[Opening Music]
Dan: So, we're back for the fall. We want to begin by pulling back the curtain and introducing our production team. Allison Baumbusch is our executive producer, she coordinates everything, keeps us on track, we could not do it without her. Amy Willard, our writer, beautifully and succinctly sums up every episode, writes transitions, captures the essence of what we're covering. And Jeremiah Prevatte is our producer who records, edits, provides music, makes it all happen. This is a magical team. Welcome.
Allison: Thanks.
Amy: Thank you.
Jeremiah: Thanks.
Dan: How are you all doing during the pandemic? I'll begin with that.
Allison: I think for me, I'm definitely missing my colleagues and being in the office. Otherwise, I'm a homebody so I'm not having a ton of trouble with staying at home.
Amy: I feel the same way. I miss the interaction with my colleagues but I'm a homebody, so that's not a big hardship to stay at home.
Jeremiah: I'd say that, similarly, I'm enjoying the time at home but traditionally I've kind of been pretty extroverted and this has been a really good time for me to lean into my introvert and get to know myself a little more.
Dan: That's a great way to see it and not be freaking out over that.
Dan: I want to get your reflections on the show to date. We have two challenges. One is not talking over each other since we're not in the same room, we can't see each other, I think we can handle that. The other challenge is mainly for me, and that's trying not to use the word pivot. I have a friend who is completely opposed. Everybody's using the word pivot everybody's pivoting and he's... so I'm going to try not to do that. I know we used it a lot last season because we pivoted quite a bit.
So let me take you back to the spring. I know that time during COVID is like dog years and trying to think back to the spring feels like eight years ago. At that time we asked ourselves if the podcast is still relevant and are we still able to do it working remotely? What do you remember most about that time and our consideration of whether to keep doing the podcast?
Allison: For me, I'm thinking of a text chain that was probably on spring break and our spring break was that last week before we decided to quarantine, right? I'm thinking of being in the kitchen and reading this text chain between all of us where everyone was let's do this, let's keep doing it and I remember thinking to myself, are they crazy? I just thought, I don't know how this is going to work. I knew we were after some specific experts on campus who would be super busy at the same time, and while the spirit of recording was exciting, I just thought I don't know how these experts are going to be available.
Dan: So, Allison, as the person who's booking everybody, scheduling everybody, figuring out the dates you were concerned that people are going to be swamped and how are they possibly going to be able to be available to do these interviews?
Allison: I thought for sure they wouldn't be available but they were... even if they weren't available, they suggested others, everyone was willing to jump in and just get started. So that was a huge relief. It was exciting to be able to continue.
Dan: What about you, Jeremiah?
Jeremiah: I'm just really enjoy being part of this team. I do kind of have, hey, let's try it out, let's test our limits sort of attitude. I think coming from the spring season which was skin of our teeth season, we were kind of, okay, this is doable. I was concerned about same thing Allison was, yet I really liked it because I don't think I had realized how big of a defining moment or defining time the spring to summer to fall of 2020 was going to be. I'm really glad that we just kind of, I don't know, led with our guts in some ways, and we just like, let's do it. It really paid off I think when I look back and I see what we covered and we've really tried to contribute at this time. I think that part of this podcast is kind of always been how do we help people help others? That altruism and having a platform actually to use our voices it was just a synergistic time.
Dan: Well, I remember one of the first things was you got me a headset and you're like here, you need this. What about you, Amy?
Amy: I think I had similar concerns. Those first two weeks of spring break and staying at home were absolutely insane. I mean, as you know, because you and I worked pretty closely that those two weeks getting information out the door. I think just worried about where to find the time to be able to do the podcasts, especially since we were going to be doing it every week. But at the same time, that's always been a concern with the podcast but because it's something we feel so strongly about, we find the time. And thinking about whether it was appropriate it was sort of what is more redefining than this time. So it seemed like we need to do the podcast.
Dan: That's what I remember most is having those conversations around the relevance and I think we all agreed that it's very relevant now to be talking about redefining. That seemed to make a lot of sense and absolutely time was a consideration.
So when we made that decision and made the shift, the course correction, the change up, what stands out for you most?
I'm going to jump in because it's kind of a similar question, but here's what jumps out for me is once we made that decision for me, it was yes! Exclamation point. This is something to look forward to, I love the team, it's fun, we're going to be able to come together and it's going to feed my curiosity, I'm going to be able to learn. But it was a stressful time and it was something I could look forward to and we made a commitment to do it every week. Then I really was excited because I knew at each week it was something I could look forward to.
Allison: I think the excitement from listeners as well was very apparent. We were getting contacts saying, oh, you should try this person. Oh, you should interview that person. For me to hear from our faculty experts sharing that we're not alone in this was really comforting.
Jeremiah: So for me, I was just hearing the passion and the knowledge of our colleagues. It's definitely inspiring every episode that I've done I take away something, I take away something that months later I'll think of and say, oh, that's a frame shift for me right now. I think it really help me understand what was going on and this really broad understanding of what was happening in our world.
Dan: I want to piggyback on that and maybe I'll start with Amy. We had so many great subject matter experts in so many nuggets and pearls of wisdom. What resonated then that you remember, or maybe still resonates now?
Amy: I think I really needed to hear some of those messages and I think especially, I think it was Sarah, and then it was Dr. Phil, those two messages were really impactful and I think when I really needed to hear at the time. Sarah talk about ambiguous loss, yes. Sarah, talk about ambiguous loss. I hadn't had a name for that before and so that was pretty impactful. Then I think Dr. Phil just talking about the importance of self care and I guess really just pacing yourself this was something I needed to hear.
Dan: Those really were the perfect way to get started. I totally agree with you. I had come across the term ambiguous loss a number of years. Previously hearing an interview with the person who coined the phrase and it resonated at the time because of my experience with disease and my father-in-law was living with us at the time and had dementia. So it recalled all of that but to put that label on COVID and what we were experiencing really resonated. Then one thing about what Dr. Phil said that really resonated with me was he talked about a battle rhythm that you get your news in the morning, maybe a briefing at noon, and then at the end of the day, and that's it, you just go about your work, you don't just keep checking the news. I needed to hear that because we're as communicators, constantly checking news. My wife had the news on the lot and I was just getting just overwhelmed and needed a break. So I started getting into that rhythm that helped me a lot. Alison, Jeremiah, you have other things that jumped out.
Allison: Yeah. Something else that Dr. Phil said was we are not working from home. We are trying to work from home in the middle of a pandemic. I thought, yes, that's the reframing that I needed to hear at that moment.
Amy: I actually wrote that down and pinned it over my desk. Because that also was really resonated with me.
Dan: I think a lot of people did.
Jeremiah: There's a couple things. One for me was just hearing about the public health approach to the situation and the gaps in resources that are available to some people versus others. And how people are trying to fill that with be it the language barrier, for instance.
The other one that I think about regularly is living longer better.
Dan: Yes.
Allison: Mmm hmm.
Jeremiah: Why don't I want to live longer better. And it gave me insight into a saboteur that doesn't want me to be healthy and was a whole of the status quo and I think of Professor Reed talking about going... she likes to do it on a nice long run and since then I started running.
Dan: Oh wow!
Jeremiah: I see what she means. It's still really tough. But I see what she means.
Dan: The other thing she said that really resonated with me was when she said that health is really the absence of illness, but wellness is many other things. We put those in our show notes and I researched them a little further, these seven aspects of wellness. It made me start to think, as part of self care, am I looking at the balance of the broader spectrum of wellness that made a big difference for me as well?
So when we think about the format was quite different, we just spoke to one person subject matter expert. We didn't have quite the storytelling arc that we had been doing before. What do you feel was lost and what was gained by that difference?
Amy: Well, like you said, we didn't have the story arc, but I think the other thing was I don't think they felt as reflective. I mean, we did talk and have in depth conversations and I think we've already explained how valuable those conversations were, and maybe because it didn't have as much of a view with the reflection at the end
Allison: I think that was also a benefit though. Many of us have said I couldn't focus on a movie or I can't read a book right now. There was just so much coming out of so quickly just to speak with them one person and just here one topic of advice, I think per episode was really helpful. It was kind of a relief to not have to work at it.
Dan: It helped me from a concentration standpoint. It also was nice because we are separated by distance. Just talking to one person. I felt they were a guest in my home. I felt I was really welcoming them in and just being able to talk to them. That was nice.
Let's talk about the summer a little bit. My hiatus — like we’re a real podcast — not that I actually took a break. I didn't go anywhere, there's nowhere to go. But we had some wonderful readings by professors and a student. What stands out for you or what did you like best about that approach?
Amy: So I think as a writer, I was just really inspired by the creativity and just the talent I found that really inspiring.
Allison: The talent of our community is awesome. And to be able to take time and hear them read their own work it was another kind of relief. It just felt lighter. Even when the topic was heavy, it just felt lighter. The student reading at the end from the novella “Guppy” it really inspired me to reconsider what I'm reading. She was just so entertaining. It made me really want to take a look at what I'm reading and consider more fiction.
Jeremiah: I really like just the experimental aspect of it. This is a learning for all of us. How do we do something new? How do we bring our colleagues into the fold? Amanda in particular-
Dan: Who played your role over the summer.
Jeremiah: Exactly. So in a lot of ways it's sharing the love like that and just coming up with new ideas, how do we cut a bunch of poems together? Another thing that is a benefit which I think I heard from Dr. Mayhill, she said that she was excited and it was a compliment that we asked her to read her piece. So I think that it's inspiring to those people who we reach out to. These individuals — throw on my media psychologists hat — they have a greater tie to the brand, even though they work here or they're former students. There's a tie to AACC now because we did this and there's a heart that is genuine about that. There's a genuine connection which comes from these guests and different formats and reaching people in different ways that we just build relationships with. That's something that spans all the seasons but particularly with kind of being in the middle of COVID and people taking time to create on their own, and then being willing to share that with us.
Allison: The new connection as well. I've never met Candice in person before.
Dan: You haven't.
Jeremiah: Are you kidding me?
Allison: I've never met Candice in person. I met her through a faculty group that was being held at the beginning of a quarantine. I was invited to join and we just connected and we worked together all summer, and I've never met her.
Dan: And she knocked it out of the park. It was really great to be a listener. I loved hearing all these diverse voices and loved all the readings and interviews, but particularly Candice, she just as a host great questions, great insight. Just loved it. It was wonderful.
What do you envision for the fall? What are you looking forward to most?
Jeremiah: I am looking forward to digging into equity work and continuing to build relationships and to learn from people.
Amy: I think for me it's to continue the stretch. I was just realizing when Jeremiah said about learning and experimenting and I was thinking this whole thing has kind of been learning and experimenting. In that this time last year we were still figuring out what we were getting into. I thought that thought and then I was like was that really just last year? And it was. I think continuing to stretch and expand our knowledge and our abilities. I've enjoyed that a lot and I think that I'm looking forward to more.
Allison: I think this format recording remotely finally feels home. I feel we tested something out, we gave it a try, it works really well, and it's a lot of fun. So it's a good relief I think during the day to know a podcast recording is coming up.
Dan: That's what I'm looking forward to most. I get enormous joy from talking to people and hearing their insights. So I'm really looking forward to that and I think we have found that the Redefine theme is hardly a single event. It's a continuous thing, and we are constantly reinventing ourselves and certainly that's happening right now. So I'm looking forward to exploring that further.
I want to ask a little bit more about each of you, some other thoughts beyond the podcast. So to start, what else do you do? What's your day job?
Allison: Well, in creative services, we oversee all things design for the entire college including video digital, any small amount of print that we're doing at this point. It's been a huge shift for the team to move into a digital environment without print. We were kind of print heavy, so this has been a good stretch and a good challenge to move into a digital environment.
Dan: That's Alison, our creative director, her actual title is creative director.
Allison: Yes.
Dan: How about you, Amy?
Amy: So, I'm the web content manager. I oversee all that you can see on the website. It's the simple way to say it. So the images, the text, the copy, I do my best to make sure that we're telling a clear story and clear messages that people can understand and that are as accessible as they can be.
Dan: Jeremiah?
Jeremiah: My title is media producer. What producers do in television and film production and even in music production is just kind of take things from the start to the end, gather resources and kind of... and my job is fill in where needed. So I'll take projects from concept through script to screen, as I say. That will require me, sometimes taking off roles in that process. And Amanda Barons does the pretty much the same thing.
Dan: We have been busy
Jeremiah: We put out three ads in the span of four months and that's unprecedented.
Allison: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan: Doing all that and then doing the podcast, we've just juggled so much. I get to take all the credit that you guys... You guys do all this stuff and then I get the credit. Let me ask you, during this period of COVID what has been missing most? Or what have you missed the most?
Jeremiah: Hugs.
Allison: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan: So true. So true. Something I realized it just sort of hit me recently. In our family we go to church regularly and so that ritual. My wife sings in the contemporary choir. I really miss that ritual and just getting out. We love theater and shows and art in general. I really am missing the arts community and being able to go see things live.
Jeremiah: I'm glad you said that because that's my passion outside of work is I'm a musician. So going to play shows, even going to band practice, all that stuff is not possible right now in a lot of ways. Sure there are virtual avenues but the same old things that we used to do, practice weekly, play shows once a month, it's just not doable.
Dan: Yeah. Amy, Alison, what are your thoughts?
Allison: I realized the other day that I have not gone to any shows also like Jeremiah, an indie music fan. I haven't gone to any shows in 2020, and that was a really brutal realization.
The other thing I just missed is this being in the office. We are still working so hard but we don't have a lot of time for personal talk. It's more just all business, once you jump on a video chat, you start chatting about work and you finish up and then you move on to the next thing. So sometimes meetings run a little bit longer if you just start can get into some personal conversation, but I just miss that, being able to stop by someone's desk in the office and catch up on whatever.
Amy: For me, I have a huge extended family and we haven't really seen them this whole time. I've seen my parents I think twice? And my aunt who is like a parent I've seen her a couple of times outside on our deck but beyond that we haven't been able to get together. I definitely miss that.
Dan: What about the flip side? What have you gained and maybe even hope to retain?
Allison: I've definitely gained 10 hours a week in commute time, which is pretty nice. Kind of revisiting some old hobbies and things like that with that time, which has been a lot of fun. I think just being more mindful, being able to... not that I didn't take walks on campus but just take walks around the neighborhood at lunchtime. It's funny how when you're faced with an hour at home how much you can get done. So like I'll start prepping for dinner during lunch time, or I will run an errand and that's all a funny concept for me at this point so.
Dan: It's a different type of balance like you're working constantly. It feels like turning it on, turning it off is so much harder, but at the same time you're squeezing different things in and able to strike a little bit of balance there hopefully.
Allison: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan: For me having family altogether we have one in college and our daughter is a senior in high school. So we're not used to having everybody under the same roof for such a long period of time. I found that really wonderful. So I hope that I'm able to carve out or we as a family can carve out meaningful family time well into the future. We're seeing the empty nest looming and so I hope we can retain some of that where that was a wonderful time to be together, let's find ways to continue to have meaningful family time.
Jeremiah: I definitely agree with that. The telecommuting is definitely something that I want more of. We have dogs and I love my doggies and being able to be here. One of our dogs has some pretty weird health issues. So it's just nice to be able to be around to have a little more care. They're very supportive too, they love having us around-
Dan: Every day you bring your pet to work day and they love it. It's great. We've referred on the podcast to lightning strike moment when the outside world forces us to change clearly that's happening now. How do you think we're redefining ourselves collectively in these times?
Amy: I think several of our guests said when we did our series of pandemic episodes that they felt like they were more focused on what was the most important to them. I feel that has definitely been a theme, and it's a theme that I feel I also have been a part of. I seem to be more hyper aware of the things that I'm thankful for, the things that I have to be grateful for, as well as the things that are the most important to me.
Jeremiah: I think everything in the world outside of me feels really amplified. Maybe that's because my main view of the world is through social media or whatever other media. But it just seems while things are quieter and more simple in some ways, because it helps us reflect as Amy was saying. I think it's definitely a discovery time as well. Because I don't know that we've been challenged to really look at what is most important to us personally and our vision for the world until now and that's been a good wake up call.
Allison: I think many of us were going at an unsustainable pace before the pandemic. Personally, even in our homes thinking about those who have kids just sports practice after sports practice running here, there, everywhere eating dinner in the car that type of thing. I know for myself I got up at 5 a.m. every day and that's what my day started with the commute in there. To refocus on self care has been a big shift and I actually had someone tell me that I looked different and I just thought, why would that be? Oh, lots of rest, giving myself time to rest, giving myself permission to rest and not just go go go and be constantly busy has been really healthy, I think.
Dan: Hopefully people are getting more balanced. It is definitely some people that are just have so much going on and there's so much loss. There's really a deep sense of loss, many people are losing jobs and income and ways of life and such, and certainly people of color literal loss of life and so out of all that I can only hope that from deep loss comes rebirth and renewal. That whatever that is, or whenever that is I'm just hopeful that as individuals, as communities may be even as a nation that we see a renewal. We're seeing it in the earth. People are commenting on you, Alison, we're also noticing the earth is seeming healthier. So I hope all of this means that leads to a sense of renewal.
Any other thoughts on how you're redefining as we wrap up?
Amy: So, I as a writer and former English major, I never in a million years thought I would take a science class for fun. I am taking botany because I have so enjoyed our garden and the yard this year that I thought no, I want to know more about it and how things are working and why things don't work. So yeah, I'm taking botany.
Dan: Excellent. That's great.
Jeremiah: I've really been digging into my yard literally and figuratively. I definitely have … I find this nice little place that I can have a narrative about who's the good guy, who's the bad guy. You know, crab grass is out. This other type is in. So yeah, it's just something that's it's a low-level kind of... what I want to say? Mindless engagement in a way. So that's been fun to have that and have it be my horticultural lens and connection to earth.
Allison: Definitely, and being able to just being able to observe nature more, just watching my garden grow, literally watching it grow every morning, going outside, having the time to check on it, see how things are doing, make adjustments. I've always had a garden but I've never paid that close of attention. So I was able to solve an issue that I've had for years with the garden, just because I had more time to pay attention.
Dan: One thing I noticed early in COVID was I would go outside particularly at night and it was so quiet. It reminded me of when it snows heavily and no one's out on the roads. No one's really traveling. It just was so quiet, at first it was eerie but then it became so pleasant and now it's not like that. We get getting all that ambient noise and ambient light.
Dream team, thank you for your time, thank you for your insights, your hard work. I really look forward to this season.
Allison: Us too. Thanks, Dan.
Amy: Thank you.
Jeremiah: Yeah, Dan, thank you for your leadership.
[Credits]
Redefine U is a production of Anne Arundel Community College. Our Executive Producer is Allison Baumbusch, our producer is Jeremiah Prevatte, and our Writer Amy Carr-Willard. Others who helped with this podcast include Amanda Behrens, Angie Hamlet, Ben Pierce, and Alicia Renehan. Find show notes, how to subscribe, and other extras on our website aacc.edu/podcast. I’m your Host and Creator of this podcast, Dan Baum. Thanks for listening.