The Swoonpies crew has been on the road for the past couple of weeks at the NASFAA Leadership & Legislative Conference, held somewhere just south of the Arctic Circle… also known as Washington, D.C., and then straight on to our own annual conference, which just wrapped in Charlotte.

We’re kicking off our LLC coverage today with Part 1 of a two-part series. In this episode, you’ll hear conversations recorded on the ground at Leadership — the insights, the strategy, and yes, a little bit of the news that only happens when financial aid professionals gather in one place to talk policy and the future of our work. Part 2 is coming your way in just a couple of days.

First up, you will hear from Melanie Storey, NASFAA’s President & CEO, with a thoughtful conversation about leadership and advocacy. Then we’re joined by Allie Arcese, NASFAA’s Senior Director of Strategic Communications, to unpack messaging, Off-The-Cuff origins, and what it really takes to move the needle in D.C.

We close out with Emily Osborn, Senior Director of Financial Aid at Western Governors University, who presented in the Strategic Enrollment Management track at Leadership. And I strongly recommend you listen all the way to the end because Emily takes us from OB3 to Icelandic traditions and Nordic folklore. I promise you, that kind of content whiplash exists in exactly one place… and that’s Swoonpies and Money.