Grants Pass VIP Podcast

Debra Musack

John Chambers

NeoLife Vitamins & Supplements

John Chambers joins us once again, this time joined by his wife Debra Musack to talk about NeoLife's quality vitamins and supplement products.

Both John and Debra are active members of our fine community and you'll find them at our local Chamber of Commerce Greeters meetings.

Please head over to the link below for more information about the products mentioned in this podcast!

Link to Home Store - https://shopneolife.com/musack

Link to Chamber - https://business.grantspasschamber.org/list/member/neolife-nutrition-musack-chambers-13248

Brian Mein of Caveman Travel

As one could imagine, the travel industry his been hit hard over recent years. One local company that has stood tall through these trying times is Caveman Travel.

Join us as we sitdown and chat with Brian Mein to talk about the local area, how Caveman Travel can help you with your future travel plans and why trips to Mexico could be a terrific option for you and yours!

Contact Brian and Caveman Travel today.

Phone - 541-476-6813

Email - [email protected]

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CavemanTravel/

Website - https://www.cavemantravel.net/

Show Notes

What Does Caveman Travel Do?Why Trips to Mexico Are a Top Seller for Us Right NowCOVID-19s Impact on the Travel Agency IndustryWill Travel “BOOM” in The Coming Years?Helping You Find the Best Value for Your Upcoming Trip

Shane Russell - Spirit of the Fair

Shane Russell joins to talk about a fun new local business he's started to add value to our community and provide an atmosphere for people to get to know one another in a fun way.Join us as Brian chats with Shane about his inspiration from local fairs, what the game Cornhole is all about, as well as what's going on at Spirit of the Fair and how it can make a positive social impact for you, your business and others in our area. :)

For more about what Spirit of the Fair has going on, head on over to the social links below.

Instagram (@spiritofthefair) - https://www.instagram.com/spiritofthefair/

Facebook (@spiritofthefair) - https://www.facebook.com/spiritofthefair

Show Notes

Creating a “Fair Culture” Year RoundWhy I Moved to Grants PassJust what is Cornhole?Providing an Environment for People to ThriveWeekly Cornhole TournamentsAfter School ProgramMarketing and Advertising Opportunities for Your Local Business through Sponsorship

Jill Hamm

Fruitdale & Redwood Granges

If you live in the Grants Pass area and you don't know who Jill Hamm is, where have you been?

Join us for an entertaining chat with Jill as we touch on various topics, including what brought her to the area, her time as a Kelly Girl, what led her to a long-time working relationship with KAJO 99.7FM radio, as well as her cancer free diagnosis after 8-years battling cancer!

Our main focus in this episode was about her work with local Granges in the area the need to get more families involved.

Checkout these links for more about the local Granges Jill is affiliated with and if you have any direct questions, reach out to her as well!

Fruitdale Grange

website - https://fruitdalegrange.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057546785524

Redwood Grange

website - https://redwoodgrange.org/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Redwood-Grange-760-115100234108546/?ref=py_c

Jill's Contact -

email - [email protected]

phone - 541-660-4435

Show Notes

How Did You End Up In Grants Pass?

My Time As a Kelly Girl

Doing Sales for a Magazine and Radio (KAJO 99.7FM)

What are Granges?

Oregon Alone has Over 1,3000 Granges!

Our local Chamber of Commerce has been a Huge Benefit to Our Granges

Cancer Free! My 8-Year Battle with Cancer

The Need for New Families to Enter the Granges

Gwen Luhring - Treasurer at Soroptimist International of River Valley

A Grants Pass native since 1998, Gwen Luhring has been an active volunteer in our community since retiring.

Since joining Soroptimist International of River Valley in 2000, she's held various titles from President, Vice President and currently Treasurer.

It was a delight to hear about what Gwen is doing to help women in our local community and to share Soroptimist's story as they celebrate 100 years in local communities across the county.

Please be sure to checkout the links below for more about Soroptimist and how they can help to serve you and your family today!

Website - https://www.soroptimistsirv.org/

Show Notes

History of Soroptimist InternationalWomen Helping Other Women: Soroptimist's Focus TodayChallenges We've Faced Over The Past Few YearsLocal Outreach: Helping to Provide Food, Clothes, Toy's to Kids in Our CommunitySoroptimist Gets Involved In Domestic Violence IssuesValue of Listening & Making a Positive Impact in Others LivesA Return to Bonding & Connecting In-Person & Not Just OnlineWho Would Be a Good Fit For Helping Out at Soroptimist?“We Are Women at Our Best, When We Are Helping Other Women Be at Their Best”

Candy Morasch with Marquel - Once Upon A Horse

If I had to sum up our latest guest in three words it would be Enthusiasm, Caring and Gratitude.

From her time helping local youth as a speech-pathologist to starting up Once Upon A Horse, or her work in health and wellness with Arbonne, you come away believing Candy Morasch is making a difference with others in our community.

Our host, Brian Pombo, had a fun time talking with Candy and we know you'll love this chat as well.

Also, please be sure to connect with Candy about her latest project as she looks to help our community again by raising funds to get a JOCO Mobile Spay & Neuter Clinic to help those in need.

For more please call Candy at – 541-660-7209

or Email here - https://business.grantspasschamber.org/list/member/arbonne-international-candy-morasch-11038

As mentioned in the show, you can also contact to another former guest we had on, Joy Hiler, who is helping with this project as well through Epicure -

Call Joy – 541-659-1125

Joy's Website - JoyHiler.Epicure.com

Show Notes

Growing up in Grants Pass

Becoming a Horse Trainer – Taking Horse Mater Course in England (Newmarket, Suffolk)

Moving back to USA – Living in New Orleans and working with the Handicapped

Moving back to Grants Pass – Teaching Speech-language Pathology for School District 7

Start of Once Upon A Horse: Morgan Horses & Helping kids out in Williams

Time for Expansion – One Blessing After Another

JOCO Mobile Spay & Neuter Clinic Fundraiser

Why We Need A Mobile Spay & Neuter Clinic in Josephine County

Epicure Fundraiser to Raise Money for a JOCO Mobile Spay & Neuter Clinic

Drew WilkersonCareer Coach Project Youth +

Born and raised in Sam's Valley here in Southern Oregon, Drew Wilkerson shares his passion to serve our youth in Project Youth Plus's Career Build Program.

For the past 7 years Drew his worked in and around the public schools and still finds time to be active in athletics as an MS Athletic Director.

To help support Project Youth Plus and find out more about their various programs to help our youth, please go the the resources below or give them a call at the number below! :)

Call Project Youth Plus today - (541) 476-8146

Website - https://projectyouthplus.org/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ProjectYouthPlus/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/projectyouthplus/

Show Notes

The Focus of Project Youth Plus

How I Got Started With Project Youth Plus

Life Growing Up In Sam's Valley in Southern Oregon

Guiding Youth Through Individual Road Maps for Success

Thankful For Community Support for Project Youth Plus

What I Like Most About Working With Project Youth Plus

Continuing To Get Our Message Out To Businesses In Jackson, Josephine and Douglas Counties

Transcription

Intro Drew: Flexibility, I think is key in being able to keep that spark and keep that interest. Because if you're really going to be able to meet youth where they're at, there has to be some type of flexibility, I think built into that.

But being able to meet a youth where they're at in life, again, it's very broad.

That's something that is exciting because you have all the tools, and you're able to exercise different types of tools at different circumstances. And so by doing that, you can create interest, I think, within that youth.

And that's the goal for them to have that spark.

Podcast Intro: There's a place in Southern Oregon, filled with gorgeous natural beauty, friendly yet independent people and a mild, comfortable climate.

That place is called Grants Pass.

These are the stories of the people that live and work Josephine County. These are the movers and shakers that make this place of the best.

This is Grants Pass VIP.

Brian: Drew Wilkerson is the GP Career Coach for the Career Build Program with Project Youth Plus.

Coming from serving in public schools for the past seven years, Drew is still active and athletics. He's very much youth-centered and goal-oriented.

Drew Wilkerson welcome.

Drew: Really appreciate it Brian, thank you very much. Looking forward to this.

Brian: Yeah, no, I'm really happy to have you here.

We met over at the Chamber of Commerce and we've been talking about getting together for a while. So this is great to have you here.

Why don't you let everyone know more about who you are, and where people might know you from.

Drew: Sure.

Kind of like in that intro, having spent a number of years in the public schools, you get to know I think quite a few people in there and working with students and a wide variety of ways.

And so by getting connected with College Dream, now with Project Youth Plus, I get to continue, I think just different ways of serving youth, and working with people that are very like-minded and trying to meet people where they're at, in all different walks of life.

Trying to help them I think just take the next step towards their goals, kind of making it a reality. Not everyone fits the same type of shoe. And so it's always an adventure coming from that background.

Within the schools, you know, again, you get to know quite a few people serve in youth, but then also now in the nonprofit world and where we get to expand our borders, in different ways to serve youth, but also how we do it.

At the same time, two different worlds, we got the public schools and education route, we got the nonprofit world, definitely two different worlds, but different ways of serving.

That's really where the heart is.

Within the schools, I still serve as an athletic director at a middle school. And so that's an avenue where in different, you know, different types of folks that you cross paths with.

And so a couple of different hats that I wear just in general, but the focus is the same. At the end of the day, whoever walks through the door that's who we're serving. And that's why we're here.

Brian: For someone that has absolutely no idea what Project Youth Plus is and everything else that you do once you give them a synopsis.

Drew: Sure, Project Youth Plus recently changed their name within the last year from College Dreams. So name change, same focus though.

And kind of on a side note, when I was in the schools, we would cross paths with a College Dreams, folks. And so it was super neat to be able to do that.

But just in an atoll, Project Youth Plus, we prepare just low income, first-generation, maybe underrepresented youth to thrive in just schools, career, and just in general.

So there's a lot of ways that we can do that. And we have a staff that is just so multi-talented I think with the gifts that they bring to the table.

Where we can really have unique I think relationships with our youth, preparing them, challenging them, and hopefully strengthen them to believe in themselves.

The programs that we have are kind of geared at how we really look at one, you know, again, serving youth, but it also just expands the borders, I think, and how we do it.

So being able to do that is an absolute thrill. Every single day I get to wake up, we've got some people who have been doing it for quite a while. It's great. So that's kind of that in a nutshell.

Brian: Great. So how did you end up here what brought you into this position?

Drew: Coming from the schools I had crossed paths with you know a number of youth and I had worked nonprofit in the past sort of an at-risk youth before jumping into the public schools.

And so I kind of already dabbled, I guess into that world. So I knew that there were other ways to serve youth.

I always just kept that in the back of my head. And I'm going No, there's a way around this, there's a different way that we can serve and this is who we can go to for that even though I may have restrictions, I know this person can go a little bit extra, in a different way, different angle type of thing.

And so I think it was a long time coming with the nail to get into this gig. And this is where you get a really just plant the roots and work with some just fantastic people.

So I love it.

Brian: Wow, that's great.

Do you live in Grants Pass or do you just work here?

How does that work?

Drew: So I live in Central Point. So I commute out to Grants Pass and meet for meetings, or just kind of on a basis. But I'm out in Grants Pass quite a bit.

Brian: Yeah.

Did you grow up in Southern Oregon or are you from elsewhere?

Drew: I grew up in Sam's Valley, or again, for those who may not know where that is, that's okay. That's between Golden Hill and Eagle Point. It is called the country.

I grew up there, I grew up on a farm. And so we did a lot of just work, you know, in general.

And so I married my high school sweetheart. We knew that we would eventually come back here, we left for a while.

But when we came back here, this is kind of where both our families are having grown up here, you get to know some familiar faces right?

Now we're just a little bit older but I still like them. I mean, it's okay. Something to be very thankful for.

Brian: Could you describe for us what a typical day is for you?

What type of things do you do on a regular basis?

Drew: Yeah.

Blessed with a pretty flexible schedule, and being able to, to really match our schedule to kind of the needs of those that we're serving. And so there are always ways to plug in and make a full day for sure.

Being able to, at least for myself, to cap at a certain point can be a challenge. But could you know, you just get in a group and you're just doing your thing.

So you know, a typical day can range from meeting with youth and talking goals over coffee or getting their documentations, I think figured out so whether someone needs shelter security card, or birth certificate, or just a regular ID.

That's something that will set a meeting aside and say, Okay, this is what we're going to focus on today, we have a roadmap that we really are trying to follow, and with all of our youth.

Being able to make sure that they are as equipped, as much as possible is kind of their goal. And so every youth that we meet with on a regular basis is in a different spot.

So whether that's done over coffee, whether that is done through the world of zoom, you know, it just varies, right?

We try and get as many youths connected within our workshops. These things are just built and geared towards helping these youth build a resume, but also take that next step for themselves personally.

So typical day, pretty tough to kind of say. It's not all the same.

That's what's also kind of exciting about that part and the flexibility is, is something very gracious, I think handed down, but leadership allows us just to find our groove, find our connection and do our thing and meet our youth where they're at. So it's awesome.

Brian: Now, is this kind of locally centered?

Is there local leadership, or is this more of a national organization, how's that setup?

Drew: Yeah, great question.

You know, it's a local organization, the Drummond's started this program about 25 years ago, in Grants Pass, and that is where it planted its roots. That's where it's began to blossom.

I think from there, and now we're reaching from not just Josephine County, but we're trying to reach into the Jackson County and get established within Jackson County.

So we're reaching into the schools. We're also so in school staff. We're also reaching to out of school staff and so looking at where the program started from in school,...

Christy Kiltz

A Josephine County native for almost 30 years, Christy Kiltz takes us on her journey from moving to the area from Colorado with her husband, to taking a chance and starting her own local web-based business and it's continued expansion.

If you own a business, chances are you have a web presence.

Join us as Christy shares valuable tips online and why it's essential to build relationships with your customers, no matter what field you work in.

Checkout Design! by Kiltz - https://designbykiltz.com/

Video's Christy Mentions In The Podcast by Simon Sinek and Donald Miller below!

Focus on your WHY - Simon Sinek, Start with WHY - https://youtu.be/u4ZoJKF_VuA

Build your Brand Story - Summary of Donald Miller's StoryBrand book - https://youtu.be/FkCMhhJaSSk

Show Notes

From Colorado To Oregon: How We Ended Up In Josephine County

Why I Started A Local Web-Based Business

What We Help Businesses With

Empowering Business Owners to Accomplish Their Dreams

Christy's 3 Things You Need For A Successful Website

COVID Impact: In-Person Teamwork & Working From Home

Web Tech & The Value Of Building Relationships

Understanding Solutions & Pain Points of Niche Markets

Expanding Our Team in 2021

What Design! by Kiltz Offers That “The Big Web Hosting Companies” Don't

Transcription

Christy: Understanding customer service skills and customer skill level. Sadly, many in my profession has led me to the tagline of, anyone can code few can take care of people.

And it's like a dance. A true partnership dance you've got two people out on the dance floor, one's leading the others following, and depending on the dance, who is leading and who is following switches.

And so that's where we truly engage in that partnership with people.

Intro: There's a place in Southern Oregon, filled with gorgeous natural beauty, friendly yet independent people and a mild, comfortable climate.

That place is called Grants Pass.

These are the stories of the people that live and work Josephine County. These are the movers and shakers that make this place of the best.

This is Grants Pass VIP.

Brian: Christy Kiltz is the website designer and owner of Design! by Kiltz.

She provides the full coordination of online services to bring you the best possible solutions for your business. Working with you to develop a successful concept and focus for your website.

Christy takes the goal you create with her and brings it to pass.

Despite her company, she really isn't a true geek girl. She loves the outdoors, camping, hiking, and water of any kind, and can even survive a weekend without a computer.

In fact, among Christy's favorite things include getting away into the beautiful mountains of Southern Oregon with her hubby or taking a drive out to the coast.

Christy Kiltz, welcome to Grants Pass VIP.

Christy: Thanks, Brian.

Brian: Yeah, it's great having you here.

We've got a little bit of history, we've worked together in the past and I just want everyone to get to know you a little bit better.

Why don't you let us know about who you are, and a little bit about where people might know you from?

Christy: Where people might know me from, we've actually lived here in the Grants Pass area for close to 30 years now, somewhere between 25 and 30 years.

And early on I worked at the YMCA. So I was all things aquatic so lifeguard swim instructor everything else. And the kids that I taught how to swim now are probably in college or close to it.

But that is where some people know me from, but I've also been a member of the Grants Pass Chamber since 2004, joined after David Tally, actually, Tally Media Group and with the SBDC invited me to join.

And so the chamber has been my family ever since then.

Simply being a part of the business community in many different ways, served as an ambassador on the membership committee over the years, a long time ago, they actually had a website committee too.

So just being an active part of the community is pretty much where I've gotten to know the Grants Pass community and branched out into surrounding communities as well.

Brian: How did you end up in Grants Pass, to begin with?

Christy: I was working a dead-end job in Colorado, I was doing tech support for HP at one of their call centers. And I was trained on every single printer that HP ever made.

My only step up was to become a line supervisor and I didn't want to do that, because they got the hot calls. And they had to keep everybody else in line.

So between that and then my husband did construction and he is from Portland, Oregon. He simply wanted to you know, we've never been back to Oregon since we got married. And so we decided to move to Southern Oregon.

What we originally moved for didn't really work out. But we stayed and put roots down.

Brian: Oh, wow.

So after going through all that, why here?

Christy: I think we just kind of landed here and haven't moved, and especially as I built my business, really taking care of the local community. The majority of my customers are from Grants Pass med for the Rogue Valley.

And so because I did so much in person face to face, I never jumped into the big pool of just the nationwide web developer, you know, internet find me online type of thing.

So it was truly working one on one with people direct face to face, everything else and why move because then you have to start over. So it just made sense to stay.

Brian: So with your background and everything else, what led you into this line of work out of all things?

Christy: I kind of actually stumbled into it.

I was looking for a career change back in 99 and I was working with one of the counselors at RCC, and they have a program where an employer can have a student work for them.

You actually pay CWE credit, but you get on-the-job training and the position was for administrative assistant for a web-based company.

So it's a one-year certificate program, you know, I took the job, I went to school for a year. And of course, I had to learn HTML, there were no wizzy waves, there were no you know, Dreamweaver, there was nothing to make it easy.

We learned how to code took several classes that were specific to the job that I was handling. And the lady that I worked for was an entrepreneur herself.

Within six months of graduating, I was actually taking over webmaster-type duties there. And then she encouraged me to start my own business, as well.

I can't say that I was one of these young people of, Oh, I want to start and build my empire! It was more or less just stumbling into it and 2003 or 2004, I think is when I took the first marketing class and business plan class and that type of thing. And it's been growing and learning ever since.

Brian: And for people that don't know you and your background, and what we've already talked about so far, what are the type of things that you come in and help a business out with?

Christy: I'm going to say all things online, you know, truly, from day one, and you're young enough, you may not remember, but the DOS days before we had windows.

Brian: Oh yeah.

Christy: Okay, you know, either that or you work the head to work on a really old system.

When you think of typing your documents, and at the command line, and you hit the wrong key and you lose your document. That's why that web hosting was set up at the beginning.

It did no good for me to create your website and say go find hosting, because how are you going to manage it, it was really a geeky process at that point. And truly back then there was more of a black box because you had to have a certain level of technicality.

So I provided hosting services from day one.

The first client got their server setup and everything else, and that has grown. So really providing web hosting, email, and of course, email today has really grown into office 365, where you don't have to have server-based email.

And then, of course, web design, and web maintenance. And early on, one of the biggest challenges that people came to me with is they could not update their own website.

They would send a small change to the webmaster and it would take three weeks and they get a huge bill. My goal from the very beginning was to create a system so that people could actually manage their content online.

And I actually programmed a very simple content management system, absolutely nothing like what you see today. But people could go into an admin area, update their content, change out their picture, if it was a landscape picture on the right side of the page, it needed to stay a landscape picture, and it was coded into the right side of the page. But they could still update content.

And after a few years of developing that, that's when some of the very simple content management systems came out. I migrated more to an open-source.

And of course, WordPress finally grew up for the average person and was usable…kind of 2010, 2011, that's where I started working with WordPress.

I'm not going to say we're a WordPress only shop, because if you need strictly e-commerce, and WordPress isn't going to work, we'll put you on an e-commerce system. But we use WordPress because it is so simple to use.

So it was just it was truly taking care of people.

And then as search engines became more complex, as the online marketing world got more complex with social media that started what 2005, 06, 07?

Somewhere in there, people needed help not just initially, it was how do I set up, you know, an account or a page or something like that.

But it does no good to have an account and have no marketing plan behind it.

Again, from the beginning, it was encouraging people, look, build out a marketing plan, have a plan of what you're going to say, here's how you need to say it so that you're engaging your audience, and then go do it....

Joy Hiler - Epicure Leader

Think you're ready for Joy Hiler?

No...you're not.

But what the heck, it's time to buckle up for a fun conversation with one of the more passionate, enthusiastic people we've had on this show!

And wouldn't you know it, she done went and added an opportunity for us all to help a good cause for the area.

Hit play, and let's get started down that dusty trail for another adventure to hear Joy talk about how tasty yet healthy meals from Epicure can help our local community raise money for a Mobile Spay and Neuter Clinic, and more! :)

Support Joy, her friend Candy Morasch and others raise money for a county Mobile Spay and Neuter Clinic by reaching out at the contact information below!

Contact Joy and pickup an Epic Life Collection today – JoyHiler.Epicure.com

Or Call - 541-659-1125

Show Notes

Epicure Fundraiser for a Local Spay & Neuter Clinic for Josephine County

Why We Moved to Josephine County

A Ground Floor Opportunity

Beyond Pot Lady: What Led Me Into the Self-Employed / Direct Sales Line of Work

Lifetime Cookware | Arbonne | Epicure

Amazing! Getting to Know Epicure's Quality Food Line

Holy Bubbly Cauldron of Extraordinary Cheese Dip!

The Epic Life Collection – It's All About Fresh

Virtual vs In Home Meetups: How COVID-19 Has Effected Direct Sales Companies

No Risk It, No Biscuit: Swinging for Global Director in the Next 12-months

I'm a Helpaholic

Believe in Your Dreams – The Stories of the Founders of Dutch Bros, Epicure and Arbonne

Transcription

Joy: Let's be a success story together. That's our inspiration for our family is Travis and Dane because I mean, they had a dream and they didn't let anything stop them.

Walt Disney, same thing. Colonel Sanders, same thing.

Babe Ruth held the world record for home runs. And what people don't know about Babe Ruth, and he probably still holds the world record for strikeouts because he swung and everything that came down the plate.

That's what I do. I swing and everything.

You know, what's the worst that could happen?

Intro: There's a place in Southern Oregon, filled with gorgeous natural beauty, friendly yet independent people and a mild, comfortable climate.

That place is called Grants Pass.

These are the stories of the people that live and work Josephine County. These are the movers and shakers that make this place of the best.

This is Grants Pass VIP.

Brian: Joy Hiler has been with Epicure for two months is partnering with Once Upon a Horse to fundraise for a mobile spay and neuter clinic because they believe in helping with the pet population.

Joy Hiler, welcome to Grants Pass VIP.

Joy: Thank you.

Brian: So why don't you let us know a little bit about who you are and how people might know you.

Joy: People might know me because I've been in the community between scouting. We raised our children here we have a bunch of kids here that went through North Valley High School, and I've been a member of the Chamber of Commerce for about 21 years.

I sold cookware here in the valley, and I've sold Arbonne here in the valley for 21 years and recently I came across this Epicure.

Epicure has become the mainstay for me in passion. I'm so passionate about sharing Epicure with everybody. So my girlfriend Candy, she's sells Arbonne, we've known each other for years, and our friend Audrey, we are talking to Audrey about it too.

Epicure has a fundraising program and I was so brand new to Epicure and Audrey is just a couple of weeks in further than me. So Candy said, there's a fundraiser. And we said yeah. So Audrey and Candy and I are partnering and doing this fundraiser and we're dragging other people in with us because we cannot do it by ourselves.

The fundraiser is through Epicure. They have boxes pre-made little boxes of it's like a meal plan for a week. And so you get six pouches, five meal pouches, and in the dessert pouch. It's $25 and the organization gets 40%.

So we're selling selling selling fundraiser boxes because we need to raise money to buy a mobile spay and neuter clinic for Josephine County.

This comes so deep in Candy's soul to help animals. And now she's drugged Audrey and me into it and several more, we have several more of our friends that are on board helping us with these Epicure kits.

Because of the pet population you know there's a gal here in town that does a voucher that you can get that will help you with the cost of the spay and neutering of your animals. However, it doesn't cover the cost and the veterinarians are booked so far out.

Most people can't get in before they've had a couple more litters of you know, critters.

What Candy and I and Audrey are working on are getting this mobile spay and neuter clinic for the Josephine county so that it can go travel where the people are, it can go out to Williams, it can go to Cave Junction and Selma and the outer line communities out here in Merlin and stuff.

And help people with their spaying and neutering.

In order for us to do that we need deep pockets and long arms, because it's not cheap, it's not going to be cheap to do.

However, we're so passionate about it, we know that just because it's never been done doesn't mean that it can't be done.

So, you know, we're just taking it inch by inch, because that's how we believe that life is a cinch. You know, if we take it yard by yard, it's going to be hard. So we just keep selling our fundraiser boxes.

And we just today found out that Thomas in Hospitality Group bought 10 boxes from us.

We love corporate sponsorship.

What we're going for now is to find corporations here in the area and even out of the area, it doesn't matter to us, that want to sponsor kits for all their employees for Christmas, because the holidays are coming.

So what would be a better gift for your employees than a week's worth of meals?

Like you can give them you know, a coffee card or you can give them something but if you give them an Epicure fundraiser kit they're going to eat for an entire week.

Now because Candy and Audrey are single gals, they would eat for three or four weeks. Because it's like every pouches four to six servings. And so for the single gals you know or single guys, the Epicure packages are gonna last longer than a week but for a family of four. It's going to be perfect for a week's worth of meals.

So wouldn't that be awesome?

Wouldn't it be awesome for some of the corporations here in Grants Pass and in outer line committees to sponsor fundraiser boxes for their employees, which would help us so much in raising our funds would help us.

Brain: That's fabulous.

So what's the goal? What's it going to take to be able to get that?

Joy: Well, it's a $250,000 unit, which is why if we could get corporate sponsors to come in with 50,000, you know, we'd be there.

Brian: Yeah.

Joy: Because our fundraising efforts have just recently begun, we've only been in a couple of months, we've sold hundreds of boxes of fundraiser boxes, about the gearboxes.

And people like Dave Thomason stepping up and saying, Yeah, I'll by 10. And then K & L Chem Dry, here in Grants Pass, they bought 10.

If we can even sell them by 10s, then that's going to add up rather quickly as well.

Anybody that wants to do the corporate sponsorship like that, we would love to have them contact us. And they can buy as many as they want, by 100. If that's what they want to buy, we just feel like it's such an incredible gift to give someone a week's worth of meals, isn't it?

Brian: Fabulous.

All right. So we're meeting here just to give everyone an idea of where we're meeting in early August to 2021. Here, we're on Joy's property and you said you've been here since 87?

Joy: Yep.

Brian: Were you already in Josephine County, what originally brought you here?

Joy: My husband and I were 20 something and we lived in San Diego. And then we found out we were expecting, and my husband said, I never wanted to raise kids in the city. And he said, Isn't there any way like, do we have to live here?

You know, that was just not what our idea was. And we bought our first house when we were 19. I was 19. Donnie was 20 when we bought our first house in San Diego. And so he said, Well, you know, I don't want to live here.

Came up to Shasta and we looked at Shasta. And when I was 17, my house burned down and so I lost everything. So when we came up to Mount Shasta, it was too expensive for us because we were just kids, you know, but also I needed to be in a fire district. I felt really strongly that we had to be someplace where there were firefighters.

We looked in the San Diego paper and there was property in Oregon $1,000 an acre. And so we contacted the realtor that had it listed.

His name is Randy Richardson. He has since retired.

However, Randy Richardson said, Well, I can show you some property. So we came up when our son Kenny was a teeny tiny baby. And we carried him all over looking at properties. We finally bought one on Forest Glen.

So I think back in 1984, 85, we bought the property on Forest Glen off of Azalea drive.

And then we were sitting at home one day, we sold our house, we're sitting in a rental one day, my husband said, It's not enough, five acres is not enough.

We called Randy Richardson and we said five acres is not enough. And he said, You'll never believe the piece of paper, because dig that Brian back in the day, the multiple listings actually came on paper. They weren't flash drive and all over the place like they are now.

A piece of paper came on Randy's desk, 30 acres $30,000. And so we said well, we'll be there tomorrow. And we had already had another son by then and he was teeny tiny.

So we came up here when Kenny was tiny and when Mark was tiny.

We said you know, Randy, we want it to buy it sight unseen.

...

Josie Molloy - President & CEO of Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce

Grants Pass & Josephine County Chamber of Commerce President Josie Molloy joins us to talk about her first three years with the Chamber since moving back to the state from Wyoming.

A joy to have on the show and we know after you hear this podcast you'll come away with a new found appreciation for what the Chamber is and all it has to offer, just like we did!

Checkout the Chamber's New Website! - https://www.grantspasschamber.org/

Also, Lemonade Day for Young Entrepreneurs coming on August 20th - https://lemonadeday.org/grants-pass

From Wyoming Back to Oregon: 3 Years Working at The Chamber In Grants Pass!

What I Like Best About Grants Pass & Josephine County

How I Got Started Working in the Chamber of Commerce

The Right Type of Person That Would Enjoy This Kind of Work

Just What is The Chamber of Commerce?

It's All for the Businesses In Our Community

From Weekly Greeters Meetings to Community Events – There's A Lot Going On Through The Chamber

Young Professionals Network

Starting August 20th: Our First Lemonade Day! For Kids 3rd Grade through 5th Grade

Where Did The Idea For Lemonade Day Come From?

Working Through COVID-19 Restrictions to Help Our Community

COVID-19: Switching Greeters Meetings Online Thought Shutdowns (Meetings Opened Back Up In Person In July of 2021)

August 2021: We're Getting a New Website & a Video Channel! :)

An Eye On Continued Progress for The Chamber & Our Community

We're A Friendly Staff: Stop By the Chamber and Feel Free to Ask Questions!

Transcription

Josie: Even younger entrepreneurs, we're trying to reach out to them with our Lemonade Day, which is brand new.

This is the first year we have ever done it and it's for children grade 3rd through 5th, which is going to be coming to Grants Pass on August 20, from 3pm to 6pm. And we actually help them create a business plan, create their product, create their stand, find investors, and then actually sell the lemonade and make a profit.

Intro: There's a place in Southern Oregon, filled with gorgeous natural beauty, friendly yet independent people and a mild, comfortable climate.

That place is called Grants Pass.

These are the stories of the people that live and work Josephine County. These are the movers and shakers that make this place of the best.

This is Grants Pass VIP.

Brian: Josie Molloy has served as the Chamber President and CEO since August of 2018. Originally from Crane, Oregon, on the southeastern side of the state, Josie grew up on a cattle ranch.

She spent over 10 years in Laramie, Wyoming working for a Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation.

Since moving to Grants Pass, she's helped develop a lot of new programs, including a Young Professionals Network Group and Lemonade Day.

The chamber is going strong with over 600 members and continues to advocate for the business community as well as improving our community as a whole.

Josie Molloy, welcome to Grants Pass VIP.

Josie: Thanks for having me.

Brian: This is a lot of fun because we've got the meet each other over at the Chamber of Commerce. And so this is our first chance that we've been able to have you on the show, besides what we heard from your bio, let everyone know a little bit more about you and where they know you from.

Josie: Yeah, so lots of people probably know me through the Chamber of Commerce.

Like it said in my bio, I've been here since August of 2018. So I'm almost on my third year anniversary, it's gone by very fast.

I'm also expecting my second child, so we've really grown our family since we moved here.

I'm originally from Oregon. So this was really moving back to my home state. But my husband Ciaran is from Cheyenne, Wyoming, so it was a big change for him.

We've really embraced Grants Pass and everyone has been so friendly. And it's just really fun working in the chamber world because I get to meet so many people, so it's been a great ride so far.

Brian: So why Grants Pass was it the position opening up, what brought you specifically here?

Josie: We kind of knew that we wanted to move to Oregon and I was just looking at different positions. I didn't even know if I wanted to continue in the chamber world and this job popped up and I decided I would apply for it.

I got the job. I had never been to Grants Pass except for my interview but I loved it.

And actually, to be honest, my husband had never been here. I just told him what an amazing place it was and it was a great opportunity. So he took the chance and here we are three years later.

Brian: What do you like best about Grants Pass as a town and Josephine County as an overall area?

Josie: I really like that everyone is so friendly.

If you've ever been to Wyoming, it's the same thing. People wave, they say hi, even if they don't know you. But also the mountains, we love anything outdoor. So just being able to hike and fish and camp.

The weather is amazing. It does get a little hot in the summer for us. But you know, there's hardly any snow, the weather never gets very cold, so it's just an amazing place.

And the people are just really great. I think it's really the people.

Brian: What led you into chamber work to begin with?

Josie: It was kind of just by chance.

So I actually got my degree in agricultural communications. I always thought I would be doing something promoting agriculture. But after college, I didn't know what I was going to do.

I decided I was going to stay the summer in Laramie, Wyoming and a job at the chamber opened up. I took it. I started out as a part-time office receptionist. Then I worked my way up to Vice President. And then I was interim president CEO there. And then I just continued, I just really loved the chamber world.

Brian: Oh, that's fabulous. That's really cool.

Your background, it's very similar to my own. I grew up working on the family cattle ranch.

Josie: Oh, nice!

Brian: My first major in college was agricultural communications. I never finished it, but that was my first major in college. So it's really interesting how these things collide.

Would you recommend this line of work to other people, what type of person would be good at doing what you do?

Josie: You really have to be able to engage with any type of person. It's a very fun and rewarding industry. But you have to be up for new challenges too.

We are a nonprofit, sometimes money's tight and you have to do any type of position.

But the people that you get to meet, their stories, learn about businesses, get a tour of businesses, learn about their challenges and problems, and know that you're making an impact, even though it might be behind the scenes.

But you know, we get to see a lot of successes and accomplishments. And it's just fun, but you have to be ready, you know, each day is different.

You have to be able to have great customer service, and be willing to engage with people. So it takes a person that wants to, you know, meet new people.

Brian: That's really interesting. And it's funny because I joined the local chamber just earlier this year, it's been a learning experience for me. I've seen chamber from other directions, I was involved in local government work at one time and so I had been to some chamber meetings there.

When I lived back in California, I tried to give other people an impression of what these chamber meetings are like and what I get out of them, and so forth.

So I've got a lot of people asking back, What is Chamber, you know, I've heard of Chamber of Commerce before, I don't really know what it is?

I get that more often than not.

Can you explain to just a person off the street, what is Chamber of Commerce?

Josie: Yes. So of course, I get that question a lot, too.

We get lots of the misconceptions that we're a city or a government organization, but we're actually a private nonprofit organization that is privately funded through membership.

And we are bipartisan, but we really work to advocate for businesses. We represent the business community at different meetings, we advocate for them on a city, county and state level.

We really just try to push for a stronger economy, while also marketing our local businesses. So we're involved in a lot of different areas, but it's all for the business community.

Brian: Okay, got it.

What is the most popular element of Chamber, what is the thing that most of the people would know it by are most of the people would are involved in?

Josie: That's hard because I see all the different areas you can be involved in.

Of course, for the Grants Pass Chamber, our greeters or business networking event is very popular. We have about 75 to 80 people every week. So we are known for networking.

We're also known for concerts in the park, of course, you know, are different events like wine stroll and tap walk. So those are probably more of the things people out in the community notice for.

But then also, we run the visitor center at the north side of town next to the large caveman. Some people also know us because they've come into our office for Visitor Information.

And also, we're just a general place to ask questions. We get tons of questions through the community, people looking to move here, visitors are really a go-to resource for any type of question you may have about our community.

Brian: That's really interesting. I mean, I don't ever think of it by all those terms so that's really cool to get the full picture.

What are you most excited about today in terms of what the Chamber of Commerce is doing and what you guys are working on?

Josie: I think the most exciting thing for me, is chambers continue to adapt. So we actually started in 1924, which is crazy to think most chambers did in the 20s or 30s.

...