Ep63 Level the Field, Change the Future — with Melyssa Jaskiewicz of Leveling the Fields

After nearly 20 years as a sales and sports-technology executive, Melyssa Jaskiewicz read one statistic on a flight home — only 24% of C-suite executives are women, and 94% of them played sports. From this she decided to leave her career and she became the founder of Leveling the Fields, a Charleston nonprofit removing the cost, options, and access barriers that keep girls out of sports. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about her "money like a river" mindset, why she runs a nonprofit like the real business it is, and how a confident nine-year-old grows into a woman who negotiates her salary. It's not strictly a money episode — it's about the confidence, leadership, and self-worth that financial empowerment is built on. As Melyssa puts it, "When more girls play, more women lead." 

You can find out more about Leveling the Fields and Melyssa here:

Website: levelingthefields.org
LinkedIn: Leveling the Fields
Instagram: @levelingthefields @melyjask

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Your Financial Maven, where we talk all about understanding your money. I'm so glad you're here. I'm Samantha Mitman-Besnoff, certified public accountant. I've been in the accounting field for over 30 years, and I absolutely love sharing my knowledge all about your financial empowerment. Enjoy the podcast. Welcome to your financial Maven. I am so excited today. Today I have Melissa Jaskowitz. I said it right. Yay! Good thing to do. She is the founder of the nonprofit organization Leveling the Fields, which provides after-school programs, sports programs, camps, clinics, and leadership development opportunities, which are designed to remove the barriers for participation and also helping girls build confidence, resilience, and leadership skills through sports. And your mission to the organization is rooted in a simple belief. And yes, I'm reading all this because I don't want to get it wrong. When girls have access to sports, they gain the tools to succeed both on and off the field. And you spent 20 years as a former sports technology executive doing marketing, doing sales and business development, helping other organizations growing through relationships. So welcome, Melissa. I'm so excited to have you here on your financial beaven. Thank you, Samantha. I'm so excited to be here. Yes. So before we really get into, you know, what your passion was, what led you to all of this advocacy work, things and all, what is money?

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Money, gosh. You know, I have done so much self-help work over the years. And so much of it is focused on one's relationship with money. Yeah, you're right. And poverty mindset and all of these things that, like the thought that like money was bad or evil, or on the flip side, that money was everything and money was gold. And it was ridiculous. But I think that having money brings comfort and security. Love it. And I think that you have to view money like a river. Oh, that's interesting. Oh, I love that. In and in and out.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Oh, I love it. I have never heard of that. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Like I think of it like money, like a river. Wow. Like a river. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

It'll keep coming if you keep doing what you're supposed to be doing. And I think that I'm all about savings, don't get me wrong. But I think that when people hold on, and I did this for a long time, I held on to money way too tight. And I missed out. I missed out on a lot of opportunities because I was afraid to spend the money.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah. A lot of people are. I get it. I mean, my husband and I spend, depending, right? If it's a really large purchase, we will spend a lot more time, you know, doing the research. And do we want to spend this and what makes sense? But him more than me was that, you know, held on a lot tighter than I did. Not that I didn't save, not that I didn't think we shouldn't value that, but right, we only have one life to live.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

So well, I mean, yeah, you have to meet in and my husband and I grew up in very different households in terms of how they viewed money. And I think over the years we've kind of both come in a little bit from those extremes. And I think that it, you know, he did teach me like we we have to go to the concerts. We have to do the things. You have to do the things. You have to do the things. I think that the the the thought that money is bad or money is evil, I was like, I think that only comes out of a fear or jealousy. And so I think that those are really the only two things that stem to that is that you either, you know, when you don't have something, you immediately are like, I hate the person that has it.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Right. And there is some of that. Yeah. I mean, I tell the, I tell the story, you know, we were talking a little before. My boys are 24 and 21 now, but I tell the story, my my older son swam from like age eight all the way through college. He's still swimming, doing masters, he's running, he's he's still doing all that. And when he was, I think it was eight or nine, I can't, maybe it was 10, he moved up from like the youngest swim group in his summer team to the next level. And that next level, the kids would at our swimming pool across the street was a sheet. So it's like a Wawa, like a 7-Eleven. And we always joke that the swim team helped fund that sheet because you're talking 200 swimmers and like they'll go over after practice. So we got to a point, I think it was like a 10 or 11 where he I go with your group of friends carefully cross the street, you can go. So I actually gave him a hundred and fifty dollar gift card. And I said, because I wanted him to learn the value of money, and I wanted him to have freedom to make a budget or a choice. And I said, you spend it all in one shot, you're done for the six weeks of summer and nothing else. Or you manage it, and yeah, you can buy your friends some stuff, you can buy yourself stuff, but it has to last at minimum the six weeks of summer. And he ended up only spending like $50 that summer and then carried into winter swim and then carried that. So, but I get friends and people over the years who've said, What why would you do that? Let a 10-year-old do that. And I'm like, I love it. They have to learn, even at age two, teaching young children, young adults about the value of money and money. We we shouldn't be afraid of it. So it's important to do that. So yeah, I tell that story, and and I too am a very strong believer about talking about all of it with my kids and the good and the bad, the ugly. But yeah, so I love that the whole river thing. I'll have to remember that. That that's really I think it was.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

I can't take full credit for it.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

I think it was definitely in one of the many, many books or seminars I went to. Yeah, yeah, but but it stuck, right? That's something that has stuck with you. So I want to now kind of shift because I want to know from your own personal experience of you know the sports world, but also how you got involved, you know, with your advocacy and what led to this great organization leveling the fields.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yeah. Um, so my last 15 years were in the pro sports space on the tech side. And before that, I was actually in um I did sales for a web design company. Before that, I was in Harden Computers, and I used to sell into like the three-letter agencies in in DC. And every single one of these is a male-dominated industry. So I was at a conference in 2024, and it was the first time in the conference's history that there was an all-female panel. Oh, wow. And this one woman on stage wrote a book, and I started to read her book on the flight home. And it happened to be at like a time in my life where, you know, a lot of my friends were talking about like making big moves or retirement or like kind of setting up themselves for what was next. So I kind of felt this weird pressure of like, oh wow, I should probably like figure out like what do I want to do in retirement? Like, and then I'm like, I don't want to retire. Like, that is not my jam. So I was like, then what do I want? And so all of the stars kind of aligned where I was like, okay, in the book, she said it's Michaela McKenzie's author, she's 24% of C-suite executives are female, 94% of them played sports.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Yeah. So I was like, and it makes sense if you think about it. Yeah. But to hear it, you're like, whoa. Yeah. So then I was like, okay, if we want more women in places of leadership and power, and sports is the best way to get them there, then let's do that. Yeah. And so once we kind of opened that data door and we started to learn like all the other things that like sports brought, you know, confidence in 100%. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Women in women athletes or female athletes are less likely to end up in a domestic violent relationship.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

They are interesting.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, less likely to end up as a pregnant teen, higher likelihood of going to college, higher likelihood of graduating from high school. Like all the data was just like flowing. Yeah. And so then we were like, okay, well, if this is such a great thing, why aren't more girls playing? And that was it was cost options and access. So when we started to kind of put that all together, like the initial thinking was, okay, we need to link sports, we need to find a way to get more girls playing sports. Okay. We knew that part. And like that's what I had kind of come up with when I was on my flight home from that conference. I was like, I was like, we got it. Right, right. Yeah. I'm like, was that a problem? Got it. I'm on. Right, right. And that's kind of how I felt. I'm like, okay, we should do something to fix this. And then it just kind of snowballed from there. And we started the nonprofit. I was very, very fortunate in that to this day, over the last two years, I've had the strongest, most amazing women around me. I love it. I love it. It has been just a godsend like to have all these people helping and doing the things. And because of all that, we just kind of started to really roll. And then this year it became past an obsession where I was like, okay, I need to do this full time. And so I left my job in January and started full-time on this in February.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

I love it. I actually was an executive director of a local uh community here, uh Lancaster Jewish Community Center here in Lancaster, PA. Nice. And I ran it for six and a half years. You know, I'm a CPA, but I ran the organization. And it's just people who aren't in the nonprofit world, I don't think quite understand or they get into it and then they learn. And the impact, but I also know and I'm sure that you're working a lot, you're you're putting in all your energy, and and sometimes it doesn't come back to you, but knowing at the end of the day you're providing something for people who, you know, might not make that connection, you know, things like that. And and I also think people don't realize, like when my son was swimming and he was part of USA swimming with his club team, he was swimming 20 to 25 hours a week in high school. He'd get up at 4:30 in the morning to go to the pool at like 5.15 and swim till 6:30, 645, change and have to get to high school and be in high school all day, come come home, eat, and head back out for two more hours of uh swimming. And I think the idea that it it's time management, it is confidence, it is leadership skills because he won, he wanted to do it, right? Like I didn't push him to do it. I was like, this is what you want to do, we will support it. But he really put his effort into that and and even seeing the girls doing it and and the young women doing it, just that passion for something, you know, the sports something, and then seeing how it helps them thrive in school. Because you on some level, you don't have a choice if you're really gonna be that dedicated, right? Yeah, you gotta figure it out. But even if you're not that dedicated, but you're still involved with sports, it does teach a lot of those tenants.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

And it's it's interesting. Every time I talk to a sales manager leader that is in a hiring position, almost all of them will say, Oh, yeah, I look for athletes. Yeah. Like I am actively trying to hire people that played a sport because they're coachable, they are a team player, they have grit, they're competitive. Yeah. Like all the things that you'd want in a salesperson. And I think there's like some crazy high percentage of like 70 something percent of jobs have a sales component to them. And yeah. So it is, it is definitely something that can teach you all of those same lessons. And and it and if hiring managers are actively looking for that, then we know like we're on the right path.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Right. And it's hard. Like my younger son did do organized sports for a while, then he kind of did his own thing. And now, of course, in college, he's done club baseball, he's doing volleyball now, he's doing pickleball. Like he just now he isn't as good at his time management as he should be. He's still look, he's 21, he's in college, like I get it. But he is definitely passionate about that, and it helps him stay focused, you know, also from a health standpoint, mental health standpoint. Like when my older son didn't have year-round swimming, between winter and summer, there'd be like a dip in his mental health or a dip in what he would do because he had about a month, month and a half of just there's no swimming, so there's all this other stuff. So I think from a mental health perspective, again, whether you're just doing it to do it or you're doing it to really be competitive, I think sports are really good, you know, even if you don't stick with it, but you've tried it and you're starting it and you see what's involved.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Yes, we see that a lot where it's like, you know, some people get confused about what we do. And like as a new We're not here to produce professional athletes. Right. That's not doing it. But just to your point with your younger son, where because he played sports at some point, he naturally navig like navigated to them again and found them in his life again. And now he's, you know, it not only is it exercise and like you said, mental health, but it's community. Oh, 100%. It's it's an immediate friend group. And it's like, so there's so many benefits to being a part of a team. And so it and it also I've seen it a lot, both with men and women, as it's it's part of your identity. Yeah. And when you are younger and sometimes you're still trying to find out who you are, it does help to be able to grab that and say, like, I'm a lacrosse player, I'm a I'm a swimmer, I'm a runner. Like it gives you that word to fill in to say, like, I am something. Like I might not know everything I am, but I know this.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, like my older son Tyler, I love him dearly. He'd say, I think I was a better baseball player when I was younger. I said, dude, you used to sit down the outfield playing with the grass. And and he did, I think it was one summer or two summers, he did both swimming and baseball. And it was literally, he would leave practice in his swimsuit and then run over to the baseball field. And I'm like, dude, we're not doing that. You need to pick one, and I think the swimming sort is too much. And he says to me, I didn't do that. I said, dude, uh, you sat in the outfield. And and listen, you know, he can play baseball, but I don't think it was the thing that helped him kind of navigate that, right? Like, but he doesn't like me saying that.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I do, I think, like as parents though, too, all you want is to have your kid find their thing. 100%. That's like I don't care if it's you know, professional sand castle making. I don't know, whatever. Like, but find that thing that you love to do, you feel good at it, it gives you that that light. And for a lot of people, it is sports, and you know, others it's not. But like, but to be able to continue to present new options for someone so that they can find their thing, that's a big part of what we do.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Yeah. And and that's kind of where I wanted to ask, kind of like, what does leveling the fields really mean and why does it matter?

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Gosh, that's a loaded question. Sorry. I like it. Um the name means the there's a reason there's an S on fields. Okay. Because it's field of industry and it's field as in the the playing field. Yeah. And we are wanting, we were leveling both. Okay. So because we're leveling the field at the sport level, we can level the fields of sport of industry. And it's across all industries. So that's kind of what the name meant. And it's also kind of in our logo where you've got, you know, the the sport girl to the executive. Oh, I love that. Yeah. I think that that's really what the name means. And I think that as an organization, there's so many things that make up who we are. But I think that it really comes down to helping people or helping girls learn more about who they are and what they're able to become. Right. Because we say all the time, like when you I mean, we're we're, you know, probably about the same age. So when we were little, there wasn't girls in sports on TV. Right. But very true. Yeah. But if you asked any little boy, what do you want to be when you grow up? It was almost always a little baseball player, football player, basketball player. And that's great, but because they're shooting for something, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Now I think we saw women like Olympic sports, right? Like every four years, because it was every four years, right? Because when we were growing up, the Olympics came every four years and it was both winter and summer, and then they changed that. So you're right, it wasn't as much, and and women's sports was still going on, right? There was still, but but that level of national like recognition wasn't there.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

You didn't, it just wasn't as in your face as men's sports was. And so because of that, it gave boys all these options.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

That and even if they didn't become pro-athletes, they were still on their way to something. And if you fall short of a pro-athlete, you're doing pretty good. Right. So definitely. And it it's a hope. And um you really can't see yourself in something that doesn't exist. And it's very hard. And so to be the first at something. So I think that it's a big deal now that there are so many more women's sports on TV because that gives women just more options and saying, like, oh, like that's a possibility. That's a it's just, it doesn't matter that they're not gonna be pro athletes. I mean, some are great, but like you're shooting for something. There's a light. You're like, yeah, let's go. So I think that that's a big part of what we're doing is just to make sure that these girls get options that they might not have otherwise had. I mean, we're not we're not promising everyone's gonna get a full ride to college, but we are presenting them with options of things that they might use over and over again to get to the next level, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:12

The skill set, the confidence, the ability to say, like, I can do this or if I have to pivot. And people probably wondering, okay, we're on a podcast talking about money and financial things. But see, this is important because I think being able to provide that outlet. I'm a big, big proponent, you know, of not just helping small businesses succeed and have financial education and empowerment, but women. And in order to really have women have financial empowerment, we've got to start when they're younger. We have to help girls understand that it's not just about counting money or earning money, but what you can do financially if they open a business, if they start a nonprofit, right? So, you know, you've started this nonprofit. And what are the things, you know, for yourself that you've learned over these last two years as a woman that maybe you didn't necessarily have that skill set or have the learning growing up because it just wasn't available, you know. And I think creating a nonprofit is part of learning to be financially empowered because it gives you different skill sets in that regard.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

100%. I'm a big, big proponent of, you know, being financially able myself, right? I never ever wanted to put myself in a situation to where if I was running solo, I couldn't make it. Right. And I was always really big on that. And so I think that a misnomer about the nonprofit world, I'm sure you ran into this too, was that you know, everybody works for free. And that's how it's supposed to be. And if you donate to a nonprofit, like, how dare you pay someone a salary?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

It's like, come on. Right. Like it still has to operate. Like, I think people don't realize that running a nonprofit is like running a business. There is the operational side. And in order to be able to function, to provide, to do for their mission and their vision, you gotta pay people. I mean, you might not get paid like you would in the corporate world as a CFO or running your own business, but you have to still pay the staff to function so that the organization can run. So I've always, when I when I became executive director and I said to my staff, I said, listen, we are first and foremost nonprofit. We are providing this. But the back end of it, we are an operating business organization, and that's how I'm gonna run it. 100% in the guidelines of how you run a nonprofit, because there are all kinds of legislative and tax laws and accounting laws and and all that good stuff that go with it.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Yeah, no, but it's true. Like you can you can make a good living. Money's always been a driver for me because I was I was in sales, so it drives me. And I and I I like you know, having that that comfort and having like to be able to do the things. Yeah. And so when I did this and and actually left my job, it was very stressful because I've not never not had a paycheck, right? Right. And that was like, oh my god. But luckily, like we're in a position to where I have a I have a little bit of a gap. I mean, we're we're closing it out, but like I truly feel from the bottom of my heart that this will be something that will be so big and so amazing that it will make money and we will be able to pay good salaries to the people that work for us. Right. I don't want people to feel like they're undervalued. And if you want a nonprofit to run and make an impact and do the things right and be able to grow and be sustainable, you need good people. Right. And good people deserve to get paid good rates. Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

And and it it correlates to running a business. You know, some of these girls, some of these women people want to be now, there are people who don't want to have their own business, they want to work for others, and I think it's fabulous. Then there are people like me, after 13 years almost, being on my own, and my husband will say, Don't you want to get like a job where you don't have to? No, I I can't. Work for anybody else. I just right, but it correlates to that too, because when you get to that point and you want to have the staff and and the people involved, it is about there's respect there and and the confidence. And I think helping girls understand that too at a young age, right? Not just the idea of being a leader and setting that goal and saying, I'm gonna do all this and leave everybody behind, but the teamwork, how to work through all that in that regard too.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

I mean, I think it's so much of it comes back to confidence. I think that there's so many women that won't negotiate their salary. That's true. Because that is true. They'll just say, hey, I mean, yeah, you know, of course, but I mean, and so I think that at its core, if you're more confident and you believe in yourself and you value yourself, yeah, you are much more likely to walk into your boss's office and say, Hey, I deserve to be making this much because I am worth that. Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

And so I think that that's I mean, I think it's a really big deal. I think that all's huge. I mean, I think the other thing that I've and I've learned this over the years, I still do it, but never apologize for asking or um why you do things the way you do. Now, that doesn't mean there shouldn't be compromise and having conversations. But but saying you're, oh, I'm really sorry, I have to do this. No, you're not sorry. You want to do this because XYZ. So it's huge. And it's a hard thing to do. And also when, and I think this is something I'm sure you're you're getting into and you'll be teaching the girls too, is when another person or you know, man, woman, whoever compliments you, thank them and look them in the eyes and say, thank you. I appreciate that. And I'm learning to do that. I mean, that's really hard, but I'm finding that it it builds that leadership and that confidence. And when I'm working with clients or I'm working and doing workshops, and somebody says, workshop was great. I love learning about, you know, the financial statements that you talked about and why we did it, my first thing is thank you so much. I appreciate it. And not that cowering and that hiding, which is what growing up, it was kind of like to be in the back.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Right. Yeah. Yes. And now it's gotta be like, no, puff, puff it up.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Here I am. Right. Puff off the chest. I'm here. Um in that regard. Anything else with nonprofit? Because I think people, you know, if you've never really been involved in a nonprofit except for maybe giving a donation, um, you should really, you know, if they have an event, go down and see what they have to offer. You know, how do you with the nonprofit organization hope that communities, businesses, individuals, schools can kind of help your organization, you know, grow and thrive? What are the things that you want to see to be able to do that?

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Yeah, I mean, we started a monthly giving program. Oh, I love that. And it's a minimum of $15 a month donation. And that is our biggest, it's called our ground crew membership. Oh, that's the, you know, the people that are building us up from the ground. And I think that that is one of the best and most appreciated things that you can do for us. We have actually four schools right now that are on our waiting list. Wow. And you're located in South Carolina, correct? We are in Charleston, South Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Forgot to mention that earlier, South Carolina, but not doesn't mean you can't support it, but no, right.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

And we will be in everyone's area here soon. I love it. Um we have a 20-year plan. Um, but yeah, no, I think that that's the the best thing for us is the financial support of, you know, the monthly giving program. But I think that even, you know, even those that couldn't support us financially, if they can share our message and, you know, maybe put us in front of people that might be able to. And I love that. I think for all nonprofits, I mean, whatever you truly believe in, and I think that like from a financial perspective, a lot of people will judge nonprofits based on certain numbers of like, oh, well, who makes this much and who makes that much? And I think that that's the wrong way to look at it. I think that you need to look at the impact that they're having. Yeah. And you need to look at what they're actually doing. Because if you walk into Starbucks and you buy a $8 coffee, the CEO is making money. It's probably making seven of that eight dollars. Yeah. Like, so that same the same thing is like if you come and spend the $7 over here, not all of it is going towards the corporation. Most of it is going towards the girls. Right. So we're actually doing something. We have to work as a team. There's the doers and then there's the funders. And you have to have both. You have to have the people that are going to execute the thing that gets the job done. We have been able to, we've run 17 programs in our first two years.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

And what has been your most successful? Like, what do you feel of those 17 that really captures the girls' attention? Where if it's just playing the sport, but they're still learning those leadership skills. What are the things that you're seeing that are working better for you, or you haven't had enough data yet to determine that?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

We definitely don't have enough data yet, but there's so our program, it's meets it was three days a week, it's now two days a week. It's two hours each time, 80 minutes of sport instruction, 30 minutes of their empowerment journal. Oh, I love it. And actually, one of the things you said, one of the things in their empowerment journal is you have to point at somebody else in the circle and say something nice about them. I love that. I love it. Raising one minutes. Yeah, it teaches us that like you might not like that person, but I bet you could find something you like about them. Or, hey, I really, you know, you you played really well today, or I really love your shoes. Like something. Something to make that person smile and say something nice. And I love it. That's a really big deal. So I think that there's these little moments where we have seen the confidence, we have seen the leadership. You know, we had one little girl at one of our schools down in Ravenel that she was not having it. Like she just wasn't into it, didn't want to participate. My coach there is phenomenal. And she just kind of let her be and like didn't force her, and like, you know, just kept asking, like, do you want to come? Do you want to come? Yeah. By like week six or seven, not only was she participating, but she was volunteering. I love that. Like, do you want to lead this drill or do you want to be, do you want to come up and show everybody? Yeah. She's stand up. So just in that short time, she had gained more confidence that, hey, I can try something new. Right. And I think, you know, when you're coming back to going out in the world and discovering, do you want to start your own business? Do you want to work for someone else? The fact that you can kind of look back and be like, I tried hard things before and I overcame that. And this is just another hard thing that I can overcome. And I think that that's a really good lesson.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Oh, yeah. And and and again, especially with the confidence of I can do this and I now have confidence not just for that, but making the decisions that you make. And I think that's something like I talk about in the financial world too, is whether you should have bought something or not. You made that decision and it's okay, right? Maybe it you shouldn't have bought it, but that's not my decision to say you shouldn't have done it. That is a choice you made. You're learning the consequence, good or bad or whatever. And you learn from it, go, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't have bought that. The opportunity cost because it took away from something else. And now I know, okay, I don't need that. I'm gonna look it for something else, or I'm gonna do something else. And I think that's important for people to understand too, that the opportunity cost of buying something or doing something, but having to give up something else in order to do that or buy that. And I think that is something that is important, I think, for really anyone to learn. But I again, I go back to the women and young girls and the idea that we need to uplift and we need to continue to bring that forward because it's important. And and I, you know, I think what you're doing with leveling the fields is amazing. I I think that it gives the girls the opportunity to not only do the sports, probably, and and you know, energy, exercise, right? Stay healthy, all good things, yeah. But but the journaling that you talk about I think is really impactful. And it just sounds like that, especially from the one, you know, girl that it you know took her six to seven weeks, but that's okay. Maybe she was shy, maybe she had anxiety, like maybe she just not my thing, but then realized, yeah, I can do this. I can do this.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yeah, yeah, I can do this. And that's it, it is it's fun to watch that light bulb go on. You know, it's funny, I always say, like, when you know, people ask us, you know, it's especially because it's you know, we're just focused on girls. But if you're at recess, if a kid's at recess and the boys naturally gravitate towards basketball or football, like it's just natural, and they just start playing. And but there's almost no situation where there's gonna be a nine-year-old girl who walks up to a group of boys playing basketball and is like, Can I play? Like, I've never played this before. Like, no chance. But you take that same little girl, you put her into a gym with all females in a safe space, she'll try it. And I think that that is really important, and that's the environment that we create. We create that safe space and and coaches that really care. One of our coaches was the in the attendance, and so she wasn't in like so she didn't see the all the kids every day.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

And one of the little girls from her program was like, Um, I have a play tomorrow. Will you come? She's like, Yeah, sure. And so she went. She went to the play. And that day at practice, the little girl beelined for her. And her face lit up, and all she said was, You came, you came to my play. She said, Yeah, it was great. But it was one more adult in that little girl's life that showed her that she was valued, that showed her that someone loved her.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

And you can take those moments and ride them for quite some time.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Oh, 100%. And and you know, it's hard because growing up in the 70s and 80s and then becoming a young adult in the 90s, it was coming, becoming more that way. And I mean, we've reached a part where there's a battle against that too, to a degree, of providing confidence for women and young adults and girls to be able to be who they are. And it bothers me so much because we've come so far, but we still have so far to go. Like we still have a lot to go because I see from my end when I talk to clients or I talk to others that, oh, my partner or my spouse handles all that. And the problem is when that partner or spouse passes away or leaves them, now what do they do? They don't know what to do from a financial aspect. And I think if we can build what you're doing in young girls to say it doesn't, it's okay if you allow somebody else to do something because you just don't want to do it, but you still should have the confidence and the knowledge. And and sure, you could still be afraid or what you need to do if something were to happen, and then now you have to take the reins. And I think that is so important. And yes, I am a mom of boys and my world is all boys, but I've also taught them compassion and understanding and realizing for them it's just like second nature to a degree. And I think women need to help young girls and and even men get them to that point, you know, whether it's coaching or helping them figure out leadership skills or or things like that. I think it's important.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Yeah, and it has to be a team effort. We have to all kind of jump in and help. And like I think, I mean, I've got one of each. So I see you see it both. I see it both. Um but it is, it's it's interesting to see the male and female what they gravitate towards and what they naturally take on. And yeah, but yeah, I think that it's it's just so important to know or to have that feeling of I can do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

And I find yeah, and I find it interesting because especially for my older son in swimming, when they're swimming and they're practicing, it's both the girls and boys are swimming together for practices. Now they compete when they're still competing at the same time when they go to swim meets, but it girls first, boys first, like right. Yeah. There's never really anything mixed. But to also have that, you know, some sports like track and and swimming, you know, allow for more of that to be able to see the cross. Now, that doesn't mean there still aren't like the the tendencies of like the girls are still behind or whatever. But I think that that's important to note too. That and I'm curious, I'd be curious for the data. Like, what do you see in sports like that where they're training next to each other all the time? And then yeah, they're not competing next to each other, but they're still in that training, which is where they build the confidence and the leadership and the resilience.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

I think that it's really positive when there are male-female training together at that level. Yeah. Because I think that it forces the boys to watch female athletes.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

And and and see, oh wow, they're fast, they're good, they can jump. So I think that it forces the boys to look at the girls differently.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

And more as equals and more respect. Yes, very much so. And I think that that's I think that that's really positive. And there is a kinship in a teammate, and like, you know, who's to say? Like, you know, when you're in my son plays on cross country, and there's, you know, the the varsity, the both the varsity teams, boys and girls, they're pretty tight. Oh yeah. And and they they look out for each other. And and so it it it again is coming back to that like team environment at the level that we're at, we're at third through fifth graders. Right. So you're a little you're not very tight. Yeah. Yeah. No, we separate. Um, but I do think that there is, you know, positives to that. Yeah, I do.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

I do. Melissa, this has been fabulous. Like I just I've been so excited for this interview to learn about your organization and the fact that there's another organization out there that does this, you know, for girls. Because I've seen there are some other organizations up here in Lancaster. It's called Girls on the Run that does. Right. Girls on the run, they do that too. And I think they have the empowerment too. And it's neat because they've got people in the community who get involved with coaching and helping. So I'd love to know like anything else about your organization, is how people can get involved, where they can find you, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

Sure, yeah. So we are leveling the fields on everything. So leveling the fields.org, um, leveling the fields on TikTok, on YouTube, on Instagram. Love it. Just that's our handle everywhere. And I think that, you know, we are going to be expanding and we've had interest from you know different parts of the nation. And, you know, anyone that has interest in our volunteers can be anywhere because uh, you know, we have we need help with marketing and grant writing. And I don't care where you are.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Financial literacy, maybe, you know, you and I should talk. I would love to. Oh, we should definitely talk because I wouldn't have a feeling that's gonna be a new component of our empowerment journals.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

But no, it is, it's true. And like we need all those things. So I think that anyone that feels passionate about what we're doing, please reach out. You can also find me on LinkedIn. I'd love to talk to anyone who who also kind of shares this passion and wants to help us continue this, grow this, and be part of our family.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Yeah, I love it. I love it. I think it is so important. And we'll make sure that I have all that in like the bio when I when I put it out there for the podcast and and everything. But I just any other words of wisdom? Is there any particular sayings that any of the coaches or you will tell the girls as they're going through the program? Um, anything that kind of stands out in that regard?

SPEAKER_01 37:46

I don't think there's like a typical saying, but we like to keep kindness at the root of everything that we do. When I started this whole thing, I called it my second act, and I wanted five things in my second act. And one of them was to only work with good people. And I think that kindness gets overlooked a lot. And in 100%. I think that it gets confused with weakness sometimes. Where like if I'm at a restaurant and someone brings me water every single time, I will thank them. Yeah. They can bring me water 17 times. I will thank them every single time. And that's just nice. Like, just be nice. Like it's just it's such an easy thing to do. Yeah. And it just ripples through everyone else around you. So I think keeping kindness at the center of everything, and I smile at random people. So do I. I actually say hi. Like when I'm we we went on a bike ride the other day, and everything person I passed, I said hi to. Some said hi back. Some were like you. But yeah, I think that that's kindness at the center. Um, I mean, one of my quotes that, you know, I not necessarily with the girls, but I thought you might like it is um, whatever you're not changing, you're choosing.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

I like that one a lot because I have a real issue with complainers. Yeah. And venting is one thing. Very true. Get it off your chest. Like you need to work, process it, get through it. But complaining is different. And I think that when someone complains about the same thing multiple times to me, now I'm kind of like, well, what are you doing about this? Right. Yeah, like do something or shut up.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

Because I don't want to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Like, right?

SPEAKER_00 39:27

Because you're right.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

But you're you're just yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

I mean, if you complain about it first couple times because it's just whatever, but then at that point, by the fifth or sixth time, complaining isn't gonna get it done. So move along. No, do it again.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Like if you're whatever, like so fit, figure it out. Like, figure out what it is that you actually want to change and and and then do it. Because whatever, like you can say, oh, I'm gonna do this, and and every day you can say that. And if you don't do it, like you really and I don't want to do it. Right. But and that's fine. But I think leaning into that and being okay with it and just saying, like, hey, these are the things that I would like to expand. And and I just, I mean, every you you you're probably the same as me. It's you're you're learning and growing and expanding every day. And oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

I mean, I that's I've had my moments of just wow, and and looking at things. I mean, I'm very involved in an organization that helps adults with disabilities who do work, they work, they're out there getting jobs, and it's an organization that gives them jobs. And when you work with individuals, and I don't look at them necessarily any different, they're just have something that I don't have and maybe makes them slower, or you know, in their wheelchair, they're not, but I've always had that knowledge and compassion. And like I remember when my younger son and I were in the supermarket and we saw a kid in a wheelchair, and Aaron said, Why is he in a wheelchair? And I said, Well, I'm not sure, but some people need the wheelchair to help them. The mother stopped me and thanked me because I didn't shy and pull my kid away and be like, Don't, don't say that, you know, don't because you know, she appreciated that I I didn't know if her son broke something or if, you know, some other disability, but the wheelchair was how he got around. And I explained that to my son. And and I think that's where that little bit of kindness or explanation, it goes a long way. And you just never know what somebody's going through. So even that high or that smile, even if they don't respond, just you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

Yeah, just one more nice thing that happened that day. I mean, it's oh I love that. We went to dinner last night, and some woman opened the door for me. And I was like, oh my God, thank you so much. Like that was so sweet. Like, right. We both got to the door at the same time, and she opened it and like, I'm like, that was so sweet.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Like but it's modeling and it's teaching young girls and young boys that that's also part of leadership and resilience and building, right? You're building a nonprofit, a small business, you're working for somebody else, and just having even that little bit, you just it does go a long way. You might not see the results right away, but it will come to the thing.

SPEAKER_01 41:57

I think it's leadership is so interesting to me. And as I've grown and as I've you know taken on new roles and and learned, and like it's it takes on new meaning. And I think that I'm a huge Ted Lasso fan. So there's a line that he says in there of like being curious, and I think that a true leader has to be curious. Oh, yeah. Because if you think you know it all, I mean you're not growing. So therefore, how do you expect anyone else to grow? Right. Like everyone has to grow. And so I think I think that being curious is good, and I think that lean into what you know. Like I always say, like, I'm super, super good at this many things. Yeah, right. But I need this many things to run my organization. And so I you just have to know, like, I know my area and I'm good at it, and I can and I can teach you about it. But when someone comes to me with, you know, uh, you know, doing something creative, I'm like, oh, I need someone who's better at that than me. Right. And I know that because that's their area and that's what they specialize in. And I think really owning your thing is is good. And I think that a lot of people need to lean into that and be like, yeah, I don't know all these 17 things, but I'm really good at these three.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

Right, you know, and I'm willing, and I'm willing to support and learn those other things. I might not go do it again, but learning. And I think with nonprofits as and also with leadership, when I was at executive director, my board president came from the corporate world and came into nonprofit, which they are completely different. And I and if you don't have an open mind when you're coming in from the corporate world into nonprofit to understand that because of the rules and the regulations, and we just can't do that sometimes. But you're willing to open that door, but also say, you know what, we can still try XYZ. Let's try something. Right. And if it doesn't work, we don't do it again. The harm Yeah, we pivot. If there's no physical harm or mental harm that it causes to anybody, it's just we're doing a program a little differently. We're gonna try this. This with with a program with leadership skills or financial literacy. I I think in the nonprofit world, you have to learn that more than you do in the regular world because you you've got to be willing to try those things. Because yeah, there are certain things like certain events or programs that year after year they work, but it's still okay to freshen them up or change a little bit because maybe you learned a new skill that oh you want other Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

Yeah. Or just I mean, yeah, exactly. You have to try new stuff. You have to keep I mean, stuff's gonna fail. It's like nothing. There's no chance it's all gonna go well. Like it is it is interesting moving. I've learned so much about the nonprofit space, and yeah, you definitely have a a totally new respect for the amount of work. I mean, I'm I'm on my computer from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. almost every day.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

I've been trying to take Saturdays off, but and most of the time I can, but you know, it inevitably you'll end up being it's hard because of that passion, right?

SPEAKER_00 45:02

And and I think you're still able to teach and show leadership. And then of course the personal, you know, self-care is very hard also, I think, for girls and women. And I'm in spaces where I have a an a group of women who are in the accounting world that we meet once a month and we talk about things, and the biggest thing is that whole self-care. And I have made that really a priority. And especially like on the summertime or when things are down, it's not tax season. Because if I don't take care of myself, how can I help others? And I think that's an important thing for girls to learn too. I it's not selfish.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

No, it's it's not. And I I mean, we're still in startup mode, so things are a little crazy, but I've said many times to the moms around me over the years that you know it's the airplane model. Like you have to put your mask on first before you help someone else. Because let's think, let's play that through, right? If you don't put your mask on, you're done. Right. You're on the floor. Now you're no good to anybody. Right. So you have to, you can't pour from an empty cup. And so I am a big proponent, and and there were there are many times when I'll let my body tell me what's up because at a certain point in the day, I can't like a screen, it'll just get blurry. Right. And I'm like, oh yeah, my brain just stopped working. Like it was like, it just shuts down on me. Um, it's like, okay, great, time to go watch some TV and eat a snack and not feel guilty about it. That's a hard thing too. Because and then just be done for the day. Like, but you have to like you have to listen to your body. I try not to push my body to the point where, you know, I don't want to get sick. I'm a I'm a hard 10 o'clock bedtime person. Yeah. But yeah, like you, you just have to listen and take those moments.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Right. The skill of listening to yourself and your body actually helps you when you go into whatever you're doing in your life. And, you know, whether you're running your own business or you're helping others, you know, it helps you listen because it also gives you skills in the financial space, in the marketing space, in in whatever leadership space, whatever space you're in, look that learning to listen.

SPEAKER_01 47:16

It's not you're not always going to get it right, but no, but you do, you really do need to listen to your body because I think that like there's, I mean, obviously we've been going strong for two years now, and then I've been obviously, you know, all in for you know, seven months now. And there are days when I'm like, like, like deal with one of these, and you know, we we went down to uh to to Key West for a couple days because my husband had a work thing and um I shut down completely. I was like, I didn't even hardly even open my phone. I put on a do not stir. I was like, I need three days of just reset. And yeah, and it and it and it a little of me felt guilty, you know, but like I was like, no, like I think this is this is good for my mental health, this is good for my marriage, like I want to be here and like do these things and have fun. And so I think they the one some I don't remember the her person being interviewed, but my mom like loves this one. But she said, you know, there's a woman being interviewed and she was doing this and doing that, and they said, Well, how can you how can you do everything well at the uh how can you do everything well? And she said, Well, you don't do it at the same time, right? And I was like, I like that. Yeah. So you do have to like there are things that are the highest priority at that time. Right. And then there are other things where it's highest priority at that time. Yeah. Like if one of my kids comes in and wants to talk to me, I stop what I'm doing.

unknown 48:42

Right.

SPEAKER_01 48:42

I swivel my chair and I say, let's go. Like, what do you have to share with me? Because I'm not gonna get those moments back. No.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Believe me, I have lived right. I live in the moment, even now that they're 24 and 21. You live in that moment. And and I think it's important um to have that. Um, but this this conversation, I love it. Like, this has been awesome because I think that correlation of learning the skills of leadership and resilience and and you know, embracing who you are helps you, I think, in whatever space you're in. And and like I said to my listeners, you know, this wasn't necessarily all about money, but it's also about understanding the things behind that, behind, you know, having that ability to have that confidence to do certain things or purchase certain certain things. I've had financial therapists on who talk about that, that emotional piece, that mental piece. So, Melissa, thank you so much for joining me here on your financial mave-in. Is there anything else you want us to know, any last-minute things about uh leveling the fields?

SPEAKER_01 49:43

I mean, I would just I would love everyone to follow us and uh I'd love to hear everyone else's stories. Great. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you, Samantha.

SPEAKER_00 49:57

Follow, like, and subscribe to your financial maven wherever you listen to your podcasts. And make sure that you leave your money stories or questions for me at www.yourfinancialmavenpodcast.com. I cannot wait to hear what you have to say about money. The purpose of this podcast is to provide general information on the subjects discussed. It is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only. It is not meant to resolve your specific financial needs or situations. Please consult with your CPA, tax, or financial professionals. Your financial Maven is hosted and produced by Samantha M. Besnov CPA and your Financial Maven LLC. Editing is done by Chris Sarnak of KMZen Creative. Music is written, composed, and performed by Daniel Shore.