00;00;01;14 - 00;00;05;15 Announcer And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall. 00;00;05;20 - 00;00;28;08 Cary Hall Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocate show, broadcasting Coast to coast across USA. Here on the HIA Radio Network, my producer today, Mr. Darren Wilhite, behind the microphones from Audacy and Dave Thiessen doing all of the video work. As you watch us on YouTube today. If you want to join me in studio or listen on the radio, we're happy to have you on board. 00;00;28;08 - 00;00;47;09 Cary Hall We have 234 stations across the country. We've added three new ones in Texas, so we seem to be growing a lot in Texas these days. You can also follow us on 15 podcast platforms across the country. So we're on everything from SoundCloud to Apple Podcasts, You name it, we're on it. iHeart Radio, Audacy, we're on all the podcast platforms. 00;00;47;09 - 00;01;07;05 Cary Hall You can always find the show America's Healthcare Advocate. They're also on our YouTube channel. You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. At America's Healthcare Advocate.com. That's the website. All of our information is up there and I do get a lot of emails. I answer each one that I get, so I'm happy to answer. If you have questions or I can help you with something, please reach out. 00;01;07;07 - 00;01;13;29 Cary Hall I am happy to do it. All right. Joining me in studio, a veteran of radio, Heather Rollins. Welcome back Heather. 00;01;14;00 - 00;01;15;06 Heather Rollins Thank you very much. It's nice to. 00;01;15;06 - 00;01;19;15 Cary Hall Be as as the young people say your daughter here at the end of it. It's been a minute. 00;01;19;16 - 00;01;21;23 Heather Rollins It has? Yes, it has. It's been a minute. 00;01;21;24 - 00;01;24;17 Cary Hall Yeah. How many? How many years have we been doing radio together? 00;01;24;20 - 00;01;29;11 Heather Rollins Well, I would say we've known each other for about 20 and maybe 15 of that. I've done some radio shows. 00;01;29;12 - 00;01;52;02 Cary Hall That's right. So she used to do all the radio shows for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City. She is now at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. But that's not what we're here to talk about today. She is on the board of directors for the Black Achievers Society of Kansas City, and she asked me to do this show, and I agreed to do it because I think what they're doing, their mission and what they're doing with youth in the urban core is really important. 00;01;52;02 - 00;02;01;18 Cary Hall And it's something that you really should hear about and how they're doing it. So joining me also is Grant Lewis. He is the president of Black Achievers Society of Kansas City. Welcome, Grant. 00;02;01;22 - 00;02;02;19 Grant Lewis Thank you for having us. 00;02;02;21 - 00;02;03;20 Cary Hall Great to have you here. 00;02;03;27 - 00;02;04;10 Grant Lewis Glad to be here. 00;02;04;10 - 00;02;10;16 Cary Hall And joining us is Tiana Rollins Tiana. Welcome to the show. We're happy to have you here. 00;02;10;20 - 00;02;11;11 Tiana Rollins Thank you. I'm glad to be here. 00;02;11;11 - 00;02;38;14 Cary Hall she's going to talk a lot today. Not really, but she is going to talk about what her experience has been and what this program has meant to her. So let me tell you a little bit about these folks and what they do and how they do it. Founded in 1974, the mission is devoted to make a difference in the community by actively responding to the educational, social and economic needs of the community by providing role models for minority youth and sharing knowledge gained through academic and corporate experiences. 00;02;38;15 - 00;03;01;27 Cary Hall They impact industry with minority youth who will go to college or be in trade schools, and prepare them for fulfilling roles in various companies in Greater Kansas City area. So don't not every kid wants to go to college. And I saw a statistic the day I was talking to Grant before we went on the air about the fact that 45 or 47% of you think it is of young men today are not going to college, but they are going to trade schools. 00;03;02;04 - 00;03;20;06 Cary Hall So talk a little bit about your mission and how you because basically you're preparing these kids for life after they get out of high school. So they're not adrift trying to figure out what they're going to do. So talk a little bit about that, and then we'll talk a little bit more about the challenges you face, especially in getting youth involved in these kinds of programs. 00;03;20;07 - 00;03;20;17 Cary Hall Grant. 00;03;20;17 - 00;03;36;13 Grant Lewis Yeah. So I think about being Black Achievers, we think about the opportunities that a lot of us faced and of things we worked through as we grew up thinking about all the things we didn't have. And as we got through on the corporate ladder, we were able to create some great experiences for ourselves, but also give back to our community. 00;03;36;13 - 00;03;56;16 Grant Lewis And so we are recognized as achievers. It was a passion we already had so we had to go back and support our community and make sure the kids can see themselves in these type of roles, wherever it may be, an engineer or a nurse or wherever it may be. And so going back into the community to make sure these kids see themselves in opportunities, to give back to them, give them the skills that they need, let them know that we did it. 00;03;56;16 - 00;04;16;12 Grant Lewis We came out of some of the same environments they are coming out of, and they can achieve it as well. And so it's been a passion of us to make sure that we show our faces. We go out to the school, we have conversations. We try to provide scholarship, we try for opportunity and resources to help close the gap for some of these students whose parents may have not gone to college, whose parents may not, have been achieving the way they feel like they want to. 00;04;16;18 - 00;04;31;01 Grant Lewis But they’re kids see a way out of the hood in some of these environments they're in? And so we try to be that resource for them to say, hey, you can do this. There's things you can do, whether it be college or trade. There's opportunities out here to, to, cut that circle off of poverty. Right. 00;04;31;02 - 00;04;42;22 Grant Lewis And so we're trying to be that example for them. And through this organization that we're in, I believe that there's a lot of people who care and who have achieved in Kansas City and beyond and want to give back and make sure all the kids can have the same opportunity. 00;04;42;24 - 00;04;58;15 Cary Hall You know, that's a pretty good definition. And you used you said a couple of things that I think are interesting. Number one, making them aware of the fact that there are alternatives, that you are not stuck, that you that you're not behind the eight ball and you can't do this. And you everybody's telling you what you can't do, right. 00;04;58;15 - 00;05;15;16 Cary Hall What you're telling them is what they can do, and you're showing them the face of people like Heather, like yourself, who have actually done that. Okay. And been successful at and have climbed the corporate ladder and are leading successful lives. So they're getting an example of somebody who reflects who they are. Yes, you're. 00;05;15;16 - 00;05;36;20 Grant Lewis Right, you're right. 100% right. And thinking about that, you think about that myself. For example, I didn't I didn't go the college route. You know, I did the trade school route. And so you think about that and even where I'm able to climb the climb, my background coming from Wyandotte County in KCK that I can show them there's different routes to do, anything you can achieve and do some great things in your community. 00;05;36;22 - 00;05;49;21 Grant Lewis but, you first have to hit that switch that needs be turned on, that sometimes we don't see, the kids don't see, until someone really you can get down to them to that level helps them understand that switch needs to come on and that switch comes on. I think you see kids light up and go after it. 00;05;49;23 - 00;06;02;24 Cary Hall Yeah. That's interesting. So just the fact that they you said to switch goes on. So once they see there's an opportunity that a lot of these kids are saying, I don't want that life, I want this life. 00;06;02;24 - 00;06;20;25 Grant Lewis Oh yeah, I think we think about that. I mean, this for our lesson we do I work with every First Friday. these kids are kids who they bring into the organization to be able to give them something to do other than do stuff on the streets. Right? They give them some, internships they do through the year, and they try to get them into auto technology, video recording, stuff like this. 00;06;20;25 - 00;06;35;18 Grant Lewis They do podcasts and things of that nature. They keep them busy. And so I go in there every month at some of our, our team every month to encourage those young people to let them know, hey, this is what you're doing, but let's take the next step. How can we be more professional? How can we learn how to talk in a group setting? How can we lead meetings? 00;06;35;18 - 00;06;54;29 Grant Lewis How we meet with the customer? Those type of things that they didn't see, they don't see normally. And we try to give them the understanding that at 14, 15 some of these kids are in middle school. So, and we try to give them opportunity to see it earlier. And when they and they catch it and understand it, for someone that has been through it and understands it and understands them, I think the switch comes on. 00;06;55;01 - 00;07;14;07 Cary Hall That's interesting. You said middle school. Yes. So you're you're getting to them. Even in middle school. You're not waiting until they're in high school. You're getting to them in middle school. So you're you're planting that seed early so they can go: “I could do that”. Yes. Okay. And if I'm going to do that, I need to do these courses in high school. 00;07;14;13 - 00;07;44;09 Cary Hall Whether you talked, it's very interesting in here. There's a significant mentioning of of mechanical engineering. IT. These kids are getting sociology classes that they're not going to be able to get a job doing, or art appreciation classes. They're learning things where they're going to be able to go out and have skills, either to either either go into college and pursue those degrees, and then and then move into that field, or go to a vocational school like you did, and then come out of that vocational school and have a livelihood that provides them an opportunity to excel. 00;07;44;09 - 00;07;44;19 Cary Hall Yes. 00;07;44;19 - 00;07;46;05 Grant Lewis 100% Correct. That's the way we want to help. 00;07;46;09 - 00;08;04;08 Cary Hall Which that's really interesting. And it's it's it's this is not what you typically hear, which is another reason why, when Heather asked me to do this, I thought, you know what? This will be a great show. Because we don't hear this. We don't hear it in the media. We don't we don't hear it. It's not it's not being talked about. 00;08;04;11 - 00;08;24;13 Cary Hall And it should be because, you know, you're you're doing something it's very positive, okay. And giving an opportunity to youth that typically may not have those opportunities. Okay. And you're providing a way out for them that they that they either don't see or have never seen. Maybe the parents haven't seen it. So it's a different kind of deal for them. 00;08;24;16 - 00;08;37;16 Cary Hall So we come back from the break, we're going to continue this conversation. I'm going to ask Heather to talk a little about her involvement. And I'm also going to ask her. She didn't know I was going to do this. I'm going to ask her to tell her own story about how she climbed that corporate ladder and did a very good job of it. 00;08;37;16 - 00;08;57;05 Cary Hall Stay tuned. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate Broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network coast to coast across the USA. If you want to learn more about these folks, go to BlackAchieversKC.org, Black Achievers, KC dot org. That's their website. A ton of stuff up there. You'll be able to learn a lot about them. Stay tuned. 00;08;57;05 - 00;09;01;26 Cary Hall We'll be right back after the break. 00;09;01;28 - 00;09;32;00 Steve Kuker The golden rule treat others as you want to be treated. I'm Steve Kuker and this is one of the founding principles of my firm, Senior Care Consulting. Since 2002, our value statement has included honor our mother and father. Respect our elders. Care for those in need, and treat your family as our own. We've been honored to help hundreds of families make one of the most difficult decisions they could ever make. 00;09;32;03 - 00;10;08;12 Steve Kuker Serving them in their greatest time of need. If you're looking for someone who can provide you experienced and objective guidance when searching for a senior care community, reach out today and discover the services of Senior Care consulting at 913-945-2800. Know your options and choose with care, at seniorcareconsulting.com 00;10;08;15 - 00;10;44;10 Cary Hall Welcome back to America's Healthcare Advocate Show. Broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. My producer in studio today, Mr. Darren Wilhite. Mr. Dave Thiessen in studio with me. Heather Rollins, Grant Lewis and Tiana Rollins. They are here talking about Black Achievers Society of Kansas City and how they're giving these young folks a leg up, a handout, a hand up a handout, not a handout, a hand up and a leg up so they can go on and have productive lives and break out of the cycle of poverty and, and all the other things that go on in the urban core in Kansas City and many other cities around the country where we see 00;10;44;14 - 00;11;00;21 Cary Hall this constant problem and engage these youth and show them there's a way out of this. So with that, so now you're the director of the youth program. Yeah. So let's talk about you're involvement. And then I want to talk a little about you. But first we'll talk about your involvement with the group. Yeah. 00;11;00;21 - 00;11;21;05 Heather Rollins So currently I serve as the, treasurer for Black Achievers of Greater Kansas City. And then I also serve as, the co-chair for the Youth Leadership Development Workshop. And so what that is, is really we have a young, smaller group of which we call them the Youth Advisory Council. And my daughter participated in that a couple of years ago before she graduated. 00;11;21;11 - 00;11;47;11 Heather Rollins But every year annually we hold the Youth Leadership Workshop. Right. And this gives our youth a chance to actually be leaders. So we have little meetings, you know, for six months leading up to this event where we host about 150 students from different area metropolitan high schools, and they come in and listen to these workshops, be engaged in the workshops, you know, and we want to give them information that they might not hear in their high school. 00;11;47;14 - 00;12;07;02 Heather Rollins And so, things about like financial, you know, they might not know, hey, once you get out of high school, how do you pay your rent, how do you manage your money? How do you save your money? So, you know, another course that we've offered is mental health. That plays a huge role with the high school students nowadays because, it's like they're trying to compete with what they see on social media. 00;12;07;08 - 00;12;29;00 Heather Rollins So bringing somebody in to talk to them about mental health and, how do you manage that and how do you still stand up and be a leader? Right. And, so the Youth Advisory Council, their overall role is to come in and organize the program, and they actually lead the whole youth workshop. So, they're presenting each speaker, they're guiding the students on where to go for their sessions. 00;12;29;02 - 00;12;46;15 Heather Rollins and so it's been a great time. I've done that committee for, I say probably the last 6 or 7 years, Covid kind of put a monkey wrench into where we couldn't host it like we wanted to. we used to host up to 200 students this year. We just held it April 25th this year, and we were able to have 150 students. 00;12;46;20 - 00;13;06;01 Heather Rollins So we're excited that we're getting back up to our, our pre-COVID numbers. but, you know, the feedback that we get from the students is like, they really enjoy it. We're inviting students from all of the metropolitan area high schools. And again, like I mentioned, they're seeing and hearing things that they don't get in high school and they really are engaged. 00;13;06;01 - 00;13;21;28 Heather Rollins And they come back and give us great feedback about what they experience and how they can use that. Once they either get out of high school or go to trade school, go to college. It's just eye opening for them. And we'll continue to do that and support them as much as we can, but really encourage them to be leaders. 00;13;21;28 - 00;13;25;09 Heather Rollins Right. and how to kind of step outside of their box? 00;13;25;09 - 00;13;45;16 Cary Hall How much how much pushback do they get typically in the school? I mean, you know, they're doing something it's a little different than, you know, what a lot of the other kids are doing? there's is is is a positive, different approach. How much pushback to those kids getting in the schools and are they how did they handle that when you talk about mental. 00;13;45;19 - 00;13;52;28 Cary Hall Yeah. Okay. You know or you know, or are they being made fun of or they have a difficult time or the other kids push them, but how do they handle that? 00;13;53;05 - 00;14;17;24 Heather Rollins You know, it's these are some very strong and resilient students. Right. And, you know, one thing I will say is that the high schools, the schools themselves have been very supportive and wanting them to come and be involved in our workshop. They don't normally have these opportunities to attend the workshops. So the schools are actually very supportive and encouraging them to come and hear something different than what they might be getting out of the schools. 00;14;17;26 - 00;14;36;06 Heather Rollins I read a statistic that a lot of these children don't know how to read, you know, by the time they get to high school. Oh, so. Yes. And so when Grant talked about trying to engage them earlier, I think it makes a world of a difference because, it is troubling once they get into eighth grade, ninth grade and they can't read. 00;14;36;08 - 00;14;48;20 Heather Rollins Exactly. And so we want to make sure that we they know that they have support if they may not be getting it at home, they can get it from us, through our mentorship programs, through that workshop, you know, we want them to be engaged and let them know that they have support. 00;14;48;23 - 00;14;59;22 Cary Hall So if they don't have if they're having trouble, they're struggling in math or they're not reading or whatever the case may be, you're offering them mentorships, tutors, people that are absolutely okay. 00;14;59;24 - 00;15;24;03 Heather Rollins So, you know, and I don't know if Grant want to talk about it, but he does a lot with our mentorship program. He has done it through Grandview High School and a few other areas. But yes, you know, mentorship. And it's just great for young black students, young black boys to see older black men come in and talk to them and let them know, hey, I'm an example that you can use and I'm an example, of how you can can definitely be successful. 00;15;24;03 - 00;15;24;10 Heather Rollins Great. 00;15;24;10 - 00;15;43;14 Cary Hall How does it play? I mean, they got their a lot of influence out there. And those influences are out there on social meetings. Other places are not positive. You so and that's not just in the black community. That's everywhere. Right. Okay. I mean, I've got six grandchildren. Trust me. It's there every day. How how do you push back on that and get them to step away from that. 00;15;43;14 - 00;15;46;20 Cary Hall And look at this by looking at you. Right. 00;15;46;26 - 00;16;07;17 Grant Lewis So I think about it a couple weeks ago were at a one of our organizations in KCK and I was at two middle school and four high school students in that area in that room. And so we're talking with them. They were talking about goals. We talked about our goals. What do you find what you're trying to do in life and thinking about sports and playing sports and football came up and I was like, great football. 00;16;07;17 - 00;16;20;08 Grant Lewis But you can't go to NFL until you do three years of college first. That means you have to pick a major right? And his eyes lit up right. And so when he lives, you know that he didn't realize it, right? He's like, I got to pick a major. I mean, I I'm with your dream football team. I couldn't play it. 00;16;20;08 - 00;16;35;18 Grant Lewis But you can, if you can that's your dream. Go right after it. I'm not going to ever, have that type of dream. But I say, but you have to go pick a major. Wherever it is you got to think about. Hey, I've got a seven to a college first, and then I have to go into that school and commit to a major and do three years at least for I can go to the NFL draft. 00;16;35;18 - 00;16;48;01 Grant Lewis Right. And so it's letting them know, hey, I don't have this. I'm not having these conversations at home. I'm having these conversations at school. But someone that comes out and just gets real and dirty with them and says, hey, you know, this is what's really going on, was this with me? 00;16;48;02 - 00;17;00;13 Grant Lewis So I think they understand, see that and they know we're truthful, we're honest with them and we and we don't sugar coat anything and just being real as we can with them. And I think that's where it is key. As we go in there, come back and forward to say, I understand, I want to keep hearing from you. 00;17;00;14 - 00;17;12;03 Cary Hall We got one minute left, but you hit on something. I want you to. How many of these kids are coming out of single family homes? But single parent homes where there's only a mother typically, or maybe only a father, depending? 00;17;12;05 - 00;17;19;12 Grant Lewis Well, I think a lot of schools, a lot of students you work with, you have you have the I can put a number on it, but I think there's a. 00;17;19;14 - 00;17;20;26 Cary Hall Lot that's prevalent. Yeah. 00;17;20;27 - 00;17;24;07 Grant Lewis Even where I grew up, I mean it's what hap that's what a lot of it was. Right. Yeah. 00;17;24;09 - 00;17;43;17 Cary Hall So they don't have that outside influence in a lot of cases. And the, the mother may be working two jobs to try and support the family. So this so they're getting it from you which is a totally different sometimes. You know it's kind of funny. It's sometimes you think when kids hear it from somebody than the parents. 00;17;43;17 - 00;18;02;18 Cary Hall Of course they. Yeah. Okay. Yeah yeah yeah I'm not I'm looking at the look at Tiana down there. She's like she's like she's just smiles. She's not thinking, okay, all right. We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network coast to coast across the USA. Stay tuned. 00;18;02;24 - 00;18;13;02 Cary Hall We've got more. 00;18;13;04 - 00;18;35;13 Cary Hall Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show. Broadcasting. Coast to coast across the USA. Remember, this show is posted on all 15 podcast platforms and on YouTube. if you want to view it that way, you can certainly do that if you want to share it with somebody. You can do that as well. If you're here in the Kansas City Metro and you would like to get involved with this group, they do some great work. 00;18;35;16 - 00;18;54;19 Cary Hall that work that needs to be done is kids need to understand they've got a chance and a way to break out of, as Grant said, the poverty circle, the the the urban violence, all of it. Okay. And they do that. It's called the blackachieverskc.org. That's the website Black Achievers KC dot org is the website. 00;18;54;20 - 00;19;12;29 Cary Hall They've got upcoming events on June 20th. They've got their annual awards program. On July 18th, they've got their youth scholarship luncheon. if you'd like to get involved or know more about it, go to that website. Black Achievers KC dot org Grant a little bit about before I ask Heather a little bit here, a little bit about who's working with you on this. 00;19;12;29 - 00;19;18;15 Cary Hall I know you got Blue Cross there. Talk about some of the corporate people. You've got the you've got the Federal Reserve in there. 00;19;18;18 - 00;19;31;17 Grant Lewis Yeah. So a lot of times we have sponsorships and support from a lot of organizations over the years. Right. And so, Federal Reserve has been in place. A has held our or a ceremony for years. we're going back trying to go back there. There's this, 00;19;31;19 - 00;19;34;25 Cary Hall Actually in the Federal Reserve facility. Yes. That's pretty cool. 00;19;34;27 - 00;19;59;05 Grant Lewis Yeah, that's pretty cool that they've had it there for many years. And so they've been a great supporter of, has been supporting Honeywell. I've been supportive since almost its inception. So there's a lot of companies around KC, that has been, supporting us and different in different aspects. and so we are appreciative to all the companies that pour into us to allow us to not only not only nominate achievers, but send personnel, support personnel, especially with the outreach we're doing mentoring at Grandview High School or middle school. 00;19;59;12 - 00;20;03;04 Grant Lewis They send people out there, those type of thing. So we have great support, I think, throughout the city. 00;20;03;08 - 00;20;11;09 Cary Hall And it's not so, you know, Wyandotte County, Jackson County, you're you're in various part you're not just. 00;20;11;11 - 00;20;15;24 Grant Lewis Is where we get the need is and we're in the partnership. We we go there. 00;20;15;26 - 00;20;30;22 Cary Hall That's pretty good. Now I’m going to switch you a little bit okay. So I know a little bit about you because you worked for Ron for a long time at Blue Cross Blue Shield. And Ron Rowe and I still work together to this day over at Blue Cross of Nebraska. I know that when you went to work for him, you'd gone. 00;20;30;22 - 00;20;47;19 Cary Hall You'd graduate from college when you worked there, but you did something that he really was impressed with you, and it was one of the reasons why he mentored you up through the system. You you did your MBA at Rockhurst College while you were working? Yes. Talk about that. Heather. 00;20;47;22 - 00;21;07;18 Heather Rollins You know, I had an old manager at the time who was, you know, she reported up to Ron. From my background, you know, we talk about minorities. You know, I grew up with a single parent. I was a teenage mom. My mom didn't have enough. She. She had a disability herself. So I just knew when I graduated out of college, I am going to be successful. 00;21;07;18 - 00;21;26;22 Heather Rollins I knew I wanted to be in business, and I'm going to, you know, try to achieve the highest level that I could. So, when I was in, a sales role at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City years and years ago, I talked to Ron and I'm like, I want to be a manager, you know, and I had my bachelor's at the time, and he said, okay, well, you can do that. 00;21;26;24 - 00;21;43;06 Heather Rollins and I said, I want to work on my MBA at the time, you know, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City was offering money for reimbursement. So he went back. So I did go to Rockhurst and get my MBA. and so that was like to sign to Ron Rowe at the time that, hey, I'm really serious about this. 00;21;43;06 - 00;22;01;04 Heather Rollins And I do want to grow in my career and be a leader and be an example to those, that I serve. And so, he helped me get that. It's one thing that Ron used to tell me all the time, because me being a minority, in the insurance world, you know, to be honest, I didn't see a lot of people like myself. 00;22;01;06 - 00;22;09;01 Heather Rollins And Ron would tell me all the time, Heather, when you wake up in the morning, you put your pants on the same way that they do. And so that's Ron that. 00;22;09;03 - 00;22;13;02 Cary Hall Ron can say things that are a lot more colorful than that. But you're probably toning that down a bit. 00;22;13;05 - 00;22;27;28 Heather Rollins You put your pants on one leg at a time, just like that you do so you can do it. And so that has always inspired me to continue to push myself and grow and be an example to not only, my community, which I have a passion about, but to my children as well. So, I just always try to live by that. 00;22;28;01 - 00;22;39;10 Heather Rollins And that's why I give back to this organization, because I do see, these children who can be, whatever they want to be, but just giving them the resources and help encourage them that they can actually do it. 00;22;39;12 - 00;22;59;04 Cary Hall Yeah. They're getting a different message. Yes. And by the way, she was she before she left Blue Cross Blue Shield, she was a vice president of the department that did all the Medicare small group and ACA, individual health insurance and travel insurance for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City. She's in a similar role now at Blue Cross of Nebraska, a reunited again with Ron Rowe 00;22;59;09 - 00;23;11;17 Cary Hall So so. But I think that story is important. So Tiana how important it was when you saw your mother going to school at night so she could get that MBA. What did that say to you? 00;23;11;19 - 00;23;33;12 Tiana Rollins my mom is just a great like, plays a great leadership role in my life. Like she said, she grew up in a single household, single whole household, and so did my dad. So just having those type of, people to look up to, this is really encouraging and really influencing and just shows that no matter what you came from, you can dig out of it, you can do better for your generations and just continue to, just continue to spread that on to the generations. 00;23;33;12 - 00;23;43;21 Tiana Rollins So yeah, she's very influencing. And I really look up to her and my dad as well. They're just great parents, and they just showed me that you can do whatever, you can do whatever you can put your mind to, as long as you work hard. 00;23;43;24 - 00;24;00;11 Cary Hall The key word there was work hard. Yes. Yeah. Not hardly work. Right. All right. So Tiana, talk about your experience in this group because you're involved in this now you've you've got a scholarship out of it. Actually talk a little bit about how what your experience has been in the group. 00;24;00;14 - 00;24;19;15 Tiana Rollins Well I really feel like it's a very beneficial, experience to have during that time when I was in it, it was during Covid, so we didn't actually get to do the workshop. But, I feel like it just allows you to develop better leadership skills and be able to open up because like my mom was saying, a lot of the minorities grew up in like a single household, so they can't really find who they are. 00;24;19;15 - 00;24;32;28 Tiana Rollins They don't know how to open up. And fortunately for me, I was blessed to have two parents that I can look up to. They're able to help me through that stuff, but a lot of students don't have that. So I feel like this organization is really good to just create leadership and show them that you have a voice to like. 00;24;32;28 - 00;24;50;01 Tiana Rollins You can do whatever you put your mind to and see. I just feel like it really helps you find who you are, and being surrounded by other minorities is also another, pushing is like very encouraging and influencing. So I just very good for leadership and be able to like apply that to college, not just in class but like on the basketball court too, because I play basketball. 00;24;50;05 - 00;25;03;06 Tiana Rollins So I'm able to apply those leadership abilities and my communication skills and all the other skills that I've developed from this organization and just put it to, for presently and in the future when I want to become whatever I want to do in the future. 00;25;03;09 - 00;25;28;28 Cary Hall That's well put, very well put. So, Heather, how important it was very interesting Tiana just talked about these kids not having somebody to talk to her not being able to talk to somebody about because single parent home usually it's a mother. You know, she may be working two jobs to try to support those kids. How important is it and how big a role does that mentorship program that you Grant and everybody? 00;25;29;01 - 00;25;32;20 Cary Hall you know, have set up? How important is that to these kids on an individual basis? 00;25;32;23 - 00;25;52;24 Heather Rollins Yeah, it's definitely very important because even with our Youth Leadership Development workshop, you know, and I mentioned that Youth Advisory Council, we like to pair them up with mentors individually as well. And sometimes, you know, they just need a sounding board or ear. Just kind of listen to their frustrations at times, you know? And I always have to be that outside person. 00;25;52;24 - 00;26;14;23 Heather Rollins I, just to share a quick example, one of my students, she's like, hey, I'm just, she was a little frustrated with her, her peer in her mom. And you just have to remind them, like, hey, you got to give your mom some grace, right? You know, she might be working two jobs and you might not agree with everything that she's doing, but just keep in mind she's trying to support you, and just give her a little bit of grace, because I know it's tough on her. 00;26;14;23 - 00;26;36;27 Heather Rollins You may not know everything she's going through, but it's tough on her too. So just being able to just kind of give them that, that knowledge and just kind of, give them a different perspective to kind of help them through what they're going through. And it's been great. We see these students, we start the youth advisor program from being a freshman, and we try to keep them all the way up through there once they graduate high school, and give them scholarships. 00;26;37;02 - 00;26;53;20 Heather Rollins So it's great to see them grow, not only from a leadership perspective, but as a person in general and being able to work with other students, even if you might have a little conflict, being able to resolve those conflicts and get back to work. Right. And so it's been great to just kind of see that and see them grow. 00;26;53;23 - 00;27;16;08 Cary Hall So Grant It sounds to me like the group settings that you're doing are obviously very, very important. But tying these kids to a mentor where they can pick up the phone and call somebody, go, I'm having problems at home or, or I need some kind of a part time job because I need to make some money for this or that or something else. 00;27;16;10 - 00;27;23;10 Cary Hall you know, it seems to me that that plays a critical role in the success of this organization overall. 00;27;23;10 - 00;27;44;07 Grant Lewis 100%. it does. I think back to, one of our first scholarship recipients, for the Honeywell scholarship that came from that environment. But still didn't have the connections coming out ouf KCK didn’t have the connections and we got the internship for but she had life problems. She just said, you know, if I'm going to college at MU, she was like, we got our a mentor. 00;27;44;07 - 00;27;53;27 Grant Lewis And that mentor became her big sister for four years, you know, and she and she wrote up, after graduating from MU with a chemical engineering degree and got hired by. 00;27;53;29 - 00;27;54;24 Cary Hall Chemical Engineering degree. 00;27;55;00 - 00;28;19;15 Grant Lewis Chemical Engineering degree, and now she's at Burns & McDonnell. But, and so after all that, she wrote up a whole, a summary of her experience and mentioned the fact that without this mentor, she would have she would have failed. And so those are things we try to that we're where we're in on this, that we we provide a mentor for that resource for that lifeline when she was having problems at school, having problems at, you know, dealing with things and just wanted to break down and throw in the towel. 00;28;19;22 - 00;28;26;05 Grant Lewis She call this mentor and the mentor got her through four years of that. And so, this is what we're trying to do as an organization to be a support to. 00;28;26;06 - 00;28;44;25 Cary Hall That is a great story. That's a classic example of what what we're talking about here. And how can lead to a degree in chemical engineering? Lord have mercy. I we'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate Broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network. If you want to get involved. This is really a great organization. 00;28;44;27 - 00;29;04;08 Cary Hall The website BlackAchieversKC.org, they've got events coming up. Do you want to be a mentor. Maybe you're retired. You've got time. Whatever the case may be there's an opportunity. blackachieverskc.org is the website I'm sure they'd be happy to chat with you. Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more. 00;29;04;11 - 00;29;25;07 Cary Hall Welcome back to America's Healthcare Advocate Show, broadcasting coast to coast across the USA in studio with me, Heather Rollins, Grant Lewis, and Tiana Rollins. Black Achievers of KC dot org is the website. It's a Black Achievers Society of Kansas City and they've got a great story to tell. They're making a big difference out there in the community, and this is a kind of positive thing. 00;29;25;09 - 00;29;45;18 Cary Hall I'm seeing a lot of this in the media, which is one of the reasons why I'm doing this. They are making direct changes in these kids lives. You heard that last segment, Grant, talked about a young lady in the mentorship program who went on to college, got a degree in chemical engineering. She works at Burns & McDonnell right now, and one of the largest engineering firms in the country, headquartered right here in Kansas City. 00;29;45;22 - 00;30;06;09 Cary Hall So they are making a difference. They are showing these kids as a way out of the urban core of the inner city, where they can have jobs, they can have lives, they can be successful. You know, an example of that is sitting right here next to me is Heather. And another example that is Grant. Heather went to college, grant went to a vocational school, and both have have been very successful at what they do. 00;30;06;16 - 00;30;28;10 Cary Hall So let's talk a little bit about that. I told you a story off-air, I was kind of floored by this. I had the opportunity to go to a NASCAR race last week, in the one that was at Kansas Speedway, and we had some VIP passes that my daughter had gotten for us. And we were we were hosted by the people that build the engines for Ford, all the Ford, all the Fords, that race at one engine. 00;30;28;12 - 00;30;51;22 Cary Hall It's built by a company called Roush Yates. Roush does a lot of interesting things to cars. Ron and I are very familiar with Roush Yates. So I he's... We're in we're actually in the garages with the cars and this young lady, but probably not much older than Tiana is, she was out of college three years out of college. But he introduces her and she's got a computer in front of her. 00;30;51;28 - 00;31;10;17 Cary Hall And she's running this whole tuning session for this very complicated car. That they're going to put out on the track up there doing 160 miles an hour. Okay. With this driver in it and so, you know, like well where did you go to college? She didn’t go to college. She went to a trade school and came out of that trade school. 00;31;10;17 - 00;31;35;19 Cary Hall Went to work for Roush Yates. Three years later, she's in the program traveling. He calls it the traveling circus. They go around the country, they do. I think they do 68 races or something. And and she is the one that's in charge of setting those cars up, you know those cars. So if not every kid goes to college and these kids that didn't go to college are basically running this whole NASCAR segment. 00;31;35;19 - 00;31;58;28 Cary Hall In fact, several of the people there had gotten several that people were had degrees and they were in the management positions. But these people actually setting up these cars and doing all the technological work, they were all out of trade schools, right? Yes. So, so talk a little about that opportunity because as I said earlier in the show, 45% of young men or 47% now are moving into trade schools, not going to college. 00;31;59;00 - 00;32;15;26 Grant Lewis And so, I work for Honeywell, so I'm able to see a lot of, workforce that does not have the college background. And so, they make a lot of good money. And so when I think about I think about that I knew when I came in there there's opportunity for me. And I think when I went to trade school, it wasn't really popular. 00;32;15;26 - 00;32;35;14 Grant Lewis It wasn't something back in 1990. In 2000, it wasn't a popular thing about going to trade school. My mom just saw I tore things apart, put them back together again. So you can go to school for this. So I did got the degree with the Honeywell and been been going ever since. But as I thought about it through the years, like what other kids don't want to do college as well but need to have a way of success. 00;32;35;14 - 00;32;57;08 Grant Lewis Right. And so the trade school thing came, I came along and I and kids didn't really know about. You have things in KCK the trade schools you have in KCK in Raytown and other parts of the other region now that kids can learn skilled trades, right and given and get into a job and make good money, create their own job, they can be entrepreneurs, they can know a lot of different things that they can they can set their own schedule. 00;32;57;10 - 00;33;20;14 Grant Lewis All about learning a skilled trade, take them 18 months, maybe two years to do, possibly. And they can get out here and make some good money. So when I think I think now the dynamics are changing now for opportunities for kids having a, degree, having degree or not having a degree. So kids are fun opportunities now and running with it and being excited because they can make some good money and not chase the way that the usual way, the cookie cutter way that people say you have to go make money. 00;33;20;21 - 00;33;34;26 Grant Lewis And so these are of kids making legal paths for themselves, exciting paths for themselves, making great money at a young age. 18, 19, 20, able to buy themselves car, clothes, those type of things. All because they went in a direction that's not conventional. 00;33;35;01 - 00;33;53;05 Cary Hall Yeah, that was interesting because one of the things that the, the gentleman who was in charge of taking us around, they go in and they literally harvest these kids out of these schools because they're trained and they go to their in these schools for 18 months and they basically come away with they don't have big college loans to pay off. 00;33;53;07 - 00;34;15;18 Cary Hall It's just amazing how that all works. And they come out of there ready to hit the ground. They're starting at $100,000 a year. It's starting at $100,000 a year. and this young lady that, you know, was running that whole program, my guess is she's probably making around $200,000 a year. If I had to guess, just because of the fact that she had all these other people working underneath her. 00;34;15;25 - 00;34;38;29 Cary Hall And like I said, she didn't look much older than Tiana, Okay. But, you know, here she was, you know, running this whole program and the engines in those cars are like, you know, $90,000 just to just to just get the thing set up. I mean, not even the cost of the engine itself. They’re ridiculously expensive. And yet they've developed these programs now where they can do this and they can do it a lot cheaper. 00;34;39;05 - 00;34;52;26 Cary Hall And they've got these young kids coming out of these schools. It's like that was that was a real eye opener for me. Yeah. Because you hear about this. But that was actually seeing it at a level that you typically don't see it at. And so so all right. Well thank you all for being here. I think we should do this again. 00;34;52;26 - 00;35;10;07 Cary Hall You guys have got some events coming up here. So maybe in July we can get back on again and talk about your luncheon. and talk to get folks involved. What you're doing is great. And it's something that we need more of. Not less. so I want to thank you for coming up here today. You know, when I do these kind of shows, I'm doing it for a reason. 00;35;10;13 - 00;35;29;23 Cary Hall I'm trying to educate and inform. That's exactly what we did here today. There is an opportunity here if you want to get involved, if you want to help, if you want to just learn what they do, go to their website. blackachieverskc.org. Thank you all again for doing this today. And now I leave you with this thought from Doctor Martin Luther King. 00;35;30;00 - 00;35;48;27 Cary Hall Americans must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will surely perish together as fools. Truer words were never spoken. Thank you for listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show, broadcasting coast to coast across USA. Goodbye America. 00;35;48;29 - 00;35;55;16 Cary Hall