Let's Talk Parks Podcast: Stories of Purpose-Driven Parks and Recreation Professionals

This week I am bringing back one of my FAVORITE episodes ever on the podcast.  This is an episode that EVERY professional in the field should listen to, especially before summer.  Whether you are a supervisor or an emerging professional, all I can say is that you will benefit from the wisdom that Angela Summers shares on this one. During this episode we talk about:

- Becky

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True story, this podcast episode was created for my younger self.  I was constantly told as a young professional that I needed to be more assertive - but without any clear direction.  It was a struggle to find the balance as a new supervisor to be both assertive, kind, and tactful.  To be honest, I'm definitely still learning the art of assertiveness.

Sometimes, I'm sure I come across as "too much" or "too aggressive" or "too passionate" while other times I'm "too quiet" or my facial expressions say it all 😉. I know that as I've gotten older and stepped into "more of me" I have stopped taking certain feedback to heart - but  truthfully I think the thing that helps the most has been when you have strong, assertive women as bosses who give you that permission to step up yourself (lucky me!)

So this week's episode is for my young professional friends who are trying to be assertive while also learning their own leadership style in the process.  It's also a kind reminder to our friends in  leadership positions to be mindful of your feedback and how it may come across.  

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There are many misconceptions about therapeutic recreation and the individuals that these recreation professionals serve. Chelsea Crockford, CTRS from Connect Through Leisure sits down with Marissa to discuss barriers that individuals with disabilities face in public as well as when the seek to participate in recreation activities. We hope that our listeners walk away with a different view of barriers and how to better advocate for individuals with disabilities to break down those barriers. 

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To connect with Chelsea, check out these resources:

https://www.facebook.com/connectthroughleisure/

@connectthroughleisure (IG)

Raise your hand if you've ever completed a facility or park inspection, noticed a safety hazard, or budgeted for improvements in your facility. If you're in the field of parks and recreation; likely you've been involved in the maintenance of your parks or facilities in one way or another. Marissa sits down with Jeff Reinhard, retired Director of Parks and Planning from the Gurnee Park District to talk about the importance of maintaining our spaces. Learn about how far our maintenance departments have come over the last 40 years and the technology they use to maintain our spaces. Get to know about what our parks crews work on during different seasons. Explore how you can become more involved in parks and planning at your agency, despite your current role.

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In this episode, Becky jumps on the mic to talk about how we can learn to go to use an experimenter's mindset to take us through our career journey.  We have to be willing to take risks and come out the other side better - not focusing so much on RESULTS, but rather RELATIONSHIPS we can build along the way.  By having fun and thinking about each new idea/program/event as an experiment, we can better ourselves, our coworkers, and our communities without taking everything so personally.  To join our newsletter, join us at letstalkparks.com.

Jason Ellisalde is BACK to talk about workplace culture with Marissa Moravec. In this episode, Jason explains the key difference between compliance and commitment based organizations. He also dives in how you can make your workplace a fulfilling place to live and work no matter your title.

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You're the type of Parks and Recreation Professional who truly cares.  You're always going above and beyond, signing up for extra committees, volunteering to take an idea to the finish line. But what happens when too much gets put on your plate, and you end up underperforming?  What happens when you lose motivation to do the very thing you feel like you were born to do?  In this week's episode, Becky jumps on the mic to talk through this very subject with you. Sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.letstalkparks.com.