Speaker 1: You are listening to What in the Winkler and iHeartRadio podcast. Hi,
Speaker 1: welcome back to another episode of What in the Winkler. Today,
Speaker 1: I have a very special guest. I feel like I
Speaker 1: say special guest every single time because all the guests
Speaker 1: that come on this show are really special to me.
Speaker 1: I either have worked with them, know them from growing
Speaker 1: up and impacted some way by them, admire them. And
Speaker 1: today I have also Marie Collins, who is my partner.
Speaker 1: And this is about humanity, which is something that we
Speaker 1: talked about a little bit last week when we were
Speaker 1: talking about fires and fire relief in ways we can help.
Speaker 1: Elsa as a social impact strategist and humanitarian known for
Speaker 1: her work in advocacy and community building. She's been raised
Speaker 1: between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. She earned her bachelor's
Speaker 1: and master's degree from Stanford University, and she got a
Speaker 1: jurist doctor from Columbia Law School. I don't even know
Speaker 1: what that means, but she's extremely smart and I'm lucky
Speaker 1: lucky life that she's my partner with. This is about humanity,
Speaker 1: and we actually call each other partners in good because
Speaker 1: we work together to hopefully make this world a better place,
Speaker 1: no matter how big or small the issue may be.
Speaker 1: So let's welcome Elsa.
Speaker 2: Hi.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited. I am so excited you're doing this.
Speaker 1: And I haven't talked about This Is about Humanity that
Speaker 1: much on the podcast, and that part of my life,
Speaker 1: which is such a huge part of my life, hasn't
Speaker 1: been shared that much except for last week when we
Speaker 1: were talking about the fires in La So I thought,
Speaker 1: what better way to talk about this is about humanity
Speaker 1: than to have my partner in good on, Elsa Collins.
Speaker 1: So apart from This Is about Humanity, you also have
Speaker 1: co founded several organizations PoTA Ristas I am a voter.
Speaker 1: Are there more?
Speaker 2: But the ones that matter, the ones that it's almost
Speaker 2: like when when I'm passionate about something or an issue
Speaker 2: comes up, instead of just like sort of being like
Speaker 2: I'm gonnaet involved, like I'll just start a whole new
Speaker 2: thing and try to figure out how to how to
Speaker 2: help and solve or show up for folks. And I
Speaker 2: think that's one of the most amazing things that we
Speaker 2: get to do with This Is About Humanity is really
Speaker 2: figure out how to help other people show up and
Speaker 2: create this incredible community. So I think more than anything,
Speaker 2: whether it's paddistas, I'm a voter, this is about humanity,
Speaker 2: whatever it might be. I think that like my favorite
Speaker 2: part about all of it is just building that community
Speaker 2: and then seeing all the ways that we can get
Speaker 2: them engaged and involved.
Speaker 1: Do you want to talk a little bit about who
Speaker 1: we are at This is about humanity and how we
Speaker 1: came to be partners. And we also have a third
Speaker 1: partner at Yolanda, who is actually Elsa's sister. Yep, and
Speaker 1: she is also So there's three of us. There's three
Speaker 1: of us, and their sisters were all three moms. And
Speaker 1: I'll let you take it from here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, gosh, this is about humanity. I think you know,
Speaker 2: Zoe and I sort of knew each other. We had
Speaker 2: seen each other at our you know, neighborhood spin class.
Speaker 2: We liked to go to this.
Speaker 1: Speak clear, I was in the back row and Elsa
Speaker 1: was riding the podium, which, if you know, is a
Speaker 1: big deal. So let's be clear, Okay, we were we
Speaker 1: frequented the same class, but it was not the same workout.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well we were both there, okay, okay, And you
Speaker 2: know we would see each other at you know, the
Speaker 2: larder grabbing coffee after. Obviously she's born and raised in La,
Speaker 2: as my husband is as well, so definitely like knew
Speaker 2: her and knew who she was and just kind of like,
Speaker 2: you know, she was in La. She's so La, you know.
Speaker 2: And so anyways, long story short. Twenty eighteen, obviously family
Speaker 2: separation became more well known, more people were finding out
Speaker 2: about it, more people were, you know, having really strong
Speaker 2: feelings about seeing families being separated and being from Tequana,
Speaker 2: my sister and I, you know, I had gone to
Speaker 2: Texas to protest what was going on, and I just
Speaker 2: remember on the flight back being like, that's so weird.
Speaker 2: I went all the way over there instead of focusing
Speaker 2: on what I'm sure is happening, you know, right in
Speaker 2: the backyard of where I grew up, and you know,
Speaker 2: obviously only a two hour drive from LA. So it
Speaker 2: really started as a donation drive. And I remember I
Speaker 2: had just posted something like, hey, if you want to
Speaker 2: give to the kids who are separated, like DM me
Speaker 2: and I wish I could go. I wish you had
Speaker 2: a history of that, dam But Zoe dm me back
Speaker 2: and she was like, I don't know, She's like I
Speaker 2: want to be doing whatever this is. And I was like,
Speaker 2: I don't know what this is, but amazing, and so
Speaker 2: she you know, you really just so many people showed up,
Speaker 2: but I think I just remember you saying it has
Speaker 2: to be more, and like, I can't be going to
Speaker 2: sleep crying and thinking about these kids and not really
Speaker 2: doing anything. And it was so amazing to see how
Speaker 2: you just turn that passion into like here we are
Speaker 2: six years later, you know, and like I can't believe
Speaker 2: how much we've grown just as an organization. And yeah,
Speaker 2: that was the beginning, you know.
Speaker 1: I remember that moment so clearly because it was a
Speaker 1: defining moment in my life. And I had just had Gus,
Speaker 1: who's my third, and he was one, and I was
Speaker 1: seeing the families be separated, and I remember seeing this
Speaker 1: image on the news of a mom crying and her
Speaker 1: two year old daughter just kind of looking up at her,
Speaker 1: and I just said to myself, like, I can't this
Speaker 1: is I cannot do I can't do nothing. I have
Speaker 1: to do something. And I obviously didn't have any background
Speaker 1: in this, and so I didn't know where to start,
Speaker 1: but I just knew that I had to start saying something,
Speaker 1: and I felt like the only thing that separated me.
Speaker 1: I've said this one thousand times with that mom and
Speaker 1: me was where I was born. Because at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I felt exactly what she was feeling like.
Speaker 1: I could just see her face in that picture and
Speaker 1: I knew what that must have felt like as a mother,
Speaker 1: and I just I don't know, I'll never forget it.
Speaker 1: And there's been so many things in life where you
Speaker 1: see something and it just feels too big, so you're
Speaker 1: just like, you know what, Ugh, that was horrible. Let's
Speaker 1: move on with our day, because if you stay in it,
Speaker 1: it feels so huge and like you can't make a difference.
Speaker 1: So you just move on. And I feel like weird
Speaker 1: proof like this is about humanity as proof that you
Speaker 1: can make a difference. You know, you can start small
Speaker 1: and then you can grow into like a larger scale,
Speaker 1: or you can just stay in your community and organize
Speaker 1: in your community. You could do whatever, but you have
Speaker 1: to do something. You can't just sit back and do nothing.
Speaker 1: And you have been like the most integral part of
Speaker 1: that and teaching me that because there I ask you
Speaker 1: a thousand questions a day and you just have this
Speaker 1: ability to mobilize people and lead people in a way
Speaker 1: that is so it doesn't make anyone feel less than
Speaker 1: or dumb, like I've never seen anyone like it.
Speaker 2: Well thanks, and I for sure, especially in the growth aspect,
Speaker 2: I don't want you to minimize, you know how integral
Speaker 2: you've been to grow just for people knowing and giving
Speaker 2: kind of validation, especially you know in a city like
Speaker 2: as amazing as Los Angeles', you know, to get people
Speaker 2: to buy into something new could sometimes be hard and
Speaker 2: people want to know, like, well, who is it and
Speaker 2: what is it really doing? And and so you know,
Speaker 2: I I remember, you know, in the very beginning getting
Speaker 2: to know you better, and and I'm not going to
Speaker 2: name any any brands or businesses, but I remember one
Speaker 2: of my very first sort of like oh she can
Speaker 2: really she has influenced this girl. She had ordered a
Speaker 2: cake from a place for I think it was.
Speaker 1: Fourth birthday, fourth birthday, and.
Speaker 2: They messed it up. I can't remember what the issue was,
Speaker 2: but it was not right. And when I tell you,
Speaker 2: in one day, she had taken it down, like she
Speaker 2: took them down. And I was like, okay, it's not
Speaker 2: just that it.
Speaker 1: Wasn't right, it was that they all they made me
Speaker 1: pay for it still, and I was like, wait, this
Speaker 1: is not okay.
Speaker 2: So she was like it was like her personal mission
Speaker 2: to be like you're done, and everyone I know is
Speaker 2: done with you as well. And by the way, like
Speaker 2: I've never done any business with them ever again, but
Speaker 2: just to say that, like when you flip that to
Speaker 2: helping people and to getting people involved and getting people engaged,
Speaker 2: it's like, you know, you can you ask people to
Speaker 2: do stuff and they show up. You know, I ask
Speaker 2: people and I and my sister and it's like, I
Speaker 2: do think that you know, we're not asking people to
Speaker 2: do anything that we're not doing ourselves that we haven't
Speaker 2: like looked into ourselves, that we haven't you know, thoroughly vetted.
Speaker 2: You know. I think that's one of the most incredible
Speaker 2: things about this is about humanity, is how careful and
Speaker 2: how precise we want to be to be able to
Speaker 2: point take people down the line of like you gave this,
Speaker 2: and here is actually something that you can see that
Speaker 2: came from it. And so it's really been an amazing
Speaker 2: it's been an amazing journey, like truly.
Speaker 1: And there were challenges along the way. I mean, we
Speaker 1: you and I had to learn how to work with
Speaker 1: each other. We all three of us had to learn.
Speaker 1: You know, you guys are sisters, but you had to
Speaker 1: learn how to work with each other. There were challenges.
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest challenges is that people
Speaker 1: think that we are like a political organization, and that
Speaker 1: is not at all who we are. We are We
Speaker 1: are not affiliated with politics in any way. Do you
Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think the name says it all,
Speaker 2: you know, I think that we and by the way,
Speaker 2: the name part it was funny because you know, we
Speaker 2: started as a donation drive, so many people get I
Speaker 2: mean I really unknowingly volunteered to receive all the donations
Speaker 2: at my house.
Speaker 1: I actually posted a picture last week for your birthday
Speaker 1: and it was from our first and it was just
Speaker 1: your entire house was filled with boxes. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think we got over like five hundred boxes and donations.
Speaker 2: Well, I thought I was gonna be we were gonna
Speaker 2: be like driving it like in my like Sue don't.
Speaker 2: I don't know what I was thinking, but it was
Speaker 2: basically a fire hazard and we were like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: I wonder if we as part of this kind of
Speaker 2: idea of being accountable. We'll take people and we'll take
Speaker 2: the donations down, and we'll get to meet families and
Speaker 2: they'll get to see what's going on, which is what
Speaker 2: we did. And I remember specifically, we're on the drive
Speaker 2: back and someone's like, like, so, when's the next bus
Speaker 2: And we were like we I don't know where we
Speaker 2: going to do another bus? Were we going to do more?
Speaker 2: And then someone said what are you going to call this?
Speaker 2: And and Mandana Diana, a good friend of ours who
Speaker 2: was on that first bus, who had actually who had
Speaker 2: gone to the protest with me, was like, remember you
Speaker 2: wrote on your poster in the protests, like the maybe
Speaker 2: like a month before I had written down this is
Speaker 2: about humanity, because it's what I felt that we were
Speaker 2: talking about. We weren't talking about politics, we weren't talking
Speaker 2: about parties. We were literally talking about human beings. And
Speaker 2: like what we were going to say was like okay
Speaker 2: or not when it comes to being like a human
Speaker 2: being and how we respect other humans and how we
Speaker 2: treat each other. And so we like from the very beginning,
Speaker 2: really couched ourselves in that lane. Is like we're not
Speaker 2: we're talking about families. We're talking about children and we're
Speaker 2: talking about humanity. So I think, yeah, I think it's
Speaker 2: something that we've really tried to stay very closely aligned to.
Speaker 1: And we started, you know, we started as a donation drive.
Speaker 1: We moved on. We started doing one fundraiser, like one
Speaker 1: big fundraiser a year, which it was a dinner and
Speaker 1: it was all chef driven, so it was this really awesome.
Speaker 1: So the first year it was thirty people in my parents'
Speaker 1: front yard and.
Speaker 2: Why think we begged them to come.
Speaker 1: We begged people to come. We were like, we will
Speaker 1: do anything for you to come to this degree, we
Speaker 1: will feed you. And there were and we've worked with
Speaker 1: incredible chefs like Michelin Star chefs, and we've grown. Now
Speaker 1: it is still at my parents' house, but now we've
Speaker 1: taken over the front and the backyard and we have
Speaker 1: about three hundred and fifty people. So we got from
Speaker 1: thirty people to six years later, three hundred and fifty people.
Speaker 2: And by the way, and we have to like cap
Speaker 2: it like we literally we have.
Speaker 1: Because we want to keep it well. First of all,
Speaker 1: we want to keep it at my parents' house because
Speaker 1: the location is free, and also there's something really we
Speaker 1: want it to feel really uh cozy and homie and
Speaker 1: we couldn't exist without our volunteers. So we really, you know,
Speaker 1: we but but but where we've come from. We just
Speaker 1: we just got an email and I had to go
Speaker 1: over and read the email. We are under we are,
Speaker 1: we we are. We have a fiscal sponsor, which is
Speaker 1: International Community Foundation, and Letty emailed us and do you
Speaker 1: want to say how much we've granted out in the
Speaker 1: last six years?
Speaker 2: Yeah, two point four million dollars.
Speaker 1: So we we went from being like begging people to
Speaker 1: come six years ago and getting thirty people to come
Speaker 1: to a dinner to granting out two point four million
Speaker 1: dollars to organizeas that are helping these families. And I,
Speaker 1: for one, like, I can't, I can't even believe it.
Speaker 1: I'm so proud.
Speaker 2: It's kind of wild when you really think about it.
Speaker 2: You were like, how you know, how like you said,
Speaker 2: we started off so small. We started off being like
Speaker 2: will you give soccer balls and journals and you know,
Speaker 2: ms crayons, stuffed animals, And now we're like in a
Speaker 2: place where we're you know, funding mental health programs that
Speaker 2: are servicing you know, LGBTQ community youth teams, adults, we've got,
Speaker 2: you know, we've done several infrastructure projects. We've built bathrooms,
Speaker 2: we've built second floors, We've like, we've done so many
Speaker 2: things that came from just trying to just starting with
Speaker 2: one thing. And so I think it does. It does
Speaker 2: go to show you, like you were saying, that you
Speaker 2: can do something. I mean, I'm not sure everybody wants
Speaker 2: to start a whole organization, because as you said, like,
Speaker 2: there are definitely I'm sure days where we're like what
Speaker 2: are we doing? Why are we doing this? One hundred
Speaker 2: can be stressful.
Speaker 1: I mean we also also have like other things going on.
Speaker 1: I have a podcast, you have forty million things. I've
Speaker 1: never met someone as busy as you. We both have
Speaker 1: three kids. She goes to every single game, She travels
Speaker 1: around the country. I've never seen like. She goes to DC,
Speaker 1: she goes to all these places, she works on policy,
Speaker 1: she does all of these things. I'm like tired just
Speaker 1: listening to her or watching her.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I always say I'm better when I'm busy.
Speaker 2: But yes, sometimes I feel like, you know, like with
Speaker 2: anything in life, you can really just be like, did
Speaker 2: we you know, bite off more than we can handle.
Speaker 2: I think there's always ups and downs in anything, you know,
Speaker 2: even in this amazing organization that we have, like with
Speaker 2: anything in life. But I do think when the north
Speaker 2: star that I think we've always sort of gone back
Speaker 2: to is the good that we're doing and the impact
Speaker 2: that we've had, It's like it's worth the growing pains.
Speaker 2: It's worth you know, whatever might have happened or occurred
Speaker 2: or whatever challenge we're facing, you know, dinners this that
Speaker 2: the other I think that we've always sort of just
Speaker 2: kept that as like the true goal of the org,
Speaker 2: and that's really what's kept us, I think, so authentic
Speaker 2: to who we are. You know.
Speaker 1: I was thinking, like, not only do you do you
Speaker 1: have like these thirty million jobs, but you have these
Speaker 1: three kids? And then your husband is a coach of
Speaker 1: the Pelicans, and so he's gone on so like it's
Speaker 1: gone months, a's gone.
Speaker 2: How do you leave in September and he comes back
Speaker 2: sometime and like maybe late April?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, you, how do you feel like you
Speaker 1: balance it? And then if there is a moment where
Speaker 1: you might like not be able to balance it, like
Speaker 1: what do you do?
Speaker 2: I mean I think the thing, well, I have like
Speaker 2: two really hard and fast rules that I that I
Speaker 2: completely adhere to and that are like in me and
Speaker 2: I believe completely. One of which is I just genuinely
Speaker 2: don't abscribe to mom guilt like I don't. I don't
Speaker 2: think it serves me any purpose. I don't think it
Speaker 2: serves any mom any purpose. And if if you're allowed
Speaker 2: to let it go, I highly encourage it. And I
Speaker 2: also feel that, like taking care of me is super
Speaker 2: important so that I can handle whatever else is coming. So,
Speaker 2: like Zoe said, you know, I used to love spinning.
Speaker 2: I mean, basically, setting some time aside for myself to
Speaker 2: work out is doably important to like the success of
Speaker 2: my day. And I know that sounds insane, but it's
Speaker 2: actually true. So, like in the morning, I need three
Speaker 2: things I need to work out for at least twenty minutes,
Speaker 2: and that's like my minimum. Sometimes it's only twenty minutes.
Speaker 2: Sometimes I can do longer, but like twenty minutes has
Speaker 2: to happen. I have to get my coffee and I
Speaker 2: have to eat this muffin that I really love.
Speaker 1: This muffin. This muffin has traveled all over the world
Speaker 1: with her.
Speaker 2: This muffin has traveled. I've had this muffin every day
Speaker 2: for maybe the last ten years, except for like in
Speaker 2: really dire circumstances when like it didn't live further than
Speaker 2: like five days in China or something like that. But like, anyways,
Speaker 2: so when I have all of those things, I feel
Speaker 2: like I can handle whatever else is going to happen
Speaker 2: because I already did all the things that like nurture
Speaker 2: me and make me feel really ready.
Speaker 1: You've added eggs to your morning routine.
Speaker 2: I have. I've added eggs and protein.
Speaker 1: Guys, this is it brings it in a thermos. We
Speaker 1: take bus trips to the border, and she brings the
Speaker 1: muffin on top and then eggs and protein on the
Speaker 1: bottom of the thermist.
Speaker 2: Yes, which I feel like now everyone knows my super quirks.
Speaker 2: But I feel like in the last two years, you know,
Speaker 2: women getting older, bone density whatever, lifting has become way
Speaker 2: more important. And so yeah, I've been eating more more protein.
Speaker 2: And then the other thing is I sort of feel
Speaker 2: like I have to accept that I'm kind of only
Speaker 2: doing everything at thirty percent. Now. Granted my thirty percent
Speaker 2: is probably like everyone else is like eighty percent. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but correct, I'm you know, it's like I'm I'm getting
Speaker 2: to someone's birthday and i can only stay for an hour,
Speaker 2: but then I'm gonna go to that screening that someone
Speaker 2: had because I really want to show up, and then
Speaker 2: I'm gonna you know, And so I'm kind of like
Speaker 2: going like this and barely eking everything out. This morning
Speaker 2: was a really good example of me feeling like I
Speaker 2: didn't have it all under control.
Speaker 1: I'm ready, bab.
Speaker 2: It was. It was a crazy morning. So my son,
Speaker 2: my youngest, he's twelve, I'd been telling him for a
Speaker 2: couple of days like, hey, I want to cut your nails.
Speaker 2: I want to cut your nail and this morning I
Speaker 2: was like, I cannot let him go to school with
Speaker 2: his nails like that, Like that's just how my brain works.
Speaker 2: So it's like, com merebody, I'll cut your nails real quick.
Speaker 2: And I was doing it real quick and oh did
Speaker 2: I Oh no, oh okay, No, he was not okay.
Speaker 2: He was gushing blood. I was like, oh my, I
Speaker 2: was literally like, is a chunk of his finger it's
Speaker 2: barely hanging off. I mean, it was so dire. So
Speaker 2: I'm like putting water on it. I'm schoozing out and
Speaker 2: putting alcohol and I'm just thinking, yep, I do not know.
Speaker 2: This is not good, guys. This is and this is
Speaker 2: where I'm like, you know, I'm I'm doing all of
Speaker 2: my first aid techniques and by the way, I called
Speaker 2: the pediatric later, I did everything right. His TENNUS is
Speaker 2: up to date. Because of course, I call my husband
Speaker 2: on the way to school and he's like, you know,
Speaker 2: first why he's mad because it's on his shooting hand
Speaker 2: for light pinky bad news, because this is a basketball thing.
Speaker 2: He has all sorts of opinions about why this happened.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, well, you know you're not here, so
Speaker 2: we're just gonna say that. And you know, and even
Speaker 2: with the fire and all the stress and everything that
Speaker 2: was happening this last week, I was just like, you
Speaker 2: just have to trust that I'm well trying to do
Speaker 2: the best I can and be making the best decisions
Speaker 2: I can at the moment for like mental and physical
Speaker 2: well being for our children. Yes, I messed up and
Speaker 2: I cut his finger. That was me, guys. But I
Speaker 2: definitely was driving to school being like, yep, okay, this
Speaker 2: is this is when maybe and it's like something as
Speaker 2: like crazy as that that makes me feel like I'm
Speaker 2: just doing too much. I cut his finger.
Speaker 1: I'm doing too much well, to be fair, cutting children's
Speaker 1: fingernails is extremely stressful.
Speaker 2: Yes, and I use the wrong clip.
Speaker 1: I could do you ever take a day off? I
Speaker 1: don't even know the answer to that. Honestly, I would
Speaker 1: say no. I don't think you too like in life
Speaker 1: like you you don't take a workout day off.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know when we go on buses, which
Speaker 2: will you very early? And I want to be ready
Speaker 2: at a certain time because people start showing up, Like
Speaker 2: I will set my alarment through forty five and work
Speaker 2: out to make sure I get that work out in. Yeah,
Speaker 2: there have been in this past year. I could probably
Speaker 2: count on one hand when I've not gotten it in
Speaker 2: because of some just situation where I just couldn't figure
Speaker 2: it out.
Speaker 1: And do you notice the difference?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I always say like I And by the way,
Speaker 2: it's not like every day I'm going I'm doing something crazy,
Speaker 2: but I am doing something every day. But the days
Speaker 2: that I don't, I definitely feel like I could have
Speaker 2: gotten it in, and I it just it gives me
Speaker 2: like a I'm just dissatisfied, truly, and I just feel
Speaker 2: like I could have just done something. I could have
Speaker 2: walked for twenty minutes and it would have been and
Speaker 2: that would have been better than nothing. But it is
Speaker 2: sort of like a mental It's just a mental thing
Speaker 2: that I like check off in terms of like am
Speaker 2: I do I ever just like lay in bed and
Speaker 2: do nothing? Like I don't even know, No, you don't,
Speaker 2: that's the answer. You know.
Speaker 1: It's funny because you taught me. I think something and
Speaker 1: I talked about this a couple of weeks ago that
Speaker 1: like sometimes my anxiety, I'm a really anxious person. You
Speaker 1: do not have that issue. You are not anxious, and
Speaker 1: like if somebody is like maybe like you have this
Speaker 1: ability where if someone's kind of like being a jerk
Speaker 1: or an asshole, you're like, it's not about me, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like you have that and like
Speaker 1: where I will obsess over it until like three months
Speaker 1: from now, maybe even six, and I think, but one
Speaker 1: of the things forever, well, one of the things you've
Speaker 1: taught me that I is like the quality of showing up.
Speaker 1: And I think that it's such an important thing because
Speaker 1: so many times you'll think like, oh it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: if I go, like they won't notice, or there's so
Speaker 1: many people there or this gives me anxiety, and I
Speaker 1: just like don't want to do it. This I get
Speaker 1: like for me, I get like social anxiety. But you
Speaker 1: show up for everyone in your life, and I think
Speaker 1: it's such an amazing quality and it makes people it's
Speaker 1: it's underrated, Like I don't know that people know how
Speaker 1: important it is to show up. And that's something you've
Speaker 1: taught me. And I just I think, I don't where
Speaker 1: did you learn.
Speaker 2: That, you know. I think that, like I'm the youngest
Speaker 2: of five, right, so you're always trying to you know,
Speaker 2: be I think like there in my you know, upbringing,
Speaker 2: there were like the three older kids and then the
Speaker 2: two younger kids. There's a five year gap between the
Speaker 2: three older and then me and my my my brother Charles,
Speaker 2: and so I think that like, you know, they would
Speaker 2: take they would travel and we would be home and
Speaker 2: things would happen like without me a lot and so
Speaker 2: and then you know, when it was just kind of
Speaker 2: like you know, the younger two of us with my mom,
Speaker 2: there was a lot of hey, you gotta like take
Speaker 2: care of yourself. Like I remember my first job when
Speaker 2: I was uh, I think I just turned six. Team
Speaker 2: but it was I really got my first job because
Speaker 2: my mom had gotten to visit my older sister, Caroline,
Speaker 2: who was living in New York, and she had left
Speaker 2: my brother Charles money while she was gone. He was
Speaker 2: he probably was like a maybe he was like a
Speaker 2: senior in high school and I was a sophomore or
Speaker 2: even a freshman. No, I was a sophomore. Anyways, Okay,
Speaker 2: so she leaves, she leaves him the money. Three days later,
Speaker 2: we have no more money, like genuinely, like he's blown.
Speaker 2: I don't know what he's done with it. And so
Speaker 2: like I'm going to school and he's like, hey, we
Speaker 2: need like toilet paper, just like grab some from the bathroom.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, I'm not going to steal the toilet
Speaker 2: paper from the school bathroom, Charles. And so I call
Speaker 2: my mom and I'd be like, are you coming back?
Speaker 2: And she's like, well, I've extended my trip whatever. Anyway,
Speaker 2: So long story short, I was like, OK, yeah, I
Speaker 2: guess I gotta go get a job, and so like
Speaker 2: that this idea of just like I like and just
Speaker 2: I remember that being like the first time of like
Speaker 2: I just got to be a self starter and figure
Speaker 2: things out and so and then I think that like
Speaker 2: even when once I started to have kids, and your
Speaker 2: life seems so full of things and so busy, and
Speaker 2: it's the easiest thing in the world to just stay home.
Speaker 2: Trust me, I totally know it. And I will go
Speaker 2: through some periods where like I do genuinely be like
Speaker 2: I'm just not going to do anything. But it really does,
Speaker 2: as I said, like sometimes when you're only showing up
Speaker 2: for twenty minutes or whatever, like because this is maybe
Speaker 2: in some cases that person's most important thing that they're
Speaker 2: planning or putting on something for work, something they've worked
Speaker 2: really hard on, you know, a special event, and I
Speaker 2: just feel like letting people feel seen is so important,
Speaker 2: and honestly, I get such joy out of it. I
Speaker 2: really do, Like I love just showing up for folks,
Speaker 2: and so I think it is kind of like a
Speaker 2: superpower and it's hard one. It's hard to do, but
Speaker 2: I do think it served me like so well, just
Speaker 2: in my whole life, just my friendships, my relationships, you know.
Speaker 2: And then sometimes like when you start a new organization,
Speaker 2: you're asking people to show up for you. They want
Speaker 2: to show up because you've been showing up for them,
Speaker 2: and so I really genuinely feel like it is it
Speaker 2: is just this relationship that we both have with with
Speaker 2: people and that people feel, you know, like sometimes I've
Speaker 2: had people, you know, when we first started, who wanted
Speaker 2: to come on a trip, who wanted to come on
Speaker 2: a bus and like you know, schedule travel, and it
Speaker 2: took them five years to come on a bus and
Speaker 2: then when they finally come, they're like, thank god you
Speaker 2: didn't like stop inviting me, Like, thank god I still
Speaker 2: got the emails because one of the dates actually worked
Speaker 2: and now in here. And so I think that consistency
Speaker 2: is also super important to me, Just being really consistent
Speaker 2: with like the work that we do, like the work
Speaker 2: that I do. Just that is is really important to me.
Speaker 1: We've talked about the bus, but I don't think we've
Speaker 1: explained the bus. So bus trips are something that after
Speaker 1: we did that first trip to San Diego, we started
Speaker 1: just brainstorming and we thought it would be so incredible
Speaker 1: to actually take people to Tijuana to see what is
Speaker 1: going on there and hear from these families because there's
Speaker 1: so much information misinformation about these families that are you know,
Speaker 1: waiting to come to this country. And I felt like
Speaker 1: for me as a Jewish person, it was my duty
Speaker 1: to hear from these families because a huge part of
Speaker 1: seeking asylum was created during the Holocaust when families were
Speaker 1: coming here and America was accepting these families that had
Speaker 1: been affected by World War Two. So it's it's always
Speaker 1: been a really something that I don't know, it's just
Speaker 1: like it it it to me feels very connected. But
Speaker 1: so these bus trips we leave in the morning at
Speaker 1: six am, five forty five am. We take about thirty
Speaker 1: to forty people with us and we drive down to
Speaker 1: Tijuana on a bus that has a bathroom, so don't worry,
Speaker 1: and we go and visit. We opened a relief kitchen there.
Speaker 1: Do you want to talk about the kitchen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we run a relief kitchen in partnership with
Speaker 2: ICF and Flumesabe. It is feeding three thousand, one hundred
Speaker 2: asylum seekers and migrants a day at twenty seven different shelters,
Speaker 2: including an accompanied minor, children, families, women, LGBTQ individuals, and
Speaker 2: six days a week. So it's it's really like I said,
Speaker 2: like we literally started as a donation drive and now
Speaker 2: you know, we're feeding people every day. We're gonna we're
Speaker 2: on track to serve a million meals in this year,
Speaker 2: and so it's kind of mind boggling to think how
Speaker 2: how we've grown, and like the number of people who
Speaker 2: are just impacted by the programs and by the donations
Speaker 2: and the support that we get is exponential. You know,
Speaker 2: it's just we can't even I mean, we try to
Speaker 2: measure it, but it's really you know, you can't really
Speaker 2: measure sometimes like the value of like a warm meal
Speaker 2: and feeling like you know, people are there for you
Speaker 2: and like you have that support. And so we go
Speaker 2: and we volunteer at the kitchen and then usually we
Speaker 2: have a service activity that's related to one of the
Speaker 2: shelters we're going to. Sometimes, you know, during Pride Month,
Speaker 2: we'll go to the LGBTQ shelter. You know, it just depends,
Speaker 2: and you know we always say like, well, your your
Speaker 2: life will change in one day. Truly. I mean I've
Speaker 2: seen people who come on buses who have gone back
Speaker 2: and just been like mind blown, you know, just just
Speaker 2: a different perspective and appreciation for you know, what we
Speaker 2: have in our own lives. And so it's it's I
Speaker 2: joke around because I'm so anal about you know, when
Speaker 2: I send the emails. I'm like, okay, here's everything you need.
Speaker 2: Here's the schedule. You know, we leave at five point fifty.
Speaker 2: If you're running late, text me. And everyone's always like joking,
Speaker 2: like have you ever left anybody? I'm like, yeah, we have,
Speaker 2: we have.
Speaker 1: We Remember we had Jane from Zoop, Yeah, from Goop.
Speaker 1: She came to write a story and we left her and.
Speaker 2: She drove Yeah, she's to be fair, she drove herself
Speaker 2: down and then jumped on the bus. But but it was,
Speaker 2: you know, like she's like, where are you. I'm like,
Speaker 2: it's six ten. I said six we left, We left,
Speaker 2: but yes, to her credit, she drove down and joined us.
Speaker 2: But I'm I'm always really, you know, I think people
Speaker 2: are surprised, but it's a it's a pretty uh it's
Speaker 2: a lot of operations and logistics, so you know, it's
Speaker 2: a tight shure. Yeah, five to seven minutes could be
Speaker 2: two more hours on the way back for traffic, So
Speaker 2: you know, I'm really And.
Speaker 1: By the way, I want to be clear, we leave
Speaker 1: at like five five fifty in the morning and we
Speaker 1: come back by seven pm the same day, so we
Speaker 1: don't spend the night there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, And we have lunch.
Speaker 1: Had an amazing restaurant, and every single.
Speaker 2: Type because every yeah, every bus is different. Every bus
Speaker 2: has like a different by the way, you had some
Speaker 2: people who come on like twenty buses, right, and I want
Speaker 2: to be clear, but every bus has a different like
Speaker 2: all amazing but different vibe, different focus, sometimes different personality.
Speaker 1: And on the way down, everybody introduces themselves, which some
Speaker 1: people hate, some people hate, but everyone and I love
Speaker 1: themselves that I know, it's my favorite part. And they
Speaker 1: say like what they do for a living, why they're what,
Speaker 1: what brought them to come on this trip? And I
Speaker 1: love it so much.
Speaker 2: And also crazy to see people out in the wild
Speaker 2: and they're like we do on our bus, you know.
Speaker 2: Or they'll you know, people have gotten my jobs off
Speaker 2: of the bus. They might make contacts. I'm waiting for
Speaker 2: the dating marriage to yeah, the bus. What do think?
Speaker 1: What's something about running a nonprofit that you think people
Speaker 1: would be surprised to learn?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, there's so many rules. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of rules.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of rules, like you know, for instance,
Speaker 1: like even just during this this fire relief situation, like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of thought and there's a lot of
Speaker 1: there's a lot of rules that you have to follow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's definitely a lot of rules. And then I
Speaker 2: also think that you know, not everything is is going
Speaker 2: to be great. I think that's that's really you know,
Speaker 2: giving back is amazing and the impact you have is amazing.
Speaker 2: But sometimes like it can be it can be hard,
Speaker 2: and it can be onerous, and you can think like
Speaker 2: why why are we even doing? You know, sometimes I'll
Speaker 2: be like, no good deed goes unpunished, Like I remember
Speaker 2: the remember the bus where like they didn't send a
Speaker 2: bus and then we were like an hour.
Speaker 1: Late and you were you were beside yourself.
Speaker 2: I know I was gonna say, I don't have anxiety,
Speaker 2: but I definitely like to be in control. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: things that I cannot control are where I sort of
Speaker 2: feel like, okay, this is yeah, and so that was
Speaker 2: just like so awful.
Speaker 1: But I think we've had events sometimes that like didn't
Speaker 1: go the way we wanted. You know, we'll do we
Speaker 1: do like these drives, we do a holiday party, We
Speaker 1: do a Best Birthday Ever, so like a birthday party
Speaker 1: for kids that so we work with Immigrant Defenders Law Center,
Speaker 1: a pro bono law firm, and we've done events for that.
Speaker 1: We work with them, we love them, they are credible.
Speaker 1: But We've like done an event where afterwards I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: that wasn't the best we could do for you guys.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, you know, like, oh that didn't work. Let's
Speaker 1: do this. It's a lot of troubleshooting because it's and
Speaker 1: a lot.
Speaker 2: Of learning, like a lot of learning. First bus to
Speaker 2: I don't know now we're like fifty five buses in.
Speaker 2: You know, there's there's a lot of things that we've learned.
Speaker 2: You know, with every bus we come back with some
Speaker 2: type of learning how we want people to experience today.
Speaker 2: And by the way, sometimes there's nothing we can do
Speaker 2: about it. Like sometimes we can't. There's so many factors
Speaker 2: that are just out of out of our control that
Speaker 2: you know, we we try to do the best to
Speaker 2: have it be a great experience, and I think it
Speaker 2: always is. But because we know all the things, we
Speaker 2: can be super.
Speaker 1: Nitpicky about it, and because we want people to leave
Speaker 1: the experience any experience with us feeling a certain type
Speaker 1: of way, you know.
Speaker 2: And I also think I guess the other thing just
Speaker 2: about running it out or just like having an organization
Speaker 2: or nonprofit is like what do you want it? And
Speaker 2: it sounds weird, but like, what do you want it
Speaker 2: to feel like? Because I do think you know, we
Speaker 2: have a really clear idea of what we want everyone's
Speaker 2: interaction with this is about humanity to feel like. We
Speaker 2: want it to feel easy. We want it to feel
Speaker 2: like inclusive and inclusive. We want it to feel like
Speaker 2: you can just show up and that's all you need
Speaker 2: to do, Like you can invite your friends, can you
Speaker 2: can align yourselves, You'll find community, and.
Speaker 1: That it's not all about money. Like yes, money is
Speaker 1: a huge part and a very necessary part for us
Speaker 1: to be able to keep the kitchen running, keep building
Speaker 1: these learning libraries, keep doing all of these things, keep
Speaker 1: having these events. But it's also about your time, like
Speaker 1: giving your time and and and showing up for these families.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're so when we go to these events,
Speaker 1: when we host these events, when we go to Tijuana,
Speaker 1: the families are so happy that we're there. They feel seen,
Speaker 1: they like our goal in those days is not to,
Speaker 1: you know, look at these families and feel bad for them.
Speaker 1: Our goal is to look at these families, hear them,
Speaker 1: and then and then and then make them feel like
Speaker 1: we hear them, we see them, they matter, and they're
Speaker 1: not forgotten. You know, like those are the things that
Speaker 1: that is our goal, and that's how we want people
Speaker 1: who volunteer to feel as well.
Speaker 2: I know, I was talking to you know, we just
Speaker 2: had our holiday party and I was talking to Veronica,
Speaker 2: a good friend of ours who had gone to volunteer
Speaker 2: with her daughter and her daughter's best friend, and she
Speaker 2: told me, like, hey, I was talking to Sage and
Speaker 2: her friend and they said, you know, we we've like
Speaker 2: felt like okay, we're going to go volunteer to be fine.
Speaker 2: But they were just saying that the experience of how
Speaker 2: they felt just even interacting with these families, that it
Speaker 2: ended up being so much more and so much more
Speaker 2: meaningful than they ever thought it could be. And like
Speaker 2: that to me was like, ah, the highest you know,
Speaker 2: sort of like affirmation that like okay, no matter what,
Speaker 2: like we're doing good and and people are feeling like
Speaker 2: they're impacting people's lives. And we've had people who come
Speaker 2: on buses, you know, like Bronico, who stayed in touch
Speaker 2: with families who continue to help them. You've you know,
Speaker 2: been a sponsor of a legal sponsor for aye.
Speaker 1: I'm a legal sponsor here for a family from Honduras.
Speaker 1: They have three children, a mom, and a grandchild. And
Speaker 1: I mean it's changed my life, its changed my kid's life.
Speaker 1: I will say that holiday part my mom was in
Speaker 1: the hospital and I was not my best self. I
Speaker 1: could not stop crying, but no one knew. So it
Speaker 1: was like I was just like I almost felt like
Speaker 1: and then I'm so grateful that I have these two
Speaker 1: incredible partners who I could say, like, I'm not okay.
Speaker 1: But Ace for his bar mits for project this year,
Speaker 1: raised money to do a toy table at this UH
Speaker 1: holiday party, so that he raised over fifteen thousand dollars
Speaker 1: and it was a table like as long as the
Speaker 1: warehouse filled with toys that he picked up better, it
Speaker 1: was better.
Speaker 2: And also like he actually was like very specific and
Speaker 2: intentional with what yeah picking.
Speaker 1: He was picked every toy.
Speaker 2: People were into it, because sometimes you've have toy tables
Speaker 2: where I'm like, I don't know that people are that excited.
Speaker 2: But it was like every toy was.
Speaker 1: He went age by age, you know, he really he
Speaker 1: was very but I was so proud of him, and
Speaker 1: that day was so emotional for me and I think
Speaker 1: I came up to you and I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm not well, so I'm going to meet you to
Speaker 1: help me out. And that is like partnership at its finest.
Speaker 1: I think in those moments, you know, in the moments
Speaker 1: where we're learning from each other, you are very very straightforward.
Speaker 1: You are You're moving a million miles a minute. I
Speaker 1: am more sensitive. So it took us a second two.
Speaker 1: I would be like, are you mad at me? And
Speaker 1: You'd be like, I'm not thinking about you and I'd
Speaker 1: be like, oh, okay, okay.
Speaker 2: You know what.
Speaker 1: We had to really learn.
Speaker 2: How to That was actually a funny. That was a funny,
Speaker 2: like memory, remember that time when we thought we were
Speaker 2: never going to be friends again and then somehow we
Speaker 2: were sell it. I mean, it was that story basically
Speaker 2: where Zoe was like, are you mad at me? Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you called me privileged? I did, and
Speaker 1: I was like, I.
Speaker 2: Like, when I tell you, I did not. We didn't.
Speaker 2: We both did not know if we were going to
Speaker 2: come back from that.
Speaker 1: I literally was like I'm done.
Speaker 2: This is She was like fuck this shit, and I
Speaker 2: was like and to me, you know, but that was
Speaker 2: the first time.
Speaker 1: So just to be fair. Like when we started this,
Speaker 1: I really didn't. I didn't. To me, privileged was a
Speaker 1: negative connotation. Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you meant it
Speaker 1: that way too.
Speaker 2: We had just come back from a bus, mind you. Okay,
Speaker 2: I've just been in charge of forty five people's safety
Speaker 2: well being all the things.
Speaker 1: Because we had to cross back.
Speaker 2: Yes, like by the way we go to a different country,
Speaker 2: we come all the way back right Like we've heard these,
Speaker 2: you know, heart wrenching stories where you cry, You're like,
Speaker 2: oh my god. And you know, we get on the
Speaker 2: we usually talk right after the bus to be like, hey,
Speaker 2: what had you think this? That and the other? And
Speaker 2: she's like in the first thing she does is were
Speaker 2: you mad at me? And I was like, no, babe,
Speaker 2: I no.
Speaker 1: No, I think I texted you on the bus.
Speaker 2: No, no, but yes, right after we got on the
Speaker 2: bus from gatatas are you mad at me? And I
Speaker 2: was like, no, not mad at you. Again, I'm a
Speaker 2: super straight forward person. Not mad at you means I'm
Speaker 2: not mad at you.
Speaker 1: I'm not used to super straight for our people.
Speaker 2: Sorry, I don't know, I guess the very beginning. Just
Speaker 2: so we're clear, Just so we're clear, this was like
Speaker 2: bus three. Okay, this is bus three year, this is
Speaker 2: not even your one. This is like month two. We
Speaker 2: get home, she calls me, hey, Babe, I just wanted
Speaker 2: to make sure you weren't mad at me. And I
Speaker 2: was like, I literally told you I wasn't mad at you.
Speaker 2: And she's like, but I'm pretty sure you were mad
Speaker 2: at me. I'm pretty sure you were mad at me.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, Babe, I was I'm not mad at you,
Speaker 2: nor was I mad at you, although I'm getting kind
Speaker 2: of mad right now.
Speaker 1: We've had we've had moments like we communicate completely differently
Speaker 1: and we have completely different backgrounds. So like like.
Speaker 2: I like, babe, so I literally say, I wasn't even
Speaker 2: I were not even thinking about you, Like when I
Speaker 2: got on the bus, I'm making sure that I'm counting
Speaker 2: how many people like and so this is why I said.
Speaker 2: The fact that you think that I'm mad at you
Speaker 2: or I'm thinking about you like might be it just
Speaker 2: I did say privileged. And and then by the way,
Speaker 2: it was like a nuke went off.
Speaker 1: By the way, that moment I'll never forget because I
Speaker 1: was able to say, like I was able to think
Speaker 1: about it and take a few days, and I am privileged.
Speaker 1: And that does come with sometimes thinking that without even
Speaker 1: knowing it, you think that your importance or your needs
Speaker 1: in that moment are like them. And and so I
Speaker 1: had to learn and I had to check that about
Speaker 1: myself because to me, it was always like, how do
Speaker 1: I you know, I never wanted that to be but
Speaker 1: but but I had to realize, like, Okay, this is
Speaker 1: part you are who you are and learn to be better,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: But it was such an important again, and one of
Speaker 2: the things that I so appreciated about that moment and
Speaker 2: even our relationship in the years after, is that you
Speaker 2: genuinely do want to like you want to know, like, hey,
Speaker 2: if there's something I need to work on, Like, I
Speaker 2: genuinely want to know.
Speaker 1: You're the same way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, I have like a healer. You know,
Speaker 2: you got all sorts of people who will tell you
Speaker 2: all the tricks and things and I need I need
Speaker 2: to get the cliff notes. But yeah, I'm the same
Speaker 2: way too. By the way, I'm I'm always you know, it's.
Speaker 1: Actually got you a session with my healer and you
Speaker 1: loved it.
Speaker 2: No, I did love it. I really did that way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we we both I think that is something we
Speaker 1: both do and and it and and and the relationship
Speaker 1: has grown so much in six years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, by the way, I think that I it really has,
Speaker 2: you know, becoming partners and working closely with you has
Speaker 2: really helped me be more sensitive to you know, two
Speaker 2: different ways of communitydling, communicating, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Like I think for me, who's such a as you said,
Speaker 2: like straightforward person, you know, like if I were mad
Speaker 2: at you, I would just be like I'm mad at you,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? And so I so it
Speaker 2: was always confusing, like I what no I And then
Speaker 2: you know, and for someone again who like measures every
Speaker 2: output of everything, I was like okay, Like and then
Speaker 2: you got to know me better and you would now
Speaker 2: like if she were mad, she would say out.
Speaker 1: But we started this, we were not friends like we
Speaker 1: know each other and we would say hello to each
Speaker 1: other and maybe give each other a hug and yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, but we were not like we were not
Speaker 1: super close. We didn't and we really like our friendship
Speaker 1: grew as the years have gone on, Like there were
Speaker 1: years that we just like in O and we would
Speaker 1: sort of like we were just going going down the
Speaker 1: road and we were working really hard and we were
Speaker 1: respectful of each other, but we weren't like hanging out,
Speaker 1: you know. And I only feel like in the last
Speaker 1: couple of years we've really grown to to get to
Speaker 1: know each other as human beings, not just partners in business.
Speaker 1: And I'm so grateful for that. I'm so thankful.
Speaker 2: I know, same same. I think. You know, sometimes, you know,
Speaker 2: we'll be having a conversation about something and you'll bring
Speaker 2: something up and I'll be like, yeah, no, not even
Speaker 2: about me, just like in general, like this thing happened
Speaker 2: or like this person said this, and I'll be like, literally,
Speaker 2: not about you. Yeah, it's And I think that that's
Speaker 2: one of the things again that is showing up I'm
Speaker 2: really good at. The Other thing I'm really good at
Speaker 2: is like, literally I don't teach anything personally, Like I don't.
Speaker 1: I've never met anyone like that. But you genuinely you're
Speaker 1: not just saying that you don't. And I'm always like.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I'm literally like, oh, I don't even care
Speaker 2: like whatever, And I do feel like but it's it's
Speaker 2: a I think it's an important skill because you know,
Speaker 2: you always want I always want people to feel like
Speaker 2: they can always come whenever they can, show up whenever
Speaker 2: they can, and so a lot of times, I think,
Speaker 2: especially in the nonprofit space, there's like pressure to do things,
Speaker 2: to show up to whatever, and I'm like, great, like
Speaker 2: we'll be here. This is going to happen regardless, So
Speaker 2: like extra points if you're there. If you're not, the
Speaker 2: people who are there are going to be super excited.
Speaker 2: I'm going to be super excited. And I do think, again,
Speaker 2: what do we want? This is about humanity to feel
Speaker 2: like we wanted to feel like a no pressure situation,
Speaker 2: and so it really, it really has been an amazing
Speaker 2: experience and also just an incredible way to even in
Speaker 2: this time, you know, with the wildfires that are happening,
Speaker 2: be an organization that can think about like, okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: we usually focus obviously our north stars on these families
Speaker 2: have been affected, but guess what, some of those same
Speaker 2: families are being affected by this fire, and some of
Speaker 2: the people in their extended family have been affected by
Speaker 2: this fire. And some of our donors and our support systems,
Speaker 2: some people who have helped us build this organization to
Speaker 2: what it is today, have been everything.
Speaker 1: Why don't you why don't you tell a little bit
Speaker 1: about like what we are doing for this wildfire relief situation?
Speaker 2: Oh we I think we all maybe even on that
Speaker 2: day as some of us were, you know, Zoe and
Speaker 2: I live in LA.
Speaker 1: We live in West LA. We were packing up, we
Speaker 1: were both packing up to evacuate. We're like, well, what
Speaker 1: are we going to do?
Speaker 2: Yeah, what are you doing? Are you leaving? Are you
Speaker 2: saying what's happening? And so I think even while that
Speaker 2: was on our minds, we were also thinking like, how
Speaker 2: do we set something up where we can really Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: how can we help? And it's just as the trusted organization,
Speaker 2: how can we do our best to support other organizations?
Speaker 2: And so we launched the This is About Humanity Emergency
Speaker 2: Fund for that Los Angeles wildfires, and we are supporting,
Speaker 2: you know, frontline workers, second responders, immigrant families, and individuals
Speaker 2: impacted by by the fire. We're you know, supporting organizations
Speaker 2: on the ground who are giving emergency relief, cash assistance,
Speaker 2: legal services, you know, essential needs, necessities. And I think
Speaker 2: in a longer in the longer run, we will also
Speaker 2: start to get engaged a little bit more in like
Speaker 2: housing assistants and getting people sort of set up to
Speaker 2: for a longer term, you know, solution. I think it's
Speaker 2: like it's such a dynamic situation. I mean, even right now,
Speaker 2: I think the Palisades fire is only twenty seven percent contained,
Speaker 2: you know, the eat and fire a little bit more.
Speaker 2: So it's not like it's over. And of course, now
Speaker 2: since we've all become meteorologists and wind experts, I know
Speaker 2: that the wind is going to be picking up in
Speaker 2: on Monday, and so talk about like I don't have anxiety,
Speaker 2: but I also am now addicted to the watch study
Speaker 2: app and I know all sorts of things about buyers
Speaker 2: and so so yeah, so it's an amazing way that
Speaker 2: we we have this ability to show up for people
Speaker 2: when we can, and so I think it's been an
Speaker 2: amazing experience we had. You know, we set out an
Speaker 2: urgent call for fifty thousand dollars EVA Longoria match to
Speaker 2: fifty quickly, and by the way, we probably have had
Speaker 2: over two thousand donations come in, which is incredible, you
Speaker 2: know for an organization like we're pretty small still, by
Speaker 2: the way, to have that kind of support from everywhere
Speaker 2: has just been really impressive.
Speaker 1: I think it's also important to my dad always says
Speaker 1: this whenever he talks about organization, but there's no staff,
Speaker 1: it's the three of us, and then he's our fiscal sponsor.
Speaker 1: Like that's it. There's no like, there's no warehouse like
Speaker 1: the warehouse has been our garages like it is. You know,
Speaker 1: we are like a very thin grassroots organization that is
Speaker 1: able to help people. Don't like donate where where it
Speaker 1: is going to be safely and and respectfully attributed distributed.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I feel like, you know, we some people
Speaker 2: be like, so who should I see see? I'm like me, Yeah,
Speaker 2: there is no assistant, there is no you know, X person,
Speaker 2: And so sometimes it makes me laugh because I, you know,
Speaker 2: I dream of having someone help me do something. But
Speaker 2: you know, then by the time I think about like that,
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, I should just do everything myself.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't feel like delegating is your is
Speaker 1: your is your strong suit?
Speaker 2: Mmm? I mean if I could like clone myself, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: I would love to delegate to to another me. Yeah
Speaker 2: for sure, I would like that. Yeah. No, it's been
Speaker 2: you know, these past this past week has just been
Speaker 2: obviously challenging for so many people, obviously, people who've lost
Speaker 2: everything and people who've had to evacuate people who've been
Speaker 2: close to areas. You know, I think there there is
Speaker 2: this sort of collective like, you know, we're all not
Speaker 2: all of our shoulders are just up a little bit,
Speaker 2: you know, and we we just want to do the
Speaker 2: best we can for our community, you know. And I
Speaker 2: think that that's that's kind of where we're at right now.
Speaker 1: I know that you have so much on your plate,
Speaker 1: but if you could like magically start one more thing,
Speaker 1: what would it be?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Oh let's see you could add like one more project,
Speaker 1: what would that project be?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. You know, I would love to have
Speaker 2: someone sort of say, hey, you've been on the ground
Speaker 2: in so many different places and spaces. You've seen important
Speaker 2: work that grassroots ors are doing, different individuals in different spaces.
Speaker 2: Like here is like, here's a blank slate for a
Speaker 2: blank slate for you to make the change that you
Speaker 2: think is best and go out and do that. Because
Speaker 2: I think that, like, you know, as a I have
Speaker 2: a consulting company, and I do a lot of work
Speaker 2: in a social impact space, and you know, it's depending,
Speaker 2: it's dependent on different projects and different focuses, and so
Speaker 2: sometimes I'm like, you know, this is recumended is a
Speaker 2: good example, right, this is not this is not our job, right,
Speaker 2: We're not getting paid.
Speaker 1: We don't make it. We don't make a sense, we.
Speaker 2: Don't make a sent we don't take a salary, you know.
Speaker 2: But it is very genuinely like a project that I
Speaker 2: would do like in my regular work, except for that
Speaker 2: it's a passion project that we do because it's you know,
Speaker 2: it matters to us and it's important. And so I
Speaker 2: think that a version of that, you know, but in
Speaker 2: a broader in a broader way like elsa, go make
Speaker 2: some change, and.
Speaker 1: Well if anyone can do it, you can do it.
Speaker 2: So oh for sure, I'm like ready, look at us,
Speaker 2: look at us, look at us, look at us. Okay, well,
Speaker 2: I hope that's amazing. Thanks, iHeart, don't forget give what
Speaker 2: in the Winkler Pod? A follow on Instagram at what
Speaker 2: in the Winkler Pod?
Speaker 1: What in the Winkler Pod? And also there's people trying
Speaker 1: to like make fake accounts. It's what in the Winkler
Speaker 1: Pod not podcast?
Speaker 2: Oh what in the Winkler pod pod?
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: If you don't follow it, Zoe might take you down
Speaker 2: like you put that cake company.
Speaker 1: Down so handsOn Now it was Handson's. Everyone it was Handso.
Speaker 2: I didn't say it.
Speaker 1: Tell a friend, please listen. Thank you for listening. You
Speaker 1: guys are the best and I will see you next week.
Speaker 2: S