WEBVTT

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Hi and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened.

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The podcast that features folks from all walks

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of life telling us of one childhood experience

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and how that event has impacted who they are

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today. I'm your host, Jay Reheck, and like you,

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I've had my share of childhood experiences. Some

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of them were beautiful and great, and some of

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them were actually quite painful. But I'd like

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to think that everything that happened to me

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has impacted who I am today and hopefully made

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me a better person. Tell Me What Happened is

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sponsored by Sideline Ink Publishing, publishers

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of quality books, including Susan Saldar's classic,

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One Little Act of Kindness. Tell Me What Happened

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is also sponsored by LaughSaver .com. Visit LaughSaver

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.com and record your laughter. We'll keep it

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for you now and forever. It's free and your children

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and your grandchildren and your great grandchildren

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.com is going to become an app beginning in the

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middle of June. So look for it on your phones

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and download the app. All right. Well, today

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I have as my guest, a friend of mine, a woman

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I've known for many years, actually, I met her

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through the Chicago teachers pension fund. She's

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been helping out there for many, many years,

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Michelle Holliman. Michelle is a grassroots community

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organizer and volunteer currently serving her

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second term as an elected councilwoman for the

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city of Highland Park. She has 30 years of experience

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in marketing communications with a focus on storytelling,

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editing, and project management. She currently

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serves as the director of communications for

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the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund. Welcome, my

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friend. Michelle Holliman. Oh, Joey, thank you

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so much for that introduction. I am rarely on

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this side of the interview. I'm usually doing

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the other side of the interview. So it was a

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great honor and a special treat for me to be

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here today. And I just want to thank you for

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the opportunity. Thanks for coming on the show,

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Michelle. I need you to keep the pension fund

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flowing for us and going for us. So I don't want

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to take up too much of your time. No, no, no,

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I will only take a few moments. I'll be right

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back to work. I promise. All right. Well, Michelle,

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are you ready to tell your story? I am. I am.

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OK, so I have to say that it was quite a path

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to think of a single story that had an influence

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on my childhood. You know, when you think back

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after all these years, I'm in my 50s, it all

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kind of runs together. But I thought about it

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a lot and I appreciate the opportunity to do

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that. And what I came to. was one day after my

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first day of school in 1974 at Hickory Point

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Elementary. And I came home from school that

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day and I found my mom and I said, Mom, Mom,

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I want to be a Brownie. I saw all the girls at

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school wearing their Brownie uniforms and I'm

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a first grader, but I want to be a Brownie. I

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was so impressed with the hats and the uniforms

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and the badges and all of that. And I just, I

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wanted to be a part of that. And so my mom was

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like, yeah, honey, you know, you're only a first

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grader and there, there's no such thing as a

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first grade Brownie troop. And I was like hysterical,

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but I wanted to be a Brownie mom. I know, I know

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I could do it. I know I'm only in first grade,

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but so my mom did, but you know, all good moms

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do is she settled me down and gave me a cookie

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and said, okay, let me make some calls. And she

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did. And she called the council of Girl Scouts

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the next day and talked to all the people and

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got a handle on it. And Ben came back to me and

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said, well, honey, there is no Girl Scout troop,

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but what I can do is I can start my own." And

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I was like, really? She's like, yes, it would

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be the first first grade troop in the nation

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because they don't do first grade, but I think

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you could handle it. And I was like, yeah, mom,

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that would be awesome. And looking back, what

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I didn't realize at the time is that my parents

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really didn't have the means to go about starting

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something like this. Like my dad was a mechanic

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and my mom stayed home with us and they got by.

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But, you know, it was going to be a little, she

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had to make some investment in this Brownie troupe.

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And so I remember distinctly her going out and

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buying fabric and sewing uniforms for us because

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she couldn't afford to buy them. And she recruited

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a neighbor in the neighborhood and together they

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convinced the school to give them free space

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after school. And they, that was back in the

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days and there was no internet. So there was

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no email going out. So she wrote out little invitations

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and gave them to all the girls in the first grade

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class. and organized our first meeting. And I

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showed up and was so proud of my mom and her

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green uniform with Mrs. Weintraub, her co -leader.

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And we kind of held our breath, hoping that people

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would show because we didn't know what would

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happen. And like 25 girls showed up for our first

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meeting of the Brownie Trail. And I was so excited.

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And every week we would go in our little brown

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uniforms with our little brown caps and our stashes

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and we would earn badges and we'd learn things.

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It was a trip where we had to bring a quarter.

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I think every week we had to pay a quarter. And

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my mom kept very detailed lists, which I'm sure

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she still has all of our attendance lists. But

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it was that energy and enthusiasm that went on

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for like five years. Like what she started then,

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Brownie Trip 138, went on for years and years

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and years. And when I had to think back about

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this assignment, like think back about something

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that was influential, it was that moment that

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I realized And my parents set the example for

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me that when you need something in a community

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to be a part of a community, you have to raise

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your hand sometimes. It's not enough to just

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join and send your kid off to the event or the

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occasion. When there are things that need to

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be done that would enrich your community and

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help build that sense of community, sometimes

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you have to step up and do it. That was the first

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example that I remember from my parents, but

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that example continued to repeat itself throughout

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my life, as both my mother and father became

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very involved in the community from many different

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aspects. My dad, you know, he worked two and

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three jobs to support us, so he was less formal,

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but he was always the person in the neighborhood

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that When the blizzard of 76 hit, he was the

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one out there with his Bronco plowing driveways

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for the elderly folks and doing and helping.

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When the electricity went out, he would run electrical

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cords from his welder to power all the refrigerators

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in the neighborhood so that our food didn't spoil.

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My mom was the PTO person who volunteered and

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helped and assisted with meals on wheels and

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social chairs and did everything she could to

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make sure that her kids were active and engaged

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in our community. And that those lessons, that

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example that they set for us of helping my sister

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and I understand from a young age that to be

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a part of a community, you have to contribute

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to your community. really laid a foundation for

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my future career service and the example that

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I hope to set for our family going forward. That

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was my story. I loved it. I was imagining you

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as a little brownie, I don't know, first grader

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or whatever. Right, with a beanie. But, you know,

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fast forward now to being actually a council

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woman in Highland Park and that you drew the

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connection. You made it very clear about the

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idea of service to a community. And sometimes,

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as you said, sometimes it just means you have

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to step up, not waiting around for somebody who

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went, why doesn't somebody do something? And

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your mother with her energy. Courage and willingness

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to start something that didn't exist before that

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moves me actually because like like you suggested

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She wasn't like wealthy woman who goes. All right.

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Well, let me just hire somebody to get this done

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Exactly. And the whole idea for her is that it

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was totally new. Now, my mom was a teacher, so

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she obviously had skills, and she knew how to

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manage a classroom, and that Brownie troop ran

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like clockwork. But that idea that she was willing

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to tackle something that she didn't know how

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to do, and I get that a lot from people who are

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saying, well, I want to... you know, I'm so upset

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about X or Y, we should do something. It's like,

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yeah, okay, you can do something, right? Take

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an action, circulate a petition, make your voice

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known, go to a council meeting, speak out. There's

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so many things that you can do. Not knowing how

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to do it isn't really an excuse. And that's kind

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of that example that my mom set for me too. Like,

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you know what? You can learn it as you go. You

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can be a grassroots organizer by knocking on

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doors and helping people understand what's important

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to you and why. We can all learn to do that.

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And I think that was the continuing example.

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I've seen it with you. I've seen your activism

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on many occasions. I don't know that you set

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out to be an activist when you became a teacher,

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but that evolved over time, right? And causes

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that were important to you became easy to advocate

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for. Yeah, I have to say though, I did become

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an activist, but I constantly look around for

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somebody else with somebody else, please do it

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so that I don't have to do it. It's called children.

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Children. You passed the torch, right? Passed

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the torch, right. So Michelle, you have children

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of your own, right? I do. We have three boys.

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Did any of them ever become involved in Boy Scouts

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or Cub Scouts or was that just something that

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happened just to you? You know, I'm actually

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the proud mom of an Eagle Scout. Our oldest Ethan

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did complete when he became an Eagle Scout. And

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all of them have been very involved in community

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service and their volunteerism and that. So I

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do feel like we have passed that along to them.

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Our youngest was actually featured on the MSNBC

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clip last fall for service during Hurricane Ida.

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He worked for World Central Kitchen. And it was

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with great pride. I was like, oh, look at that,

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Matt, he's on TV. But the idea that when passed

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out along, right? That when all of his classmates

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evacuated from Tulane during the hurricane, he

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stayed behind. And he lived without power and

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electricity in 100 degree heat and served at

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World Central Kitchen for a week, two weeks.

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Yeah. So we're proud of him. That's a very impressive.

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I know you sort of said offline before we got

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on that. One of your children is also going off

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to the Ukraine, is that right, to do some work

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there? Yeah, he'll go to Poland, not quite Ukraine,

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but right on the border. He's going to go back

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to volunteer for World Central Kitchen to serve

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at the border. They're doing amazing work, feeding

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people, and they're just an incredible organization.

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We're proud to support. Yes. Well, Michelle,

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thank you for coming on the show. I really am

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so happy to see you again. We reconnect after.

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Our time, my time on the pension fund came to

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an end a couple of years ago, but you're still

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keeping it solvent, which I really appreciate.

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And the communication side of it, you're keeping

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everybody informed, which I really appreciate.

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Thank you for your kindness for coming on the

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show. Oh, thank you so much for having me. I

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have to admit this is probably one of the most

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intimidating things I've done, but you made it

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delightful. And I really, really appreciated

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the chance to go back and think through some

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wonderful memories of my childhood and make this

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connection. So thank you for that opportunity.

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All right. Well, that's our show. I'd like to

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thank my friend, Michelle Holliman, who from

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now on I will be imagining as a councilwoman.

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in Highland Park wearing a brown beanie cap.

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I'll do that at my next meeting just for you.

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Thank you so much. Thank you, Doug. Thanks, Michelle.

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All right. Have a good evening. Thank you. Bye

00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:33.259
bye. All right. Well, that's our show. I'd like

00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:35.700
to thank Michelle Holliman again. I'd also like

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to thank our sponsors, Sidelining Publishing,

00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.799
publishers of quality books, as well as laughsaber

00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.220
.com. Visit laughsaber .com. and record your

00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:47.240
laughter. We'll keep it for you now and forever.

00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:50.779
It's free and your children, your entire family

00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:58.480
will appreciate it and thank you for it. So I'm

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gonna end this show in honor of Michelle Holliman's

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mother who took the step back in the day to help

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out 25 young people who wanted to be part of

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something that they otherwise couldn't have been

00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:11.789
a part of. And so I'm going to end with one little

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act of kindness. So until next time, this is

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J Reac asking you all to please stay safe out

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there and try not to hurt anybody. Three little

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acts of kindness Can make a beautiful sound Many

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acts of kindness Help the world go round One

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little loving word Can go a long, long way Two

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little loving words Can brighten any day Three

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little loving words can make a beautiful sound.

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Many loving words help the world go round. One

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little seed sown can go a long, long way. Two

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little seeds sown can brighten the sky. Many

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seeds so help the world go around One little

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child's laughter can go a long, long way Two

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little children's laughter can brighten anyone's

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Many children laughing Help the world go round

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And many see its own Help the world go round

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Many loving words Help the world go round And

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many acts of kindness Help the world go round