From Challenges to Changemaker | Sarah Watts, Leading with Love

She Built the Gilbert Chamber’s Business Resource Center Used by 800+ Businesses in 18 Months | Sarah Watts

Jän Simon interviews Sarah Watts, president and CEO of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and newly appointed chair of Arizona Chamber Executives, about leading the community where she grew up. Sarah shares her East Valley upbringing in Chandler, her long relationship with her high school sweetheart Sean, and early leadership through choir and color guard, including a year at ASU. She explains studying journalism with a PR emphasis, switching away from hard news after covering a disturbing Ahwatukee murder case, and working in communications at St. Mary’s Food Bank. Sarah details joining the Gilbert Chamber in 2008, building programs and the Chamber Foundation in 2016, and defining “leading with love” while balancing nonprofit demands, advocacy, and motherhood. She also describes the Catalyst business resource center launched after COVID, used by 800+ businesses in 18 months.

00:00 Student Journalism Shock
00:45 Meet Sarah Watts
02:47 East Valley Roots
05:00 Chandler High Memories
05:59 Color Guard Captain
11:04 College and Career Pivot
13:24 Early Mentors and Responsibility
16:58 Leading With Love
21:15 Finding the Chamber Path
25:39 Evolving as CEO
27:09 Mom First Leadership
31:01 Chamber Mission Today
34:36 Town Partnership Explained
36:17 Representing Business Voice
38:15 When Council Disagrees
40:45 Building Relationships With Electeds
41:45 Solving Zoning Roadblocks
43:27 Chamber Programs And Networking
45:27 Foundation Workforce Pipeline
47:57 Catalyst Origin Story
52:04 Family And Parenting Teens
54:14 Leadership At Home And Work
56:20 Unplugging And Self Care
59:19 Future Of The Chamber
01:02:21 Legacy And Leading With Love
01:08:46 Truth Telling And Community Involvement
01:10:41 Dream Vacation And Closing

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I had an experience as a student journalist. I had to go cover a court case in um a real court case in Awatuki. And it was a very disturbing story where a husband had um was accused of murdering his wife. And I was outside the courtroom and I was seeing her family, and I was just like, I don't think I'm made for this. Like I um I don't know that I can do this unbiasedly.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Hey there, welcome back to Above and Beyond where Excellence Meets Elevation. I'm your host, Jan Simon, and this season we're raising the bar, diving into the passion, purpose, and defining moments of leaders who don't just aim high, they live there. Big ideas, real stories. Let's get into it. What happens when the place that raised you becomes the place you're called to lead? Today's guest is Sarah Watts, president and CEO of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and newly appointed chair of Arizona Chamber Executives. Sarah grew up right here in the East Valley, and over the years she has gone from being shaped by this community to helping shape its future. Since joining the Gilbert Chamber in 2008, Sarah has grown through multiple roles, built meaningful partnerships, championed business and education initiatives, and become known for a leadership style often described as leading with love. But beyond the titles and accomplishments, Sarah is also a wife to Sean and a mom to Austin and Molly. And that personal connection to family and community shows up in the way she leads. Today, we'll talk about her journey from growing up in the East Valley to leading its Chamber of Commerce, what it means to serve a community you call home, and how love, connection, and purpose can become powerful tools in leadership. Sarah.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

It actually makes me a little emotional to hear you read that because you're such a friend to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Oh, well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

And I'm grateful for that perspective. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Well, thank you. I a hundred percent. I mean, you are uh, I mean, if we if we if we say accolades quickly and then move on to things that are less emotional, I would have to say you're one of my favorite people. I have come to adore you and I think that you are an amazing leader in our community. So I appreciate everything you do.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Thank you. Thank you. I mean, I think even just hearing that sometimes when you're in in any position, actually, you are just getting things done and you forget sort of where you came from sometimes or what built you. Yeah. So it's nice to hear that. Yeah. Thanks for that reflection.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

You're very welcome. Thank you. Thanks for all you do. So let's start here. Okay. Before the titles, before the chamber, before there was this massively important Sarah Watts. Oh yeah, running and leading a community of people.

SPEAKER_06 2:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

What what was what talk to me about what it was like growing up in the East Valley in Chandler. Not really Gilbert. But growing up in the East Valley, what was that like and what was Sarah's life like as a young ruffian?

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Yeah. Okay. So let me just say, um, I don't want to go like too trauma-based in all of this. But I'm going to say I actually, so I was a product of divorced parents. My parents divorced when I was seven. So my dad lived in Michigan. My mom and I moved out here. So I actually sort of had the best of both worlds. If you really consider the fact that I got to grow up out here, go to school out here. I got to spend my summers in Michigan. And that was pretty, that was pretty amazing. But I actually lived in different places throughout the East Valley. So we started in Scottsdale, we moved to Mesa. We did a little a year in Glendale, not East Valley.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

That is like East LA.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

East LA. And then ultimately we my mom put roots down for us when I went into junior high in Chandler. And so I spent junior high in high school growing up in Chandler. It was still um farm town, like that smell of manure was the smell of home.

SPEAKER_04 3:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Um, Gilbert, some of the um kids growing up in Queen Creek went to Chandler schools. And so we just didn't venture to Gilbert. And if I was gonna spend my weekend in Queen Creek with friends, my mom was like, You're staying out there for the whole weekend. That's a really long drive. And I I do remember the days of Burger King being the stop on Valvista um that you you made on your way to Queen Creek, because you know, you had a long drive ahead of you.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

But isn't that so true? I remember when we first moved here, we moved here in '99 and we lived at Valvista and Southern. And when we would go out to um Schnepp Farms, I felt like that was for real. It was a long way up.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

It was a commitment. You were making a commitment to go there. Even when we bought our first house, um, we bought our first house in Gilbert, my husband and I, and we told our realtor at the time, please don't go past Valvista.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Nobody can there's nothing out there.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Nothing out there. Why would you ever go past that? It's funny. And he went a mile past Valvista.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

So my God.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

I know.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

It was a real That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

That's hilarious. So growing up in Chandler, did you go to Chandler High School?

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yep. I was the last graduating class before they opened their next school. So I had a really large, I think like over 800 students that graduated in my year, class of 99.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

No kidding. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

But I I love the fact that even when I work now, I run into people who we shared paths with in high school, you know. And um we're still I married my high school sweetheart. We're still really good friends with um, and he was best man in our wedding who um we went to high school with.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Your husband was best man in your wedding?

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Well, he he maybe he would have preferred to a best man, but unfortunately he was the groom. Oh, okay. But one of our good friends was best man in our wedding, and we are still touch touch, um, we're still in touch with him. So and just every once in a while you just bump into someone who either went to Chandler High or was in your class with you at Chandler High, and it just it there's a connection there, it means something.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Now, were you in sports? Did you play the piccolo? Did you act?

SPEAKER_00 6:04

I feel like you might be judging dance, piccolo.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

No, I mean I used the piccolo. Maybe you played the clarinet or the glockenspiel.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

I couldn't even spell that. So that definitely was not my thing. But I was a choir kid, and I was um, I know this will shock you, but I have to say I was captain of the color guard.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

And then my husband, Sean, was the cutest boy in the marching band, and he played saxophone. So it just made sense that the cutest boy in the band and the color guard captain would get together.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yeah. Was he ever drum major?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

No. That's a big drummers. We were I was terrified of. They were actually the coolest people. Um I mean, you just didn't mess with the drummers.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

It's funny.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Although I do remember teeping a drummer's house once with feminine products. That was fun. They must have been cheap back then.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

No kidding. Holy smokes. It's like break the bank. It's like a level up from teepee.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

No, they were really cool. Drummers were really cool.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Yeah. Um above your level. What was the coolest place you got to did I'm assuming you did like uh parades and stuff? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

I mean you did like the I mean at that point, like Osters Festival was still in downtown Chandler.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Um, so yeah, I did we did all of that kind of stuff. We did tons of state competitions.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Did you ever get to do like Disneyland or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 7:27

No. That's the difference. Out here, marching bands are not as serious as they are, like back east or Texas. Like so, yeah. I mean, I don't know. And then I went on to do ASU's Color Guard for a year. Okay. That was extremely intense. I mean, man, they practice. That band does a different show every week. I don't know if they still do this, but I'm confident they probably do. Different show every week. They practice in the afternoon sun every day. It was brutal. Brutal. But they did awesome music. Like their show would be different every week. So they do like a Beatles show one week, and then they do um like uh John Mayer, all John Mayer songs, and like you learned different routines. It was That's cool. It was intense.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

That is cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

It was fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

You said you sang.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yep. I did choir.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Were you in like plays and stuff too, or just sung?

SPEAKER_00 8:17

No.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

What my kids do, I could never do.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Them going in and just You get to live vicariously through them. I do. I'm really proud of them. Like I I love to sing. I would never sing publicly.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

So you still sing like at home when you're doing dishes and stuff? All the time. I make assumptions that you're doing the dishes and not Sean, so maybe it's the other way around.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Well, no, I do the dishes because I don't cook and he does. So that's our fair trade-off. Gotcha. Um but yeah, no, I do. I sing a lot, but I don't um I would never do it publicly.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Non-public. How many shots of tequila would it take to get Sarah to sing karaoke?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Exactly six. Just noted.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

It's in my brain, it's locked in. Um ColorGuard. Is there a leader of ColorGuard?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yeah. Were you the leader?

SPEAKER_01 9:00

You were the leader of Color Guard.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Two straight years. And then I went back and I taught it at my high school.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

How many people were in the Color Guard? Like four?

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Oh my god. This is the problem. If we were so cool, just ask us. Yeah, no, we weren't a large group, but it was just super fun. It was really fun. And here's the one thing I will say. When you're in ColorGu, you can't mess around. If you're playing an instrument and you wanna, if you're having a rough night and you wanna just not actually play and you just march for a game, nobody knows.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Guess what? This girl couldn't just hold my flag.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

That's true. You gotta you gotta twirl that thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

You gotta twirl it, throw it, spin it, shuck it. There's there's a lot of things you gotta do with that flag.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

That's funny. I just totally different picture of who Sarah Watts is now. I'll tell you. Growing up in community, obviously you've seen this place like explode, and not just Gilbert. I mean, Chandler has exploded as well. May said, where did you go to party? Did you go to the desert?

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yan Simon.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

I mean I mean you had to have. I'm gonna be very You were dating a saxophonist, but I know.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Where did he go to party is the question. Okay, so there were like little hangouts around town. Usually it was just people's houses. Knox and I mean back then Peter Piper Pizza was cool. We always, and I think I still do, we had open campus lunch, so like Elmer's, you went oh yeah. Elmer's is like still one of our favorite spots to go to. Valley Video back in the day. So Sean actually worked at Valley Video. No kidding. And then Islands Pizza was right next to it. Like, I mean, there were there were there were pockets of places. We had ATVs, so we we did. We used to go out in the desert and ride ATVs, and that was always a blast. That's cool. I loved like just spending a day out there being covered in dirt and exhausted when you get home. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

And you didn't have to drive an hour to get to wherever it was we were gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Like I'm almost certain where Queen Creek Marketplace is is where we were riding ATVs for it.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

That's too funny. That's too funny. So you get through high school, you go to college, and you actually are color guard for a year.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

For a year, yep. So I really actually wanted to go out of state. I wanted to go to the University of Washington.

SPEAKER_04 11:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Loved uh went there, loved it, but I got a full ride in state um uh based on academics, and so I couldn't pass that up. So I went to ASU.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

What what's your degree?

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Journalism with an emphasis in public relations and a minor in communication. So I really thought I was gonna be a hard-hitting like the next Katie Kirk or something. I well, not TV. I really I love to write, so I really thought I was gonna do print. Okay. And then um I thank goodness, I the journalism school, you could do an emphasis in my I selected public relations, and I'm really fortunate that I did because newspaper isn't what it was. Yeah, no, it wouldn't have been the career that I had hoped for. So most likely. And also I had an experience as a student journalist. I had to go cover a court case in um a real court case in Awatuke, and it was a very disturbing story where a husband had um was accused of murdering his wife, and I was outside the courtroom and I was seeing her family, and I was just like, I don't think I'm made for this. Like I um I don't know that I can do this unbiasedly. And so then I I switched, I I really leaned into the public relations side of things. And so public relations, I I got an internship and then a job at St. Mary's Food Bank, helping in their communications, doing their community outreach, planning food drives, working with corporations. Like, you know, when the the food banks do their Mother's Day um food drive with the US Postal Service, like I got to go to all the post office and talk to them about the importance of them collecting all that food for food banks locally. And I loved I loved that job, but it was quite a commute. It was other side of of the valley, and there were days even at that young age where I would get to work and forgot that I drove there. Oh, no kidding. Like, man, I don't know that I'm cut out for that. So I stayed there for probably two years and then moved on from there.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Okay. As you were growing up through high school, I mean, I I will call it a broken family, split family. Was there was there somebody along the way that guided you, or were you always I don't want to make you sound square.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

You can.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

I mean, you you are I mean w I rarely broke broke rules.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yes. I was a very good kid. And I will actually say through therapy, what I recognize is that I was I I was in many ways, especially in my relationship with my dad, I was the adult. And so I had to be the responsible one and the good one and uh meet those expectations. Um, but if there's somebody along the way, I'm I was very close to my mom growing up. My grandpa on my mom's side was a champion for me always. I don't know why he had he had seven grandchildren, but for some reason he and I were bonded. But also I started dating my husband now husband when I was 16, and his mom like really can't take you under her wing. Yeah. I as you know. I mean Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Do you have any brothers and sisters?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

No. Oh I didn't I Sean and I are both only children, so that also explains some things.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

It's a good thing you found each other.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

And also when our kids fight, we're like, what the hell?

SPEAKER_01 14:38

They say it's like, who's right in your house?

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Well, obviously. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah. That's funny. And you have so that's that's awesome. Um at what point in that early time? I mean, obviously, we could say you had the title of being a leader in the um Color Guard. Color guard. It's like baton twirlers.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

I did that too in fourth grade. We can go with that. I was so cool, Yana, it hurt. I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

I am not saying you weren't cool.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I I feel like if you read between the lines, we both know. We both know.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Um what was your first experience with with leadership? And and did you have, I mean, was it in ColorGuard or in high school, did you have a group of people that kind of looked up to you and that you Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

I mean, I guess I would say when you are the captain of a team, uh, I think first of all, somebody recognized that in me. So I had, I still remember her name, Alanda Hartford was our coach, and she I also like babysat her kids on the side, and she um I think she could see that I craved responsibility, actually. Like I craved the ability to be efficient at something, responsible for something. I did work really hard at anything that I believed in. So um I think that she saw that and then I stepped into it. And then yeah, having having um the opportunity to work with people, have people count on me to develop people. I actually think that's just something that I'm just wired to do. I it is really hard and also really rewarding. So I just um I think I was wired to do those types of things. It's hard for me when I am not I don't think I could be irresponsible.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

I honestly I can kind of relate to that because there are definitely times where I feel like it'd be nice to not care about what the repercussions are of something. And I feel like I'm always thinking about what my decisions are going to lead to.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

And how they're gonna impact others. Yeah. All the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yeah. So I I think I know where you're coming from on that because I I think about that quite quite a bit.

SPEAKER_04 16:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Uh in your introduction, and it and it's something that I've I think gleaned from you because I I don't know that I've seen anything else, but when when I uh describe you as somebody who leads with love, what what does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 17:14

So I have a saying that some people will roll their eyes at, but I truly believe, and I say it often, we are all souls on a human journey. I don't really believe that we need to be defined by what we do as a title or a job. I actually I actually learned a lot from Jen Daniels in this space because she would hold no titles lunches with me. Um when she was mayor, I was not the CEO of the chamber and she just invested in me the person. And I think I think it really is about people first, their needs first, their priorities first. I think when you look at your team or a relationship that you're in and you say if your family's important to you, it should always be the first priority in any workplace. I don't stop being a mom when I show up for work, I don't stop being a CEO when I go home. And like it's okay to be everything all at once and acknowledge that in humans. So I I really think it's about showing up and being there for the person the way they need you to show up, not the way I want to show up.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

And that's hard.

SPEAKER_04 18:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

I also think sometimes it's seen as a weakness um when you when you lead with love or leave it lead with heart. I just think that it actually can be a superpower.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah. I I would actually agree with you. And I feel like what is the old uh saying, don't mistake my kindness for weakness.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Right. And I actually um have had that conversation in the past. Like I I there have been instances where I feel like maybe I've been taken advantage of because I was kind. And then it's also really hard when you have to make hard decisions because um boundaries have been crossed.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Yeah. So it's difficult, I think, because I think we somewhat process that leadership piece the same. Because in my mind, I understand, and there's times where I have to be able to say, okay, I need to make a decision for the business today.

SPEAKER_06 19:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

And it may be contrary to what I want personally or my emotions. And and so I need to make that decision for that. And I think I think that some people can't differentiate the two and get stuck in the mud of, oh, you're doing this because you don't like me personally.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

100% right. Like my in my seat today, my job is to put the organization first. And I have 18 bosses that I report to who are counting on me to put the organization first because their reputation is also connected to that. That doesn't mean I don't absolutely love every member of my team, yeah, or that I want to accommodate them. And I try as hard as I can um to make sure that they are accommodated as the individuals that they are, but also sometimes there's a job to do.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Yeah. There's and that's I think in that and that's huge. And to be able to recognize that in yourself, to be able to say, okay, I understand this is how I am.

SPEAKER_06 20:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Being able to convey that so everybody else remembers it all the time, I think is a very difficult thing to do because they do start to get comfortable with it's the old adage of give them an inch, he'll take a mile, the type of thing. It's like, okay, well, this this is working well for this person at this time, and people don't always see how it impacts the bigger picture.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Yeah. Yes, and also nonprofit work is hard. Um, non when you are a nonprofit employee, which the chamber is a nonprofit, there is nobody that is working there for the money, and there is nobody that is working there if they don't believe in the mission.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

And so there has to be a balance. And the truth is there are things I don't want to do, right? But you gotta do it and you gotta put your best foot forward, give the organization everything that it deserves, um, and also recognize that these are people.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Yeah, yeah. You went through college, yeah. You went to work for a little bit for St. Mary's Food Bank.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

At what point did you end up at the chamber and how did you get there?

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Yeah. Okay. So I left St. Mary's Food Bank to work for my dad's business. So my dad was a retired physician. He was doing practice management for other physicians, and a lot of his business was starting to pick up in the Phoenix area. I was also engaged in planning a wedding, and I thought, oh, perfect, I will go work for my dad. Working for family is not the answer. Um, that didn't end well. However, um uh it was it was right for the time in my life, but it it was pretty short lived, so maybe three years. And then I decided I had just had um my first child, Austin, in 2007, and I decided to start a business called Sarah at your service. So I was a I had a whole list of things on the back of my business card that I was willing to do so that I didn't have to work in the family business anymore. Um and fortunately so I had some clients like I dearly love her, Lorraine Bergman at Calliente Construction. I did a lot of things for her. Love her very much. And at the same time, Kathy, my mother-in-law, who was also um CEO at the chamber, she had direction from the board to create a position. And so um she actually said can Sarah at your service come and help me create this position because I don't exactly know what I want it to be. It was going to be like an executive assistant to the president. And she's like if we can try it out and try a few things then I'll know how I want to post for it. So I did that um in 2008. And just oddly enough like she and I worked really well together from the very beginning. Unfortunately for my husband, he basically married his mother. We just thought alike like I could really predict like how she was going to respond to even emails or or we would just balance each other out. Like she would write a response that she thought would be great for say a town council position. And then my journalism and me journalist and me would be like how about we put a red bow on this and like deliver it this way and we just really worked well together. So she went back to the board and um was able to offer me the position. So I I mean I really I started at the chamber in 2008 as an executive assistant. And then um also double-edged sword with working in that position is that um some people might say that she would have taken it easier on me. But she and I both had something to prove and so in some instances I feel like things were harder because she never wanted anyone to think that she was giving you the grace. Yeah. And so I mean I there was a lot. But I got I got so much opportunity. I got to do all of the communication and marketing I saw us through a logo um change. I did special events for a while and then in 2016 I got to design the entire foundation which we now operate today. So all of the workforce programming was mine. I just I got to use so many of my skills and so much creativity and I loved going in there and throwing ideas at the wall and a lot of times she'd be like you're you're the heart like I would say like adopt a senior that was mine. Like someone came to the Christine Wutherington came to me and she's like we have this issue and this group dropped all of these seniors and we can't get them adopted and I'm like let us take it and Kathy's like tell me how this is in our mission. And then she's like if you think you can do it do it. And now we're like 18 years later doing this incredible program for our low-income senior citizens. So um I yeah I she was very patient with me now that I'm in the seat that she held I tell her that a lot I say God I was a pain in the ass employee and you were so patient and graceful bringing us more things to do. More things to do and I I would question her and I would push back and in some ways I think that that made us better and stronger but also you know sometimes you just want to be like just do it because I said so don't ask me why. Yeah um but she was always gracious and kind and I learned a lot.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Has your viewpoint of leadership changed from previous to being the CEO at the chamber to now being president CEO of the chamber? I mean has has has leadership as a definition changed for you?

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Of course and I would actually challenge any leader that says that their leadership isn't constantly evolving. I mean of course I think until you're in any seat you really don't know what that seat takes um you take a lot of things for granted or you don't know I mean there are lots of things that I protect my team from or I protect the organization from or conversations that I have that um I need to navigate carefully that you just don't know until you're in that seat.

SPEAKER_04 26:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

You also take the bullets whether whether they're your bullets to take or not and that's part of the role that's part of the job. And every I I think it's a constant calibration. I think you're always as a as a leader learning evolving growing learning from others. I've got a great group of nonprofit leaders who I meet with every single month and they run much larger nonprofits and they've become confidants to me and and mentors to me um I ask a lot of questions I ask a lot of questions of our other East Valley chamber CEOs um they all have incredible strengths in many different areas so I would be worried for any leader who said that they weren't constantly evolving.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Yeah. How do you balance leadership as a mother and leadership at the chamber?

SPEAKER_00 27:14

I don't not well let's be honest. I don't um my priority and I I was really clear about this even when I took the position and part of the reason I stayed at the chamber for so many years is because I had the opportunity to be a mom first and that could just never change for me. Like I am always a mom first my kids are always my priority now. That doesn't mean that there aren't weeks where my job takes more focus than my family but I really work hard to make up for that um and give each of them the time and the conversations that they deserve um and I involve them in it. Like truly my kids don't know me in any other career. My daughter I mean I was already on staff when my daughter was born like this is her her life this is her life. Yeah unfortunately for them there's eyes all over town.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

So that's a great thing though I mean I grew up in a really small town which Gilbert and everybody says this Gilbert feels like a small town. It really does. I mean especially once you get involved it is a very small town the number of people that are truly involved in the town. But I think more often than not I stayed out of trouble because I felt like there was somebody always watching me. Yeah. Now whether that's true or not I don't know but I always felt like somebody was going to report back to my dad or my mom or something.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

And your dad was a teacher yeah so he everybody knew him.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Yes. Everybody and whether they liked him or not they knew who I was you know it's like so yeah there's an accountability there. Yeah absolutely absolutely and and to be able to have that we'll call it as a backup.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Even if it just lives rent-free in their brain to be able to say think twice about this because I don't want mom to find out or dad to find out.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

But and also I feel like um they've been surrounded by a really wonderful village. I mean just like there I think there are people who are watching there are also people that they have engaged with that they never would have crossed paths. I mean you're a household name Jan Simon so the Jan Simon You know I think of people who have I mean both my kids doing theater people who have come to see their shows or who have cheered them on or engaged them in conversation at events um I I think I I think that to me feels like the small town yeah piece of it where they know that other people are also looking for and invested in their success. That's a that's a feel good. When when you go out to dinner places do people like recognize you have come over to you I mean or do you have your normal stomping places that you run into that's I feel like even though Gilbert feels so small, I I'm grateful sometimes that that doesn't happen because like I mean I'll be really honest last night my husband and my daughter and I went to go get ice cream and I realized when I got out of the car I had my slippers on. So that's one of those moments where it's like oh God I'm gonna run into everybody in town right now. Thankfully I did not I'm glad Christine's not the only one that thinks those things.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

She's like she'll have a spot on her shirt and it's like I'm gonna run into everybody I know.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

It's like nobody's gonna notice she'll put her hair over it I mean yeah there's I I don't often I mean probably yes and no. And also I am really involved like in my kids' activities and schools and boosters and all of those things. So I sometimes it takes me a minute to say I know your face and how? How do I know you?

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Yeah. So I do that too often.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Because I just can't remember I can't remember the names that go with the faces. I remember both. Oh I just get them mixed up.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

That's not great.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

No. It's horrible and I do it with celebrities too.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

But I don't think they care.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

No.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Well only the ones I know oh right of course none obviously I forgot.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Yes. Um talk to me about the evolution of the chamber because back in the day if you ask somebody about the chamber at least my fictitious thought process is oh it's you know tourism and that sort of thing. And it's it's a it's it's evolved right and then we hit COVID and somebody slammed the brakes hard on everything. Yeah. And I feel like in some way shape or form the chamber has had to evolve and change itself to be relevant. So talk to me about where the chamber is today and how it continues to evolve to be be relevant and be important.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

So I will say the chamber is a lot of things to a lot of people and it's designed to be that way. I our membership is a solopreneur just starting a business all the way through large corporations and healthcare systems and we need to be able that we're to provide value to all of those businesses and individuals. It's a priority for us to make sure that we are providing programming and resources that meet their needs, allow them to grow, allow them to learn, allow them to have access to a knowledge base and resources and also that we're representing them. So I think a lot of times what people don't recognize that we do and we do well and often is advocacy. So a lot of our major corporations they're there because we can represent their voice with our elected officials and our legislators and we we do a lot of work in that space. But we're we have a saying in the chamber industry if you've seen one chamber, you've seen one chamber because a chamber should be responsive to the needs of their community. We should be at tables solving community issues. We should have a board of leaders who can forecast what those community issues are going to be I never want my board to be concerned with the number of networking events. That's just ingrained. That's part of what we do and quite honestly there's a lot of opportunity for something like networking in the community whether it's through the chamber or other organizations. I want my board to be leading our business community into what are the what's the next big thing coming for industry, for workforce, for community are we looking at a budget deficit and if we are who's at the table to help solve that and it should be your business leaders. It should be the people who are invested in this community who are hiring the people of this community who are paying the taxes in this community so the we we run the gamut of programming through the chamber and through the chamber foundation we do civic events um we do leadership programming all of those things I will say we do none of that without volunteers volunteers who represent the business community are what make our organization organization tick. And that's really important. But the reason we can do what we do and constantly evolve is because we take the time to listen and our board is agile and they're willing to say hey we tried this it didn't work or it served its course I mean we actually yes we used to be the visitor center for the community we used to run the tourism efforts for the community I I was the liaison for that and there came a time where we said you know what the town could actually do this better and the economic development department is positioned to do that. So let's be the partners that we know we are and hand this over to them and help them grow it the way our community needs and allow us to stay within our mission and support business in the way that we know how.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

So is the chamber an organization or a partner of the town?

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Great question and a common um misunderstanding we are not taxpayer funded we are a hundred percent a nonprofit organization so um it'll we're not um a government entity you're not required to be a member of the chamber the chamber is available to people who believe in our mission want to grow business want to be part of the community and are looking for the opportunity to engage in that way. But that said we work really closely with the town because we are the representation of the business community and we have well respected individuals at the table who can tell town council maybe what's going on or have an opinion about zoning changes or want to be part of building heritage district business. And so we work with every department of the town I meet with with the directors of the town on a regular basis talk to them about what what are what challenges are they facing what do they need from the business community. So for example our development services department needed some feedback from developers and investors in the community so we're conducting a survey to just gain some feedback like what are we doing well in Gilbert? What do we need to be paying attention to what needs some immediate attention and those are partnerships for us it's really easy to do that outreach. For the town it it might be a little bit more cumbersome or challenging and so we we don't have the same restrictions. So we can work with them. We have a lot of respect um between each other as entities and that um they know that that we're gonna give them honest feedback even if it's not what they want to hear. But it's coming from a place of respected opinion and investment in the community.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

How do you I I've heard you say a few different times the business community right so it's key in on the business community.

SPEAKER_06 36:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

How do you personally and then as the CEO of the chamber keep because I I believe you probably don't always agree a hundred percent on what the business community would like from a we'll call it political perspective.

SPEAKER_06 36:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

How do you navigate those waters? And and I would assume you probably have some people who challenge you with regards to your thought versus how the chamber's responding and and how does how does that get balanced?

SPEAKER_00 36:59

That's a really good question. And honestly in the political climate that we're in I think that um a lot of people feel that way about alignment with their employer. My job is to represent the interest of business community. That is my job. So when I am having a conversation with someone from the from the seat of chamber CEO, I am going to represent the business community what it is that my public policy committee or my board of directors have approved as their position. Most of the time I actually think that there is alignment um I don't think that you could completely live outside of alignment um in a position like this every once in a while yeah I have a difference of opinion um that's not that's not up for conversation in in those arenas. My husband knows what my opinion is boy does he um and you know I mean close personal friends will probably know what my opinion is but um my my job is to reflect business. So makes sense it it's not it's not always easy but I don't think that it's outside of what a lot of people have to do in their positions.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

So how uh how do you balance let let's let's say the chamber stands for something whatever it is business community and and you may you inform the town on how the chamber stands but the town decides to go in a different direction that really seems adverse to not only the business community but the community as a whole.

SPEAKER_04 38:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

How do you as a CEO of the chamber because at some level I would think you wield some power through voice how do you deal with those situations?

SPEAKER_00 38:50

So what I will say is when the chamber takes a position let let's say at a local level with there's a position on council tonight that the chamber has a position um specifically about zoning within a certain part of town. It is my job to make sure that every member of council and s and the staff on that case know um the chamber's position and know how we reached that conclusion. Even when we're considering the position we invite town staff in and in this case we invited the developer in as well so that every we get to hear both sides of it. We knew town staff was going to well at originally opposed it now they support it. So I would say it is my job to communicate it if but also to recognize that our town council is also charged with doing what they believe is best for the community. And that has to be respected as well. We're not always going to agree that is the job of that relationship is to make sure that they know where we stand and they also know although we would love for them to take our position that they're respected for the work that they're doing I think that uh it's a really hard job.

SPEAKER_04 40:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

I don't think I don't think it gets nearly the grace or credit that it should. It is it is very hard to sit up there and to make the decisions that they have to make knowing that there's a large portion of the community either way that is going to going to be upset with them.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

And so I like to recognize them for the work that they do. I appreciate the fact that they're always open to hearing from us even if they don't agree. I will say we we do keep a voting report card on all of our council members so we can keep track of who continues to be off base with what business says they need. And that that is part of the reason we do endorsements is because it is important that our electeds represent the business community.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

I also know that voters don't only consider that um how how do you how do you if let's say you have a council member or or mayor that doesn't historically agree with positions of the chamber how do you enter into that relationship because it's important to carry relationships with those individuals.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

No you seek to understand what is it what is it that's standing in the way of of us finding common ground I just you know I seek to understand. Help me understand where you're coming from how can I connect them with maybe a business that they haven't been connected with to better understand how that decision impacts business. It doesn't have to be my voice yeah it could be you know um a hospital that or a company that maybe has some issues with with an MRI machine that zoning or codes are are inhibiting that we can get them to understand how this code is specifically impacting the financial sustainability of that business.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

So I uh was dealing with a client recently who's been building a new location in town and has been having some issues with getting a certificate certificate of occupancy and the town has sent out multiple inspections and it's been a different inspector each time and I mean and of course I'm getting this secondhand from the client so I don't know but are those types of things that the chamber can help with if you have a business owner who's really struggling with let's say whether it's a zoning case or zoning law.

SPEAKER_06 42:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:17

The town doesn't seem to be responding can can they use the chamber to help them potentially I do it on the regular and I will also say that's why those relationships with our municipal leadership is so important because I can go right to the development director and say hey can we just connect these two parties there's a disconnect here.

SPEAKER_00 42:36

This is what the the tenant is being told this is what you guys have and your as your source of information somewhere along and maybe it's the architect like right like there there's probably something in there that um there's something being missed and there's a misunderstanding or there's misinformation but yeah that I do that regularly I bring those parties together because here's what I know I know our businesses want the best I also know our town staff wants the best yeah um nobody is purposefully standing in the way so is it a is it a a zoning code or a code a zoning law a code um a policy like what is it and if we can find that and a lot of times they're one-off cases where it's like well we didn't see that coming but now that we know how can we revisit this and and make it better so somebody else doesn't have to go through that complication.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

What other things on the chamber side of the house advocacy being huge what other things does the chamber do to help businesses?

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Yeah my mind just went blank nothing. That's it's kidding yeah no that's it I think our the the rest of it could really be talked up to creating opportunity creating opportunity for connection creating opportunity for exposure resources um if you're if you're looking to connect with an expert in your field um that's a space That we can help you with if you're looking to grow your business. We have workshops and training. If you're looking just to connect with other like-minded individuals, we have those niche programs too. Um, you know, I love the momentum that our young professionals uh initiative is getting right now, and part of that is a collaboration with a uh previously existing organization who brought it under the umbrella of the chamber. And what it really does is it reminds our young professionals in our community that Gilbert is a great place to work. You don't have to go out of our community, you can build relationships right here with other young professionals. There's opportunity in our community to stay here, work here, live here. Um, a lot of our industries are nearing retirement age. And so if we can build a strong pipeline of young professionals who see Gilbert as a place, a destination, and they have the connection and camaraderie here, that could be a win for our community. So um I I really think that businesses can explore many different options. And we have a we have our staff is that is their job is to sit down and say, what are you looking for? What help do you need? Where are some gaps that we can we can help you? And um obviously there's traditional opportunities. We have a lot of networking events, uh, we have ribbon cuttings, all of the chamber 101s we have. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

So you hit on a great point, and that's the pipeline to the future. Let's talk about the foundation side of the house.

SPEAKER_06 45:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:29

So the foundation side of the house, which is started a few years ago, and you said that you were instrumental in writing that charter.

SPEAKER_00 45:37

Yeah, is that 2016? Yeah. I I mean we created the foundation because we recognized that there was opportunities for funding as a C three that we really couldn't access as a C6. A C6 is the chamber's a nonprofit C6, so that we can do the advocacy work that we do. But C three is community focused. So a C three, we don't have membership. The foundation programming is open to the community. So we have we moved our Gilbert leadership program under it first, and then we started really build building our workforce programming. So we did things like tours for teachers, we do career shadowing and mentorship for students, grades nine through post-secondary, matching them to experts in just fields that they want to explore. There's so much value in a student exploring a career and then coming back and being like, no way, I never want to do that, right? Like we had a student a while ago who was matched with a veterinarian, really thought that's the direction they wanted to go. And then they realized that field is actually very people focused. You have with every animal comes sometimes an emotional human being.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Quite emotional.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Right. And um, and you're asking them for a lot of money typically. And that student was like, Yeah, that's not the that's not what I thought I was going to be doing. And that's great to identify that quickly. So we have programs like that. Um, we um we do a student entrepreneur program. We just launched that this year. I love that. Were you involved in that? Okay. So these kids they spend several weeks together, um, one night a week, and they they from start to finish build a p business plan and then pitch it. So um the creativity of these kids, it's just mind-blowing. Um, and so we bring different experts in to mentor the kids and then to um every week they they get to hear from a different business owner, talks about their experience and and lessons learned. We do scholarships, academic scholarships, and then um through the foundation, we do civics programming. So just having meaningful conversation in the community around different topics that might be divisive, but our the the event is really structured so that people can uh value the dialogue with one another and agree if to disagree, and that's okay, that's accepted. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

Interesting. One more question kind of related to that.

SPEAKER_00 47:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:57

The the uh catalyst, yeah, which is new, is it two years old now?

SPEAKER_00 48:02

Uh it is, yeah, 18 months.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

So yeah. Tell tell me about the catalyst and how that was brought on to help small businesses as well.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

So the catalyst is like really meaningful to me. And I'll tell you the personal story behind it. So COVID hit, and Dan Henderson, who was economics development director at the time, obviously we were we were talking by phone very regularly that during this time. Like, what do businesses need? How do we get them funding? What are what are some resources? Do we need to change any um policies? And as we talked, I was new in the CEO position and we really formed a strong relationship where we just brainstormed a lot about what if we did this, what if we did that? And we had talked about a business resource center. Gilbert does not have a business resource center, and we thought, what if we could create something where businesses of all, even just someone who's thinking about a business and isn't a business, could come and be supported, well-rounded, all the resources that they need, the support that they need, and the space that they need. And so we sort of dreamed up what has become the catalyst, but there were a lot of steps between that conversation and actually opening it. And I actually won't forget that I my I lost my stepdad to COVID. And my stepdad and I, for some reason, we got two whole days in the hospital together. And I don't know how, uh, quite honestly, I'm not sure because it was a time where a lot of families weren't allowed to be with their patient. Um, um, thankfully, I don't I just welcomed myself in and wasn't going.

SPEAKER_01 49:43

Um put your little nurse nurse Mary hat on and he walked in.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

Yeah, that's right. But except for the fact that um he was not gonna gain oxygen, he for a good uh the last 24 of his 48 hours, we had normal conversation.

SPEAKER_05 49:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 49:59

And one of those conversations was uh he asked me, What's your next step? Like, what do you want to do? And I said, I really want to open this business resource center. And I sort of walked him through like what all of that meant. And then he passed away. And it just so happened that the next year, Dan, our economic development director, applied to be in the Gilbert Leadership Program. And he was accepted into the program. And then the class um identified a vacant suite at the end of the chamber building, and they said, Hey, we can make this our class project and we could build the catalyst. Like Dan had been talking to them about what the catalyst could be. And um, the Gilbert Leadership Steering Committee approved the class project, and then the town council approved funding for us to operate that uh business resource center, and my board approved the operational agreement, and it just like it went from conversations by phone to building this out. I had an incredible team on my staff who helped with that vision every step of the way. They believed in it, they owned it. Yeah, and so today it is, I think we have um tracked in 18 months over 800 businesses that I've utilized this space. Um we offer workshops, there's a a podcast studio, there's content creation suite, there's expert office hours. We've partnered local first comes in sometimes and does some workshops and training. SBDC is there every week, and it just continues to grow and evolve. And we continue our partnership with the Office of Economic Development and evaluating what do our businesses need next. Um, and we're also pretty nimble, like what worked, what didn't work. But huge kudos to Nicole and Aileen on my team who they just they ran with it.

SPEAKER_01 51:51

That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 51:53

Yeah, it's a really meaningful space, and it's totally free to the community. Anybody in the community can book time and make use of it.

SPEAKER_01 52:01

That is really cool. Yeah, that is super cool.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

I'm gonna rewind a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 52:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:07

So you've got two kids.

SPEAKER_06 52:08

Yeah, the best Austin and Molly.

SPEAKER_00 52:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:12

Um, what's your favorite play that they've ever been in?

SPEAKER_00 52:18

Um, my son Austin was in Hades Town, and uh oh, it was just a beautiful production. It was such a good play that they actually like half of the cast went to college, and when they came home on Christmas break, the um theater actually did a um reprise of it because it was so it was so good. It was so good. And Molly, I probably would say my favorite play of hers, although we've seen it a million and six times, is Mean Girls because she had a lead in that one. So uh if they never audition for Mean Girls again, I'm fine with that.

SPEAKER_01 52:56

It's kind of like going through It's a Small World 8,000 times.

SPEAKER_00 53:00

Yeah, but I will also say I there is no better place for me than sitting in the audience watching my kids do what they love to do. Um, I Molly, I actually really love, she also sings in our um on the worship team at our church. And to me, that is That's awesome. I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

With regards to kind of being a mom and shaping them, how how do you feel, or maybe you know, how did you march them down that road, so to speak, back to the marching band?

SPEAKER_00 53:32

Can I say the jury's actually still out? I will I actually really feel like parenting teenagers and adult children is the hardest phase of parenting. It is this whole journey of what do you hang on to and what do you let go of? And you just you you're out of control. Like you have to sit back and you have to watch, and you have to watch some really questionable life choices, and you still love them unconditionally, and you have those conversations. And so I think I have really good kids. I still um will say that sometimes I'm like, What? What whose are you? This is your dad's side of the family for sure.

SPEAKER_01 54:13

That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 54:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

Do you feel like having the kids and having Sean in your life for so long? Do you feel like that has shaped helped shape your style of leadership?

SPEAKER_00 54:25

Yeah, I think that having that constant. I mean, again, we've been together since we were 16. I was actually trying to do the math the other day. I didn't get it right. But I will also say at least 22 years. Yeah, I think it's in that space. I think so. Yeah. Uh-huh. We've been married 20. We've been married a while. Wow. What year did we get married? Oh, 22 years. We've been married 22 years. It's so long ago.

SPEAKER_01 54:51

Congratulations. Who's counting anyway?

SPEAKER_00 54:54

Um I'll I learned I think it's important that every leader, I think you're a better leader when you have a constant um unconditional person in your life who can be honest with you when you need someone to be honest with you. And Sean is that person for me. Um, he's also a very different leader than I am. Like he is, he manages 300 employees and he manages or babysits. I'm gonna say manages. He might have a different answer. And he is very unemotional in his leadership. Like he is like, yeah, I don't really care what anybody thinks. Um, this is how we're gonna do it. And I love to get buy-in and I love my team to be part of the solution. Whereas, and that might also be the difference between a small nonprofit in corporate America, where sometimes those changes are just mandated for him and it is what it is, and there is no opportunity for buy-in. So um, but he's he's always been very honest with me and guided me that way. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:00

You kind of sit at this crossroads of mom-wife. That's one road.

SPEAKER_00 56:05

Is it so that's the same road? It's the same road. Okay, I just want to make sure we're gonna. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:09

Mom-wife, government relations, community relations.

SPEAKER_00 56:13

Some special events.

SPEAKER_01 56:14

Just I would say special ed, but special events.

SPEAKER_00 56:16

Special events.

SPEAKER_01 56:17

Special events.

SPEAKER_00 56:18

Special events, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:20

I would I kind of feel like how how do you unplug from it? How do you how do you allow yourself?

SPEAKER_00 56:27

Do you want the honest answer? Yeah. You are gonna think much differently of me.

SPEAKER_01 56:32

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_00 56:32

You're gonna think much differently.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

Can I air this?

SPEAKER_00 56:34

Yeah. I mean, it is what it is. Honestly. Reality TV.

SPEAKER_01 56:41

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 56:42

I see. I knew you were gonna listen.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Do you t just please tell me you don't watch like 60 seconds bride or whatever those are.

SPEAKER_00 56:50

I have never missed an episode of the Kardashians. I have never missed an episode of the Kardashians.

SPEAKER_01 56:56

Does it just make you feel smarter to watch that? Or does it just allow you to go?

SPEAKER_00 57:00

Honestly, I'm like, oh my I put my problems in perspective. Like, no, it allows my brain to just like shut off. Shut off. Truly. I think that's one of my biggest challenges is that brain does not shut off ever.

SPEAKER_01 57:13

Do you do you take time for yourself personally?

SPEAKER_00 57:16

No. This is what I'm in therapy for. No, I was just recently asked, like, what do you do for fun? I was like, huh.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

Um Do you have any hobbies?

SPEAKER_00 57:26

I used to exercise all the time. Okay. I used to read books, I used to write, I used to paint. Um, I love a good, here's what I do really love. I love a good minor demo of like minor redo of a room. Okay. It drives my husband nuts. But I'm always, I always have like a vision board going of here's the changes we're gonna make next.

SPEAKER_01 57:50

You'd live in the same house forever and it'll never look the same.

SPEAKER_00 57:52

It will never look the same. That's fun. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 57:55

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 57:56

Unfortunately, there's budget constraints, but time and money. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:00

Relative. Two worst evils in the world, time and money.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

Uh no, I I that's the space I actually feel like I need to be better. And I actually reflect on the fact that I think I would be a better leader if I actually practice what I preach because I make sure my my team takes the time that they need. I'm I'm committed to it. If they're staying late, I'm like, hey, this will wait till tomorrow, and then I'm there for two hours.

SPEAKER_01 58:25

So if you go to bed at nine, that's generous. Get up at three.

SPEAKER_00 58:32

Yeah. You'd have plenty of time to do everything you need to do. That's right. I actually really do. I get up every morning, my alarm goes off at 5 05. And I get up, and that is like my time. I take a good 45 minutes and I nope, 40 minutes. Exactly. Exactly 40 minutes. But I just I do my thing. Like I'm just alone with my thoughts, and then I get scared. Wake up! And my employees are like, please stop emailing me at 5 40.

SPEAKER_01 59:01

Is Molly a morning person?

SPEAKER_00 59:03

No, neither one. My kids are my kid well, I mean, let's be honest, they're teenagers. So I mean, they could sleep. I think they could probably sleep for 24 hours if I let them.

SPEAKER_01 59:12

Oh god, I might, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:13

But they also run like crazy. Like they're doing they're in activities or doing things all the time.

SPEAKER_01 59:18

So where do you see the where do you see the chamber? Where do you see uh as communities evolve, as yeah, whatever happens, do you where do you see the chamber staying relevant in the future?

SPEAKER_00 59:35

So I also I serve on the board for our Western Association as well. So I just got back from a conversation around this with our our board for that. Um it represents 14 states, and it's a conversation we're all having. And I really think at the end of the day, the chamber's relevancy is going to be around the foresight that we can bring to community of the future. What is it, again, like I said earlier, what is it our community, what are our employers gonna go through, what is our workforce gonna go through? How do we respond to and shape the needs of our community? Um, I think who our chamber is now is vastly different from who we were 18 years ago when I came on board. And 18 years from now, probably gonna be very different again. But what I don't see changing is the relevancy of the voices at the table solving problems and creating solutions.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:35

Do you see I mean, you you you've been at the chamber long enough now. Do you see programs and um I guess programs? Do you see like an ebb and flow? Yeah of this is important today, but not tomorrow, and then again the next day.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:52

You know where it comes in is um so I will say like we used to have a women's group. It went away for several years. Now we have a really strong women's group again. Um we used to do um vendor expos and then nobody wanted an expo, and now we're getting feedback that an e a vendor expo or vendor fair would be valuable again. Yeah, I do think that there's um obviously with evolution and and tweaks to things, you can't do it exactly how you did. But I last year I was cleaning out files in the back, and there was a letter to the mayor from the chamber that was like from the 80s. Oh, and it was you, if you read it, it addressed workforce and the issues, you would have thought we wrote it last week.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

No kidding.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:35

Like it, I was like, okay. So yeah, I think that things circle back around. Um, there is a uh ebb and flow to all of it. Everything feels very cyclical.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:48

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:49

How you approach it might be different. I think that's what the distinction is.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:53

What do you hope for the chamber?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:55

Um, I hope that we maintain strong leadership. So I hope our our board remains um bold and willing to change with times. I hope that our businesses in our community see the value of the work that we're doing. Um, and I hope honestly, that our businesses want a seat at the table.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

Yeah. What do you feel like let's talk you you kind of I can see two legacies. You have your family, you've got the kids, but let's talk the community right now for a minute. What do you think in your mind is a misconception about who you are and how you run the chamber and what you want your legacy to be when you're gone? Or what do you hope people say about you when you're not around?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:45

That's a good question. I don't I I don't know what people what misconceptions I'm trying to think. Um I would I maybe go back to what you said earlier about leading with love. I think that there is a space where some people might find that as weak leadership or having empathy, and that's okay. Everybody has different styles and approaches and different circumstances call for different types of leadership. So I'm okay with that. Um I think the most important thing to me is character and integrity and to know that I am doing right by our membership and that I'm representing them the way they want to be represented. Um, that's probably the most important thing to me. I don't I think that anything that you could say I accomplished would not have been accomplished by myself. There's I can think of hundreds of volunteers and staff members over 18 years who have contributed to what the chambers accomplished. There's no one person that's done that. But what I hope they can say is that I led with with character and integrity, and I was a good representation of the business community.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:54

I would say nothing less. Let's talk about your kids.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:57

What do you hope your legacy with your kids is?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

I hope they can say she wasn't as crazy as I thought she was.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:03

That'll take Molly another 15 years to get to that point.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:06

Or, oh now I understand. That would be great.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:09

Austin may never get that.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

I I don't think that kid will, but that's okay. Um honestly, I just I hope that they never forget, years after I'm gone, how much I love them and that I um fully accept them for the humans that they are.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:28

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:29

Yeah. They're they're everything. Yeah. And they have they have all the love in the world. And I hope that they harness it and use it as their superpower.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:40

Yeah. As you look back on your life years from now.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:43

I was gonna say, God, am I I'm gone that soon.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:46

I mean you're at least 26, because you've been married for 22 years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:50

So real awkward.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

We know how it happens in the East East Valley.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:55

What do you hope? And and this is a little bit going back to the legacy thing, but but we went business, we went kids. But what do you hope people think about you?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Well, it depends on what version you deserved. I actually think like I I have s I spend a lot of my time investing in relationship and in people. And I hope that each individual knows that I genuinely cared. Even even in those professional relationships, yeah. Um, I actually really care about them as people, their journeys. I think that I don't think you could do this job if you didn't actually really care about people.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:35

Yeah. I think that that is so powerful. Um, yeah. I I think that's very powerful. And I was gonna add to it, but I don't think I should.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:43

So what were you gonna add? I'm curious.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:45

Shut up and move on. No, I but I think I think it's super powerful. I think it's easy f to take to take things uh personally when they don't go the way that you want them to.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:56

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:57

Um and and create yourself into A victim role, and I don't even know where I'm going with this. But I feel like if we can help people where they are as individuals, and I'm not saying it's it's the give them a fish, they eat for a day, teach them a fish, they they eat for a lifetime. I mean, same thing, but at this but at the same time, it's like there becomes a point at which we need to have the hard love versus the supportive love. And not that the hard love is not supportive, because sometimes, and I don't remember who it was, somebody told me that when they let people go, it's like they say, I am going to I'm giving you the gift of allowing you to be completely who you are with somebody else, or something like that. It's like that whole thing where it's like it just but anyways, I I feel like in your leadership, and obviously, you know, I've been around the chamber for a number of years now, and I've and I've watched you lead the chamber and I and I think very highly of you. So anything I say is biased, but not really. Um I but I but I feel like you have you have the ability to command a room without having to stand up and command the room, which I shouldn't use the same word twice, but I can't think of another word that would be better. There's there's a thing where it's like I think I think the respect of the community, and when I say community, I'm not just saying Gilbert. I mean I've watched you in the in the Southeast Valley and the East Valley and you know, around different leaders in the community, and you're very well respected, and I think that that is a testament to your integrity and your morals and your ethics and your ability to stay above the fray. I just think that's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:44

So Well, I'm grateful for that. Here's what I'm gonna say. I think that when you genuinely care about people and when you own your mistakes, own it. It's okay. I I have called many people and said, Oh, I shouldn't have said that. Or I have to do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:00

I just fret about it all the time.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:02

Well, I mean, this is after I fret about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:04

Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:04

But also I think like as a good leader, you should be constantly reflecting on and I that's I consider you a good leader, and I know that you do this, like constantly reflecting on could I have done this differently? Could I have done this better? What did I learn from it? What do I need to own? And and then when I walk into a certain room and everybody in there, I actually have a genuine relationship with. And we can then have trusted conversation. They can tell me things that I might not want to hear, but I need to hear, and vice versa, and we can come to a consensus because we have respect for one another. That's actually how society should work.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:45

Yeah. Like that's I I I think one of the things I appreciate about you most, and you've done this with me a couple of times, is actually told me the hard thing. Right?

SPEAKER_06 1:08:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

Not just sugarcoated it or and and and there's been a couple times where it's like you're like, you know what?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:02

So I have another motto love people enough to tell them the truth. If you truly care about somebody, you're gonna tell them the truth that they might not be seeing. And I don't mean obnoxiously tell them every every flaw. We all know our own flaws.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:18

Um, but if you see something in the road that they don't and you care about that person, you owe it to them, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:26

If if there was somebody who wanted to get involved in the community, but they weren't quite sure if they were ready for that step. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:36

Um, I I love those conversations because one I get to know people, but also let's find what you're passionate about. Maybe it's working with other nonprofits. I mean, that's the one of the blessings of this position is that I get to know a lot of people and the work that they do, and I get to make a lot of connections. Some of them may never be connections through the chamber, but it's a connection that I just believe when you put it out in the universe, it's gonna come back.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:06

So very good said. Very well said, very good said.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:09

Very good said. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:10

Very good said. Said good very well. Uh one last question. What should we know about Sarah?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:20

What should we do? What do you want to know, Yon?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:23

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:25

I'm I'm I'm basically an open book. I don't know what you wouldn't know. I mean, I even told you I was on Color Guard now, so I don't.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:33

Oh, that's crazy. That's a whole different um different level of something.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:38

I don't that's a hard question.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:40

If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world for a month without your kids.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:46

Oh, without my kids, that changes it for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:49

And it's gotta be you and Sean.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:51

Oh, that changes it again. Just kidding. Month. Oh my god. Um, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:58

So where would where where would your dream vacation be?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:01

So one of my favorite spots is Kanapali Beach in Maui. I actually spent several Christmases as a kid in Kanapali Beach with my family. And I've taken we honeymoon there, we've taken my kids back. Um, so I I love Maui. I actually have not been back since the Haina burned down. We were there like a year before, and it makes me nervous to go back because I feel like so many of those memories would be gone. Um, but I I love Maui. I would my my cousin actually taught high school in Maui for at least two years. Oh wow. So like maybe I'm just gonna be a high school teacher. Maybe I'm just gonna go throw it all over.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:42

You could have gone and taught journalism and had a high school newspaper.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:45

I know. I mean, I will say, so teachers work really hard. My mom was a teacher, and so she was like grading papers on the beach, and I was like, well, that's not what I want to do on the beach. Like, I don't want to work on the beach, I just want to hang out on the beach.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:58

But maybe to her it wasn't work. Maybe she loved it so much that she didn't think about it as work.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:03

Well, I'm guessing she has some different perspective now because now she's teaching high school in right outside of Washington, D.C. So the weather's a little different. So maybe she wouldn't mind grading papers on the beach again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:15

Ugh. Yuck. Well, hey, I appreciate you coming on. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um I would love to direct people to the chamber if they're interested in joining or finding out more. So where do they find the chamber?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:31

Uh our website is GilbertAz.com and phone number is 480-941-6322. That's my direct line. Or you can email me at Sarah at Gilbertchamber.com. Or you can email Jan Simon and ask him about his experience.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:47

Yeah, you could. I had a great experience. I have I love the chamber. So um all right. Well, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Yeah, I do have a gift for you because everybody who comes on gets a gift. Okay. So this is for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:00

You can dream about all the peanut butter whiskey you would drink out of.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:03

I will dream about it. I will dream about it and put my cranberry juice in there.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:07

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:08

And and uh but but I um you get a I went above and beyond glass. And on the back, it hopefully says Sarah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:17

And if it doesn't, we'll pretend like it says Sarah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:20

You're awesome. Thank you. I'm very grateful for you and for your leadership and your support over there. You make a difference in one line with money.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:28

Thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:29

This is Sarah Watts, and I went above and beyond the dining light.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:45

Don't spot the idea to the air. Don't forget away to what it's roll. We are the network, we truly thrive.