And now the 490 with Gretchen DeBacker, Matt Killum, And Kevin Mullen.

Welcome in to the 419.

I'm Kevin Mullen.

Gretchen Debacker, Matt Killum.

419.

Of course.

Powered by presented by Retro Wealth Management.

We appreciate you joining us today for a Wellness Wednesday edition of the 419 presented by our friends at work spring.

An exciting conversation teed up.

Matt, what are we talking about today?

We're talking about workplace burnout and just general stress and fatigue.

I can tell you by looking at the two of your faces.

The show could have come soon enough.

I have pages of notes.

That's right.

All the questions.

Yeah.

This is one of those, like, when, you know, you have a dinner party and invite a friend over.

That happens to be a, you know, a pediatrician or primary care physician or something, or even, like, a therapist, and you're like, hey, while I'm well, I've got you here.

Yeah.

Can you look at this mole?

Yeah, sure.

It's appetizing.

Yeah.

Can you just let me use the bathroom by myself?

No, I cannot.

Yeah.

Gretchen, you, you are an excellent host.

Kevin.

I've never been invited to your home.

That's not true.

That's not true.

No, no, no.

You did.

I do remember because I never have been.

I it's true.

No.

So I, my wife is an incredible host.

Okay.

And, like, for the holidays, like, has a theme and, like, goes all out with the decorations and the kids get involved in designing things.

What is, like centerpieces and all that?

It's it's really incredible.

I my job is to secure tables and chairs.

If we have more people than we currently have tables and chairs for.

Okay.

So if we need to set up additional seating, that's my responsibility.

And that's where it starts and ends.

You don't want me to bring food?

Sure.

Y yeah, that's pretty much it.

But I do remember, when you and I first met.

Yeah.

You came over.

Maybe it was too early for an invite.

It was awkward.

No, no.

But.

Yeah.

No, no.

You met him at SIP and then you're like, why are you in my house?

That was one and done.

Just the two of us.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah.

It's great.

There was no furniture.

There's just plastic.

Nowhere.

Plastic all over.

Yeah, I just had a good time.

You know, there's always, a good time for, our Wellness Wednesday.

Indiscriminate of the subject matter, but, everyone is walking and driving around with, with tense shoulders and backs.

Dry skin.

Right.

That's okay.

That's fine.

But at least, so I this has been on my mind, to hit.

It is certainly a start of a new year, right?

Which has a lot of positives.

But it's a bit of a grind in northwest Ohio.

As it's dark, usually when you're driving to work and usually dark on your way out as well.

Well, and the question is, really how many days this week are my kids even going to go to school?

Sure.

Right.

And so we're in that in that limbo where the meteorologist says, like, this is what you're going to get, and you just wait the next day and sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't.

But it's it's that crazy weather season where you know, the extent to which kids want snow days and the extent to which parents don't want snow days are so diametrically opposed.

It's, I also think we've all turned into old curmudgeons.

I can't tell you the amount of people to talk about.

Oh, we're getting soft.

Back in my day, we that we're now pitching that make them go to school back up.

Back in your day, it wasn't 20 below zero.

Yeah, sure.

That was not something that existed.

I don't remember it ever being that cold when I was a kid, but we were barefoot and walking uphill.

Oh.

That's true.

Yeah.

So that made it harder.

Well, you were.

Yeah.

You were in the one room schoolhouse.

Yeah.

Lit by candle.

That's right.

It was hard staving off Native American attack.

Really?

Yeah, I get it.

Oh my goodness.

Well, that's not what we're talking about today.

No, we got an exciting wellness Wednesday teed up for you.

We're going to be talking about, workplace stress and burnout.

We will also we'll end on a high note.

Nailed it.

Get it?

Yeah.

The opera is going to be joining us and planning that for some time.

No, no, it just happened.

And I was so excited when we were here to see it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

It's the 419 powered by, presented by Retro Wealth Management.

Support for the 419 comes from Wheatland Wealth Management, where we understand that your financial path is personal.

Advisory services are offered through capital investment Advisory Services, LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra, SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com.

The 419, powered by GT is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.

Introducing the local Fred, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public Schools, and veteran journalist Jerry Anderson.

The Local Thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community.

Here at weeknights at seven on FM 91 with Early Access on podcast platforms each morning, the local Fred only on HGTV.

Welcome back to the 419 it's a Wellness Wednesday presented by Word Spring, and we're joined once again by our friend Alyssa Lark from Work Spring.

Alyssa.

Welcome back.

Hi.

Thanks for having me again.

Good morning Alyssa, by popular demand, we've had you back, although we're talking about something that's relatively unpleasant, but we've got to know, I know that cooking is something that you mentioned as being one of something that you do to sort of decompress or sort of hobby.

Ask since last you left us, what wins or losses have you had in the kitchen?

Yeah.

Actually, I've recently made, Tuscan chicken.

All right.

I've heard of that.

And it was really, really great.

It's like also with, like, a, sun dried tomato cream sauce and, chicken, chicken breast.

And it was like a smashing success, you know, not being invited.

Not really.

You brought some, though?

Yeah.

Not this time.

Any kitchen losses, any kitchen losses?

Nearly.

All right.

That's good.

That's good.

Yeah.

My youngest, Miles, is in a habit now.

He won't say I don't like this.

He will say it.

He's eight, which is like.

But he also he's me right now.

But his line is not I don't like this.

It's not my favorite.

Yeah.

And so like, he's trying but he's eating something and he's like just picking at it and moving around his plate.

And I was like, Miles, do you like that?

And he was like, yeah, it's not my favorite for it.

My youngest is three and she has eaten candy, uninterruptedly for three years.

So that is where we're at.

She's outside right now vibrating I think it's healthy.

She is in dentist love.

Yeah, yeah.

But we're talking on a serious subject now.

I don't think this is certainly seasonal, but we are talking about burnout and stress.

On a personal, level.

Talk to us through that.

What is the definition of this or, start us out at the ground level.

Yeah.

So first of all, mentioned kind of the difference between burnout and stress.

So really stress is kind of going to be those more, acute scenarios kind of short term.

We all have stressors in life.

Right?

Where we're, you know, we have a deadline coming up.

An event that we're, stressed about, but then you kind of get through it and bounce back afterwards.

Whereas burnout is more so when you're experiencing, chronic overwhelm and chronic stress prolonged, and it's starting to affect, you know, just the way you kind of feel overall, where you might be experiencing, some different negative symptoms, other than, you know, the short term stress, you would be feeling, maybe just overall fatigued emotionally, physically and mentally.

You mentioned something that I think that is, regrettable but certainly accurate.

I mean, unlike what my parents told me, being an adult is full of stress, right?

So, how do you measure that in terms of appropriateness or not?

Is there is there a metric or the warning signs that stress is becoming sort of over the tipping point?

What are some red flags there?

Yeah, definitely.

Look out for those red flags.

Stress can be a good thing sometimes.

It can be motivating and something that drives us to do the things that, we're working towards.

Whereas when we're starting to feel, really negative, and feeling maybe more irritable, more, feelings of, lack of interest, hopelessness, those kind of things.

You might, be more so experiencing that that burnout at that point.

Interesting.

Can I ask you just to back up for just what is this what stress looks like now and explain to our audience who may have missed your first appearance what work spring is and what you do there.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

I just want to get to stress.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So you felt the pressure to talk about, So, at work, spring, we're an organization that helps, other organizations that are members of ours throughout, the state of Ohio, and I believe, Southern Michigan, as well.

So we provide different services, anywhere from from air related services, training and seminar learning.

And then also the wellness side of things.

So that's kind of my department, where we help, businesses with their wellness strategy for their employees.

Who's more stressed out southeast Michigan or northwest Ohio?

You know, I'm I'm not exactly sure, but, I'm in, the north, west Ohio.

And I'm feeling the stress recently, but.

Sure.

Yes.

All right, you're on the show.

You get to say, you know, I know I've met.

You said, you know, that, you know, stress and burnout aren't seasonal.

But I got to believe, you know, I tell people that, like, you know, when I look out my window and it's just gray, gloomy skies, it's it's harder to be positive and excited and think about the future because it just looks right and dreary.

Right.

And I think that, you know, as the calendar turns into the new year, it's also a time when we all sort of take stock on where we are at.

You know, for me, I feel like it's calendar year and birthdays are the time.

So I go back and look and see, am I where I thought I was going to be at this time?

Sure.

And that adds to stress and burnout because it's like, all right, well, I'm, I'm spending all this time or I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel.

Right.

And you're you're working so hard, but I'm not making the progress that I thought I was going to make here.

And so I feel like there's it is our employers seeing this at the start of the year, you know, more or is it truly kind of equal across the full calendar year?

I mean, I think there's definitely, some, some seasonal affective disorder that people experience that can contribute to more stress in general.

But when it comes to like burnout, I would say that's more of a like an overarching thing.

So so if somebody is really feeling burnout from their work, they're likely going to feel that whether there's sunshine or not, you know?

Yeah.

Matt s a little bit of this question, but like, what are the things that you can you know, I guess I wanna talk about this sides, from the individual side and then from the employer side.

Let's start with the individual.

What are the things that somebody can do to tell that they're on the path to burnout and things they can do to sort of get off that path?

Yeah, absolutely.

So, like I said, some of those different symptoms to look out for if you're just feeling, very overwhelmed and very negative overall.

And that's not going away for you, you're feeling it kind of chronically and feeling that fatigue, especially, emotionally, mentally, physically.

That's definitely going to be the things to look out for.

And then as far as things that you can do as an individual, I would say not to discount that there are always going to be things that are out of your control.

So there's things that we can't help it.

We've got to get through it.

We have certain responsibilities.

We're going to have to take care of no matter what.

But making sure we're thinking about what are the things that are within my control that I can take a look at in my life and maybe make some changes, make some edits there.

So, some things to start with thinking about, your current boundaries, maybe evaluating some of that, your boundaries around work and your other responsibilities.

As well as taking care of, kind of the basics of your, your physical health.

So, really focusing I think the first thing is on sleep, trying to get that 7 to 9 hours, if you can, keeping that consistent as much as you can.

And then nutrition, focusing on getting all of those nutrients you need as much as possible.

And then of course, your, your physical health doing what you can there as well.

And then some other things to think about, is making connections, making sure that you are, leaning on people when you need help and asking for that help when you need it.

Those are the things I would say are the biggest things to start with.

So what if you didn't do any of the things?

Yeah.

What do you do then?

Then you immediately start to show the records five days a week.

Yeah.

So talk to me.

The the word boundary, is something that is relatively new, I think, in the zeitgeist.

At the risk of putting you on the spot, can you walk us through sort of the definition of that?

What?

What is what is the definition of boundary?

And where are they in the everyday life that people experience?

Yeah.

I think it boundaries my it might be different depending on like your personal life purpose, your work life there.

But really what you're saying is you're thinking about what is my actual capacity, what am I actually okay with and able to, be my best self?

And in this way, with this, going on in my life.

So thinking about, you know, where do I draw certain lines and, making sure that you're following that and sticking to that and, keeping those promises to yourself.

Really?

Yeah.

And that's the stress.

And the, that people feel doesn't need the work, doesn't need to be the source of it.

I mean, people's family lives.

Yes.

Who have this sandwich generation that has parents and kids, I mean, that then are taken into the workplace.

So what what how can people try to figure out what the source of the stress is to be able to address it?

Not as a good question.

Yeah.

I think doing what you can to kind of take a step back and evaluate where that's coming from, it might be kind of hard to decipher at first when you're in that state of overwhelm.

But kind of taking like an inventory of what are my responsibilities, what are the things that I maybe can delegate or get some help with, or things that I might be adding to my plate because I'm trying to be helpful, but I'm actually, not going to end up being helpful if I'm, you know, putting too much on my plate.

Right.

I'm curious as to you as a, a technician of this and, a real resource.

Are there signs that, you know, I can give myself an example if I have, a if my desktop on my laptop is full of documents, I know that that is assignment tabs are open.

Something is a mark.

Yeah.

A do you have something like that in your life?

At the risk of asking you a personal question, do you even you have a trailer like, my laundry has been done.

And the dry cleaner, what are the what are the warning signs that you're close to the tipping point?

Obviously, I that just some hyperbole there, but we all experience things like that, right?

That they're like, I'm a little behind and this is a sign.

Do you know, do you have any of those?

Yeah.

I would say for me personally, I tend to get more frustrated with even just like the small tasks, you know, once things have built up to that point, then things that really don't normally bother me.

And normally I can function and do easily.

Yeah, are starting to feel hard.

Sure, that's when I can kind of tell, like, okay, I need to evaluate.

Yeah.

From an employer standpoint, I mean, burnout costs them money.

Right.

So so what can employers do to identify staff that that might be, you know, close to or maybe even well beyond burnout.

And how how can they address that.

Well I'll, I'll let Sarah she has kind of some some points there about really more focused on the employer side and the air side of things.

But one of the, the big it's a good boundary.

Yeah.

It's working.

Good job.

It was the fact that that was a trick.

Yeah.

So this is we're already better than we were.

Yeah.

But I would say one of the things that, employers can do it just one of the main number one things is, making sure that your employees know what resources they have access to, in order to help them with that.

And, like you said, making sure that they're keeping an eye out for it, because you're really you're not going to be having, your employees at their most productive and, best selves in your workplace.

On a personal level, I'm curious of the two of you.

I guess I'll start with you first.

You made a great point that, you know, stressing these things, do sort of drive us or can be used as a mechanism for, you know, they push you to maybe sometimes even be better, your life as it is a mess in chaotic production.

And.

Yeah, that's right.

And that's our show.

That's right.

Yeah.

This is actually the.

These cameras are not.

This is an intervention.

It took us a month to get this here.

Is there something that you feel your calendar?

Even when there's a blip of relaxation, you usually put something in from a larger perspective.

But is there a warning sign that you get that, you're still tilting point?

And who do you complain to?

Well, you.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah.

The, like, dishes aren't done and, like, the drop zone at my house.

So you come in the door, like, wear your boots and coats and bag.

And it was just.

It's just chaos.

And I'm like, eventually, what the hell is happening?

Okay.

Yeah.

Just because it just contributes to it.

And then you're like, oh, well, now this is a mess.

Yeah.

And so you take it away from the clutter.

So once you like declutter and get rid of that stuff and put everything away.

I also have a lot more little pieces of paper and post-it notes and stuff than I do stuff on my phone.

So if I have a whole file folder of that kind of stuff, I know.

Yeah, there's just no, it's to do lists and things.

Once I get that all in the calendar or put away and then it's it helps.

And I know this is in your specialty, but she gets all those balled up paper and oily rags by her, furnace.

Is that a good idea for my shoe?

Yeah.

So for me, like, the, like, the burnout piece, like.

Yeah, I just get sick, like, physically and physically.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's.

Yeah, yeah.

My wife will tell me, like fighting it.

Yeah.

Like when I, when I get there and I'm.

And I'm.

And you push I'm down and out for a couple of days.

Yeah I want it happen.

So prepare yourself.

Where I'm actually hoping.

Yeah, yeah.

But that's that that to me that's the sign.

And it's like okay does that have an annual income?

Not it does.

Yeah, exactly.

It's once it's once a year.

Yeah.

That you need a little vacation for the burn the candle at both ends.

You know, I like to say that I like to, you know, trying to light the torch in the middle as well and just see what happens.

Yeah.

And really a fire theme.

That's really.

That's right.

Yeah.

Mostly.

Witness.

Is that seasonal or do you find it to be spring summer.

Yeah.

So it's I refer to in my own life overlap season.

Right.

So, you know, it used to be more obvious to me, when I was working for the.

But ends.

Right.

So I'm announcing for the my hands.

I'm announcing for, University Toledo.

Yeah.

I've got a full time job, like family, friends, volunteering all these things.

This is all pre kids.

Oh my gosh.

But it would when those seasons overlap okay.

When it's, you know, basketball and football season football and baseball season.

Yeah.

You know that that makes it challenging.

So that was always for me at the time.

I'm curious Alyssa just as we wrap this up, what is work spring's actual role in in all of this in addressing stress and burnout for, you know, for your members?

Yeah, absolutely.

We can help.

With different trainings that we, might have to offer or that we can build out for organizations, for their, their leaders helping to recognize those sort of things.

And then helping them, think about what resources they want to be offering to their employees.

And then, of course, just, suggesting what things they can can add in order to help people let off some steam, things like that.

Yeah.

People want more information.

Let's see about, phone number and your personal home address.

You want to Tuscan chicken works Springborg and learn more.

That's awesome.

Awesome.

Alissa large, thank you so much.

We appreciate you.

When we come back, we are joined, set up from work.

Spring is going to join us and talk about more of the employer perspective on this.

As the HR director for work spring.

We'll be right back.

It's a wellness Wednesday presented by Work Spring on the 419.

To me, community means connecting to others.

I'm Dani Miller and welcome to the point I love it.

Yes, yes, we're a community committed to education.

Discover new ideas, dive into exciting subject, and engage with the world around you.

I would send them personally a t shirt Crime Doesn't Pay on the old website and pass it on.

That's how we cleaned up the neighborhood.

Vision loss for people is not the end.

It's the story.

It's the next chapter.

That big E public media invites you to get out and play day Monday through Friday.

It's the 419 powered by W GTD with Matt Killam, Gretchen De Backer, I'm Kevin Mullen.

What can people expect on the show?

Give me an hour reminder of why this is a great place to live, work, and play.

Where you come to watch, listen and learn.

Welcome back into the 419.

Gretchen, you get into the show with me.

There we go.

There's a wellness Wednesday.

And, you know, spending time with friends is a good way to, overcome burnout and stress.

I'll do that later.

So we are joined now with up show Banyan.

Correct.

Now you get that right, Kevin.

It was very good.

This is a beautiful name.

It is?

Yeah.

There's no shot at Alyssa, who we continually, missed on the last name.

Just like, being kind enough to come over regularly.

But we nailed jaws.

That's because mine is difficult, so it has to be spelled correctly.

Right?

People have to kind of think about it.

That's right.

Give me a little bit of background.

What what nationality?

So Armenian.

Okay.

So Midwest really isn't a hotbed for Armenians, but here we are up here representing.

Yes, yes, yes.

Yeah.

It's a slow burn.

Take over it.

Yeah.

So, so that you are, on the show to, give us sort of the clinical or workplace, part of burnout and stress.

But let's talk a little bit about you.

Sure.

Despite the fact we just buried the lead.

And you are an Armenian spy.

How what up?

To give us a clear path that brought you to this calling.

So, career wise, I actually started, my degree from the University of Toledo in management.

Just general operational type of work.

And, I worked for target stores again as doing managerial type work and got actually involved in, training for new employees.

We were building new restaurants in Columbus at that time.

Target was just coming into the marketplace and so forth in Columbus.

And actually most of my so I started doing the training part of things there, and then I was actually promoted to back then it was personnel manager, and they sent me back to Toledo because there were already stores here in Toledo, and from there personnel manager evolved into other HR roles through target.

And I did store openings in Monroe, Michigan, moved to Cleveland.

Most of my HR career actually was in Cleveland, where I was for about 20 years.

Okay.

And then came back this way.

So born and raised here.

But the HR side of it really, they tie you into operations so much.

It's so important.

Right?

You need to have that partnership.

So to me, it was kind of a natural.

It's not even a transition because you need to understand the business part.

I feel to be successful on the HR side of things.

So but doing openings and things of that for I talk about stress and burnout.

It's a big organization.

So there's certainly systems in place there, but it is a bit of chaos.

Sure.

Right.

So how what makes you uniquely, suited or wired to be able to handle the people and the chaos of all these things?

So it's interesting because, you know, Lissa talked about how for some people, stress can be a positive as long as it doesn't cross a particular boundary.

I tend to work better in that type of environment, just myself.

It's my personality.

What's good or bad, right?

But I have a very high sense of urgency as well.

And that can work pros and cons for you on that front.

And so I think for me, part of my success has been able to how do I kind of manage that.

And obviously as the years went on, things kind of change, right?

Different things enter, you know, family changes, those types of things too.

So how to try to continue to maintain that balance.

And it's not always successful.

It doesn't always work.

Right?

I mean, I will say personally to, we talked about, you know, you mentioned that you sometimes you will get to a point where you're just like, I'm sick, I don't feel well type of thing.

That's what happens to me.

So I was like, okay, that's exactly what happens to me.

I get to a point where I'm just kind of, okay, enough's enough.

I just talked a little bit about this before, starting your segment, but if you don't mind, I know there's a very special and needy individual in your life to ask me.

What about the mornings?

But wal through a little bit of your day.

I mean, you are a technician, right?

And we just heard that we were supposed to be getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

Shocking information.

So that's for all the koala bears that are listening.

But how do you mean 7 to 9?

That's right.

Now, no more than this 17 hours stuff.

That's right.

But walk us through your day.

You're an early riser.

Early to bed.

How do you.

How do you manage?

Like, I don't know about early to bed.

I try, but, you know, for me, kind of getting myself up and going and whether it's working remotely, going out to meetings, you know, going into the office, the biggest part of me is I try to kind of.

I'm a morning person.

So I try to mentally kind of be there and ready to go.

What time does that alarm go off?

634, super early.

So, except when my older daughter is home and wants to go exercise early in the morning, then that kind of changes my trajectory.

And she's unwelcome.

Well, you're exercising.

You're out here.

Yeah.

Oh, it's not a you know, it kind of get your vibe started flowing.

I have recognize that all right.

But in human resources and I think that, you know, any body in that profession and even outside of that might know your day is never going to turn out necessarily as you think it's going to be that morning.

Right.

And so that's the biggest part, is being able to be flexible and adaptable to those different types of things.

Right.

On whether it is even at home, although my threshold is a little less at home than in the workplace, right.

To be able to kind of flex in between that.

So that's, you know, kind of my, my typical day time type of thing.

And then when I return home as my children are older, I've got a senior in high school and at college.

So yeah, almost free.

Well, you know, I miss some of that stuff.

Right.

So you know, so but yes, to that point.

Yes.

So, that kind of things kind of slow down later in the afternoon for me and into the evening.

So it's not as much activity going on.

Right.

So, often have conversations with my husband that it's going to be me, you and the dog again pretty soon.

Different dog.

Yeah.

But you know, from that perspective.

So now I'm kind of in a different stage of my life, which causes me stress as well.

Oh, okay.

What's this going to look like?

Yes.

Right.

Going forward.

Right.

For the two of us, this is what we know this guy for, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Let's talk about this from the employer.

Yeah.

Right.

I mean, your career has been in human resources.

That's the role you're in right now with work spring.

What what can an employer do to identify burnout in their staff?

Sure.

So, you know, we talked about you kind of made a joke for it on the psychologist were not physicians even though some are in that H.R profession.

But I think that's the most important part, is that you need to be able to have a connection going in with your teams in order to be perceptive enough and have those relationships to pick up when things have gone from just that stress to more of a chronic burnout condition in the workplace, right?

Is it Alyssa?

Alyssa kind of defined what that looks like for individuals.

It becomes chronic in the workplace and it really has not been addressed.

Or individuals don't see a way out.

The communication piece is critical, right?

And not only for HR but your managers, because normally they're the front lines.

If you're in a larger organization for sure, right.

Some are smaller and so forth.

But your managers need to be trained and again, have the ability to communicate and provide the type of environment where number one, people are going to be comfortable talking to them, and vice versa, that they are perceptive enough maybe to see that something isn't quite right.

It doesn't start with really the the most basic, providing the most basic, supportive services.

I mean, someone's not going to come and talk to their employer about burnout if it's a complete and total pain for them to ask off to go to the doctor.

Absolutely.

And they get written up for, you know, whatever.

So it has to it's like across the board.

Yeah.

So the cultural that's the cultural.

It is the organization in and of itself.

Right.

And what they strive to be and want to be, not only for themselves, for the employees, for the community.

It's all of those things.

Right?

That's 100% correct.

It needs to start there.

Somebody needs to be able to have that comfort level to do that.

And that is created by the environment, by the leadership, by the team, all those things.

And I'm sure there's data to support the fact that that type of environment not only is better for the customer experience, but also it must have for their life.

Right?

It absolutely does.

Right?

Your bottom line you mentioned it impacts health care, your health rates, safety concerns, those types of things.

There was, a stat that I saw not too long ago from actually the World Health Organization.

There's so much out there, we're still doing that workplace burnout.

That's the real thing.

I think it's still it's a different show.

But yeah, please keep going.

Save it.

Service.

Save it.

Seriously, you don't want me to start laughing?

That's a whole other conversation.

For every dollar an employer spends, they get $4 back in return.

In place, they spend a dollar on employee resources as we talked about mental health, well-being, all of those types of things for dollars in return.

Right?

So to your point, it's a huge impact.

So I have two questions.

We talked a little bit about boundaries in the first, segment.

It is a slippery slope, right.

Or a needle to be thread put in your, metaphor.

But what is a responsible culture for an employer to have?

And some of that is take that stuff.

Is there a I'm sure that there's really a science to it, but can you walk us through at least your thinking?

Sure.

So, you know, every workplace in every scenario is going to be a little different.

And I think that that's the critical part to understand coming out of things.

But I think that when people come in and this is like to me, this is the key, if you have things going on personally that are coming into the workplace.

Right.

If you can somehow draw that line in that boundary, sometimes you can.

But if it is things that start to then cross that line and you start to see disengagement, negativity going on, those types of things are really when I feel like you, you as the employer, need to maybe start addressing or seeing that something is not quite right.

You know, there's a lot of different methodologies with, you know, some organizations do surveys, you know, on a regular basis.

Right?

And we are workshopping the we always say you're if you're going to do the survey, really take a look and see what's there.

Right.

Don't just do it to just do it type of thing.

Don't ask question that you don't want the answer.

Correct?

Right.

And then don't also bite off more than you can chew.

There might be 1 or 2 things that you want to focus on, but you can also target, you know, just to kind of get a feel for where the employees are at.

Top, top advice for an employer, if that's looking at this going, I know I'm not doing it right.

What's the first step they should take?

I really think that it is taking a look at your organizational culture, the structure, workloads, those types of things, because as we talked about early on, yes, it might be one person that is having burnout and going on.

But look beyond that because it might not just be that one person.

There can be things collectively within the organization that could assist and make a difference to potentially somebody else down the line as well.

I from it, yeah.

The clinical perspective, just taking a look at three of us.

Who do you think the largest drain on the team.

Oh my goodness.

And I'll give you a hint is Gretchen.

Anyway, we've got let's be we got another reason is that we inflict stress on you already have.

Well let's go.

Why not do it?

Yes.

You all right?

It's time for Gretchen.

Oh, I quit, is that all right?

I'm gonna give you four rapid fire questions.

Gretchen is asking for your favorite thing in the region, and Matt is going to grill you to describe Toledo in nine words.

All right, here we go.

These are the tough ones.

Question number one.

What's the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Oh, my goodness.

This is a tough one.

I will say in the past year, recently it was my daughter coming back from college, over Valentine's Day weekend because my mother had just passed away the weekend before fall.

So sweet.

So, so, who is your favorite Disney character?

Pluto.

All right.

Oh, nice.

Oh, I love it.

That's the show.

Yeah.

If you could be famous for one thing.

What would it be?

Oh, that's a tough one.

Don't say sex tape.

No no no no no no no, it's a than that I. That's a gorgeous.

You throw me off I had it.

They actually did something good for Armenians right.

That's right there.

That's I could hear the FCC crying.

You know.

Oh my gosh, I had it and I lost it.

I'm sorry.

That's okay.

You can now, you know, if I let's come back to that one okay.

Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

All right.

You gone.

Well, this is not going to help you get back on track, okay?

If you had to eat a crayon, what color would you eat?

Black.

Right.

You go.

All right.

What's your number one?

Most favorite.

Or what you consider to be the best thing about Toledo or this region?

It's tough.

I have to say, I absolutely love the art museum.

Okay.

Was a big part of my life growing up.

Yeah, I heard you say Metro parks.

Thank you.

They were not as big when I was here, like earlier, right?

Yeah.

Good list of things.

Oh.

Like nine.

We're trying to do it together, so, like yourself, your nine favorite metro parks.

You already said.

You already said the art museum.

So I'm three words for that.

So what else about the region?

Zoo.

The zoo got?

Can I say the name of a specific restaurant?

The underlying grill.

All right.

Very kind of.

Recently we've been going there.

Maybe they give us the service.

Service is phenomenal.

Nice Portland grill.

You heard your first.

Okay, we only have a few more.

You can do it.

Oh, my goodness.

The university is going to the the sports games.

Yes.

Do you have a favorite team.

Well of course the rockets and the Buckeyes.

There we go.

All right there.

I was forced to go to for the rockets football primarily and some basketball.

Okay.

That was a self-serving question.

One last one.

Yeah.

Something about the region.

One word.

With the more a love about it.

The lakes.

Yeah.

All right.

Very good.

I don't think anyone who said that lakes is a new answer.

I totally yes, you got it.

Said a thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

People want to get in contact with work spring one more time.

What's the website for spring.org.

All right.

Thanks.

As well as Wednesdays here on the 419 you can tune in every Wednesday.

And we will do our part to make ends meet.

More.

Well, I think I said that right.

Look at that.

Right.

Eventually.

Yeah.

That's right.

Hey, when we come back, Rachel from the Toledo Opera is going to join us, and we're going to talk about the elixir of love.

It's coming up on the 419.

Support for the 419 comes from which row wealth management, where we understand that your financial path is personal.

Advisory services are offered through Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra and SIPC.

More information at Retro Advisors.

Dot com.

Works bring HR issues and employee well-being.

Go hand in hand.

Work spring supports employers through compliance, training and wellness because healthy workplaces don't happen by accidents.

Learn more at work.

Springborg Toledo Refining Company, a subsidiary of PDF Energy Toledo Refining Company is a supplier of fuels that keep our region moving.

Located in Oregon, Ohio, the refinery processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products.

And today, celebrating its 55th year of connecting Northwest Ohioans to their community.

More information@tada.com.

Welcome back into the 419.

We're talking now with Rachel Cameron from the Toledo Opera.

Rachel, thanks for being here, for having me.

Rachel.

I'm not with you on the spot.

But this is not how I would have spelled Cameron.

No.

What brought you to this collection of vowels and consonants?

So my name is intentionally misspelled.

It should be Cameron, like the Scottish Cameron clan.

But the family lore is that a grandpa?

Way back, a few generations got mad at family and changed spelling.

So it's now spelled wrong on purpose.

How about that?

So what a fun family.

I love his response.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

I'm going out on my own.

Yeah, yeah.

But I appreciate like when I was in I think I was in junior high six, seventh grade, when I decided I was going to rebel from the family and change the spelling of my name.

Oh, and go from Kevin to Kevin.

And I tried it for about two days.

Yeah, it didn't last two weeks, right?

No, I know what it was, but I think that'll show a way to judge me.

All right.

But I think it's interesting that he, like, rebelled and said, I'm gonna change the spelling, but not the pronunciation.

Yeah, you could just totally change the name.

But I also I want to know the reason because it's sort of an operatic story, right?

Yeah.

Could be that it maybe it was for some big romantic thing or some big family feud right now.

That could have been the basis of it.

Yeah.

We're going to bring you back for another show and talk only about.

Yes.

Okay.

I can do that.

So what's your role with the opera?

So I'm the director of marketing and communications at Toledo Opera.

So any anything the opera puts out, I'm behind it.

Are you born and raised in Toledo?

No, I, I'm from Ohio.

Originally grew up in the Findlay area, but then spent most of my life in Minnesota.

So I came back here, for grad school because of Toledo Opera and ask them for a job every year that I was at school until they gave me one.

Well, the opera's doing an excellent job in their marketing and communications, reaching out to audiences to come to, their events and certainly their performances.

You have a big performance coming up on February 13th and 15th.

Can you tell us a little about it?

Yeah, we have the Elixir of Love coming up.

It is a bel canto opera, which is just Italian for beautiful singing.

We have not pronounce Cameron, pronounce Cameron.

We have not produced, The Elixir of Love since I think 1985.

So it's been a long time.

And it is just a delightful, charming, heartfelt comedy.

It's about this shy underdog number.

Rino.

His name literally means little no one.

And he is head over heels in love with the land owning Edina who kind of runs this waltz.

Works out.

It always works out.

Don't bury.

And she really doesn't give him the time of day.

So this quack doctor comes in and offers him an elixir of love.

It's actually just Bordeaux.

Cheap Bordeaux.

And he drinks it.

And, unbeknownst to him, the entire town finds out that his uncle has passed away and he's inherited a fortune.

So now everybody wants him.

Except for Edina, his one true love.

So eventually, you know, she says, hey, I was here first.

I actually want this guy.

So it all works out.

Nobody dies.

And it's just heartfelt, charming, very sweet.

She works.

And many.

Yeah, yeah.

That is this is a family show.

Totally different.

Let me.

How close is that, scenario to the, the synopsis of Teen Wolf to.

Well, you know, opera inspires a lot.

Well, you are.

Wow.

Yeah.

So, Largo.

Rents, you know, all that stuff.

You know, there's.

Hey, Arnold.

Does Carmen's.

So opera is kind of in our world and in our eyes, I guess we just aren't always aware of it.

Yeah, I'm interested in, you know, you know, things with, like, you go see a, you know, Broadway show, and I understand the language.

They're speaking and singing in.

That's what carries the narrative, and I can follow it.

This is not always the case with with the opera.

Correct.

We sing in all different languages.

The elixir of love is going to be sung in Italian, but we have English captions above the stage on either side of the stage.

We even do that when we do English productions, just to make sure that every word is understood.

So on top of you have that, but you also have the music as set so beautifully.

I have people say it.

I didn't even need the captions because I could tell what was happening.

Now, Gretchen, what font would you need?

It need to be about 1000.

Font?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Where is this performed?

This is performed at the Valentine Theater.

We've been there since the mid to late 90s.

It's our home, and we love performing there.

And you're going to be in these I will I I'm the chorus this time around.

So it's a lot of fun to sing and then pop up and take some pictures and then go sit down and do my other job.

Our first segments were about stress and burnout.

It is not necessarily the traditional path to going to opera.

So tell us a little about that.

And and do you still get butterflies in your stomach in performing?

Yeah.

Well past that talk to you about just started here.

Well how you work the stress.

Yeah.

Well, opera found me.

I started singing opera at high school.

Started singing with the Minnesota Opera as a kid, and then just kind of relentlessly pursued the career.

And that's true in the opera industry as well.

A lot of, administrators are former or current singers who, it's really a joy to contribute to the art form in that way every day of your life.

Not all of us are so lucky.

When we pursue singing, your folks musically, they help, you know, they always supportive of this.

Oh, yeah.

My father always says, I hate opera, but I'll go to everything you're in.

So he would sit in the back and, like, play solitaire on his phone.

And then I come on stage and I'd watch, and even now he'll be like, yeah, the main lead is going to die.

I'd rather just help you clean up the lobby, if that's okay.

So he comes to everything.

He's not a big fan of opera.

That's so nice.

Yeah, I attempted a vocal performance major in and, wisely gave it up.

After about a year of college, but, Yeah, I, I admire your, dedication to it.

There's a couple of advance events leading up to part of that, part of the marketing communication that the opera does is getting audiences to the shows.

Yeah.

So we create companion programing.

So these are, low cost or free events for the community to kind of engage in the, opera and in the story before the program starts.

So it's a really good way to kind of enhance your experience.

So last night, the Toledo Opera Guild had the elixir mixer, which was a fun little event out at Farnsworth Cocktail and Oyster Bar Thursdays, that's tomorrow we have our pop up event called Get Into the Spirit of Opera.

That is free.

It's an hour long.

It Toledo Spirits.

You get signature cocktails.

A portion of the proceeds goes back to Toledo Opera.

You get the chance to win a date night package, and you get a preview of the show.

Fun.

And then on February 6th, actually, your cousin is behind the planning process.

We have, Top Shelf, which is a Top Chef style competition.

It's a cocktail competition because Elixir of Love, we had two, with local Toledo celebrities competing to create the best cocktail.

And people will vote with their tips.

And, you know, we have Dan Cummins, we have Abby Arnold.

A whole slew of people are going to be competing to create these cocktails.

Are you rooting for anyone in particular?

You think someone's got the edge?

Well, we do have to, we have members from the Elixir of Love team.

So we have Jay Ernest Green, our conductor, who actually is a UT grad, and he's been here, I think this is his fourth year with us.

And David Walton, who is our little no.

One.

Marino.

So because I'm closer with them and, you know, I'm rooting for them a little bit.

But honestly, I love the competition and the concept taught me a little bit more about the opera, like the structure of it.

We've had, you know, Zach Vasser from Labor Toledo on.

And you know, they've got, you know, full time employees that are, they're regular musicians.

What's the what's the structure of the opera?

Sure.

So we have a very small staff there, six of us.

And we just came under new leadership about two seasons ago, Jim Norman and Kevin Bill Smith stepped up.

And between the two of them, they have 50 years of experience with Toledo Opera specifically, not even just opera.

So we're in very good hands there.

And one of the common misconceptions is that our productions are touring shows that come in or established productions, and we actually create everything from scratch.

So our chorus is, professional and semiprofessional singers.

They're members of the community, they're teachers, they're policemen, they're doctors, and they work tirelessly to be the choristers and nearly everything we do.

So those are the faces you'll see every single time.

And then, you know, we do two main stage productions per season.

We bring in our cast and creative team.

It's a three week process, so it's very, very quick from start to finish.

And then throughout the year we have our educational programing.

We have educational programs from preschool all the way up through adulthood.

We have, free, community concerts, opera around town.

So we really strive to be Toledo's Opera company because we've been here since 1959, and it's important that we serve our community.

Tell me about, an absolutely dreadful or nightmare performance experience.

Everyone has one.

Walk us through that.

They have one that was just, you have lost your voice or Mr.

Blocking talking to you.

Well, I had a teacher in college who.

Her advice saved me because she said it doesn't matter what happens if you forget your words, just say something that sounds like that language.

So I created this.

Like, I can't even remember it now, but it was like this Italian nonsense.

Sure wasn't even words just made up.

And I got on stage and I was like, oh no.

So I immediately just spewed out my made up nonsense and nobody was the wiser, right?

Oh no.

I was in college.

Yeah, yeah.

Yes, I was a baby.

Right?

So I had th opposite of a disaster performan maybe as a, as a crew we did with Jim Norman.

Oh, yeah.

When I was a kid, I was in the Christmas Carol at this little rep.

Okay.

And the, he played Cratchit.

And Jim, did Jim do?

And one of his oldest son.

So not Tiny Tim, but his oldest son, Peter, I think.

I think his name is David.

Sure.

Yeah, that's the one.

I think his name is Kevin with a Y. That's.

There you go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Well, the rebellious older son.

So the.

So the kid who played that character left the show at intermission.

And so the director came to me, not the understudy, and said, it's you.

Was it a singing hurt?

No, but there were a decent number of lines we were about to go into, like the dinner scene.

And I remember, no, I did not deliver any of the lines.

I was sure they just said, like, every time someone passes a plate, that means it's my line.

And if I don't know it, I pass the plate on.

Yeah.

So that was I mean, I spent the entire time just seriously passing plates around.

Jim Fitzpatrick.

Oh my gosh, Tony, you know, that reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from Teen Wolf two.

Oh my gosh.

Oh well, it's on TV tonight guys.

The number one stream.

Can you tell us a little bit about your horror?

To get away from Teen Wolf 2 or 1 for that matter.

A little bit about your what you do now for your vocal training.

The shows are a day apart so that the, singers have the chance to rest their voices.

But what do you.

And then the semiprofessional singers do leading up to, a performance to protect their voices and be able to perform?

That's strictly my bro.

Right?

Right.

I mean, yeah, absolutely.

Cigars every night.

Whiskey.

So the chorus has been in rehearsal for this production since November.

Wow.

So we've been there's a lot of Italian to learn and memorize.

It's very patter, very quick, speaking and singing that you have to do.

So we've been doing that for a long time.

You know, people who are professional singers outside of school, they'll take lessons, but not necessarily weekly.

Maybe once a month or so.

What happens, I believe most often is coaches.

And that's when you go into, like, an opera professional, somebody like Kevin Bills, man.

You say, hey, I'm singing this song.

How do I make it better?

Not necessarily technically, but dramatically, because it's all about story.

Opera is storytelling at its core.

Our preschool program, the main thing we sing as an opera is a story, and all of the words are sung.

So that just kind of wraps everything up in a nice little bow.

Do you find yourself, in your everyday life wanting to sing as opposed to talk to the bozos at your mind?

No, no, that's.

I'm fine talking.

I'm fine singing.

It's just everything I do at this performance.

This this, elixir of love is a good entry point for someone that's never seen an opera before.

Absolutely.

The story is charming.

It's light, it's fluffy.

It takes place in the small little village in the Basque region of Spain.

So it's a nice escape in the middle of February in northwest Ohio.

And it's all done from scratch.

There's only two chances to see this production, and then the production is never going to happen this way ever again.

So it's a really great opportunity.

How many get to ask the expert the question here in a minute, but I'm curious.

We'll start with you, Gretchen.

Now, what is your go to karaoke song?

I don't like karaoke fun.

What a fun answer.

If you had to do karaoke.

Gretchen, right now, a Katy Perry firework.

There you go, Matt.

They're just exactly the same.

Yeah, I know it.

The theme.

Yeah.

Or something from Hamilton.

Yeah.

Okay.

There you go.

What's your what's your go to?

You have to do karaoke, which I know real singers generally don't like to do.

Well, funnily enough, when I was in Ohio Light Opera, we used to close down the, Ugly Duckling or the Dirty Bird or something bar in Worcester, Ohio.

We used to do karaoke exclusively by all the singers.

So can you imagine walking in?

Yeah, yeah, it was nuts.

Boy, these guys, these guys that don't go on the stage are like, no, it's just the worst when like, the singers come in that you that know the.

Yeah.

And then they try to take over the whole karaoke thing.

It's like when, you know, Jason Bateman had to follow Michael J. Fox.

I mean, think about his feelings for those whose are, I mean, really small, but metaphorically, like before.

So what's the song?

I think Disney like, I'm a big beauty and the beast fans.

So that that would be my go to for sure.

Kevin.

Oh my god.

Legit go to karaoke song.

It's the Macarena.

Zack Yeah, probably does the dance with it, you know.

Know what he does?

It's just that's just how it's done.

Toledo Opera dawg.

Yes.

Learn more about all of our events and our production at Slate opera.org.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

My pleasure.

Thank you for the time.

When we come back, we will wrap up this Wednesday edition of the 419.

We appreciate you joining us.

Stay tuned.

We'll be right back.

Every day when you laugh with us, you learned with us a neighbor.

We made sure your childhood with special memories that could only be provided by PBS and you.

For generations, we've given you programs that made a difference.

Programs that entertain, inform, and inspired.

And today is no different.

This is public media in Toledo.

It's where you belong.

Introducing the Local Thread, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public Schools, and veteran journalist Gerry Anderson.

The local thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community here at weeknights at seven on FM 91, with early access on podcast platforms each morning.

The local thread only on HGTV.

Welcome back into the 419 as we close out this Wellness Wednesday edition of the 419.

Timely, topic to talk about stress and burnout.

And then, of course, you know, so we end on a high note.

We get to talk to the folks from the app.

Right?

You had to bring that high note.

Yes, sir, I did.

I'm so proud of the first time.

That's right.

Yeah, I was.

You know, in gymnastics when you got to move and you landed, you in every.

There's lots.

Yeah.

Yeah, I do yeah, yeah, I was, I was I wasn't I can't say to that exact.

Does that count.

It does.

Yep.

What, what are you taking away?

We do this when we talk about wellness Wednesday.

This is, you know, not that we don't learn something in all of our shows, but this is the intentional sort of week to say, let's take something away from this.

What's what's something that you're taking away?

I can start, which never will be relieved.

Well, works bring our friends of and supporters of the show.

I always think it's interesting to talk to a person whose profession is in this space.

There, of course, people too.

So they talk about how they handle things and red flags and them, which is relatable.

You know, seven, eight hours of sleep is in reality to some degree.

But, you should try to take care of yourself.

And I do think it's interesting when we talk about what your employer's role is, right?

Creating a culture of well-being is certainly profitable for the best for whatever widget you make.

But and not everyone can have their hands held and have the nose like to.

So what what's the balance here?

And I think that the team today talked about that in a really an eye open fashion.

And the little things about to make the difference.

Just getting a little organized at home.

You know, having a vegetable, you know, trying to get to bed just a little bit early.

Little things will help, get us out of whatever we're feeling and get us through is that reminder that, you know, sleep, diet, exercise, those are, you know, it's control.

The things that we can control.

And don't worry about the things that we can't self, I love it.

And of course, Elixir of Love coming up said uary 13th and 15.

More information is at Toledo opera.org.

If you missed any part of the show, you get to three times 7:00 YouTube channel 3 p.m.

on FM 91 and 6 p.m.

on connects channel 30.4.

And of course, all of our episodes are available online.

August before one night, thanks to spring for their support of Wellness Wednesday.

Thanks for listening.

It's the 419 powered by CTE and presented by our friends at Whetro Wealth Management.

We'll see you tomorrow.

The 419 powered by WGTE is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.