00;00;03;04 – 00;00;24;21
Mark
The Pursuit podcast a purely guest centric show focusing on people and organizations that advance positive change. Positivity can be anywhere, and in a time of vast discord, the pursuit of is finding those who championed its causes loudest. Join us as we sit and learn about the pursuits of local leaders in their communities. Let’s go.

00;00;25;28 – 00;00;39;03
Ryan
Hello good people and welcome to the pursuit of podcast where it’s truly not us, it’s you. I’m Ryan Buck, Artist Development, New Leonard Media. With me is the boss, Mark Wilson, President, New Leonard Media. How are you, sir?

00;00;39;06 – 00;00;41;08
Mark
I’m doing great, Ryan. I’m back in the gym, bro.

00;00;41;09 – 00;01;01;01
Ryan
You are? Yeah. Yeah, that’s. Well, enough about us. Clearly too much gab in the beginning. But luckily for us, our guest today is Bekah TenBrink, Executive director and Founder, Lift Teen Center. How are you? I am well. How are you? Good. Thank you for asking. Well, you asked the first question, I guess, and I guess I did.

00;01;01;01 – 00;01;01;25
Ryan
And that’s fair.

00;01;02;00 – 00;01;05;04
Rebekah
You know, the professionals, they like to spin it back on the interview.

00;01;05;04 – 00;01;11;05
Ryan
That is right. Well, we can we can be, you know, be honest and clear about this because we’ll talk about it. You are a podcaster yourself.

00;01;11;14 – 00;01;19;15
Rebekah
Yes, I am. I have a co-host who is really my better half. Of course, that’s. You got to have that right, Mark? Correct? Mm hmm.

00;01;19;28 – 00;01;23;13
Ryan
And so really always just so loquacious, right?

00;01;24;24 – 00;01;31;16
Rebekah
Yeah. So I do love podcasting. It is it’s a great means to just, like, connect and have other people hear you.

00;01;31;21 – 00;01;51;19
Ryan
That is a good point. Well, starting simply so you’re at a social engagement or a party. Do we still do that? We do that. Parties? Yeah. We’re back. So, okay, we’re in a social setting. Let’s say a party. Let’s be bold and somebody asks you, What do you do? What’s the party version of that?

00;01;51;19 – 00;02;00;05
Rebekah
So unfortunately, I’m a very like snarky, sarcastic person, so I’d be like, I test batteries for a living and then.

00;02;00;06 – 00;02;00;28
Ryan
Tremendous.

00;02;00;28 – 00;02;03;03
Rebekah
You know, like then they’re like, Oh.

00;02;03;03 – 00;02;06;05
Ryan
Cool. So you probably have to test batteries at some point in time.

00;02;06;05 – 00;02;20;18
Rebekah
Oh, absolutely. The teen center needs a lot of batteries, but I am the founder and executive director of Lyft Teen Center, and I am also the executive director of the Friendship Community Center in Santa Fe. And they’re both married to one another.

00;02;20;18 – 00;02;37;21
Ryan
So that’s a pretty good party explanation. That’s good. All right. So that’s enough to get a little circle of people academy around you and so now there’s some interest. Yeah. And there’s a little more space on the floor. Mm hmm. What else do you say at that point?

00;02;37;25 – 00;02;51;15
Rebekah
Well, generally, they say, like, Oh, so you choose to be around teens for a living. And I say, Yes, absolutely. And it’s usually followed with Will teens scare me? And I’m like, Oh, no, no. There’s a best version of all of us.

00;02;51;23 – 00;02;57;18
Ryan
This is fascinating because I was leading towards what are the most common questions you get?

00;02;57;26 – 00;02;58;17
Rebekah
Nice.

00;02;59;01 – 00;03;03;06
Ryan
So intuitive. And which ones do you find most value? And so continue.

00;03;03;14 – 00;03;17;12
Rebekah
Yeah. So I mean, we’ve all been a teen, right? That’s something we can all relate to is being a teenager. We were all different versions of teen agers, right? Like Marc, I’m sure you were the jock. Yes.

00;03;17;13 – 00;03;32;11
Ryan
No, no. It’s hard not to agree maybe with that assessment because you’re a fit looking person. You wear that flat, him the flat brim hat. You look like a terrible person. Really? Yeah.

00;03;32;12 – 00;03;36;11
Mark
And I was I was a very tiny person when I was.

00;03;36;12 – 00;03;37;04
Ryan
Where are you?

00;03;38;02 – 00;03;40;29
Mark
Cool. Men in my family don’t fill out until we’re, like, 30.

00;03;41;03 – 00;03;48;16
Ryan
I think he would have fit in with the programing at Left Teen Center. Yeah, I think. And we’ll get into the sports part of it because I think that’s fascinating.

00;03;48;17 – 00;03;49;21
Rebekah
Yeah, I love it. I love.

00;03;49;21 – 00;03;58;14
Ryan
It. You get these questions about working essentially constantly with teens and isn’t that scare is scary a word that that comes up pretty frequently?

00;03;58;14 – 00;04;19;28
Rebekah
Oh yeah. Because it’s like that would scare me to, like, be with them. Like they’re terrifying, especially in a grouping. And I think the fear sometimes is like, am I relevant enough to hang around them? You know? And all of us, I think, have experienced some level of discomfort in our teens as we grew and became who we are.

00;04;20;07 – 00;04;31;15
Rebekah
And so when we’re around teens that are experiencing the same thing, it almost is like this revert to like, Oh my gosh, was that how I was? You know, it really gets some self-reflection going on.

00;04;31;15 – 00;04;52;15
Ryan
So when you say scary, Yeah. As a mélange array of different emotions going on. Mm. And so I think this is fascinating. This is a pursuit that has started for you. You’ve been doing this since 2016, 2017 on or about. Yeah. So when this started, where did you think you would be right now.

00;04;52;15 – 00;05;16;17
Rebekah
Yeah. So Marc and I actually talked about this briefly. We started out of our home with no intention of it ever becoming anything at all, really. We moved to southern Spain. We didn’t know anybody, and my husband went down to play hockey. One night and came back with a couple teenagers to start an NHL draft. We made some pizza and we’re like, What do you guys do for fun in the area?

00;05;16;17 – 00;05;38;17
Rebekah
And they’re like, You’re looking at it like there’s not much to do. So we invited him back the next weekend to play cards and weekend after weekend, our house just began to fill up with teens. So I would say there was never any intention of this becoming a five on C three or, you know, this mission driven thing.

00;05;38;17 – 00;06;00;06
Rebekah
It was just really about a place for belonging and connectivity. And that still remains today. That belonging and sense of connectivity. But in 2016, when we decided like this has to happen for real and with intention, right? I guess I didn’t really understand the scope of of how much need there was in the L.A. County area.

00;06;00;24 – 00;06;24;22
Ryan
Yeah. The genesis of this, this origin story is is similar to a couple of individuals we’ve talked to on this podcast, and it’s about seeing a simple need and realizing there’s much more to it and then rising to a particular challenge. But in this story you have newly moved to this area and your husband goes out to play pickup hockey.

00;06;24;25 – 00;06;55;20
Ryan
Mm hmm. And it’s something he does he doesn’t do professionally. He’s a he’s a registered nurse, correct? Yeah. And a very accomplished individual on his own. But he’s doing something for fun to connect with. This community. And he brings home, in turn, a bunch of hungry teenagers that you have to feed. Yes. So initially this means a very solid relationship because, you know, that could have gone a totally different way if there wasn’t some kind of connection there, at least between the two of you personally, for sure.

00;06;55;20 – 00;07;13;03
Rebekah
And I think the openness to that connection, meaning like inviting them in, we all want to be invited somewhere. We all want to be a part of something. To be invited in and accepted, I think is a really beautiful gift.

00;07;13;12 – 00;07;30;03
Ryan
It is. And also, is this maybe a testament that we can share with listeners that maybe your spouse’s seemingly inane pursuits, even if it’s collecting records or it’s collecting too many guitars, could lead to something beautiful.

00;07;30;14 – 00;07;35;02
Rebekah
I’m not here to enable you for the things that you.

00;07;35;02 – 00;07;57;18
Ryan
Hey, we’re not getting an official endorsement on that. Everybody. Sorry. We’re moving on from allowing you to endorse all of your frivolous passions to in. Here’s a big question and I thought a lot about where to ask this question and it probably has the most mutable answer is what is the biggest challenge to your teens right now?

00;07;57;18 – 00;07;59;15
Rebekah
Oh, gosh, yeah. That is a really.

00;07;59;27 – 00;08;00;22
Ryan
Is there one?

00;08;00;26 – 00;08;25;14
Rebekah
Yeah. Oh, I mean, I don’t know. There’s just just one. I would say the biggest one that I am experiencing with our group of teens is truly that lack of connection outside of technology, like knowing how to engage in a group of people and knowing how to look someone in the eyes and have a conversation of any sort of like depth or meaning.

00;08;25;25 – 00;08;34;23
Rebekah
And it is an acquired skill to do those things. But I think it’s been lost in the translation of constantly having like the screen their device and in their hands.

00;08;34;23 – 00;08;57;07
Ryan
All right. And we’re going to get into logistically how you help with this. So connection connection comes up a lot when you look at what you are doing, what Lyft does. And so shifting towards that business mindset, because you talked about this when you decided to make this more than a basement gig. Mm hmm. Like, literally. Mm hmm.

00;08;57;20 – 00;09;20;03
Ryan
And decided to make this happen. And you talked about the logistics of making it a business, but what was the first thing, you know, for people maybe thinking about the same? What was the first official act that you did to make this something real for your family? Because you had a small child at this time that precipitated the need to move this to something bigger?

00;09;20;03 – 00;09;24;19
Ryan
Ah, move on. So what was that first act that said, I’m doing this and I’m staying with it?

00;09;24;19 – 00;09;45;25
Rebekah
You know, I think I think for me and it’s different for everyone, but there’s two things. And one was like to study the culture around me. I don’t know everything about everyone. And we were newer to this area and to come and to come in and say like, Oh, this is what you need, you need X, Y, and Z is really a disservice.

00;09;45;25 – 00;10;07;29
Rebekah
So to stop and look around and assess like what are some of the needs and what are some ways to fill those needs, What are the best ways to connect with the people that I’m going to be serving? So there was definitely a lot of reflection and kind of planning, if you will. I hate using the word planning because I’m not actually much of a planner.

00;10;07;29 – 00;10;15;13
Rebekah
I’m very much passion oriented, but there is a certain amount that you need to consider before you.

00;10;15;13 – 00;10;42;08
Ryan
Just launch passion versus planning. I think that’s fascinating because you’re a creative person and I, you know, in any cursory glance at what you’ve done and what you do, it’s fascinating that a creative person can be successful in a business that is supporting so many and giving so much. So how do you compartmentalize that? How do you balance that, that passion versus planning?

00;10;42;08 – 00;10;45;01
Ryan
Is it all just handing off? Is it.

00;10;45;01 – 00;11;11;26
Rebekah
All? Oh, man. I mean, I think the biggest thing is to always be learning, to never like shut yourself off, to like this is how things are done and that’s exactly how I need to do it. So always learning and I really lean heavily on my support system, which yes, my husband is absolutely one of them and he very much does like analyze and is like, well, you know, you got to take a to get to be.

00;11;12;00 – 00;11;15;02
Ryan
Yeah, this is Gerald. Can you say that Gerald. Yep. In his name.

00;11;15;03 – 00;11;16;25
Rebekah
Yes. He’s a lovely, lovely man.

00;11;17;02 – 00;11;22;25
Ryan
He has tears. I’m probably as smitten with him as you are. Yeah. You would ask in this journey. He sounds fantastic.

00;11;22;26 – 00;11;23;10
Mark
I mean.

00;11;23;12 – 00;11;27;04
Rebekah
Smitten. We haven’t used that since the 1900s.

00;11;27;11 – 00;11;33;09
Ryan
That’s right. Monocle spats and cane are outside the delivery stable.

00;11;35;05 – 00;11;55;28
Rebekah
And also my mom early on, she. Because she knows me so well, she would be like, Yeah, you like you’re doing it. You’re doing the right thing. But like, hey, consider this. So it’s really great to have that support and community around you when you’re, you know, launching something like this because you are a pioneer in the endeavor.

00;11;56;07 – 00;12;10;08
Rebekah
And sometimes being a pioneer can get kind of lonely because you’re like, Holy cow, am I doing the right thing? Am I going the right way? There’s a lot of questions. And so you got to kind of keep putting their, you know, one foot in front of the other.

00;12;10;08 – 00;12;21;05
Ryan
Yeah. And so and that was part of that first official thing that you did because you said there was two things. What was the second kind of official? Well, that made it a thing that was going to be permanent.

00;12;21;06 – 00;12;27;16
Rebekah
You just have to do the thing right, Like you have to go forward with confidence.

00;12;27;17 – 00;12;29;25
Ryan
This is a feeling this Chicago guy in me, you got to do.

00;12;29;28 – 00;12;50;11
Rebekah
You got to do the thing. And honestly, I get so frustrated when I see so much like planning, planning, planning, planning. And I’m like or like, meeting, meeting meetings. It’s like, no, just go do the thing. Do what you’re saying you want to do. And I knew without a doubt that teens needed a place to connect and that I could create that.

00;12;51;01 – 00;13;18;00
Ryan
So boom. Yeah. And we’re going to get to the the center. But you talked about doing the research, so that is what made it real for you. And it’s again, fascinating how you kept yourself on track. And, you know, you could probably be looking outside as a photographer and be drawn to something else, but you felt that there needed to be a distinction between programing, let’s say for a better word, for middle schoolers and then high schoolers.

00;13;18;07 – 00;13;27;06
Ryan
You know, older teens. So I think it’s fascinating your approach to the delineation there. How did you approach that? Because it seems like it’s probably quite important.

00;13;27;16 – 00;13;49;17
Rebekah
Yeah. So there was definitely some trial and error. Of course, when I was observing the community at large, I was noticing that a lot of our kids had younger siblings that they needed to care for, so it wasn’t necessarily feasible for them to come attend an event that was they just for high schoolers because they maybe had to take care of their middle school sibling.

00;13;50;26 – 00;14;13;10
Rebekah
So we kind of like started out middle school, high school, and were like, you know, let’s see how this this goes and the traction that that brings. And it really did create this like core. And from there, as time progressed, we built trust within the community, within families. Then we were able to kind of begin to like separate those age groups.

00;14;13;10 – 00;14;20;08
Rebekah
And, you know, there’s a lot of maturity gained in between the middle school high school years. So it is really important to kind of keep.

00;14;20;08 – 00;14;23;03
Ryan
This fascinating because it feels like months.

00;14;23;29 – 00;14;25;08
Rebekah
Oh, I know. Oh, yeah.

00;14;25;09 – 00;14;43;21
Ryan
So you have to keep keeping up with this in the ways that you can. So when you said trial and error, you know, hopefully, you know, nobody’s laughing like how much hair, you know, did you try to, you know, have an 18 year old played twister and it didn’t work out or what have you. But what what do you mean by by ear?

00;14;43;21 – 00;14;46;20
Ryan
What was maybe an example of something that you pivoted on?

00;14;47;14 – 00;15;04;21
Rebekah
I think it was. It’s just that. Right. The high school kids wanted to do some of the more concentrated things like activities, whereas the middle schoolers wanted to, like, run around and like, get all their energy out, you know, and you’re like, Whoa.

00;15;04;21 – 00;15;07;05
Ryan
This more That’s physical energy to conserve. Yeah.

00;15;07;06 – 00;15;29;11
Rebekah
And like, as any parent with, like multiple children knows, you can’t dedicate your whole, like, time and energy when there’s like several kids of different levels. And so as the quote unquote parent, we were like, woof, we need to be able to like, hone in on each of them to be able to properly invest in their growth and evolution.

00;15;29;11 – 00;15;29;22
Rebekah
So.

00;15;30;01 – 00;15;54;03
Ryan
Right. Yeah. Well, we get into some heavier concepts when you when you start to dive into all the things maybe you didn’t even intend on addressing at the beginning, but for the sake of asking you a concerted question and when you were looking at this as a business, how much of a a culture were you looking to establish as well?

00;15;54;03 – 00;16;00;18
Ryan
A lift culture as it were? And did you or have you even brought that to bear yet so early?

00;16;01;14 – 00;16;24;11
Rebekah
Yeah, I think like you were you know, asking me about like, why is it scary to be around teens? And one of the things that I mentioned was that it sometimes reveals layers of your past that maybe you haven’t dealt with. And that certainly happened for me. I really struggled with mental health and actually an eating disorder when I was a teen.

00;16;24;11 – 00;16;48;06
Rebekah
And what I needed was mentors to come around me and just accept and love me, be a sounding board and provide hope best they could. And so that culture is really important that all of our staff is really aware that that’s what we’re here for. And I think that hope piece is really important too. Yeah.

00;16;48;15 – 00;17;12;14
Ryan
Well, on that note, because you said a huge word, you know, and hope is and a feeling you can articulate it. It’s different for everybody, right? And it feels different for everybody when you’re looking at at staff because you have help. And this is a a wonderfully female driven enterprise almost from the beginning back to the 1800s with the Center.

00;17;12;14 – 00;17;31;07
Ryan
Yeah, but when you look at the people around you, there are some maybe bigger concepts that you have to deal with and you thought of early. Did that shift how you evolved the business and brought people on thinking, Ooh, we may have to deal with somebody who has some serious challenges at home.

00;17;31;12 – 00;17;57;21
Rebekah
I think the key there is in that, you know, I know that this word is used often, but collaboration, right? So because of us being in a rural area, it’s impossible for us to do it all ourselves. However, there are some really key partnerships that we’ve gained throughout our time that together we’re kind of wrapping around this work and addressing.

00;17;57;21 – 00;18;28;19
Rebekah
So for instance, like prevention, mental health, suicide awareness, some of these bigger things that maybe were not the like the total expertise on it, but hey, we’ve created this community of kids that trust us, that know that regardless of what they’re bringing to the table, like we will love them. And so that these harder conversation ends with some of those like more key professionals can happen and can happen in a safe and loving environment.

00;18;29;03 – 00;18;55;01
Ryan
Well, you say a lot there because you you have this almost transference where you can say, yeah, teenagers are scary. The idea of it, the idea of I’d never thought about teenagers being scary because they make you feel inadequate or they they shine a light on something that you haven’t been bearing for 30 plus years. But there’s the turnarounds because there can be nothing more satisfying.

00;18;55;01 – 00;19;10;17
Ryan
I think it has to feel then, I don’t know, making a teenager laugh or listen to you when you really know that they do. You see it in their eyes. So there’s it’s twofold, right? Hopefully the rewards are there and big in small ways.

00;19;10;21 – 00;19;37;19
Rebekah
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I mean, I always say they’re my joy, like the teens are my joy in doing this. It’s those little menial, like the fundraising and all the like those sides of my job that like it really hard and taxing. But I walk into the cafeteria at lunchtime and I get to interact with the teens and it like just reignites everything that I’ve been like pouring in.

00;19;37;28 – 00;19;59;21
Ryan
Built in inspiration for sure. Well, start some of the early things, some of the finicky official things that maybe I’m guessing now seeing your personality shape that you didn’t love having to do, but was working with a school system because it’s a partnership that you have, it’s been very helpful for you. Was it necessary right off the bat?

00;19;59;21 – 00;20;07;22
Ryan
And if so, you know, when did you realize it and what were your tips to being successful with working with school system?

00;20;07;27 – 00;20;31;19
Rebekah
Sure. So I went in to the school system with the plan and told them like what I was planning to do. And it very much was a like, okay, well, we’ll see. You know, I’m sure that there are many endeavors that approach school systems with great intentions, but it’s really those that like the old saying like put your money where your mouth is type of thing.

00;20;32;05 – 00;20;37;01
Rebekah
We’re going to do it. We’re going to wait. You’re going to do what we said. That’s it. There it is.

00;20;37;13 – 00;20;41;25
Ryan
And say what we’re going to do. It’s good to get to just because of their statements, you know?

00;20;42;02 – 00;20;45;05
Rebekah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So turn it all around every which way.

00;20;45;05 – 00;20;54;22
Ryan
And that’s what you’re doing it. Yeah, that’s the game in this podcast. It’s tough language. It’s our most mafia sounding episode ever. We’re getting out. We’re doing it. Yeah, for sure.

00;20;54;24 – 00;21;17;09
Rebekah
But those partnerships with the school, we didn’t realize to what amount we needed the school and the school needed us because school is there to educate. That’s their job. And we provide a whole different subset of need for the community at large and together. My gosh, like that’s a really.

00;21;17;11 – 00;21;20;06
Ryan
One that benefits everybody. Yes, you would say. Mm.

00;21;20;23 – 00;21;48;11
Rebekah
And so we’ve worked very well with the school because we built that trust as our foundation and we didn’t go in with the expectation again that we were going to change what they were doing. They needed our help. You know, it was like, no, how do we together create an atmosphere of growth, learning and care and compassion for the students that were both serving and together?

00;21;48;23 – 00;21;50;03
Rebekah
It always makes us stronger.

00;21;50;17 – 00;22;20;25
Ryan
So you came in as a willing partner. You came in with humility. You came in with a plan. And that whole can we’re doing this attitude. Mm hmm. I feel like maybe you’re like, whether you like it or not, we’re doing this, but in a fun, artistic way. And it’s working well. Is, you know, can you comment on, you know, anything that has changed in how you’re working with the schools at all or any tips to working with the school system and saying this is who you should really talk to about this?

00;22;21;07 – 00;22;43;25
Rebekah
Well, I think that the you know, as an organization, it’s really easy to say like, this is what we do and this is how we do it. And you go into a school and you like put that, you know, kind of on their plate right there, massive plate of all the things that they have to do. And instead we came with a like, how can we support your school best?

00;22;44;03 – 00;23;09;14
Rebekah
And that’s different school. The school we began to engage with the teachers on a higher level and you know, do like little teacher appreciation things and really like, hey, what like what do you need? How can we help? So now we have mentoring and tutoring every Wednesday at one of the schools we hosted prom two years in a row because hosted prom.

00;23;09;14 – 00;23;09;26
Rebekah
Yeah.

00;23;10;16 – 00;23;16;08
Ryan
Which, you know, again, I know a little bit about this. I can tell you, teachers love appreciation.

00;23;16;09 – 00;23;19;15
Rebekah
Yes. Because they need all of it. My gosh, they’re amazing humans.

00;23;19;29 – 00;23;26;05
Ryan
But to have taken that off their plate, giving some leadership opportunity is pretty extraordinary. Mm.

00;23;26;18 – 00;23;42;08
Rebekah
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And like, I just I can’t speak enough how important it is to, like you said, show appreciation, but also humbly be like, Hey, we don’t like, tell us, tell us what you need and what.

00;23;42;09 – 00;23;42;21
Ryan
Right.

00;23;43;01 – 00;23;44;15
Rebekah
Support you could use.

00;23;44;15 – 00;24;05;17
Ryan
Well, you you use the word community a lot, and I know that can be probably a popular buzzword. Yeah. When trying to garner support. Yeah. With a community with the school. But that came to you pretty early, you know, from both of your parents, your your father, a homicide detective, which we can have a totally sober podcast on, to be honest.

00;24;06;01 – 00;24;27;06
Ryan
And your mom who also directed you toward community and your passion photography. So this is a passion for you that started right away as a person, it sounds like. MM To to give. Did you ever envision because you have a master’s in social work in family life, education. So what was the plan dream in reality?

00;24;28;07 – 00;24;54;08
Rebekah
Well, I started to pursue education once I realized that I wanted to make this nonprofit a thing. And I knew that there would be a question of like, what makes you qualified? Right? And and I wanted to be qualified. And I frankly, you know, got a lot of opportunity and met a lot of amazing people through that experience that was kind of that catalyst of like putting this into motion.

00;24;54;11 – 00;24;54;24
Ryan
Right.

00;24;54;24 – 00;24;55;07
Rebekah
For sure.

00;24;55;18 – 00;25;19;07
Ryan
And so what’s something that that your dad did maybe along the way that prompted you? Because, you know, I’m thinking about a homicide detective coming home isn’t really up on the community. Yeah, he’s probably telling you things are the worst. You know, And it’s like all TV and movies that we see. So maybe you can dispel the myth there.

00;25;19;07 – 00;25;22;02
Ryan
What’s something that he he did to instill that.

00;25;22;14 – 00;26;01;01
Rebekah
My dad should be in a movie, but not that kind of movie. He should be in the movie that is bringing community together and without judgment, working with criminals, essentially. I remember the gang population where we lived was really prevalent and like made national news and he was working the gang task force. And it was a really scary time because a lot of the people he was arresting were also father of a classmate, and it became this really complex, like where was the resistance?

00;26;01;08 – 00;26;24;23
Rebekah
It was in Hollywood. And I remember he had a certain gang member who wasn’t yet in prison and kind of was like on the fringe of like getting into the gang and not like kind of like deciding, if you will. And he brought him out to dinner with our family and yeah, and just welcomed him in.

00;26;25;03 – 00;26;48;07
Ryan
So you saw the example of bringing. Yeah. Somebody into your home. Yeah. Because this is what happened with you and Gerald later on, which at that time in certain areas, you know, I’m from Chicago, I’m in depending on where you grew up, you’re either in the suburbs or 30 minutes away. You’re never allowing somebody into your home. No, let alone a neighbor.

00;26;48;07 – 00;26;56;16
Ryan
Yeah. That may live five feet from you. Yeah. So was that profound for you or was that just something that. No. Doesn’t everybody do that?

00;26;56;19 – 00;27;17;18
Rebekah
Well, definitely was like, Yeah, like, I just thought it was normal. But like the looking back, the complexity of like, sure, this person, you know, by today’s standards, like, that’s a dangerous person. You should probably keep your distance, but instead welcoming them in because there is so much more to all of us than like what we always show in our exterior.

00;27;17;29 – 00;27;32;18
Rebekah
And we never know what someone possesses. And the best of the ways. And I know that there are bad, you know, actions and people out there, but there’s also people that have done bad things but are very innately good.

00;27;32;25 – 00;27;54;05
Ryan
So do you think that unique did he show you any of the rougher side of things? And do you have that dichotomy within you, or did he shelter you from that and you just only saw bring in a potential gang member to dinner and just said, hey, all right, back and we need to convince this kid. Yeah. That we should be on the straight narrow.

00;27;54;06 – 00;27;54;16
Ryan
No, I.

00;27;54;16 – 00;28;14;28
Rebekah
Think I, you know, was hyper aware, I guess you could say, of the dangers of the world back then. It was Polaroids that they, like took evidence from. And my dad, I remember coming down, you know, in the morning and he was like literally asleep on the table and like the Polaroids of evidence, kind of like, scattered around him.

00;28;14;28 – 00;28;30;21
Rebekah
And I remember looking at them because, you know, I’m curious, let’s be real and being like, oh, my gosh, like, you know, And he would explain the very thing that I said. There are sometimes good people that do bad things and there’s also some.

00;28;31;00 – 00;28;36;11
Ryan
What age are we looking at? You’re coming down. It’s the Polaroids. And then maybe not the first time you’ve seen it.

00;28;37;04 – 00;28;40;25
Rebekah
I would say probably like eight, eight or nine. Eight. Yeah.

00;28;41;04 – 00;29;14;02
Ryan
Seems young. But yeah, I mean, you know, it’s something that’s taken you in a trajectory that’s pretty profound. Mm hmm. But moving from that sort of potential darkness that was turned into a light to creativity from the websites, you are quoted as the bright light of creativity that we all follow, written by a colleague. Mm hmm. So how important is creativity in the mixed bag that you call your professional life?

00;29;14;14 – 00;29;33;24
Rebekah
I feel like it’s probably for me in the way that I operate in the world. Like number one, it is the like when I feel I’m like, creative and I’m in that space, that headspace, it’s when I feel like whole.

00;29;34;06 – 00;29;41;27
Ryan
Right? Are you drawn to creative people professionally? Is that an necessity for you in others or can you tolerate the banal?

00;29;41;28 – 00;29;45;25
Rebekah
It’s so weird because my associate director, Audrey I like Pointer.

00;29;46;10 – 00;29;50;24
Ryan
She’s usually right next to me. Yeah, yeah. And on the website she’s over here. So that was weird for me. Yeah, yeah.

00;29;51;03 – 00;29;52;10
Rebekah
Yeah. So she.

00;29;52;11 – 00;29;53;10
Ryan
Is she.

00;29;53;23 – 00;29;59;22
Rebekah
Oh, my gosh. Okay. She literally says she dreams and spreadsheets and. Oh, Oh.

00;30;00;00 – 00;30;02;00
Ryan
That’s fascinating and horrifying together.

00;30;02;02 – 00;30;26;11
Rebekah
Thank you. So between the two of us, we always say that she’s the light that, like, shines through my prism, right? Like I’m the rainbow on the wall. And she’s like the light that, like, makes it all happen. I see the necessity for all types of people to work together. And I have so much I have learned so much from her and have so much to learn from her and others like her.

00;30;26;11 – 00;30;37;04
Rebekah
So yes, I do love creatives, but sometimes I will say that creative can do attitude when it’s like me and someone else, it’s like, Oh, that’s too much. We got to like, tone it down.

00;30;37;21 – 00;30;37;28
Ryan
You know.

00;30;38;01 – 00;30;38;25
Rebekah
We’re again too much.

00;30;38;25 – 00;30;59;12
Ryan
Trouble. So you do need because you’re running a business, right? And it sounds like you’re pretty self-aware that you need to keep herself on track. There are certain things you’ve got to do. Taxes you got to file, right? Yeah. You know, can’t just keep receipts, column keepers, you know, I’ll dodgeball and just hope, you know, your charms going to get through the night.

00;30;59;21 – 00;31;00;27
Rebekah
It doesn’t unfortunately.

00;31;01;00 – 00;31;24;04
Ryan
It’s not like we’re trying to bum people out but you know we will shift on over to what we’ve talked about a little bit is mental health in and I think your blog is fantastic. And the latest blog post has a Fred Rogers quote, which I think you know, in all corniness aside, he is somebody who’s done so much for mental illness in young people, more than he even recognized.

00;31;24;21 – 00;31;45;27
Ryan
But from an earlier blog post, it’s interesting because you started before the pandemic, but not that much into it. So you have been addressing it for a little while. And in this blog post describing the year, some of you are or what do you call your team?

00;31;46;25 – 00;31;52;17
Rebekah
Well, definitely my team. As far as my staff and volunteers, those are my team.

00;31;52;19 – 00;32;23;02
Ryan
But the students that you’re helping describe the year of the pandemic with words like lonely, depressing, scared, like moving into the worst thing that’s ever happened, Hell. And then did anything good come of it? It made my life worse. I’m in I’m in a foster home now. It’s such a huge topic, you know, the mental health piece. So starting with and we touched on this a little bit when you started and now how is your approach to this at all changed?

00;32;23;29 – 00;32;44;21
Rebekah
Oh, yeah. I mean, I think it it it changed in a lot of ways and it didn’t because the same basis is still like the same foundation is there, and that is that we all need one another. And we learned when we were all, you know, in our own homes and isolated how important it is to have your people.

00;32;46;01 – 00;33;16;28
Rebekah
But I think one thing that we really latched on to is that it’s not always in the big sometimes it’s in the small. So we bought a bus during the pandemic so that we could deliver meals and all sorts of different things to the kids. So while they were at home, you know, we were showing up at their windows with like art supplies, like, Hey, I’m going to put these on the porch for you, you know, or like, we dress up in crazy costumes and like, just like, did dances in front of their window just to, like, cheer them up or it’s in the big and the little right.

00;33;16;28 – 00;33;35;04
Rebekah
And I think we’ve carried that forward to what we’re still doing. Like, yes, it’s in those big events that we’ve planned, you know, the big like snow, two big events and where everybody’s coming. But it’s also in the little it’s in showing up in those small ways that are intentional for kids, as you see the need. Right.

00;33;35;04 – 00;33;48;01
Ryan
Right. Yeah. Do you clearly establish or do you think about where your responsibilities begin and end in this regard? And do you have instances where maybe you’ve identified a potential problem and brought that to light?

00;33;48;03 – 00;34;17;05
Rebekah
Oh yeah. I think the thing here is, you know, it’s hard for me. I have a huge like empath heart that I feel like it’s a little bit like Pokemon, like got to catch them all and that’s not it’s not feasible, right? It’s not. But I know that we cast out a net, a metaphorical net, if you will, and, you know, we’re slowly like bringing that net in and there are some fish that are going to kind of get through that net.

00;34;17;21 – 00;34;32;16
Rebekah
So doesn’t mean they haven’t interacted with the net. You know, they may have grazed the net on their way out or whatnot. But the ones that we’re able to kind of bring in that was at my school. And man, I didn’t know I needed it, but I really needed it.

00;34;32;17 – 00;34;33;15
Ryan
Right to the.

00;34;33;15 – 00;34;54;03
Rebekah
Fold and like really engage and get to know. It’s always a powerful experience. And someday down the road they may say, Huh, I remember this program. Maybe that’s, you know, them going to counseling someday or that’s them starting their own, you know, nonprofit. Who knows? We never know.

00;34;54;18 – 00;35;25;26
Ryan
Well, the support systems that you put in place for them, things like leadership, mentoring, you know, they’re you’ve you’ve asked the questions. They’re looking for one on one. MM. Mentorship, which is surprising to hear. You would think a lot of insecure scared kids would would that would be the furthest thing that they want but they do want the one on one mentorship and when, when you’re looking at some of the things like supporting sporting events.

00;35;25;28 – 00;35;34;10
Ryan
Mm hmm. You send people to their events to cheer them on. Mm hmm. That is true. Mm hmm. That could sound like the saddest thing ever. But is it?

00;35;34;21 – 00;36;02;20
Rebekah
No. I mean, consider this someone who is retired. Their kids have, like, flown the coop, as they say. Maybe they’re like, schedule has kind of, like, lightened up quite a bit and they’re able to go to this game and, like, engage with their community in a way that they probably wouldn’t otherwise and stands that are generally empty because now parents are working.

00;36;02;23 – 00;36;15;07
Rebekah
Usually both parents are working and attending games is really hard, especially every game in the stands are not quite as full as they used to be, But having those people there that they know are there, that’s so that’s right. You can’t put.

00;36;15;07 – 00;36;41;05
Ryan
A so that’s the consistent theme being seen and being seen in the right ways because I’m really curious to see how you deal with technology and social media because kids right now have access to more knowledge than I mean, you could zap a teenager back to the thirties and they would give heart attacks to people. Yes. Could probably be elevated to running everything or be studied forever.

00;36;41;05 – 00;36;51;21
Ryan
Right. So this is what we’re dealing with. How do you approach that? How do you deal with access to social media? How what’s the what’s the jam there?

00;36;51;22 – 00;37;21;24
Rebekah
Yeah. So I mean, part of that is awareness, right? And education. So for instance, there was just a parent education night for social media hosted by the county sheriff’s, FBI and state troopers. And they put it on like, hey, this is what your kids are watching, learning, seeing on their devices, potentially putting out into the universe like you should be aware and you should monitor your kids.

00;37;21;24 – 00;37;29;17
Rebekah
Right. Well, I’m going to tell you right now that there was not one parent or one person for every kid. Not even close.

00;37;29;20 – 00;37;31;25
Ryan
Yeah.

00;37;31;25 – 00;38;01;10
Rebekah
And so it begs the whole like, well, why aren’t we telling kids this? Why aren’t we telling teens the dangers? Because holy. I don’t think they understand, like how scary and dangerous it can be, but it also can be used for good. And so let’s use it for good as well. I don’t know if you saw our we had a recent real and it was me basically like imitating teens today and it’s like teens in 2023.

00;38;01;10 – 00;38;03;12
Ryan
I’m going to be is this on the website?

00;38;03;17 – 00;38;04;27
Rebekah
It’s on our Instagram.

00;38;04;28 – 00;38;05;18
Ryan
Oh, on Instagram.

00;38;05;18 – 00;38;25;13
Rebekah
Okay, lift SB And so I’m making fun of them. So it says like teens in 2023. And I’m like, you know, being a goof. And then it says, but also and then it does a bunch of quick snapshots of like them tubing, them jumping off a rope swing into the player that like all things we did with them.

00;38;25;21 – 00;38;33;25
Rebekah
And so like, let’s not put them so in a box that like, they’re just oh, they’re doomed. And kids today.

00;38;33;25 – 00;38;36;26
Ryan
And the doomsayers, the.

00;38;37;13 – 00;38;39;19
Mark
Music was always better when you were.

00;38;39;19 – 00;39;09;10
Ryan
Younger. That’s always what. Yeah. And is there an unexpected has there been an unexpected side effect? Because again, everyone is terrified of the idea of hanging out with teenagers. Have you been surprised at any change to you that’s happened? And if you want to be real about it on this on the show, if there’s one thing you’ve picked up an example, living in San Francisco for three and a half years, you say hella and the kids say hacker because they don’t want to swear.

00;39;09;10 – 00;39;17;21
Ryan
And my wife and I kind of picked that one up. So is there a little something that, you know, has rubbed off on you? Maybe energy, maybe positivity? Are you.

00;39;17;21 – 00;39;20;02
Rebekah
Asking if I know the slang of today.

00;39;20;26 – 00;39;30;08
Ryan
Because it’s like that? Is it if it’s like incorporation of their slang, was there anything about this hanging out with them that has affected you in a way that surprised you.

00;39;31;05 – 00;39;33;02
Rebekah
Hanging out with teens specifically.

00;39;33;07 – 00;39;34;14
Ryan
Or younger people in general?

00;39;34;19 – 00;40;00;18
Rebekah
Yeah, I mean, honestly, it’s like just don’t take life so seriously like, yes, there are serious things in life, but there’s a lot to laugh about and there’s a lot of just being you and authentic and genuine that’s so important and so needed in a world where, like we just talked about social media, we’re constantly comparing ourselves to others and like, you know, just you do you as they say.

00;40;01;09 – 00;40;22;26
Ryan
That is that is a good one. And you bring this to bear in the Generation Perspective podcast, which is great. But I specifically listen to a few episodes, the Ryan Hannon episode, because we had him on this podcast, and I love how there’s just a lot of love between you right off the bat, and it’s just a fun conversation.

00;40;23;08 – 00;40;31;08
Ryan
So how is the podcast being an effective tool for you to, you know, promote Lift the Teen Center, everything?

00;40;31;08 – 00;40;55;02
Rebekah
Yeah, well, definitely shout out to Ryan Hannon. We went to school together and emcee That’s yeah. So like, yeah, it’s a great episode. Yeah, he’s amazing. Generation perspective started during the lockdown when, you know, kids weren’t interacting so much and I, you know, was thinking about it. I’m like, Man, wouldn’t it be good just to like, hear from the teens?

00;40;55;02 – 00;41;20;11
Rebekah
Like, what do you like to do? Who are you? And their peers and community could listen in and like they have their moment, right? It’s so important that we all, you know, are heard and it’s morphed into like this, like, who’s in your community? You know, like, who are you bumping shoulders with and you don’t even know. And also, like there are ways that you intersect with them.

00;41;20;11 – 00;41;35;16
Rebekah
For instance, one of our teens, Sophie, that we interviewed, she made me this Nicole, because I told her I like love soft cowls, and she, like, made this for me. Had I had I not interviewed her, I you know what? I’ve known that she was like an amazing.

00;41;35;16 – 00;41;36;12
Ryan
Who crochets.

00;41;36;25 – 00;41;37;21
Rebekah
No.

00;41;37;21 – 00;41;41;15
Ryan
Here’s another one that surprised you that that that she crocheted.

00;41;41;17 – 00;41;42;09
Rebekah
That was a different.

00;41;42;09 – 00;41;45;23
Ryan
Person. Okay. And that’s not crochet. I’m sorry if I’ve made you having soap.

00;41;45;23 – 00;41;46;07
Rebekah
How dare.

00;41;46;07 – 00;41;50;26
Ryan
You? It is a thing. It is a thing. I’ll recognize that she. We do a retraction.

00;41;50;26 – 00;41;52;03
Rebekah
Yeah. You should probably take that out.

00;41;52;06 – 00;41;57;17
Ryan
We can do it, Dave. It’ll be an official retraction.

00;41;57;17 – 00;41;59;18
Mark
But it was your mistake. It would go.

00;41;59;19 – 00;42;00;09
Rebekah
Oh, thank you.

00;42;00;13 – 00;42;01;10
Mark
Ryan’s mistake. It stays.

00;42;01;10 – 00;42;01;27
Rebekah
Let’s keep that.

00;42;01;27 – 00;42;15;24
Ryan
And just. Yeah, just unflatteringly portrayed. No how, but finding these, you know, a hidden talent, something. But time was spent, Time was spent. And that’s okay. That. That made you feel good?

00;42;15;26 – 00;42;37;18
Rebekah
Yeah. And I mean, also, we have some different professionals on there as well, like within the community that share about some of the professions they do, which I don’t know that like I would have ever thought of doing. Yeah, definitely not when I was a teenager. And so to hear like, oh my gosh, somebody actually scuba dives and likely Illinois to pull up the oh my gosh, I’m blanking on what it’s called.

00;42;37;18 – 00;42;39;29
Rebekah
It’s like a certain weed, but it’s very invasive.

00;42;40;00 – 00;42;40;09
Ryan
Oh.

00;42;41;04 – 00;42;42;03
Rebekah
Yeah. I’m so sorry.

00;42;42;03 – 00;42;42;27
Ryan
I’m not.

00;42;42;27 – 00;42;45;29
Rebekah
Annalise. She’s going to be like I talk to you for an hour.

00;42;45;29 – 00;42;56;12
Ryan
About going to generate discussion. Frustrated few listeners. Yeah, because I don’t know what either. Yeah, that’ll be on me as well. This is not a positive episode for, for, for me here.

00;42;56;13 – 00;43;06;09
Rebekah
But fact checked some of this. But anyways, the whole point of being it’s exposure as well to some of these like people and things and you know different life so.

00;43;06;10 – 00;43;26;01
Ryan
And you have volunteers, you have people who who help you have job mentors as you mentioned, and you take that very seriously and that’s something that you have to take seriously. What is the state of getting volunteers now because there’s so many different polls for people’s time? Yes. So what’s your approach right now?

00;43;26;01 – 00;43;59;12
Rebekah
You know, we have like a great base of volunteers, pre-COVID and then COVID hit and we lost every single one of them because of either moving job shifts or, you know, some were elderly and didn’t want to be exposed. You know, it just happened know. So we are now building that back up. And I think we’re at about 25 volunteers that are like signed on and have gone through our training and are actively engaged in our program.

00;43;59;12 – 00;44;02;09
Rebekah
But we’re always, always looking back for more.

00;44;02;28 – 00;44;30;10
Ryan
Oh, that’s incredible. And what’s what’s the best way for people to to find out? Is the website the best way to find out about volunteer opportunities? Obviously, talking to somebody who has worked with you, who amongst your organization is a is a champion that doesn’t get talked about enough, you know, somebody who maybe, you know, finds opportunities for you, finds new volunteering opportunities for you.

00;44;30;19 – 00;44;37;07
Ryan
Is there anybody in your organization that you know is somebody for others like you to look out for and to develop?

00;44;37;07 – 00;45;00;09
Rebekah
Oh, my gosh. I mean, like the whole that’s very hard to narrow down because truly, I believe that everybody is a champion for the organization and we wouldn’t be where we are without each one of their specific, like talents and gifts and my goodness. Yeah. I mean, many people are coming to mind.

00;45;00;18 – 00;45;07;21
Ryan
Yeah, that’s wonderful. That’s a good answer to that because it’s a tough question. That’s a topic I said we were in a hard hitting podcast, but that was it. I know.

00;45;07;21 – 00;45;09;03
Rebekah
You’re like, Don’t worry, this.

00;45;09;09 – 00;45;28;10
Ryan
Wasn’t easy. That wasn’t a softball. That was that was tough. But thinking about maybe a little bit of that connectivity, how do you stay relevant routines? How do you how do you stay up with what’s going on? Can you just be on Instagram and all your friends are like, what are you doing? And you’re like, I’m talking because I’m working.

00;45;28;10 – 00;45;28;19
Ryan
Yeah.

00;45;29;13 – 00;45;35;27
Rebekah
I think the important thing is not to stay relevant with teens because that makes you not relevant, right?

00;45;36;02 – 00;45;40;04
Ryan
Because you’re trying. Yeah. Like, should go for you. Yeah. If you’re like, What up, bro?

00;45;40;11 – 00;45;41;10
Rebekah
Like, they’re like.

00;45;41;19 – 00;45;47;08
Mark
By depending depending on the grade level that that’s changed in six months anyways.

00;45;47;11 – 00;45;56;26
Ryan
Oh, so you want a certain level of irrelevance of of naivete? Yeah. Hopefully charming naivete. Like, I don’t know how to make those fangled Instagram work.

00;45;56;28 – 00;46;20;12
Rebekah
You know, there’s that like one of the they were teaching me slang in one of them. So there’s, there’s this this note, this smacks like this meal smacks smack, but then there’s also this or this slaps, slaps. So I like to use those interchangeably and, you know, ways that don’t actually make sense. And then they get really like, oh my gosh, why did we ever teach you these?

00;46;20;15 – 00;46;20;26
Rebekah
You know?

00;46;20;28 – 00;46;21;27
Mark
So making up your own.

00;46;22;02 – 00;46;25;00
Rebekah
Yeah, absolutely. Many new things.

00;46;25;04 – 00;46;25;27
Mark
This crackles.

00;46;26;02 – 00;46;28;14
Ryan
This back snap, crackles and pops.

00;46;28;14 – 00;46;29;03
Rebekah
Yes.

00;46;29;03 – 00;46;55;28
Ryan
So maybe you have to pay Kellogg for that. Well, you you’ve given a lot of advice on how, you know, one can maybe successfully identify what are challenges and, you know, recognizing how big the, you know, the hurdles can be. But you’ve done it. So I hate to ask an obvious question, but what do you see happening from here what’s the next thing you’re focused on?

00;46;55;28 – 00;47;13;18
Ryan
Because you can’t play the irrelevant card because you’re a podcaster. So these young people are looking at you like, so you’re, you know, you’re unfailingly cool. You have this engagement. What is next? What are you looking to do in the next one week to 20 years.

00;47;13;18 – 00;47;15;04
Rebekah
With lifts specifically?

00;47;15;06 – 00;47;15;20
Ryan
Correct.

00;47;17;01 – 00;47;37;09
Rebekah
I have this crazy dream that I would love to open a coffee shop that our former lifters and our current lifters run, and it would teach them job skills. It would teach them all the things that everybody complains about teens for.

00;47;38;00 – 00;47;42;11
Ryan
So tying into a practical business, absolutely. That’s a business. Good stuff. I mean.

00;47;42;12 – 00;47;43;25
Rebekah
Service, all the things.

00;47;44;01 – 00;47;54;06
Ryan
Because you talk about that, you talk about kind leaders, which I think is great. Yeah. And that’s is that something that, you know, was was taught to you that you feel is important to employ?

00;47;54;06 – 00;48;05;06
Rebekah
I don’t know that it was direct. I mean, it was taught to me, sure. By my dad and, you know, other mentors along the way. But I definitely think there’s more of a need for it right now.

00;48;05;06 – 00;48;19;08
Ryan
And you are a photographer. I am. And you have a legit photography business and is is bringing more arts and creativity into the fold. Something that has been talked about is that’s something that is too on the know is maybe for you.

00;48;19;08 – 00;48;46;20
Rebekah
Or yeah with current school right now we’re doing a photo voice project so I’m teaching them how to capture images that speak words that aren’t actually words. You know what I’m saying? Like they’re learning how to like, say, like this lamp right here. Like, I turn that lamp on the night my dad died. Right? Things that, like, have meaning and they’re not always known and it’s not always expressed, but how do you capture that creative?

00;48;46;22 – 00;48;59;22
Ryan
And that’s a theme in your work. I’d read that, Yeah. You’re looking to find a voice within an image. Yeah. Whether not be necessarily somebody with their mouth open, which that’s unique. So abstract concepts kind of well-rounded, which is fantastic.

00;49;00;18 – 00;49;02;29
Mark
Writers call it show words, not tell words.

00;49;03;08 – 00;49;05;00
Rebekah
Oh, interesting. I’ve never heard that, you.

00;49;05;00 – 00;49;10;04
Mark
Know, so, you know, kind of when you paint the picture. But yeah.

00;49;10;16 – 00;49;33;26
Ryan
Cool. It’s all very visual and it’s all very beautiful. Well, you do, you know, to to conclude, you talk about humor. I think it’s interesting. A lot of people talk more about humor and then than you would think in reacting with teens, because you think teens have to be this humor doll or group of people and they’ve gone through this unimaginable thing.

00;49;33;26 – 00;50;04;26
Ryan
Hell is what they’re talking about. Sell on your website, which is lift youth SB dot com correct Lift Youth ESPN.com. There’s some information. There’s great information. There’s information on you all. So I have to I’ve got to ask to questions to end. Here is what is the importance of cheese? And as a photographer, family photographer are going to people are going to stop taking photos as a family with their shoes off.

00;50;06;13 – 00;50;25;27
Rebekah
Oh, God, I hope so. You know, it gets really uncomfortable because you have to decide whether or not to crop their feet out, if they’re like ugly feet or like, do I chop their feet out and, like, replace them with, like a model’s foot? It’s like it’s just creating so much work for us as photographers. Like, Oh, please, put your shoes back on.

00;50;27;03 – 00;50;46;10
Ryan
All black, no shoes. Yeah, No, if that’s irrelevant. And and so thank you for that. And so hopefully we can, we can change that. And cheese. Your favorite cheeses, Brie, is there, is there something every that’s a consistent question amongst your leadership I your favorite cheese.

00;50;46;10 – 00;51;00;08
Rebekah
Our social media person Claire this is her go to question what’s your favorite cheese and like I’m not one that like just like things about cheese so like I was like, oh brie because I really do like it. It’s like nice and like.

00;51;00;08 – 00;51;07;15
Ryan
More of a question. Like it wasn’t an answer. Is this a cheese? Put it on the website, right? That’s interesting.

00;51;07;15 – 00;51;13;28
Mark
Yeah, because once I was growing up, I found out that my favorite cheese, in fact, isn’t even really classified as a cheese.

00;51;13;28 – 00;51;14;14
Rebekah
What is it?

00;51;15;01 – 00;51;17;25
Mark
Well, they call them milk. They call American slices now.

00;51;17;28 – 00;51;20;29
Rebekah
Oh, you like chemicals?

00;51;20;29 – 00;51;39;24
Ryan
Oh, yeah. Yeah, that is true. Well, it’s extraordinary. All of the things that you have done in a short amount of time. And I can’t wait to see what you do. And the coffee shop sounds amazing. Is there anything that you would like to leave our listeners with or anything that we missed? Well, I.

00;51;39;24 – 00;52;02;11
Rebekah
Think the biggest thing and you know, we are growing in big ways. We started out in one school, we’re in two now and half time in another is that we want to be in five schools in the next five years and that something like this coffee shop dream, as much as I’m a can do her, you can’t you can’t do if you don’t have funding.

00;52;02;11 – 00;52;14;18
Rebekah
And so those the investment of the dollars really is making a huge impact as well as those volunteer opportunities because gosh, we’d be nothing without relationships and other people.

00;52;14;18 – 00;52;35;17
Ryan
So. Right. Yeah. Well, you are a very altruistic leader and there are so many who clearly gives a lot. And we’re very fortunate to have had you. And again, the website is Lift Youth ESPN.com. Is that the best way to keep up? Are there any newsletters that one can sign up for any QR codes to be found anywhere to connect?

00;52;35;18 – 00;52;43;15
Rebekah
Yeah, I’d say the biggest thing is just sign up on our website. There’s like a contact us and we’ll get you plugged in in the right way, depending on what you’re interested in.

00;52;43;24 – 00;53;08;10
Ryan
Beautiful. Even if it is cheering along a sports team. And that sounds like an awesome use of an evening especially in our community. Well, Becca, thank you so much for your pursuits and to all of those who pursue along with you, ensuring youth and our communities have a safe place to grow and thrive. And through so much, thank you and to our listeners, thank you all for listening and thank you for pursuing the Oh.

00;53;08;19 – 00;53;48;03
Mark
And there you have it, folks. Another episode of The Pursuit of Podcast. We want to thank that good ten rings for coming in from Lyft, Teen Center, Lyft, Lumina Investing for Teens. You can find more at Lyft. You dot com that’s Lyft Youth, SB dot com. And as always, for all things audio video podcast team check us out at new Leonard dot com.