Transcript:  “Finding Space and Making a Difference in Richland County” – with Jessica Hiser – S2 E3

TRANSCRIPT:

CLINT: Welcome to Season Two of the workforce Pulse. My name is Clint Knight, Director of Workforce Development here at the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development. Here in season two, we’re going to hear stories from individuals who live, work, and play here in Richland County, and we’re excited to share those stories with you. The message here is that there is space for everyone here in Richland County. We’re going to hear their stories of how they’ve found their space, how they’ve created their space, and how they’ve discovered space for the things that they love to do, the things that they wanted to do, and the families and opportunities that they wanted to create. Make sure that you subscribe and follow Workforce Pulse so you can hear each of these stories as they come out here over the coming month.

So, we’re here in the studio on the Workforce Pulse Podcast in Season 2 with Jessica Hiser. We appreciate you coming in and talking to us again. You were on Season One with us when you talked about marketing your jobs and your company to job seekers and how that has changed, so if you’re listening and you’re just tuning into the Workforce Pulse Podcast, make sure you go back to Season One and listen to those episodes.

But today, we’re here to talk about something different. You’re not originally from Richland County, and here in Season 2, we’re talking about stories of individuals who have landed here or who have left and come back, who have grown up here and how they’ve thrived. You’re one of those who did not grow up here, but you landed here and I’m excited to talk to you about that.

JESSICA: Thank you, Clint. Thanks for having me back. I am excited to be here again in the hot seat.

CLINT: Yes, so you’re originally, not even from Ohio, right?

JESSICA: No, no, so I was born in Laredo, TX, right on the Texas-Mexican border and when I was about three years old, my family moved to Jackson, MI. I lived in Michigan for many years. I like to think Jackson is very similar to Richland County. We also had the state penitentiary there. They have a racetrack. They have a balloon festival, so when you compare where I grew up to Richland County, it was pretty similar, other than it was that state up north.

I will say, my dad was raised in the Hocking Hills, so we were raised Buckeyes in Michigan, which in the 80s and 90s was not a fun position to be in. So, I’m happy to be living in Ohio, where at least for the last well, last year excluded 2021, we’ve been the winning football team, but that’s not the question you asked.

You asked how I got here. So, I went to College in Indiana, Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, IN. I went a victory lap, went five years to complete college and in the last semester of my last year, I met my husband who is from Richland County. He graduated from Lexington High School and his parents owned a bed and breakfast out by the racetrack. So, he’s like, “hey, do you want to come to Mansfield?” And I was like, I’ve never been to Mansfield before, but sure I’ll check it out and that was about 12 years ago, so.

CLINT: So, you referenced the racetrack, there you’re talking about Mid-Ohio race car course outside of Lexington. So that’s a familiar story. You know I talked to a lot of people who went to college, met someone, ended up getting married and relocating to Richland County because of their spouse, or their significant other grew up here and they wanted to come home. That’s exactly how I ended up here. It’s a common story, because people who leave want to come back, right?

JESSICA: Yeah, and I mean there are a lot of turns and curves along the way. I spent a summer in Chicago, I spent a summer in Florida, so I experienced different areas. I lived in different areas, and I think how similar Richland County and Mansfield was to what I understood as home and where I grew up, it was easy to say, yeah, I spread my wings, I lived in a major city. I lived in the South. I’m ready to well, if you consider Florida the South, I’m ready to kind of settle down and it was comfortable here. There were things that I realized when I was living in a major city that I was like, you know, I don’t really know if this is the pace I want to be at, getting groceries just for the day or dealing with parking and those little nuances that you don’t really consider until you’re knee deep in it, and then you really miss the things that you’re used to or the conveniences that we have here.

CLINT: So, I want to go back to your college experience. We talked a little bit previously about your major course of study, your degree, and so a public relations degree, when you were in college, where did you see yourself landing?

JESSICA: I honestly had no idea, no clue where I would end up. I was one of those kind of just fly by my seat. I was driven and I had goals, but I wasn’t super specific. So, I kind of always thought, well, the opportunities will come to me and I’ve always been one where I get out of anything that I put in. So, I give everything my best effort, and if at the end of the day it’s something I’m proud of and it’s something I want to continue, then it’s sort of just comes in my path, if that makes sense. So, I knew I wanted to do something with public relations and communications. I was a talker growing up, I got in trouble a lot for talking, so I thought, why not get paid to do that for a living? So that’s kind of what led me to the communications field to begin with, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with public relations or communications or marketing. I just sort of let the opportunities find me.

CLINT: So, you weren’t necessarily geographically driven by career.

JESSICA: No, not at all.

CLINT: So, when you were in college, where did you see yourself living when you were done? What was in your mind the next step? You ended up in Chicago, right?

JESSICA: Right.

CLINT: So, it was metropolitan area, that’s what you were doing no matter what.

JESSICA:  I think I was going to chase the first job opportunity that I found. I graduated in the recession though, so those job opportunities at the time were few and far between. I ended up moving back to the Michigan area where I grew up and nannied for several months, just applying to any job I could find, and the first one that called me back was a opportunity in Cleveland for social media manager for a media buying firm. So, we ran social media pages for Montrose Auto Group, Serpentini Chevrolet, Discount Drug Mart, very, very early business social media pages. This was when you still had to like a page and friend them. It wasn’t just like following it, so very archaic. Nobody really knew how to manage it as a business. We were just putting out information and it was like, OK, I guess we’ll see where this lands and it really didn’t land. We’ve learned, and thankfully social media has adapted with the times.

It was sort of like, OK, I’ll try Cleveland. So, I actually lived in North Royalton for about six months, and I hated it. I found myself in Mansfield every weekend that I could granted my boyfriend at the time, my now husband was here, so that was a bit of, of you know, pulling me this direction, but still it was. I thought oh this is going to be great. I’m a very personable and easygoing individual. I’m going to make friends and it wasn’t easy. It was hard and I connected as best I could. I went to different events. I tried to plug myself in and I just couldn’t meet people there.

Here, I got to know the individuals at the coffee shop by name. I got plugged into a group that was my age. We lived in these beautiful historic apartments that we would have never been able to afford if that were in a major city, and I found a community here and I tried to do that in North Royalton, and I tried to do that in Chicago, and it wasn’t the same.

CLINT: So, you had a tie here at a relationship here that you were coming back to. So, even when you were living in North Royalton and you were driving in and visiting, was it on your radar to relocate here then? You mentioned that you weren’t connecting very well in Cleveland. Did you start thinking this is the place I want to be? How did that come about.

JESSICA: Yeah, so I ended up moving back to Mansfield and I was working remotely for about 6 more months until the company that I was working for closed and I put my resume on CareerBuilder and Beth DeLaney at Spherion found my resume brought me in for an interview and was like we need somebody to handle this social media thing and can you help? And I was like sure. So, I started that job, but again, I was 24 when I got hired, so I was like this is good for now, but I hadn’t really planted roots yet.

I hate to say this, but it’s sort of like this opportunity and this area grew around me. Instead of me saying this is exactly where I want to land. The more I got involved, the more I grew in my career, the more opportunities that I had to plug in, the sooner I realized I’m not going to get this anywhere else. I started talking to friends that I graduated with, and they would ask, how are you already on these boards? Or wow, you get to do this or you’ve traveled here, or you guys you know your house. How are you guys affording a house like that? It has so much space. I realize what we had here was kind of a bit of magic. Like the opportunities to be plugged in, my career development and growth, and just the cost of living, how close we were to major cities when we wanted to be, It was like the perfect storm of, I think I’m going to stay here.

CLINT: So, I find it interesting that you said that the area, the region kind of grew around you, right? You ended up here by choice, not knowing exactly what you were going to do, and frankly, I mean, I think 10, 11,12 years ago, before I came here, if I’d had a public relations communications degree, I’m not sure I would have thought of this area as a place to be. Now that I’ve been here longer, I know what those opportunities are and it sounds like you kind of had a similar experience. You got here. You landed, you got plugged in.

JESSICA: Right.

CLINT: So let’s talk about that a little bit. When you got here, you got a job. You started working. What were the things that you got involved in that created that connectivity for you that you didn’t find in North Royalton or the Cleveland area.

JESSICA: So, I remember one of the first things that I did in my role was attend some Chamber events and it was, I think the first one I attended was the business administrative luncheon and just kind of realize wow, this is a thing where you can go to lunch and your company will send you and you get to meet other companies. And I thought that was really cool. Granted, this was my first real office job, not remote, and plugging in and networking, so I thought that was really neat.

And then I soon realized I wanted to volunteer. I wasn’t married yet. I didn’t have children yet, so I thought Big Brother Big Sister is what Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring was going by at the time. And I had kind of done a satellite version of that in college, where you had a mentor or mentee for a small window of time while you were a college student, but it wasn’t an ongoing relationship and I thought, you know, I’ve been here now for a year. I’m settled in. I think I would like to do that, so I am still with the little, or the mentee, that I was paired with nine years ago. She was five, almost six when we were matched, and she just turned 15.

CLINT: Not a little anymore.

JESSICA: No, she’s not. But I think there are some awesome opportunities like that to volunteer and get plugged in and to stay involved, and programs like that got me to see. Wow, there’s a lot to do with kids before I had children on my own. I kind of was made aware of different activities that were in the area, movies, Little Buckeye Museum and so on. And then I quickly decided OK, I want to get more plugged in on a professional side. I became a Chamber ambassador, which is a great way to connect with other business individuals, see businesses that are out there, learn what the Chamber does and offers, and then I became a member of RYP. I started on a committee for RYP in marketing, and I soon was promoted, relatively speaking, about a year or two later, promoted to a board member, and I was on the RYP board for about three years and served in that capacity.

So, through those different opportunities and connecting in, I found additional community. I really understood what my role could be, how I could make an impact on boards or within organizations, how I could connect what my company does and what we do at Spherion to help the community, to help clients that we work with and it really kind of came full circle to me.

So, I think just having the ability to get out and get connected, the energy that’s here for boards to say, hey come get involved, we’re wanting to find individuals that are my age you know to be a part of boards and be respected with what we bring to the table and a voice. It’s not like oh you’re new here or you’ll earn your seat. Right out the gate, I’ve always felt like I have a place and that what I have to say and what I have to offer is valuable. And as a female millennial in an older world at times or in a man’s world at times, I felt safe and I felt like those opportunities were laid out for me here. And like I mentioned, I talked to friends who are just now joining their first board or getting involved in some way in their community and I think wow, how cool is it that I’m, you know, a decade in at this point.

CLINT: Yeah, in 10 years you’ve become extremely connected. A lot has happened in the 10 years. I do want to go back and mention, you mentioned RYP, just so we’re clear that’s Richland young Professionals.

JESSICA: Yes, sorry, throwing out acronyms.

CLINT: That’s all right. It’s a great opportunity. It was, you know, a group that I had some involvement in and attended some activities and has been beneficial for a lot of people.

So, over the course of 10 years, you’ve gone from recent college graduate, some career exploration, you landed in Richland County as a new community. You got married. You guys became parents. You became homeowners. You’re still in the career that you landed in when you got here and you got 10 years to explore everything there is to do in Richland County.

If somebody were to tell you there’s nothing to do here, there’s nothing to do in that area. You know that’s a stigma that seems to follow where we grow up right? I mean, I know where I grew up, I would argue still there was not a whole lot for a 22-year-old or an 18-year-old beyond high school. Right? But looking back as an adult, I was just wrong. I didn’t see it. Right? What would you say to someone who is potentially relocating here for a job or maybe coming back against that argument that there’s nothing to do here?

JESSICA: I would first ask them what do you enjoy doing? Because, the reality is, there is something for any kind of activity or hobby in this area. So, if you like being outdoors, we have hiking and it’s year-round. We have beautiful winter hikes. We have Snow Trails right in our backyard, which if you’ve been there recently or you never have come down and check it out, or come up or come over, wherever you’re coming from and check it out. But individuals come from all over Ohio to ski at our Snow Trails, and that’s really, really awesome.

Then I would say, OK, well is it music? Is it the arts? Because Richland County and Mansfield have an amazing art scene. We have an amazing local music scene and a lot of times individuals just don’t really think to look for what’s out there or try something out, but the range of music; in the last couple months, I’ve been to a hip hop show, I’ve been to a heavy metal show, I’ve seen some singer-songwriters perform, and I mean, Clint, you’re familiar with the local music scene. I’ve seen you perform at a patio or two, at a restaurant. I mean, it’s really awesome what’s in our area.

We also have great local art. We have a beautiful Art Center. We have theaters, the Renaissance theater and the Playhouse that are letting individuals from the community be a part of it, as well as bringing talent into our area for these amazing shows. There really is something for whatever your interest is, whatever your hobby is, and I would just challenge to ask you, what is it that you want to do? Come here and check it out and see if you like our scene, because the chances of you getting plugged into that scene, not just experiencing it here is what really makes it magic. You know, in a big city, you can go to a show, you can watch it. But do you get a chance to plan it? Do you get a chance to promote it? Do you get a chance to be a performer? Probably not you do here, which is really cool.

CLINT: That’s the beautiful thing about this area. There’s space for everything. There’s space for exploration, space for art, space for experience, space for outdoors, all of it. And there’s room for anything that you’re interested in, it seems, and one of the most interesting things I’ve seen, or most fascinating things I’ve seen is that if it’s not here, somebody’s gonna create it, right? Because there’s new opportunities and new things happening all the time. New art galleries that are popping up or new organizations that are being created to respond to what people want to do.

JESSICA: Yeah, the energy in our community is really great too. In the last 10 years, I’ve seen a shift of a lot of organizations or groups were taking a concept that was already being done by one group and trying to re-establish it and do it in their own way or put their own spin on it, and in the last few years, it’s really changed where it’s like, hey, this organization is already doing that, why don’t we partner with them? Or why don’t we share a space? Or why don’t we share resources? That’s really making our community more intertwined. It’s making those networking opportunities greater. It’s been really cool to see that shift happen and our community’s heart and kind of soul just come alive, and that foundation grow in the last couple of years. There’s definitely been a shift, at least I felt like there’s been a shift.

CLINT: Absolutely, before we go, I have a couple of other things that I want to talk to you about. I mentioned that over the last ten years or so where you’ve come, and I want to mention the schools, you guys have become parents and you have kids in schools here. I understand that your oldest is attending a pretty cool school here in Richland County.

JESSICA: She is, yes. Our oldest daughter is going into her first-grade year, or will be going into her first-grade year at Spanish Immersion through Mansfield City Schools. So, our area has a lot of great public schools. We have a lot of great charter schools. We have a lot of great private schools, and that’s just within the Richland County area. Mansfield City School District, they have a really, really neat elementary school Spanish Immersion. Well, it’s actually kindergarten through 8th grade. They do exactly what they say. They immerse the kids in Spanish, so teachers are hired and come over contractually from Spanish-speaking countries, they’re learning from native speakers. There’s they are learning to speak and write in Spanish before English, and the students just thrive.

Our daughter, I was a little concerned, you know, we were coming off the tails of a pandemic. She started kindergarten wearing a mask and I thought, “how is she going to learn another language and wearing a mask,” and I had all these fears and things in place, but the reality is, we don’t give kids enough credit for what they’re capable of understanding. We put them within our box and our parameters of understanding. She’s done amazing and is thriving and loves it and doesn’t know any different right? So, she started in kindergarten. To her, that’s what school is. And it’s a really, really neat program. We’re so excited to grow with the school and see what opportunities are out there.

But the reality when we were deciding where to send her, we had a lot of great choices, and it was tough to make that decision. Ultimately, we thought, you know, we can teach her a lot of things based on our interests, but we can’t teach her another language, so we’ll at least get that foundation established, and that’s ultimately how we landed there, but we love the school so far and we have another one that’s going to be coming up in a few years and we’re excited to send her, too.

CLINT: Ya, that’s a blue-ribbon school here in Ohio, and I know lots of parents of students that are there, and it sounds like it’s an incredible experience, and it’s unique. You know. I’m sure there are other Spanish immersion schools, but it was a first for me when I had moved here and I’m married to a Spanish teacher actually, but we have multiple avenues or opportunities for young people to learn in creative ways, whether it’s career tech, when they go to high school or early college credits that they can get before they actually graduate high school. Tons of educational opportunities right here in Richland County.

JESSICA: Yeah, that’s really amazing having the branch out here and North Central State College, so many seniors in our area graduate with an associate’s degree, as well. It’s just so cool that that opportunity is in our backyard. And again, talking to friends and peers and family that live in other states in bigger regions, I tell them about Spanish immersion and they’ve never heard about a concept like that or think, oh gosh, what do you guys pay to send her there? I’m like, it’s free, it is through the public school system, and they can’t believe that. So, it’s really, really neat, the opportunities that we have here.

The accessibility of entertainment, leisure, cost of living, and really, the reality, we’re in a sweet spot of being an hour from two major cities, any airport or concert or big venue that we want it’s within reach, but we have all the benefits of the small town and that’s why I love it. That’s why I’m staying in Richland County. My friends joke when they come to town. I’m like, what do you want to see and you know take them to all the hotspots, of course, Shawshank and the Historic Reformatory and Mount Jeez out at Malabar, some of my favorite places, but I always like to show them the best of Mansfield are places that we call home. I love when I walk in somewhere and someone like hey Jess and they’re like. You know everybody here, and I’m like yeah, that’s the point.

CLINT: Right. That’s the beautiful thing about it. I’ve been able to find everything I want here, but I always tell people that are considering moving here, if you can’t find it here, it’s an hour away.

JESSICA: That’s right, yeah.

CLINT: And you don’t have to deal with the daily metropolitan issues like traffic and all of those things, so it’s a beautiful place to live.

JESSICA: It is. I am so, so grateful, and I thought that too during the pandemic when you thought of cities and individuals that were stuck in small apartments or didn’t have yards or areas to go. I was so grateful where we were located and just having that space to get outside and walk around and being in a community that really cared and supported each other and were painting things on their windows, and you know, leaving books out for kids who are walking by it. It’s just really, really neat when you think of each individual and what they do to make the community better, and like anywhere, but especially here, you’ll get out what you put in. So, I’m not saying, you know it’s going to change your life, it will if you let it, it will if you plug in, it will if you see the opportunities and really everything that it has to offer. So, I recommend you at least come check it out. Or if you haven’t plugged in, go ahead and start because I think you’ll really, your perception will change.

CLINT: Yeah, there’s definitely space here for you to be who you are, and we would love to have it, right?

JESSICA: Yeah, absolutely.

CLINT: Awesome. Jessica, thanks for coming on the Workforce Pulse. We appreciate you coming back here in Season Two.

JESSICA: My pleasure, thanks for having me again.

CLINT: Thanks for listening to the Workforce Pulse Podcast. Make sure you subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so that you can be aware when the next episode is available.