Beyond Academia: Community Impact with Karen Richel, Extension Educator

This week, we very excitedly welcome Karen Richel to the show as we continue our Career Series. Karen is a University of Idaho Extension Associate Professor and the Family Finance Extension educator for ten north Idaho counties. In her work, Karen caters to every age and socioeconomic group with one-on-one financial counseling/coaching sessions, classes, workshops, and simulations. 

In the third episode of our Real Money, Real Experts career series, Karen shares how an unexpected “pause” in her life led to a more meaningful life and career. As an avid mentor, Karen offers valuable – and unique – advice, on how being an “octopus” can set you up for career success. Regardless of your career path, she is a wealth of knowledge and resources, making this an episode that'll leave you uplifted.

Show Notes:

01:58 How Karen got to where she is now
09:37 What she would’ve loved to know before entering the field
16:12 Karen's amazing experience being an AFCPE® Mentor
18:05 How her AFC® has impacted her work
21:16 All about working in Cooperative Extension
23:51 How to break into this career field
28:07 What type of educational background do you need?
29:22 The transition to virtual learning
32:33 Advice for aspiring mentors and mentees for AFCPE's MentorConnect program 
35:05 Karen’s final 2 Cents

Show Note Links: 

• Reach out to Karen here
• Karen’s LinkedIn page
• University of Idaho Extension  
• Extension Jobs 
• Join the Membership community to become a mentor or mentee!
• "Our Financial Conference" mentioned by Karen

Want to get involved with AFCPE®?
Here are a few places to start: Become a Member, Sign up for an Essentials Course, or Get AFC Certified today!

Want to support the podcast? We love partnering with organizations that share our mission and values. Download our media kit.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to real money, real experts, a podcast we're leading financial counseling and coaching experts share their stories, their challenges, and their advice for helping people manage money and the real world. I'm your host, Rachel da own interim executive director of the association for financial counseling and planning education or AF F C P

Speaker 2: 0:25

E. And I'm your co-host Dr. Mary Bell Carlson, an accredited financial counselor or AFC, and the CEO of Carlson consulting. Every episode, we're taking a deep dive into the topics that personal finance professionals care about helping clients, building community in your professional growth. Today, we are excited to welcome Karen ritual to the show. Karen is the university of Idaho extension associate professor in Lata county and is the family finance extension educator for all 10 Northern Idaho counties. Karen reaches residents with Reese based information to help families build strong financial foundations and balanced lives. She caters to every age group and socioeconomic group with one-on-one counseling and coaching sessions, classes and workshops on topics ranging from goal setting and tracking expenses to retirement and end of life planning. Karen can re frame challenging past many memories. Financial coaching helped guide the way to managing resilient finances, financial education, and counseling, and then help design a suitable path to wealth planning, retirement and estate planning, her educational background and certifications as an accredited financial counselor and a certified money coach allow her to provide all of these services to every resident.

Speaker 1: 1:48

Karen, we're super excited to talk to you today about your path in academia and extension.

Speaker 3: 1:53

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 1: 1:57

Tell us a little bit about your own career journey. How did you get to where you are today?

Speaker 3: 2:01

Well, I just absolutely love this question. I, I love talking about my career journey and really the, the thing that I need to start out with is that my career journey started with a pause. So we all have pauses in our lives. Uh, those little events that they slow us down, they stop us. They even redirect us the pauses. So it's how we choose to respond to those pauses that define literally every aspect of our lives. And so my biggest pause came in the year 2000. And so I was gonna be turning 30 that year. I was a self-sufficient fiercely independent person. I didn't ask for help. I honestly really didn't need any help. Then in the months leading up to Y2K, I had some, some pretty severe losses and obstacles that came along. Several family deaths came really close together. I was trying to work at a very new, very full-time job. They actually hired three people to replace me when I left. Wow. And I was taking college courses at the same time. So I had a pretty full plate. I, I don't ever do anything just a little. Then that's when the pause happened. I woke up one day and I wasn't feeling very good. I thought maybe I had a sinus infection and of all things, shin splints. So I stayed at home for a week, which was completely unheard of for me. I went to dead most times. And so at the end of the week, I went to my sister's house and proceeded to have three strokes. After hundreds of doctor visits tests, and a couple of hospital stays and a non conclusive diagnosis, doctors decided that I had viral meningitis. It affected everything, my body, my hearing, my eyesight, it messed up my balance and it made me the subject of several really long medical journals. So I was very, very sick and it really did it put my life and, and my sister life and brother-in-law's life on pause. The fiercely independent person that I once was now needed help from friends and family, just simply to take a shower, to walk across the yard. My poor brother-in-law had to pick me up out of the yard more times than I I cared to were remember. And I had to learn how to write and to drive again, walking with a cane became my new normal for two years. After that surgeries have become a common thing to help my body heal. Even 22 years later, I am legally deaf. And the number of eye drops that I take a day is staggering. Just to keep my vision intact. So why am I telling you about my pause? This is important to know it's because how I handled that pause. I chose to look at the blessings of the pause and not the pause itself, the pause and proves my faith, my awareness at how precious life is. It helped me to reset the button. The pause helped me to realize that I needed to go back to school full time, quit dabbling in the, the taking a class here or there. I had been talking about going back to school for years and I just never had, and a dear friend told me about the family resource management degree at Virginia tech. I was absolutely sold. It was exactly what I wanted to do, and it was exactly what I needed to be. So I ended up saving$10,000 over the course of nine months. That's actually another really fun story. And, uh, I, I always get asked, did you do something illegal for that?

Speaker 2: 6:12

For

Speaker 3: 6:12

That story? I, I was making a w in$27,000 a year and I ended up saving$10,000 in my process. Yep. It, it it's what financial educators do. So I quit my job and I became a full-time student at 33. I earned not one degree, but two degrees with honors bachelor's science degree is an apparel. How is in apparel, housing and resource management with a concentration in family, financial management. And my master's degree is in career and technical education with the concentration in family and consumer sciences. And then of course I tweaked it a little it so that I could do all sorts of fun stuff with it. Since then I've reached over three quarters of a million people with my education as a curriculum developer, a financial advisor, um, with financial education, counseling, coaching and planning as an mention educator and as an associate professor. And today I get to tell you a little bit about my pause. We all have them. It's just what we choose to do with them. That's completely up to us. I wouldn't change my pause at all. My pause helped me be the person that I am today, and it's helped make an impact on, on so many people.

Speaker 2: 7:42

Karen, that's an incredible story. And I love how you have chosen to frame it as a pause because it's, it was not a stopping or a barrier for you. It wasn't something you just hopped over, but you learned to thrive through that experience. And I'm sure grow in ways that you never imagine. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Speaker 3: 8:01

Absolutely. And, and honestly, that's true. So many times people slow down or stop, and this is really the time that you need to grab a hold and, and look at that challenge and see how you can overcome it and do greater things. So I, I appreci my pause. It has, it has challenged me with different things, but, but I'm always glad to be able to, to share that story,

Speaker 2: 8:29

You know, and I'm just thinking out loud here, but pauses don't always have to be health driven. I'm thinking personally myself, I've had a, a pause in my career in the last five, six years, and that is I've chosen to be a, a stay at home mom and homeschool my children. And that has led to a pause in my life of things that I like. You were on a very quick track in making quite a bit of success, but it's actually slowed me down in some ways. And I've learned through those experiences, not only does it not have to be a stop, but it actually can be a growth experience and an opportunity to really reframe your life and where you're at now. I think several of us have had that experience over the last couple of years with COVID and the pandemic that's ongoing is many of us have stopped and jumping off the hamster wilt for a moment and really looking and seeing how our lives can change and how they can be different.

Speaker 3: 9:22

That really is, we all have different pauses and the whole world is going through a gigantic one right now. And just looking at what's important and what we can do for us individual to make this world a better place.

Speaker 2: 9:37

Karen, is there one thing you wish you would've known before entering this field?

Speaker 3: 9:41

There is, it was a fun thing when my friend told me about the job about the degree and everything, but I didn't really know anything about it. You know, I didn't know where I would go with it. And so really the, the thing that I wish I would've known is I wish I would've known what a friend told me later. She told me that I needed to be an octopus. This is a funny one, an octopus. What she told me is that I needed to look at my career and my life like an octopus with tentacles, the tentacles are a little different and you have to make them count for something different. And so with, with my job, doing my education and, and my background and all the stuff that I've done in the last 20 years, the things that I would've, I would've told somebody that was coming into into this field is to create those eight tentacles, those career tentacles, and the first one being education. And to make sure that you are constantly learning, I, I took additional classes in college so that I could, I could do all sorts of different things. I could teach high school. I could advise clients I could serve as an extension educator. I could work in the social industry. I could do all sorts of different things with, with my degree. And I think that is really important that, that you don't, once you graduate, you don't just stop taking college courses that you continue doing that don't be afraid to take the, the classes that are going to interest you. You just never know where it's gonna take you in that career. The second tentacle, I would say it would be your ex experience and just being really proud of your diverse work background. Just like what you were saying before, taking the, the time to pause, to be a stayat home mom that is providing you a whole bunch of new opportunities and, and experiences you're having to manage a household and, and little bodies running around the, and teaching them and doing all these things. You're, you're learning all these new skills and it does really take you to D front places. I have worked in, uh, financial literacy and education fields for over 24 years, but I did have a life before that. So I, I worked and a life. Now. I know I, I, uh, it worked in, uh, payroll offices. I, I had so many customer service positions. It was crazy waiting on tables. I think everybody should have to wait on tables, at least some point in their life. It gives them a completely new perspective on people, but it's really important to take that experience and use it. And I try really hard not to go all doctor sous on every everybody, but you really are uniquely you. And by using this, you let people and employers see that special spark that makes you stand out from all the rest. And so that experience is important. My third pinnacle is opportunities never, ever miss an opportunity. And if it knocks me out of my comfort zone even better. So those opportunities are really, really important to, to take them. And if they scare you, there's a reason for that. You should be jumping in with both feet. My fourth one is volunteer and you never know who you're gonna be helping. Um, I always thought that volunteering was just fun, but it allows you to help someone while gaining some other really unique perspectives. Um, and it puts you in places and situations that you might not have ever ventured into before. This is just a really good tentacle builder. My fifth one is certifications, and it kind of goes with the education, but a little bit more. I always be a lifelong learner, never stop the letters at the end of my name mean that I want to continue to grow and learn. So they always validate to clients that really are the real deal. I hold seven national certifications, including my AFC. I love my AFC and my certified money coach. And I'm currently working on my, um, certified financial therapy, um, certification sixth, one sixth, 10. I'm know these are long, but they they're important. These are, these are, uh, good points that I really wish somebody would've told me different avenues, look at your background and your experience and what it can do for you. Diversify your career portfolio. Don't allow yourself to fall into one area for too long, without any change. If I had to leave extension today, I could go to work in a prison. I could work in a school, a social services program, uh, position, a financial planning firm, a leadership or management position, or I could even start my own company. The diversification of my experiences helps me make my career tentacles uniquely mine. If you don't expand, you really do become unmarketable and really unsatisfied with your decisions. Seven is networking. You go to conferences, get to know people in your field. Don't rely on your local colleagues, take you all the way they're helpful, but collaborating with, with people from all 50 states and even, even other countries will actually help you get further in, into your, into your area of interest. Uh, I like to continually interview with other companies just to keep my edge. This is a skill that needs to be maintained, and you never know what opportunities might come your way with this networking there. Some thing else that I do, I am an a F C P E mentor connect mentor, and I get to meet some of the most amazing people through this program. And I've been doing it for a couple years now, and I have, I have just met just incredible people. And it's just that, that thing where if you're a little bit introverted doing something like that, this is a, a great way to, to just sit down and, and visit with, with somebody else in your field. And my last one I promise is passion and drive. It's it's most important to not get hung up on the money, hung up on the spark, the energy that the tentacle produces. There's a lot to say about a career that you wake up every morning, and you're just super excited to get to it. If you have that drive energy, love and passion to do something wonderful, the other elements will fall into place. So this is the most important part about just being that octopus and knowing, knowing how to, to put the important stuff. First, I always say, grab that octopus eyes too, and make sure that that's where your heart and soul is. And knowing where your, your family, friends, and relationships, they should always come first and all the rest will, everything will just work out. It's long advice,

Speaker 1: 17:42

But it's, it's so needed. And, and Karen, I'm such a visual person. I feel like I want this octopus on the wall, in my office with the names on the tentacles to constantly remind me to keep that balance and to focus on all of those areas. That's really wonderful advice. I

Speaker 3: 17:59

Bought a stuffy. So I asked This in my office to remind me

Speaker 1: 18:05

That works too well. What if your tentacles? I think it, number five was certification. And you mentioned that you are AFC certified. I'm curious, at what point in your career you pursued the AFC certification and how it's impacted the work that you do?

Speaker 3: 18:21

Well, it was my first certification that I got and I got it in 2011 then. So I have gone to a F C P E four years, even, even through school. It was, it was one of my most important conferences to go to. So it was always something that I wanted to do, but I didn't know exactly what I was gonna be doing when I graduated. So I didn't pursue getting the AFC until after I graduated and, and started working. And honestly it is my favorite certification as far as, and the one that I use all the time, I couldn't go a day without having that. So I think that really what it does is it, it provide an opportunity for us to learn more and to give more to our clients. So the resources that are provided through a F C P E are always engaging. They're fresh, they're innovative. I joined the book club option. My mom laughed at me. She said, have you ever actually finished a book in your life? And I said, I did. I finally did. So the book club option was good, cuz they made me, they made me read it or I couldn't talk. And,

Speaker 4: 19:44

And

Speaker 3: 19:46

So I actually finished the book and it was great. And, and I didn't read the, the, the last page first. So it, so it was it's, it's that kind of thing, you know of it really does help you grow. And the AFC, just knowing that information and being able to have those credentials. I have people that come into my office that they, they need one on one financial care counseling in the worst way. And in Northern Idaho, we did not have financial counseling services locally here. And so I'm kind of it, I am, I am the person that, that people call or come to that when they have a question about budgeting or debt management, I work a lot with low and no income families. I'm a really good resource and I'm a free resource that people can come to. And, and they know that they're gonna, because I have those ins at the end of my name, they know that they're gonna get the information that they need and it's gonna be correct. And I, I always find that I'm getting far too many CEUs for my AFC, simply because the resources are just so abundant and rich. So it's just a great certification.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Yeah. You're definitely a lifelong learner. I love it. Karen. I really love how you've gone into cooperative extension. Uh, I don't know that all the people on our podcast today know what cooperative extension is and how to get into it. Would you tell us more about cooperative extension?

Speaker 3: 21:19

So I work for the university of Idaho extension office and we have 42 cooperative of extension. And actually we just call ourselves extension. We're not cooperative anywhere. Apparently we don't get along with anybody, But we, we are just extension. So we are extension educators and we are in 42 of the 44 counties of Idaho. And so there is an office in each county and I am the financial educator for the 10 Northern counties of Idaho. But we've got educators that do all sorts of different things from food safety agriculture, four H. So if you know, about four H generally, when you hear about extension, you know, about four H small farms, horticulture, you name it, all these different things that we have, life skills, you just, you name it. Every, every topic, every subject we've got'em. And so we go out and we take information from the university. It's a research based information that we take out into the public and into the community. And we share that information with our community members. So like, I will go out and I will do a class for a church group or school, like next week I get to go and, and work with kindergartners and we're gonna go paint, pick banks. And so it's, it's all sorts of different things that we do. And every day is completely different than, than the day before. But we're, we're basically just going out and doing this research to folks that maybe wouldn't have known about this information in the past. So we are a land grant university. That's how extension works is that we are based out of land grant universities. We've got the university of Idaho is one land grant university, and then seven miles away from us. We've got Washington state university, which is another land grant. So I work very close with, with WSU as well, to give all of this information out to our, our region.

Speaker 2: 23:38

And that's the wonderful thing about extension is that it's local, there is an extension office near you. And so Karen, if someone is interested in a career in extension, if this sounds like they want to go into education specifically, how would you recommend they get into this career field?

Speaker 3: 23:56

So I always need volunteers and I am not unique in that. So if you ever want to come and see what extension the us come and volunteer in our office, we, we will take you with us and it'll be the time of your life. One of the things that, that I got started here at the university, and now we even have, we have a criminology program and, and all these different things going on here. But for some why reason when I started 14 years ago, I met up with an educator at one of the local prisons and they loved how I taught so much that they asked me if I'd come into the prison. And so Karen just silly Karen galloped right into one of the, the local prison said, sure, I'll do it. And that is one of the things that I have, I have done as I've become nationally known for my work in the prisons. And I have gone in and, and taught, uh, inmates in prison and former inmates when, when they are released from prison about financial educat and helping them kind of get on track. So they don't do the things that they did get in there. One of the things that I did is I went to the university and well, I went to the prison. I'm, I'm kind of persuasive sometimes. And, uh, I went to the prison and I said, Hey, I've got this really amazing financial SIM simulation that I want to try with the inmates that I use in the high schools. And I wanna adapt it for the inmates. And so I took 30 students in with me to the prison, and it has become a favorite at the prisons. They even made a class out of, of it at the university that they, they take the, the students into, into the prison. And, and we do the, the financial literacy simulation. And it is, it's great. They, they remember it forever and there's all sorts of different things. The students can be involved. The can community can be involved, come in and ask us. And you can, you can go and do all sorts of stuff with us and, and see exactly how extension works. But if you're really interested in the career and I often have people come in and they'll say to me, I really love what you do. I like to do budgets my myself. I want to do exactly what you do. And it, it always makes me smile because what I do has those seven certifications and years of college and years of experience, it's not really about just setting down and doing a good budget. You have to be able to understand how people think and how people function. I'll give the example of, of one of my, my inmates that I worked with. He came up to me. I was doing a budgeting class and he came up to me and he said, you can't make me do a budget. There's nothing you can do. That's gonna make me do a budget. I don't have any money and I don't want to do it. He said, fine. That's not a problem. Then you just sat here. You're here for the candy. We're all good with that. You just, you just hang out with me. And he came my up to me at the end of the class, he looked at me and said, you tricked me. And I said, how did I trick you? And he said, you made me make a budget. And I said, oh, no, I didn't do that. And he said, you did. It's, it's about being able to grab all of those resources and having that resource stockpile that you can talk to literally any learning style and they walk away with something.

Speaker 2: 27:53

Yeah. It's really learning to become an educator and, and being really effective at education. Would you say someone wanted to go into extension? Do they need to have, have at least a master's degree or is it required that they have a PhD? What kind of educational background would they need?

Speaker 3: 28:10

It, it depends on what state you are. You're gonna work in, in Idaho. We are required to have a master's degree in order to become an associate professor with extension. And so before we even step through the door, we have to have a master's. In other states, you can have a bachelor's degree and go through that process, Idaho, we are actually tenured faculty. And so it, it really does. You need to check with, with the state that you wanna work in, there's just all sorts of things that you can do, but definitely we definitely getting the education and the education, and either the agriculture, the life science areas, family, and consumer sciences, one of the areas in there. And that's, that's really what our administrators are looking for is somebody that can go out and teach, uh, the skills

Speaker 2: 29:07

That's really helpful. And we'll make sure and put that link in our show notes for any of you that are interested in following up, Karen, one more question for you on this theme. You've talked a lot about in person training, obviously within the last two years, a lot of us have moved to more virtual settings. Do you ever teach in a virtual setting for others outside of your county or your area?

Speaker 3: 29:30

Absolutely. So one of the things about extension is you have to learn how to be very, very flexible and adaptable. So the week after we were quarantined or, or secluded for COVID, I was teaching classes virtually, and it's, that is that's how fast we move. And, and so everything, everything that I do can, can be in person, most of the stuff can be hybrid or virtual all, all together. And so it it's just being adaptable to do that. So everything that I've got that I have, that I have taught, or that has a presentation or has program material, is all listed on my webpage. And when you go into that website, you'll see all of my, this is actually my piggy bank collection. When you get into that website, I, I buy a piggy bank everywhere that I go and travel and they've gotten to be obscene, but I I've got lots of them, but you can select for the financial classes and, and all the classes that are on there. Anybody is welcome to join in with that. The other thing that I do is called our financial conference, and that is a financial conference that I do every year. That is all of our local financial resources that we come together. But we have, I'm amazing topics that they're, they're just spot on of what people are worried about and talking about right now, our next one is on April 1st, but it, it is gonna be an in-person conference that I record them. And so after the conference is over, you can go in here. I, and you can click on this link and you can watch all of these amazing people, talk about everything from the economy to how to write a will and, and trust to everything. So there's, there's just, uh, it's got a ton of information and all of our past con are listed on there. Plus you can request, if you want to talk to me personally, you can either email me, or you can fill out a request to have a coaching and counseling, and I am a free coaching counselor. So if you, it doesn't matter where you are. I, I try to stay in Idaho, but I, I scooch over into Washington an awful lot just because they, we are so close to the border. Anybody is more than welcome to contact me. I'm happy to, to help them.

Speaker 1: 32:20

Karen, that's so generous of you. You've been one of our most at active volunteers and AF CPE's mentor connect program, and you really have a heart for bringing people into this field and for helping them along in their journey. What would you tell someone who is thinking about volunteering to be a mentor? And what advice do you have someone who's in that mentee role?

Speaker 3: 32:42

Absolutely do it. So it is, it is a great program. I love this program and every time it comes around, which it, it comes around quarterly. So every time that it comes around, I just tell,'em just assume that I'm going to do it. And so I usually get one or two people every time, one or two mentees that, that, uh, contact me. And if they don't contact me quick enough, I contact them. I love it. And so I've got, I've got two new mentees, my former mentees that I have had, I, I don't ever lose them and they, they don't go away. I have stayed in contact with all of them. And one of them I've had for about a year and a half now. And we have monthly meetings where we, we sat down and visit and she's become one of my most favorite people. So it's it, you know, it's that opportunity to really network. I am getting just as much from them as they're getting from me, but just that opportunity to share my path and my journey and my resources to them when they're, they're brand new and trying to figure out what, which direction they wanna go. And for the mentees, this is just a really good opportunity. I kind of want to have a mentor because there are so many things that are seasoned educators and, and a F C P E members. They have so much stuff to share. It just is a great program. So definitely get involved in it. Even if you just do it once or twice, I have a couple folks that they, they just check in with me every once in a while, but I was actually a mentor before the mentor connect program. I had mentees that, that they had assigned to me years ago, and I am still in, in contact with them as well. So it, it really is a great program. Definitely do

Speaker 2: 34:50

It. Karen, we can just fill your enthusiasm and willingness to share with others. And we really appreciate you taking the time with us today to share your information, your story, and, and really how others can benefit from that. At the end of each interview, we like to get the guest 2 cents or biggest takeaways for our listeners. And if you had one piece of advice to offer our financial professionals, what would it be?

Speaker 3: 35:13

Read the fine print, Always read the fine print. You never know exactly what you're gonna get into, but the fine print, whatever you're doing, just know exactly what is expected of you and know what you need to expect from your employer. It is a great field and you're making just a tremendous amount of impact. So there's so many people that need, you know, what you're getting into and, and just embrace that.

Speaker 1: 35:44

If listeners want to reach out to you, where can they go to connect?

Speaker 3: 35:48

They can email me, or they can call me, or they can come and sit and visit. I always have, uh, chocolate and tea in my office. Come on over anytime.

Speaker 1: 35:59

Thank you so much, Karen.

Speaker 3: 36:01

Absolutely. Thank you guys so much for having me. This was awesome,

Speaker 2: 36:05

Rachel, I really enjoyed that conversation with Karen. She is just a delight to talk with, and you can tell how much she loves her job and loves what she does. And I even love that she's willing to share that a with others, you can feel it through her conversation and just how excited she is about waking up every day and helping other people. The other thing I realized too, is the amount of impact that she is making. I think a lot of times we think of impact in social media numbers or followers or influencers, or I don't know, just all these large number and really at the end of the day, what I heard from Karen is she's making a difference in her community where she lives. And I feel like that is such an important thing, right? And I think sometimes we forget about our neighbors, right? We, we think about our world globally, but then just helping each other, right. Where you, you live and flourishing where you're at. And I think that's a, the great thing about extension as a whole is that it's local and that, you know, the community, you know, the members, you are part of that community and you're reaching out to help that community. And so anyone that's interested in helping locally and really making a huge impact in your community, I just think extension is a wonderful way to go. And Karen gave us such a good example of how to get there.

Speaker 1: 37:25

Yeah, Mary, that really stuck out to me as well. What really is different about extension is what you can do with the role. You know, she's worked with people who are incarcerated. She works with students through the universities, her local library with low to middle income. And even though she's in Northern Idaho, you know, she stretches over 10 counties. And so the need for this kind of work is so great. The idea that there's one person in 10 counties to do this work blows my mind. And it just is such a reminder of how important these roles are and that people are able to access that no matter where they live. The other thing that stood out to Karen was her story about the pause. And, you know, I think she's right. Everybody has that story and it looks very different for all of us. Hers was incredibly striking, you know, being a survivor of viral meningitis. I had a good friend in college who also had that, and I know how devastating that can be and how life threatening, but to be able to show that resiliency in the face of adversity and to really not let those challenges be barriers, but see them as opportunities. And she lives her life with this curiosity and this interest and willingness to give back. And we see that, um, just in our service at a C P E as well, she is one of our most requested mentor is, and having spoken with her today, I can see why, if anyone is interested in being part of the mentor connect program, whether you volunteer as a mentor, or you are looking for a mentor to work with, we connect members with mentors quarterly. So check out our website and be on the lookout for the next time. We open that up to you.

Speaker 2: 39:15

If you enjoy the show today, please share it with a friend. This helps others discover the podcast and become a part of our community.

Speaker 1: 39:22

Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time.