In this engaging episode, host Lorie Jones welcomes Alison Rausch, the dynamic director of government affairs for the Douglas County School District. Alison’s journey is a testament to the power of embracing unexpected opportunities and thriving in the face of change.
Her story highlights the importance of trusting one’s instincts, saying yes to new experiences, and constantly adapting in a rapidly evolving world. Alison’s candid reflections on juggling family commitments while advancing her career offer relatable insights for ambitious women striving to find balance.
You will find inspiration in her fearless approach to life’s challenges and the wisdom she shares from her unconventional path. This episode is a must-listen for growth-oriented women eager to learn from a leader who has mastered the art of resilience and success.
Show Highlights:
- The power of volunteerism in education. [04:07]
- How nonlinear career paths can bring unexpected vocations. [08:23]
- Why an intentional yes to opportunities matters if you’re risk-averse. [11:02]
- The art of assessing advice. [16:23]
- How analytically embracing mistakes enriches you and others. [17:14]
- Are you prepared to go off-script in life’s unanticipated shifts? [22:32]
- Insights on modeling truthful work–life choices to preserve the irreplaceable. [32:36]
- The importance of learning to fail resiliently from school age. [40:02]
To connect with Alison Rausch, please email her at arausch@dcsdk12.org.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review! For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:04.19
Lorie Jones
Good morning, Fairless Females. We are here today with Alison Rausch. She is the Director of Government Affairs for Douglas County School District. Alison, thank you so much for taking your time today to chat with us. I really appreciate it.
00:18.84
Alison
Thank you, I appreciate the invitation.
00:21.71
Lorie Jones
So my first question is my favorite always, and that is, I'm a reader. I love books. What's your favorite?
00:29.67
Alison
You know, I don't really have um favorite favorites, but a recent ah recent favorite um is the women from Kristin Hannah.
00:40.55
Alison
um Really good, ah historical fiction, Vietnam, um nurse.
00:40.89
Lorie Jones
ah
00:47.39
Lorie Jones
Oh, fun.
00:48.24
Alison
Yeah, fascinating, really, really, really well done.
00:50.90
Lorie Jones
Is it is it kind of historically to like, is it an accurate as well?
00:55.37
Alison
i Yes, I mean, ish, I suppose, but yes, yes, it's definitely historical fiction. And just her experience going into the war, and then coming out from a from a woman's perspective, it was just, it was interesting.
01:10.52
Lorie Jones
Oh, that sounds really fascinating.
01:11.53
Alison
Yeah, yeah.
01:11.72
Lorie Jones
Um, my husband loves to give like long discussions about things and he was telling my daughter once about the Vietnam War. So she might be interested in, in hearing or reading maybe an interesting story.
01:25.70
Lorie Jones
because
01:26.13
Alison
Yeah, yeah it's it's it's just really well done. I'm told her other books are as well, so I'm looking forward to reading more of hers.
01:34.07
Lorie Jones
Perfect. So tell me a little bit about your journey. How did you get started? Where did you start? How did you get where you are today and kind of what do you do today?
01:43.17
Alison
I saw this question.
01:43.12
Lorie Jones
Tell me about you.
01:45.29
Alison
this my um My journey has been anything but linear, um which is probably the most.
01:50.30
Lorie Jones
yeah
01:52.41
Alison
we'll talk We'll probably talk about that quite a bit. but um The short answer is that um through my kids going to, when my kids started school, they went to a charter school. I knew nothing about charter schools, um but it was opening and the friends were going and I thought we'd try it. Fell in love. and i sort of grew up in that school, right?
02:17.52
Alison
like yeah As you do, as your kids are um young and that's when you start meeting their friends, parents. um And I got really involved in that charter school, did just about every volunteer job I could, including landing on the board of that charter school, um which I'm still on, that's a whole other conversation.
02:38.36
Lorie Jones
Sure.
02:38.51
Alison
My kids are in their 20s, it's fine. um And really learned about um how charter schools work, how they work within a school district, state law, all the things, and it was fascinating to me. And it was at a time where where um it required, and it didn't require, I decided to step in with some others on educating charter school parents about how the charter school works um and why they should be paying attention to their school board here in Douglas County. So it got me into a volunteer ah mode of
03:14.73
Alison
um educating parents, advocating for charter schools, et cetera. And so I did that for years, just, it was my side, it was my volunteer, civic volunteer ah gig, even as I was working.
03:26.15
Lorie Jones
Uh huh.
03:28.40
Alison
But that ended up leading leading me to running something that we started called the the Alliance for Douglas County Charter Schools, um which then got the attention of the Colorado League of Charter Schools.
03:40.13
Alison
And so they wanted to park that under them um And within a few months, i also it was a halftime job. Within a few months, they hired me for the other time to work with them, trying to do other work through the state at the local level.
03:58.51
Alison
An association like the the League of Charter Schools is very good at the state level, understand what's happening at the Capitol, understands the state law broadly, but what does it look like in each community?
03:58.48
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
04:08.83
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
04:10.58
Alison
um And that really has to come from the community because everyone is so different. So that led me there.
04:15.69
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
04:17.35
Alison
And then and then when this position opened up in 22, spring, summer of 22, it caught my eye and it really it really felt exactly like something I should and could do.
04:31.39
Alison
um It would bring me back into Douglas County, which is my first love and what I understand. And I understand the people and the community. um And so I applied and got it.
04:42.40
Alison
And so I've been doing this coming up on three years.
04:46.51
Lorie Jones
What does the director of government affairs do?
04:49.27
Alison
What is that? um So that the job started with the title, well, up up until this this last fall, ah Director of Parent, Community, and Civic Engagement.
04:50.44
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
05:01.73
Alison
Also confusing. But it really was about, um there's a whole there's a whole subset. It's another acronym in education. They love acronyms.
05:13.38
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
05:13.51
Alison
ah FSCP is Family School Community Partnerships. And so there's a little, sub there's a chunk of my role that involved with that with some other coworkers. um I'm the liaison to our state lobbyist. And so um right now, and this this this time period every single year, um that is always a water hose, a fire hose of of information and craziness. And it's fascinating.
05:40.13
Alison
Um, so that's a lot of my job from January through May. Um, and then also just, just, um, fostering the relationships we have with our local electeds, our, um, state electeds, our chambers, um, all of that, because we are, we are an integral part of Douglas County period. Um, and, and we've had relationships.
06:07.02
Alison
But it's hard for everybody else. my I have the luxury of not running anything else. I don't run any i don't have people. i don't I don't run something in particular within the district. I have the time and the luxury and and the privilege to be able to foster those relationships. And so it has been really fun and and really impactful for for everything we need to get out and be able to communicate about Douglas County School District.
06:32.74
Lorie Jones
So it sounds like you kind of fell into this role.
06:36.29
Alison
Yes.
06:39.54
Lorie Jones
What did you want to originally be? Because you didn't go to school to be director of government of affairs, right?
06:44.82
Alison
I did not. I i got an economics degree.
06:48.70
Lorie Jones
Oh.
06:49.81
Alison
I don't highly recommend that unless you think you're going to be a professor of economics.
06:53.46
Lorie Jones
Oh.
06:55.89
Alison
like And so I got out of school and had this, you know it's a be it's a bachelor of science, but it was a liberal arts degree and and with no real direction.
07:07.94
Alison
um and um tried interviewing and just, it was, it was frustrating, needed a job. I went to a, um, I went to a temp agency and just cause I needed something while I was, while I was doing that. And I ended up, I was supposed to answer phones for a week at this builder developer in, I was in California in the South Bay in the San Jose area. Um, and I ended up staying with that company for like seven years. So, um,
07:38.75
Alison
That seems to be a little bit of the story of my career. My life is just, um, falling into things. And so I, I fell in love there. I fell in love with the people and, and they, um, apparently liked me. And so I learned all things. I was in their loan and escrow department, had no idea, no clue, learned that from the inside out, ended up being a sales person for this builder.
08:04.57
Alison
um which was a pretty coveted job, and so um I took that. It was a great opportunity and enjoyed that, but no idea. Had no clue where where that would leave me.
08:18.25
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah. yeah and the But it sounds like even if you didn't exactly know where you were going to end up and you sort of fell into certain positions, you really kind of magnified them. You know, like you grew in that position and made you like, like just sucked the marrow out of like every last piece of thing that you could do to to grow that situation.
08:31.19
Alison
No.
08:41.30
Lorie Jones
You really, you seem to magnify it.
08:44.23
Alison
i ah' I appreciate that. That's an interesting way to to look at it. i um Yeah, it was a great place to be. So I think you know there's there's always a little luck on on where you land. It was some really good people um who allowed me to just learn. I i love learning how things work. um that's why i'm in That's why I'm in leadership Douglas County. I'm fascinated by by how things work and and then making sure you're doing it well.
09:11.88
Alison
um So yeah, yeah, and then again, the opportunity to go out into the sales field came out of out of nowhere, um but it was a great experience.
09:22.68
Lorie Jones
So tell me, if there's a thing that you've invested in, the best investment that you've made in yourself, was there some something that you can kind of look back on and say, oh my goodness, if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't be where I'm at today?
09:38.49
Alison
You know, I don't think there's one thing, but I do think saying yes, right? and And taking advantage of opportunities when they come. run My husband and I were looking to leave leave the Bay Area and and get out of California at the time um when I had the the offer, the opportunity to go out into the sales field. And he's he's always been in in sales and in another industry. And I thought, oh, we can't we can't we can't not go. He's like,
10:14.29
Alison
No, you you have to you have to do this, which i which was awesome. um And he was right, because it was just it was something it was something I never would have applied for. I never thought I should be in a sales field. um I'm still not sure. i was i was I was certainly not the best technical salesperson we had. um But I knew how to um work with people, take care of people, take care of the company I work for and be responsible um and just manage those relationships. So that ended up being something I loved as well. But I never would have i never would have pursued that in in a million years. So I think saying yes.
10:56.29
Lorie Jones
Hmm. That's a really good point too. Like just saying yes, when those opportunities come into your, your sphere and say, ah again, it kind of goes back to being just a little bit fearless.
11:03.21
Alison
Yeah.
11:07.36
Lorie Jones
You're like, well, I don't know if I can do this, but I'm going to try.
11:12.07
Alison
Totally, totally. And i i I suppose now I would consider myself um in the fearless realm, but once upon a time for sure not, I was very risk averse, didn't feel like I had, I had confidence, but not, I wasn't going to step out of my comfort zone. And so it it typically required somebody saying, you should do this or you should try this. um And then this is the other piece, and i always i talk to my I've got a 24-year-old daughter and a 22-year-old son. um But you know my first thought when it was offered, I'm like, I can't do that. I don't know this. And then and I still do that. And then i I looked at the people. i knew I knew the people who were in our sales force. And they were amazing. And yet, I'm like, if they can do that, I can do that.
12:04.14
Alison
not to take away from any, some of them had, you know, decades of experience.
12:04.32
Lorie Jones
but
12:09.78
Alison
And yet I had talked to them and got to know them. I'm like, I can figure this out.
12:13.76
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
12:14.07
Alison
um And so I think I still do that today. Like if they can, I can do that.
12:20.35
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I love that. I had a guest once that said that everything is figure outable.
12:25.00
Alison
That.
12:25.37
Lorie Jones
And i I'm like, Yeah, oh, yeah.
12:27.74
Alison
That.
12:27.76
Lorie Jones
She's like, there's a book, there's a someone you can talk to, like take four people out to coffee and say, how do I do this?
12:35.71
Alison
Totally. you know I had a class, i I'll date myself, but I had a a word processing class in in college early on. um Computers were new. um And I remember the teacher saying, look, I'm teaching you these things. I don't expect you to remember all these details. But I want you to know that these are there and that you can always figure it out. like Just understand how this works. And it was like, it wasn't even a word. I don't know what it was. but That's how i I approached technology from that from that day forward.
13:10.11
Alison
um like I know it's in here. And and you can't oh and she also said, you can't you can't screw it up.
13:14.01
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
13:14.77
Alison
You can't break it. like just Just try. just Just poke around in there and try. um And so yeah, I agree. That's that's been a ah philosophy of mine as well.
13:25.90
Lorie Jones
Did you ever get any really bad advice or what's the worst advice you've ever gotten? And did you did you take it? Did you leave it? What'd you learn?
13:35.86
Alison
can't I can't think of any bad advice. I'm quite sure I have. um I suspect I didn't take it. um I've had a pretty good um trust in my own gut for a long time, probably. just It's just something I have always have always had, whether I understood it or not, um and then had quality people around me.
14:05.55
Alison
But yeah, I don't think so. I think that's another piece too, is just to really learn early. It's so hard to get the voices out of your head and just really listen to your to your intuition and your gut. I tell that to my kids as well over and over.
14:23.40
Lorie Jones
Well, and it sounds like you, you had some good people around you as well.
14:27.18
Alison
You know?
14:27.84
Lorie Jones
So like, if you, if you maybe filter out the bad advice and, and kind of surround yourself with people that your get says are good.
14:37.10
Alison
yeah
14:37.74
Lorie Jones
You know, and they're giving you good feedback. Maybe you just didn't notice it because it didn't, you know.
14:44.54
Alison
Yeah, i like yeah i i can't I just can't think of anything or anyone. i Yeah, i i do I do think my discernment's been pretty good even even when I was young. Again, not maybe even fully understanding what that was um and taking what what sounded right.
15:05.21
Alison
and and ditching the rest.
15:09.34
Lorie Jones
That's good.
15:09.67
Alison
Yeah.
15:09.89
Lorie Jones
That's a really good way to filter out um maybe things that could get you derailed.
15:12.54
Alison
yeah
15:15.63
Lorie Jones
um You don't listen to all the voices. You just listen to the voices that are telling you things that are resonating with you or that are feeling right.
15:23.27
Alison
Yeah, yeah, I try. Honestly, most most of my life, for whatever reason, it was people coming to me asking me. I seem to be one of those people where I I hear stories and and have questions asked, I don't know. But I think at the end of the day, it's just trying, I often will advise, it is filtering out the noise, looking at the kernel or the crux of the issue, and you make the right, decision what's the right decision? There's gonna be a right or a couple of right decisions. Sometimes you gotta flip a coin, that's okay.
16:00.87
Alison
But if they're, if it's the right decision, don't listen to the noise and then you go to the next thing and you make that decision. Like don't overwhelm yourself with the what ifs like isolated, um, hard.
16:13.86
Lorie Jones
That's good. Do the next right thing.
16:14.64
Alison
Yeah. Do the next right thing.
16:16.05
Lorie Jones
I like that idea.
16:17.20
Alison
Yeah.
16:18.42
Lorie Jones
So what about things you would do differently? If you could go back and look at a situation, knowing what you know now, is there a situation that you would handle differently?
16:28.34
Alison
Yeah.
16:34.69
Alison
sure I would. um But overall, I don't really, I don't really do regrets. I really believe firmly that even our mistakes, especially our mistakes, um are where we learn.
16:54.62
Alison
And things end up working out for the, but like like things work out the way they're supposed to work out.
17:01.96
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
17:02.61
Alison
um It's not It's not, you know, ah an overt spiritual thing for me. It just seems to be the way. I mean, it just, and and sometimes it takes getting to this point in life, right?
17:15.71
Alison
You can't, you couldn't have told my 25, 30 year old self that. I don't even know if you could have told my 40 year old self that.
17:22.17
Lorie Jones
yeah
17:23.73
Alison
But in hindsight, you see it, right? You see that even the toughest, toughest situations are where you grow the most. um And I'm not sure I'd take them but i'd take them back. In the moment I would have wanted them not to be there for sure, but you see it, you see it in with with hindsight.
17:45.92
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I have some of those like the I call them learning experiences and there are things that I definitely
17:50.02
Alison
Yeah.
17:52.45
Lorie Jones
you know, I learned a lot from the situation and I do things differently going forward. So I do i do see that like maybe you don't regret it, but but is there a situation that you learned a lot from?
18:08.82
Alison
Yeah, um we had a we had our own business. We had it for um almost nine years. um And it was great. It was great. The ultimate learning experience. I did it with my husband. It was really his his passion. We had we had people. it was um And we would have liked it to go to go longer, and it didn't. um And that was hard. um But we did a lot of really good things.
18:37.72
Alison
um and learned a lot of really hard lessons. and And at the end of the day, learned that even the worst thing um outside of course losing losing people, but but um losing that doesn't break you, it doesn't end you, it doesn't define you, it's hard to go through. But again, I mean, I guess I think i think from that period on, like fearless certainly felt feels more appropriate to
19:10.64
Alison
to describe my my life and my approach to things because that didn't that didn't end us.
19:14.32
Lorie Jones
here
19:17.00
Alison
um So I'm not sure how much worse it gets on, on again, outside of losing people.
19:24.07
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah.
19:25.29
Alison
it's it's more lessons than I would have liked. And there are days, to this day, I'm like, okay, who's somebody in my world is supposed to learn a lesson?
19:37.86
Alison
i Can we just get move on with this? like If it's me, okay, I'll try, but come on. I'm tired of learning.
19:44.29
Lorie Jones
I know.
19:45.38
Alison
No more learning today.
19:45.72
Lorie Jones
i I do that. Yeah, I do that. i I do recall experiences where I'm like, what do I need to learn from this situation? Because I want to learn it right now and be on the other side.
19:55.40
Alison
I'm done. Like, let's just, can we just move through this? And if it's not me, it's somebody near me and hurry up, figure it, figure it out. Cause, um, but again, there's just not a day, there's not a day that goes by where you're like, Oh, all right, got it.
20:06.46
Lorie Jones
No.
20:09.95
Lorie Jones
yeah
20:10.34
Alison
I'm gonna do that way again.
20:11.75
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. And it it does that experience. um I was just talking to someone else about that today. The experiences where you fall flat on your face or you don't, the business doesn't you know thrive or continue or something like that.
20:28.96
Alison
yeah
20:30.11
Lorie Jones
like it it it's Those are such hard experiences to be in the middle of. but they also teach you so much. And whether it's for your own benefit later on or for somebody else's, you know, so they don't have to go through it to learn the same lessons you learned.
20:45.79
Alison
Oh, that too. That too, but again, they have to be ready to hear it.
20:47.17
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
20:51.97
Alison
Again, you know, and and when you go back and Gosh, I wish I wish somebody would have told me if they told me I would have said, I got this.
21:00.89
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
21:01.52
Alison
up
21:01.45
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
21:03.83
Alison
First time kindergarten parents like I like I always want to like, it's gonna be okay. I promise everything's okay. But nobody could have told me that. Nobody it's all emotion, right?
21:14.36
Alison
And and um everything so seems just so huge. And
21:19.67
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
21:21.20
Alison
It's that perspective on on priority setting and and and understanding the small stuff that you shouldn't sweat, but it's all like you don't know.
21:33.69
Alison
You just don't know.
21:33.97
Lorie Jones
yeah Yeah, you don't, you don't.
21:36.15
Alison
No.
21:36.60
Lorie Jones
And and I do, you know, i I do hope that those that are listening to the podcast will glean some glimmer of ah experience or, you know, whatever from what we're kind of explaining.
21:53.60
Lorie Jones
But yeah, sometimes you do have to kind of go through it.
21:57.26
Alison
Yeah.
21:57.20
Lorie Jones
um Hopefully, hopefully, maybe they'll do it better.
22:02.02
Alison
I hope so. It's hard to watch people do the same thing.
22:03.56
Lorie Jones
it
22:05.15
Alison
You're like, I told you not to do that. It's but it's how we learn as humans. We're so, we're so flawed and that's how we have to learn.
22:13.54
Lorie Jones
but um What about if you could go back and talk to yourself just to the beginning of your journey? 20, 21, 18, 19, somewhere in that area, what would you tell you?
22:23.90
Alison
No. Yeah.
22:28.62
Alison
You know, I think just enjoy the ride. It is not going to be anything like you expect. um And I think I was able to, but there were moments, like, this is not what I'm supposed to do. Like, if you live in that world, if you if you think you've got a plan for your whole life, um I hate to tell you. I mean, some might work out that way, but I don't think most do.
22:55.70
Alison
um and That's actually something again, I've got a, I've got early, early twenties kids and I'm watching them, but even some of their friends who are just like, I'm going to do this and then I'm going to do this and then I'm going to do that.
23:09.54
Alison
And I'm going to have two kids buy, you know, the whole thing. I'm like, okay, great.
23:14.25
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
23:15.20
Alison
Um, I hope you're prepared, um, for all of the shifts and jives and, and pivots that life is going to hand you. Cause I worry about those who are so so structured and,
23:28.12
Alison
think they know what their life is going to look like because that's going to be a tough lesson to learn. That's going to be, that's going to be a hard one. Um, so yeah, I, yeah.
23:40.89
Alison
Um, I think I did handle the shifts and jives and pivots pretty well. Um, but I would, I would just say it's all right.
23:49.49
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
23:49.74
Alison
Trust your gut and keep, keep going.
23:53.34
Lorie Jones
I think that's a ah really interesting point, too, is just that like you can have it planned. And it's good to have goals, right? And it's good to have a plan and all of that sort of stuff.
24:00.42
Alison
Totally.
24:02.88
Lorie Jones
But you have to leave a little leeway for the universe. And for if you if you don't if you have it so structured, you might miss some of those those opportunities coming in.
24:13.05
Alison
Those opportunities that you should say yes to, those doors that open along your along that hallway that you think you're heading straight. um The doors are interesting.
24:24.78
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
24:25.05
Alison
And nothing's forever. Try it. Try it. Um, timelines, you know, where you should be graduated by a certain time. You should have this career by a certain... Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter.
24:39.12
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. And I do think that our young folks nowadays so are, they're given this, like, there's only one right way to success. You know, there's only one path to do.
24:48.10
Alison
Yeah.
24:50.85
Lorie Jones
you do this and then you do this and you do this. and they're And they're told pretty much from the time, if my kids are an example, from the time they're like middle school age, you know, like you have to you have to have your extracurriculars, you need to be in sports, you've got to, you know, and then you get into an Ivy League and then you have a great career.
25:00.37
Alison
Yeah.
25:10.16
Lorie Jones
And there are so many different paths that you can take and so many different ways to get to where you want to go that, yeah,
25:17.51
Alison
So many. you can't You should never let any of that make you believe that you can't. i again, my kids and one in particular was applying to lots of colleges. And I mean, she would have liked to be in on the beach in California. I said, well, um, so, and she ended up at KU and loved it. And I just firmly believe like you just, wherever you are, take advantage. There will be ample opportunity wherever you are. Um, and, and she did, she,
25:54.72
Alison
She connected with the right groups and and competitions and you know professors and advisors. And um it's about networking. And it's about meeting people. And again, saying yes to the opportunities if you put yourself out there.
26:13.91
Lorie Jones
What scared you the most when you started your journey? And does it still scare you or not as much?
26:19.91
Alison
Probably. So again, when you say fearless, like I feel like i I'm almost fear-based, but but certainly not like I was when I was younger. And and it was it was, I don't know, I don't know what I'm doing. Oh, that's the other thing. Turns out nobody really, nobody totally knows what they're doing. And the adults are winging it. Like if I told my 20, but I don't know, should we really tell 20 year olds that the the the the the generation ahead are winging it? Like ah that might be a little scary.
26:51.92
Alison
So that's also something you learn. Like, oh, I'm not the only one winging this. I'm not the only one trying to figure things out as I go. um And so I think that's what started. I thought I thought you'd get, you know, you get a degree and you get into the into your whatever career and like, you know exactly what you were doing. You'd have it all together.
27:12.49
Alison
I have never had it all together. I try not to let everyone see what, i you know, I don't have it together.
27:18.39
Lorie Jones
ah
27:19.26
Alison
I try to portray myself as together as possible, but that's not a thing.
27:25.14
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
27:25.51
Alison
That is not a thing. We are always figuring things out and and every career and every industry is ever changing ound and you've got to be adaptable.
27:39.10
Lorie Jones
Well, and especially like with the the speed of technology or the speed of change, you know, like you may make a case for a couple generations ahead of us where they, you know, they learned their job and it never changed.
27:55.15
Alison
It didn't change, you're right.
27:56.87
Lorie Jones
But today it it changes weekly, daily, you know, it just, it's,
28:00.09
Alison
It's so much.
28:03.32
Lorie Jones
It's so busy and you have to learn new things and adapt. And I love that you can usually find a tribe wherever you're at that is trying to help you, you know, that will help lift you up and help you adapt and help you um in the areas you're weak and they're strong.
28:13.38
Alison
Yeah. Yes.
28:23.55
Lorie Jones
um That sense of ah if you find the right people, the right place, you find that tribe.
28:30.54
Alison
You do. You do. I agree. um They're almost always there. If you're not finding it and you're in a spot where that's not something where they are, um that should be ah a clue, a red flag, um that perhaps you're not in the right spot because co-workers should be the best part of your job um and having tribe and community. And even if it's outside of your job, but yeah.
28:58.22
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
28:58.57
Alison
If you're not finding that somewhere, that's probably a clue that you should be looking somewhere else.
29:05.85
Lorie Jones
Yeah, because there because I've worked in really great places, where they are so supportive and helpful and and trying, you know, they've got your back, they're trying to help you out.
29:16.23
Alison
Yeah.
29:16.45
Lorie Jones
And so I agree. I'll send if you're not if you don't have that kind of supportive environment, like, maybe go looking for it.
29:25.30
Alison
Yeah, go somewhere else. There's lots of other things to do. Um, can be scary, scary to leave the, the known, right?
29:28.46
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
29:32.18
Lorie Jones
Oh, yeah.
29:32.62
Alison
Um, but I promise there's, there's so many, there's the, the number of opportunities out there are, are crazy insane. And it might be something outside of your, what you thought you were supposed to do.
29:45.78
Alison
And that's okay.
29:47.19
Lorie Jones
Maybe you turn into a salesman without but actually running it.
29:50.14
Alison
Without any training, no training.
29:51.67
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah.
29:54.22
Alison
We literally threw me out with no training. I'm like, what? I'm doing what? But I had people. I had people to call. I'm like, what on earth do I do with this?
30:05.20
Alison
um and And it was my boss, my then new bosses, job you know, philosophy, like jump in, good luck.
30:14.13
Lorie Jones
i know
30:14.32
Alison
Oh my gosh.
30:15.82
Lorie Jones
Well, and I think too that as you get on the other side of that, you know, you show a good example of like lifting and helping those that are coming behind, right?
30:16.04
Alison
Anyway.
30:25.79
Lorie Jones
You had some help maybe figuring it out and, and you're willing to pay that, pay that forwards to somebody else who's coming up.
30:26.05
Alison
Yeah. Portally.
30:33.75
Lorie Jones
And I've, I've noticed that too, that you, that we're pretty, we're pretty willing and open to like answer questions, have a coffee with someone, tell them about our experience, see if we can help out a little bit.
30:47.17
Alison
Oh yeah.
30:49.79
Alison
Oh yeah. Yeah, I love that. I, you know, it's not something I do super purposefully. Probably should put a little more, lean into that a little more, but I love doing it when I can.
31:00.34
Lorie Jones
Sometimes we just need to be asked. I'll give you that. Yeah.
31:02.90
Alison
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, Oh, you want to hear what I have to say? All right. I'll tell you.
31:06.62
Lorie Jones
Yeah, exactly.
31:07.74
Alison
I do have opinions. I usually have an opinion.
31:12.64
Lorie Jones
Yeah, me too. My husband tells me that all the time.
31:13.41
Alison
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
31:17.24
Lorie Jones
So did you face any unique challenges along your journey because you were a woman?
31:24.44
Alison
You know, um I think some of the classic ones, i um ah balancing family, um i don't I never found being a woman to be a hindrance for for career, work, relationships, ever, ever, ever. um So i I don't know if that was a mindset com combined with being in really good places, but that was just never going to be a thing for me.
31:53.42
Alison
um But certainly balance. I assumed I would go back to work after having kids. And I had a little mini mental breakdown when it was time to make that decision. And I'm like, I cannot. I cannot. And and that was fascinating to me. um So I did stay home until my youngest. It was wasn't that long that I went back to work part time when my youngest was wrapping up kindergarten um so that I could be around. And and the job I got was part time and flexible. And again, it was an opportunity to do something. I helped a friend who was starting her own dental office. Like she'd been with a group and she was going to go off on her own and she needed a front office sort of person. um I'm like,
32:41.53
Alison
I don't know anything about it, but I can learn it. And, and she's like, yeah, you can. And so that was, that's a whole other like rabbit trail.
32:50.93
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
32:51.06
Alison
Um, it didn't lead me to do anything else in that industry, but of course I had, of course I learned things cause it was completely new. Um, and met some, some lifelong friends and so you know, love it.
33:05.61
Alison
um And it worked for me in the moment. So yeah, again, saying saying yes.
33:13.73
Lorie Jones
So, so talk to me a little bit about the, it's just the decision to not go back to work because I, ah so you were working, you quit to have, you know, on like a regular three weeks, six week maternity leave or something like that.
33:31.67
Alison
Yeah, I was in my maternity leave. I couldn't even tell you the the week, and but it was getting closer and closer. And my boss was asking, and this was this was when I was out in the sales field. um And it was just this overwhelming emotional, like, I cannot, I cannot.
33:47.30
Alison
This is what I'm supposed to do.
33:50.58
Alison
This is just me and my experience. I fully support, understand that not everybody has this.
33:52.43
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
33:57.02
Alison
I didn't expect it from myself. Um, and my husband and I were, we're sort of adjusting our lives where he might be home a little bit more. Um, and so I, um, my boss was like, well, can I do a part-time job, like a halftime, which was not a thing. I mean, I was so appreciative. It was not a thing, uh, for this, this, this company. Um, and I thought about it for a second and then I was just like, no, I can't, I can't, I can't.
34:29.39
Alison
no I can't. I don't even know what to say. And I know i was in in tears on a phone call with him, which is not something I do. um And it was crazy.
34:37.63
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
34:38.61
Alison
it was yeah I'm sure it was all hormonal. But it was just something.
34:41.82
Lorie Jones
Oh, I've been there.
34:47.12
Alison
It was so clear to me. like no i i And I didn't understand how short of a time, as you now know. It really truly is.
34:54.37
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
34:55.51
Alison
It feels so long.
34:57.05
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
34:57.25
Alison
um And I'm grateful I did it did it. Did it put us back financially? Yeah, cool, yeah, did. But it was something that was really that important um to me. And my husband's job was super, he was in in retail sales, ah current car business. um And so he had really weird hours and all over the place. And there was gonna be no way of,
35:23.26
Alison
of truly 50-50 partnering.
35:24.49
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
35:25.66
Alison
They're just, that was our life.
35:27.03
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
35:27.59
Alison
and And that's okay. And like, what does that even look like? um Somebody's got to have the flexibility. So, oh yeah.
35:35.86
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. That's, it's really interesting because I, I too stayed home. Um, you know, at the beginning with my, I had five kids, um, but I started when I had the first one and I was at home with them.
35:45.35
Alison
Yeah. Yeah.
35:50.02
Lorie Jones
And I always joke that I like didn't have the money for daycare. And that's true. I didn't have the money for daycare. I don't know how anyone does, but yes.
35:57.24
Alison
And there's that, I don't understand that, yeah.
35:59.16
Lorie Jones
Yeah, but but I also deliberately took time out of the beginning of my career to raise kids.
36:05.81
Alison
Yeah.
36:07.14
Lorie Jones
And I don't regret it, but it does put you behind.
36:07.47
Alison
Yeah.
36:09.97
Lorie Jones
You're making choices, you know?
36:12.27
Alison
That's it, you just have to make those choices.
36:13.09
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
36:16.01
Alison
And I don't know that I, I don't know, it just it just was fascinating to me that that was, my co-worker, I didn't really have a lot of, close peers that had had kids um and had made those decisions.
36:27.60
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
36:31.10
Alison
And I think there were just some assumptions in my head and I hadn't really thought it through. I clearly hadn't thought it through because I had a really strong emotional reaction to it when when push came to shove. um And so again, everybody's just got to do what's what's best for them.
36:47.73
Alison
Yeah.
36:48.56
Lorie Jones
and
36:51.29
Lorie Jones
What is, Alison, what is the thing you are most proud of?
36:57.94
Alison
I think my family, I think the fact that that we did make those decisions and and and sacrificed and in order to to be there for for our kids the way we thought was best. um just Just partnering with with my husband and and my kids. I'm pretty proud of my kids. Certainly proud of stuff I've done individually and it's always been woven in and out. um I think them watching me, their dad, do do our careers the way we did it, which were not was not always easy,
37:33.78
Alison
um and modeling as best we could. Certainly not modeling perfection, but modeling doing the best you can, um which has been fun. It's been fun as my kids, again, are in their early 20s. They have some like moments, you know, when they look back and, um, of course they loved going to that house or that friend's house because, um, you know, parents were letting them do whatever, you know, and, and now, and now it's like, Oh, you wouldn't have let us do that. I'm like, no, I did not. You're welcome. Or you wouldn't, you wouldn't have done that. You didn't do that. I said, Nope, we didn't do that. You're welcome. Um, it you know, cause friction in the moment. Of course.
38:24.86
Alison
especially with my first born. We would lock horns a lot, but um yeah, i'm I'm pretty proud of that. Again, certainly not perfection. And and I think that's healthy because there's no such thing.
38:42.87
Lorie Jones
It doesn't give him an unrealistic expectation. It's going to be hard.
38:46.05
Alison
It's gonna be hard, it's gonna be messy.
38:46.75
Lorie Jones
like Yeah. right
38:49.37
Alison
You're gonna be winging it, you're gonna be barely, barely making it look like you know what you're doing.
38:53.76
Lorie Jones
Making it.
38:56.50
Alison
And that's okay. That's okay. Yeah.
39:00.96
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I do appreciate that example and that idea of an example for our kids to um help them know that the you found balance in your career.
39:14.13
Lorie Jones
you know, that you were able to, um, because, because, yeah, you stayed home for a few years, but in the, in the scheme of things, it was like, what, four, or five, six years, like, yeah.
39:14.99
Alison
Yeah.
39:25.09
Alison
Exactly. Yeah. Six-ish maybe. Six, seven. Yeah.
39:30.21
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
39:30.54
Alison
Yeah.
39:31.48
Lorie Jones
And so you're where you were, you were making it work, working and making your family work.
39:31.56
Alison
um
39:38.77
Lorie Jones
That's hard.
39:40.13
Alison
It is hard. It is. And it will be hard forever. that would be that It will just never not be a thing. And so Don't be bitter about it. Don't be, you know, just sort it out. Just figure it out. it is It is. We are so lucky that we get to be women and moms and and and have it be complicated and figure it out.
40:06.04
Lorie Jones
I love that. I really do love that thought that we are so lucky to be able to have these, you know, these, these things that we have to juggle and adjust because as caretakers or as primary caretakers, a lot of times, you know, we're adjusting to kids or um parents or siblings or pets or, you know, like we, we are always adjusting and, and sometimes we forget how lucky we are to have that opportunity.
40:09.52
Alison
Yeah.
40:20.47
Alison
Yeah.
40:35.14
Alison
Yeah.
40:35.25
Lorie Jones
How grateful, you know?
40:36.70
Alison
Yeah.
40:36.87
Lorie Jones
to
40:37.40
Alison
Yeah. Yeah. I agree.
40:40.65
Lorie Jones
That's a really great way of looking at things.
40:43.06
Alison
Yeah.
40:44.70
Lorie Jones
So any advice for a young lady who's just starting down on this path that you're already successful at? if It's going to be a winding path, apparently, through.
40:54.35
Alison
I, you know, again, I feel like this is just going to be a summary of everything I've just said, but um yeah, just trust your gut.
40:54.61
Lorie Jones
ah
40:58.71
Lorie Jones
on
41:07.23
Alison
Surround yourself with good people.
41:12.76
Alison
Don't sweat the small stuff. The hardest part is knowing what the small stuff is and what the big stuff is.
41:20.59
Alison
And just, you know, again, just make that next right decision, whether that's about your career or or what feels like a crisis in in the middle of a career or just a day to day decision.
41:35.50
Alison
Filter out, filter out the noise, make that right decision and keep moving. Just keep moving forward. Yeah.
41:44.50
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I think that's really valuable if you just keep moving forward and and sometimes you fall and then you got to pick yourself back up.
41:51.94
Alison
You will fall. yeah If you don't, honestly, this is something as, i just as a side note, and and we're working on in the district, we're doing our strategic plan and I've been fortunate enough to listen to some of our consultants and talking. And you know you think about you think about the the valedictorian kid who has figured out exactly how to do everything perfectly in high school. Great, great.
42:20.64
Alison
If you don't learn how to fail, like what does that look like? like What kind of a crash or hard lesson is that? um and And where are they when they' that's happening? I would love for some of those to happen in high school when they're under your under your roof and closest to you, then then halfway across the country somewhere, going off and thinking life is life is easy for me. and I don't think that serves them well. i think
42:49.60
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm.
42:50.40
Alison
this there was a kind There was a conference I was at and the speaker was like, i wish I wish in order to be a valedictorian, they have to have failed at something.
42:54.64
Lorie Jones
no
42:58.32
Alison
Now, I know there's no way to do that and they would they would probably engineer a failure because they're so smart and they know what to do, but but like I get that. I wouldn't have gotten that as i if I was young, but I do now.
43:13.98
Alison
And you've gotta what you just have to walk through it. You have to learn how to fall, get up, walk through it, and be fine. It's gonna be fine.
43:22.35
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
43:23.78
Alison
Yeah.
43:24.67
Lorie Jones
And, and I think that, um, there are people along your path, if you look when you're down, that, that will help you support you, even if all they do is give you a hug when you're crying, you know, they just, they do come out.
43:37.99
Alison
Totally. I mean, yeah, you'll, you'll find your real, you know, your true blues in in those moments as well.
43:45.09
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. But i I like that idea too of like, you have to, you have to fail. You do. It's mandatory. You don't, you can't really be the person who you're meant to become unless you do.
43:59.59
Alison
Exactly. I mean, I suppose you can get through, but yeah, you won't be, you won't be the best you possible. And frankly, I don't know anybody who hasn't had failure somewhere, some way, somehow it's unavoidable.
44:09.42
Lorie Jones
ah
44:11.32
Alison
It's life.
44:11.48
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
44:11.76
Alison
It's how we learn. Um, but it's, it's, it's designed, it's designed to, to help you. It doesn't feel like it in the moment, but but it will.
44:20.43
Lorie Jones
ah
44:20.84
Alison
I will. I promise.
44:23.35
Lorie Jones
Well, I love it. Allison, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us and for our listeners.
44:25.18
Alison
Thank you. This was fun. Thank you.
44:28.98
Lorie Jones
If I have a listener that wants to reach out and just pick your brain and or ask a question, how does she get in touch with you?
44:35.19
Alison
um You are welcome to reach out me. You want me to give ah an email or what's the best way to do that?
44:42.76
Lorie Jones
LinkedIn, email, like how, how's, what's the best way to contact you?
44:46.54
Alison
I'm not good at LinkedIn. I know I should be. I need to have my kids help me set it up. um um I am on Facebook. You can also look me up at at the school district and then Lori's always able to reach me as well.
45:02.15
Alison
But I'm happy to talk to anybody about anything.
45:02.11
Lorie Jones
Okay.
45:03.91
Alison
i love I love learning from others.
45:06.92
Lorie Jones
Yeah, me too. It's one of my favorites.
45:08.29
Alison
Yeah, why don't you do this?
45:08.54
Lorie Jones
So thank you so much for spending some time and sharing your experience.
45:11.30
Alison
Thank you.
45:13.16
Lorie Jones
I've really appreciated it.
45:14.44
Alison
Thank you so much.