Let's Talk Parks Podcast: Stories of Purpose-Driven Parks and Recreation Professionals

Hello everyone! We have exciting news - we are bringing the Let's Talk Parks podcast BACK, this time with the support from BerryDunn! My hope is that you continue to feel inspired and motivated to make a difference in your communities by listening to these stories. 

I'm personally both excited and relieved for this support so I can focus on having amazing conversations with Parks & Recreation professionals like yourself. I think you'll hear in the first episode (releasing 9/15) that we now have capacity for greater creativity and storytelling.  

A couple of things to know: 

There are so many phrases thrown around in the field of Parks and Recreation, but "best practice," may be one that we finally retire. In this episode, Marissa sits down with Jason Elissalde to talk about why that term can be detrimental to our success. 

In this episode, Becky sits down with Jill Moore, Inclusive Play Specialist at Landscape Structures, to discuss what a playground really means to be inclusive.  We talk about the definition of accessible versus inclusive (and why they're so different!).  Jill opened my eyes to our need to involve people of all backgrounds and abilities to the table when it comes to planning and designing our parks.  There is so much to learn when designing our parks to be safe spaces for our children to take risks and grow as human beings. I am so excited to share this episode with you!  A big thank you to Landscape Structures for sponsoring this video!

This is a quick preview to a new upcoming series on the podcast about how to make our parks and playgrounds more inclusive and innovative. I can't wait to share these new interviews with you soon!

The answer is yes! Marissa went through middle school, high school, and college assuming that she would never need to get in front of a crowd to present information. She was totally wrong and gets on the mic during this episode to explain the times you may be faced with public speaking and what you can do to overcome that hurdle. 

The field of parks and recreation is very seasonal. But so are you!  In this episode, Becky talks about how to embrace the season of your career wherever you are.  Whether you've been feeling burnt out or in need of a change, hopefully you find a bit of peace in knowing that it's all a part of your rich and unique career experience. :)

So many agencies rely on the mailed recreation guides to get out seasonal information to their residents.  But as budgets change, you may want to consider alternatives that can save you money and time.  Be sure to tune in to hear five creative alternatives and ideas to the mailed recreation guide.  

PODCAST REPLAY - Throwback!  In this episode, Marissa sits down to talk with Dr. Jeremy Robinette from Western Illinois University about educating our communities about Parks and Recreation. I think so many of us ended up falling into this field. We didn't know that this was a profession until we were in college, or maybe we were already graduated from college and had a degree in something else.  This episode is how we educate our communities about what we do and how to encourage more people to get their degree in parks and recreation. We need to tell our story, share the impact we make, and talk about why it's important.

Feeling inspired from conference?  It's this time of year when Fall is just around the corner - and the NRPA conference arrives - that we typically feel a rush of new energy and inspiration. But what happens when you get *all the ideas* and you're not sure how to actually move them forward?  In this episode, Becky talks about the four steps that she takes to turn inspiration into action.  From reflecting on your conference experience, to organizing those ideas, to taking inventory of everything that's involved, and finally to sharing those ideas with your team - this episode covers all that and more!

With the help of over 20 women in parks and recreation, we’ve compiled an awesome list of tips and advice for those who may be attending conference for the 1st (or 100th) time.  In this episode, Marissa and Becky go over these tips, focusing on three primary areas – networking, planning ahead, and taking action. While this year will look different, especially if you're attending virtually, it will certainly be memorable. Try to make the most of it! Thank you so much to the Women in Parks & Recreation Facebook Group for contributing to this list.

Maintaining our parks and facilities is at the core of providing quality experiences for our community members.  In many of our parks and recreation agencies, we need to "take care of what we have" before building new amenities.  But oftentimes, the most important details fall through the cracks. The system for communicating, tracking, and analyzing the productivity of our maintenance in our parks just isn't up to par.  The solutions are either too big, too expensive, or don't fit the needs for our agencies.  And then along came Productive Parks, a maintenance management software specifically designed for Parks and Recreation Agencies.  If you've ever wondered about the future of maintenance in our field, take a listen and learn how Productive Parks can change the game for you.  

A big thank you to Productive Parks for sponsoring this episode!  The support of our sponsors help to continue to bring value to parks and recreation professionals like you.

How many times over the last year have you gotten an urgent phone call or email that needed your attention right away?  Probably way more than you ever imagined.  We hope that as work relaxes into summer (or at least as things get a little more predictable), you have the chance to move out of the urgency that has been 2020.  Instead, in this episode, we talk about what it would look like to focus on what’s important rather than urgent.

Although *urgent* and *important* sound very similar, they reflect the difference between being reactive and being proactive.  Living in a constant state of reactivity causes more stress and can prevent you from reaching your important career and organizational goals.  Instead, by being proactive, you get to be more in control of your days.

We hope that this episode is a reset for those of you (AND US) that have been in a reactive mode the last year or so. Personally, I’m looking forward to returning to a state of clarity, where I can prioritize planning, professional development, goal setting, and making time for my family. - Becky

This week I am bringing back one of my FAVORITE episodes ever on the podcast.  This is an episode that EVERY professional in the field should listen to, especially before summer.  Whether you are a supervisor or an emerging professional, all I can say is that you will benefit from the wisdom that Angela Summers shares on this one. During this episode we talk about:

True story, this podcast episode was created for my younger self.  I was constantly told as a young professional that I needed to be more assertive - but without any clear direction.  It was a struggle to find the balance as a new supervisor to be both assertive, kind, and tactful.  To be honest, I'm definitely still learning the art of assertiveness.

Sometimes, I'm sure I come across as "too much" or "too aggressive" or "too passionate" while other times I'm "too quiet" or my facial expressions say it all 😉. I know that as I've gotten older and stepped into "more of me" I have stopped taking certain feedback to heart - but  truthfully I think the thing that helps the most has been when you have strong, assertive women as bosses who give you that permission to step up yourself (lucky me!)

So this week's episode is for my young professional friends who are trying to be assertive while also learning their own leadership style in the process.  It's also a kind reminder to our friends in  leadership positions to be mindful of your feedback and how it may come across.  

There are many misconceptions about therapeutic recreation and the individuals that these recreation professionals serve. Chelsea Crockford, CTRS from Connect Through Leisure sits down with Marissa to discuss barriers that individuals with disabilities face in public as well as when the seek to participate in recreation activities. We hope that our listeners walk away with a different view of barriers and how to better advocate for individuals with disabilities to break down those barriers. 

To join our newsletter, subscribe at letstalkparks.com

To connect with Chelsea, check out these resources:

Jason Ellisalde is BACK to talk about workplace culture with Marissa Moravec. In this episode, Jason explains the key difference between compliance and commitment based organizations. He also dives in how you can make your workplace a fulfilling place to live and work no matter your title.

For many young professionals there exist an idea of a “perfect” job that often goes along with the “perfect” life. But, as many of us have found sometimes the idea of perfect is far from the reality that exists. We sat down with Brittanie Propes to discuss her journey towards finding balance in her personal and professional life and how it led her to the place she is today.

Tune in to learn.

· How she obtained her “dream job” only to realize the dream wasn’t the reality and the next steps she took.

· How she balances being a working single mother and makes time for her career and family.

· How she took some innovative approaches to community wellness during the pandemic.

Brittanie Propes is a Motivational Leader, Brand Champion, and Business Driver who draws upon versatility, a competitive spirit, and a solid work ethic to strengthen operational efficiency, customer engagement, and financial results in alignment with brand strategy.

Brittanie is currently the Recreation and Marketing Manager for the City of Smithville.

What can parks and recreation professionals do during their first year to set their career up for success?  That’s what this episode is all about with Jody Siemer and Marissa Moravec.  Listen in to hear about the tactical steps that young professionals can take to launch their career in a positive direction.

Jody Siemer is an outstanding Parks & Recreation professional currently serving the citizens of Kansas City, Missouri as Manager of Recreation.  Jody is passionate about providing guidance and mentorship to the next generation of parks and recreation professional.  She co-founded the Young Professional Section of the Missouri Park & Recreation Association (MPRA).  Thru extensive research, she has compiled this guidance for "Year 1 as a Professional" and presented her findings both at the MPRA state-wide Conference as well as to the Young Professional Section.

A cemetery is more than just a place for interments, it’s a place for history and place for ecology and a place for human wellbeing. In this episode, Marissa talks with Karl Nesbitt about how cemeteries over time are changing environments and memorialization can also be a place for recreation. 

The design of cemetery space is starting reflect the community of users, the people who live locally and how they may use or recreate within that space, this includes volunteer groups who run tours, walking tracks, native ecological friends of groups.

Typically, we talk to local park and recreation leaders, but every now and then, we expand our perspective a bit and talk to others on a national scale. This particular conversation is important, for a couple of reasons:

1) We are committed to having difficult conversations that will help make a more equitable and diverse future for our field. That happens by continuing to talk to others that have more experience than us in a number of different topics. To be honest, we are okay with doing the best we can if we aren't doing it perfect, and learning from, and getting it right in the future. 

2) We also want to share the cool projects that other people are doing, because we want to uplift one another and help the field as much as possible. Hello Ranger is a podcast and blog that really focuses on telling stories within our national parks. We thought it would be neat to hear how local and national parks can really come together to break down some of the barriers to access.

Hello Ranger (https://hellorangercommunity.com/) is a national parks community social application, podcast, and blog, with “community” being the key word. Our goal is to showcase and support the communities that are connected through national parks, from families and van-lifers to retirees, artists, educators, diverse groups, and those with disabilities. National parks are the rare places where we can all find common ground, and become #UnitedByNature.

We are all still navigating these conversations about race and equity, so today's episode is about how to create safe spaces that nurture conversation for growth and understanding. Marissa Moravec chats with Tracey Crawford to talk openly about how to create safe and brave spaces.    Many people might say that these conversations are too difficult or uncomfortable, and may not belong in the workplace.  But these are important conversations to have!  We hope you enjoy this episode! 

Marissa sat down to talk with Dr. Jeremy Robinette from Western Illinois University about educating our communities about Parks and Recreation. I think so many of us ended up falling into this field. We didn't know that this was a profession until we were in college, or maybe we were already graduated from college and had a degree in something else. 

This episode is how we educate our communities about what we do and how to encourage more people to get their degree in parks and recreation. We need to tell our story, share the impact we make, and talk about why it's important. 

Dr. Jeremy Robinette is from Western Illinois University who is an assistant professor for the Re creation Park and Tourism department since 2014. Prior to that, he was teaching assistant at the University of Illinois from 2010 to 2014. He is also involved in the Alumni Association for Western Illinois University for the Recreation Park and Tourism department.

In today's world of constant connection to technology and a changing global climate, it is more important now more than ever to connect youth to the outdoors, especially at a young age.  The steps taken to do so can have lifelong impacts, not just for those youth, but for the world.

In this episode, Dave Herpy and Becky talk about: