SPEAKER_01 0:06

Well, welcome everyone to this very first episode of We Plural Podcast, Community on Purpose. I am so delighted if you've tuned in today that you have joined us. This podcast is going to be exploring community at its very heart, both locally, statewide, nationally. We're going to have a myriad of guests on that feel as passionate about building strong communities as I do. And there's no greater community builder that I know personally than my friend Andrea Swift Hanlin. And Andrea is known as a community builder in Brown County. And so I couldn't think of anyone better to start this podcast with than you.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm so excited to be here and to chat with you. Um I know this is your first episode. Yes. And so I know why we're here, but tell us a little bit why we're here today and what we're going to be discussing in this first episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Right. Well, the purpose of episode one is really to let our subscribers know what they can expect. And this is going to be a weekly podcast, and we are going to be diving into community, uh, Andrea, at a local level, as you know, on a state level, on a national level. And what's at the heart of building community and who's going to help build community? Well, that's everybody, because we're all stakeholders in our communities. And so today I just kind of want to explore with you our local side of things here in Brown County as we come to you from the beautiful Brown County Visitor Center. I'm so honored to use this beautiful building that we have. But um, I just I I knew you were the right person to kind of talk about community in Brown County because you're involved in so many things. And so that's what the episode is about today. And then we hope we entice you to subscribe to uh here future guests. And uh it's gonna be a variety and myriad of guests that will join WePlural.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

You know, living here in Brown County is is such a privilege in so many ways, and it's such a cultural experience. You know, you really pick a certain culture to live here and and breathe here. And one of the reasons that I love living in our community is because of the community that we build and we maintain. So true. Yeah. So I know that this has been something as your friend and and I would say colleague too, because we work together with the Chris Kindle market and other things, that this is something that you have been dreaming about and praying about and thinking about for a really long time. Yes. Is doing your own podcasts to talk about things like community and collaboration. So I want to know, you know, what why, why now?

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Why, why, why today? Why is today the day?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Okay, so I can either give a fluff answer or I can be so totally truthful. I want you to be so totally truthful. Okay. Um, so as you know, and maybe our viewers don't know, I have a documentary series that we filmed in this community for two and a half years on uh the opioid crisis and the pandemic that was facing our nation um in in mid-2000s, but then after the pandemic, it became pandemic again. Um, and that's a whole slew of reasons. So I have the this series called The Addicts Wake. And these are community tools I've developed in an effort to give folks an opportunity to regain their community, to strengthen their community, to fight back against declining mental health and substance use. And quite frankly, I did not understand uh fully what's involved in distribution, and I'm one woman, and I have not been able to get that film out widely and broadly enough to communities. So I wanted to have a platform to not only talk about my passion for strengthening community, but also let folks know when appropriate that I do have this set of tools for them. And so podcasting seemed to be the natural next step because of all the relationships I've made with this film and then some of the events that I've done, like you just mentioned, and we'll be talking about Chris Kindle as we move towards December, y'all. But um, yeah, that's really kind of the impetus as to why I thought the timing was good to launch something that was very community-centric.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

That's great. Um, I know that you have titled it We Plural.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

And how did you come up with that title and and um what does that embody for you?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yes. Well, interesting story again. Uh, my friend Bob Loss, who is your friend as well, and he is a Bob is the creative uh creator in this community. He sent me probably four titles that he liked. And actually, we plural was not the first one I chose, but I woke up the next morning and I couldn't remember the other one. And I could remember we, plural, period, community on purpose because that really does embody my heart. I I don't know if it's my mom who said, leave a house better than you found it, or leave your community stronger than when you walked in. She was a big proponent of those things. And so when I couldn't remember the first choice that next morning, I'm like, okay, well, that's it. It's we, plural, because I've watched that firsthand in a smaller community that nobody does anything as a solo act in this community. It is, it is a group of people who are passionate about moving the needle forward for a variety of issues.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Absolutely. I think, I think one of the things that I value in our community is just that because it is it the heart of it is collaboration and community. When somebody has an idea or they want to do something, they can do it. And there are people and way makers and movers that'll go, I have the funding, I have, I have the building, I have this that can really help move that needle. And I think sometimes people hesitate to ask for help, but once they get there and they do it, they find this beautiful community of collaboration and the plural part of that grouping in our community.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

It's a necessity. And when you are a smaller community, you don't have the re resources like let's say Indianapolis does or larger cities. And so you have to be collaborative to reach the end goal. You know, we have to share resources, ideas, uh, successes, failures, all that is becomes critical in a small rural community where um people are dependent on us staying intact because we're about tourism here.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

And other things, our art culture, and all the things that make tourism a rich experience. But tourism is our largest industry. And so we do need to collaborate to keep it going.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Do you think that there is more creativity in a smaller community to find the resources and things? Because I know, like I've lived, I grew up here. I'm a sixth generation native, grew up here, and then I left and came back to raise my family. But what I found is that when I lived in larger communities, nothing against them, they have great resources. Yes. But there's here, there's just that piece where I think people can really think outside the box. Have you found that? Living in other places and then moving here?

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yes. And, you know, traveling, doing workshops in other places or experiencing other communities uh through conferences and different things where you're there for several days and you get that, you get a sense of the vibe that you know happens in communities. But I think absolutely you have to be more creative to accomplish things because again, we don't have that plethora of resources to draw from. And so we do have to think out of the box. Even for this podcast, I had to think out of the box because, you know, it was like, who's gonna come along with me in this journey and passion for community to um, you know, believe in that we can speak to this and hopefully inspire other communities along the way to rethink something, to restrategize and uh foster new ideas.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Yeah, because I think it's a it's a unique situation with Brown County because I think there's a a projection sometimes of those outside looking in where they go, oh, it's like this podunk little community, you know, they're just rural. And then they get infiltrated in here and then they go, Oh, wow, there's a lot of skill, there's a lot of people with knowledge, there's a lot of people that have lived a lot of life that have made the choice to be here and be together. And I think that's an interesting thing when you see that switch flip sometimes with people that come in.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

It it is so true. And and the next person after you is going to be somebody from the state tourism uh development department. And some of those questions are gonna be asked as to, you know, what you know, what's the aha for when people come here? What are they looking at or what have they experienced? And so I'm gonna be really excited to explore some of the things you just talked about with one of our uh CEOs of our state tourism department. So it's gonna be it'll be exciting.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

I I, you know, as I look at our community, I think we're a diverse community and dichotomous in many ways. And what are some of the, you know, you've mentioned this person from the tourism community. What are some of the people that you're gonna have in? Because I'm sure it's gonna run the gamut of expertise and knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Um, this has been so fun for me to plan because we have um everything from a pet crematory out of Madison County, which is Anderson. We're gonna talk about the importance in our society and culture that our animals are to us. Yes. I mean, to the to the point where my husband and I were in Florida in February, and I had an app on my phone that where we could take the dogs to go out to eat, and they could sit on the porch. You know, and it's it's just this phenomenon that has grown in our nation about our pets and how we care for them. Um, and that pet crematory serves 20,000 uh families a year. And so that tells you the care that we we give our animals. We have uh the PGA head of the uh PGA uh organization, he runs that for the state of Indiana. Uh, he'll be coming on to talk to us about what are the programs that they provide for youth and the marginalized kids that sometimes get overlooked, and what the PGA is doing to meet some of the needs in those communities. I have business professionals from Massachusetts to California, uh, from large companies to self-startups that are going to be coming on, and how they engage uh in community as leaders of organizations, first and foremost with their employees, but also how they develop social consciousness. Is that the word?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Is that did I say that right? Consciousness. Social. Say something times faster. I can't. I could barely say it once. Um my tongue got really thick. And so um, you know, it's just gonna we're gonna cover the gamut, and those are just a few off the top of my head, but um it's it's gonna be fun each week to see uh who has what to say about community and where their heart is for it. And and many times where your heart is, your funding is, you know, so who supports it and why and you know, why those particular organizations. So we're gonna be delving deep into just many different scenarios, and I'm so excited to take you all along that journey.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

So it sounds like to me what I'm hearing is that it's not only people, you'll have people locally, but you're also gonna have people from from all over, and that this is going to serve as an education piece for our community as well. So that so that they could, if I'm understanding correctly, go on to the podcast and listen and learn and develop skills and use these resources for things that they're doing here and implement it here as well.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Here around the state, you know, in your community and the nation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Or thinking big. Think I'm thinking big. We always want to think big.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Because you can always whittle down, right? Right. But if you start here, it's harder to build up. And so you know my head is always out here. But when you think about community, who everyone's a stakeholder. Everyone. Especially in a small community, and especially in a small community. And the idea of community, uh, Travis, my producer who's behind the camera, and I were talking about this earlier. Uh, but the idea of community sounds good, but the work of doing community and to help it thrive is hard. So we're we're gonna bring people on who are not just talking about community, but they're actually helping to build and do the work. And and that's a whole different level of thinking about community is when you put your uh feet to the pavement and you create action.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

That's great. That's really awesome. If you were to try to convince somebody to listen to your podcast, WePlural, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 14:22

I would say, you know, uh subscribe with an open mind, subscribe with uh the idea of being maybe inspired in a new way to think about an issue. You know, we're we're gonna spend a lot of time with people who have been in the substance use uh disorder community trying to help people restore their lives. You know, um have an open mind. You might learn somebody, something new about somebody struggling. You might uh hear something and think, oh my gosh, you know, I can do that in my community. I I we want this to be inspiring. We want this uh this podcast to foster new ideas. Uh we want to hear from you. I actually have an email where you can email me and tell me what you think. Be nice though, okay. Um, and so all that to say, you know, I just I hope people will learn something new that maybe they have never heard before or they've never thought about in regards to a small community, or certainly a community who's shiny on the the outside, but has the real struggles like every community in the underbelly. And um, that is something that I think was when I was out touring with the films, people were very surprised that Brown County had this opioid struggle.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Because people come here, they love it here, they feel good about being here, they feel warm and invited here. And so to find out that our underbelly was struggling was was very awakening to a lot of people throughout the state. And, you know, that's relatable. We want to be relatable to where you are in your community and what you're doing. And so that's what I'm hoping. I have I have a lot of goals.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Well, and you you hit it so perfectly because that's something I was thinking about too is that, you know, as a tourism community, we're driving the marketing for people to come and visit Nashville, our state park, our music venues, our theater venues, our art galleries, our log cabin tours, all of these things, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

So they see this piece of what they see on TV or in our, you know, the travel magazines and things, but what they don't see is the everyday life that we're all living and and doing here. For example, even like today, it's a rainy thunder storming day, right? And to just even get in town for some of us.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

You had to take two detours.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

But but it but it's one of those things where like culturally, that's part of our culture. Yes. Of like knowing like most of us have generators, most of us have deep freezers, most of us have four-wheel drive, like all of these things. And when I talk about culture, that's what I mean because you may you don't necessarily need those things in a city or a suburban town, but here it's a different way of life to to survive in many ways. We're not going to the grocery every day. We don't have a DoorDash, we don't have those things. Over, an over, right? There's no ride chairs. But you know, we have to really strategically plan how we live our lives. And so that also becomes part of our community too, because when we need help and something happens, whether it's a good thing or it's tragic or whatever, I think that's something that's really beautiful about our community too, is people come together.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

They really do.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

And people help and people gather resources. And it's an important piece, I think, that when people come to visit, they see the picturesque, you know, rolling rolling hills, the vistas, the beautiful vistas, the shops and things, but what they don't see is is that piece of what goes into the grit of our people here. Yes, which is really quite beautiful in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

And the grit is such uh uh a correct way to describe the people that live here. People live here with grit. They really do. And you know, one of the things, Andrea, that um again, Travis, because he's been my sounding board through all this and he's very knowledgeable. Thank you, Travis.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Thank you, Travis.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Um, is you know, I wanted to leave people with a call to action, you know, and so Travis and I decided to call it the We Plural Promise. And so whatever guests that I have on, I want them to kind of leave our subscribers with a call to action of sorts. And so it'll be, you know, the we plural promise. And I know you're involved in so many things with your travel agency and your consulting business. And uh by the way, Andrea does all my um uh social media for a big Christmas market that we'll have in this community, and so she's very talented. But what would your We Plural promise, your call to action be to our future subscribers and listeners?

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Oh, that's such a great question. Um, because I'm an artist first, yes, and that's truly my heart and my piece, collaboration is at the core. Um one of the other things that I I do as well is I am president of Leadership Brown County here in our community. And one of the things that we really strive to do is lead with positive intention. And we really, as a board of directors, try to work to lead our lives in that way as well and lead by example. We're not perfect, obviously, but to really look at things that people are coming from a place of positive intention, that they want they want the good, right? That they that they see something that is important and they want a good outcome, that it's not coming out of malice. And so for me, that is the heart of collaboration. And so my we plural promise is for people to look at things with positive intention. That you know, everybody has something that they want to make better, they want to live a fruitful, happy, joyful life in community. But we just have to work together to get there, even if we don't agree, we probably align more than you think. Right. So that's really what would be my we plural promise. Say that 10 times. Challenge you the alliteration of it. I love it. Um, but is come from a place of collaboration and and positive intention and meet people where they are to reach that goal.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

And for the greater good. Yeah, the greater good, you know, and and yeah, we, when you think about a two-letter word, it holds so much weight. Yeah. Because really, I have found that even the most successful people that I've had the privilege and honor to meet, you know, throughout the country, they didn't get there by themselves. And and and no one ever does. So you're a you're part of my we, and uh as are many others, and I'm so thankful for that. But that's why I loved the word we so much and and then plural, because it's not a solo word. It's not, you know, you're not a silo. Um and when we silo is when we run into trouble. So we're gonna talk about why we don't recommend being a silo because that's It's not uh sustainable.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

And that's something that uh can easily happen in our community too. Yes. Is because we are so rural, it can be very easy to isolate yourself. I even know me personally, uh even being active in the community, but I work from home, I can very easily be at home for days and not leave the house, right? Except to maybe pick my son up from school or whatever. And so you have to have really a cognizance of I need to connect with people beside these four walls and community and be very cognizant of it.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Well, that's an issue we'll be exploring because I think after the pandemic, people got very um comfortable working from home and being isolated. And I think we've seen uh that that uh hasn't been a benefit for for a lot of people. And so uh one of our guests, you know, we're gonna be exploring that a little bit. So good. I'm glad, I'm excited. Yeah, I'll make sure you know what episode that is. Well, you guys, you're gonna be able to tune into We Plural Community on Purpose, wherever you catch your favorite podcast, will be on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and all the other streaming platforms. And so I can't wait for you to subscribe, but I have to tell you some of my other Wii's because to make this podcast possible. I had lots of amazing people come forward and say yes to sponsorship. And there's an incredible pickle on pin pickleball club in Carmel, Indiana, and they build community one game at a time. The Brown County Community Foundation connects people and purposes, and uh, we're so thankful for our foundation. They are sponsor. Um, we talked about Loose Cares Pet Crematory out of Madison County, credible family doing um a lot for families in loss. I have a couple friends of the podcast who just said, yes, Lisa, we want to come on board because we believe in what you're doing. So thank you. Center Stone Behavioral Health. They're in 15 states, I believe, if not on their way to being in more, and they're so critical to the mental health of our communities. Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which I mentioned earlier, and this is their beautiful building, and I feel so privileged and honored to be able to record here. So whether you're uh a guest is virtual or in person, and I'm hoping for as many in-person guests as I can muster, yes, this will be where we'll be uh broadcasting from. And so uh thanks you guys. Tune in to uh the next episode, and we're gonna be exploring tourism, both as a county and as a state, and all good things to come. Well, that's it for episode one of We Plural Community on Purpose. And if this conversation today sparked anything in you, I would ask that you would share it with someone in your community and please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. I'm Lisa Hall, and I am here to remind you because I know that we are stronger together, and I so look forward to seeing you next week.