In this episode we're talking with two guests, Ash Murray and Steph Aich, who are the founders of Midwest Dirt Legion - a riding club for cisgender women, gender non-conforming, and transgender mountain bikers. Ash also works with Girl Scouts River Valleys’ Girls in Gear mountain bike program, teaching Girl Scouts technical skills and taking them out to tear up the trails on our new mountain bike course at Camp Elk River in Zimmerman, Minnesota. Ash and Steph started Midwest Dirt Legion with a goal to build more gender equity in the mountain biking community in the Twin Cities. They saw what a big difference it made to have spaces for a diverse set of genders (not just male or female, but non-binary and trans folks as well) when they were doing track bike racing, and they wanted to create that same space for mountain bikers. They started with pretty much nothing but an idea, and found that there were a ton of other people interested in what they were doing. Part of the work they do with their organized rides and events is providing skills clinics and an introduction to mountain biking to new riders. They start where people are at, and help them get comfortable. We talked about how they have both had experiences in the broader mountain biking community with other riders' elitism and a masculine culture getting in the way of riding certain trails, taking certain skills clinics, or even just feeling like they're seen as "real" mountain bikers. They try to eliminate those barriers for their own participants, creating experiences that encourage a lifelong love of the sport. Another goal of Midwest Dirt Legion is to make mountain biking more accessible. It can be an expensive hobby, requiring lots of gear and ability to travel. Ash and Steph focus on making their events as local as possible and helping people get there, and work to break through the common belief that you need a lot of expensive top-line gear to be legit (not true!). They also do broader advocacy work through social media to expand their reach. We talked about what it takes to start a club or organization like this to address a need in a community, and how hard work and gaining support are more important than money. One of our big takeaways was that you can solve a problem without having a lot of money or experience - you can get started, run with an idea, and learn along the way! Especially if you put together the right team. You can learn more about Ash and Steph and Midwest Dirt Legion on their website midwestdirtlegion.com, or in this great article on The Radivist. You can follow them on Instagram @midwestdirtlegion and join their social group on Facebook called Friends of Midwest Dirt Legion. Girl Scouts River Valleys would like to say thank you to our funders and partners that have helped make the Girls in Gear mountain bike program possible: Hugh J. Andersen Family Foundation, the Hardenbergh Foundation, Quality Bike Products, Tonka Cycle and Ski, and Salsa Cycles. Girl Scouts River Valleys, with support from these companies, has made this one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure possible for girls. Together, we can ensure that every girl pushes past their limits and builds the confidence they need to take on any challenge.

This episode features a conversation about leadership with Los Angeles Film School President Tammy Elliott. How did we get such a prestigious guest, you might ask? Spoiler alert - she's Hannah's mom! Tammy has built an amazing career as a leader in higher education, and she shared with us some truly amazing nuggets of wisdom about how she got there and what it takes to lead her team with kindness and grace. Girl Scouts is a leadership organization, and we love hearing people's leadership stories. Tammy told us hers, which included a lot of trial and error that led to eventually finding her purpose in a place that allowed her to do what she loves - working with people. She talks about being told "keep doing what you're doing" and having supervisors and colleagues who saw qualities in her that she didn't necessarily see in herself, leading her to take leaps into new positions that challenged her and opened up her perception of her own capabilities. Tammy talked about seeking counsel from people who have your best interest at heart when you're trying to decide whether to take on a new challenge, which means finding people who love you and who you trust to help you make big decisions. We talked about the importance of being thoughtful when making decisions, like taking on a new job or other big life change. One of the insights Tammy shared with us is that being a good leader is about the power of words, the power of kindness, and the power of connection - being strong but kind - and that those are often missing. Her goal when leading people is to seek understanding and deliver the message that she cares about them and is working for and with them. She also keeps her work joyful and tries share that joy with her teams, even though that's sometimes really hard to do. We talked about conflict, and the importance of finding connection and understanding in order to get through it. In a leadership position you often have to make hard decisions and get into those conflict situations, and it can take time to get good at it. One of the main things we wanted to talk to Tammy about is differences between what leadership looks like in women vs. men. She talks about how there is space for both, but that her own style involves bringing thoughtfulness and patience to her work as a leader. We talked through gender roles in our society, and how they pressure us and make it harder to lead like ourselves and find our natural style. Our takeaways: When it comes to growing and developing as a leader, go easy on yourself! Don't feel like you need to be perfect and like you can't make mistakes. Take time and opportunities to grow, and give yourself grace. Tammy left us with a few words to sum up her leadership style: grit, gratitude, grace, and strength. We'll take those with us.   Take care of yourselves, GIRL Talk listeners. We'll talk soon. Reach out to our podcast team at girltalk.girlscoutsrv.org/contact.

For this episode we welcomed Dr. Amanda Doran to the show for a conversation about her unique journey in the field of veterinary medicine. We know a lot of girls are passionate about helping animals and making the world a better place, and Dr. Doran has found a way to do both of those things through her career. We think you'll will be interested in hearing about the way she is able to care for animals and people, and how she recognized her calling. Dr. Doran talks about why she became a veterinarian - she never even considered doing anything else! She shares about her love of her mom's family's dairy farm, how much she cared about animals and helping them, and why she always wanted to be the magical green healing crystal in the game Tales of the Crystals when she was a kid. Dr. Doran started out in general practice, which is what we usually think about when we think about a vet, then got into emergency medicine, then pathology and research, but she wanted something more from her career as a vet and just didn't feel like what she was doing was satisfying or sustainable. Dr. Doran had a personal experience with her own dog that made her realize her real passion, and now she's headed in a new direction working with animal hospice and at-home euthanasia helping animals and their families through end-of-life care. She helps bring comfort and care, pain management, and quality of life to pets that have a terminal illness or are at the end of their lives, while supporting their families and taking into account beliefs and needs. Dr. Doran talks about learning about herself, setting boundaries, and taking a big risk with her life and career. She recognizes that at one point she was hiding from the world, feeling a little defeated and like she had to settle for something that wasn't fulfilling. She talks about finally tuning into what would make her happy and feel like her heart was on fire, and that finding your calling, passion, or gift isn't always easy or obvious. It can be scary and hard! It took a lot of mentors and supports to guide her on her path. She talks about the "hero's journey," like Harry Potter, Frodo, Katniss…and the journey she's on to help pets and their families and ultimately change the face of end-of-life care for animals and people. Science fields aren't just about facts and figures, there's an interpersonal, connected, and very helpful piece that plays into a lot of STEM careers too, especially veterinary medicine. Dr. Doran's experience is so moving, we really appreciate how open and honest she was with us in sharing her personal story. We had so many great takeaways from this conversation, we hope you will too. As always, stay tuned at the end for Would You Rather and Girls Pick. We hope you're all safe and well - see you next time!   Reach out to our podcast team at girltalk.girlscoutsrv.org/contact.

In this episode we're talking with Grace Heneghan. Grace is an expert in the field of wilderness guiding and is passionate about connecting wilderness tripping with gender, feminism, identity, and the environment. Grace talks about how she really didn't have a lot of interest in the outdoors as a kid until she started going on trips with YMCA Camp Widjiwagan, and discovered a love for being in the wilderness even though at times it can be super challenging. She found where she fit in and found out things about herself that she didn't expect. Having these experiences helped her discover things about her own identities in an accepting and supportive space. Grace started going on longer trips and expeditions as a young adult where she was empowered by stretching the limits of her body and mind. She met other women and queer identified people who helped pave the way for her to figure out what she wanted for her future and make college and career choices. We talked about how helpful and even healing it can be for some of us to discover informal learning spaces like those related to outdoor education. Some people fit right into the traditional classroom learning setting and thrive with that structure (like Hannah), while others (like Grace and Idelle) do better in a more informal space where learning is more hands-on, and sometimes even outside! We got to hear about some of Grace's favorite trips - so cool! She told us about some of her own successes and failures, and what it means to have "type 1" or "type 2" fun and the good parts about both. She also talks about how lonely guiding and backcountry travel can be, and why self-care is so important but is so easily ignored. There's a lot of risk that goes into wilderness travel, and Grace talks about how she learned and became proficient in the skills she needed to be safe and keep her groups safe. Like with anything else, it's important to push yourself and take risks to grow, but also to recognize your limits and where you need to learn more or lean on others to be safe and successful. Some things Grace focuses on that can be overlooked or not really talked about enough are being queer in the outdoors, being fat in the outdoors (Grace talks about claiming the word "fat" as an empowering term for herself), being femme in the outdoors, whiteness in the outdoors, and identity politics in the outdoors. She talks about always wearing earrings when she's on a wilderness trip to connect to her femme/feminist queer identities. We also get into social media and representation in the outdoors and how it can often look very white and masculine, and not representative of BIPOC identified folks, people with queer identities, or people with disabilities. This was such a great conversation, we're so grateful for Grace's willingness to share her personal experiences and expert advice. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! A couple of our takeaways - if you're interested in the outdoors, or if you're looking to get started, recognize where you're at in your outdoor journey and be proud of it. If you're new to outdoor activities and travel, start small and close by. If you already have experience, push yourself a little and try something new like taking on a challenging trip at a camp or with a guide, or even working at a camp! Stay tuned at the end for Would You Rather and Girls Pick. Reach out to our team at girltalk.girlscoutsrv.org/contact. During our conversation Grace shares her strategy for curating a social media feed that's empowering and not isolating. Here’s a list of Instagram accounts she follows to find inspiration: @disabledhikers @unlikelyhikers @theventureoutproject @indiginouswomenrising @outthereadventures @brownpeoplecamping @indigenousgeotags

In this episode we're talking about creative writing with Maddy Dietz. We've wanted to talk to Maddy for a while now - she's got some interests that we think a lot of listeners will identify with. She's a high school student but is taking college courses, and shows up as a leader in Girl Scouts as part of the Girl Leadership Board and as a founding member of the Press Corps. She's working on building a career as a fiction writer and journalist and has already had a couple of her works published. Maddy can't remember a time when she wasn't writing. Even before she actually learned to read and write, she was telling stories and asking her mom to write them down. It has become more than just a creative outlet, it's her passion and something she's actively pursuing as a career. Maddy writes short stories, is working on a novel, and dabbles in poetry. She loves fiction and science fiction and talks about how she gets lost in creating worlds and characters. If she could, she'd write all the time! We talked with Maddy about how writing helps her personally, but also helps others. She knows how important it is to see yourself reflected in media, and she makes the media she wants to see herself reflected in. She writes characters she identifies with, but also those that she doesn't. She's trying to break some of the science fiction stereotypes of masculine, militaristic white men being the main characters, creating strong but realistic teenage girl characters that are more along the lines of who she'd want to read about. Maddy shared her perspective on the severe lack of teen girls in fiction that are just being teen girls. They're either very childish, or super mature with unrealistic skills. She took on the task of creating a teenage character who really is a teenage character. She describes it as freeing, and as her favorite character so far. We talked about Maddy and Hannah's shared love for sci-fi and why it speaks to them, like imagining a future where sexism and racism aren't the main story - where our society has moved past those issues. Also, robots and space! We also got into trial and error, inevitable failures that come along with submitting creative writing pieces to publishers, and how Maddy has learned to move past feeling defeated and keep putting her work out there. Maddy works on her writing craft by going to writing camps, joining online sharing and editing communities for young writers, and just working on different types of stories and practicing different styles all the time. What's your passion? How do you work on it? We hope you find Maddy's story inspiring! Check out Maddy's published work in the short story anthology Triangulation: Dark Skies. Her story is titled Why We Endured the Darkness. Here's a resource Maddy asked us to share: The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are a fantastic way for young creators of all skill levels and mediums to become more used to sending their works out into the world! They also have plenty of great scholarships.   Find out more about the show and reach out to our podcast team at GIRLTalk.GirlScoutsRV.org.

In this episode, we took time to hold some space for a conversation about what's going on in our community here in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. We checked in with our friend and former co-host Shanna to talk through what we've been experiencing, feeling, and doing after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25, just a month ago. We got into some tough things like feelings of grief, fear, and anxiety, feeling like we're not doing enough, how we find credible news and deal with social media, and the scary idea of society getting used to seeing violence and how it felt when it was happening around us. We talked about how everything is heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, feeling guilt about not feeling like we’re doing the right things, and how hard it can be for those of us in white bodies to have conversations about racial justice with our white family members and friends who might not be in the same place as us or have the same perspective. We also talked about having to figure out how to avoid toxic messages on social media where we're seeing things like virtue signaling, white people targeting other white friends, and people trying to prove who's the best ally. These posts aren't an effective way to bring each other along on our journey toward racial justice, and can sometimes even bring us in the opposite direction. But through everything that has made us feel sad and disheartened, there’s also a lot of hope for moving forward. We talked about what that means for each of us. If you're looking for ways to help and things to do, you can find anti-racism resources and ways to take action on the Girl Scouts River Valleys Takes Action webpage. Keep listening, learning, and doing, and take care of yourselves and your friends, families, and neighbors.

Hi GIRL Talk listeners. As many of you know, Hannah and I both live in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, where there’s been a lot going on. George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was murdered by police in Minneapolis on Monday, May 25th. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, Minneapolis and St. Paul experienced protests that spread across the country. Our hearts ache for George Floyd’s family and community. While we’re feeling tremendous pain, outrage, fear, and anxiety, this is the time for change. Girl Scouts stand up for what’s right, are courageous in the face of adversity, and work to build better, stronger communities. We urge you to find ways to get involved. Join together with your family, friends, and neighbors to support your community and advocate for what you believe in. We won’t be posting an episode this week. Instead we’d like to take this time to show our support and stand in solidarity with our Black friends, colleagues, and neighbors in a time of increased turmoil and injustice. Take care of yourselves and your friends, families, and neighborhoods. We’ll be back soon sharing stories and experiences from strong girls and women. Girl Scouts River Valleys Takes Action resource page

Right now when we're releasing this episode, we're in the midst of changing and challenging times. We recorded our conversation with Keziah Ojika before everything with the COVID-19 pandemic started, but we think you'll find it interesting and maybe a little inspiring. A lot of us are stuck at home, and it might just get you thinking about doing something that lets off some creative steam and allows you to find your voice. Keziah works with us at Girl Scouts, where she is a leader on our ConnectZ team helping deliver culturally specific and relevant programming to girls in places like schools and community centers. We welcomed her to the podcast to talk about having a creative outlet, which for her is creating and editing videos and posting them online. We know there are a lot of girls out there who are interested in – or already are – producing their own videos for platforms like YouTube, or doing other cool, creative things in their free time. Keziah has been creating and producing videos since high school. She got started by making music videos with her family and friends and doing projects for school, finding it to be a way to tell stories and do something fun and interesting. It takes a lot of time and effort to edit videos, but that's the part she likes - figuring out how to tell a story and going through the challenge of using effects to make the idea in her head happen on the screen. When she started out, YouTube and vlogging weren't a thing, she just knew she loved making videos. It was a way to share her experiences, adding drama and expressing the essence of things going on in her life. She pretty much just figured it out by trying things, using relatively inexpensive equipment and getting her stories out there. Keziah has always been behind the camera, but now has a YouTube channel and has turned the camera on herself, using it as kind of a video journal of her life and experiences, which is a new and brave endeavor for her. We get into how it feels to be vulnerable and have her own personal story published online, what it's like to interact with people in the comments on her videos, and how she deals with negativity. Keziah shares with us how she tried to go to film school but had what you might classify as an "epic fail" - but she bounced back and figured out how to transition her passion for filmmaking to more of a creative outlet rather than a career, still in a way that felt worth it. We talk about times she's connected with people online through her YouTube channel who have had similar life and family experiences to her, and how that gives her the energy to keep going even when it's hard and maybe doesn’t seem worth i Our takeaways: It's good to have a creative outlet, to create just for creation's sake. It can be therapeutic and beneficial to your well-being. That could be making music, writing, doing makeup or hair, painting, drawing, making videos or other media content, whatever you enjoy. Keziah has a mantra: perfection is the enemy of progress. Think about that, is there anything in your life it applies to? As long as you know why you're doing something like creating videos, art, music - that's all that really matters, even if it can be hard to keep it going. Find something that makes you feel good! Stay tuned at the end for Would You Rather and Girls Pick, and reach out to us with your comments and ideas at girltalk.girlscoutsrv.org/contact. Stay safe and healthy!

Right now when we’re releasing this episode we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and things are changing around us all the time. We recorded it a while ago before this all started, but we think you’ll still find a lot that’s relevant to what’s going on and how people are talking about it. We hope you’re safe and healthy, and that you enjoy our conversation with Julia. We asked our friend and colleague Julia Burkstaller to join us as a subject matter expert to talk about how to get through tough conversations and situations that girls, and really all of us, get into with our friends, family, people at school and work, and social media communities about politics and other polarizing topics. Julia is the Advocacy and Development Manager at Girl Scouts and has a lot of expertise and experience in talking to people who have different views. She joined us to provide some tools to help get us through these situations with our relationships and mental health intact. We acknowledge that the topics and tools covered in this episode are really hard! When we say that a topic is polarizing, we're talking about things that tend to push people onto very separate sides with different beliefs and points of view. We know a lot of girls go through this, and it can be really stressful and bring up a lot of emotions. Julia helped us understand that a lot of times the main issue is that we're dealing with a binary, or false dichotomy. What that means is sort of a fake choice, where you're only offered two options when really there are many different opinions and ways of thinking about something, including a middle area where you understand and agree with parts of both sides. We're here to tell you that there's really no "right" side in these types of issues - it's all about your lived experience, and the values and beliefs of your family and close community. We talked with Julia about the idea of getting involved in the culture of outrage we often see on TV and online, which can contribute to keeping us separate and angry at each other. News outlets with biased reporting and negative social media comments can contribute to that outrage and stir things up in a way that can drain your energy and make you feel angry and anxious. Try to be aware of when this is happening, and find ways to stay positive and keep yourself out of those negative news spirals. Getting all of your news and information about local, national, and world issues from celebrities and other public figures on social media can be a little dangerous - it's important to find trusted sources to help you form your own opinions and know what you stand for. But you don't have to know everything about everything, that would be overwhelming! Figure out which issues you feel strongly about and focus on those. Julia talks about not necessarily having to have a strong opinion about everything, but being open to listening to people's stories and using empathy to come to conclusions. Something else we talked about is how our opinions about these big topics and issues can be tied to our identity, which is what makes it so hard to not feel like we're being attacked or feed into the outrage culture. But there are some things we can do to help us find connection and a little more peace instead of outrage and anger. Here are some tools we took away from our conversation: Empathy: This is feeling someone's emotions, passion, or pain and recognizing their experience. Not dehumanizing another person: This means not bringing someone down from a human level, which can fuel hatred. Ask questions! Find out where the other person is coming from and have a dialogue. Doing an energy check: Are you in a good place to approach a hard conversation without negativity or picking a fight? Even just having a bad day can contribute to hurting a relationship when you're having these polarizing...

In this episode we’re talking about hair. Now, before you jump to any conclusions about this topic and maybe skip this episode because you’re not into talking about hair, we’re not talking tips and tricks for teasing the perfect curls or how to get out of your house in the morning with the perfect hairstyle in less than 30 minutes; we’re talking about our hair journeys. How we feel about our hair, stereotypes that are out there for girls and women, and how our hair ties to our identity. This is also our last episode with our co-host Shanna, who got a new job and is moving on to do other great things. We’re going to miss her a ton, but we wish her well! We’ll be talking about our relationship with our hair. Shanna talks about how her hair routine is like a workout – it makes her feel good but is a lot of work and is kind of the boss of her, and Idelle shares her experience both as a girl and now as an adult navigating the world with short hair paired with her androgynous style. We get into Shanna’s journey from perming and straightening her hair to letting it grow naturally. This is partly because she wants to try something new that’s better for her hair’s health in general, but it’s also to connect with her cultural identity as a black woman. Shanna shares that this isn’t always easy – there are barriers for African American girls and women, like being accepted at school or in their workplace and being seen as fitting into the dominant culture. She talks about experiences with societal pressures and microaggressions or times she’s been singled out in school, workplaces, and other communities, including people touching her hair in public without asking. Idelle talks about having short hair for her whole life. She shares that she’s only herself when she has short hair, but it’s not always easy. Even though she loves having short hair and it’s such an important part of her identity, Idelle shares her experiences with being mis-gendered in bathrooms, feeling uncomfortable in certain spaces, and having to be conscious of how she’s presenting in those spaces in order to feel safe or just not be noticed. It’s not all negative – Idelle talks about the comfort she feels with her friends and family and in her workplace, and when she’s out in the gay community with other people who identify as LGBT and share some of the same life experiences. It’s about identity, how you show up in different spaces, and how you’re allowed to show up. Shanna and Idelle both talk about the importance of finding the right stylist who makes them feel comfortable, powerful, and connected by helping them show up as their full selves in the world, as well as finding safe spaces and people who they feel solidarity with. How do you feel about your hair? Maybe you feel some connections to Shanna or Idelle’s stories, or maybe your journey is totally different. Think about it! Stay tuned at the end for our segments Girls Pick and Would You Rather 😊 Don’t forget to subscribe, rate us, and share with a friend! Want to connect? Reach out to our team at girltalk.girlscoutsrv.org/contact.