How to Be a Mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (38.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio | Email | RSS | More

Tracy Anderson  – Big Brother Big Sisters of Dane County

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Building Birdhouses and Life Lessons
03:59 Mentoring Program: One-on-One Impact
07:04 “Child Signup Process Overview”
12:07 Revamping Recruitment Post-COVID
14:58 Interview Process for Kids and Bigs
18:14 Event Hub: Free, Discounted Activities
21:27 Unbreakable Bonds Through Mentorship
23:50 Podcast vs. Gaming Popularity Dilemma
28:31 “Community Outreach & Partnerships”
31:03 Economic Uncertainty Hits Spending
34:54 Dane County Scavenger Hunt Adventure
36:56 Team Roles: Fundraising and Missions
38:58 Mission-Based Team Challenges
44:43 “Team Building and Mission Alignment”
47:46 Transformative Experience Perspective
48:44 Mentorship Boosts Future Earnings
54:38 “Girls on the Run Program”
57:52 Local Giving Transparency in Madison

Podcast Transcription:

Tracy Anderson [00:00:00]:
So it’s a one to one mentoring program. So it’s all about spending that one on one time. It truly makes a difference. And when you spend time with a child, we create new matches, ages 6 to 13. Another great reason why mentorship works. I mean, you’re getting out of a different environment and you’re being asked to do things that you know are going to help you when you become an adult.

James Kademan [00:00:34]:
You have found authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. We are locally interwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link fund@drawincustomers.com and today we’re welcoming, preparing to learn from Tracy Anderson of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Dane County. So, Tracy, how is it going today?

Tracy Anderson [00:00:58]:
Good, good.

James Kademan [00:00:59]:
I’m excited for you to be here.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:00]:
Thank you.

James Kademan [00:01:01]:
I’ve been a big. I guess I’m not technically a Big anymore, but I was a Big with Danny. We got connected when he was 11.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:08]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:01:08]:
So it’s like I said, is almost forever. It’s been a while.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:12]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:01:13]:
And being a big was one of those things. I was like, oh, I should do that someday, someday, someday. And I finally did it and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:21]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:01:22]:
So thank you.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:23]:
No, thank you. And like, how old is he now?

James Kademan [00:01:26]:
I think he’s 23, 24.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:28]:
Yeah. That’s why we do what we do. We hope for lifelong matches.

James Kademan [00:01:32]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:01:33]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:01:33]:
I can tell you crazy stories. I mean, I suppose you’ve heard millions of them already, but little things. Like, I had to think, what would an 11 year old kid not know? So at the time there was no dad involved or anything like that. And so I’m like, what would you like to do? And we decided we’re gonna build a birdhouse. And I’m like, all right, let’s build a birdhouse, right? So we kind of whiteboard out or scribble some design for a simple birdhouse. And I got out a table saw and I told him that Blade doesn’t care about your feelings. It’ll cut off your finger and it won’t apologize. So I try to put all the fear possible because I didn’t want to return him to his mom with a missing limb.

Tracy Anderson [00:02:18]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:02:18]:
So putting all this fear in him. And I apparently put in too much because as soon as he cut the board, he just let go of it.

Tracy Anderson [00:02:26]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:02:26]:
And so the board went like too close for comfort, flying down the driveway it scared him. Scared me, right? And I’m like, oh, yeah. Okay. So from then we decided to just use circular. So.

Tracy Anderson [00:02:42]:
Okay, well, that’s good.

James Kademan [00:02:44]:
But it’s interesting because I’m like, I was trying to think back when I was a kid, when did I learn how to use the saw and stuff like that. So I try to introduce stuff like that to him.

Tracy Anderson [00:02:53]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:02:54]:
Which is super cool. You guys had programs. I mean, I imagine you still do.

Tracy Anderson [00:02:58]:
Yeah, I mean, we’ve got our community based program and we have our school based program. So you were involved in the community based program, which is where we match, like bigs and littles, hobbies, interests, and where you live. So we try to keep the matches within 20 miles of each other. And we do a very good job matching. I mean, it’s a thorough interview process. I don’t know if you remember any of that. Like, background check.

James Kademan [00:03:21]:
Yeah, it was a lot.

Tracy Anderson [00:03:24]:
But I think we do a great job matching because, I mean, there’s even some things. I’m a big myself and there’s even some things like her and I have in common, but I. I don’t know, there’s some things like, how would you even know? Like, we both love lip gloss. I mean, that did not come into the interview process. But there’s so many things where we’re so alike. So they did a great job with that. But then also too, she’s introducing me to some new things and I’m introducing her into some things too.

James Kademan [00:03:53]:
Oh, that’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:03:54]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:03:55]:
Tell me, just for the people that don’t know, just what is Big brothers, Big sisters.

Tracy Anderson [00:03:59]:
So. So it’s a one to one mentoring program. So it’s all about spending that one on one time. It truly makes a difference. And when you spend time with a child, we create new matches. Ages 6 to 13. When you spend time with a child, I mean, it’s shown to prove that they’ll likely go to college when they grow up or have a better paying job or not partake in violence, alcohol or drugs. So it’s just, I think anyone can kind of, whether you’re in the big brother, big sister program or not, think about someone in your life that made that change for you and your life could have gone a different way.

Tracy Anderson [00:04:34]:
So.

James Kademan [00:04:35]:
Yeah. Yeah, it’s interesting. So tell me a story about the number of bigs you have versus the number of littles. Is there a shortage on one end or the other?

Tracy Anderson [00:04:43]:
We always have a wait list. So right now, currently we do have a wait list of 130, 130 kids. 130 kids that are waiting. They’re mostly boys and they’re mostly kids of color.

James Kademan [00:04:55]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:04:55]:
We have over 300 matches. I believe close to 360 matches. I mean, this is just like on average. Yeah. Most of the people that become bigs are females. They’re white females.

James Kademan [00:05:07]:
Really?

Tracy Anderson [00:05:08]:
Yes. Age is usually around. The average age is like 32, 34.

James Kademan [00:05:14]:
So I would not have guessed that.

Tracy Anderson [00:05:16]:
Yeah. And our need, we have a heavy need. We match within Dane county, but a heavy need in Sun Prairie and on the east side.

James Kademan [00:05:23]:
Wow.

Tracy Anderson [00:05:24]:
So about 25, 30 kids on the wait list in Sun Prairie.

James Kademan [00:05:28]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:05:29]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:05:29]:
That’s interesting because the age I could see that, you know, you’re young enough to. To do stuff and not want to just sit in a rocking chair, but.

Tracy Anderson [00:05:37]:
Right. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:05:38]:
But still smart enough to know that you need to give back, make the world a better place.

Tracy Anderson [00:05:42]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:05:43]:
And that’s a fun way to do it.

Tracy Anderson [00:05:44]:
And I think people of all ages, I mean, I’m community outreach, community partnership, so I’m out all the time. I do meet a lot of people of all ages that are interested and, you know, learning more. So I mean, you could meet, I would love to meet more like 20 year olds that want to do it. More college students or people just graduating from college. But you know, it’s usually that medium age in the 30s, 40s, 50s.

James Kademan [00:06:09]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:06:10]:
You know.

James Kademan [00:06:10]:
Yeah, yeah. Interesting. But there’s way more females that are interested in your kids.

Tracy Anderson [00:06:14]:
There’s more females? Yeah.

James Kademan [00:06:15]:
Why do you think that?

Tracy Anderson [00:06:16]:
I mean. Well, I think females, they’re very sympathetic, you know, and you know, I think it touches them, you know, quicker maybe. I don’t know, like, I think females are just more sensitive about things when they hear about things. But we have seen an uptick with men in the past couple years and men of color and people of color in general. So, I mean, you also have to look at the population of Madison too, you know, especially when it comes to being of color. So. Fair. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:06:47]:
Interesting. And I guess the Sun Priest specifically help me understand who is applying to be a little, because I guess I know the big side.

Tracy Anderson [00:06:58]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:06:58]:
And it’s only on memory, so I don’t know it that well.

Tracy Anderson [00:07:00]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:07:01]:
But the little side, I don’t know how a little even becomes a little.

Tracy Anderson [00:07:04]:
So a parent or guardian has to sign up the child. So you would go online just as if you were to fill out an application to be a big. But a parent or guardian would go on our website, bbbsmadison.org and fill out, you know, like a one page form to fill out that you would like to submit your child. So there’s no criteria other than we create new matches. Ages 6 to 13. Kids do age out at the age of 14. And we do try to match, like, with location too, so it makes sense, you know, because the big. Which I’m sure you can remember too.

Tracy Anderson [00:07:38]:
I mean, you’re picking up the kid and you’re dropping the kid off and things like that or meeting the parent somewhere or something. So.

James Kademan [00:07:44]:
Yeah, I can remember. So Danny was my little.

Tracy Anderson [00:07:49]:
Mm.

James Kademan [00:07:49]:
And I remember chatting with him now. He was. He’s more talkative now. Back then he was pretty quiet.

Tracy Anderson [00:07:55]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:07:56]:
Which is fine. Whatever. I mean, all kids evolve their personality over time.

Tracy Anderson [00:08:00]:
Mm.

James Kademan [00:08:01]:
So he. I remember him telling me. No. How did that go? I asked him how his weekend was because I would pick him up from school, I think, on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, whatever that was. I was like, how was your weekend, Danny? And he was like, I don’t know. It’s fine. And I was like, what’d you do? It’s like, nothing. And I’m like, nothing.

James Kademan [00:08:20]:
Like, he laid on the ceiling or laid on the living room floor and just stared at the ceiling. And he’s like, no, no, we. We got a new couch.

Tracy Anderson [00:08:30]:
Oh.

James Kademan [00:08:30]:
I’m like, you got a new couch? That’s great. New couch. Fantastic. Tell me about the couch. He’s like, well, actually, we got a whole new bedroom set.

Tracy Anderson [00:08:39]:
Oh.

James Kademan [00:08:39]:
I’m like, cool. Tell me about that.

Tracy Anderson [00:08:41]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:08:42]:
And the story evolves to learn that he’s living in a different apartment, had to get all this furniture and stuff like that from St. Vinny’s or whatever, it was donated because the apartment they were in burned down or there was a fire.

Tracy Anderson [00:08:56]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:08:57]:
And it was so funny because from my perspective, if someone were to say, how was your weekend?

Tracy Anderson [00:09:02]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:09:03]:
And that happened to me, I’d be like, you would not believe what happened.

Tracy Anderson [00:09:06]:
That’s awful. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:09:08]:
And for Dani, it was just like, eh.

Tracy Anderson [00:09:09]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:09:10]:
Just another day, Right?

Tracy Anderson [00:09:11]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:09:11]:
And I was thinking, that is just another day.

Tracy Anderson [00:09:14]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:09:15]:
What in the world? What’s unusual for you.

Tracy Anderson [00:09:18]:
Yeah. And I think that you make a really good point too. As far as, you know, he wasn’t talkative at the beginning, but now, you know, he talks. That’s the change that you’re seeing that you’re making. And I think when people become a mentor, you know, there’s. Sometimes you don’t know how a kid feels about, you know, I mean, there’s plenty of times, like, with my little. I’m like, I don’t think she likes me. And then before I know it, her mom’s like, oh, man, she’s been asking for you.

Tracy Anderson [00:09:42]:
I’m like, she has, but you do. I think. You know, it’s those little things, but you see the impact that you have had or that you’re having, because if they weren’t talking at the beginning and now they just won’t stop. That’s really good.

James Kademan [00:09:56]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:09:57]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:09:57]:
I remember Danny. I don’t know. I’m gonna say 15, 16 years old, something like that. He was at my office, and we were trying to figure out what to have for dinner, and he just. Like every kid, he’s like, pizza, Right? Which pizza is good?

Tracy Anderson [00:10:11]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:10:11]:
So I’m like, all right, we can have pizza. I’ll buy on the one condition. And that one condition is you have to order it.

Tracy Anderson [00:10:19]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:10:20]:
And, like, you have to call him up. Whatever pizza place you pick. Right. You got to order it.

Tracy Anderson [00:10:24]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:10:25]:
And he’s like, okay. And you could tell he was kind of shaky. And I’m like. And after they tell you the price, you have to ask for a discount, because I wanted to push him a little bit to open up a little bit. And he’s like, what? And it was one of those things where I’m like, it doesn’t matter if they say yes or no.

Tracy Anderson [00:10:42]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:10:42]:
The goal is for you to get out of your comfort zone so that you can actually learn how to talk to people. Because although there’s a lot of people on your phone, not all the people on the phone, you’re gonna want to be able to talk to people. So it’s interesting.

Tracy Anderson [00:10:54]:
Another great reason why mentorship works. I mean, you’re getting out of a different environment, and you’re being asked to do things that you know are gonna help you when you become an adult or when you’re not away from home. And maybe the parents at home, like, they don’t have a lot of time to teach these things either, or it’s just another perspective.

James Kademan [00:11:14]:
Totally.

Tracy Anderson [00:11:14]:
You know?

James Kademan [00:11:15]:
Yeah. A thousand times over.

Tracy Anderson [00:11:16]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:11:17]:
Tell me, how did you get involved in all this?

Tracy Anderson [00:11:20]:
So I’ve been with the organization for about three years, and. And I was actually working at a media magazine at the time, and I was working with a graphic designer, and I was leaving the position, and he happened to be married to the CEO of Big Brother, Big Sister.

James Kademan [00:11:38]:
Oh, that’ll do it. Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:11:40]:
So she knew I was leaving. She met with me and said, we’re looking for a community outreach recruitment manager. And I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was like, okay. I really. You know, I don’t know if there was any way to really explain the position. You just had to go right into it. So I ended up taking the job, and it’s three years later, But I started off recruiting for the Littles on our wait list.

Tracy Anderson [00:12:07]:
So at that time, the wait list was, like, over 200. And a lot of that had to do with COVID You know, there was a lot of kids on the wait list from COVID And, you know, we had our School Friends program at the time, but then school friends had closed because of that, so. And when they did have a recruitment manager in, it wasn’t like, specifically like, a recruitment outreach person. It was just someone that I believe, like, came in and did some recruitment. But this time, they really wanted to restructure the position. So I kind of came in and made it my own, and they allowed me to do that.

James Kademan [00:12:44]:
Nice.

Tracy Anderson [00:12:44]:
And, yeah, I mean, we’ve been able to get the wait list down.

James Kademan [00:12:48]:
It sounds like you cut it in half, right? Or a good percentage.

Tracy Anderson [00:12:51]:
Yeah. No.

James Kademan [00:12:52]:
Do you know how? Let me back up a step. So Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national, or is that international?

Tracy Anderson [00:12:57]:
It’s national.

James Kademan [00:12:58]:
National, yep. So how does Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane county compare with their wait list to other places?

Tracy Anderson [00:13:04]:
So everyone has a wait list, and I do keep in contact with other agencies because it’s just good to hear what other people are doing. You know, like, I talk to the outreach person in Milwaukee. I talk to the outreach person in Chicago. There’s smaller areas in Wisconsin, agencies that I talk to. Green Bay. So everyone has a wait list, and it’s usually the same thing. Like, more boys are on the wait list and more kids of color on the waitlist. So that is, like, general across the board.

James Kademan [00:13:35]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:13:35]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:13:36]:
And is it typically. I suppose. What would you look at the percentage of your wait list as compared to population or what is the metrics you would look at?

Tracy Anderson [00:13:44]:
Because, you know, I think when you. We’ve obviously done great work here in Dane county, but we are smaller.

James Kademan [00:13:51]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:13:51]:
And so when I’ve talked to, like, which we have so much to be proud of, but when I’ve talked to, like, Chicago, and I’m like, oh, you could try this or this, you know, I’m not taking into consideration. Chicago is huge.

James Kademan [00:14:02]:
Right.

Tracy Anderson [00:14:03]:
It’s huge. So I think, obviously the number of kids on the wait list is probably gonna be a lot Larger. Milwaukee is larger. So they have a larger wait list also. So, okay. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:14:15]:
Do they compare it to number of.

Tracy Anderson [00:14:17]:
Matches that they have as far as, like, the waitlist?

James Kademan [00:14:20]:
Yeah, comparing, like, we have. I don’t know. I’m just throwing a number out there. Let’s say Chicago has, I don’t know, 400 matches or something like that, and a wait list of 200 or something like that. Is there a metric where you compare the.

Tracy Anderson [00:14:31]:
Well, the matches that we have, they’re already matches. And so the kids that are on the wait list, they’re still waiting to be matched. And so that could take up to a year or two. I think we are matching the kids quicker, but we really do take the time to say, hey, would this be a good fit? Because we do want it to be a lifelong relationship.

James Kademan [00:14:53]:
Tell me a story with the Littles. You’re asking them essentially what they’re interested in. Right.

Tracy Anderson [00:14:58]:
So we do have someone at our office who actually just interviews all the kids. And she’s awesome. So. So she’s great. Any situation, I mean, she goes into and she interviews the kids. She interviews the kids at their home. As far as the bigs, we do have someone that interviews all the Bigs, goes through a very thorough interview process. I mean, asking, what are you interested in doing? What are you not comfortable with? The bigs that I meet with, that I try to recruit, I’m always very honest with them, and I just say, be as honest as possible.

Tracy Anderson [00:15:29]:
I mean, if there’s something that would make you uncomfortable or there’s something that you wouldn’t want to do, because that’s how we can make the best match as possible.

James Kademan [00:15:39]:
Right? You want them to stay?

Tracy Anderson [00:15:40]:
We want them to stay. Just like you’re still talking to your Little. I mean, we hear tons of stories of, you know, we just had our gala in July. I mean, a former little brother, he’s now a board member.

James Kademan [00:15:52]:
Oh, that’s incredible.

Tracy Anderson [00:15:53]:
Yeah. And he’s married, he has kids, and he still keeps in touch with his Big. And his Big did a lot of things with him growing up like, that were kind of. I don’t think every Little should expect this, but his Big took him on trips. And I mean, like, you know, they got to do different things. He got to expose them to a lot of stuff.

James Kademan [00:16:12]:
All right.

Tracy Anderson [00:16:13]:
But, you know, I always tell people to, you gotta keep it simple, you know? And I think it’s easy when you get into being a mentor because you kind of want to spend money and, like, show the kid I’m Cool. But really just balancing that out and doing things like walking in the park or getting ice cream or pizza and simple things like that. Having a conversation.

James Kademan [00:16:36]:
I remember when I first got connected with Danny, I was just. Let me think about that. I was probably barely into owning my business.

Tracy Anderson [00:16:47]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:16:47]:
And so we were. I was scraping by, and so I remember thinking, man, we gotta go somewhere cheap to eat.

Tracy Anderson [00:16:55]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:16:56]:
But there were times where it would just make dinner at home or we would cook, figure something out.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:01]:
Yep.

James Kademan [00:17:02]:
But I think for me, the hardest part was coming up with something to do.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:07]:
Mm.

James Kademan [00:17:08]:
Even, like. Even if it didn’t cost anything. Just like, what are we gonna do?

Tracy Anderson [00:17:11]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:17:11]:
What are we gonna do?

Tracy Anderson [00:17:12]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:17:13]:
It’s almost like you’re trying to come up with a date thing every week. Even though it’s not date romantic kind of thing. We’re just like, some activity.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:19]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:17:19]:
That’s not just sitting in front of a TV or something like that.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:22]:
I know.

James Kademan [00:17:23]:
And that was challenging.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:24]:
My little. And I. We have a running list. So every time we get together, it’s like, okay, what do you think that we should do? What do you. You know? And I just saw her. Was it last week. And we had pizza. We were eating lunch.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:39]:
And, you know, we’re like, the summer is just going by so fast. And she’s like, yeah, we still haven’t gone to the zoo. We gotta get to the zoo. I’m like, okay, so, all right, this’ll be our next one. But, yeah, I make a running list and then your Match support. A lot of people don’t know that we have Match support, so. Match Support. I don’t know.

Tracy Anderson [00:17:58]:
When you were in the program, you should have had a match support team.

James Kademan [00:18:01]:
Yeah, they would check in, but I didn’t.

Tracy Anderson [00:18:03]:
But they check in once a month, like the first year. And, you know, if you ever get stumped, you can always call your Match Support. We have an Event Hub. I don’t know if they had that when you were doing it, but probably.

James Kademan [00:18:12]:
Did, and I just wasn’t smart enough to look.

Tracy Anderson [00:18:14]:
Yeah. Sometimes people don’t do because, like, your. Your life is hectic. And so even though there’s this event hub and it has a list of events, free or low cost, and there are some places that do give us discounts and things like that. We do get free tickets donated to us. But I think, too. I’m not great at checking the Event Hub, but it is there in case, like, I’m stumped. And I’m like, what should we do? And there is Something called macaroni kid now.

James Kademan [00:18:40]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:18:41]:
So I get that in my email every week. And that gives a list of like free ideas or low cost ideas that are just happening in the city of Madison.

James Kademan [00:18:49]:
Huh. Well, that sounds awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:18:51]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:18:51]:
All right. So, yeah, I guess I’m not blaming the resources at all. This is purely me not being smart enough to anticipate. Like, I’m picking up Danny on Tuesday afternoon. I would try to come up with something on the way to pick up Danny and people.

Tracy Anderson [00:19:05]:
It happens, you know, and people get. I know. I get like that too. Like, even though we have a list, like, I’m like. Cause I really want to balance things out. Like, there’s times where I might take her to spare time. You know, that’s a more costly activity. But I don’t want her to think that that’s gonna happen every week.

James Kademan [00:19:26]:
I’m not going to Vegas every week. Here.

Tracy Anderson [00:19:28]:
Discount on Tuesdays. Okay. It’s half price.

James Kademan [00:19:31]:
Nice.

Tracy Anderson [00:19:31]:
But sometimes it’s just better to like, okay, why don’t we just go grab lunch, you know? Yeah, I got an hour. Or there could be another outing where it’s three hours.

James Kademan [00:19:42]:
Cool.

Tracy Anderson [00:19:42]:
So it just depends.

James Kademan [00:19:43]:
Yeah, that’s fair.

Tracy Anderson [00:19:44]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:19:45]:
Do you, I guess of the bigs and littles that, you know, do most of them stick around or stay together the whole. I don’t know how long it would be. I guess if it’s 11 to 14, that would be seven to four to seven years.

Tracy Anderson [00:19:59]:
I mean, I know quite a few that have just stories that I know personally. You know, there is one. Her little just graduated, I think it was last year. And it was awesome because she went on college tours with her little and she. I think she had been matched with her when she was 11 or 12. And she’s still, you know, with her. They still make plans now even that she’s in college.

James Kademan [00:20:26]:
Oh, that’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:20:27]:
And then there was another match. I think he graduated last year as well. It was a 12 year match. Wow. So he’s at Carroll College now. They still make time to talk. I mean, there’s another match that I know. I went to our national conference like two years ago, and she was actually on American Idol.

James Kademan [00:20:47]:
Really?

Tracy Anderson [00:20:48]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:20:48]:
Oh, that’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:20:49]:
Yeah, she was on American Idol. She met Lionel Richie, saw the video. But she’s pursuing. She just graduated from college. She’s pursuing a music career, acting. She’s still in touch with her big. She actually comes back and visits and she stays with her big.

James Kademan [00:21:07]:
How cool is that?

Tracy Anderson [00:21:09]:
There’s a lot of stories.

James Kademan [00:21:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. It’s impressive when I guess I saw my little right in that little tiny window. And you take for granted that there are hundreds of. And when you look at countrywide, tens of thousands that kids and bigs and littles, I guess, that are getting together like that. That’s impressive.

Tracy Anderson [00:21:27]:
Yeah, it is. And I always find it, you know, when I’m talking to the matches and they’ve moved on, like they’ve graduated, I just find it so interesting. And that is one of the questions I ask is, well, what is making you guys stay around? You know? And I think once you have that connection, it’s just hard. I don’t know. At least for me. Like, with my little. Now, she’s only eight, but I literally can’t imagine not having her in my life.

James Kademan [00:21:56]:
Oh, that’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:21:56]:
You know, so I think a lot of people, they just make it work because they’re a part of the family. And I know one match when she graduated last year, like, she’s very. The big. Is very good friends with her family. They all go out. I mean, it’s just.

James Kademan [00:22:13]:
That’s cool.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:14]:
Yeah. It’s like, it’s your family. Yeah, yeah. It’s your family.

James Kademan [00:22:16]:
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. It’s interesting when I get connected with Danny. That was before I had my own son.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:23]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:22:23]:
Yeah. So it’s just one of those where it’s cool to get another perspective.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:27]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:22:28]:
Because I don’t know, you think you know everything when you’re. Well, I don’t even know how old I was when I connected with him. But you’re just like, hey, let’s figure this out.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:36]:
Right?

James Kademan [00:22:36]:
See the world.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:37]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:22:37]:
And I didn’t know. Was he 11? So is it fifth, sixth grade, something like that? It was interesting. I remember talking to him about. He was watching YouTube and watching people play video games.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:52]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:22:53]:
And he was trying to describe this to me, and I didn’t know that was a thing.

Tracy Anderson [00:22:57]:
Yeah, I didn’t either.

James Kademan [00:22:58]:
And I was just like, tell me this again. Yeah, you’re watching. So you don’t play the video game. You’re watching somebody play the video game.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:06]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:06]:
And he’s like, yeah. And he’s just describing, blah, blah, blah, whatever. And I’m like, why, why? Why wouldn’t you just play the video game on your own?

Tracy Anderson [00:23:15]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:15]:
And then he’s like, it’s no different than people watching a baseball game. And then I was thinking, huh, I don’t understand why people do that either. But that’s a great analogy. And there’s certainly people that sit around, watch sports instead of actually playing the sport. So you know what? You got it.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:32]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:32]:
Perfect.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:33]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:33]:
You nailed it. And it was interesting to get that perspective of. It’s no different to you watching anybody do anything else.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:40]:
Right. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:41]:
All right. I didn’t make sense.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:43]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:44]:
It appearance a huge thing because he would. He would show me one of these videos.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:47]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:48]:
And it had five gazillion views.

Tracy Anderson [00:23:50]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:23:50]:
And I’m just blown out of the water because we got this awesome, incredible podcast with fabulous guests, and we have six views and these people playing a video. Some teenage kid playing a video game with his headset on, his dorky little thing, doing his. Talking about it to me. I feel like I would rather watch a commercial about pharmaceutical drugs than watch this kid play a video game. But apparently I’m not in the majority there.

Tracy Anderson [00:24:16]:
When you have a little too. It keeps you up on the know. Like, my little’s teaching me stuff that I’m like, I didn’t even know what was going on. She’s introducing movies to me. I didn’t even know. And like, she was explaining to me, like. Like this. Like, people do this.

Tracy Anderson [00:24:34]:
And I’m like, what is that? And she’s like, that’s a good thing. Like, people. That means they. They, like, feel what you’re saying. And I was like, oh, okay.

James Kademan [00:24:42]:
While people are talking to you, then.

Tracy Anderson [00:24:43]:
Yeah. Like, somebody will say something, and it’s just like, oh, yeah, that’s really good. Yeah. Yeah. I’m like, oh, okay. She’s teaching me.

James Kademan [00:24:51]:
Okay. All of a sudden I feel 80. Cause I have no.

Tracy Anderson [00:24:53]:
I’ve never heard of it. I’m right with you.

James Kademan [00:24:55]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:24:56]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:24:57]:
That is interesting.

Tracy Anderson [00:24:58]:
Yeah. And I’ve noticed people are doing it, like, on shows or when I’m somewhere, and I saw that she did it one day when we were at lunch, and I was like, what is that? Like, why do people do that?

James Kademan [00:25:08]:
So, yeah, that is interesting. Is she using all the slang, the drip and the fire and all that?

Tracy Anderson [00:25:13]:
She says bro a lot.

James Kademan [00:25:16]:
She’s eight.

Tracy Anderson [00:25:17]:
She’s eight.

James Kademan [00:25:18]:
Oh, that’s amazing.

Tracy Anderson [00:25:19]:
She’s like, bro. Bro. I’m like, oh, my gosh. Yeah. So she does that.

James Kademan [00:25:23]:
Does she call you bro?

Tracy Anderson [00:25:24]:
Sometimes it’s more like if we. We were at a craft event. And so big brother, big sister, they put on. We put on our own events too, which is really nice. So that’s another activity. So, like, Tyro Basin will do skiing on Tyro Basin. So matches can do that. Crafts.

Tracy Anderson [00:25:43]:
We’ve gone to a craft place and we’ve made crafts together. Matches can sign up for this. And so she was around one of her friends, and so that’s when, you know, then they’re, like, trying to impress their friends. So she’s like, bro, Bro. But normally when we’re out, she doesn’t.

James Kademan [00:25:59]:
Oh, that’s funny.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:00]:
Yeah, it is. But I think it’s another way, too. To show she’s getting comfortable with me.

James Kademan [00:26:06]:
Fair. Totally fair. So she’s not calling you madam or something like that?

Tracy Anderson [00:26:10]:
I hope not. Call me bro, then. I feel really old. No, yeah.

James Kademan [00:26:17]:
Bro.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:17]:
Bro.

James Kademan [00:26:18]:
It’s bro.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:18]:
Yeah, call me bro.

James Kademan [00:26:20]:
Oh, that’s funny. Tell me. You mentioned the gala.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:24]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:26:24]:
Tell me a story about that.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:26]:
Yeah. So the gala was at the Madison Marriott west on July 25th. And so we will be back there again next year. We had close to 500 people in attendance. Yeah. So we usually. The gala is a huge event with over 200 auction items.

James Kademan [00:26:42]:
Nice.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:43]:
So we raised a little over 300,000.

James Kademan [00:26:46]:
$300,000 one night.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:47]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:26:48]:
That’s impressive.

Tracy Anderson [00:26:48]:
Yeah. And, you know, I think it’s just. I feel like it’s an event where the community can really get together. It’s our largest fundraising event, so it’s huge. It helps keep our program free to our matches, our parents, our littles. But I also look at it as a way for the community to come together and just support. And it’s a great event. You hear from different matches.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:15]:
We did honor Bob Lang, who is. He has been on our board for 50 years.

James Kademan [00:27:21]:
Five. Zero.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:22]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:27:22]:
That’s a long time.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:23]:
And his little. His former little brother was there, who is now in his 60s. Whoa.

James Kademan [00:27:30]:
Yeah. Holy cow.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:31]:
So I would have to say, for me, that was the highlight of the evening.

James Kademan [00:27:34]:
All right.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:35]:
Bob is amazing guy, and 50 years of service, and he doesn’t want attention, and he just. He’s. He’s a great person.

James Kademan [00:27:47]:
That’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:48]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:27:48]:
50 years on the board.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:49]:
50 years on the board.

James Kademan [00:27:50]:
Holy cow.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:51]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:27:52]:
And as little as in his 60s.

Tracy Anderson [00:27:53]:
Yeah. I think his little is 62. That’s amazing. And his little’s name is Bob. So it was like Big Bob. Little Bob. So, yeah, it’s pretty awesome.

James Kademan [00:28:03]:
So I guess. I mean, you’re seeing these numbers, and I didn’t even realize Big brothers, big sisters has been around that long.

Tracy Anderson [00:28:08]:
We’ve been. We’ve been founded. We were founded in 1966.

James Kademan [00:28:12]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:28:13]:
We’re coming up on our 60th anniversary next year, so we want to plan something really Big and fun for the gala, obviously, or just to celebrate next year in general. So.

James Kademan [00:28:22]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:28:22]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:28:23]:
That’s incredible. Holy cow. Tell me about your position there. Your job is to gather bigs.

Tracy Anderson [00:28:31]:
So I started off community outreach and I still am. So the role started off as community outreach recruitment manager. So my job was to get the wait list down and to go out to different events network. I’m sure a lot of people see me around town, like, doing tabling events to get people to want to learn more about becoming a big and then eventually get them to sign up. And then my role has kind of evolved into a community partnerships manager. So it’s a little bit of both. Community outreach, community partnerships manager. But it’s all outreach really.

Tracy Anderson [00:29:03]:
So really wanting to focus on our partnerships, our sponsorships that we have. Because we do a lot of fundraising events to keep our program free. So we’re busy all year long. We have a bowling event that happens in spring. We have a scavenger hunt that happens in spring. The hunt. And then we also do our gala. We do our back to school event.

Tracy Anderson [00:29:25]:
We do have a fall trivia event that is happening in November.

James Kademan [00:29:28]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:29:29]:
So we do all these things just to keep money. Like, I think people don’t understand unless you’re a non profit. It never stops. No, it doesn’t. Like, people are like, didn’t you just ask me? Yeah, and I’m gonna ask you again next year.

James Kademan [00:29:41]:
Cause it’s just.

Tracy Anderson [00:29:43]:
Yeah, we gotta keep it free. We gotta keep it going, so.

James Kademan [00:29:46]:
Right. Yeah, I suppose. Just like a car, right? Didn’t I put gas in you last week?

Tracy Anderson [00:29:50]:
You did. And now you gotta do it again.

James Kademan [00:29:52]:
Gotta do it again. It’s not the one time.

Tracy Anderson [00:29:53]:
So it’s just. It’s a lot of networking.

James Kademan [00:29:56]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:29:56]:
It’s a lot of networking. It’s a lot of maintaining relationships with businesses, maintaining the relationships that we have right now, but also looking for new ones. So I’m a part of a lot of networking groups and, you know, you just want to go to a lot of the events that are around town and, you know.

James Kademan [00:30:12]:
All right.

Tracy Anderson [00:30:12]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:30:12]:
Is it working?

Tracy Anderson [00:30:13]:
It works. Yeah, it works.

James Kademan [00:30:17]:
I know. As far as fundraising goes, has that changed since I guess you’ve been there? Three years, so.

Tracy Anderson [00:30:24]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:30:24]:
I mean, you’re. This is a tail end of the pandemic, if memory serves. Is that right?

Tracy Anderson [00:30:28]:
Yeah, I came in. So the pandemic. I was kind of coming in like right off of that, so. And you know, at that time, I remember they didn’t really have anyone focusing on recruitment.

James Kademan [00:30:41]:
Oh, at all?

Tracy Anderson [00:30:42]:
No. They had someone there for a short period of time, but then time just kind of went on and there wasn’t anyone, like really focused on recruitment or focused on partnerships, and that’s why the position got restructured. But yeah, I’ve seen ups and downs, for sure. You know, you can’t always be up.

James Kademan [00:31:03]:
No.

Tracy Anderson [00:31:03]:
You know, it’s a roller coaster. Yeah, it’s a roller coaster. I think that we have done a great job of maintaining the past few years that I’ve been there, but I think definitely now people are really feeling this year in particular, some of the back, like the hurt. You can see it in numbers. I think people are unsure whether they’re going to be working. I think people are afraid to spend money like they used to. So I feel like this year I’ve definitely seen a shift in spending, but you just have to look at what’s going on this year so it would make. It would make sense.

James Kademan [00:31:45]:
Totally.

Tracy Anderson [00:31:45]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:31:45]:
Totally understand. Tell me, from a marketing standpoint, besides you just being out there shaking hands, kissing babies.

Tracy Anderson [00:31:52]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:31:52]:
What do you guys do for marketing to get the word out?

Tracy Anderson [00:31:54]:
So we have an amazing marketing manager. So we’re very lucky to have that. And you know, people need to keep in mind too, all agencies are different. And we are considered a larger agency, like 20, 21 employees. So that’s considered a larger agency where some of the other agencies are smaller, where there’s. I mean, we wear a lot of hats ourselves. But when you look at some of the other agencies and like, maybe they have three or four people who are doing, you know, so we’re very fortunate to have our marketing manager that strictly focuses on marketing. So that would be on social media.

Tracy Anderson [00:32:31]:
That would be like marketing collateral brochures, like everything that you see, like, marketing wise, she does. And she does an amazing job. I mean, everything looks. She stays on brand, she keeps us on brand. And it looks very professional and well done.

James Kademan [00:32:46]:
Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah, that’s super cool. Tell me. I want to talk about the events that you guys have.

Tracy Anderson [00:32:51]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:32:52]:
So we talked about the gala.

Tracy Anderson [00:32:53]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:32:53]:
The bowling thing.

Tracy Anderson [00:32:54]:
Bowl for kids sake. That usually happens in April. So we go to four different bowling alleys around the area and people can pick a Thursday that they want to bowl. I think it’s great for businesses because when I meet with businesses and I say, okay, so first of all, do we align with your mission? Are you aligned with our mission? But also too, if you believe in our cause, and there’s so many nonprofits So I get it.

James Kademan [00:33:26]:
Endless.

Tracy Anderson [00:33:27]:
It’s endless. So I get it. But also too. What else are you looking for? Are you looking for team building? What else are you looking to get into? So when I talk to businesses, I like to talk about bowl for kids sake. For that reason. It’s a great way. It’s a fun way to raise money. So it’s on a Thursday in April.

Tracy Anderson [00:33:47]:
We try to hit like a Fitchburg bowling alley. A Sun Prairie bowling alley. Yeah, I think we do four different bowling alleys. But yeah, I mean, people get together, you can dress up. So we theme it out every year. One year was like a Hawaiian theme. This year was NFL because we did an NFL draft. We did the big draft campaign this year because the draft was in Green Bay.

Tracy Anderson [00:34:12]:
So people dressed up, you know, so people make it a lot of fun. We do have an awesome. Like Dental Health Associates is just great. They’re our presenting sponsor every year. They’ve been our presenting sponsor for several years now. They literally take over one night. So we don’t have several companies at night. They take over one night in Fitchburg because of all their locations.

Tracy Anderson [00:34:34]:
And they come in with their own theme catering and they are fun. They have a blast. Like one year they came in as like different TV show characters and stuff. And it was just fun to try to guess who everybody was. That’s awesome. Yeah. So yeah, both for kids sake in April. And then right after that, we go into the hunt.

Tracy Anderson [00:34:54]:
It’s a county wide scavenger hunt in Dane county, which is super fun. There’s an app on your phone so you do a bunch of different missions and you take a selfie once you do the missions and then you get points and you win prizes. So it’s for each of these, it’s four to six people to a team for bowling and the hunt. And you know, this is another way to do stuff with not just your match, but families, colleagues, friends. You know, I do a team every year and I found this is great, other than me and my friends just going to dinner. Like we’re gonna go do missions and you’re gonna find things. Like you think you know everything in Madison, but you don’t. So.

James Kademan [00:35:32]:
No, no. There are restaurants that people tell me about.

Tracy Anderson [00:35:35]:
Exactly. There’s all kind of things. So. And then right after that, we’re in planning mode for the gala. Well, gala planning mode usually happens right now for next year.

James Kademan [00:35:46]:
As soon as you close the doors on that one, the next fired up.

Tracy Anderson [00:35:49]:
Yeah. So that is July and again, it will be at The Madison Mary west. And yeah, that is our biggest fundraiser of the year. And then we do back to school. So we just did back to school this past Saturday.

James Kademan [00:36:05]:
Okay. What is that?

Tracy Anderson [00:36:07]:
So back to school. This is for our matches. So we provide school supplies, backpacks. It’s like a picnic we have, and matches. Or families come that are in the program and they get a backpack, they get school supplies. Depending on the age. Elementary, middle school, high school, and there’s different things to do there. Madison reading project was there this year.

Tracy Anderson [00:36:29]:
Iconica was there. So, yeah, it’s a great event.

James Kademan [00:36:33]:
Nice. Tell me I’m gonna backpedal a little bit.

Tracy Anderson [00:36:36]:
Sure.

James Kademan [00:36:36]:
The missions for the hunt.

Tracy Anderson [00:36:38]:
The hunt? Yeah.

James Kademan [00:36:39]:
What type of missions are we talking about?

Tracy Anderson [00:36:40]:
Oh, they’re fun.

James Kademan [00:36:41]:
All right.

Tracy Anderson [00:36:42]:
Okay. So people get really competitive about this too. So there’s a variety of missions. That’s why it’s important when you have a team. Like, I handpick my team. Oh, okay.

James Kademan [00:36:53]:
So only the top. Just like you’re putting together as bankers, right?

Tracy Anderson [00:36:56]:
Yes. So you want to make sure you have at least one team member. Like, we all need to be good with fundraising, but you want to have a team member that’s really good at fundraising, because there’s fundraising days. So this team member can be going out and asking for matches on that day. And then you also want to have a team member that’s really good at just going out and finding the missions. Like, one or two. Because there’s different areas. I mean, there could be things in some prairie someone has to hit, and there could be stuff in Middleton.

Tracy Anderson [00:37:23]:
So it’s nice to have people. Okay, I’ll take this. I’ll take that. Or we can do things together.

James Kademan [00:37:28]:
Okay. So it’s not just one big day thing.

Tracy Anderson [00:37:31]:
No, it goes on for three weeks.

James Kademan [00:37:33]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:37:33]:
Yeah. And I think last year, I wanted to be in the top 10. This year, so we were in the top 10.

James Kademan [00:37:42]:
Nice.

Tracy Anderson [00:37:43]:
I think we were, like, eight or something, but I was. Yeah, but there’s all kind of things. I mean, there’s even, like, missions you could do at home that they have you do. Like, draw a picture take, you know, eat ice cream.

James Kademan [00:37:57]:
Eat ice cream is one of the missions sometimes.

Tracy Anderson [00:37:59]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:37:59]:
You totally nail it.

Tracy Anderson [00:38:00]:
Yeah, you would totally nail it.

James Kademan [00:38:01]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:38:03]:
And what’s some of the ones? You know, sometimes we work with different businesses. I think this is. I would love to get more businesses involved because it’s a great way to drive business. So, like, sometimes working. Draft beer. They did something for the hunt with us, you know, Stark Weather brewing. You know, if you come in and they might have a specialty beer and then take a photo of Stark weather that you were at. Stark weather.

Tracy Anderson [00:38:29]:
That kind of gets people, too, to, like, stay. They might stay, get something to eat, get something to drink. But it’s a mission.

James Kademan [00:38:36]:
So my mission is to eat ice cream and drink beer.

Tracy Anderson [00:38:38]:
Yeah, that’s a part of the mission. I know. Or there’s parks. You go find something in a park. Or let’s see, there’s all sorts of missions. Go to the farmer’s market.

James Kademan [00:38:53]:
Okay. So do you get to pick and choose or do you get a list? These are your 10 missions type thing.

Tracy Anderson [00:38:58]:
So you. On the app, they drop missions. So you get missions, and then there’s certain missions that will expire, and then new missions will come back in. So it’s a bunch of different ones. And that’s why, as a team, you’ve got to make a plan and tackle. Hey, can you get the farmer’s market one? There is one mission, like, one time, I think it was like, what was it? Find four things in a row of the same color or something. I can’t remember. But me and my team member happened to find four mermaid cars, yellow cars, in a row.

Tracy Anderson [00:39:33]:
So we got that.

James Kademan [00:39:34]:
Yeah, the mermaid cleaning or whatever.

Tracy Anderson [00:39:36]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:39:36]:
Okay, interesting.

Tracy Anderson [00:39:38]:
Or there’s been one with a license plate. Like, you got to find a certain number on a license plate. Another one was a pink house. There was a pink house somewhere. I don’t remember if it was in Oregon or something. Find the pink house.

James Kademan [00:39:51]:
Interesting. So how do you end up in the top 10?

Tracy Anderson [00:39:54]:
Well, a lot of it has to do with fundraising.

James Kademan [00:39:56]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:39:57]:
So yes, it is important to do the missions, but you gotta fundraise, too. So I learned that this year. That was the secret tip that I learned. Like, you gotta fundraise.

James Kademan [00:40:06]:
All right. Raise some money.

Tracy Anderson [00:40:07]:
Yeah, you gotta raise money. Especially on those days that, you know there’s matching. But yeah, you can’t just do missions. Like, you’ve gotta fundraise and do missions.

James Kademan [00:40:19]:
Okay. And matching. Who’s matching?

Tracy Anderson [00:40:22]:
So if there’s. You might get double points one day. Like, they might say, if you raise $100, you’re going to get an extra 100 points. So that’s going to help us get even higher. Or they’ll do, like, a matching day. Like, one of my teammates from Baker Tilly. Love her. She got Baker Tilly to match.

Tracy Anderson [00:40:43]:
Do a matching gift.

James Kademan [00:40:45]:
Oh, wow.

Tracy Anderson [00:40:45]:
Yeah. Okay, so. Or. Or got them to sign up to be a matchmaker, which is A monthly donor. So that was another mission as well, so.

James Kademan [00:40:53]:
Oh, super cool.

Tracy Anderson [00:40:54]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:40:54]:
All right. Yeah, I love it. And the. When you’re fundraising.

Tracy Anderson [00:40:59]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:40:59]:
How are you funding? Are you knocking on doors or what are you doing?

Tracy Anderson [00:41:02]:
Oh, how are we fundraising? Like, depending on, like, what event or.

James Kademan [00:41:06]:
For this, the mission thing and stuff like that.

Tracy Anderson [00:41:08]:
Well, fundraising, like, if you’ve got a good person on your team that knows how to fundraise. They’re calling people, they’re emailing, they’re asking them for money.

James Kademan [00:41:17]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:41:18]:
They’re saying. Or you’re posting something on social. I’m a part of the hunt and I need your help. Would you help our team? And then we have a team page so you can see. And each team has a goal, so you can see how much you’re raising.

James Kademan [00:41:35]:
Gotcha. So you say your goal is, I don’t know, 1,000. Oh, I was thinking 10,000, 20,000. Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:41:40]:
Wow.

James Kademan [00:41:41]:
I don’t know.

Tracy Anderson [00:41:42]:
That’s great. You should be on the hunt. I’m gonna have you sign up next year.

James Kademan [00:41:46]:
You know, so I was just at this Tony Robbins event.

Tracy Anderson [00:41:49]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:41:50]:
And in, I’m gonna say 15, 20 minutes, something like that, they raised over. It was over $2 million. I wanna say two and a quarter, two and a half million dollars for this nonprofit that stops human trafficking.

Tracy Anderson [00:42:08]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:42:09]:
And it was surreal to watch the numbers go up.

Tracy Anderson [00:42:13]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:42:14]:
Because I’m donating my little nut and other people are donating their nut, and then someone’s like, $250,000.

Tracy Anderson [00:42:20]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:42:20]:
And I’m like, what do you do?

Tracy Anderson [00:42:23]:
Yeah, what do you do? I mean, I think the smaller fundraising events, and that’s why we always say the gala is our biggest fundraiser of the year that brings in the most money. But, you know, our smaller ones, like bull for kids taking the hunt is probably gonna bring in 40, 50,000.

James Kademan [00:42:36]:
Sure. It’s not nothing.

Tracy Anderson [00:42:38]:
No, it’s something. Yeah, we’ll take it.

James Kademan [00:42:40]:
And what is. Just so that people understand this, what is the cost for you to match people?

Tracy Anderson [00:42:47]:
So if you want to support a match for a year, it’s $2,500.

James Kademan [00:42:50]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:42:51]:
That includes, like, background checks. So it’s $50 to do a background check. There’s a certain amount of money to get do these match events. So like I said, like, we do Tyrell, we do a craft event. We’re actually going to do a resume building event. Like all these match events, the program events. We’re doing a Halloween event, we do a Christmas event. Like all these things that is a part of that $2,500.

Tracy Anderson [00:43:20]:
So to support a match. And there are businesses or there are people. If you didn’t want to do an actual sponsorship, you could sponsor a match for a year. And we have a sponsorship packet that just breaks everything down. Like, this is how much a background check costs. This is how much for a match activity. This is how much it supports a match support specialist, like, things like that.

James Kademan [00:43:41]:
Got it.

Tracy Anderson [00:43:42]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:43:42]:
That’s cool. I love it.

Tracy Anderson [00:43:43]:
Yeah, it’s great. It’s very good. And then we do have our fall trivia event that’s coming up in November.

James Kademan [00:43:48]:
All right, tell me about that.

Tracy Anderson [00:43:49]:
Well, we did it last year for the first time. It’s at Great Dane hilldale, great space, November 5th last year, first time doing it, we got 90 people. 95 people.

James Kademan [00:44:01]:
Wow.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:01]:
And we raised $8,000.

James Kademan [00:44:03]:
Well, that’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:03]:
Yeah, seven. $8,000. So that was amazing. So we were like, let’s do it again. It’s really finding those events that people enjoy doing, and then why not do it ourselves?

James Kademan [00:44:14]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:15]:
You know, and people love trivia here in Madison.

James Kademan [00:44:17]:
They do.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:18]:
I don’t know about anywhere else, but they love it here.

James Kademan [00:44:20]:
I feel like they do.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:21]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:44:22]:
It’s not exclusive.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:22]:
People don’t want to leave.

James Kademan [00:44:24]:
People have these or this obscure knowledge base.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:28]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:44:28]:
And it’s really only good for watching Jeopardy. Or playing trivia.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:32]:
That’s true. People love it. So we’re excited for that. People can still sign up. You can sign up a team. A business can actually sign up as well. This is another great conversation that I have with businesses. Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:44:43]:
Team building. So, you know, you align with our mission. What else? You know, because business is either. It’s important to start with aligning with our mission, but then do you want the recognition? Do you want team building? Like, what is it that you’re looking for? And so I would say both for kids sake and the trivia event, for sure. If there’s team building involved. A lot of companies love getting their staff together. Like Summit Credit Union had a team last year for the trivia. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:45:13]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:45:14]:
Yeah. And so, yeah, that’s fun. And I think a lot of people, too, like, they’re back in the office, but they’re still a hybrid. So it’s another way to get everybody together.

James Kademan [00:45:24]:
Nice. You know, that’s cool. Yeah, tell me. Let’s shift gears and talk about the employees. You said you have 20 some.

Tracy Anderson [00:45:30]:
Yeah, around 20, 21.

James Kademan [00:45:31]:
Okay. Are they all full time?

Tracy Anderson [00:45:33]:
Most of them, yes. Yeah, most of them, yes. So our staff makes up myself Our development director, our CEO, and we have match support specialists. We have enrollment managers, program director, and then. Yeah. Our marketing manager and.

James Kademan [00:45:59]:
Yeah, all right. I guess it’s funny because I had no idea how many employees you guys had.

Tracy Anderson [00:46:04]:
Well, it’s grown.

James Kademan [00:46:05]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:46:06]:
The CEO, our CEO, Sandy Morales, has been with the organization for over 10 years now.

James Kademan [00:46:12]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:46:13]:
So when I first started three years ago, I think she had mentioned that was like the largest the staff had grown.

James Kademan [00:46:19]:
Oh, nice. Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:46:20]:
Yeah. So it looks, you know, the staff.

James Kademan [00:46:22]:
Has been growing as you have more matches and stuff like that. I suppose you have to maintain.

Tracy Anderson [00:46:26]:
Yeah. Because of the demand, you know, I mean. And again, every year fluctuates. We’re always going to have a wait list no matter what. But sometimes, you know, there’s going to be more on there than not. Sometimes there’s a demand for bigs. Each match support. I don’t know, like the exact number of their caseload.

Tracy Anderson [00:46:44]:
But it’s a lot to maintain. So they’re maintaining these relationships with so many different bigs and so many different matches. And so they’re not just calling the big, but they’re, you know, calling the parent too, and they’re talking to the little and just ensuring that everything’s going well.

James Kademan [00:46:59]:
So I remember having some conversations with my match support specialist. I think this is when we. When I first got connected with Danny. Cause I’m like, this kid’s so quiet that. Is he having a good time?

Tracy Anderson [00:47:12]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:47:13]:
Because if he’s not having a good time, like, right, just walk away, whatever.

Tracy Anderson [00:47:17]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:47:17]:
But the specialist was like, are you kidding? Like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Because I didn’t realize that she was in contact with Danny and his mom and stuff like that. I’m like, oh, okay. As long as he’s having a good time and getting something out of it, then onward.

Tracy Anderson [00:47:32]:
And that’s such a common reaction you get from a big who’s just started. And you know, it’s one of those things, like, hang in there. Because it’s like any relationship, it ebbs and flows.

James Kademan [00:47:43]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:47:43]:
You know, fair.

James Kademan [00:47:46]:
It’s cool. Yeah. It was one of those things. It’s one of the. I feel like this is probably what everybody says, right. But it’s one of the best things that I feel like I’ve ever done. They help me get routinely a perspective that I would have never gotten anywhere else and just understand this is. This is a kid.

James Kademan [00:48:04]:
You’re making a difference in that kid’s life. And I don’t know, it was interesting talking to People, even at this event that I was at last or this past week, people that are. They’re throwing money at a thing. Donating, which is cool.

Tracy Anderson [00:48:19]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:48:19]:
Right. I mean, money makes the world go round. So these non profits need money. That’s great.

Tracy Anderson [00:48:24]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:48:24]:
But time is also, I’m gonna dare argue, more valuable. Great. Because you can always get more money. Time is finite and we don’t know how finite.

Tracy Anderson [00:48:36]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:48:36]:
So when you give your time to a kid.

Tracy Anderson [00:48:38]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:48:38]:
And you help that kid grow and learn and just hang out with someone that cares about them.

Tracy Anderson [00:48:43]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:48:43]:
That’s a big deal.

Tracy Anderson [00:48:44]:
It’s a huge deal. It’s a huge deal. And you know, like, our national office did share new statistics that, you know, kids are more likely to make more if they had a mentor when they had a big in the program. So, I mean, when you really think about it, you are giving back to the world. You’re giving back to society. You’re, you know, have a kid that is going to be giving back to the world because they are making more money.

James Kademan [00:49:09]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:49:10]:
So time is a huge deal. Of course. Donors are a huge deal because it keeps us going.

James Kademan [00:49:18]:
Yeah. Don’t close your wallet.

Tracy Anderson [00:49:19]:
Keep that going. Right. Please don’t keep it open.

James Kademan [00:49:22]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:49:24]:
But time is a huge deal. And I think. Yeah, it does amazing for the little, of course. But it’s a huge impact on the big as well.

James Kademan [00:49:31]:
Totally.

Tracy Anderson [00:49:32]:
Yeah. I mean, it just, it brings such joy. It really does. And I think. I know, I know for me, it’s just taught me to be more present. It’s easy to get so busy. I mean, we’re all so busy now and we all, you know, I don’t have time. I don’t have time.

Tracy Anderson [00:49:47]:
And you know, when you’re sitting across from a kid who just wants to spend time with you. Yeah. It makes all the difference in the world. It makes me a lot happier, for sure.

James Kademan [00:49:57]:
Totally agree. Totally agree. I guess you raised a good point where it reminds you to just slow down, take a moment, put your phone down, write those emails will be there regardless if you stare at them or not. Step away from that. Enjoy two, three hours.

Tracy Anderson [00:50:12]:
I mean, a kid is really gonna enjoy, like, teach you to enjoy life, right?

James Kademan [00:50:15]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:50:16]:
I mean, they really are because they’re a kid. So.

James Kademan [00:50:18]:
I mean, they don’t know any better.

Tracy Anderson [00:50:20]:
They don’t. They’re like, oh, and my little. I mean, she’s just so positive. I love being around. Yeah, she’s very positive. You know, like, what did I tell her the other day? I was like, afraid to do something. Oh, we were talking about roller skating, and I was like, oh, is that something that you’d want to do? And she’s like, yeah. And I was like, I’m not a good roller skater.

Tracy Anderson [00:50:39]:
I’ll watch you. She’s like, no, you have to roller skate. And I’m like, I am not good at roller skating. I really tried when I was a kid. I’m just not good at. She goes, you can use one of those cards. And I’m like, I’ll be so embarrassed. And she goes, you have to try.

Tracy Anderson [00:50:53]:
Like, she’s just so positive.

James Kademan [00:50:54]:
This is an eight year old kid.

Tracy Anderson [00:50:55]:
She’s eight. Wow. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:50:57]:
So did you roller skate?

Tracy Anderson [00:50:58]:
I haven’t yet. It’s on our list.

James Kademan [00:51:00]:
All right.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:00]:
Yeah. Like, probably when it gets colder out, I’m trying to do more stuff, like, because summer is gonna end soon, so trying to do more stuff outside.

James Kademan [00:51:08]:
I get it.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:09]:
And then. Yeah, we have a bunch of things on our list. She wants to bake cupcakes and I do I need to get her to the zoo before. Yeah. She was so funny. She’s like, we’ve got to get to the zoo. They’re gonna put the animals in when it gets cold. I’m like, okay, that’s funny.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:26]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:51:27]:
Yeah. There’s still roller skating rink.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:29]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:51:29]:
I think one of the water skating water tones, Waterloo water, something.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:33]:
Yeah, yeah. So we’ll do that. I think she wants to ice skate too, which I am really bad at ice skating, but I’ll deal with it when we get to it.

James Kademan [00:51:41]:
It’s. You know, it’s interesting you say that, because now that I have a son.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:47]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:51:48]:
My son wanted to learn how to swim. I didn’t know how to swim.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:51]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:51:51]:
But I didn’t want to be the dad. That’s just like, you do this, I’ll just hang out.

Tracy Anderson [00:51:55]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:51:56]:
Like, I was scared to death of the deep water and stuff like that. But I’m like, yeah, I can’t teach him to be afraid.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:03]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:52:03]:
I have to teach him to go for it.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:05]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:52:05]:
Even though I am freaking out inside. You’re just like, let’s do this.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:11]:
They’re watching you all. Yeah, yeah. They’re watching you when you don’t even think they’re watching.

James Kademan [00:52:15]:
Mm.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:16]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:52:16]:
So it helps you get out of your comfort zone.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:18]:
It does swimming too.

James Kademan [00:52:21]:
Few decades ago, but here we go.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:22]:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

James Kademan [00:52:24]:
That’s awesome. So you. How long have you been connected with your little.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:29]:
A year.

James Kademan [00:52:29]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:30]:
Year anniversary in July.

James Kademan [00:52:31]:
Oh, that’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:32]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:52:32]:
You guys gonna do anything special?

Tracy Anderson [00:52:35]:
We did. I mean, what did we do? Oh, you know what we did? This was actually. It was her last day of school, July 18. We went to see the Smurfs.

James Kademan [00:52:47]:
Is that blue or.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:49]:
Yeah, the Smurfs. You know, the blue people.

James Kademan [00:52:52]:
I know what the Smurfs are, but I didn’t know.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:53]:
But the Smurfs movie.

James Kademan [00:52:54]:
Like you’re watching a cartoon that’s 30 years old or what.

Tracy Anderson [00:52:56]:
Yeah. And I was so happy. All right, so this is another thing. This is great. None of my friends are gonna go see the Smurfs with me, probably. I love the Smurfs. Cause I remember it from when was a kid.

James Kademan [00:53:06]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:07]:
And she loved the Smurfs because she’s a kid. So we just had that in common. So we’re like, oh, my gosh, we have to see it when it opens.

James Kademan [00:53:14]:
So we went Dargamel and.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:16]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:53:16]:
Azrael, the cat. Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:18]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:53:18]:
All right.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:19]:
So July 18th, that’s what we did.

James Kademan [00:53:20]:
Well, that’s cool.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:21]:
No, it was great. We had a great time. And then, you know, they pull out all the stops, so you get, like a special Smurf popcorn bucket. And then you get like a Smurfette, like, drink mug or whatever. So. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:53:35]:
Is it blue popcorn or anything?

Tracy Anderson [00:53:37]:
No. Blue. No.

James Kademan [00:53:38]:
Okay. That’s okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:39]:
But nowadays they mix, like, candy with popcorn. I didn’t know that.

James Kademan [00:53:43]:
I didn’t know that either.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:44]:
Yeah, that’s an option.

James Kademan [00:53:44]:
You’re talking about M and M’s or something?

Tracy Anderson [00:53:46]:
Yeah, like M and M’s.

James Kademan [00:53:48]:
So instead of butter or in addition to butter.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:51]:
I think in addition.

James Kademan [00:53:53]:
So they’re like, hey, do you want butter on your popcorn? Do you want MMs? You want Butterfinger? Do you want. Whatever.

Tracy Anderson [00:53:57]:
This is an option now. I have not ordered it. She pointed it out to me when we were there. I’m like, guess I haven’t been to the movies in a long time.

James Kademan [00:54:03]:
Holy cow.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:04]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:54:05]:
All right, well, it doesn’t sound terrible.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:08]:
No, I mean, it doesn’t. It’s just I’m gonna gain weight. Like having a little.

James Kademan [00:54:15]:
Eating ice cream, watching the Smurfs and then.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:17]:
Yeah, like popcorn and M and Ms.

James Kademan [00:54:20]:
Maybe a big brother’s big sister’s 10k or 5k or something.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:23]:
I’m trying to get her to actually do Girls on the Run with me, but I don’t know if she’s gonna do.

James Kademan [00:54:28]:
If she’s your 8 year old.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:29]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:54:30]:
I’m trying to get her to do.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:31]:
It with me, but we’ll see.

James Kademan [00:54:32]:
All Right.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:33]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:54:33]:
Tell me just really quick about Girls on the Run. I don’t know what that is, but you were introducing me, so.

Tracy Anderson [00:54:38]:
Yeah. So I sit on the board of Girls on the Run. Christine Benedict is the executive director. And it is an awesome program. It’s in elementary, I think, middle and elementary schools. So it’s a running program so kids can sign up and you can actually run with like a sibling. You can run with your mom, your father, an aunt. And then they have coaches that actually coach the girls like once or twice a week.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:05]:
But it’s all about empowerment.

James Kademan [00:55:06]:
Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:07]:
You know, and it’s a 5K. They do two 5Ks every year. And then they are having their big 20th celebration anniversary in October.

James Kademan [00:55:14]:
That’s awesome.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:15]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:55:16]:
So is the 8 year old doing a 5k?

Tracy Anderson [00:55:20]:
I don’t know if she’s gonna do it with me. I’m trying to get her to do it, but if she doesn’t want to, I enjoy doing the runs myself. So I’ll go and try to find a kid that doesn’t. Isn’t matched up with somebody to run with. And so I’ll run with somebody.

James Kademan [00:55:36]:
Oh, so they pair them.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:37]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:55:37]:
Oh, very cool.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:38]:
Yeah. And you sign up through the school, so.

James Kademan [00:55:40]:
Nice.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:41]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:55:41]:
You know, I remember doing a 5k run with my son. He was 10 at the time.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:48]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:55:49]:
And he’s fast. Yeah, they are like, I run every day.

Tracy Anderson [00:55:54]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:55:55]:
And this guy, he had to stop because his shoe was untied. And I remember thinking, thank goodness, shoe was untied. I’m trying to catch as much air as I can.

Tracy Anderson [00:56:05]:
Right.

James Kademan [00:56:06]:
And then we’re whatever. Probably a quarter mile from the finish line. He’s like, you want to sprint? And I’m like, in my mind. Yeah. My body’s like, not happening. And he just takes off.

Tracy Anderson [00:56:19]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:21]:
It was so funny because I was thinking, wow.

Tracy Anderson [00:56:25]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:26]:
He doesn’t train. He doesn’t run every day.

Tracy Anderson [00:56:27]:
You don’t need to. He’s just a kid that’s always busy as an activity. I think a couple weeks ago we ran together. And, you know, I’m okay now with knowing that I’ll never be fast again, so. So I just run. So I run.

James Kademan [00:56:45]:
Yeah.

Tracy Anderson [00:56:47]:
She was running at the same pace as me and then she’d just take off and I was like, go. You know, like, I’m happy for her. Go, girl. You know, but she’d be sweet. She’d stop and then she’d turn back and then she’d come back. I’m like, it’s okay. As long as I can see you, you know, so.

James Kademan [00:57:05]:
Oh, that’s funny. Yeah, that’s cool. Final question I have, and this is just a curiosity, one Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane county vs Big Brothers Big Sisters National. Is it all one group or is it individual per county or however they split it up?

Tracy Anderson [00:57:21]:
So national, and then there’s all different BBBS agencies. So we’re one of 253 plus agencies.

James Kademan [00:57:31]:
Oh, wow. Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:57:32]:
So, I mean, yeah, there’s a Chicago agency. This is all under the national umbrella. Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay. So there’s several agencies over 253.

James Kademan [00:57:44]:
So is the fundraising you do stay within Dane County?

Tracy Anderson [00:57:47]:
Yep.

James Kademan [00:57:47]:
Yep. Okay.

Tracy Anderson [00:57:47]:
Yep.

James Kademan [00:57:48]:
Because I feel like that’s a big deal. It is for people that are like, hey, I want more money to stay in Dane County.

Tracy Anderson [00:57:52]:
It’s huge. And especially in Madison, too. I mean, I think people want to know. In Madison, we’re really into local, you know, here. And people want to know. Exactly. That’s why I think it’s a good idea to know the breakdown of, like, what it takes to, you know, support a match so people know, like, where the money’s going and why they’re donating. And, you know, 100% goes back to the program here in Dane County.

James Kademan [00:58:17]:
Yeah. That’s incredible.

Tracy Anderson [00:58:18]:
Mm.

James Kademan [00:58:18]:
Tracy, thank you for being on the show.

Tracy Anderson [00:58:20]:
Yeah, thank you.

James Kademan [00:58:21]:
Is there a website or something like that where people can find you or donate?

Tracy Anderson [00:58:26]:
Yes, please donate bvbsmadison.org and then we’re all over social media. Facebook, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of ding County, Instagram, BBBS, Dane Company. We’re on LinkedIn. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County.

James Kademan [00:58:40]:
So nice.

Tracy Anderson [00:58:41]:
Yeah, we’re everywhere.

James Kademan [00:58:42]:
All the places. All the places.

Tracy Anderson [00:58:44]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:58:44]:
And you. You said you’re in networking groups and stuff like that, and you’re just.

Tracy Anderson [00:58:47]:
I’m just all over getting the word out. That’s right.

James Kademan [00:58:49]:
I love it. Tracy, thank you for being on the show.

Tracy Anderson [00:58:51]:
Thank you.

James Kademan [00:58:52]:
This has been Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. We are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie. If you are watching and listening this on the web, if you could do us a huge favor, give us a big old thumbs up. Subscribe and of course, share it with your entrepreneurial friends, especially those friends that need to give back, whether in money or time, should give back. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a phenomenal place to do that. I know. I certainly do.

Tracy Anderson [00:59:20]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:59:20]:
And I don’t being a little. I think I’M sorry. I wasn’t that little. Being a Big is a phenomenon things it’s something you should do. We’d like to thank you wonderful listeners as well as our guest, Tracy Anderson of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County. Can you tell us a website one more time?

Tracy Anderson [00:59:35]:
Sure.

James Kademan [00:59:36]:
https://Bbbsmadison.org awesome past episodes can be found morning, noon and night at the podcast link found@drawincustomers.com thank you for joining us. We will see you next week. I want you to stay. Awesome. And if you do nothing else, enjoy your business and Authentic Business Ventures is brought to you by Calls On Call, offering call answering and receptionist services for service businesses across the country. On the web https://callsoncall.com and of course, the Bold Business Book, a book for the entrepreneur and all of us available wherever fine books are sold.