Sharon Kotsonas
Sharon Kotsonas is very active in her town of Gilbert, AZ where she is considered a social entrepreneur and a community leader. In 2019 Sharon launched her nonprofit, Weekly Collective Volunteers Inc., which provides various support services to people facing economic adversity, physical and mental health challenges, or other obstacles. Her initiative aims to make people seen, heard, and supported.
Sharon is affectionally referred to as a love evangelist and a servant leader, amongst her faith-based community and her close friends. She genuinely cares for the well-being of others and supports programs that promote emotional, spiritual, and social wellness. Sharon is engaged in the Town of Gilbert Behavioral Health Coalition, as well as For Our Town of Gilbert, to mention a few of the organizations she continuously invests her time and resources. Her dedication to helping others find healing and hope has led her to facilitate support groups for Hurting Moms and Grieving Moms.
In 2015 Sharon lost her 23-year-old son, Nicholas, to a drug overdose. Her faith, family and friends have been the main support through her healing journey. “Investing in the health and happiness of others around me brings me joy, encouragement, and purpose.”
Most recently, Sharon accepted an invitation from the National Latinas Professional Association to join their Mental Health Awareness Week National Steering Committee. Sharon looks to collaborate with them to raise awareness, advocate for change, and champion mental health awareness among Latinas. “My hope is that my unique experiences and perspective would help shine a light on mental health awareness for Latinas nationwide.
Episode Transcription
Guiding Growth. Conversations with Community Leaders. In this podcast, we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals and modern moments, an event and meeting venue in the heart of Gilbert and at Gilbert Independent, your valley. net dedicated to serving readers with good community journalism. The Gilbert Independent is a nonpartisan newspaper, an online site that covers our town's institutions, development and events.
Subscribe and follow your valley. net Daily to stay up to date with latest local news. OK, Sarah, is this a hair wash day? This is a hair wash day. You are so lucky to be. These days are very rare around here. So it's good to be in a hair wash day. You know what, I'm a busy lady. I can only do so much. We will agree with you on the busy ladies. Our guest today was born and raised in Puerto Rico as the oldest sibling and she has always found herself in leadership roles.
She began her career as a high school Spanish teacher, then a sales executive. She is now a small business owner and a realtor and founded weekly collective volunteers in 2019 to help senior residents in Gilbert with yard work and light handy work. She serves as the lay leader at First United Methodist Church of Gilbert and helped to establish a nonprofit to lift up Hispanic women entrepreneurs. She celebrates her husband, three Children and grandson for exactly who they are. Her favorite rose garden, favorite book, favorite poem, favorite painting and favorite superhero.
Please welcome Sharon Katson. Thank you so much. There we go. Welcome to the show. We are so glad to have you and we know this is your first podcast. So we're going to really interrogate you and make you just wish you. No, I'm glad you're here. Don't want him scare you. No, not at all. We are really glad you're here. We're going to start with what we call rapid fire. Would you rather sing in public or dance in public dance? Phone call or text message, text message, favorite snack food.
Hm. I would say chips, Saturday or Sunday, Sunday. What makes you hopeful? My grandson. What's the best room in your house? That's a tie between my kitchen and my bedroom. I would agree with that. Would you ever skydive if you would have asked me 10 years ago? Yes. Not now. Fair in your teen years. What was your favorite hangout? The beach? The beach? Would you rather travel to the past or to the future? To the future? All right. And the last question is your glass half full or half empty?
Half full. I love it. I love it when we get those answers. Ok. Most people are half full. I've noticed and I like to think you're the only half empty, probably. I'm not. Do you ever feel like your business is stuck? It's time to get traction and move it forward? Call Chris Spear, your business coach and Certified E US implementer. They'll help you use the entrepreneurial operating system to get traction and achieve your vision. Call Chris today at 20083. That's 4808483037. Ok. So let's start in the beginning because that's where I like to start.
Talk to us about Puerto Rico and all the areas that you grew up in because that's something I don't know a lot about. I like to hear about that. I grew up in a small town on the west coast called Maya and it's opposite of the tourist area. So it's the real spots, right? Very much so beautiful people, beautiful, just everything, trees, flowers plants, you name it. And of course the beach, which is my favorite part of Puerto Rico. Second to the people, people that are always happy, they're always hopeful.
And optimistic and that's one thing that I admire. It doesn't matter if they had a hurricane or if they had a tropical storm, the sun always comes up and, or comes out, comes up, comes out. It does both. Right. And so, yeah, so it was very lovely growing there. The food, the people, the music, everything, um, school was there. Right. Talked about, what was that like? I mean, I'm sure it's like it was here but it was a different, the school system there is a little different.
It's very, it's very strict education. There is something that we take seriously when you say strict, very strict, like uniform. You know, you can be late, you can't miss school, you can miss your assignments. Super strict. I think of nuns whipping you on the hands when you messed up. Like, Sarah used to get all the time. That kind of stuff. Just a little bit like that's pretty strict. Very strict but fun. Um, very predictable in terms of, you know, your schedule, the food, the lunch food was horrible.
I don't, I think, yeah, I don't miss that. But, yeah, it was just very nice to go to school and walk home and just have all the beautiful beach scenes or just the beautiful trees and everything. Looking back. I don't think I knew how beautiful it was until I wasn't there anymore. Yeah, the beach is kind of extreme from the desert you're in now. Right. Very much so. So I always think birth order is important and you're the oldest. So what was life like as the oldest?
I hated it. You were the experiment. I hated it because everybody always had fun. But me, I had to do chores. I had to babysit. I had to help. I had to do all these things. Did you think they say the same thing? Maybe I feel like I was always doing everything and, but I love my, my siblings so much. How many siblings? Four? It is what it is. You know, you make it work. How long did you stay in Puerto Rico? I was 19 when I moved.
Ok. So all through high school. And did you, did you go to university or anything? My first year. Talk about high school. What was that? Like? Were you involved in different clubs and sports and things like that? You hung out at the beach a lot? Well, yes, that's a given. So there you go. So I play paddle ball a lot. That was one of my favorite things to do. And um, let's see, uh roller, the roller skates. I don't think they do that anymore. I don't think roller blades, roller skates.
I don't think people do that anymore. I don't see anybody rollerblading or I know there's a couple of people I see around town that go around and I'm like, that's, you're right. You don't see that. You don't see that anymore. But, um, I tried to get into pageants but I was so short that I just didn't have a lot of success with that, but it was fun. I don't know, I just always felt called to be center stage and, but I didn't have any talents. I couldn't dance or sing or play any instruments or anything like that.
So I always went with acting or reading poems and doing things that were a little more, I don't know, more to do with literature and writing. So, is it safe to assume you're an extrovert? You like to be out there? You like to be in crowds and groups and stuff? Yeah. It's too bad. Pageants don't recognize just leadership as a talent, like just being the doer and the overachiever. No. Well, you have to twirl a baton what you ever achieve and then you have something, there has to be an entertainment factor in this.
It was a good experience. I loved it. I think it was fun. And then from there I always serve in the high school council group and everything. And then, um, high school president that was fun. Um, very active. Always busy. I've always been very busy. Now. You are a teacher. You've been a teacher. Are there teachers that you can think of from your high school time that you feel like we were good guides, mentors for you in that time frame. I did not have a good experience with teachers in high school.
No, I can't even think of one. No, I hate to say that. But it's true. And it's interesting that you're a teacher. And so if you had a bad experience sometimes that would inflict, maybe not wanting to do that. Right. But you did. So, where does that come from? Then? I wonder. Mm. So, when I was teaching I was teaching language. Right. And because I've always felt like facilitating communication was important. A me, I felt like that was more of a a call. The no vocation. I wanted to facilitate communication.
I wanted to empower people to speak. So teaching them the language that they needed to learn at the time, English, Spanish or both enable them to speak. Neither your parents were teachers. What did they do? Sales and accounting? Accounting is not for me? You say that? But then you yourself spent 14 years in executive sales. So I mean, accounting is boring. You got to be a special kind of nerd to really like that kind of stuff. I hear you. I hear you. I'm sorry to all of our listeners who insult.
That's the reality of it. I mean, I'm really glad, you know, that's one of my weaknesses. And so I have a lot of really smart people around me that love to do that kind of thing because we're so grateful for them. I am very grateful. I hope my CPA is not least. Well, that's job security. There's only certain people in the world that can do that. But the sales side, the extrovert person that you are, that's a whole different game. Yeah. So I get that. And so who was the sales side?
Was that your dad or your mom still? To this day? They're involved with the chamber and involved with everything, politics and everything. That's amazing. So, then university you started there? What was that like? It was, it was fun. Communications is always interesting to learn, you know, how the masses here and interpret and um and all of that, I thought I was going to grow up to be like a, like a news anchor lady or something. I just thought that would be so cool to share the news with people.
And then from there, I moved to the States and I got married very young. I had Children very young and, and life wasn't all that kind to me at that time. And what was going on adapting a new culture, you know, a big culture change from Puerto Rico. A little bit of everything. Yes, culture, language, everything, religion, everything. And living in Mississippi was the opposite of living in Puerto Rico. Yeah, Mississippi is a different and beautiful place, beautiful people, but just different and just learning how to be a mom and learning how to juggle school and raising a family and, and learning to find my place in this new world.
Why Mississippi. How did you get there? My, my first husband was from Mississippi and we met in Puerto Rico, married, went to Mississippi and I was there for 12 years and learn to love everything about it. Southern food is delicious and just that, that spirit of, um community. It is very beautiful there. Yeah. So you continued university in Mississippi? What school did you go to Meridian Community College? That's where I started, really kind of moving from communications and journalism more into education. Um, and it was hard, it was very hard because now everything, I don't know, I think, like, I think Google has made everything so much easier.
And back then back then you had to go to the library and spend three days doing assignments and papers and it was very, very hard to do that. And then I finished my school online. It took me 10 years to finish school, 10 years and I don't regret it. It was worth it. Um, when I was teaching, I was still going to school, I had an emergency, what did they call it? A provisional license? And so I had to teach under my principal who knew, I mean, it was kind of funny when I think about it because he was in the classroom with me most of the time, he had to be for the time that I was teaching and he doesn't know Spanish, but he had to be there.
So many hours a week for me to be able to teach. Uh, it was the only way they couldn't find any other Spanish teachers. Red tape is interesting, isn't it? Something that was 20 something years ago? Hopefully they don't do things like that anymore. So, when you look back on your time in Mississippi, what's something that stands out is just, um, you know, a highlight to that time in your life other than the food. Oh, my gosh. Just being a mom. Oh, that was such a beautiful time.
I mean, I'm still a mom but my kids are 24 and 33 and sometimes I feel more of a, of a friend to them than a mom. And I love being their friend but I miss being a mom and there not only was I a mom but I was very young. So I was learning with them and we were learning together and I remember having a white boy in their room and just writing the alphabet and writing numbers and, and I've always been a teacher at heart. I've always been training and facilitating and, and I remember just teaching them how to read a small little three letter words, like hat or dog or bird or whatever.
That's four letters and just learning with them because I was teaching them to read and write in English. But I was also teaching myself. Yeah. And it was just a special time. We were learning together? Do you think it's the dependency they had on you that you miss so much because they're adults now, right? So, you say you're friends? Is that the draw? I'm curious because I, I've got a lot of Children myself and I'm like, in both stages, wondering what I'll miss. I think it's more of the nurturing part and the cuddly and the loving affection now it's like, don't touch me, don't hug me.
You don't even look at me. I'm a, I have to feel and hug and touch and kiss and they're more independent now. It's like, oh, come on, mom. So that time in your life looking, I mean, there's a lot going on. There's a total cultural shift. There's just a growth within your own, becoming a mother learning a language, going to school that could have easily fallen off. Right. You could have easily, just said I've got enough. Can't do one more thing. But you didn't, you keep pushing through?
Where does that drive come from? I think it's just always been there. I can't tell you, you know, it was because of a person or a thing or a class or something. It's always been there. It's part of your DNA, right? It is. It is. And it's not duty. It's almost like autopilot. It's something that is in me. Well, you said earlier, something about teaching being a calling, not a vocation. I'm curious even to that. How do you know how are you comfortable tapping into a calling?
I think it's just the comfort level that you have and the peace that you have and the fulfillment, the joy that you get when you do something, I feel like sometimes life moves you. It's almost like if you're swimming and then you have that undercurrent and this just kind of pushes you or drags you. There's a movement that happens and I think, I think um things that happened to us happened for a reason and they cannot lead you to a place or to a feeling or to a conviction.
And then once you realize that and you accept it, then you know that it just fits. Right. Well, that's where I think leadership comes in because I think leaders sort of have a natural tendency to be able to tap into that and listen to it and measure the data, but also move with instinct and I see that in you for sure. Yes, I always feel like I'm responsible like I have to do it. Like if I don't do it, who else is gonna, you know, gonna pick it up and run with it?
Yeah. And I think that's another key factors of is the risk factor there. Like leaders tend to accept the risk and it's not even like a risk to the leader. It's more of this like there's, for example, failure is not an option. So I don't even think about failure. I think you're probably the same way. So you just do these things because, you know, it has to get done, it has to get done and you want them to get done nicely timely well, and you want to inspire other people to action.
So if they see you doing something that needs to be done, maybe they'll want to join forces and say, can I help? What can I do? How can I support you? And leading by example, is a very good way to do that. For sure. I'm curious back into the Mississippi days. Um You're there, your family's gone, right? Because they're back in Puerto Rico, who, who's helping you through this transition? Is your husband at that time's family or is there somebody there that his family, his family, my first husband uh suffer from uh drug abuse?
And he, you know, he, he tried very hard. He was just a wonderful man. And even before he passed away, I remember visiting with him, he became very ill and I remember visiting with him and thinking to myself, knowing that he was in hospice, knowing that he was very ill and thinking, wow, the beautiful things that this person contributed. He was an artist, he was a musician, he was a, a great family man in spite of everything that he went through and he was so connected to nature and such a beautiful soul.
Um But unfortunately, he had to fight a battle that he couldn't win. And his family never had those problems. They were very religious and they were the opposite of him in terms of, you know, having very successful lives, having very healthy lives and they were so supportive and they helped me so much. Um, my ex mother in law just passed away last year. And that was very sad because she was a second mom to me, imagine coming into her family at 19. And she helped me raise my Children.
She taught me how to cook and do things that I never done before. And, and she really taught me more than just cooking and raising a family. She taught me how to act in faith and how to be proud of the work that I do. Um Whether it was something very mundane or something very special. She, she showed me how important it is to show pride in your work. Well, then, so transitioning now, somehow you're getting to Arizona. Is there some steps in between there or do you go straight to Arizona some about that.
So the company that I was working for, um, had a person that was a sales rep here in Arizona. He was retiring and they asked me if I wanted to move to Arizona. And I thought, well, I need a new start and, um, being divorced with three Children, what better place than Arizona to start little that I knew how hot it is here. I remember when I came here my first summer I cried, I cried. I thought, what have I done? This is terrible. I don't want to live here.
It's too hot. And I was doing sales in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, El Paso. And I was always driving and flying and going places and it was hot. Everywhere I went. I couldn't get away from the heat, you know, and I was just very miserable. And I told my realtor and I said, oh my gosh, I made a mistake. I don't think I want to live here. I want to move somewhere else. This is too hot and she said you'll get used to it. I'm like sis the crazy person that you get used to it, you know, some kind of torture.
I don't know. And so my kids were encouraging me to create a profile online and meet people, go out and just have fun and meet other people. And so my kids created a myspace profile. Now I'm really dating. Do you remember your song for your myspace page? Butterfly something butterfly lady or something like that? Not that I like butterflies as I point to my butterfly tattoo. But so that's how I met my husband and it's the best thing that's ever happened to me through my. So t this up, how does this luck meeting through my space?
Well, God knew that he was going to be the person for me. He's my person. My human and my love when we started talking, he was too busy for me every time we tried to do something. Oh, I'm playing golf. Oh, I'm going to watch something. Oh, this and that. I'm like, wow, this guy is not into me at all. And then six months went by and we finally decided to meet at, um, one of the ST Patrick's Day festivals in Mesa in 2006. And we've been together ever since.
That's awesome. Good old myspace is your favorite rose garden? I love how you tie a favorite something to each of your people in your life. Where does that come from? So you have favorite rose garden, favorite book, favorite poem, favorite painting, favorite superhero. We have the world that we live in, but then we have the world that we create for ourselves. And the world that I've created for myself since, since I was eight years old has all those beautiful things. And um some didn't materialize until, you know, a decade or two ago or three.
But I've always envisioned in my world, a beautiful garden, a beautiful story, a beautiful painting, a beautiful song, a favorite color. And they came to be in my family. I like that connection. OK. So you keep putting me in these moments of like, oh and then I have to ask the next question. So we're in Arizona now. What's next? What happens? So right now I just want to serve at a different level. I want to do something that I've never done before. I think what I want to do is I want to help people that are like me, people with brown skin, people with an accent, people with a journey that brought them here.
People with the desire to learn our language and our culture and the food and everything to be as happy as I am. I feel there's something that tells me that if much has been given to me, much is expected of me. If I can influence people to do and have what has made me so happy. Why not? How, how did you get to Gilbert and why Gilbert when I moved to Arizona? My realtor originally, when I was looking to move to Arizona, I was looking at Queen Creek because I thought, oh, this is kind of like Mississippi a little bit and my realtor kept saying, no, you don't want to go there.
It's too far. You travel too much. It needs to stay near the airport creak again. We appreciate all of our Queen Creek listeners. I'm curious, what made you think that was like the similarities between? I don't know, I just saw horses and I saw all the big yards and everything and I thought, oh, well, maybe that's a little Mississippi in Arizona, forget the trees and all the grass. It's just that. Ok. I got it. But um, so I ended up in Glendale and I did not like it.
I'm sorry, if any listeners are from Glendale, I just felt like I was, it was too crowded. It was too, it was different. I just felt like I just didn't fit in and, or maybe it's just mental. I'm pretty sure it's mental. I think it's just the trauma of my Children having all the difficulties that they had and, and that's when everything started going downhill for my two sons and they started following the footsteps of their dad. And, and it was, it was sad. It was very sad.
I was embarrassed. I didn't know how to help them and I just didn't understand the magnitude of the problem until it was just so big that I felt hopeless. Um And maybe that's why I don't like Glendale because that's where my kids begin to lose their battle. I see. And maybe because it's like East L A. It's so far away from here. Yeah. But, um, so when my husband and I decided when we were dating, um, he was living in Central Phoenix, but he was working in Chandler.
And, um, one of my good friends that I met later on became my broker. I'm also a realtor. And so we started looking and we found Gilbert to be the place I just fell in love with Gilbert from the beginning. I just, I don't know, I was meant to be here and we moved here in 2008. We've been in the same house. Same address, same place, same church, same everything. I feel like home. Yeah. It's, it's just, it's the longest that I've ever been in one house in one address.
I love it. You've been part of different organizations within the community as well. Talk about some of those, um, that you've been part of, that have kind of inspired you and, and, you know, you found joy in as well. My church is the first one. There for a while, I even thought about pursuing becoming a pastor because I feel that I have connection with people at a deeper level. But the politics of the church are so different nowadays that I just, I thought to myself, well, maybe I, maybe I missed something here.
Maybe I am still able to connect and help people, but not from the pulpit because I think, I think the pulpit is necessary, whichever that might be. But I think what is even more important is to get up and go and continue that work the other six days of the week. And I'd rather do that work. I'd rather just give up the one day on the pulpit and just work all the other six days outside other other things that I, I'm very proud of will be multifaith and just helping people see past family tradition and family religion.
And just realized that the whole world is so much bigger than what we think we know and what we have at hand and that humanity fits in a different mold than religion. And I think once we begin to see that we are all part of that mold and that mall doesn't segregate by religion or ethnic group, we begin to respect, understand and see each other from a different light. And I want to encourage people to realize that if we really make a choice to understand each other and not have to always be right and prove a point or convince somebody, I think people are going to accept differences and it's going to be ok and it's not going to make a big difference.
And that can be said with that can be said about anything, not just religion, it could be said about politics, it could be said about sexual orientation, it could be said about all sorts of things because ultimately, we, we all want the same thing and we can help each other achieve it. It's just changing our attitude and changing the way that we think we have to be to feed that mold. So for our town of Gilbert, um um just hosted uh uh um an event over the holidays in November.
And I am so proud and excited that we were able to bring a lot of different people together under one roof, Muslims, Jewish Buddhists, Christians, everybody was there. People from the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints and people from the Catholic church and people from nondenominational churches. It's just beautiful. And I would imagine when we cease to exist here, the next awareness is going to be a place like that where we're all together. It was cool. I like that vision. You mentioned it, but speak a little bit about your role for Town Gilbert and how you move that forward.
My role there is part of the board of directors and what we're trying to do is we're trying to kind of bridge the gap. Um Making sure that we engage people in social and volunteer events to help alleviate some of the burdens that our neighbors are facing. And within that I am helping with the multifaith movement and I love it. It's a perfect place for me to be. I think about the individuals on that, commit that board specifically. And there's a lot of leaders in that room.
I'm sure you work with leaders in so many different capacities through your many different roles. What are some of the leadership traits that you admire in others? I admire people that speak truth and I admire people that walk about in our shoes. It's the only way that you can understand the need and it's the only way that you can really commit from the heart. A me I think, I think this may sound like a cliche but mother Teresa, I mean, she, she wasn't interested in politics. Honestly, I think she wasn't even interested in religion as much.
She was just interested in helping her neighbors. And that's what made her the great person that we admire today. Um, I haven't heard anything negative about her. I'm pretty sure she wasn't perfect and, but even with any other negative trait, she's not remembered by those, she's only remembered by the fact that she gave up everything to help others and that made her a great leader. And that motivates me because my wealth and my happiness and my joy is in knowing that the pulse and the health of my neighbors in my community is good, is strong, is thriving, is hopeful.
It gets bigger and better. Why? Because I'm part of it because I'm feeding it and loving it and caring for it. That's what I want. Ok, we're going to go futuristic. Now, are you seeing real estate still be part of your journey or what do you think that looks like? Because you got lots of things going on. What's that future look like for you? Real estate? Probably will be always part of my journey because again, I love helping people. And I think having your own home, there is a sense of pride and joy.
It's like a baby and it's the hallmark of our society. Everyone wants to be a homeowner. And so I do want to help people with that. I love looking at houses, showing houses every house. I see that I like I want to move into the house. Yes, I know. So, real estate. Yes, I will, I will continue that. In fact, I have to renew my license in 2024. So I'm going to be very busy this year to commit to that one. Ok. What else do you see? What else do I see?
Wow. I don't know. I just see a lot of like meet and greets and um with Weekly Collective, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. And in fact, we have an event where we are going into Page Commons downtown Gilbert and we're going to be helping seniors with small um you know, lighthouse work and handiwork and then other community residents outside of Page Commons as well that might be needing help with their yard work and that keeps us busy and that's fun. And I just love going in people's homes and it kind of reminds me of my grandparents' house because you see things that, oh, yeah.
My grandparents used to have that there are certain things that you see or, I don't know, like a tea set or a television or something that you go. My grandparents used to have that triggers those memories. Yes. Um Just recently my friend met Melanie with the town Gilbert. We were working and helping this lady who moved to Page Commons from California and she brought with her a whole load of groceries and a lot of them, a lot of those cans were outdated and we were trying to let her know.
I don't think it's safe for you to have this much less eat it. We need to dispose of it. Oh, no, you can't throw this away. This is expensive and you know how much I pay for this. And it was just, oh, my goodness, we have to throw, I think we took like four boxes of things to the trash because she didn't realize that the date was expired. Um And it just makes me sad that sometimes people think that what they have is good and it's not either they can read or they don't want to accept it and, or maybe that's just a sense of security.
I have a pantry full of food. I may not be able to eat, it may be outdated. It, but I have a pantry full of food and it makes you realize what can we do to help them? There's an underlying issue here that we need to get to do. You need more food? Do you need to have a space for? Because maybe you're lonely, maybe you feel isolated. It makes you think there's a lot of work that we need to do here to help people, especially seniors.
Well, it's encouraging to hear that, that organization that you're part of does those great things. So, thank you for that. That's, that's very good contribution to the community for sure. Thank you. Well, I have appreciated the opportunity to learn more about you. Um You've been involved certainly through the chamber and through some of the activities, but great to just understand your story and where you come from and what makes you who you are. Thank you. Thanks for being fun. Thank you for inviting me. Now, you can tell you about it on your first podcast show.
There we go that many more to go. OK. So if you like this show, which I know you do join our tribe, subscribe and you'll get these in your inbox. Thanks for being here today. Thank you for listening. We hope to bring you some more shows soon, guiding growth, conversations with community leaders. Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast? This is going to be a great opportunity for so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard if they want to tell their story or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us.
So I think there's many opportunities at hand whether you want to again be on the show, reach out to us, let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out, let us know and we'll see if we can make that connection.
