Now the 419 with Gretchen de Bakker might kill them.

And Kevin Mullin, welcome into a Wednesday edition of the 419, powered by GT, presented by We Trio Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin Mullin, alongside.

Gretchen Debacker.

And I tell them.

We got a great show, on deck for.

You.

It's the first Wednesday of January.

It is.

That's what she brings to the show.

How are you guys surviving the first week?

Can you can you still say Happy New Year?

I think so.

I think you can do it for 30 days.

I'm 100% in on that.

Even if especially with people you haven't seen.

Okay.

I do it in my emails because people love it.

It's delightful.

They love it.

I was going to say like, I so I, I hesitate to say it too long because then it acknowledges that, like, I don't remember that I've already seen you because.

Because I'm with you, I think I get I get it once, like the first time I see you in the year.

But if I don't see you until, like, July.

I assume no one remembers when they've seen me or not.

Okay.

You're right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's fair.

So just I. Just have, you know, 30 day.

Sort of cutoff.

If you will.

I do think it's a nice transition into how about this weather, So this is a 30 day break of that.

It's right after daylight savings time.

You go right into the new year and then the cold.

It's it's a it's a thing.

And then it goes into how about this heat.

Yeah.

So these are all this is all wellness nuggets.

Yeah.

I like it.

I like it.

So we're we're talking wellness Wednesday with our friends from work spring.

The first one excited I don't want the watcher or listeners to think that this these are the phases of wellness.

No.

Right.

Because we we certainly are not.

That we are here to learn.

We're mostly doing it to benefit ourselves.

That's right.

And we desperately need it.

Yeah.

Is that on a. It's like I was trying t come up with a day of the week that started with a B, and there isn't one.

No.

You're going to be a great day.

To be a great dad.

Yeah.

Oh I already failed that one.

But, so can we talk about that a wellness Wednesday?

Is that part of, like, parenting tips?

So I think so like bring that in throughout the year.

I think it's the whole boat.

We obviously have, a personal connection, with our, with our guest as well as an institutional one.

But it's a topic for the new year, right?

New year, new me.

Wellness is, a really commonly used word, or philosophy, but I can't I don't know exactly what it means.

I don't know what realistic goals are.

I don't know what warning signs are, but, you know, as we all tried to be better.

These are things that can help us individually and actually help the people around us.

Right.

Which the show is about.

It's about our community.

So how can we each striv to be better and more healthy?

I think is kind of what the the thinking is.

Yeah, it makes sense and to be more consistent.

So that.

Is something.

Beyond January maybe because this is something we're going to continue throughout the year.

And also something God forbid.

It also makes you not feel good, right?

So if you're running out to join a gym, and in 30 days, you realize that you've only been once.

Oh.

There's another thing that makes me feel crummy.

So it's just a there's a less sophisticated things.

But a lot of practical things, too, that I'm really interested in hearing.

We all work, or have worked fo big institutions or small ones.

But the reality is that, molecularly speaking, we all have more in common than we don't.

So what are aspirational things?

What are inspirational things or what are things that we should rev our heads around, to make ourselves better and thus making our village better, if you will.

And the things that we're going to tackle every Wednesday, on this program.

And of course, sponsored by our good friends and supported by our good friends at work spring, who are going to help us tackle all of these wellness related topics.

I think as I think you said it.

Well, Matt, that you know, this show is about making peopl feel better about our community.

And I think this is a opportunity for us every week, to also make people feel better in our community.

The chance to do as well.

So it's the 419 powered by CTE and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

It's Wellness Wednesday, and I guess we could say it officially starts next.

We'll be right back.

To me, community means connecting to others.

And what will it.

Really take to bring peace to Toledo's neighborhoods?

I love.

City action.

We're a community committed to education.

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

It's all chapters in a book.

I would send them personally a t shirt.

Crim doesn't pay in the old West End.

Pass it on.

That's how we cleaned up the neighborhood.

Bring you back memorie that you don't think are there.

You know.

Public media invites you to get out and play day.

The people of Toledo really become family.

You know, they walk in and it was just like, hey, it's so good to see you.

Hello there, and welcome to public media town hall meeting.

So where you come to watch, listen and learn.

I love PBS kids.

Welcome back into the 419 It's Wellness Wednesday, and for the first time in 2026, we are joined by our Wellness Wednesday chief.

Happy new year, Meghan.

Happy new year.

Senior for the first time.

Let me ask though I guess in the umbrella of wellness, what is the wealthiest?

Is that how you say it?

Yeah.

Well, what is the time frame for a proper Happy New Year?

I think January, the month of January.

Yeah.

That's right.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I do say it repeatedly depending.

You know, I don't know when I see I probably say Happy New Yea to you a couple times already.

Multiple times that I'm sitting here.

Yeah.

How many times do you actually meet it?

Every time.

Okay.

Every time.

Well, every time.

Me too.

Happy new year.

Happy new year.

There are people born to certain, industries.

In this way to is born.

That's right.

Wellness?

Yes.

We do want to get to wellness.

Of course.

It is, the name of the show.

And we can't talk about what time of day it is or the day itself, because it's confusing.

But, Megan, you ar a personal friend of all of us.

And a professional friend, of sort of the agency I work for and many, many others.

I do want to admit that we have misspelled your name in every conceivable way.

So.

I refuse to even use that last.

Name.

I just.

She's not strong in Megan.

Either.

I just go strictly Megan BS.

That's that's the old school one.

Yes, that's the nam I know.

That's my email.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's right.

That's the name I use.

So I stop and start.

Hey, he doesn't take any offense.

Any pause in marrying him with the possible confusion of the spelling?

He warned me about it.

He did?

He did, he did.

So.

But, you know, the he was confusing for folks, too.

Yeah.

People are.

People, you know.

On the screen.

But.

You know, people struggle.

They struggle.

Yeah.

Names are important and but you know, they he and Carcieri.

I just hit the lottery on those too.

So, you.

Know, if you developed.

So I, quick stor here and then I ask my question, but I'm curious that you've you've got a, like if you've developed any cliche explanations of it like this for me, people always say, Mullins, I get an asset.

And so I have my my line is get to know me better and you'll know that you don't want to of me.

I like that.

And that reminds people that like, don't make it plural, right?

But like, have you is there a is there a line, is there, a moniker like we've got, you know, we had Julia, she says, Happy New Year.

And it's like page like page, right?

Like, yeah, yeah.

I don't know if I have anything like that.

I can say that, when I came bac to Toledo from DC, when I left, Toledo, I left as V, I came back as Kayseri.

As many people have.

Right?

Well, yeah, h a whole other.

That's a whole other show.

I. Yeah, sure.

So, but yeah, I, I came back, I changed my last name when we got married and, when we moved back to Toledo, I brought Vicki back because everybody knew me as Vicki.

So it's kind of stuc as a stage name, so I like it.

Yeah, I know we've had you on the podcast a couple of times, and so I don't necessarily want to go back and read hal some of the commentary we had.

But I'm curious like we talk about all the time.

Well, we've got guests that are on the show.

We learned things about them that we that we I mean, I've known you for years.

Yeah.

I think I knew that you lef and came back, but, like, what?

What was the job that took you to DC?

And then what was the job that brought you or what?

What maybe it was a job, but what brought you back?

Well, I worked for mayor Jack Ford.

In the early 2000 and Mayor Ford when he lost, as as those in politics know if you're close to the elected official, you tend to, leave when they leave.

And so I decide I was going to go to law school, so I left, Toledo, move to Columbus for a brief moment, and then to D.C.

to go to law school.

When I was in, DC I worked for the DC City Council and did economic developmen workforce development for them.

Was there any of that?

Just a total of we always confident, like, I can do it here.

I can do it on a lot of bigger stage.

Did you ever feel like a duck out of water?

Oh you know, it was it was interesting because my experience in the city, I think, really helped me do well at DC Council because the committee that I was working for, they had a staff shortage.

So I was actually in law school when I went in to work in the committee and having the executive experience that I had in DC really allowed me to just like run immediately in the council.

And so that was actually great.

But what was really cool was in DC at that moment, they were getting a thousand new people every month.

They were really making major investments, in, in their, in their city, and doing concentrated economic development.

And it was, it was really interesting.

And I took those lessons that I learned from DC when I came up to do economic development in Lucas County.

But I was in DC for about seven years.

Ultimately, I was the chief o staff to the council chairman.

Well.

So that was pretty neat.

So I had this office on the avenue.

Though it to some degree it.

Controlled.

Chaos control.

Yes, absolutely.

It was it was really neat.

You know being in the nation's capital, when I would go on a run I would run the National Mall.

And so the monuments were my it was my vantage point.

It was just it was amazing.

A president, when you were there.

President Obama.

Nice.

Yeah.

It was, he was he was president.

That was so I was in the nation's capita the night that he won in 2008.

And that was, a pretty big deal.

I went to his inauguration.

Okay.

That was great.

Anything from, Meghan as a little girl that sort of had the style been really class president at your elementary school where you're always organizing?

The debate team.

What?

Yeah.

What were the footprints sending you to the nation's capital?

This capacity?

You know, my mom, my mom was a student at the University of Toledo, when we were kids.

And she took me to one of he political science classes, and, over.

Yeah, I was probably eight.

Okay.

Yeah.

Cool.

And that was also, I was eight when I first went to DC.

So, we also went to the student library, and I remember paging through a book about Abraham Lincoln, and it was just always ingrained.

My mom was a big is a big proponent of civil rights and social justice and those types of things.

And that just has been ingrained in me.

And so that kind of set me off on my public service career, which is what I was doing.

And my intent was to do all along.

Yeah.

And after, after I left, after I was done in DC, I called up a friend and said, hey, I'm thinking about coming home.

And so I connected with, Commissioner Gerken, as one will do, and said, you know, if there's anything that's, that's happening and, in Lucas County, let me know.

And, and they had a position, so I came back as chief of planning and development and did that for as with the county ultimately for about ten years.

Okay.

It's just.

Yeah, yeah.

And, became administrator.

I was administrator for five.

And I like to point out, you know, my favorite, some of my favorite work was with the Metroparks, and, we did we did great stuff together.

And being at the county at the time, was super exciting because all of the downtown development was reall just happening, and kicking off.

And, there were some really critical leaders in place that made that happen.

But we did the, we built the, the convention center in the new ballroom at the new hotel, and a lot of major investmen in, in the county, was was done.

And I'm very proud of that.

I go ahead when yo when you moved back to Toledo, how big of a sales pitch di you have to put on your husband?

He he was.

He actually was the one who said, hey, what do you think about going back?

And he's not from Toledo, s I love that because he's from, the series, our new Jersey.

And.

This is the new Jersey spelling.

This is the new Jersey spelling right there.

Yeah.

So Jersey series.

Jersey series.

Right.

So the, so Steve's mom and dad moved to Ohio, and they are the only new Jersey series here in the Midwest.

They they don't think of themselves as Midwestern.

Oh, they are definitely new Jersey.

And, so, Steve, when we were talking about it, he said, you know, why don't we think about going back to where your folks are?

And, I jumped on it.

That's great.

So, yeah, so.

I am now sitting here remembering pictures that I have at home of us at the.

Inauguration.

Yes, at the Ohio Ball.

Yes.

And do you.

Remember we got our car stolen.

And.

Set that out?

And we had we didn't.

Know how we were going to get back.

We were like, walking back from the ball.

And our car had been stolen.

And we kept walking around this parking garage.

It was Wade and Sarah and Mark, and we were like, reached out to all of our other friends that were there to try to figure out how we were all going to get back and would they ultimately found the va that we were able to get back.

But it was crazy.

It was a really cool it was a fun time.

It's just that's and it was cold that that weekend got all the pictures of us.

Right.

And you just can't never get the ideal.

Yes.

Yes, exactly.

So you know worked in government in Toledo.

Yes.

Went to DC law school, worked in government there, came back, worked in government.

Now you're with work spring.

Yes.

How?

And really, I guess, you know, let's let's go back is, you know, you went to the employers Association.

And have now rebranded.

So talk to m a little bit about kind of what, what that journey for you personally was.

And then kind of that, that brand evolution for the organization as well.

Well, you know, when you spend time in, high level positions with government, it does tend to burn you out.

And I consider myself a positive person.

I just like to lead, in a positive way.

And I also think when you're in those types of positions, turnover is good.

It's good for the person who holds the position.

It's good for the organization.

It's always good for fresh perspective, because taxpayers need to make sure that you've got, cutting edge ideas and folks who are just, just getting up and killing it every day.

And I wanted to try something new.

And it had been five years since, taking over as administrator, and but I still wanted to spend time and workforce and economic development and still help the communit and really, promote our region.

So the employers association, was searching for a new CEO.

Jack Hollister was, head of the of the employers association for 20, 25 years.

He did an excellent job.

Absolutely.

He's a good.

Man.

Good man.

Built a great organization.

And for 75 years this year, and so this opportunity came about and I jumped on it, and, and it made sense.

The board, thought it would make sense for me to come over and I, you know, my background is not private sector.

It is public sector.

But I had this experience, and economic and workforce development, and also working very closely with our human resource professional at the county, at the city in DC and so it was really just a natural transition from, county government or public service to working on behalf of our members.

We have, hundreds of members across the state of Ohio, and we provide human resource solutions, workplac wellness and employee training.

And I think what I d every day is I take the lessons that I've learned from our members and from my own personal experience and think about how can we do this better, how can we help folks in these areas?

Because really, the people ar the engines of these companies.

And so if you've got a solid human resource, program going on and you're considerate about workplace wellnes and you're committed to training all of these things together, really they make a difference in how your organization's going to run.

A lot of times, you know, especially here in northwest Ohio when there are economic downturns, companies, have to make very tough decisions about employment and about their teams.

We've been trying to get rid of Gretchen on this show from its two years.

For two years?

Yes.

Do you have any strategies?

Yeah.

I don't want to use the word drain.

I can't get enough.

Yeah.

You don't want to stop using it.

Right?

I mean, you're you're experiencing it here in real time.

It isn't like she adds anything.

All right?

Now.

I'm just kidding.

Gretchen, that's.

You're so wonderful.

She is.

I have to sit between these two.

Yeah, it's the best thing that's ever happened.

Her words.

I mean, we've got.

We're the first person here, but I, we've asked, a couple of our guests this, But I'm interested when you roll out of bed, when you get going, is there something you check into?

What is your early routine?

To get to get the day going.

What's the first thing you look at?

Please let it be Wordle.

It's not Wordle, unfortunately, but I do play Wordle.

And connections.

I do the whole suite.

I like this, I think chip are good, although it's gotten.

I just started it, like last week.

Yeah.

Oh.

It's great.

What's the one wher you have to also find the words?

It's like a word search.

It's in the same suite.

I can't remember.

Boggle.

Yes, yes.

So the first thing I do I open up threads, to be honest, because I need to see what's happening.

And he says, then I'll check out the blade.

Then I'll look at the New York Times.

Then you decide.

To go back to bed for a couple.

Hours.

Yeah, I check out, you know, I go through our socials, see what's happening.

I like to get a temperature.

And then I grab a cup of coffee and we get going.

So we've got, Simon and Hazel.

Simon is our ten year old, and Hazel's are seven year old, so we're busy.

We started probably about 5 a.m.. Yeah, and go till.

But it's in late.

But you live in Waterville, so what time is 5 a.m.

in Waterville?

What's the time difference?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Remind me that's, noon to noon.

Yeah, it's it's slightly different.

Yeah, well, I love connections.

First of all, any time anyone smart that does the thing I do, I'm like, it's it's validating.

But you start at 5 a.m.

and that that's the that's the process to get you going.

Yeah.

I guess when the whole.

Family starts at five.

M. No.

Okay, I and I pretty much do, you know, but I am part of this club.

Yes.

You're up at 3 a.m.. I'm up at 3 a.m.

every day.

Daddy, what.

Time do you go to bed?

I go to bed around nine, ten, ten.

Because.

Because you can't sleep of your choosing to get up at three.

I was just.

A human being.

Chooses.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I have so many questions.

Like I there was a podcast that I discovered years ago called the 5 a.m.

miracle.

And so like I was like all right, I'm going to get up at 5 a.m.

and let's go.

Yeah.

And th whole but the whole thought was, you know, the amount of like productive time you have mostly happens when you're not around other people.

Yeah.

And so if you can give.

Yourself and that's this, that's a theme of our show.

That's right.

And he's got kids as you do.

So that time to get something accomplished might have to be 5 a.m.. Yeah.

But 3 a.m.

seems.

Seems.

Like terrorist activity.

Yeah.

No, I works for me.

And I, I usually start checking my news sources at three, and then I'll go back to sleep for a little bit, and then I'm up.

Okay.

But it's just.

Yeah, it's my system.

If that doesn't speak to the state of our news.

That's right.

I'm going to open up, read some news.

It's like, you know what I just need to go back to bed.

Yeah, I'm gonna pretend like this is over.

Yeah.

All right, when we come back, I want to talk about, wellness Wednesday and what your goals and hopes for this segment throughout the year are.

We're talking with Megan Vahid Carcieri with word spring.

We'll be right back with the 419, powered by wget and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

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, SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com and from work spring.

Supportin healthy and vibrant businesses one workplace at a time.

More information at work spring.org.

Join us every Wednesday for Wellness Wednesday, sponsored by Work Spring.

The 419 is also sponsored by Toledo Refining Company, serving northwest Ohio and East Toledo for over 125 years.

More informatio at Toledo Refining company.com.

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

More information@tada.com.

Tune in every Thursday for the toledo.com Community calendar presented by Tada!

Interested in supporting the 419 and other great local programing?

Visit wjhl.org.

Welcome back into the 419 powered by and presented by Work spring.

It is wellness Wednesday joined by Meghan Vahid Casiraghi I got this.

You got.

It.

Yeah Meghan when we started talking about this show, first of all, thank you for supporting the podcast, for the last few years.

And then, of course, joining us on this journey, when we talked about what we try, what we wanted to try and create wellness was important to you.

Yes.

Explain to me, kind of what what your hopes fo this show are for work spring.

But then also specifically, what are the goals of this segment as we kind of focus in on wellness once a week?

Well, we, at work spring are so thrilled to be part of this podcast.

And and also congratulations.

Happy new year.

Congratulations.

Thank.

You year again.

I did it.

Yeah.

Me too.

Feel great.

Yeah.

We're really happy about it.

But wellness can be kind of a fluffy term, and not everybody, I mean, it's used a lot.

And so, have the opportunity to talk about it in this kind of a format is is great because we want to I'd like to be able to talk about real examples of what that actually means.

So from a workplace perspective, that could be talking about how do you just make, your workplace conducive to work?

To the folks who are coming to work every single day.

We just went through, we just moved downtown, downtown Toledo, we're back.

We started in downtow Toledo in 1955, and we were out.

1950.

1950.

And, and so now we're in the innovation post.

At the former Jefferson Center.

And so but, yeah your environment is is wellness.

The benefits that you offer as an employer is wellness.

And also at work spring, we've been concentrating on things that affect, employers and employees alike.

Those things that are going on in personal lives as well as blending over into your professional life.

So, for example, we had, a great discussion last summe about the sandwich generation.

So, when people are dealing with, older, parents and perhaps still have kids at home and what that means, because likely those those people are still in the workplace every day, and there's a lot of pressure that comes with that.

So, what's nice about work spring in our membership is we can have these types of discussions.

But this forma will allow us to talk about it with a wider audience.

And I think it's important just to start talking about these things, you know, talking about wellness in a way that's accessible I think helps to make it real.

And so that's wha we're hoping to get out of it.

We do mental health first aid at work.

Spring.

We do, walking challenges.

I mean, it's everything.

It's everything.

It's the entire gamut.

Very similar to what we d along the employee life cycle.

So are there pillars or anchors or sort of a mission that you prescribe to that would sort of bring us under the umbrella?

I think it starts with leadership.

So, how leaders respond when people want to use their time off, that matters, whether you require employees to show up, if they're sick, all of this impact your bottom line at work, right?

That's a great point.

And, you offer these benefits.

And so as leaders, we want to try to make sur that folks are utilizing them.

Also, I think, Being fit, you can i doesn't have to be all or none.

So it's January.

People are starting to have new gym memberships.

And like you said earlier, maybe they go one time and the that becomes an issue for them.

Sometimes just getting up and walking to get a glass of water, it's very important.

You know, you got your Fitbit, I've got my Fitbit.

I have a notic that says get up and walk.

Yeah.

I don't do it every time it buzzes me, but I know that I have to do it, and I do it more often than if I didn't know.

Yeah.

When when I got my, you know smartwatch, for the first time, there's, like, recurring kind of reminder about, not just standing up, but also like, taking a moments and, like, breathing and relaxing.

And so I had that activated when I started and it became a point of anxiety for me that it was like, no, no, no, I'm, I don't have time to take 60s right now.

And so I finally had to just disable it and say, like, I can't, I can't do it.

I don't need I don't need an hour reminder to like, stop because I'm.

Pulling in something.

Else.

That's right, that's right.

Well, you know what?

That's a great point, though because not everybody, like you said, not everybody likes a Fitbit.

So just because my system works for me doesn' mean it's going to work for you.

So that's where I thin knowing what will work for you and giving yourself that ability to make those adjustments, you don't have to add extra pressure to yourself, but it is a good thing to drink a glass of water.

It is a good thin to get up away from your desk, maybe to have lunch.

That's somethin I'm terrible at.

I yeah, I do.

I either don't eat lunc or I don't ever leave my desk, so it's just something I have to work on too.

And.

I do think naming these things out loud and, just a bigger positive deliverable, taking care of children an and potentially a parent, right?

Yeah.

Knowing that you're not alone in that space, you're not feeling it is overwhelming to many, that that in itself has intrinsic value.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, it's very easy to thin that you're on your own island.

Sure.

That's why I'm on the show.

Well, but you've got other people on your island.

You just have to work.

Yeah.

We're not going to help get him off the island.

Yeah he's he's stuck there forever.

But but you know what?

There are there are other people around, and it can very muc feel like you're all by yourself until you start talking about it.

Which, again, is why it's important to name these things out and just, you know, sometimes I just like tips and tricks and yeah, tell me some idea and maybe they'll work for me.

So help.

I mean, help m understand from your perspective why this is important to an employer, right?

Like, why are you guys getting into this space?

You know, I get, you know, the value in some core H.R.

support and services and expertise for, for, you know, small to midsize businesses to say, hey, I, I can't afford to have this expertise or all of this experience in-house.

I need a resource that I can call and ask, why does the wellness why does that matter?

From your perspective.

You're because you're exactly right.

Not everybody can afford to have their own wellness person on staff.

So where we come in as we've got this amazing team, set out throughout the state of Ohio who come in and work really on a, a daily and hourly basis and help you set up your program.

We work, we have a very amazing partnership with Medical Mutual of Ohio.

And so we, we do their wellness, for employers, in groups of 50 to 500.

But work spring also does independent programing.

So you don't have to do it all by yourself.

That's that's what we do.

And so you can just give us a call and we'll talk you through it and figure out what we can do to help.

It's not expensive and it's not it.

Employers have a lot going o just running their businesses.

They've got their own things they have to achieve.

But you can bring us in as a special team to help get that done.

It's important because your employees need to be at their best when they're coming in to work for you.

And if you make sure that you're providing them that environment, a good environment, one in which they feel that they are, that their time is being well spent and they're being compensated, and they've got the benefits where they can perform.

I think it's a good thing overall.

It's better to have happy employees.

And that doesn't mean rose colored glasses.

It just means that you're setting the table so that they know what needs to be done.

So, from a wellness perspective, I think it just makes sense.

And it's, you know, it's important to also communicate throughout the journey of wellness.

It's very it's not just one and done either.

It's consistent communication throughout the year.

But you can do it in baby steps.

So January, maybe I'm going to focus on having that glass of water every day in February.

Maybe I'm going to go have I'm going to have lunch away from my desk.

In in in March, I'm going to try to find a coworker to go on a walk with.

So these types of things, yo don't have to join a gym per se.

Write that.

Down.

You don't have to do that.

Jump for joy.

You're going to go.

You don't have to go.

There' probably not one answer to this, but you know, we are a data driven, culture now for whatever data means, right?

It's a pretty flexible concept but, you know, what you measure is important, right?

So sort of broadly, this idea of playmakers.

But how do you measure success in this way?

I do think your question is a good one, right?

Because their wellness does positively affect a traditional profit and loss statement.

Right.

That's probably without any review.

But how do you measure these things or how do you inform, your clients or partners and how they know if they're on the right track or not?

That's a that's a great question that, we ar totally driven by data at work.

Spring and our wellnes consultants work very closely to make sure that, employee are going to their preventative care appointments.

That's number one.

Well, really getting your, your, your, your screening done to see what your levels are and then making sure you're going to your doctor.

Sure.

That is is paramount because you're paying for this insurance anyway, your primary care physicia is there to help you stay well and figure out if there are any issues.

How do we deal with them?

It's easier to deal with them on the front end than on the back end.

So preventative care and then also we push screenings.

So get your cancer screenings, you know, mammograms, prostate.

Exams.

These types of things are really important.

And it can be scary for folks.

It's very scary.

I have, a very close relative who does not like doing this, because they're worrie about what there might be, but, I think that an ounce of prevention is worth what is a pound of cure?

And, so those are the things that we do, and then we measure that.

So, with our with our wellness program, with Medical Mutual, we have an over 60% success rate, which is huge.

And we also we do wellness screenings, and we have a really great track record with wellness screenings too.

So, I think it's personal touch, and I think it's making sure that you've got somebody, a human being who you know and trust who can help you get through it.

From a from an employer company.

So, I mean, I get some of those points for the individual as an employe or somebody who manages a team, manages a company, what what's the right first step for them to create kind of wellness in the workplace?

Well, I think number one, jus talking about wellness is great.

But number two, I would call work spring because we can you set up, a wellness program.

But if you're if you're looking to get started, I think, talking to your team about getting up fro their desks and taking a walk, either outside or in the building, I think that's a good first step.

And there's lots of resources out there on the internet that you can take a look at, but, I always encourage folks even just to, whether or not you're a member or not, we can help you put you in the right direction.

I do think it's important to call someone and with you and your team's expertise, because the internet can also be an absolute bastion of terribly frightening.

Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

So that is the soapbox of commentary about having a professiona talk to you about the realities.

It can help from a doomscrolling it can be.

Right.

And we have certified wellness consultants on our team, and we'd be happy to help all right.

It's time for Gretchen's crazy quiz.

It's not what it's called.

What it is.

It's the 419 quiz.

Okay.

All right This is Gretchen's crazy idea.

I like it.

All right, I'm going to throw four rapid fire questions.

Gretchen is going to hit you with your favorite thing in the region.

And then that's going to ask you to describe the region in nine words.

Okay.

Goodness not not exactly.

That'll be great.

Don't screw it up.

All right.

Here we go.

Question one.

What do you think is a waste of money.

What do I think is a waste of money?

Podcasts I don't say that.

I think, some subscriptions can be wastes of money.

It, I, I don't want to call any out, but I have gone through my budget and I have eliminate some subscriptions.

Good, good.

Okay.

That's good, that's good.

Do your pets.

Yes.

Okay.

If your pet could talk, what would they say?

Kill me.

Oh, no.

No, Rocky would say Rocky from.

I'll say four.

Yeah.

He would say I love it here.

Oh, Rock.

Hope he says that.

Me too.

Or else we beat him.

Your words?

Yeah.

When and where was the last time you danced?

Oh my gosh.

I probably danced at, I danced with with Hazel, over Christmas.

Yeah.

At my house.

I love it.

All right.

And then this is.

This might be a tricky one.

Okay?

When somebody asks you to tell a joke, what's your go to?

Oh, no joke.

This is a hard one.

It's a New Year's joke, and it's not really a joke.

It's something that I think is particularly funny.

Okay, so all day, every day on January 1st, I will say that this is we've done this all year or w haven't done this all year.

So, you know, I'v had like my first cup of coffee.

That's all I've had is coffee this whole year.

This whole year, if I had love it.

If I haven't gotten a hug from my kids, I haven't had a hug all year.

So it's.

So manipulative.

It's manipulative.

Yes.

Yeah.

It's got your every year.

I am not a good joke teller.

I like to listen to.

I'm good.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, good.

Okay.

What's your number one?

Favorite thing?

Most beloved thing in the region.

Metroparks.

Okay.

Yes.

Thank you.

It's true.

And that's our show.

All right.

This was the one.

It creates a little bit anxiety column.

Right?

But.

And there's no pressure here.

But if you were to describe or use any words to describe our region or our little town or even your little beloved Waterville with those nine words, p m. I would say, I'd say interesting.

I would say creative.

Okay.

I would say, summer weather.

Sure.

That's for.

Sure.

Going okay.

There's no judgment.

Let's see here.

What else?

Help me here for more words.

Grit.

Grit.

Good.

Tenacity.

Good.

How many?

How many more?

You six.

You got three more.

Beautiful.

Yes.

Perplexing.

Yep.

One more.

And, Well.

I would say, curious.

Okay.

Like it?

Why?

I like it.

I like it.

Yeah, that's.

Yeah, that is hard in words.

Yes.

Yep.

Well, that should have been provided to you, weeks ago.

It should have.

Been provided to you by the person responsible.

For next year.

But that' why we've got it wrong all year.

Yeah.

Well, here.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you so much for supporting the show.

Obviously we'll see a lo more of you throughout the year.

I hope so, yeah.

Thank you, thank you.

When we come back, well, this Wednesday continues and we are joined by Paige Johnston from work.

Spring every day.

When you left with us you learned with us a neighbor.

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

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

Programs that entertain, inform and inspire.

And today is no different.

This is public media in Toledo.

It's where you belong.

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 thread only on GTV.

Welcome back into the 419, powered by Wjct and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

It's work spring present a it's wellness Wednesda yes, presented by Works spring.

We're joined by Paige Johnston from Work Spring page.

What's your role at work spring.

I'm the wellness manager there, so I've been there for ten years though, and kind of started from the bottom and have worked my way through through the Wellness Organization.

Page.

Based on your expertise, just from looking at what's wrong with us.

You look good.

You look good.

Paige.

She wears.

Glasses.

You look rested.

She decided the.

Right.

Paige.

You are from originally Holgate, Ohio?

Yes.

That is our the capital of Ohio.

Yeah.

It is.

It's very big.

Population 200.

Yes.

Right.

All right.

Was that the actual population?

No.

There's like.

Well she.

Moved.

No, I didn' move.

I was wondering, you know.

Yeah.

So what is the draw to Holgate.

What is the big community.

Yeah.

All right Tiger basketball.

Holgate high school.

Holgate the Tiger the.

Tiger after a big game win and or los which presumably was mostly win.

Where did everyone convene the VFW.

That's right.

Yeah yeah okay.

All right.

Classic.

Yeah yeah absolutely.

All right page, I also appreciate you, spelling your name, is that.

Right?

No AIG.

Okay.

It's overpowering as well.

Yes, yes.

That's right.

Thank just any anyone named Paige spell it.

Yes.

Well, I did just read it off one of our beloved teammates sheets.

And I should have known not to take Gretchen.

Yeah.

Don't don't do.

That.

But let's get into.

I've got sort of a macro micro question for you.

We talked about in the last, segment.

The, the the old moniker is January 1st.

Head out, sign up for a gym.

Go a couple times and then fee terribly about the whole thing.

So the whole rest of the year.

That's right, that's right.

Or a decade if you're me.

But I do want to talk abou real goals that are appropriate, and things to make yourself feel good about.

So if we were comin right off the street and saying page with a I think it's saying that.

Right.

He'll help us craft a proper and appropriate and healthy people on this journey.

What would that look like?

Well, with it being a new year, resolutions don't necessarily work.

It's a lot of behavior.

Change is hard.

Yeah.

So the biggest thing to do is start with micro habits and making sure you start small.

So I kno one of the things Megan talked was get up and get a glass of water.

So set, set a small goal.

And if it is water I'm going to drink 80oz of water today.

And that's my goal And that's my goal for the week.

And start with that and then build upon it.

So once you get that down for maybe two weeks, maybe start, oh, I'm going to go to the Metro park and I want to walk a mile.

And after I drink my 80oz of water, I'm going to do tha and then build upon that page.

Is there a place to put that?

Do you put it on the refrigerator or do you put it on a corkboard, put in your phone?

It's what's the mechanism for keeping?

It's different.

It's different for everyone.

So there's a thousand apps out there.

You can download any type of app and track it that way, find a buddy and compete.

That's another great way.

One of my coworkers and I, we actually are doing something right now where it's it's simple things like water movement, making sure you're getting up not eating lunch at your desk, which is easy to do when you'r have only a set amount of time.

So making these small little habits can create a lot of big behavior change.

And then from there, you don't have to join a gym because it's easier to do small micro movements throughout the day.

And this might show how bad I am at interview process.

But, how do you mark succes and how do you celebrate that?

Like, what was that look like?

What was the appropriate way or clinical way to look at goal setting?

I think, well, Smar goals are always really smart.

So making sure they're attainable, something that you can easily do have, really set realistic amount of time.

If you join a gym and you're like, I'm going to go five days a week and I'm going to work out for 45 minutes and I'm going to lift and do all these things just too much.

It's too much, and it's not somethin you can really do when you have a bunch of other things going on in life.

So making sure that it's small and attainable.

So if it's three days, I'm going to do three days an you hit that goal, that's great.

And if you don't hit it, that's also okay.

Making sure that you're very kind of able to bounce back and forth because you don't want to disappoint yourself because then it feels I'm a failure because I didn't do it.

And that's not that's not realistic or true.

Question.

Do you want to talk a little bit about failure?

No, I think I'm good.

Okay.

Paige I guess happy New Year to you.

And I'm sure this is a very near.

Yeah, we got another month of that.

And then just when I talk, so when we, when we talk about being.

Well.

And this is probably a very complicated question, but what is, is there a standar definition for well or what is what are we striving to look like?

I think it's really just doin things that are personal to you.

So even for men and women, we should drink different amounts of water.

We should eat different amounts of calories, different sites of movement.

It's more of your individual base.

So some people don't want to diet and exercise and that's okay.

Maybe they want to be financially well, maybe they want to have more just time in their day.

Maybe they want to be grateful a little bit more.

So putting in different micro movements, like you were saying earlier with your watch, that can be really frustrating.

But if you do it once a day, like, hey, I'm going to take five minute and I'm going to really look at what's the glimmer in my day or the really good thing that's happening today.

That's a win.

So looking at some of these different micro movements can really be help.

I like the idea of of your goal being even finding something that is in your day.

That kind of gets into menta wellness too, because it's not it doesn't necessarily just have to be about, working ou and and food intake, but about keeping mentally sharp, keeping mentally well, keeping your.

Mood.

On track.

Those kinds of thing can also be part of it, right?

Yeah.

I think there's a I want to play devil's advocate a little bit here, because I think there's a generational piece here that, you know, wellness matters more to the younger employers 100% than the older employer in a workplace, or I think they they pay attention to it more.

And so I'm curious kind of how you address, you know, when there's that generational divid between leadership and employees and sort of helping maybe the older leaders find that lin between wellness and employees, because I've heard from peopl say, well, like, they know that they're all snowflakes, right?

Like they yeah, you know, yeah, I need I need my mental health break and I need my whatever.

But it's like, I mean, we know those are real things, but if you're from a different generation, it's.

A button seed production.

Yeah.

Like, how do yo how do you balance that or say, yeah, it's like, no, no, no, it's suck.

Suck it up and get to work.

I, I don't care that you have a cold today.

Like we got to work.

So there's a lot of data out there and there's a lot of ROI for wellness programs and showing that they work.

And one of the biggest things is productivity.

You'll see happy employees are much more productive.

Employees that find value don't leave work as often.

There's not as much absenteeism.

We'll see a lot of productivity from employees and being abl yeah, retention is a huge one.

We'll be able to see that in the data.

And one thing we do at work spring is we really track all of that information.

And your insurance carrier also can help just really look at what the health care costs of those that may be a little bit happier, healthier than those that aren't.

And then you can take that data and take it back to some of the older people in the organization and say, hey, here are some target points that we need to do that are working for the younger generation.

That might not be for the older.

Yeah.

I mean, it's not necessarily generation specific.

I certainly understand that point.

Right.

You mean there's pressure?

Some of us, myself included, have some an unhealthy way of getting a team right, like production of work is a way where I get validation right?

Page I'm going to sort of.

On a personal note, I'm curious, when you were little Page, were you gathering, kids in the neighborhood to talk about their wellness plans?

Definitely not.

Okay, so the Tigers game.

Yeah I was at the Tigers game.

Yeah.

No, that's about that path.

How does this fit into who you are as a person?

Well, I really like well-being in general and being a positive spirit I think that's really important.

I, I think when I went to school, I wanted to be a nurse, which blood freaks me out.

So that was definitely a bad game plan.

Yeah, it was it was tough.

But I took all the right classes for wellness.

So I ended up graduating with a health care degree, which put me right in work spring.

So it wasn't somethin that I necessarily wanted to do.

But now that I'm here, it's something I'm really passionate about.

Just fun conversation with m wife about, like our kids and I. And they were right.

Yeah.

That's right.

You know, I try to be intentional.

Anytime my kids show any interest in a person or a career, being intentional about making sure that they know that that career exists because, like, there's so many like, yeah, folks that I interacted with when I was a kid that do what I now do, but I had no idea those jobs exist.

Yeah.

So I think the, the idea of like, hey I'm interested in health care.

Well, you have to be a nurse.

Like, that's the the elementar school sort of mindset of this.

It's not, you know what?

I think I'm going to be a wellness consultant for, you know, for employers.

And I'm going to work for an agency like no one's thinking that.

Right.

So I so I love that that journey kind of took you here and you still get to do it.

And I think highlighting obviously outing myself as not being well, you know, leaving.

It off has to tell.

Like, we can we.

Can see it.

Yeah.

That that is important.

But do you find yourself.

I mean, we're just rolling off the holidays, right?

Do you find yourself hyper in tune to family gatherings like Uncle Ralph is clearly not well or how do you how do you separate?

You can see, but I, I don't think as much.

I think everyone has their own way of coping with life.

So I think that's one way to kind of look at things.

But you can tell where there's people that may need a little bit more than others.

And you can't, you can't.

You definitely can't.

You put it down, give it the resources that you have, say, hey, we can help you.

How do you hav that conversation with somebody?

Right.

So somebody in your somebody in your life, you see and and you, you think what you see is them making decisions that, that aren't, you know, leading them to wellness.

Yeah.

How do you as a, not as a friend, but as a, as an employer, as a, as a coworker.

How do you bridge that gap?

I think it's communication and being available.

Just letting people know, hey, I'm here for you.

I know I've been noticing this I really want to talk through.

If you want to work on it, great.

I'm here.

And if you don't, that's okay.

But here are some resources.

I know one thing especially with mental health, the EAP kind of gets a bad rap sometimes.

People don't want to use it.

They're not really sure how but a lot of companies have it, and it's a really great resource where we can easily say, hey, here's all these free resources that come with your EAP and this is something you should look into.

See, I here when I was first place that I worked that had an ERP.

Usually.

In systems.

That you.

I had there were time when I was like, you know what?

I feel like I could talk to somebody, right?

I can, but but I was I didn't do it right.

Because I was never.

I don't I don't want my boss to know that I've got this stuff going.

On and that I'm not a performer.

Right.

I can't produce.

And the big thing is communication.

So making sure that peopl are communicating about the ERP, you don't need to tell your coworkers or your boss what's going on, but it's nice to know, hey, I have this ERP, I have these resources that I can use that no one else is going to know about.

And you're really well versed in what your ERP can do for you, and that's really important.

So again, this is a person specific for obvious reasons.

But do you have like an momen or something that you celebrate when you think about this feels really good.

You're human beings.

So we all ideally choose things that make us feel good.

Yeah.

And from our 9 to 5.

Right.

But is there something in particular either from a an experience with an individual or agency or something that you deliver from a product standpoint that makes you feel particularly whole?

Oh yeah, we do so many things with people's biometrics and screenings, preventative care, and people can detec so many things from just knowing what your numbers are.

If people don't know what their numbers are, there' so many things that can go wrong and you can get ahead of chronic conditions.

Once you know what your numbers are, you can get immediate care.

Having the relationship with your primary care providers important because then you can go see someone a lot sooner.

Early detection of diseases and those types of things.

So we work with a lot of employees that don't know what their numbers are.

They have no idea.

They have high blood pressure.

They have to go to hospital right now.

Yeah.

And that's and it's it can be scary because you could have something going on and you have no idea because you're not getting your regular checks similar to what we, we talked to Megan about.

If someone is approaching the new year, they are thinking about what they should do.

What would you.

It's overwhelming.

Where should you focus?

What should you do?

I have all these things.

I want to, you know, do or.

Talk about or learn about.

What's the thing?

What's the one thing like this.

Week.

That someone can do to ge their wellness journey started?

I would call and schedule your primary care physician appointment for the year.

It takes a long time to get into the doctor, as we all probably know.

So getting that appointment scheduled this week, whether it's six months from now, nine months at least it's on the calendar and you know you're going to get it.

And then also just doing something really small.

Look whether it's going for a walk, whether it's getting in like ten minutes of break, gratitude time, whether it's drinking more water just building in one small thing this week can make a huge difference.

And then you can just build upon that in the next weeks to come.

What are the whe you think about a workplace and, you know, I'm going bac to, you know, talk to my boss, about this.

I've, I've seen this intervie and I want to try and help my, my, my coworkers.

What are the core components of a healthy workplace?

It really ties back to communication and culture.

So really making sure that you have one thing that that we really try to do with the workplace is let's just survey our employees, let's se what the employees want to hear and what they want.

In a wellness program, it can be super easy to do a quick, very quick 5 or 10 minute survey.

Hey, here are the thing that we're really interested in.

And then once everyone feels like they have a voice, you get more Buy-In.

And then peopl want to participate in things.

So if someone's telling you we're doing a walking challenge and you're like, well, I walk every day, I don't need to do a walking challenge.

I want to do something more on mental health or I want to get a mental health first aid certification or something like that.

Then you can really see wha the rest of the employees one, and then you're also being responsive.

Yes.

So responsive and inclusive of what people want.

Exactly.

It helps you put together a plan, especially for the new year.

The newest thing is let's pick three big initiatives we want to do this year and and make it small.

Here are three things that we want to get done.

And we're going to ask our team what they want.

And then we're going to help execute those.

On the flip side, what are the three biggest hurdles or why?

So leadership.

It's hard to get buy in if someone's not buying in from the top.

Sure.

And having those different conversations making sure you're providing, hey, this is the value that it's going to really tie back to the organization.

Here's how it ties to our mission.

And I think that's really important because once a leader sees that there's a lot of easier ways that they can help integrate some more participation engagement, just even adding in like a little wellness tidbit at full staff meetings, whether it's putting signs on bathroom doors or different thing that that can make a difference and you can't ask people to go and get their doctor's appointment and then make it a total pain.

Yes.

For them to get, you know, those two hours straight to the doctor.

So it has to be.

By is a very big right.

Yeah.

Even simple thing.

Where where can people find mor information about work spring.

On our website work Springborg we have a whole slew of different tips information.

We also on our socials we do a different newsletter every month that is really tied to different topics, which really kind of pulse, wellness, HR, all the great things we do in one spot.

Page.

Thank you so much for my time Thanks for the work that you do.

Yeah, thanks.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah.

Yes!

Go, Tigers!

On behalf of the show.

Happy new.

Year.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's right.

Thanks for having.

Hey, it's Wellness Wednesday here on the 419.

When we come back, we'll wrap up the show and talk about our biggest learnings of the day.

Which was nothing.

Well, we're going to find that out waiting outside.

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

We'll be right back with more works.

Bring Wellness Wednesday.

To me, community means connecting to.

Others.

What will it.

Really take to bring peace to Toledo's neighborhoods?

I love.

It here.

Yeah, we're a community committed to education.

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

It's all chapters in a book.

I would send them personally a t shirt crime doesn't pay in the old West End.

Pass it on.

That's how we cleaned up the neighborhood.

Bring you back memorie that you don't think are there.

You know why public media invites you to get out and play day.

The people of Toledo have really become family.

You know, they walk in and it was just like, hey, it's so good to see you.

Hello there, and welcome to public media town hall meeting.

The where you come to watch, listen and learn.

I love PBS kids.

Hey welcome back.

It's Wellness Wednesday here on the 419 powered by and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

We've had a great, a great conversation this Wednesday courtesy of our friends at work.

Spring and this time actually talking with our friends from Work Spring as well.

I'm really looking forward to the series on Wednesdays.

I think it's going to be some good information.

Yeah, I know that there' a lot of stuff out there, right?

Wellness is a really commonly used concept.

I don't know if it's considere like a word or multiple words.

We'll figure that in the next show.

But it is, I mean, we'r all dealing with similar things, and arming yourself with practical ways of working through it is so helpful.

And it could be delivered by meeting page for the first time.

But it can be delivere by people who clearly care more.

Right.

And that's so important.

You're vulnerable.

This is a trust based, you know, part of people's lives.

So great people.

I've worked with work spring, for a long time and I found almost to a person.

It's just good listening group.

What's what's something you'r taking away from the show today?

Just do a little thing.

Yeah.

Just get, like, a little goal and get things started this week.

See, I like to kind of th the permission to fail.

Right.

Or the to say like.

It's not I get it now.

That's important.

I already wholeheartedly that's right.

You've embraced that.

My life is a monolith to that.

Yes.

Awesome.

All right.

Well, hey, I, as always a pleasure.

Hang in there, guys.

Today, enjoyed the conversation.

Thanks for joining us as well.

If you missed any portion of the show, or really any of our other shows, and you want to catch up on it, first of all, three different times every day, Monday through Friday to enjoy the show at 7 a.m.

on YouTube channel, 3 p.m.

on FM 91 and 6 p.m.

on connect, this channel 30.4.

And of course, as I said, if you missed any portion of the show, you can go to e.org/va for one nin and you'll see the show there.

Huge thanks to our guests.

Thank you to Megan.

Thank you to Paige for joining us.

Thanks to spring for their support and thanks to all of our incredible sponsors, which are wealth management.

Works Spring, Toledo Refining Company and Tata.

We so appreciate, them being a part of this program and helping us, bring this to the masses.

And happy New year.

That's right.

You can't know we're.

Not going next 30 days.

All right, until the end of January.

But come February 1st, silver, I expect to talk about the weather.

Yes.

Yeah, it's the 419 powered by GT and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

The 419.

Powered by GT.

Is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.