so
we created as part of our media publishing platform, these
inspired by Inspired by your Kindness stories. So they were
stories of St. Jude, they were stories of celebrities, they
were just stories of good acts of kindness and it
(17:48):
was amazing just to help people feel connected when we
were all kind of stuck at home and starting for meaning,
that's been a huge shift. I'm actually here in my office, Um,
I get to now come to campus. I was at
home with my children for fourteen weeks and that I
counted those. Um, so it's nice to be back to
the office. But one of the reasons I can do
that is because St. Jude created a COVID test, so
I can be tested here on canvas with regularity to
(18:11):
know that I'm safe. And then I'm in my office
with the door closes, which I don't have a mask on.
We mask otherwise, so you know, a lot of change.
We can't go in the same place as we can't
bring people here to campus, so we just said I
have to bring the canpas to them. So a lot
of virtual reality, augmented reality, virtual tours, virtual events, Facebook lives,
live streams, you name it. Because to that point that
(18:32):
the mission doesn't stop. And I'm blown away that as
much as the charity world has been impacted, people are
still giving very generously to St. Jude and it's making
sure that we can fulfill our commitments. To take care
of kids around the world, because we've got some pretty big,
audacious skulls globally. And that's the thing is, kids don't
have to you don't. Kids don't have to pay, Families
(18:53):
don't have to pay because of the donation. So the
donation stop, then that really is a crisis for taking
care of the family. So that's amazing to hear that
You'll have been able to find other ways and people
have continued to step up. And with this new launch
of We Won't Stop, I pray that it's the biggest
one you've ever had, the any T shirt, because it
(19:15):
is the truth has been so hard, The pandemic has
been so hard. It's been such a tough year, and
I feel excuse me, sorry, I feel like we we
need to have that hope in our lives to be
doing good and like to give to something that was
that's bigger than ourselves, because this world needs We just
(19:37):
need light and love and if anyone's spreading it, it's St. Jude.
So I do want to ask you, what is it
like being a mother of two while running a huge organization?
How do you manage all that? How? Because your feelings
with it all Oh my gosh, Well, I'll definitely inser
that I want a business nerd real quick, because I
do want to say something I don't know that everybody
realizes there's only one SAT. You don't a planet like
(20:00):
no one else has our business model. And so there
are a million other amazing great hospitals, right, but but
it seems you we're not taking care of broken legs
and and common colds and some of the other things.
So when you talk about that, seems you we literally
can't function without donation. So other hospitals get the bulk
of their money from insurance recoveries. Right, Thank goodness, there's insurance.
(20:21):
You gets sick insurance cover they don't cover a lot
of what we do here, and so we rely on
the support of the public. So more than eighty two
percent of the moneys it takes to operate Saint Jude
have to come from generous donors. It costs us over
a billion dollars a year to operate it, so we've
got to raise that money. And our average donations are
in the forty dollars. So when I say this is
a movement and people like getting a T shirt, becoming
(20:43):
a monthly donor, giving your dollar, like that stuff matters.
So I always want to talk to people whople like
oh Saint Jude's big or they've got celebrity. No, like,
this is what we do together. And and so I'll
switch over to talk about as a mom um with
a bola of help, a ton of humility. Um, some
really dedicated me time every day. Um, I'm so thankful
(21:06):
that my children, UM have this experience with me. So
I don't just work here, my family works here. I
wish you could have my kids here today. Um they are.
They are better humans because of this place. Like they
think Mom's job's cool for a lot of reasons. But
like on my worst day when I've gone home and said,
like I can't do this anymore, my son, who was
six at the time, said that you have to. I mean,
(21:27):
you have to work at Saint Jude. It's in their
class at school. They know patients. My daughter, Um, there's
a friend of hers and a sporting team that um
is dealing with a brain tumor. And they didn't want
to tell anyone because they didn't want the child to
be treated differently. And my daughter said, Mom, don't worry,
I'll watch out for I'll make sure nobody treats her
differently and they don't define her buy her brain tumor,
because I know you've taught me from Saint Jude, Like
(21:49):
it's changed them to be around this mission and to
believe in something bigger and to grow up knowing that
you're supposed to use your skills and your talents to
get back in the world. Those are my good days.
Like we're not talking about the days when I'm like,
I'm a god and I'm overwhelmed in the crystal it's crazy,
and I'm on a board Like last week, I was
on a board call and the school's calling and the
doctor's calling and the kids. Now my daughter is old
(22:10):
enough that she can, you know, FaceTime and yell at
me and then hang up on me. So much humor
behind all of that. That's incredible, though, the impact that
it's had on your kids, because I can I can
actually only imagine them going to St. Jude being a
child themselves to see that. I'm sure their hearts are
just so empathetic. What a what a what an environment
(22:31):
to grow up in. You know that's not funny too,
I am people are often they think it's scary, like
would not be scared of kids or they think they
can get the kids too. But this is where kids
they don't think like that. They just think, well, that's
a kid like me, and I want to help them.
So actually, my daughter's fourth grade class last year, they
were learning design thinking because you know, that's what I
learned in fourth grade and design. Thank you design. I
(22:53):
don't even know what that means. You'll have to google
it later because I don't really eat the now. We
use it at marketing. But it's the whole process. It's
really a very innovative process for how you brainstorm or
bring us space to life. And you you do a
lot of brainstormy work, you do modeling, you bring an
idea to lot. This is what fourth graders are learning
that They actually called over the teachers and said, the
(23:14):
kids know about St. Jude, could they do something at St. Jude.
So the pavilion, which is where Deanie Thomas and Rosemary
are buried, it's kind of our museum on campus. You
probably saw it when you were here. So her fourth
grade class actually helped us redesign the pavilion to make
it more user friendly and more kid friendly because that's
often the only place they can come here and visit
at the hospital right since it's the working hospital. So
(23:35):
we're in the middle right now of some construction and
updating it since we're closed to the public, And she
asks me every day, like, how's it going? Did you
take my idea? Can we come into war it when
it's open? Like the kids right letters here to St. Jude.
They've done fundraisers on their own. They're they're amazing, wow,
and how great to be designed my fourth graders because
it's for is for kids, so of course their ideas
were way cooler than ours. Like I think our innovation
(23:57):
team because we have our own I mean, we were
named to buy Fast Company this year is the best
workplace for innovators, and it was so fun to see
these brilliant innovators in our team have their minds blown
by these fourth grade kids and they're really cool ideas.
So I think they're just mad that we couldn't put
in a confetti floor for our normal celebrations. But we'll
figure something out. Oh my gosh. Um. So I my
(24:18):
husband has a very personal close story a St. Jude.
When you were mentioning mentioning a brain tumor, my husband's
older brother passed away a brain tumor when he was fifteen,
and he uh St Jude was a big part of
Michael's family's journey and that Michael is very passionate about St.
June for that because it was as far as an
(24:40):
experience goes, you can't have a more loving experience in St.
Jude when you're in that kind of turmoil as a family.
And so UM, yeah, so he always especially holds of
course I hold it near too, but for him it's
super personal and it matters so much because he lived
through it. Also, it's the story is amazing. And I
(25:03):
did not lose my brother to kincer, but somebody who's
lost their brother it changes you forever, and then you
loving him and walking alongside in that journey. UM knows
knows what it means here to lose, knows what it
means to have hope, knows what it means to love
somebody through those most devastating times. I think that's why
your support in particular, UM is so deeply meaningful for us, UM,
(25:24):
And I will tell you it's those are the ones
that stay with us. So I love seeing our patients thrive.
I get to work with so many survivors. It's awesome
and I wish you could see in my office because
what's above me m our pictures of patients, and one
is one that did not make it um and I
will never forget her. The life changing experience of her
funeral really was? How was it? What was the life changing?
(25:49):
Outside of the loss of my own brother. Is probably
the hardest experience I've had. And remember my dad was
a funeral home director as a kid, so it's not
like I haven't been around a lot of them. She
was a remarkable kid that her mother was the So
I remember vividly being on campus first sort of my
first patient speaker event when they bring in families to
talk to us as employees, and hearing their story a
military family, and watching this mother sit there and watch
(26:10):
her two daughters, one with kidser and one with not
opening Christmas packages, telling this story like she has it together,
and talk about cry like I can't get myself together.
I'm bawling. Well, I get to know this amazing family
really well, and they had the honor and I do
believe it's an honor of going over to say goodbye
to Arianna before she passed and Ariana was the type
that cancer never defined her. She loved like if she
(26:32):
came to country Cares for St. Jude kids, she was
on the dance floor. She got our CEO to dance
like the girl loved to dance. She was light, she
was joy. Saying goodbye to her was so hard, and
that her funeral, I remember watching her sister stand there
at the Casta and say goodbye to her best friend
and realizing the magnitude of that, like losing your sibling
(26:52):
being and that I will tell you now I have
the honor. Her father is actually one of my colleagues,
and they honor Ariana every year on her birthday by
going out and doing acts of kindness and joy for
other people. So I keep Ariana's picture above my desk
as a reminder that even in dark moments, even when
we're sad, you can always find a bright spot, and
(27:12):
you should always dance a little. You obviously, like we
talked about, you have a very empathetic heart. It started
when you're really young. You've obviously been around, you know,
the passing of life with your dad as a funeral
home director, and now you're working at St. Jude and
you get attached to patients, and sometimes you have these
stories where they don't make it, like Oriana, how do
(27:34):
you how do you get through those kind of things?
Because as someone who feels so deeply like you do
and I do as well, how do you how do
you find your grounding again, like when you're so brokenhearted?
Because I know there is so much joy that comes
from St. Jude, but there is also the really sad
moments also, and so how do you find that balance
and stay grounded? Mm hmm, what a powerful question. I
(27:58):
do have a life belief. I think you have to
know sadness to know joy, and I think sadness is
a part of life, and I think it's one of
the most powerful teachers. So one of the things I've
learned in my own grief journey is to sit with it. Um, grief.
Grief stays with you. Sometimes she's an ugly monster, sometimes
she's a teacher. Um. I've learned to invite her in
more and and let her try to teach me whatever
(28:20):
it is the need to learn in the moment. But
I also know when you know great loaves, time is
coming when you get to know great highs. And so
the Heiser sweeter. I don't miss them like I would
have otherwise. It's also great, but we don't miss them. Wow,
that's a good point because if everything is just going well,
you might not even notice. But now, because you've experienced
so much, so much deep sadness, you know when you're
(28:43):
in joy deep joy deep, And I try not to
take every going to even little joys like I've learned
so much perspective from working here, and in fact, it's
it's a funny thing. I have to coach a lot
of our employees because I think people have a guilt,
Like I can't complain if I work on These kids
have it so much worse than I'm like, no, no, no,
We all are entitled to feel our feelings. But they
feel their feelings on their sad days. They feel their
(29:03):
sad days. On their joyful day, they feel the joy.
So we have to remember to do all that. And
then I will tell you A big part for me
is um, how I take care of myself um. And
I am nothing if not consistent. So I get up
early every morning, UM, I spend time in meditation and prayer.
I try to read something kind of motivating or or
self developing. Every day. Um, and then I move my
(29:26):
body every day. That is sort of my time for myself. Um.
And I've had to work at that. It's not like
I wake up joyously or excitedly. I mean I would
have like this morning is one of those days where
I was like, oh, it's trying to get up, really,
what day is it? But I've never regretted that time.
That that time for myself early in the morning, when
it's quiet, before the kids are up, to first start
with a good gratitude for the day I've been given,
(29:48):
read and meditate and pray and then spend time moving
my body has been exactly the formula I've often needed
to tackle the day's work the long hours started all
over again. Um. And so that's what I'm really dedicated
to making sure I spend the time and do and
that that self work has also given me time to
process when I needed it. That's a really great point
because so many people are like, oh, I just don't
(30:10):
have time to do that. I don't have time to meditine,
you don't have time to work out. I've got so
much going on. But really what that does for you
in the bigger picture is like you're saying, it's so
much more profound and deeper than even just like trying
to stay in shape or get your mind right. It
lets you process what's happening here, Like it gives you
space to Breathe gives you that time when you don't
(30:31):
have all this other information flooding in that you just
get to be intentional and you get to process what
you've lived through. It's really especially for someone in a
job like yours, where you have so much coming at you,
from heavy feelings to big decisions to dealing with tons
of people, if you don't have a little self time
to really just like clear your brain. I feel like
(30:52):
if you might start off and it might just feel
like chaos all the time, and it did. I mean,
this is not It's not like I just woke up
wise and figured this out. Like this is coming from
many times, especially when my kids were a little and
when we moved to where my daughter was one. You know,
I had young kids, and look, I have nothing to
complain about it. Single moms and dads are my biggest
heroes what they managed and do. But it came from
(31:14):
getting burnt out and being frenetic and always on and
never feeling and really ruining and hurting a lot of
relationships that I learned that and I worked through the guilt,
like this is precious time and no one is going
to die if I take it for myself. And sometimes
it's five minutes, right, I don't control my world. I
have two phones, they blow up, the kids need something,
whatever else. That was five minutes that I otherwise wouldn't have.
(31:36):
And I've just made that point to make it a
priority day after day after day, even when I don't
want to of that, you know, sleep, nutrition, movement, self care.
And that's that's been the trick to me. Putting my
own oxygen mask on first, remember on the airplane when
they always tell you and I hated this. I remember
the first time after my daughter was born and the
(31:56):
flight attendant gets on, she's like, now, you know, remember
put your own exygen mask on first. And I remember
hearing that. I'm thinking, you're the dumbest woman I've ever heard, Like,
I would not do that. I would put my babies
on first. Until the idiot and I have two degrees.
The idiot myself is like, wait a second, you can't
help somebody if your dad yourself like you have to
take care of yourself in order to take care of others.
(32:17):
And once I got that unlock and started practicing, it's
gotten easier, and now I crave it and need it,
and it's often the thing that helps me make better decisions,
be smarter in my business, think more clearly, all of
those things I keep. The word discipline is the word
that keeps coming into my mind right now, and I've
been like, for this year, like I've been trying to
(32:40):
implement more discipline in my life because discipline. When you're
growing up, you feel like discipline is like a bad thing,
and it's like, you know you have to do discipline,
and like your parents saw your discipline, your teacher sell
you to discipline is discipline, and all you want to
do is just be wild and free. And then you
get older and it's like actually having an understanding what
discipline does. Discipline really does create peace, and it creates
(33:01):
opportunity for you to have a clear mind and to
be your best version of yourself. Otherwise it's just all
over the place. And I think that that is a
trait I've noticed a lot in really powerful leaders like yourself,
who are doing amazing things. Is that element of discipline
is always there. It's a consistent threat. I've seen a
(33:22):
lot of really influential leaders my I think my unlock
for me was have to versus get to. That's something
I learned from st you patients, right, Like there's a
lot of joy moments. There's a lot of a lot
of things that cancer takes away from you and your
every day, like even down to the food you eat,
Like this is why our chefs will make whatever it is.
A kid wants Grandma's mac and cheese, a disease, you know,
(33:43):
a dish from their home country, whatever they want, but
they have a mentality I get to and so to
your same point, like when I feel like I have
to I have to eat right or I have to
when I flipped over to I get to. I get
to wake up every day in my own bed and
a home, and I get to spend time and I
get to meditate and think and spend time in a
(34:04):
higher power. I get to move my body. I get that.
That get changed everything in my perspective, and it became
less about the chore of the half to versus the
joy of getting to write instead of working myself into
a frenzy until I get to take a break or
you know, that unlock that I learned from the kids
here helped me a ton that's so powerful and so true.
(34:26):
I get to I get to move my body, I
get to be healthy. I get to live this life.
And if we have no real physical elements or issues
that we're dealing with, what a blessing that we get
to live like that. Because you're seeing kids every day
who are living such a blessed life on top of
having to fight a big disease. It's such a that's
(34:49):
such a perspective ship that is so powerful. It's helped
me a lot. Yes, So okay, I'm gonna wrap up
here pretty soon. I have a few more questions. So
so many celebrities are all was St. Jude. Who has
been one that has walked through those doors that you've
worked with that you're like, oh my god, is Beyonce like,
who has been the one that's like totally shook you? Well,
(35:11):
Beyonce has not, but she's more than welcome to come, like,
come on, sister, we'd love to have you. Um honestly goodness.
And it sounds silly like I'm not super star struck.
The cool thing for me. I think is that often
when celebrities come here, they're not a celebrity in that moment.
They just get to be whoever they are, right. Um,
And I've I've met a ton I mean, I could
(35:33):
name drop all day. You know, when Taylor Swift comes,
she was just Taylor Swift, a girl visiting kids and
bringing joy and I have enjoy back. But the one
that stuck with me. I mentioned this early on, and
I remember the moment was when Chadwick Boseman came and
the Black Panthers, so the CEO and I and a
couple others got to have lunch with him. And I
remember turning to Rick, who's our CEO and just a
recredible man. His father was one of the original founders
(35:54):
of St. Jude, Danny Thomas and me. Rix met so
many amazing business leaders and presidents and celebrities, and and
he walked out of the room to go see the patients,
and we turned to each other and we're like wow,
like there was something so profound and special. And then
I watched him with the patients and it was really
time for him to go, and he stayed extra time.
It was just one of those moments where I was like,
(36:15):
what an amazing human. And you know, it wasn't until
he passed away that we knew when he was here.
No wonder he got it because he was dealing with
his own cancer battle as well, and you would have
never known that other than he just had this the
same sense and spirit I often give from our patients
of wisdom and joy and presence. Right, it's not taking
(36:36):
a granted. He was present and fully in the moment
of giving and receiving joy. I told many people, so
I was dumb struck when he died because then I
figured out why that seems so special in that moment.
Isn't that the truth? Though so many of us, especially
in this day and age where everything is in an instance,
(36:58):
social media is everywhere, which it can be such a
blessing too, but it's like so fast paced, so moving,
so fast, like keeping up with whatever that being present
is almost I feel like, do you feel that way?
Like being present? Having the ability to be present is
almost like a superpower. I'll tell you if there's one
thing that I've had to work on really hard in
the last two years, personally presents. Um, you called my
(37:20):
husband right now. He would tell you, like That's one
thing I've gotten much better about is being at you know,
because we have jobs and children and whatever else, and
we're frenetic and we multitask, which if you're really being
that multitasking tells you're really not doing anything, you're less productive. Actually,
that the gift. I've always admired, these like wise calm
people who just made you feel like you're the most
special person in the world. Um, and there was something
(37:41):
to that. I've been I've been trying to be more
present and look, there's also been fun moments. I remember
when President Clinton came to visit, and that's not a
political statement. We've we've worked with every administration in the
in the past decades, but my favorite was President Clinton
comes to visit and there was a patient who since passed.
His name is Marquel, who was larger than life, like
Markuelle was always He's dressed to the nines with his
RayBan sunglasses on. So President Clinton comes on. He's like, Yo,
(38:05):
I'm glad you're here. I'm glad there's another celebrity around
here besides me. Then Mark Hell goes on and says, so,
so I mean, so President Clinton. No, he says to
the President like, I'm glad there's another celebrity around here
besides me. I mean, so much sass in one body.
And then he says to the President like, so, so,
how do I get the paparazzi to follow me around?
(38:25):
And President Clinton was like, yo, kid, it's not all that.
It's craped up the want that. I mean, he was
just a larger than life kid, Like who says that?
Who has that swagger to say this? The president? The
President like, um so when he passed, it just devastated
all of us. He was just such a larger than
life kid that, I mean, here's this like amazing moment,
(38:47):
the presidents coming in and all this seriousness, and he
just makes us all crack up laughing because he's like,
you know, other celebrities are here now too. Inside of me,
that's amazing. So it taught me to be like, celebrities
are just people. Like Mark Helen has was like, yo,
here's a dude. It gets followed around by the paparazzi,
were like, that was the leader of the free world.
But okay, Markel so so amazing. So you deal with
(39:11):
so much joy, so much hope, so sometimes so much
pain and sadness. You deal with the spectrum from high
to low everything in between. What have you learned about life?
What do you feel like the point of life is
with being in a job that is so present and
so walk in that line of life and death, hope
and sadness. Like, what what have you learned about the
(39:32):
point of life? Wow? What a question. I'm going to
say this in the most emphatic way I know how
to say it. Every life matters, Every life matters, and
every life has the chance to change the world. One
of the things you realize when you're here is you
may not be famous, but the dollar you gave may
(39:53):
have just been that one dollar that made all the
difference in the world. You may have only been on
this life and this life for six years. Get their
people like me who carry your name on our heart
and show up every day to work twice as hard
so that the next little six year old that walks
in the door gets sixty more. UM. There are celebrities
that could do many, many things with their power that
(40:13):
come here um and completely transform not one person's day,
thousands and thousands of lives. UM. I've learned that that
that lives matter, and you can do great things with
yours and you don't have to be rich, nor famous,
nor powerful to do them. That your life can have meaning, um,
and that each and every life does. They're all worth
of value. That's the that's the greatest answer I've ever heard. UM.
(40:37):
I'll wrap up with where can people donate? Say, someone
who wants to get involved but has no idea, like
you said, maybe feels like you have to donate thousands
of dollars to make an impact, But you're saying no, Actually,
forty dollars, ten dollars, one dollar. Anything you can give
makes it makes an impact. That's actually how St. Jude
thrives and survives is by just those small donations. Obviously,
(40:58):
the more the merrier, But how what's the easiest way
for someone to donate? It's so easy, But I will
say first, like share, spread the word, Like my job
is marketing. This place is a movement of millions of people,
and we need millions more. So the simplest act of like,
if you've heard this today and you liked what you heard,
go share, like, go share this conversation, use your social networks,
tell people start a birthday fundraiser on Facebook. But you
(41:21):
can just go to Saint you dot org. It's right
there on the website. Pop on and donate and then
follow us on social media share the content. But we
also have some super fun things coming up, like I
really hope Giving Tuesday is coming up next week. It's
a fantastic giving day. I want people to turn into YouTube.
So our friends um Matt and Stephanie on the Game
Theorists are doing this really fun live stream for us.
(41:43):
So also, if you're stuck at home with your kids,
because I know that's everyone's fears they're not going back
to school after things giving this are in school, good
sit him in front of the computer and let them
watch the YouTube live stream that we're gonna have. But
the easiest way to really just go to Saint dot org.
You can learn about the work we're doing and you
can give, but you can also follow us on Facebook
and Instagram and TikTok. Oh my gosh, you have to
(42:07):
go see patient Keegan on TikTok. It took us a
minute to figure out, like, how are we going to
show up on TikTok and not be silly? And is it? Well,
we just have these amazing life moments. So there's a
video on TikTok that has over nine million views on
the st jew channel. It's of Keegan. She's this tiny,
little precious toddler who's back at home and it's just
a video of her toddling. You know this because there's
one outside your door, right, So he's outside your door
(42:29):
toddling and laughing. It is pure joy on a screen.
Pure joy. You've gotta go watch again. Go check it out.
There's tons of great moments, Like the other is a
patient who's coming home and they opened the door to
be greeted by their dog. I cried this one every time,
Like the dog jumps and licks and they're all excited,
Like yeah, So we found joy on TikTok and a
ton of fun. And you can get to Saint Jude
(42:49):
while you're on there. That matters, man, that's awesome, and like,
thank you so much for joining me. I and all
my podcasts would leave your light. What do you want
people to know? Um? The kids of the world needs
you to be a light. The kids of the world
needs you to be like Caroline, you are a light.
The country music industry is a light. If you're listening
(43:09):
from Oklahoma to Boston to California. You're a light um,
and that one little moment you spend sharing a Sat.
Jude story, telling somebody about it, teaching your kids, giving
that dollar, it is light and it matters. It matters
for Marquelle, and it matters for Ariana, and it matters
for Bridget, and it matters for only. It matters, it
(43:30):
matters for kids. So leave your light um and do
something bigger than yourself, because when we all do it together,
damned as it shine bright. Oh gosh, someone to get
some tissues and cry after this this one was you
might have had to have a drink with this one.
We should have this. I can't think of anything better
to dottitude going into Thanksgiving like what an awesome I'm
(43:52):
so thankful that you join me. I know you are
so busy and you have so much going on. It
truly means the world to me that you came on here,
shared your heart, shared your soul, gave us some information
and shed some light on St. Jude and what an
incredible organization it is and the work that you and
so many people are doing for the children is truly phenomenal,
(44:12):
life changing, and I encourage every single person listening to
this podcast, to go to St Jude dot org and donate,
get involved, to start getting in tune with this movement,
because it's not a stuffy hospital that's sad and depressing.
It's this hospital that's changing lies and there's so many colors.
There's so much excitement at St. Jude. There's so much hope,
(44:35):
and like you said, only more people, just more people
need to find out about it and discover it and
get involved and let's cure let's cure it. Let's take like,
let's cure the world. That was the top of St. Jude.
And that's another thing. St. Jude has their own cancer
research center, like they're doing their own research. Our name
is very intentional. St Jude Children's Research Hospital. This isn't
(44:56):
just treatment, this isn't free treatment. This is best in class.
But this is discovery, the answers and then sharing them
freely that are going to save more kids worldwide. I
mentioned that bold, audacious gold. But look, we're trying to
raise survival rates in partnership with the World Health Organization
for the six most common forms of childhood cancer from
a death sentence. It's just sixt like we've made a
lot of progress here in the US, but there are
(45:17):
babies that need us around the world. So yes, that
research that we share, that we do together, that your
listeners make possible, that's what we can do together. So
your light doesn't just happen today and help. This is
gonna help re generations to come. So you are amazing.
What you do is amazing. I'm so thankful that you're
in the Saint jud family. I'm just so honored to
get to be a part of it. I'm so honored
(45:38):
to in any way be a part of what Saint
Jude's doing. And it's so powerful and um, you know,
especially now that I have a daughter of my own,
it's like, you know, there's nothing more questions than children.
So that's amazing. Thank you, Emily, Bye bye
Carol, she's a queen and talking. She's getting really not
afraid of fings. So so just let flu no one
can do we cry? Car learned? Is so care learned? Hey,
I am so excited to be joined by Emily Callahan today.
(00:36):
She is such a phenomenal woman. I love to focus
on phenomenal women on my podcast who are changing the
world and doing amazing things, and no one is doing
that more than Emily. Emily is the Chief Marketing and
Experience Officer. What a title for St Jude. Chief Marketing
(00:57):
and Experience Officer. And I have to say I came
in too. I've always loved St. Jude because I've always
known about St. Jude, but I've really gotten to know
St Jude, to walk the halls of the hospital, to
meet the people that worked there, to meet some of
the children and the families in St. Jude, and it
(01:18):
is unlike any other hospital experience in the world. And
so to have the job that you have, which is
the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for St. Jude, along
with so many other things. I mean, you're also in
charge of like fun fund raising, awareness, you do brand marketing, marketing,
research and strategy crisis communications. I mean that sounds complicated.
(01:41):
UM entertainment, marketing, patient relation relations. You oversee event experiences,
so you are basically the experience guru for St. Jude.
Talk to me about this role, what it means to you,
and how you kind of got here. Oh my gosh. Well,
first of all, I'm thrilled beyond words to be on
your show. I feel like I must be the slide
(02:03):
in holiday guest with all the other amazing women you
talk to. So I'm like, oh, I'm come true. But
I'm glad you said what you said because my story
of coming to St. Jo was recruited to come here,
and I will never ever forget my first moments on campus.
And the first thing they do when you're interviewing here
is they take you on a tour and it was
(02:24):
life changing. And so I'm happy to tell a little
bout my family story. But I grew up in hospitals
and other systems. My mom is a nurse and my
father was actually a funeral home director when I was
a kid. So I've been in a lot of hospitals,
and You're right, this doesn't feel like one, it doesn't
smell like one, it doesn't feel like one. And so yeah,
I mean, this is a dream of a lifetime job.
(02:44):
I am, I can't believe I'm here. I actually I've
been here for ten years, which is really weird because
most cmos stay in their job less than two years.
So I'm officially a dinosaur in my industry. But um,
I got called. It's really hard, it's it's growing, it's phenomenal.
I mean, it's pinched me type of work. It's it's
changed my life. I'm a better professional and I'm a
(03:07):
better person and a better partner and a better mom
because I work here. So yeah, I got called. Um,
I know exactly where I was. I was driving home
from my hometown in Oklahoma and back to my house
in Texas with my one year old baby at the time,
and my husband and I got called to come work
at St. Jude, which I was like, no way. They
actually never had a chief Marketing officer. So I got
(03:27):
the call to to see if I would do that.
I met the CEO, Rick Shadyac, who I think you
guys have met on your tours here. He's an amazing
visionary and uh and together we dreamed and I said,
I feel like this could be not just a great
brand and iconic brand, and the chance to work here
to help find cures and save children around the world
is a as a dream come true. And the stuff
I've been able to do in the last decade, no way,
(03:50):
no way. If someone had told me that I would
have gotten to have this job at thirty one years old,
that I would get to be in the seat I
am now and experience the things I've experienced, dream of
a lifetime. So tell me how this job has changed you,
because you said it's made you a better person, And
what are some of the things that you cannot believe
that you've gotten to be a part of and create
(04:10):
experiences with. I'll tell you the thing that's changed me
the most, and there's gotten bad to this, it's the
patients and the families, all right, That the fact that
I get to work in a place that I'm surrounded
by kids and their families that would really be the
darkest times in their lives in many ways. Yet it's
not um. It's changed me forever. There there are so
(04:32):
many moments we call them St. Jude moments here, and
whether we whether you want to say that they're magical
or mystical, or godly or otherworldly. I could point to
so so many of those. Um, but I've learned about
the best of humanity here and the power of people.
I mean, I think too about the people of Caroline.
You've you've gotten involved. I think about the country industry.
I mean, there are people who have never even set
(04:54):
foot on this campus. They may not even know a
saint you patient, and yet millions of them give and
they sacrifice ice, and they do lemonade stands and give
out of the retirement checks. So, um, I'm blown away.
I'm blown away by the patients. And they're and they're tiny,
often really young lives. How wise and powerful and amazing
(05:14):
and funny they are. They remind you of what really
matters in life when we often get tangled up and
strangled at other things that don't matter. And I'm happy
to dork out on favorite moments. There's so many cool ones.
I don't even know where to begin, but we can
have some fun stories from from having lunch with Chadwick
Boseman um not knowing that he was sick, and seeing
the kids react to black panther. Um, You're actually watching
(05:36):
the mothers react to black and think about I think
you came with Florida Georgia Lyne right, I mean and
like watching people go berserk with that or the justin
timber Lakes, or I mean Domino's Pizza, and I mean
raising and having them commit a hundred million dollars and
the smiles and joys that can come from just pizza.
So I work with all the coolest people on the planet. Um,
(05:57):
but yet we're all united in the same purpose, which
is taking care of these little kids need us most.
And that is something that I um, I mean, I
think so many of us struggle with just the I'm
always freaking emotional new days ever since I've had a child,
Like everything makes me cry. But like St. Jude is
so special. It's like seeing those children and their innocence
(06:20):
and you know it's just and y'all don't make the
parents pay for anything. Everything is completely funded. And it's
not just like let's try to heal them with modern medicine.
It's also like, let's give them fun. Let's make this
like a joyful hospital hospital experience. Let's have art, like
you're saying, like artists, recording artists come through and we'll
(06:41):
play songs and there's like pizza parties, and there's playgrounds
and over I want one time over Christmas and there's
like cookie decorating and you know, it's it's like everything
at St. Jude is, Yes, the treatment is happening, but
then everything else is how can we keep these the
innocence of this of these children, How can we help
them grow into the people that they came to this
(07:03):
earth to be and give them opportunities to flourish even
though they are fighting this most you know, deadly disease
that sometimes it's often uncurable, sometimes it is curable, and
it's just like, but y'all bring so much hope and
you bring so much hope to the families and financial relief,
which I think is just it's just incredible. Well you
(07:25):
keep saying, you all that I needed it to be said,
We really don't. I mean the fact is is that
the people make this place possible are our supporters and donors.
That that blows me away. Like if you came into
our lobby right now and you want to ever buy
the bus that Danny Thomas and you can rub his
nose for good luck. They're There are two letters on
(07:45):
the wall. One is from a man named Ira who
was a long time monthly giver to St. Jude and
found out that he had cancer himself and wrote us
a letter saying, I need you to find someone to
take my place, because he knew up to promise families,
which we've done from day one, that no family will
ever receive a bill. And your point, we pay for
their treatment and their travel and their housing and their food,
(08:08):
and then we try to get the best quality of
life here with school and fun activities because we want
them to get to be kids. That's me possible by
people like Ira, I mean, and I can assure you
we found thousands to take Irish place for the little
girl who sends in, you know, seven dollars and forty
cents out of our piggy bank. And he said, I
wanted to send it to St. Jude because miracles, and
it's not the miracles are spelled correctly, but you know
(08:29):
how kids, right, miracles happen. They're like what we get
to do here is because everyone from all walks of
life said, heck, we might not agree on the lock,
we might not believe the same. Politically, we might not
think the same religious, we might look different, we might
be from different economic backgrounds, but this is like the
one thing that unites everybody that we can all agree upon.
And that's what I mean about seeing the best of
(08:50):
humanity here um And then man, the kids that I
have gotten to meet, they they've what do you what
do you learn from the kids? Because I find that
to be always the most inspiring. Like I go in
with a heavy heart, feeling so sad because they I mean, like,
as an adult, I'm like, this isn't right, this, this
is so not fair. Why is this happening? But then
(09:10):
you see these kids and oftentimes these kids are the
most joyful children that you've ever seen, and they're teaching
you about life. What have you learned from kids in
this like in this walk of life? One of those
powerful observations I had early on. So when I started
as a brand, we often talked about kids in their cancer.
But the one thing that struck me immediately, if you
(09:31):
talk to a job with cancer, that's not what they
talk about. Their cancer doesn't define them. And that was
a life changing moment for me. They know that they
have it, they're they're not at all unaware of it.
They're extremely aware of that. But they'll talk to you
about they're the horse that they love, are the dog
(09:53):
that they love, the sports that they love, their favorite
subject in school, they're they're dancing, they're singing, whatever. They're
just kids, so they don't let it define them. One two,
I found out that adults are a bunch of winers.
And I don't minimize that. I totally tease when I
say that, because if you think about what's going in
our world today, right, real and tough struggles. But I
(10:14):
watched these kids have extreme um determination and strength and
resiliency and hope they encourage one another, they encourage us.
And then I've said this often, I cannot figure out.
I cannot figure out if the kids who have cancer
are so shaped by that experience they were wise, or
if they were that way to start and the cancer
(10:34):
experience just brought it out in them. But they say
some of those wise and profound things. So I think
about Adam. He's diagnosed in high school, right that a
typical teenage boy like living his best life. Totally was
I think he was out on a day eating pizza
with his girlfriend when he's diagnosed. But when he gets here,
Adam realizes that he's a teenager. He can speak for himself.
(10:55):
So many of these other kids are young, they can't.
So he said, I'm gonna be the voice for the
voiceless who thinks that way as a teenager and says,
I'm gonna be the voice for the voices. I'm going
to carry them forward. He's raised over a million dollars
for St. Jude run marathons, all by battling with his
own journey. So, man, I've learned a lot about perspective.
I've learned so much about empathy, and I have learned
(11:17):
that they are always bright spots even in the darkest
moments of life, thanks to these kids. So to be
you and to have the job that you have, I
feel like you have to be a super empathetic person
like you. This is not just a job that you
just like go in and you know, run an organization.
This is a very heartfelt job that you are in
(11:38):
charge of. So how do you brainstorm your experiences, your fundraisers,
your ways to draw people in. Because like right now
with the country music industry, the all the T shirts,
it was this shirt saves lives in every single country
music artists war. When I'm put on the feet and
now it's we won't stop and I love that. And
(11:59):
the country music community is so supportive of St. Jude,
which I think is it makes country music even more
special to have this as the backbone of what country
music believes in. It's fighting for children and fighting for cures,
and there's so much support and the way that that
fundraiser has gotten going and it's become so cool, like
it's so cool to wear the shirt. It's so cool
(12:22):
to wear the St. Jude shirt Like it was so
cool now it's like we won't stop. Like it's such
a it's such a proud moment for these people of
influence to wear the shirt and support it. So how
do you create those types of experiences that revolution type
movement and they become so cool? And obviously it's helping
something so great, But there's so many charities out there.
(12:43):
Not all charities get this kind of like intense love,
which I mean you want them all to. But St.
Jude is so loved. Is it partly? Probably because everyone
loves children and as such a great cause, But how
do you create these experiences that just get everyone on board?
Oh my gosh, this is why I was nervous about
talking because you asked like seven great questions and one.
I know that's my problem. I asked at once, and
(13:06):
I've tried to like write questions ahead of time, and
I'm like, I'm so bad at writing questions because I
just sort of like spin them all into one. Why
don't weven do this? I just complimented you. It was
like the best question ever. And they're like, oh no,
I tried, like you did an amazing question and you.
I love that your question started with empathy and heart
and authenticity. So and then I love that you segue
that to the country industry, which is I don't leave
(13:28):
the country music industry gets enough credit for what he
has done for the good in the world. We're probably
the most shining example. And I know what it's raised,
what it's done for sting you the way people have
engaged UM. But it's real. So first of all, let's
back up for a second. Yes, my empathy is off
the charts, and so my father says, this is the
perfect job for me. I told the story a couple
(13:49):
of times. But when I was a little kid, UM,
I hated Disney movies and and because they're all sad,
the mom always dies, a kid gets lost and I
cannot makeet like it broke my heart. So my father
tells the story about when the theater manager had to
come in and ask me to leave the movie theater
both in Banby and in Et because I was crying
(14:09):
so loud I disrupted the other patrons. And so when
I got this job, Dad was like, perfect, perfect, You
can cry for a living, you can love on kids,
you can do all this good in the world. But
that's the thing about here, And it's amazing to be
started by an entertainer. But remember Danny Thomas, who who
was a brilliant entertainer, humanitarian like it should. It's striking
(14:32):
to me to be reminded when I walk over to
the garden, because he's buried here on campus, that he
only wanted one word on his tombstone, and that was founder. Founder.
This is what he was about. And so I think
the fact that he invited other entertainers to have this
unbelievable authentic experience. Randy Owen and now generations of country
music stars and and their networks and artists and labels
(14:52):
and all that have come here. I think it's the
same thing because when you come here, you have this
authentic experience when you were around the kids. Even though
I know it's often the celebrities. So many of my
talk to say I'm not the real celebrity that kid is,
or I'm changed by being here, and so you're right,
I'm I'm so proud of the team because it was
our team of people, including several survivors who are now
(15:13):
thrivers that work for us, came up with this T
shirt idea and nothing makes me happy or I want
to infect my husband's like could you not do that?
So before, when we could travel, we'd be at the airport,
Like we walked off the airplane in Bozeman, Montana and
the first thing we see is a guy wearing at
this moment stop this shirt saves Live shirt. And of
course I had to run over and be like, where'd
you get your shirt? Like my kids wear them? And
(15:34):
so I think it's because to your point, this mission
connects to us. People want to help kids. You made
the cool shirt, and then it matters, like it matters
when influencers and celebrities and others use their network and say, hey,
this is what I love, Well you love it too,
Like that's their power personified that I love and I'm
so thrilled that we took it to the we won't
stop because this world needs a rallying cry right now.
(15:55):
We need a rallying cry. Stop in the pandemic, the
work it's seeing you didn't stop. I love that we
took one of our most motivating messages and put it
on a T shirt and said, let's all get behind this.
And you bring up a great point. And the pandemic
cancer hasn't stopped. St. Jude hasn't stopped. How has life changed?
How have you had to pivot in this time when
(16:18):
we can't gather, when so many of the fundraisers probably
are gathering people together, posting events, doing a lot of
stuff with a lot of people. So how has St.
Jude pivoted in this time? Oh? My gosh, so many ways.
So yeah, I mean, prior to this, we were part
of the reason I'm the experience officers because we do.
We did thirty one events here, what thirty one thousand,
(16:41):
that's all chicken dinners. That's a lot of late events
and they're all cool and they're great, but you know,
when it's also kids at preschools and trike events and
schools and colleges but so then that that can happen,
we can't gather. And so there's so many ways we
have pivoted and changed our business. A lot of it
went to virtual events and lives reams. I'm amazed at
the number of artists who just popped on a Facebook
(17:03):
Live and said I'm gonna do a concert from a
house and raise money, which people loved. Because Mark Zuckerberg,
you know who created Facebook. If you read this book
talks about how it hard. We're all bowyers. We love
a glimpse into people's lives. So I actually think people
secretly like this whole Facebook live zoom. You can see
people's lives and backgrounds. A lot of virtual events, right, Um.
A lot of we amped our communication, And one of
(17:26):
the things I'm most proud of Carolina is um we
already had a platform called St. Jude Inspire, but our
teams are like, it's dark, it's hard, it's depressing. We're
sitting on all these amazing stories of hope, and so
we created as part of our media publishing platform, these
inspired by Inspired by your Kindness stories. So they were
stories of St. Jude, they were stories of celebrities, they
were just stories of good acts of kindness and it
(17:48):
was amazing just to help people feel connected when we
were all kind of stuck at home and starting for meaning,
that's been a huge shift. I'm actually here in my office, Um,
I get to now come to campus. I was at
home with my children for fourteen weeks and that I
counted those. Um, so it's nice to be back to
the office. But one of the reasons I can do
that is because St. Jude created a COVID test, so
I can be tested here on canvas with regularity to
(18:11):
know that I'm safe. And then I'm in my office
with the door closes, which I don't have a mask on.
We mask otherwise, so you know, a lot of change.
We can't go in the same place as we can't
bring people here to campus, so we just said I
have to bring the canpas to them. So a lot
of virtual reality, augmented reality, virtual tours, virtual events, Facebook lives,
live streams, you name it. Because to that point that
(18:32):
the mission doesn't stop. And I'm blown away that as
much as the charity world has been impacted, people are
still giving very generously to St. Jude and it's making
sure that we can fulfill our commitments. To take care
of kids around the world, because we've got some pretty big,
audacious skulls globally. And that's the thing is, kids don't
have to you don't. Kids don't have to pay, Families
(18:53):
don't have to pay because of the donation. So the
donation stop, then that really is a crisis for taking
care of the family. So that's amazing to hear that
You'll have been able to find other ways and people
have continued to step up. And with this new launch
of We Won't Stop, I pray that it's the biggest
one you've ever had, the any T shirt, because it
(19:15):
is the truth has been so hard, The pandemic has
been so hard. It's been such a tough year, and
I feel excuse me, sorry, I feel like we we
need to have that hope in our lives to be
doing good and like to give to something that was
that's bigger than ourselves, because this world needs We just
(19:37):
need light and love and if anyone's spreading it, it's St. Jude.
So I do want to ask you, what is it
like being a mother of two while running a huge organization?
How do you manage all that? How? Because your feelings
with it all Oh my gosh, Well, I'll definitely inser
that I want a business nerd real quick, because I
do want to say something I don't know that everybody
realizes there's only one SAT. You don't a planet like
(20:00):
no one else has our business model. And so there
are a million other amazing great hospitals, right, but but
it seems you we're not taking care of broken legs
and and common colds and some of the other things.
So when you talk about that, seems you we literally
can't function without donation. So other hospitals get the bulk
of their money from insurance recoveries. Right, Thank goodness, there's insurance.
(20:21):
You gets sick insurance cover they don't cover a lot
of what we do here, and so we rely on
the support of the public. So more than eighty two
percent of the moneys it takes to operate Saint Jude
have to come from generous donors. It costs us over
a billion dollars a year to operate it, so we've
got to raise that money. And our average donations are
in the forty dollars. So when I say this is
a movement and people like getting a T shirt, becoming
(20:43):
a monthly donor, giving your dollar, like that stuff matters.
So I always want to talk to people whople like
oh Saint Jude's big or they've got celebrity. No, like,
this is what we do together. And and so I'll
switch over to talk about as a mom um with
a bola of help, a ton of humility. Um, some
really dedicated me time every day. Um, I'm so thankful
(21:06):
that my children, UM have this experience with me. So
I don't just work here, my family works here. I
wish you could have my kids here today. Um they are.
They are better humans because of this place. Like they
think Mom's job's cool for a lot of reasons. But
like on my worst day when I've gone home and said,
like I can't do this anymore, my son, who was
six at the time, said that you have to. I mean,
(21:27):
you have to work at Saint Jude. It's in their
class at school. They know patients. My daughter, Um, there's
a friend of hers and a sporting team that um
is dealing with a brain tumor. And they didn't want
to tell anyone because they didn't want the child to
be treated differently. And my daughter said, Mom, don't worry,
I'll watch out for I'll make sure nobody treats her
differently and they don't define her buy her brain tumor,
because I know you've taught me from Saint Jude, Like
(21:49):
it's changed them to be around this mission and to
believe in something bigger and to grow up knowing that
you're supposed to use your skills and your talents to
get back in the world. Those are my good days.
Like we're not talking about the days when I'm like,
I'm a god and I'm overwhelmed in the crystal it's crazy,
and I'm on a board Like last week, I was
on a board call and the school's calling and the
doctor's calling and the kids. Now my daughter is old
(22:10):
enough that she can, you know, FaceTime and yell at
me and then hang up on me. So much humor
behind all of that. That's incredible, though, the impact that
it's had on your kids, because I can I can
actually only imagine them going to St. Jude being a
child themselves to see that. I'm sure their hearts are
just so empathetic. What a what a what an environment
(22:31):
to grow up in. You know that's not funny too,
I am people are often they think it's scary, like
would not be scared of kids or they think they
can get the kids too. But this is where kids
they don't think like that. They just think, well, that's
a kid like me, and I want to help them.
So actually, my daughter's fourth grade class last year, they
were learning design thinking because you know, that's what I
learned in fourth grade and design. Thank you design. I
(22:53):
don't even know what that means. You'll have to google
it later because I don't really eat the now. We
use it at marketing. But it's the whole process. It's
really a very innovative process for how you brainstorm or
bring us space to life. And you you do a
lot of brainstormy work, you do modeling, you bring an
idea to lot. This is what fourth graders are learning
that They actually called over the teachers and said, the
(23:14):
kids know about St. Jude, could they do something at St. Jude.
So the pavilion, which is where Deanie Thomas and Rosemary
are buried, it's kind of our museum on campus. You
probably saw it when you were here. So her fourth
grade class actually helped us redesign the pavilion to make
it more user friendly and more kid friendly because that's
often the only place they can come here and visit
at the hospital right since it's the working hospital. So
(23:35):
we're in the middle right now of some construction and
updating it since we're closed to the public, And she
asks me every day, like, how's it going? Did you
take my idea? Can we come into war it when
it's open? Like the kids right letters here to St. Jude.
They've done fundraisers on their own. They're they're amazing, wow,
and how great to be designed my fourth graders because
it's for is for kids, so of course their ideas
were way cooler than ours. Like I think our innovation
(23:57):
team because we have our own I mean, we were
named to buy Fast Company this year is the best
workplace for innovators, and it was so fun to see
these brilliant innovators in our team have their minds blown
by these fourth grade kids and they're really cool ideas.
So I think they're just mad that we couldn't put
in a confetti floor for our normal celebrations. But we'll
figure something out. Oh my gosh. Um. So I my
(24:18):
husband has a very personal close story a St. Jude.
When you were mentioning mentioning a brain tumor, my husband's
older brother passed away a brain tumor when he was fifteen,
and he uh St Jude was a big part of
Michael's family's journey and that Michael is very passionate about St.
June for that because it was as far as an
(24:40):
experience goes, you can't have a more loving experience in St.
Jude when you're in that kind of turmoil as a family.
And so UM, yeah, so he always especially holds of
course I hold it near too, but for him it's
super personal and it matters so much because he lived
through it. Also, it's the story is amazing. And I
(25:03):
did not lose my brother to kincer, but somebody who's
lost their brother it changes you forever, and then you
loving him and walking alongside in that journey. UM knows
knows what it means here to lose, knows what it
means to have hope, knows what it means to love
somebody through those most devastating times. I think that's why
your support in particular, UM is so deeply meaningful for us, UM,
(25:24):
And I will tell you it's those are the ones
that stay with us. So I love seeing our patients thrive.
I get to work with so many survivors. It's awesome
and I wish you could see in my office because
what's above me m our pictures of patients, and one
is one that did not make it um and I
will never forget her. The life changing experience of her
funeral really was? How was it? What was the life changing?
(25:49):
Outside of the loss of my own brother. Is probably
the hardest experience I've had. And remember my dad was
a funeral home director as a kid, so it's not
like I haven't been around a lot of them. She
was a remarkable kid that her mother was the So
I remember vividly being on campus first sort of my
first patient speaker event when they bring in families to
talk to us as employees, and hearing their story a
military family, and watching this mother sit there and watch
(26:10):
her two daughters, one with kidser and one with not
opening Christmas packages, telling this story like she has it together,
and talk about cry like I can't get myself together.
I'm bawling. Well, I get to know this amazing family
really well, and they had the honor and I do
believe it's an honor of going over to say goodbye
to Arianna before she passed and Ariana was the type
that cancer never defined her. She loved like if she
(26:32):
came to country Cares for St. Jude kids, she was
on the dance floor. She got our CEO to dance
like the girl loved to dance. She was light, she
was joy. Saying goodbye to her was so hard, and
that her funeral, I remember watching her sister stand there
at the Casta and say goodbye to her best friend
and realizing the magnitude of that, like losing your sibling
(26:52):
being and that I will tell you now I have
the honor. Her father is actually one of my colleagues,
and they honor Ariana every year on her birthday by
going out and doing acts of kindness and joy for
other people. So I keep Ariana's picture above my desk
as a reminder that even in dark moments, even when
we're sad, you can always find a bright spot, and
(27:12):
you should always dance a little. You obviously, like we
talked about, you have a very empathetic heart. It started
when you're really young. You've obviously been around, you know,
the passing of life with your dad as a funeral
home director, and now you're working at St. Jude and
you get attached to patients, and sometimes you have these
stories where they don't make it, like Oriana, how do
(27:34):
you how do you get through those kind of things?
Because as someone who feels so deeply like you do
and I do as well, how do you how do
you find your grounding again, like when you're so brokenhearted?
Because I know there is so much joy that comes
from St. Jude, but there is also the really sad
moments also, and so how do you find that balance
and stay grounded? Mm hmm, what a powerful question. I
(27:58):
do have a life belief. I think you have to
know sadness to know joy, and I think sadness is
a part of life, and I think it's one of
the most powerful teachers. So one of the things I've
learned in my own grief journey is to sit with it. Um, grief.
Grief stays with you. Sometimes she's an ugly monster, sometimes
she's a teacher. Um. I've learned to invite her in
more and and let her try to teach me whatever
(28:20):
it is the need to learn in the moment. But
I also know when you know great loaves, time is
coming when you get to know great highs. And so
the Heiser sweeter. I don't miss them like I would
have otherwise. It's also great, but we don't miss them. Wow,
that's a good point because if everything is just going well,
you might not even notice. But now, because you've experienced
so much, so much deep sadness, you know when you're
(28:43):
in joy deep joy deep, And I try not to
take every going to even little joys like I've learned
so much perspective from working here, and in fact, it's
it's a funny thing. I have to coach a lot
of our employees because I think people have a guilt,
Like I can't complain if I work on These kids
have it so much worse than I'm like, no, no, no,
We all are entitled to feel our feelings. But they
feel their feelings on their sad days. They feel their
(29:03):
sad days. On their joyful day, they feel the joy.
So we have to remember to do all that. And
then I will tell you A big part for me
is um, how I take care of myself um. And
I am nothing if not consistent. So I get up
early every morning, UM, I spend time in meditation and prayer.
I try to read something kind of motivating or or
self developing. Every day. Um, and then I move my
(29:26):
body every day. That is sort of my time for myself. Um.
And I've had to work at that. It's not like
I wake up joyously or excitedly. I mean I would
have like this morning is one of those days where
I was like, oh, it's trying to get up, really,
what day is it? But I've never regretted that time.
That that time for myself early in the morning, when
it's quiet, before the kids are up, to first start
with a good gratitude for the day I've been given,
(29:48):
read and meditate and pray and then spend time moving
my body has been exactly the formula I've often needed
to tackle the day's work the long hours started all
over again. Um. And so that's what I'm really dedicated
to making sure I spend the time and do and
that that self work has also given me time to
process when I needed it. That's a really great point
because so many people are like, oh, I just don't
(30:10):
have time to do that. I don't have time to meditine,
you don't have time to work out. I've got so
much going on. But really what that does for you
in the bigger picture is like you're saying, it's so
much more profound and deeper than even just like trying
to stay in shape or get your mind right. It
lets you process what's happening here, Like it gives you
space to Breathe gives you that time when you don't
(30:31):
have all this other information flooding in that you just
get to be intentional and you get to process what
you've lived through. It's really especially for someone in a
job like yours, where you have so much coming at you,
from heavy feelings to big decisions to dealing with tons
of people, if you don't have a little self time
to really just like clear your brain. I feel like
(30:52):
if you might start off and it might just feel
like chaos all the time, and it did. I mean,
this is not It's not like I just woke up
wise and figured this out. Like this is coming from
many times, especially when my kids were a little and
when we moved to where my daughter was one. You know,
I had young kids, and look, I have nothing to
complain about it. Single moms and dads are my biggest
heroes what they managed and do. But it came from
(31:14):
getting burnt out and being frenetic and always on and
never feeling and really ruining and hurting a lot of
relationships that I learned that and I worked through the guilt,
like this is precious time and no one is going
to die if I take it for myself. And sometimes
it's five minutes, right, I don't control my world. I
have two phones, they blow up, the kids need something,
whatever else. That was five minutes that I otherwise wouldn't have.
(31:36):
And I've just made that point to make it a
priority day after day after day, even when I don't
want to of that, you know, sleep, nutrition, movement, self care.
And that's that's been the trick to me. Putting my
own oxygen mask on first, remember on the airplane when
they always tell you and I hated this. I remember
the first time after my daughter was born and the
(31:56):
flight attendant gets on, she's like, now, you know, remember
put your own exygen mask on first. And I remember
hearing that. I'm thinking, you're the dumbest woman I've ever heard, Like,
I would not do that. I would put my babies
on first. Until the idiot and I have two degrees.
The idiot myself is like, wait a second, you can't
help somebody if your dad yourself like you have to
take care of yourself in order to take care of others.
(32:17):
And once I got that unlock and started practicing, it's
gotten easier, and now I crave it and need it,
and it's often the thing that helps me make better decisions,
be smarter in my business, think more clearly, all of
those things I keep. The word discipline is the word
that keeps coming into my mind right now, and I've
been like, for this year, like I've been trying to
(32:40):
implement more discipline in my life because discipline. When you're
growing up, you feel like discipline is like a bad thing,
and it's like, you know you have to do discipline,
and like your parents saw your discipline, your teacher sell
you to discipline is discipline, and all you want to
do is just be wild and free. And then you
get older and it's like actually having an understanding what
discipline does. Discipline really does create peace, and it creates
(33:01):
opportunity for you to have a clear mind and to
be your best version of yourself. Otherwise it's just all
over the place. And I think that that is a
trait I've noticed a lot in really powerful leaders like yourself,
who are doing amazing things. Is that element of discipline
is always there. It's a consistent threat. I've seen a
(33:22):
lot of really influential leaders my I think my unlock
for me was have to versus get to. That's something
I learned from st you patients, right, Like there's a
lot of joy moments. There's a lot of a lot
of things that cancer takes away from you and your
every day, like even down to the food you eat,
Like this is why our chefs will make whatever it is.
A kid wants Grandma's mac and cheese, a disease, you know,
(33:43):
a dish from their home country, whatever they want, but
they have a mentality I get to and so to
your same point, like when I feel like I have
to I have to eat right or I have to
when I flipped over to I get to. I get
to wake up every day in my own bed and
a home, and I get to spend time and I
get to meditate and think and spend time in a
(34:04):
higher power. I get to move my body. I get that.
That get changed everything in my perspective, and it became
less about the chore of the half to versus the
joy of getting to write instead of working myself into
a frenzy until I get to take a break or
you know, that unlock that I learned from the kids
here helped me a ton that's so powerful and so true.
(34:26):
I get to I get to move my body, I
get to be healthy. I get to live this life.
And if we have no real physical elements or issues
that we're dealing with, what a blessing that we get
to live like that. Because you're seeing kids every day
who are living such a blessed life on top of
having to fight a big disease. It's such a that's
(34:49):
such a perspective ship that is so powerful. It's helped
me a lot. Yes, So okay, I'm gonna wrap up
here pretty soon. I have a few more questions. So
so many celebrities are all was St. Jude. Who has
been one that has walked through those doors that you've
worked with that you're like, oh my god, is Beyonce like,
who has been the one that's like totally shook you? Well,
(35:11):
Beyonce has not, but she's more than welcome to come, like,
come on, sister, we'd love to have you. Um honestly goodness.
And it sounds silly like I'm not super star struck.
The cool thing for me. I think is that often
when celebrities come here, they're not a celebrity in that moment.
They just get to be whoever they are, right. Um,
And I've I've met a ton I mean, I could
(35:33):
name drop all day. You know, when Taylor Swift comes,
she was just Taylor Swift, a girl visiting kids and
bringing joy and I have enjoy back. But the one
that stuck with me. I mentioned this early on, and
I remember the moment was when Chadwick Boseman came and
the Black Panthers, so the CEO and I and a
couple others got to have lunch with him. And I
remember turning to Rick, who's our CEO and just a
recredible man. His father was one of the original founders
(35:54):
of St. Jude, Danny Thomas and me. Rix met so
many amazing business leaders and presidents and celebrities, and and
he walked out of the room to go see the patients,
and we turned to each other and we're like wow,
like there was something so profound and special. And then
I watched him with the patients and it was really
time for him to go, and he stayed extra time.
It was just one of those moments where I was like,
(36:15):
what an amazing human. And you know, it wasn't until
he passed away that we knew when he was here.
No wonder he got it because he was dealing with
his own cancer battle as well, and you would have
never known that other than he just had this the
same sense and spirit I often give from our patients
of wisdom and joy and presence. Right, it's not taking
(36:36):
a granted. He was present and fully in the moment
of giving and receiving joy. I told many people, so
I was dumb struck when he died because then I
figured out why that seems so special in that moment.
Isn't that the truth? Though so many of us, especially
in this day and age where everything is in an instance,
(36:58):
social media is everywhere, which it can be such a
blessing too, but it's like so fast paced, so moving,
so fast, like keeping up with whatever that being present
is almost I feel like, do you feel that way?
Like being present? Having the ability to be present is
almost like a superpower. I'll tell you if there's one
thing that I've had to work on really hard in
the last two years, personally presents. Um, you called my
(37:20):
husband right now. He would tell you, like That's one
thing I've gotten much better about is being at you know,
because we have jobs and children and whatever else, and
we're frenetic and we multitask, which if you're really being
that multitasking tells you're really not doing anything, you're less productive. Actually,
that the gift. I've always admired, these like wise calm
people who just made you feel like you're the most
special person in the world. Um, and there was something
(37:41):
to that. I've been I've been trying to be more
present and look, there's also been fun moments. I remember
when President Clinton came to visit, and that's not a
political statement. We've we've worked with every administration in the
in the past decades, but my favorite was President Clinton
comes to visit and there was a patient who since passed.
His name is Marquel, who was larger than life, like
Markuelle was always He's dressed to the nines with his
RayBan sunglasses on. So President Clinton comes on. He's like, Yo,
(38:05):
I'm glad you're here. I'm glad there's another celebrity around
here besides me. Then Mark Hell goes on and says, so,
so I mean, so President Clinton. No, he says to
the President like, I'm glad there's another celebrity around here
besides me. I mean, so much sass in one body.
And then he says to the President like, so, so,
how do I get the paparazzi to follow me around?
(38:25):
And President Clinton was like, yo, kid, it's not all that.
It's craped up the want that. I mean, he was
just a larger than life kid, Like who says that?
Who has that swagger to say this? The president? The
President like, um so when he passed, it just devastated
all of us. He was just such a larger than
life kid that, I mean, here's this like amazing moment,
(38:47):
the presidents coming in and all this seriousness, and he
just makes us all crack up laughing because he's like,
you know, other celebrities are here now too. Inside of me,
that's amazing. So it taught me to be like, celebrities
are just people. Like Mark Helen has was like, yo,
here's a dude. It gets followed around by the paparazzi,
were like, that was the leader of the free world.
But okay, Markel so so amazing. So you deal with
(39:11):
so much joy, so much hope, so sometimes so much
pain and sadness. You deal with the spectrum from high
to low everything in between. What have you learned about life?
What do you feel like the point of life is
with being in a job that is so present and
so walk in that line of life and death, hope
and sadness. Like, what what have you learned about the
(39:32):
point of life? Wow? What a question. I'm going to
say this in the most emphatic way I know how
to say it. Every life matters, Every life matters, and
every life has the chance to change the world. One
of the things you realize when you're here is you
may not be famous, but the dollar you gave may
(39:53):
have just been that one dollar that made all the
difference in the world. You may have only been on
this life and this life for six years. Get their
people like me who carry your name on our heart
and show up every day to work twice as hard
so that the next little six year old that walks
in the door gets sixty more. UM. There are celebrities
that could do many, many things with their power that
(40:13):
come here um and completely transform not one person's day,
thousands and thousands of lives. UM. I've learned that that
that lives matter, and you can do great things with
yours and you don't have to be rich, nor famous,
nor powerful to do them. That your life can have meaning, um,
and that each and every life does. They're all worth
of value. That's the that's the greatest answer I've ever heard. UM.
(40:37):
I'll wrap up with where can people donate? Say, someone
who wants to get involved but has no idea, like
you said, maybe feels like you have to donate thousands
of dollars to make an impact, But you're saying no, Actually,
forty dollars, ten dollars, one dollar. Anything you can give
makes it makes an impact. That's actually how St. Jude
thrives and survives is by just those small donations. Obviously,
(40:58):
the more the merrier, But how what's the easiest way
for someone to donate? It's so easy, But I will
say first, like share, spread the word, Like my job
is marketing. This place is a movement of millions of people,
and we need millions more. So the simplest act of like,
if you've heard this today and you liked what you heard,
go share, like, go share this conversation, use your social networks,
tell people start a birthday fundraiser on Facebook. But you
(41:21):
can just go to Saint you dot org. It's right
there on the website. Pop on and donate and then
follow us on social media share the content. But we
also have some super fun things coming up, like I
really hope Giving Tuesday is coming up next week. It's
a fantastic giving day. I want people to turn into YouTube.
So our friends um Matt and Stephanie on the Game
Theorists are doing this really fun live stream for us.
(41:43):
So also, if you're stuck at home with your kids,
because I know that's everyone's fears they're not going back
to school after things giving this are in school, good
sit him in front of the computer and let them
watch the YouTube live stream that we're gonna have. But
the easiest way to really just go to Saint dot org.
You can learn about the work we're doing and you
can give, but you can also follow us on Facebook
and Instagram and TikTok. Oh my gosh, you have to
(42:07):
go see patient Keegan on TikTok. It took us a
minute to figure out, like, how are we going to
show up on TikTok and not be silly? And is it? Well,
we just have these amazing life moments. So there's a
video on TikTok that has over nine million views on
the st jew channel. It's of Keegan. She's this tiny,
little precious toddler who's back at home and it's just
a video of her toddling. You know this because there's
one outside your door, right, So he's outside your door
(42:29):
toddling and laughing. It is pure joy on a screen.
Pure joy. You've gotta go watch again. Go check it out.
There's tons of great moments, Like the other is a
patient who's coming home and they opened the door to
be greeted by their dog. I cried this one every time,
Like the dog jumps and licks and they're all excited,
Like yeah, So we found joy on TikTok and a
ton of fun. And you can get to Saint Jude
(42:49):
while you're on there. That matters, man, that's awesome, and like,
thank you so much for joining me. I and all
my podcasts would leave your light. What do you want
people to know? Um? The kids of the world needs
you to be a light. The kids of the world
needs you to be like Caroline, you are a light.
The country music industry is a light. If you're listening
(43:09):
from Oklahoma to Boston to California. You're a light um,
and that one little moment you spend sharing a Sat.
Jude story, telling somebody about it, teaching your kids, giving
that dollar, it is light and it matters. It matters
for Marquelle, and it matters for Ariana, and it matters
for Bridget, and it matters for only. It matters, it
(43:30):
matters for kids. So leave your light um and do
something bigger than yourself, because when we all do it together,
damned as it shine bright. Oh gosh, someone to get
some tissues and cry after this this one was you
might have had to have a drink with this one.
We should have this. I can't think of anything better
to dottitude going into Thanksgiving like what an awesome I'm
(43:52):
so thankful that you join me. I know you are
so busy and you have so much going on. It
truly means the world to me that you came on here,
shared your heart, shared your soul, gave us some information
and shed some light on St. Jude and what an
incredible organization it is and the work that you and
so many people are doing for the children is truly phenomenal,
(44:12):
life changing, and I encourage every single person listening to
this podcast, to go to St Jude dot org and donate,
get involved, to start getting in tune with this movement,
because it's not a stuffy hospital that's sad and depressing.
It's this hospital that's changing lies and there's so many colors.
There's so much excitement at St. Jude. There's so much hope,
(44:35):
and like you said, only more people, just more people
need to find out about it and discover it and
get involved and let's cure let's cure it. Let's take like,
let's cure the world. That was the top of St. Jude.
And that's another thing. St. Jude has their own cancer
research center, like they're doing their own research. Our name
is very intentional. St Jude Children's Research Hospital. This isn't
(44:56):
just treatment, this isn't free treatment. This is best in class.
But this is discovery, the answers and then sharing them
freely that are going to save more kids worldwide. I
mentioned that bold, audacious gold. But look, we're trying to
raise survival rates in partnership with the World Health Organization
for the six most common forms of childhood cancer from
a death sentence. It's just sixt like we've made a
lot of progress here in the US, but there are
(45:17):
babies that need us around the world. So yes, that
research that we share, that we do together, that your
listeners make possible, that's what we can do together. So
your light doesn't just happen today and help. This is
gonna help re generations to come. So you are amazing.
What you do is amazing. I'm so thankful that you're
in the Saint jud family. I'm just so honored to
get to be a part of it. I'm so honored
(45:38):
to in any way be a part of what Saint
Jude's doing. And it's so powerful and um, you know,
especially now that I have a daughter of my own,
it's like, you know, there's nothing more questions than children.
So that's amazing. Thank you, Emily, Bye bye
Host
Caroline Hobby
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