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Fearlessly Female Uncensored
A comedic podcast featuring two friends sharing unfiltered stories and hilarious takes on life as modern women.
Fearlessly Female Uncensored
Gives Back Gives: The Ripple Effect of Volunteering on Life & Career
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Ever wondered how acts of generosity can transform your life and career? Join us, Megan and Brittany, on this heartwarming episode of Fearlessly Female as we take you on a journey through our personal stories of giving back. From Megan’s life-changing volunteer trip to Tanzania to Brittany's upbringing surrounded by community involvement, we share how these experiences have shaped our perspectives and professional paths. We'll also discuss the professional perks of volunteering, like honing valuable skills and building meaningful networks, and the delicate balance of being both a giver and receiver.
In the second part of our conversation, Brittany recounts her solo adventure in New Orleans with her Rotaract club and Meghan's impactful advocacy work in Washington, DC. We highlight how these experiences have provided her with fresh insights into professional growth, minus the corporate politics. Megan shares her deep connections built through Compassion International and her global adventures with Souls for Souls. We also emphasize the importance of supporting companies like Trades of Hope, which empower women worldwide through handcrafted gifts. Tune in for an inspiring discussion on how giving back can enrich every facet of your life.
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Welcome to Fearlessly Female, where two blondes make a right. We're Brittany and Megan, the hosts of Fearlessly Female, and this podcast was born out of ambition, drive and a lot of wine. We're two powerhouse comedic women having uncensored conversations about topics that affect women. We're airing all the dirty laundry, so grab your favorite drink and give us a listen.
Meghan:Today's podcast is Giving Back Gifts how being involved in charitable organizations can further your own goals and development.
Brittany:And bonus. It's not just tax deductible. So warning, disclaimer, we put this on all our episodes Calm your tits. Offense will not be taken here. So grab your favorite drink, burn your bra and have a good time.
Meghan:All right. Well, let's get started. Why should you be giving away your hard earned money or your free time? Be giving away your hard-earned money or your free time? We work 40 hours a week, sometimes more, spending more time with our work people than our families, and now we're asking you to give up a little bit more of the free time. So we're going to talk a little bit about why we think it's important. I'm going to start with my story.
Meghan:Really, just growing up, I felt very, very fortunate with my parents just showing it as an example to give back to others. They went on mission trips. My mom and dad did a mission trip to a Navajo reservation and then we had Navajoans come and stay with us at our house afterwards. So that was just such an incredible cool experience to grow up with. And then they were just always looking for opportunities to help others and then they also were on.
Meghan:The benefit of receiving help when they were struggling was part of my whole life. The most impactful experience I probably had was when I traveled to Tanzania and Africa and volunteered with orphanages. It was through an organization called Souls for Souls, and just the experience of getting to go to countries I never thought I was going to be able to go to be able to connect with children, adults, go to schools and experience such an incredibly different way of life, a way of life that seemed like it had so much more struggle, but they were so joyful, and so just that experience has forever impacted me and changed me in how I operate my whole life, whether it's career or personal. So it's really just been bred into me through my whole life. You know, and yeah so, brittany, what about you? What's your story?
Brittany:Wow, Well, first of all, I learned a new word Navajoans. I didn't know that was the appropriate term for the Navajo Indians, so thank you for that. That's actually pretty cool and too, I'm glad you touched on that.
Meghan:It might not be. I'm going to have to check on that one.
Brittany:I'm glad you touched on the you know, going, you know, to Africa and your experience there. Because you know a lot of people see that as something that you know the celebrities do, or unless you're really devoted to you know, kind of volunteer work and charity type work, you don't really see it as like, oh, I'm just, you know, kind of an average normal person, I'm going to just go to Africa and volunteer, you know, at a, I guess, an orphanage or, you know, a village or something along those lines. Just a little bit of background story about me. My parents were involved in charitable organizations growing up, just for reference, my dad was an elementary school principal and my mom was an elementary school teacher. So they were very involved in the community and the know. They knew more or less what the socioeconomic status was of each of the families. So they did, you know, try a little bit extra for the kids that were, you know, didn't come from like the best families in terms of financial stability and stuff like that, and they throw a lot of events, you know, just for the school in general. They were involved with Rotary I know my dad was which gives a lot back events, you know, just for the school in general. They were involved with Rotary I know my dad was which gives a lot back to the community.
Brittany:So what I learned a lot just by watching them is you know you have the opportunity to help specific people, you have the opportunity to help a group of people, but through that you also build connections, whether it's through your community, a specific organization, and it's a lot of networking to help build connections, whether it's through your community, a specific organization, and it's a lot of networking to help build connections later.
Brittany:I know my dad when he was involved with Rotaract he made a lot of connections that ended up later on helping him with his school when he was transferred from school to school. You know they would come and donate dictionaries when that was a thing and put on events as such and then also just paying it forward, the karma that comes back with it, because you receive what you put out in the world. So if you're putting out good stuff, good vibes, it does come back tenfold. But also the flip side too if you're putting out a lot of bad stuff, that also comes back to you, and so I touched on it a little bit earlier. But also gaining the life skills and career skills, but building that relationship and the network and the business acumen such a strange word that comes along with the volunteering.
Meghan:I think that's a great transition. We can talk about how volunteering or being on a board can contribute to your career development.
Brittany:So is it better to be a giver or a receiver? Get your mind out of the gutter too. I'm just kidding. Okay, but being the treasurer of CASA was a big accomplishment for you, so why don't you tell us, maybe, what CASA is, what it stands for and how you're involved with it?
Meghan:Yeah, so I actually call it CASA. I pronounce the A differently, but it's Court Appointed Special Advocates. But I'm going to back up quite a bit. There's quite the story getting to being on that board. So just growing up I remember yelling across the kitchen table with my dad about what two times two was and it couldn't be four. I think it's four, right.
Meghan:And then you fast forward to grad school and I walk out of my first accounting class of many. I mean we're talking managerial accounting, accounting for managers, financial accounting, managerial accounting, finance. It was just like every combination of those three words and I just walked out of that class crying. I was like there's no way I'm going to make it through this grad school. So you know, I say all that to say math was never my strong suit and so when I was selected to be the treasurer of the board for California Appointed Special Advocates CASA for short it was just an incredible accomplishment for me, because that was just not ever my strength being in that math place, and so you know, just really a lifetime achievement.
Meghan:But I'll talk a little bit about CASA First. You know what they do is they are advocates for children who are in the foster system and they only have one child. They're trained extensively and they actually go to court on behalf of the child and are telling the judge what their recommendation is. How this is different from what other foster children have is caseworkers have hundreds of children, you know, the medical workers, the school systems, so there's no one person focused on one child until CASA came along and anyway. So just kind of really incredible. You know, experience supporting an organization, but then also getting a skill set and really being able to put that on my resume, that I was the treasurer of a board just really a lifetime achievement.
Brittany:Wow, that's awesome and that sounds like a really great organization to be a part of. And I'm sure many people can relate to. You know, just kind of being in tears over math and something that's so simple is just turns out to be so hard. But that's great that you were able to transfer those skills later on to giving gifts back, I guess organization. So how do you think your journey with? How are you pronouncing this Casa? How do you think that helped your career on being on the board?
Meghan:You know I hadn't had a company finance experience before. I mean, of course, I got education through grad school. I made it through, somehow, scraped through all those math classes, but I wasn't getting that experience at the company I was working for and so I was able to serve on a board, get that skill set and then I was later assigned at work a multi-million, multi-year contract to manage in the company. And so if you're looking for opportunities to grow your career and you're not getting exposure in a specific thing like budget, go volunteer for an organization. They're always looking for people to have input and typically will help guide you through those finances. It got to the point where I really had them dialed and was able to find mistakes that were being made and, for the first time, be able to communicate to the board what the financial picture looked like, because it was a very complicated financial situation that they had. So, again, if you're struggling finding leadership skills or you're struggling finding presenting skills or whatever skill you're missing, you can probably go get it by volunteering with an organization. But that's enough about me.
Meghan:Brittany, you've got a great story for me. Tell me about New Orleans.
Brittany:Oh goodness, all right. So I was part of Rotaract in college and if many of you aren't familiar with that, it is, I guess, a subdivision of Rotary, which is they're all about giving back to their community. I think I touched on it a little bit earlier with my dad, but that's how I was aware of this organization. So I joined them in college and we did a lot of events for the school and the community at UC Merced. But one of the opportunities was to go to a conference in New Orleans. So I went to the conference and I'm there with, you know, my classmates that are part of this group too, and you know. And we had a few extra days.
Brittany:So we had some free time and we're in New Orleans why not? I just sat on a five-hour plane ride. I want to go explore the town. I want to get immersed with the culture, understand what they're all about, what the good places to eat at, experience some of the tourist attractions, a little bit of non-tourist attractions. So I'm researching everything on my phone and telling everyone hey, we got to go do this, we got to do this, go check this out, there's cooking class. We can go take a tour of the bayou there's a cafe du Tante. Don't kill me, my French is not that great.
Meghan:Yeah, that's where the beignets are.
Brittany:But I couldn't get anyone to go with me. All they wanted to do was sit in the hotel room and play video games and the whole point of being there was, yes, we were to attend the conference learn get information network, which we did but they missed the whole other point of experiencing the culture and taking advantage of the opportunity out there, which is kind of a bummer. But I ended up going by myself. I met this lovely couple from Georgia and just talking to random people and stuff and I really had a really great time. And then I got back to my hotel room and was telling everyone about it and it was the last day and they're like oh, maybe we should have gone with you.
Meghan:Right, like total missed opportunity there. You know, also with the board of CASA, I got to travel to DC and we were advocating on behalf of the organization to all the representatives, which was a really cool experience to walk through all of the halls and like go meet with senators and representatives, but I didn't do just that. I mean, that was the purpose that we went there for, but there's so many landmarks in DC and museums to go see, so we took full advantage of going out and seeing all of those things. You know, I didn't have DC on my list bucket list of places to travel, but I went there and was going to see everything that was available to me. So I think that it's great that you did that in New Orleans as well.
Brittany:And that's funny that you bring up the whole politics and DC thing and you touched on it a little bit earlier. But just to bring this full circle is if you are missing that skill set, you know from your day job, the volunteering really takes the politics out of trying to get that skill set internally at your company. So if you're, you know, manager, maybe it's not supportive or just not really engaged or you don't really just jive well, you know, it kind of just takes a whole awkward corporate politics out of it into a fun environment where you can learn and still enjoy learning and I don't want to say failing, but you know being okay, making mistakes and having people coach you along the way.
Meghan:Wow, I have really never thought of that it that way, but that's a hundred percent accurate. Right now in my role, I'm dealing with so many politics and red tape that I have to manage and maneuver and it's a skill set, and it's a great skill set that I'll be able to bring forward. But just being able to focus on gaining certain skill sets, like presenting or like company finances and putting that on your career and resume, and not have to worry about other aspects exactly what you're saying, brittany, of maybe your leader doesn't want you to have that skill set so awesome to put it that way. I really enjoy that perspective. Let's talk a little bit about your giving your style. It's not always some big gala event or whipping out your leather bound checkbook and then, for our listeners who are Gen Z, I'll post about what a checkbook is later, but there's just so many ways to give that can engage your style and your passion, brittany. Let me hear about some of yours.
Brittany:So it really just depends what phase of your life you're in. When I was younger, I had a lot more time, not a lot of money, so I was more willing to go out, volunteer at events, spend more time because I had more time. As I progressed through life and got a lot more busy, I didn't have as much time, free time, but I did have more money. So at that point in my life it was easier for me to whip out my sexy checkbook and write a check. In my life it was easier for me to whip out my sexy checkbook and write a check. But as I matured into the next phase of my life, I kind of found that sweet balance between time and money. So now I can be a little bit more choosy in terms of how I want to spend it. If it's something that fulfills me personally, if it's something I see as a networking opportunity, a skillset opportunity, a skill set opportunity, it really kind of just depends on where you are. There's no, I feel, right or wrong way to go about it.
Brittany:You touched upon earlier when you served at the nonprofit. This helps build more relationships and gives you the skill sets that you may not otherwise get. You know, such as the treasury experience you mentioned. So, Megan, I know you had a lot of experiences with different organizations. Why don't you highlight a few, maybe, what the organization does and what your involvement was in them?
Meghan:Yeah, I mean. So I've already talked about a couple of organizations that I really enjoyed, but another one is Compassion International. So I've been exchanging letters with a child that I sponsor for eight years now and I've seen the programs where you can sponsor a child and you know, or a family and you know. It's kind of that one-sided you're giving money to a family but I'm actually building a relationship with her. So we've been exchanging letters for eight years. I probably get anywhere from maybe five to eight a year, so really very cool to hear what's going on in her life. The last letter that I just got she was talking about the crops that she and her family are planting, and so I was talking about my garden. Just really cool to build that connection. It's not just I'm giving money and sponsoring her but I'm building a relationship with her, so that's been really impactful.
Meghan:I touched on Souls for Souls a little bit, but I got to travel to multiple different countries with those organizations.
Meghan:You can go by yourself, you can go with your family, it's tax deductible. And then I got to go to places that I probably would have never gotten to go to if I was just traveling personally. And then I also really encourage buying gifts for your friends and family that support great organizations. So there's organizations like Trades of Hope, that is, women-owned crafts and gifts that are done around the world. So you're supporting women who are making these items and you can give those as gifts. I know one year Flip Line had a wine special that was donating to different organizations, so I did that, but I think that it's just really important to find those companies and be able to support them. If you're going to buy a gift either way, as much as you want to support all those other organizations that I'm not going to list because they're not sponsoring me, go with Trades of Hope or you know something like that, where you're supporting women in the world and really making it a better place.
Brittany:Oh my gosh, those are really great examples that you gave and that's really cool that you're exchanging letters with this child that's in the completely other country and is just growing up completely, probably 180 on how maybe you and I would have normally grew up, and for me that is really impactful because it gives you a different perspective on someone, what they appreciate, what they value, and I kind of feel like it rounds you out more or less as a person.
Brittany:And I know the gift pieces. I was a lucky recipient of one of those and I think it's so cool because Megan had got me a picture frame one year with a bracelet, so of course I put her picture in it and I have it, you know, in my living room. So when everyone comes over they're like, oh, what a cool you know picture frame, the picture, and it's really like a conversation piece, cause when they, you know, ask about, I'm like, oh yeah, my friend Megan got it from me, from this company, and they tell them about the company and you know what they do, what their purpose is. So I think it's really cool too to talk about it. It's not just like, oh yeah, she got it off, you know, or at Ikea or something like that, or yeah, like it's not a whatever piece, it's something special and thoughtful and
