Ep. 027 - Building Industry Connections and Workforce Pathways with Hillary Charpentier

In this episode of Bridging the Bayou, Dr. Kristine Strickland welcomes Hillary Charpentier, Executive Director of the South Central Industrial Association (SCIA), for a conversation on leadership, industry, and the evolving opportunities across the Bayou Region.

From an unexpected career path to a role at the center of regional collaboration, Hillary offers insight into the connections and conversations helping move South Louisiana forward. It’s a discussion about growth, impact, and what it takes to bring people and opportunity together.

South Central Industrial Association (SCIA): https://www.sciaonline.org

Nicholls State University (Chef John Folse Culinary Institute): https://www.nicholls.edu

Manufacturing Week (National Manufacturing Day Initiative): https://www.mfgday.com

Fletcher Technical Community College: https://www.fletcher.edu



Follow Your Inspiration (corporate) - Music by ArtIssizm on Pixabay

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Bridging the Bayou, where we will explore what it means to work, live, and play in the Bayou region. Join us as we take a deeper dive into the people and experiences that make our region such a special place to live and work. On each podcast, we will talk to individuals who are making our region grow and go, who are making strides in uplifting our community. This year, Fletcher Technical Community College is celebrating its 75th anniversary, 75 years of changing lives. This is a podcast of Fletcher Technical Community College.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here today and talk to you about all things SCIA.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Wonderful. Well, we will get into SCIA goodness in a minute, but we love to get to know you a little bit better. We're going to start off with our five in five, five questions in about five minutes to get to know you better. So if you are ready, we will get started.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Well, I didn't study for my test, but let's see.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

What you got? I'm pretty sure you're gonna get an A on this. So if your life were a movie, what song would be playing in the opening scene?

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I probably would go with um Kelly Clarkson's song about like what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I feel like that would be like the anthem of my of my entire life and my story. So that would be my opening scene song for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Oh wow. Okay. So now I am super intrigued about this life story. We're gonna come back to that for sure. But uh what's something that you're good at that most people would not guess about you?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Oh, well, I guess it depends how well you really know me. But in my day-to-day life now, I think most people probably would not know that I actually attended culinary school at the Chef John Foles Culinary Institute. So I am a classically trained chef.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Wow. Okay, so I have to ask, what's your favorite thing to make?

SPEAKER_02 2:27

So probably if you would have asked me when I first moved to Louisiana, I would have said steak and potatoes as a Texas girl. But now I probably claim gumbo. So I will say, even my Cajun husband will say that I I do make a very good gumbo.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

So Oh, okay. Well, next time you're doing it, invite me over. But I'm with you on the steak and potatoes. As an Ohio girl, now it wasn't necessarily steak, it was meatloaf and potatoes, but I'm right there with you, right there with you. All right. If you woke up tomorrow and you had a completely different career path in life, what would that have been?

SPEAKER_02 3:00

I would say probably a completely different career path that I was very interested in for a long time was to be a media chef. I always wanted to be on TV. I loved the camera.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

I was gonna ask what a media chef was.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Yeah, I got I got to do a little bit of like behind the scenes with John Foles doing some of his PBS cooking shows, and I fell in love with like how the production goes on behind the scenes and um what it takes to make food actually happen on TV. So I always thought that I really wanted to do that. That would be my my alternative life. Wow, that's pretty cool. I did not even know that that was a thing. Yeah, like think like food network chef show, right? Like have your own show and you create a cookbook and all those types of things. So that would be my alternative life.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

I have a very interesting life. I'm loving this. What's the simplest thing that makes your day better?

SPEAKER_02 3:43

When my kids say, Mommy, you're awesome. Oh yeah. They're at that age now where they can start to like really tell when things are super fun or when things are super not fun. So I trust that they're being honest when they say those things. So it means a lot.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Yeah, no, they well, there is that age where they are gonna tell you the truth, even if it's painful. So if they say you're awesome, take that as a win. Yes. Um, because as a proud mom of four, you'll reach those tween teen years where nothing you do is right and you will never be awesome again until you're maybe, well, my youngest now is 22, and I think I'm awesome. Finally, I've made the turn.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I'm back to being somewhat awesome on occasion. I love it. Yeah, they're five and one. So I mean, that boys always keep me on my toes, and I will say, you know, I'm loving the fact that like boys love their mom at this age, but I know the time is gonna be right around the corner where they're gonna be like, mom is not cool anymore.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

So stop hugging me in public, my mom, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

All right, and the last of our five and five. So if you could have dinner with your younger self, what advice would you give that person?

SPEAKER_02 4:45

You know, I feel pretty proud of where I am in my life. I feel like I've done a lot of really cool things. But if I had to go back and and talk with my younger self, I would say, put yourself out there more and get yourself in the room. I'm definitely a people person and I enjoy interacting and networking with people. But I think for a really long time I thought, like, well, it can't be me, right? I I I always look at these other people and the things that they achieve. And so I'm waiting for whatever that big break is to make me want to step outside of my shell. And um, I think if I would have started younger, I can only imagine where I would be now. So excellent.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Well, you're doing pretty, pretty good. Doing pretty well so far, I think. But I am just really curious, you know, given your background and given that educational experience in culinary, um, how do you go from being a great chef on TV to working in an industrial association? Like, what was that career pathway? I love for our listeners, especially those who are thinking about college, to just hear people's journeys. So talk to me about your career pathway. How'd that happen?

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Yeah, so um, the girl coming from Texas, I decided that I wanted to go to culinary school. I actually participated in a culinary program when I was in high school. And so I found out about the Chef John Foles Culinary Institute, and my chef instructor at the time said it's like the hidden gym, right? You need to go and you need to experience. And I came in in the middle of the night and it was like foggy bayus. And I told my mom, I am never gonna go to school in South Eulisium. That's not happening. Um, but we woke up the next day and we toured around, and the people and the culture really pulled me in. And so I decided, okay, I'm gonna go all in. I'm gonna go get my four-year degree in culinary. And then as I started to get towards the end of my, you know, four years, I said, yeah, I'm I'm not really done with being in school yet. And I think I could see myself maybe teaching, you know, culinary, or um just trying to give myself some other options if I didn't want to do the traditional in the kitchen all the time, nights, weekends, holidays. Do I want to have a family? Right. And so my options pretty much were either you can do a two-year master in higher ed administration or you could go back for a four-year degree in education. I thought, well, I'm gonna go and get my master's. So um I ended up actually working in the marketing department during the time when I was going through my master's program and said, you know what, um, it would be really interesting if I got the opportunity to do marketing and recruiting for the culinary institute that I fell in love with. And um, lo and behold, I did my practicum, my final thesis on that. And they said, Well, please come on board and help us do some marketing and recruiting. Um, and so I had sort of my dream job right out of school, and I got to travel around and talk about the institute. And then it started to kind of trickle into, well, you're also really good with people, and I feel like you would love fundraising. And I thought, never in my life have I ever thought about fundraising as a career path. That's not something that you think of. Right. But, you know, why not? Let's try it. So um I did some fundraising for the Culinary Institute and transitioned into some other positions at the university doing development and fundraising. And that's where I really created connections with a lot of the people that I actually work with today. So my last job, I was the executive director of the Colonel Athletic Association at Nichols, and I was doing fundraising for athletics and external affairs. And um, I was pregnant with my second, and I got a little knock on my door that said, I don't know if you would ever consider leaving what you're doing. I know you love what you're doing, and maybe the timing isn't right, but a door has opened and um they're looking for an executive director at SCIA, and and would you want to interview? And I said, I have absolutely no idea what is happening in the world of oil and gas and industry. But if you feel like I should, you know, explore, then let's find out a little bit more about what it's about. And um quickly found out that it was a lot of the same things that I was already doing in that community development space and and getting to know people and networking with them and creating sort of the name of this podcast, right? The bridge of the bayou. How do you connect people with the things going on in the community to get them to want to grow roots here and to stay here? So um a very interesting path. My husband eats good food most of the time. Like my kids still tell me that the lunch ladies make better food than me, but at some point, at some point I'll win them over. Um, but I I do still enjoy cooking on the side, but that's how I sort of ended up where I'm at.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Wow, that's fantastic. And you know what I so appreciate about all the journeys that we get to hear about is that sometimes it's the most unexpected ones that um just kind of come out of the blue that turn out to be so meaningful and open doors that you never even imagined might be open. Um and so for anybody who is out there watching or listening, there's always time. There's always time to change, there's always time to explore a new adventure, um, to try something new and to see where it might go. But most of the people who I've talked to who are leaders in our community, their pasts have been very similar to yours. It's it's they're doing something that they love, they're passionate about, um, they have some great skill at, and there's a knock at the door. And somebody says, There's this other thing over here. And what I usually find is that the people who say, I'm gonna go check that out, right? I at least want to look at it and explore it and see if it fits. Um, those are the people that I think you see just grow professionally, grow in their leadership and and become really vital uh people in our community. Well, thank you. And thanks for taking the leap over to SCIA because I know you're doing amazing work there as well. I just want to ask too, is there any chance you're gonna go back to college? Or am I gonna see you on TV one day? Is I guess really what I want to know. I'm gonna be like autograph my questions.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Yeah, never say never, right? To your point about always saying yes when there's a knock at the door or an opportunity. I mean, I I definitely think there's probably some potential paths in my future that will lead elsewhere, right? You never know what your end journey is gonna look like. Um, but I'm really loving what I'm doing right now, and um, I can foresee that there is a long-standing future in what I'm doing and a lot of impact that's brought back to the community. And I feel like um, you know, we actually were talking about that the other day. I don't know if you've talked at all about the Bayou Business Summit on the podcast, but um, sort of that next-gen group of wanting to find your purpose, right? And I I find I fit right in that group of people who really want to have a meaningful job and something that brings purpose back to what they do in their day-to-day. So um, I'm not seeking anything right at this moment, but um if somebody called and said, Hey, we have a little spot for you to come be behind the scenes on the camera, I probably wouldn't say no.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Well, look, I'm gonna be keeping an eye on that. So um, again, so I can say I knew her when. Um well, let's take a moment and pivot and talk a little bit about SCIA. I'm not sure if everybody who's out in the audience today is familiar. So, can you tell us first who is SCIA? What do you do? Um, what's it about?

SPEAKER_02 11:32

So, we are a nonprofit industrial association. We are membership-based. Um, we have about 200 members that represent roughly 200,000 employees in the Bayou region. Um, our main bread and butter that we're focused on when you think about industry is gonna be anything in the energy or coastal restoration space. That's really the major areas that we focus on. Um, but a lot of our members are in the traditional industries that make up our area, like manufacturing. We've got people who are gonna be in agriculture, we've got people who are dealing with um shipbuilding and all sorts of things, maritime, you know. So um, our membership base is very broad and does encompass a lot of the things that happen here. Um, I will say too that our group is very heavily focused on advocacy for those. And that's something that I I really didn't know a whole lot about until I stepped into this role. Um, but just being a voice, since we do have such a large number of employees represented within our membership, making sure that we're a voice both on the state and federal level for any type of thing that's coming down the pipeline that's going to impact our area. So, in a nutshell, that's that's what SCIA is and and what we do on our day-to-day.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

That's a great explanation. I'll tell you a little story. So, when I first took the position as chancellor, um, there was a lot of conversations about when where I would make like my first public speech, that type of thing. And everybody across the board said, your first stop has to be at SCIA. That needs to be sort of your introduction to the community. And I think what I've seen even from that time, um, certainly before that time, and then on the go forward, SCIA has always been in this community known for its strength and advocacy, for um really being the place to be if you are in leadership in any of these sectors. Where do you think that strength comes from? Like what has built that up over these years?

SPEAKER_02 13:23

Sure. So, I mean, I think the thing that makes it unique, SCIA was founded by a group of individuals who were high up in their leadership positions within the industries in our area. And they said, you know, we we absolutely love the other organizations that are out there, but we need something that's specifically focused on the things that we do day to day. And I think that leadership sort of trickled down through the eventual board of directors. You know, we're fortunate that our board members actually end up serving about eight or nine years by the time they roll all the way up to presidency. So there's a lot of consistency. There's a lot of um effort put in by the community leaders and industry experts that are pouring into the organization that I think has ended up ultimately leading to people recognizing the, you know, four-letter acronym SCIA as a place to be and a place that they want to invest in.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

With that, I know that you all have some sort of guidelines or some guiding principles that ensures that the organization really does remain true to sort of that founding belief of representing these industries. Can you talk a little bit about what the membership makeup looks like?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Our bylaws state that we have to have 60% of our membership made up of industrial. So it could have been any of the industries I listed above, or really just anything that you think of as true industry, right? And then the other 40% can be what we consider to be associate members. So that would be more of like your bankers, your lawyers, other people who want to network with the individuals or partner with some of these companies and professionals, but that's not gonna be what our main base of membership is made up of. Um, and like I said, I mean, we do represent the whole Bayou region, but the majority of our members are gonna come from Terrabone and Lafouche. And then we also have some sprinkling in from St. Mary and Assumption, and then quite a few, especially since we have a lot of the like major oil and gas members. They're gonna be, you know, Houston based, but they'll have local people here. And then they'll come in sometimes from Lafayette or New Orleans area. So very heavily Terabone and Lafouche, but um we do have some others that come into the area too.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Well, let's talk a little bit about sort of maybe opportunities and challenges that are facing our region right now. We know there's always sort of something sort of sitting out there, whether it's changes in the energy sector, a potential storm in the Gulf, a lot of things, um, some of them even outside of our control. What do you see in your position working with all of these different companies who are really the lifeblood of our economy here? What do you see as some of the opportunities in oil and gas and coastal? And then maybe reflect a little bit on what are the challenges we're facing.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Sure. So I'm gonna flip it and I'll talk a little bit about the challenges first. So we actually are getting ready to go to DC and do a little fly-in and talk about some of the things impacting our area. But obviously, I mean, with new presidencies coming in and changes in administration, there's always gonna be sort of a light switch flip, if you will, of back and forth changes. Um I don't think there's anything glaringly shocking and new that our industries haven't faced before. But some of the biggest things that we've been talking about internally obviously are gonna be lease sales for oil and gas, has been huge. We're starting to turn a corner on some of that. Um, and then we're also talking a lot about like permitting and structuring of um the processes that are roadblocking essentially progress for a lot of our industries in the area. Um, and so I think a lot of our opportunity lies within this new administration and new people that are being placed in positions of change. You know, we start to look at the restructure of DOTD and the bridges and things that are all hot topics and um especially Terrabone Parish. But, you know, all of those things lead to future opportunities for our area to continue to grow and to draw in new businesses. We've had a lot of conversations recently with some of our community partners about, you know, having more certified sites and what do we do to make sure that we're attracting people to the whole community and not just to the business side of it, being more business friendly, obviously, but thinking about their families and their and their kids and what type of place do they want to end up in, right? Do we have the amenities that make it feel like a place that they want to grow roots and stick here, regardless of whether we're keeping current people that are from the area in the area or if we're drawing in new people? So um I think there's a lot of opportunity for us. There's a lot of things that we do really well. Our our position to obviously the ports and the waterways, um, you know, our our opportunity for us to reskill a lot of the people who have been in jobs that are similar to the changes that we're seeing, whether that be in technology or in the maritime space, I feel like we have all the pieces and parts that we need. We just gotta get everybody all talking and moving in the same direction.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Excellent. So thinking about those opportunities and the and the threats that are sort of facing the industry. Have you all developed your advocacy agenda for this year? And are you at liberty to share anything that you're gonna be promoting or pushing for?

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Sure. So we are obviously gonna be talking about energy dominance. That's gonna be one of the things pushing towards more lease sales and mandatory lease sales is gonna be a big hot topic of ours. Um, we've also talked a little bit about infrastructure needs and making sure that there's investment and infrastructure down here, whether that be through bridges and and um, you know, roadways, or if that's gonna be on the port side, making sure that we're growing the opportunity in that space. Um and and really beyond that, we're curious to see what our congressional delegation tells us are their priorities, right? That sort of flips the script for us sometimes to say, well, we really thought we were all on the same page, but now we know sort of where the missing holes are and where we need to kind of come in and say, wait a minute, let's let's backtrack and let's get all on the same page. And while you may think that this is a great priority for our area, these are the reasons why we maybe need you to shift. So I'm very curious to see what the outcome is of that visit to DC.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Oh, excellent. Well, yeah, maybe we'll have to have you come back and give us an update on that. I'm also wondering wondering, you know, we've talked a little bit about balance, whether it's balancing the membership of a CIAA, but there's been a lot of conversation in the energy sector, certainly around balancing all of the different types of energy additions, um, as we like to say. And so wondering from again your perspective, working with the companies, um, how do you how is it that we can sort of remain true and balance who we have fundamentally been as an oil and gas community with a lot of the diversification we are seeing, whether it is in, I know for a while the conversations were solar and wind. Now I think we're talking about things like LNG and and all kinds of other types of energy. I'm not, I'm not even gonna pretend to be an expert here. Um you know, where what do you see as SCIA's role? And then what are the conversations you're hearing about energy addition and what that means for this region?

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Sure. So I think probably the most interesting thing that we've had as far as hot topic conversations around energy addition is just the fact that yes, we're bringing in new business, but for the vast majority of us, oil and gas is not going away, right? And it's our, you know, oil and gas companies that are diversifying and are adding these other components to their current portfolio. So it's not necessarily that we have a whole influx of people who are just going to be focused on clean energy or carbon capture. These are all being added to the current businesses that already make up our area. So I'm very excited to see how those companies continue to um, you know, embrace the change and what that outcome actually looks like. I will say that a lot of these energy addition investments are very costly. And so there were some people probably in the very beginning of the conversation saying, well, let somebody else go first and let's test the waters and see um what the outcome is. But I think we're gonna continue to see a lot of oil and gas. We're gonna continue to see people changing and innovating, we're gonna continue to see them embracing technology, and then we're gonna eventually turn that corner and figure out how do we make it more profitable, right? Right now they're kind of in that beta testing phase. And then as they continue to move on, it's the same thing with like when the iPhone first came out. How much did the iPhone cost, right? And then now it's affordable.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

So um let me just ask, um, in terms of, you know, I know there's been a lot of conversation around some of the lawsuits, and uh our region has uh opted to not participate. I know there's been a lot of a lot of conversation with our leadership at the parish level around this. Um SEIA, do you all have any type of platform around that or anything there?

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Yeah, so we tow the line very close between lobbying and advocating, right? So we're certainly keeping our members educated when those types of things pop up and letting them know we're being present in the Room when they're having those council meetings and you know, uh standing up to testify and say these are the impacts that having a very vibrant and thriving oil and gas industry in our area does for our economy. And you know, here's the impact. If you decide to go against all of that, what's gonna happen? And so um, beyond some of those, you know, basic level conversations, we don't have a true platform around it. But I will say that our members are very actively engaged in the education space and making sure that we are sort of the hub for them to find out where are we on some of these hot topics and you know, is there anything that I can do? Sometimes we're partnering with other larger organizations who are a little bit more in the lobbying space or have the capacity to do so. And so we give our members that opportunity to then partner and move on if they want to go out and they want to themselves be part of some of that, you know, testifying against any of those types of uh trials that are coming to our area.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

So well, let's talk about um about that partnership with other organizations because I know that you all recently you partner with the chambers. Um I know that there's been some conversations with the Bayou Industrial Group as of late. Uh, and so I think first, if you can just share for us, how does SCIA fit into this larger um, I would almost call it like economic development community organization ecosystem? Like where is your role compared to say a chamber or uh another type of industrial association?

SPEAKER_02 23:30

In comparison to other chambers and other community organizations, like I said, when we were originally founded, the goal was to be focused heavily on industry. So that really is what sets us apart based on the fact that we do have parameters around who can become a member and at what time, um, what their classification may be, and if they have a seat on the board or if they have a voice in some of our, you know, committees and things that are doing some of the other work that we're participating in. Um so I will say that probably, you know, in my opinion, a chamber is gonna be more focused for like the small businesses, the mom and pop, your your everyday community type um, you know, business. And SCIA is gonna be more for those larger industrial-based groups. And then when you start to talk about in comparison to other industrial associations, um, we did recently have a vote that came up. The Bayou Industrial Group voted that they wanted to change and do away with their membership structure. They were gonna continue their fantastic thriving scholarship program that gives scholarships to both Fletcher students and Nichols students, um, and their big buddy and business program, which is sort of similar to an apprenticeship or a stage. Um, if you're in the culinary world, that's where my brain goes, right? But but um a job shadowing day to help connect students in high school to the job opportunities that exist in our area. We sort of kind of looked at each other and said, we're doing a lot of the same things. We each have our own little specific projects that we do that make our organizations really great. But at the meat and potatoes of our organizations, we're very similar. There's a lot of membership overlap, members who were part of both groups. And so starting in 2026, SCIA will remain the membership organization. And then under our umbrella, we will continue to facilitate the Bioindustrial Group Scholarship Program and the Big Buddy and Business Program, in addition to the other things that we already do.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

So awesome. Thank you for sharing that because I think that many people um who might be listening or watching might have had questions about that. And you really you explained it so clearly. I think that that's that's probably the clearest that I've heard it explained in terms of how it'll roll out and what it looks like in terms of organizationally. Um look, I also want to just highlight that we've talked about advocacy and we've talked about being an educational platform, but you all do a lot in terms of that community space as well. Could you highlight some of the things that SCIA does that just help make our community a better place to live and work?

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Yeah, absolutely. So um, you know, one of the events that I am super excited about that I always love to participate in, we partner with Fletcher and we do Manufacturers Week, where we bring high school students around to different manufacturing facilities in the area. They get to tour and see exactly what a day on the job would look like and kind of just expose them to the opportunity to actually ask people who are in those jobs, what did your path look like? What do I need to do if I want to do this? And wow, I had absolutely no idea that it wasn't gonna be this dirty environment all day long, right? I think there's this misconception around what an industrial job looks like, but how much money do you make? And look at this really cool equipment and technology that I get exposed to. Um, so that's always a really unique opportunity for us. We also partner um to do the females fueling the workforce event, which is similar but different, right? We're taking high school students again, but they're all females and bringing them in to talk to women leaders in male-dominated roles and the same sort of thing, right? How did you get to that position? I never ever would have thought that I could go and I could be a welder for a shipbuilding company. I never thought that I could go and I could work offshore. I never knew that I could become, you know, a CEO of a major oil and gas business. I mean, all of those types of things that they might see as a barrier or as the non-traditional and kind of breaking down those walls to help give them other opportunities and pathways that they could potentially take. So those are our two main high school-facing partnership programs that we deal with. But we're also sort of working now in a new space, and I'm super excited about our most recent endeavor, our Next Gen Leadership Coalition. Um, we have a group of 15 individuals who are sort of in the mid to higher level administrative type roles in their organizations, and they are working through, you know, what does it take to grow my own leadership skills? But how can I also really fully embrace all that SCIA is and the types of industries that they represent so that we can sort of two-way street for us, right? Hopefully grow our next set of board members. But getting the next generation involved in a little bit more of a higher level leadership desire to try to give back to the community, right? I think you know, it's it's been said a few times over the last couple of weeks about like, yeah, we're we're waiting for them to step up, but um at the same time, sometimes you need to open doors for them to say, hey, here's your opportunity to do just that. So we're super excited about those endeavors, and um I only foresee that they're gonna continue to grow more and more.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Yeah. You guys are doing such tremendous work in the community, whether it's the high school programs or the partnership that you have with, I know us and nichols, um, but you know, those high school programs are so meaningful because it is not only about introducing people to career pathways that they maybe just weren't aware existed, um, but also uh the flip of the non-traditional student. So whether it's um in this case a woman welder or a woman working in oil and gas, we also like to focus in on things like men in nursing and allied health. Yeah. Right. But making sure that individuals in our community know that that all the pathways are open to them and at least giving them, again, some exposure, a taste of what that is like. Um, because I think a lot of times two students have some preconceived notions of what certain career pathways are gonna look like. Um, and I would even say, venture to say uh that some career pathways, uh, in terms of income, right? And what you're gonna make over the course of your lifetime, it's always fun for me to see eyes get big and the light bulb go off when somebody says, Wait, I can make how much being a welder, right? It's it's a lucrative career, right? But I think all of those things, and and I do want to take a moment to to give you all a shout out. Uh, a number of years ago now, I guess you um did some work within your board, and they came back and said that you all wanted to help support um some of the career pathways that fell on our non-credit side. So for those of you who are listening, um, when you think of college or university, right, you maybe think of the traditional, I'm gonna get an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree. And there are funding um streams available to students who are in those pathways, whether it's through the federal government or state, things like TOPS. Um, but on that non-credit side, where we focus a lot on not only the high-wage, high-demand jobs, but on getting you out more quickly and getting you to work more quickly, um, there aren't a lot of funding streams available. And SCIA has stepped up and said, how can we help support students who want to go in those career pathways? Because they're important to the industry, they're important to our community, but they are also life-changing for students. And so I want to just say, on behalf of Fletcher, want to thank you all for your continued support and just for the recognition that all pathways are valuable. Right. Um, and all pathways have meaning for folks in our community. That's that's been really a game changer for us. And so thank you for that. And in fact, if you're not aware, we love our partnership so much with SCIA. We said we want you on campus, we want to make that connection of our students to the work that's happening in the industry in our community, even more closely tied. So I just want to ask you, what's it been like being on a college campus or a community college campus? I know you came from the university, so it's not maybe too, too different, but anything you've noted?

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Yeah, well, first I had a very long commute to get to uh the podcast this morning. So no. Um no, we've absolutely loved it. And I think it's been, you know, just another connector piece to your point that we've started some of these high school programs. Now we kind of get to see the in-between phase of them starting to invest in whatever that career path is gonna be that they take. Um, we get, you know, the frequent, you know, questions about, well, what is it that you do and can I get a job? And maybe that's not the true conversation for our office, but it is fun to talk to the students about what their next path is gonna look like and how do they connect with some of our members. And two, for our members to come on campus to see us, right? We didn't really have an office space before that was frequently traveled by our membership, but they love to come on campus too and see the programs that are going on, to see the facilities and the technology that the students have access to here at Fletcher. Um, and so it's it's really just kind of cool to see that full circle, right? Of where they get to after they get out of high school, what career path they're gonna take, and then hopefully eventually them joining one of our member companies and us seeing them sometime in the future.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

I love that. Um so look, I want to pivot back to something you mentioned a little bit earlier. You're talking about the next gen council, and you're talking about even yourself as a younger professional, right? Um what do you see for our community? Because there's a lot of conversations right now happening around the recruitment and retention of professionals to our region. How do we get our current community members who are students here at Fletcher to stay here to establish a home and a career, but also then the recruitment in. And so I'd be interested in your perspective, uh, just in terms of what do you think the opportunities are for us as a region, but even if there are employers listening, like what can we be doing better or more of?

SPEAKER_02 33:15

I just think that, you know, having the employers more invested in the schools themselves, seeing them there, opening the door for opportunities for jobs. I think it's very easy for people to look around and drive past a building sign and say, oh, that's cool that that business is here, you know, but they never think of it as an opportunity or a door opening for them. Um and then continuing on with some of those programs like the Next Gen Leadership Coalition. That was that was born out of a desire of my own to make sure that we had programs that would exist is something that I would want to participate in. And I think that um the more that the businesses commingle with the potential employee outside of just a job interview is gonna lead to more people wanting to stay here and feeling like they're actually a person that's you know, people want to pour into versus just a number coming down the pipeline of, well, we just need one more person to fill a job, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:07

And I've been struck by all the conversations around the younger professionals desire to have purpose in the work. I know that other generations might have once upon a time looked at a job as um a steady income, right, retirement, right, planning ahead, stability. But I think what we're seeing with um younger generations who are entering the workforce, and I want to say this year or next, I think we'll be up to six different generations. Wow. Um, because folks are living longer, uh, and so just over the course of time, right, that has expanded. But um is the focus on purpose and meaning in their work, and and I don't know, as you mentioned that I'd just love to hear your thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

Yeah, I I think businesses are starting to shift, right? As you see a leadership change in some of the longstanding businesses that have been here. I will say that some of the the younger generations that are now in CEO positions are starting to take notice of that and investing in their employees and their own type of leadership development programs. Um, you know, a little bit more focused maybe on the salary up front and some of those things that are sort of flashy and shiny and exciting for a younger professional coming in. Um but I think that overall it's just the entire community involvement that makes the biggest impact, right? We've talked about this at the business summit the other day again too, about the you know, the the third place, right? Is the community that you're living in also feeding into the purpose that you bring back to your work? Is your work going to set up a booth at the festival that you know gives back to the organization that you love? Or is your business gonna volunteer to allow their employees time to go and plant plants for coastal restoration projects? Or um, you know, I think all of those types of things feed back into what truly gives a young professional purpose in their workplace and allowing them to take ownership of projects, right? Knowing that giving them the opportunity to fail or thrive, right? They need both. And so um I think just any of those types of things are really what's gonna help us see that next generation wanna grow roots here and stick around. And it doesn't hurt if you marry a bayou boy who wants to live here forever.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Having having married a Louisiana native myself, I totally understand. I wouldn't have it any other way. But you know, that's such a great point. Um, because I think that quality of place and the feeling um of having a full life, right? Whether it's that your work is your work is meaningful and has purpose, but that's also then maybe tied to your the lifestyle that you want to lead and and how you want to live your life and the organizations and the groups that you want to be a part of, or the friendships you want to develop, all of those thick things play such a key role. And, you know, one of my takeaways from these conversations has been um this idea too that while we have some level of responsibility as employers and as leaders in the community, you know, really encouraging our younger professionals who are entering the workforce or in those mid-level to also to speak up and and to take the reins and say, this is what I need to be happy in this community. And so if it's a group that you want to be a part of, right? Some, you know, I know we were talking earlier about a running group or a walking club, right? Go form that. Um, and and so I think that there are so many opportunities for people to really jump in and and it takes all of us to create the community we want. Um, it is important to look to our leaders. It is important for them to in some way show us how um we get the work done and to to lead and mentor us in that. But it's gonna take every last one of us, um, younger professionals, older professionals, leaders, people who are just in it to do the hard work because they love the community. It's gonna take all of us to make it a place where everybody can see themselves thriving.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:09

And I'm excited. I think we're on the right path. I really do.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Oh, absolutely. I mean, you talk about being on the right path. I I think back just to Hurricane Ida and you know, what everybody came back to after that. And, you know, to look across both Lafouche and Terrebone Parish and to see the new businesses that are popping up, the construction that's happening, the refurbishment of downtown spaces, the opportunity to, you know, go and voice your opinion for town hall meetings about what types of things do you want to see. I think all of those are like shining stars of we are clearly on the right path and moving in the right direction. And people are investing in the area and wanting to stay here, you know. So um totally echo your point about yes, we're in the right, we're moving in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Yep. I think no matter what circumstance you're in, the one tried and true is if you want to know, ask. Yep. Right. So if I'm an employer and I want to know what that experience is for my um younger professionals, I need to go sit with them and just say, what is it? What do you, what do you need from us? What do you need from the community? How can I help you start that, get that going, whatever that is. Um, but I think that that's really great. I know we're coming to the end, and I always like to find out a little bit more and and look. I'm gonna have to invite you back for round two because I got I got some good scoop on you. But um so first of all, coming back to that marketing, I hear that you had a mentor once upon a time um who might be in the studio with us. I don't know where. Um is that true or false?

SPEAKER_02 39:34

That is true. That's very true. Yeah, I I had the absolute pleasure of being the graduate assistant for Misty McRoy whenever I was back at Nichols. Um, and I'm super excited that she's another one of those community partners who are our paths have continued to intertwine. Um, but yeah, she taught me everything I know behind the lens of a camera. And to her credit, she would say also in the kitchen. But I think she did a lot more taste testing than teaching.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

So at some point you'll have to ask Misty about my major faux pas in mentioning a professional photographer in front of her at one point. Um that's a side story, but if you want more details, maybe I'll maybe we'll reveal that on later episodes of this podcast. But you took part of it because what I heard the most of was that you were sort of this Texas cowgirl chef who has a deep love of mums. Um so can you unpack that a little bit for us? What in the world is that about?

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Sure. So um I guess that was where I got my very first little taste of wanting to be an eventual entrepreneur in in life. Um so if you're not familiar with the Texas homecoming tradition of homecoming mums, um, they are essentially giant white flowers that you would wear with bells and whistles and glitter and ribbons and all the things. And um the guys buy them for the girls and the girls buy them for the guys. The guys are much smaller. They wear them on their arm with a little garter and the girls wear them on their entire bodies, basically. They're like, if you can imagine a Mardi Gras like head piece or shoulder piece, but it would be, you know, on the front with all the flowers and bears and bells and whistles. And so um I wanted the most extravagant, outrageous mom. And my mom said, Well, how on earth are you gonna afford this? This, these poor boys, this is not fair. And so I said, you know what? I think I want to make moms. I want to do that as a fun little like side hustle hobby out of my house. And so um, probably for I would say sophomore, junior, and senior year, I had a little mom shop that I would open up at my house and people would come and place their orders and they would walk around with all of my ribbons and things that get to choose everything that they wanted to put together. And so um that was sort of my my little entrepreneurial kick. But uh yes, if you've never seen a Texas homecoming mom, definitely Google it and you will probably be shocked at some of the things that you'll find.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

I am a little surprised that that has not been something you've been able to get some traction with.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Yeah, I guess I should have brought it over. I should start a homecoming mom pop-up shop.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Okay, let's do that. I love this idea. If you want to really make a splash at your homecoming, or you have a child who is looking to make a statement, uh, let's let's reach out to Hillary and see if we can get the homecoming mom tradition going here. Um, I also just need to ask, when did you give up the large belt buckles?

SPEAKER_02 42:23

Oh goodness. Um, the second that I had to move into a kitchen space and they told me I couldn't have all the rhinestones and the glitter and the large belt buckles, uh, my my wardrobe quickly changed into Chef White's and uh non-slip shoes. But um, I do bring it out every once in a while, remind people I'm still from Texas.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

I had that was the funniest thing. I said, Does anybody know any good stuff about Hillary? And they were like, oh, those first few like year or so at Nichols, that's she would walk around campus with these huge belt buckles.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

Did you win them? Were you a rodeo person at all? No, I wasn't a rodeo person. You were just a Texas. Yeah. Yeah. Anything you could bedazzle, you should. That was basically the Texas Texas memo.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

Is that still today? I don't think too much bedazzled on campus.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

No, no, not so much. I think my hair is a little bit flatter than it used to be. Maybe it's the humidity, but uh not so much tease in the hair, not so many rhinestones, but um a little bit more business suits than cowboy boots.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

But I love it. Well, look, I have loved spending time with you today and getting to know you a little bit better, getting to know a little bit more about SCIA and all of the amazing work that that organization is doing on behalf of our community. And thank you so much for your leadership there. Um, it just really means a lot. And for those of you who are following along, if you want more information about SCIA, you can find it at SCIAonline.net. We will also post that in our show notes and maybe also a link to a Mom Pop Up shop if it actually uh comes to be. But thank you again for being here with us today. So appreciate it. And um, thank you all for joining in. Today on the Bridging the Bayou podcast, and be sure to like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. And we'll see you again real soon. Thank you for listening to Bridging the Bayou, the podcast of Fletcher Technical Community College. Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.