(upbeat cheerful music) - Sharon Caldwell-Newton serves as the executive director for C-SNIP, dedicated to preventing pet over population.

She's been called to serve in the nonprofit sectors for over 40 years.

Her experience focused in leading community based organizations to address community needs while working towards systemic change, that's a biggie.

We'll talk about it.

So, let's talk to her about her journey to success and why her superhero is Wonder Woman on this edition of "Powerful Woman: Let's Talk."

Hi, Sharon.

- Good morning.

- Good day to you, and let's talk certainly about many aspects of your life, but I'm gonna basically have you set the scene, describe you and your first maybe, memory of your earliest pet.

- Wow.

That's a big question, but sounds good.

So, let me start a little about me.

I'm the youngest of five kids, grew up here in Michigan on the east side of the state.

And my earliest memory of a pet was, I was probably just three or four years old.

We've always had dogs when I was growing up, but I remember climbing on the couch as just a toddler, curling up with my little blankie and my little dog Peppy, a little Manchester terrier, always curled up right next to me.

I couldn't take my nap without my dog.

- Of course, I asked that because of your present occupation, which we will get to.

So, expand on your childhood and how you began to find this human service connection as a potential journey.

- Yeah, for sure.

So, growing up, I had a really pretty, you know, normal childhood in the sixties.

It was about the early 1970s when my parents were divorced, which was a little unusual at that point in time.

And so, I watched my mom have to go back to work, you know, as a young girl, watch her go back to work and really work hard to provide for the five kids that were here that were in my family.

And so for me, that kind of set a stage.

Even as a young girl, I became so interested in social justice.

I was always rooting for the underdog in life and maybe I related to that a little bit.

So, it was really a very easy transition as I was graduating from high school and heading off to college that I knew I wanted to do something where I could take that passion for social justice and make a career out of it.

- What was your first professional job?

- Well, like so many, you know, high schoolers, college students, I worked in food service.

I worked in nursing homes, but my first professional job out of college, I worked as a crime prevention and community organizer for the Garfield Park Neighborhoods Association.

And that was back in the early 1980s.

It was a fantastic first job because it exposed me to so many issues in our community issues, around housing, and zoning, and crime in neighborhoods.

And the work I did was to bring those neighbors, those disenfranchised neighbors together and help them figure out how as a collective body, they could have more power with affecting change for their neighborhoods.

- Which is still going on today.

- [Sharon] It's still going on today.

- Yeah.

Big part of your life was with the Women Resource Center.

Give me a highlight here.

- So, after I left the Neighborhood Association, I worked for about seven years in community reentry work, working with men and women coming out of jail and prison.

But then after that, I made the transition over to Women's Resource Center and I was there for 24 years as their executive director.

I loved, still loved the mission of that organization to really help empower women, particularly women who are in a life transition.

And again, I could relate to that so personally from the experiences that my mom went through after her divorce.

So, that was a wonderful platform.

Worked, like I said, with, you know, women in transition, worked with so many great volunteers, board members, staff members, over the years who, you know, are still treasured friends and colleagues of mine.

- Yes, and yet life is far from over.

- Yeah.

- You know, heading up a C-SNIP organization, what's this all about?

- Yeah.

So, after 24 years, I knew I wanted to do at least one more thing in my career.

I wanted to make a change, but I knew I wanted to stay in the nonprofit sector.

That's just so near and dear to my heart.

So I, you know, was just kind of keeping my eyes and ears open.

I wasn't actively searching at that time.

And somebody told me about the executive director role opening up at C-SNIP.

Well, I was familiar with that organization from the way back when it was just really a concept and opening up as a new non-profit, a mobile spay neuter clinic, if you will.

But I also had this strong passion and love for animals that I've had since I was just that little three, four year old girl.

So I thought, you know what?

This would be a great way to combine my passion for social justice, human services, access to resources with my love for animals.

So, I threw my hat in the ring and the board selected me.

And that was about six years ago.

- Great.

Thank you for that.

Sharon, running a non-profit different than running a for-profit would you say, or, I mean, you take it seriously.

- Absolutely.

And I have never run a for-profit organization.

I've spent my entire career in the non-profit, so I don't have that personal direct comparison, but I can tell you running a non-profit is every bit as serious, if not even more so than a for-profit business, in my opinion, it's a lot of hard work, you've got many people in the community, counting on your organization to meet their needs, whether in our case, those needs are providing veterinary care for the furry family members that they have in their households, or whether it's providing, you know, employment assistance for people who are unemployed.

The work of the nonprofit community is so critically important, but at the same time, it is a business.

We have payroll that we have to cover.

We have building maintenance, we have all kinds of the same expenses that there are in for-profit businesses.

And so it's our role as the leader to make sure that the organization not only is meeting its mission in the community, but is sustainable and is employing good business practices and being good stewards of the communities, donations and grants.

- How would you tell a young woman to find her passion if she wanted to go into the nonprofit world?

What's the secret?

- Yeah.

Well, I think there is no real secret, but I think my advice would be explore.

Explore, and try out as a young person get involved with, you know, if you have a passion around animals, see if you can volunteer at an organization like a shelter or C-SNIP, if you have a passion for some form of human services, find an organization that kind of fits in your wheelhouse, contact them, see if you can volunteer, see if you can do an internship.

I think it's just as important to try things out and find out what isn't a fit for you as much as it is, is to find out where you know, where your passions really lie.

And that if you follow your passion, I think you'll always find success.

- Right.

As you are demonstrating a couple fun facts before we get back to the serious side of things, why flower gardening for you?

- Yeah.

Oh, I love flowers.

For me, flower gardening is like, there's a lot of life lessons in flower gardening.

I mean, we've all heard the expression, you know, take time to smell the flowers and when you're flower gardening, you really do, but it is, it's so important in our busy lives to take a few minutes, just to stop, smell the flowers, enjoy the beauty that's all around us that we often forget in our hectic pace.

So that's, you know, lesson number one.

And then I think the other life lesson that comes out of flower gardening is that you plant a seed.

It's not always an immediate blossom.

It takes care, it takes nurturing to bring that plant, not only to life, but to bloom.

And so again, I see that when I garden and I grow my flowers and that's something that I carry with me in life.

Those those lessons translate.

- Yeah.

Fifth of five, were you spoiled?

Were you, what's the trait you take on that?

- My oldest siblings would tell you, yes, I was spoiled.

I prefer to think, no, I was not.

I think by the time my mom got to me, number five, she was just tired of trying to enforce all the rules.

So, she did relax 'em a little bit for me, but no, my siblings would say I was spoiled, but I think it was just, you know, it was just my time.

- Yes, and it's time for your mom to have just turned 98.

What's the secret to her success?

- Oh my gosh.

I think again, she just, you know, she worked hard.

She lived a good life.

I don't know.

I hope I get that little secret or that longevity gene, but no, she just celebrated 98 years.

- [Shelley] Why Wonder Woman?

- Wonder Woman?

Well, Wonder Woman is all about truth, justice, and you know, social change.

And so to me, those are the values I've always held so near and dear to my heart.

So, why not be a Wonder Woman?

- And that advice to that client of yours that brings in the kitty that not advocating for or against, but taking care of your animals.

How important is this?

- It's so important.

The human-animal bond means so much to so many of us.

It's what helps sustain us through difficult times in life.

And so just like you would with anybody that you love and care for, you wanna ensure that your pet has access to the routine and treatment care that it needs throughout its life.

And that's why C-SNIP exists, is really to help people get access to that care for their dog or their cat, even if they can't afford that on the private sector, open market.

- Anything you'd share, you'd say to a young Sharon Caldwell-Newton?

- I just say persistence and keep on keeping on.

- Yes.

You reading a book now?

- Actually I am a part of a book club and I haven't got my new book yet.

So, stay tuned.

I'll keep you posted.

- Yes.

Is there a motto you'd like to leave us with?

- I, again, I would just say follow your dreams, follow your passions.

I think if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.

- Nice.

And you are certainly practicing what you preach.

All right, inside joke.

Have you gotten the goat yet?

- Not yet.

I'm working on it.

That's one of the bucket list items, someday I'll own a little herd of goats.

- Good, and you will.

Sharon Caldwell-Newton, thank you for this edition of "Powerful Woman, Let's Talk."

- Thank you so much.

(upbeat cheerful music) - Hello, everyone.

Time for "Powerful Woman: Let's Talk."

Thanks so much for joining us today.

I'm Jennifer Moss and it is a pleasure to bring you today's powerful woman, Jill Hinton Wolfe.

She's Grand Valley State University's first military and veteran resource manager.

She previously served as a mentor for GVSU's Michigan veterans entrepreneur lab in the eLab and is a founding executive committee member of GVSU's Veterans Alumni Association.

Previously, she's worked as a seasoned corporate marketing professional, an adjunct professor in advertising and PR, an entrepreneur, and as a military intelligence soldier for the US army.

We're so glad to welcome you, Jill Wolfe to "Powerful Woman: Let's Talk."

- Thanks, Jennifer.

I'm really excited to be here.

- And we're excited to have you.

I want a little bit more about Jill just before we start our conversation.

So in 2021, Jill was awarded the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agencies Veteran Educational Advocate of the Year Award and is a 2022 Myra Fellow.

She serves as vice president of the Kent County Veterans Services Advisory Board and is on the Michigan Hall of Heroes Board, also a lifetime member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Women Veterans Alliance and your and your hubby live here, Grand Rapids, five kids, and you're also active in the legally blind community.

So again, welcome Jill.

So, nice to have you here.

- Thank you.

- So, you have powerful woman written all over you and everything that you do.

First, let's start with talking about your work at Grand Valley State University as the first military and veteran resource manager.

That shows a big commitment and support to military connected students, dependence, as well, right?

- Yes.

I took the job in July 2020, so right in the middle of the pandemic.

And I think it really shows the commitment of President Mantella to this population of students that we didn't really have a military program to speak of at Grand Valley before that.

I was an undergrad at Grand Valley way back in, I started in 1994, and then did three years in the military before coming back and finishing my degree.

And when I came back after the army, I thought I was the only veteran on campus.

And we've since changed that.

And we now have an incredible community of students, faculty, and staff, all who have served in the military as well as a large contingency of dependence.

So, spouses and kids who are also, in their own way, sort of served in the military.

So, it's a huge commitment.

We have two veterans lounges at Grand Valley, which I'm not sure any other state school or private school in Michigan could say, so there's a great commitment, both from the community and the senior leadership team at Grand Valley to support these incredible, incredible.

This incredible community.

- Absolutely.

And as a resource manager, and having those, the lounges and the whole unit, what is it that the type of support that you provide to the campus?

- Right.

So, I sort of support them from the beginning when they're looking at Grand Valley, even as coming back to school, it's a scary thing for a lot of veterans, right?

They've been in a certain environment where it's very hierarchical.

We're very clear on who's in charge, what we're doing.

The mission is very clear, usually when you're in the military.

So, when they get out a lot of them, aren't quite sure, you know, how to make that transition to a university setting, where everything is kind of up to you, right?

You no longer have somebody telling you what clothes to wear, where to show up, or how to work out or where you're going to eat and all that stuff.

So, it's a big transition.

So, they start with the application.

I can help them, everything through that, to applying for their GI bill benefits, getting them enrolled, making sure that they have everything they need to be successful at the university.

So often it's, you know, talking with faculty members and staff about what it means to be, you know, former military and, you know, also helping them with scholarships, emergency funds, applying for leadership positions, helping them decide which major to be in.

Like, it's just, I'm the single point of contact for these students, and I'm not always the one that ends up eventually helping them, but I know where to point them.

So, I'm basically creating a community here where they feel supported.

There does tend to be a sort of imposter syndrome with a lot of veterans coming to school.

"I don't belong here.

I'm older than everybody else."

So, just creating an environment where they feel like they're valued and that they can learn here without barriers is, that's my job in a nutshell.

- And I was gonna say, in some cases it might even be just convincing someone, "Hey, take the leap, come to Grand Valley, come to school and take up your education, now."

- Right.

I was just telling an Air Force vet yesterday.

He said, you know, "I've been working on and off different places, and I've been thinking about my degree, but you know, maybe now is the time."

And it's my job to say "Now is absolutely the time.

And if whatever you're worried about, we can work through it together.

We can figure that out."

I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but it is gonna be worth it.

So that's, I love having those conversations with students.

- Wonderful, and so of course you have quite the accomplished career.

You're here at Grand Valley, now at the resource center, but you are, of course, are a veteran here, as well as having done so many other things that we talked about at the top of the show.

So, are you enjoying your journey?

- You know, I've gotten to play all sorts of roles.

When I came back from the army, I got my degree in advertising and PR from Grand Valley and then went out and worked in the corporate world for 10, 15 years.

And I loved that, and it taught me a ton about, you know, working in the corporate world, working in an organization, but I had always wanted to start my own business.

And so I took that journey, which was amazing.

I still miss a big part of, you know?

- [Jennifer] What'd you do?

- So, I did a couple different things.

I started with a passion project, which is still around today called "Outdoor Book Club," which is taking women outdoors and doing backpacking trips, hiking, kayaking, and bringing a book along that we discuss the themes and the ideas.

- [Jennifer] An on the road book club?

- Yeah.

- Of sorts.

- Very much, yes.

- Yeah, that's kind of cool.

- It was very cool.

And from that sort of more corporate initiative came out where I was actually running corporate scavenger hunts.

So, we worked with companies like Nike and Home Depot and Pfizer, and really found out what their corporate values and their products were and created all these fun challenges for their teams, their employees to go out and, you know, implement them into pictures and videos.

And as you can imagine that all went away, high fiving strangers when COVID hit.

And that just happened to be the exact time that this position opened up.

And I'll tell you, it'll be two years in July since I've had this position.

And I have never been happier at work, like this job has so much meaning and purpose for me.

And I get to one day work with, again, a student vet who's not sure about whether he wants to go back to school and these are incredible students.

And we can talk more about that in a little bit, but I get to work with them one day.

And the next day, I'm working with the senior leadership team and President Mantella to figure out how we can do even more to help these students.

So it's just, it's an incredible job.

I love it.

- [Jennifer] So, the exciting journey continues.

- Absolutely.

- And really on the right track here, too.

So, as we talk about powerful women, you know, you assist veterans through the volunteer involvement and the mentorship with, for all women veterans at WINC, "W-I-N-C." - Yes, I'm very active in that organization.

- So, what's your work there?

- So, their group of women, I think WINC originally stood for "Women in Combat," but they felt that it was a little bit exclusionary because maybe in some ways we've all been in combat, if not like actually out in the, you know, the war zone.

And so, working with them, there's a lot of women out there, that a lot of women vets are really struggling, that transition out of the military was very difficult for them.

I think for women in particular, we're already sort of conditioned to give so much of ourselves to the mission, whether that mission is our family or our jobs and the military just completely reinforces that.

And I will say that women veterans do, a lot of times, we can feel sort of invisible, right?

When you think of a veteran, you think of maybe the old guy in the hat or a big guy with a beard and tattoos, you don't often think of a female.

- You feel excluded, I would imagine.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Just off to the side, sort of?

- Yeah, I remember one time parking in a CVS parking lot and I had a veteran's plate and an older gentleman said, "Hey, you know, did your husband serve?"

- I'm like, "Hmm."

- [Jennifer] Yeah, I knew you were gonna go there.

- Yeah, that was me.

And these are incredible women.

Like, the guts that they have shown to sign up for military service and to swear to protect their country and to do this work in a environment that often, let's face it, it can be kind of, some toxic masculinity there, these are incredible women.

And they deserve to be held up and given the tools they need to be successful.

But unfortunately, it doesn't always happen, either because they feel they don't deserve it or just society, just not seeing women veterans in the same way that we see male veterans.

- [Jennifer] So, you continue on with the mentorship there and help out?

- Absolutely.

Especially when it comes to like starting businesses and stuff.

I love women veteran entrepreneurs.

They are my favorite people in the whole world.

- And you've been down that road yourself, so.

- Absolutely.

- Absolutely.

So, let's look at the even more personal side.

So, as you travel and have traveled your careers path and on your journey, have there been any, as we talk about that, you just mentioned one actually, barriers, that you've encountered along your career's path, and you know, your life's path?

- Right.

I think definitely my military service, sometimes people don't always know what to do with that.

"Oh, you don't look like you've been in the army."

That kind of thing.

I think there's always that self doubt, too.

Like, no matter what you've done, you're always sort of worrying about the future.

And so those barriers have been difficult as I try to show up in the world in a way that people can, you know, I hope that the students that I work with, look to me as an example of what's possible because I was in their shoes, you know, 10, 20 years ago.

So, that's been a barrier.

I also in 2017 was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease that is basically taking away my eyesight and probably will take away all of it.

Right now, I have about 12 to 15% of it.

And so, yeah, that's been a curve ball that life through that I was not expecting and that I've had to sort of navigate.

And I will say that, you know, for all those women out there that are struggling with something that just seems insurmountable, that you have it within you to be able to deal with this, but you can't do it alone, right?

We didn't do it alone in the army.

We had medics and truck drivers and cooks supporting our mission.

You can't do it either alone.

And I will tell women veterans and people also struggling with vision loss, reaching out and finding those people that you can trust and depend on and being willing to be vulnerable about that will get you well on your journey to being able to meet your goals and do things that you never thought you would be able to do.

- I would say everyone needs that village, right?

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Everyone needs a village.

So, tell me in this world that we live in today, what do you, you know, we're always looking for some sort of word of encouragement.

You provide that a lot clearly through the resource center and a lot of your work, but do you, by chance, have it maybe a favorite saying, quote, or something that you use yourself that encourages you, or that you use to encourage others?

- I do, and I use this all the time and it's been so helpful for me.

And that's the quote, "That if the bus doesn't stop at your station, it's not your bus."

- [Jennifer] Oh, I like that.

- So, this idea that there are opportunities that arise and we try, you know, maybe we apply for that scholarship or we apply for that job or we try a new sport.

And if it just, if that doesn't work out, it doesn't say anything about you.

In fact, it's probably just means that you need to try something else.

And so, not to take these kinds of things too personally, and just continue to look for your bus, 'cause your bus is gonna come up very, very soon and you don't wanna miss it, so.

- [Jennifer] Absolutely, just keep waiting.

Right?

Jill Hinton Wolfe, thank you so much for joining us today on "Powerful Woman: Let's Talk."

I so appreciate this conversation.

- Thank you.

It was absolutely my pleasure to be here.

- And thank you of course, for joining us for another edition of "Powerful Woman: Let's Talk."

I'm Jennifer Moss, do enjoy the day.

(upbeat cheerful music)