Episode 23: Get to Know EndCAN! Part 3

Transcript of the Louder than Silence Podcast

Episode #23 – Get to Know EndCAN! Part 3 

Transcribed by Adam Soisson  

[Inspirational theme music plays.]  

>> Lori: Thank you for joining us. In this podcast, we are real people, talking about real things. Child abuse and neglect: a topic that is all too often left in the shadows of silence, leaving survivors alone, fearful, and oftentimes without a voice. We’re having conversations to become Louder Than Silence. It is here, where we will invite you to join us and be the change needed to end child abuse and neglect. 

>> Lori: Alright good morning my name is Lori Poland and I am the Executive Director of the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect. SO happy to have you here on our podcast today. The podcast series we’re working on right now is about us. We have a really small team at EndCAN and we have a few staff members on our team that you need to know. You need to know how this happens behind the scenes, what makes the magic work. It is not me in any way, shape or form. I just show up and do what I’m told and I talk too much as you can probably all gather [laughs]. One of our people today that truly is why we’re here and is such a joy. She has such a pure heart and her name is Lyndsay. I just want you guys to know who she is. She’s the magic maker behind all our communications so Lyndsay tell us about you.  

>> Lyndsay: Bonjour! I’m regretting making a magic sound happen [ding] So I am the Communications Manager at EndCAN. I do some graphic design, do a bit of word sleuthing. Mostly, like Lori said, magic skills all the time. That’s what we’re about. 

>> Lori: Awesome. That is so cool. So I’m going to ask you a fun question. As a little girl what was your favorite thing to do? 

>> Lyndsay: Is it sad that the first thing that comes to mind is doing puzzles in my garage listening to oldies radio? [laughs] 

>> Lori: Right now my computer is sitting on top of three puzzle boxes because that’s what we do. We’re up in Grand Lake right now and my little guy is inside. Every day we start a new puzzle and have to finish it by the end of the day. I totally hear you. Oldies music, puzzle making. 

>> Lyndsay: I’ve always had a knowledge of obscure songs from the ‘60s or ‘70s and I’ll know every word because of those hours in the garage with my puzzles and my radio [laughs] 

>> Lori: How fun! Very cool. Okay so Lyndsay you have this creative eye. You have this ability to see things from a 30,000 foot view yet all the way down to the Google Street view photo of your house. You can take the whole image from top to bottom. That’s a huge skill. When we were interviewing people we had some really awesome folks and then we met you and there was something very special about you. I, you know, I always think of it as a mutual gift when we find great people. Between you and Adam, we should’ve bought lotto tickets [laughs] We got really lucky and we’re so glad you’re here. I’ve got to know, why EndCAN and not Google or why not some other Fortune 500 company where you’re the Communications Director? 

>> Lyndsay: Wait, this isn’t a Fortune 500 company? I’ve gotta go [laughs]  

Well first of all did everyone know that Adam can bake and he has a corgi? I just think it’s important for people to know that.  

>> Lori: Now it is out and you know I did refer to him as Superman because he looks just like Superman. The fact that he’s this athletic guy and blah blah and he can bake and has a corgi. There’s a lot of wins there.  

>> Lyndsay: Just in case that helps anybody’s opinion of him they should know those facts [laughs] Well why EndCAN? I’m just so excited that EndCAN exists. You know, as a survivor of child abuse I knew intimately that it exists but what I didn’t know prior to EndCAN was an effort to stop it. It just kind of seems like one of those things that happen. When you’re growing up in it, you don’t realize that it’s not normal. Maybe you have some inklings when you go to friends’ houses but on the whole it’s not like you’re watching TV and those commercials come up. You don’t see a lot of images in the media acknowledging your experience and then giving you hope that it’s going to get better. I felt a gravitational pull to this organization. I love having hope, I love that a lot of the conversations we have and a lot of the goals we have are around cultivating hope in people that we can do this. Of course we can do this. If we figure out ways to rationalize it and educate people and help them understand that it’s more than just talking about crime. It’s more than – you know a lot of the struggle for people that have been abused is identifying the people that have abused them as coldhearted, horrible people that should rot in jail for the rest of their lives. That’s not something that gives healing for everybody. So I just love being in this space and talking about how we can give people that are abused or could be abusers – how do we give them the support and the education they need. I really think that with enough education, enough empathy we can solve pretty much any problem that we put our hearts to. I think we can apply that perspective here. One of my favorites quotes – I garden sometimes or at least I try – “if you look the right way the whole world is a garden.” I don’t know who said it [Frances Hodgson Burnett] but what I love about that perspective is the idea is that if you look the right way you can grow any future you want. If you make the soil right, if you make the foundation right, if you tend to it and if you work at it and give it sunlight, it’s going to grow into the thing that you want it to be. That’s what’s exciting about EndCAN is that we’re here in the soil at the root level. Who knows where we’ll be years down the road but things are going to get better and that’s what’s exciting for me. 

>> Lori: Wow. It’s not every day that I listen to somebody and become entranced.  

>> Lyndsay: It’s the magic. I put a spell on you [laughs] 

>> Lori: [laughs] You put a spell on me. You know, you have such a softness about you that’s so nurturing and thank you for saying that. What a beautiful analogy, that if you look at it the right way the whole world is absolutely beautiful. Thank you and we’re lucky to have you. 

>> Lyndsay: Well thank you for starting this garden. You’re like the head gardener of this effort and I just really appreciate you doing this. I think it’s incredibly brave and inspiring. The energy you have, I feel so lucky to be here. I’ve been here for about a month and every day I think “is this real? Is this what I get to do?” 

>> Lori: That is so cool because I feel the same way. You took over for somebody that you had some big shoes to fill, Genevieve Rivera. Even just watching the two of you in your transition. It’s weird to work with the person you’re replacing right? And it’s weird as the person that’s leaving to work with your replacement but it wasn’t even weird. It was so loving. 

>> Lyndsay: I would actually recommend it. I think it was a great situation, to be welcomed so openly. That’s the biggest problem when you start a new position you think, “I don’t know who was here before me and what was done” so I think it was a really nice situation.  

>> Lori: We haven’t had that with all our positions. It speaks to the two of you but it also speaks to the culture of what we’re doing here which is igniting hope and possibility. What’s really neat is that we know the power of working collaboratively and that even if we’re different, even if we do things different. That’s one thing I’ve watched with you is you and Gen are different but there’s so much space for difference. It doesn’t have to be one way, it can be both. 

>> Lyndsay: Yeah I think we should think of it in a different way than filling shoes because I don’t think I can fill her shoes. They’re fabulous vinyl stilettos and I’m just going to be another pair of shoes on your rack [laughs] 

>> Lori: Alright so if you were a pair of shoes, what shoes would you be? 

>> Lyndsay: Oh my gosh, I wasn’t prepared for this question [laughs] 

>> Lori: I wasn’t even going to ask it but we’re here. 

>> Lyndsay: I think we should leave room for if Gen wants to correct us but that’s the irreplaceable shoe. Any time I go through my shoes, it’s that shoe that’s so fabulous I can wear it to prom and never again but I’d never get rid of it. If I were a shoe, I’d say I’d probably be a flat-footed shoe because I like being on the move so I’d probably be some kind of sparkly Converse but a pastel. Like a muted peach pastel Converse with something cool on the bottom so that wherever I go the footprint is interesting. 

>> Lori: Wow you just took that shoe to a whole other level. I hope Converse listens to this and designs that shoe. Or we’ll just make it. 

>> Lyndsay: It’s a pretty normal shoe. Nothing too exciting about it. 

>> Lori: I beg to differ. The sole is different. It’s sparkly, it’s pastel. It’s Converse, it’s comfortable. I think that’s not standard at all. That’s very unique and beautiful. Alright just in closing I’d love to hear from you. Would you rather play Sardines, Hide and Seek or Capture the Flag? 

>> Lyndsay: Probably Sardines. I’m super good at Sardines. It’s all about finding that spot that’s big enough to hide other people with you if necessary. I can be pretty good at trying to have quiet breathing so nobody can hear me. That’s an important skill [laughs]. I only know this because I just played sardines right before this. It’s still fresh in my mind.  

>> Lori: [laughing] That’s so good. I love it. Yay! Alright well I’m really good at Sardines too so game on. I’m going to wrap up because the tractor is on its way back but thank you so much Lyndsay for being a part of our team. This is Lori Poland with the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect. This is our podcast, having difficult conversations but bringing voice to the voiceless. Thanks for being here. We love you and we’re grateful for you. We’ll be doing a follow-up when the tractor is not here, at some point to keep sharing our people with the world because our people are how we’re able to do this and we need a lot of people.  

>> Lyndsay: Yes thanks for having me. Have fun with your tractor today. 

>> Lori: [laughs] thank you! 

>>Lori: I want to thank each of you again for joining us today and listening in. If you or someone you know is being abused, please call 1-800-4-A-CHILD. To learn more about EndCAN, visit www.endcan.org or find us on all social media platforms. Join us in being Louder than Silence and being a part of the change. Please leave a comment, like our podcast, or share with your friends. The more the word spreads, the more of a collective impact we can have. If you have a question or you know someone who would want to be a guest on our podcast, please contact bethechange@endcan.org. Thanks again, and have a great day.   

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