SF Unscripted - Sherry Houston

Meet Santa Fe College'e Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer in the Office for Advancement. 

Transcript

Transcript

00:00:06 Mark Barley

Welcome to Santa Fe Unscripted, the podcast that brings you the behind-the-scenes

stories of Santa Fe College.

00:00:12 Mark Barley

I'm your host, Mark Barley.

00:00:13 Mark Barley

Let's dive in.

00:00:15 Mark Barley

Welcome into Santa Fe Unscripted, the inaugural podcast here this episode where you're

going to learn all things Santa Fe.

00:00:26 Mark Barley

It could be a person, it could be an event,

00:00:31 Mark Barley

It could be a story that is being told here at Santa Fe.

00:00:36 Mark Barley

My name is Mark Barley, and I'm going to bring you those stories, the guests that we have

on this podcast.

00:00:44 Mark Barley

So we want you to feel like you know what's going on around the college.

00:00:49 Mark Barley

And our inaugural guest is someone very special, very important.

00:00:55 Mark Barley

And I'm going to make sure I get your title correct, just because it's one of the longest ones

here at Santa Fe.

00:01:01 Mark BarleyWe're here with Sherry Houston, the Vice President for Advancement and the Chief

Philanthropy Officer.

00:01:10 Mark Barley

Correct.

00:01:11 Sherry Houston

Correct.

00:01:12 Mark Barley

All right, welcome in.

00:01:13 Mark Barley

Thank you for joining us, Sherry.

00:01:16 Mark Barley

How does it feel to sit in the seat and have a headset on?

00:01:19 Sherry Houston

I love it.

00:01:20 Sherry Houston

I love talking.

00:01:20 Sherry Houston

I love sharing the mission of Santa Fe College.

00:01:23 Sherry Houston

It's just, it's so much fun to be in here with you, Mark.

00:01:25 Mark Barley

No, I appreciate that.

00:01:27 Mark Barley

We appreciate your time.

00:01:28 Mark Barley

We know you're very busy.00:01:30 Mark Barley

You are probably one of the busiest people at Santa Fe.

00:01:34 Mark Barley

We know this just by nature of what you do.

00:01:37 Mark Barley

And we're going to get into that some.

00:01:39 Mark Barley

But before we dive into kind of your role here at Santa Fe and what you do for Santa Fe

College, tell us a little bit about you.

00:01:49 Mark Barley

could start at the most recent level, but we do want to get into kind of where you've been

and what brought you to Santa Fe.

00:01:58 Sherry Houston

I have had a very eclectic career, so to speak.

00:02:03 Sherry Houston

I've been married to 40 years to my husband, Joel, and he is the person that brought us to

Gainesville, Florida.

00:02:09 Sherry Houston

I never thought we would stay in Gainesville that long.

00:02:11 Sherry Houston

And we have raised our children here.

00:02:13 Sherry Houston

We have grandchildren.

00:02:15 Sherry Houston

And so I started as a city planner, and I never thought I would get involved in fundraising.

00:02:19 Sherry HoustonHowever, there are some key correlations to fundraising and city planning, and it all

involves relationships and building

00:02:28 Sherry Houston

those connections.

00:02:29 Sherry Houston

And so when I came down here, I worked for the Regional Planning Council, and I had so

much fun.

00:02:35 Sherry Houston

Here you are in the rural areas of North Central Florida, really transforming people's lives,

putting in some policies, procedures to help growth.

00:02:44 Sherry Houston

And that was a lot of fun.

00:02:45 Sherry Houston

And I really outgrew that fairly quickly.

00:02:48 Sherry Houston

And then I went into volunteering.

00:02:52 Sherry Houston

And volunteering brought me to realize that relationships are more important

00:02:58 Sherry Houston

And I became a member of the Junior League of Gainesville.

00:03:01 Sherry Houston

And at the Junior League, there are these different tracks that you can participate in and

you can learn.

00:03:06 Sherry Houston

And I went to the fundraising track.

00:03:07 Sherry Houston

Who doesn't love money, right?00:03:09 Sherry Houston

And so in the fundraising track, I learned how to meet people on their journey and to really

help them invest in very noteworthy things.

00:03:20 Sherry Houston

And as I was in the junior league, I rose to leadership and I became the president.

00:03:26 Sherry Houston

And during that time, I was at the, what was St.

00:03:30 Sherry Houston

Francis Catholic High School, now at St.

00:03:32 Sherry Houston

Francis Academy, left there.

00:03:34 Sherry Houston

Then I went to what I thought was my dream job forever, and that was at Meridian

Behavioral Healthcare.

00:03:40 Sherry Houston

And once again, here I was starting in city planning in 17 counties in North Central Florida.

00:03:47 Sherry Houston

You transformed me into

00:03:50 Sherry Houston

community health, right, mental health, and I'm in the same 17 counties.

00:03:55 Sherry Houston

Like, my goodness, like the universe was telling me my time wasn't over in those 17

counties.

00:04:01 Sherry Houston

And I had so much fun at Meridian.

00:04:03 Sherry Houston

I had a team of people and we raised money.00:04:06 Sherry Houston

We did marketing, PR, social media, all the wonderful things.

00:04:10 Sherry Houston

And then I figured there was something more.

00:04:12 Sherry Houston

And then I ended up at the Ronald McDonald House.

00:04:15 Sherry Houston

And what a calling that was.

00:04:17 Sherry Houston

And for 10 years, I was able to serve families who had a child who was seriously ill.

00:04:21 Sherry Houston

There's nothing more noteworthy, nothing more that pulls at your heartstring.

00:04:26 Sherry Houston

And during that time, we had a very long wait list.

00:04:29 Sherry Houston

And working through COVID and being a leader through COVID is a huge undertaking.

00:04:35 Sherry Houston

I mean, I think I've transformed my life in so many ways.

00:04:39 Sherry Houston

But we went from a 31 bedroom house to 50 guest suites, raising the money, once again,

helping families on their most dark journeys.

00:04:49 Sherry Houston

There were so many highs, but the lows were so incredibly low.

00:04:53 Sherry Houston

And then knowing that my time there, the house was sustainable.

00:04:57 Sherry HoustonI'd done everything I could humanly do.

00:05:00 Sherry Houston

I knew there was something else.

00:05:02 Sherry Houston

And I heard that Chuck Clemens was retiring.

00:05:04 Sherry Houston

And I thought, oh, could I be mini Chuck Clemens?

00:05:08 Sherry Houston

And no one can fill Chuck's.

00:05:11 Mark Barley

I mean, we could be mini Chuck Clemens, right?

00:05:14 Sherry Houston

Well, and you know, I think every day as I sit in his seat, wow, I mean, Chuck, you have built

this incredible foundation that serves Santa Fe College.

00:05:25 Mark Barley

Literally and theoretically, right.

00:05:27 Sherry Houston

I know.

00:05:28 Sherry Houston

So it's an honor now to be sitting before you in this podcast and being able to share my new

life here at Santa Fe College.

00:05:36 Sherry Houston

It's been 20 months.

00:05:38 Mark Barley

Yeah, that's a long time.

00:05:40 Mark BarleyBut when you're having fun, it goes by, right?

00:05:43 Mark Barley

I mean, so just to tell a brief story, and we've shared it before, is that in my day job,

00:05:52 Mark Barley

I'm a police officer with the Santa Fe College Police Department.

00:05:55 Mark Barley

And we had collected can tabs, pop tabs.

00:06:01 Mark Barley

And one of the main fundraisers, or not fun, donation drives that the Ronald McDonald

House does is collecting these pop tabs.

00:06:10 Mark Barley

And I forget, I actually, I just blanked on what our drive was called, because we did college

wide.

00:06:17 Mark Barley

We collected can tabs from

00:06:20 Mark Barley

from all over the college over kind of a month span or maybe it was a semester.

00:06:25 Mark Barley

But when we collected those, we got a bunch of police officers together.

00:06:30 Mark Barley

And we came over and did kind of a, hey, look what we did.

00:06:34 Mark Barley

And you, Sherry, were, in charge of the Ronald McDonald House at the time.

00:06:39 Mark Barley

But I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, but you hadn't started this process or maybe you

had started the process.

00:06:46 Mark BarleyI don't remember how that went, but you took that as a sign, right?

00:06:51 Mark Barley

And that it was this

00:06:54 Mark Barley

this thing that you were like, hey, this might be meant to be.

00:06:57 Mark Barley

And I share that only because, man, the world works in mysterious ways, right?

00:07:03 Mark Barley

And we're grateful that you had so much success in that role that led you to this role

because

00:07:17 Mark Barley

If you hadn't had that success, you probably wouldn't be here, right?

00:07:19 Mark Barley

You'd probably either still be at the Ramadan's or doing something else.

00:07:22 Mark Barley

And you touched on something that, can you just talk about how your role in the

foundation impacts the college?

00:07:31 Sherry Houston

So the foundation is the nonprofit arm to Santa Fe College and we raise money for two

purposes.

00:07:39 Sherry Houston

One is for scholarships for our students and program enhancements.

00:07:43 Sherry Houston

And program enhancements can be something as simple as buying tables for a program or

to also name a building or name a classroom that's now going to enhance a program.

00:07:55 Sherry Houston

In fact, on June the 2nd, we will be groundbreaking the automotive training technology00:08:01 Sherry Houston

and we're working with several donors right now to name the bays, to name the building, to

name the classrooms.

00:08:07 Sherry Houston

So it's awesome.

00:08:08 Sherry Houston

It's awesome to talk to people every day, to share the mission of this incredible institution.

00:08:18 Mark Barley

Yeah, that's just one aspect, right?

00:08:20 Mark Barley

And there's so many tentacles of what the foundation does.

00:08:24 Mark Barley

And how big is your team in the foundation?

00:08:27 Sherry Houston

We have a small but mighty team and I was afford the opportunity when Dr.

00:08:32 Sherry Houston

Brody hired me to really have a true philanthropic department.

00:08:36 Sherry Houston

In the past when Chuck Clemons was here, the police department fell under, was

responsible to Chuck.

00:08:44 Sherry Houston

And then we also had marketing and communications and there were, I don't know the

other departments that Chuck had when he was here.

00:08:51 Sherry Houston

And Chuck truly is a renaissance man.

00:08:53 Sherry Houston

I don't know how that man00:08:54 Sherry Houston

and did everything he did.

00:08:55 Sherry Houston

I do one thing, I do one thing well, and I can raise money.

00:08:59 Sherry Houston

And so in that process, I think the department is driven to change people's lives,

00:09:10 Sherry Houston

to promote the college and move our mission forward.

00:09:14 Sherry Houston

And the team that we have assembled, and you're going to laugh when I say this, it's all

women.

00:09:20 Sherry Houston

And I don't even know how that happened.

00:09:22 Sherry Houston

And what we talk about as a team is that we support one another.

00:09:27 Sherry Houston

And maybe going back to my days in the Junior League of Gainesville, where it's an

organization that trains women for civic leadership, but there's nothing more inspiring than

to have a team of people who are moving

00:09:40 Sherry Houston

forward in the same direction.

00:09:41 Sherry Houston

I mean, I'm not saying every day is easy and it's not snowflakes and cotton candy every day,

but we certainly have a whole lot of fun.

00:09:49 Sherry Houston

And when you raise money, there is nothing more exciting than matching the passion of a

donor to the mission of the organization and to listen to that donor and find that specific

way that they want to make a difference.00:10:04 Sherry Houston

And it's like I equate it to opening up a bottle of champagne.

00:10:08 Sherry Houston

But when you open up a bottle of champagne,

00:10:10 Sherry Houston

you have to turn the cork, right?

00:10:12 Sherry Houston

And then there's that moment when you know the cork is coming out, that's when you're

quiet and you wait for that donor to actually say what they're going to do.

00:10:21 Sherry Houston

And so every time I meet with a donor, I think about opening up a bottle of champagne and

watching that cork come out.

00:10:27 Sherry Houston

And then we just celebrate.

00:10:29 Sherry Houston

We celebrate the incredible accomplishments that this donor is going to make in the lives

of our students and this incredible institution.

00:10:37 Mark Barley

Yeah.

00:10:38 Mark Barley

You're such a professional.

00:10:40 Mark Barley

I've got notes of questions I want to ask, but you just ran through three of them.

00:10:44 Mark Barley

I appreciate that.

00:10:46 Mark Barley

But so you touched on how the foundation supports the college mission.00:10:51 Mark Barley

Can you expound on that and maybe explain

00:10:56 Mark Barley

how the foundation supports students.

00:10:59 Mark Barley

You talk about raising money.

00:11:01 Mark Barley

So how does that play into how you impact students, your department impacts students?

00:11:06 Sherry Houston

So we raise money for scholarships and there are two different kinds of scholarships.

00:11:10 Sherry Houston

There's A pass-through scholarship or non-endowed.

00:11:13 Sherry Houston

So it's a gift of about $1,500.

00:11:15 Sherry Houston

It is a gift of $1,500, up to almost $50,000.

00:11:20 Sherry Houston

And that donor is going to change the life of a student.

00:11:23 Sherry Houston

It may be only for a

00:11:26 Sherry Houston

year, maybe it's for a semester, depending how that donor wants to invest their money in

the student.

00:11:32 Sherry Houston

An endowed scholarship is a gift of $50,000, and that's in perpetuity.

00:11:37 Sherry HoustonWe take the interest and then we spin that off and make that scholarship.

00:11:42 Sherry Houston

We award that scholarship to a student.

00:11:45 Sherry Houston

And what is so remarkable about our donors, they're generous, but they're also very

intentional.

00:11:51 Sherry Houston

So they may want to give money to the Kirkpatrick Center.

00:11:54 Sherry Houston

So more

00:11:55 Sherry Houston

individuals can become law enforcement officers and they can choose the type of student

they want to help.

00:12:03 Sherry Houston

And what we've been able to do since I've been here very thoughtfully and intentionally is

matching the donor with the student.

00:12:12 Sherry Houston

And magic happens because for you as an individual making that investment to be able to

see that student whose life you have changed, there is nothing more powerful, nothing

more exciting.

00:12:26 Mark Barley

It's crazy to think about the ways that your department can impact students, and I think

maybe.

00:12:35 Mark Barley

one of the more publicized donations that Santa Fe has received in the past 10 years was

the McKenzie Scott money, right?

00:12:44 Mark BarleyCan you talk a little bit about how like a donation that large, because that was in the

millions, how something that large is used and like kind of there's stipulations on certain

things when stuff gets that big

00:12:59 Mark Barley

money amount, right?

00:13:00 Sherry Houston

It really is up to the donor, Mark.

00:13:02 Sherry Houston

So the donor decides how they want to make that investment and how they want to help

students.

00:13:09 Sherry Houston

So with Mackenzie Scott, and that's BS before Sherry.

00:13:12 Sherry Houston

Do you like that?

00:13:13 Sherry Houston

That's true.

00:13:14 Sherry Houston

I say that all the time.

00:13:14 Sherry Houston

I think it's funny.

00:13:16 Sherry Houston

I'm not sure everyone else does.

00:13:18 Sherry Houston

But it was very, very intentional on Dr.

00:13:20 Sherry Houston

Brody's part.

00:13:21 Sherry HoustonThere were people that were talking to him individually, and then he chose to put that

money in the foundation to invest it and to use that interest to spin off programs that are

thoughtful, that are maybe a little bit of a risk, but that can change lives, but very

measurably.

00:13:43 Mark Barley

That money, and if you can't speak on it, will that principle of that money ever be touched?

00:13:51 Sherry Houston

No.

00:13:51 Mark Barley

I didn't think so, right?

00:13:52 Mark Barley

it's something like that.

00:13:54 Mark Barley

It's self-sustaining.

00:13:56 Sherry Houston

And when the money was donated to the college, now Dr.

00:13:59 Sherry Houston

Brody chose to put that money invested in the foundation, remember the foundation and

college were a little bit different.

00:14:06 Sherry Houston

It was others used those monies and built buildings or they bought things.

00:14:12 Sherry Houston

And Dr.

00:14:13 Sherry Houston

Brody chose to invest that money so that we will have that to make lifelong learning and to

continue to make a difference.

00:14:22 Mark BarleyYeah.

00:14:23 Mark Barley

That's remarkable that a decision like that in a moment can have such a long history of

support for the college.

00:14:36 Mark Barley

So the foundation impacts the students in that way.

00:14:39 Mark Barley

How does the foundation impact kind of the ventures for the college?

00:14:43 Mark Barley

You talk about buildings and you talk about programs.

00:14:46 Mark Barley

It can do all or both or none of it.

00:14:50 Mark Barley

Is that up to you or is that up to the president of the college at the, I guess, in conversation

with you and your department of how

00:15:00 Mark Barley

the foundation is kind of operating and raising certain funds for certain things.

00:15:05 Sherry Houston

There is a strategic plan and we have a brand new incredible strategic plan now at Santa Fe

College and that is our guardrail and our

00:15:15 Sherry Houston

structure.

00:15:16 Sherry Houston

And as we meet with donors, then we're able to determine what the donor determines how

they want their money spent.

00:15:24 Sherry Houston

But I will guide them along the way into things that we really need here at the college.00:15:30 Mark Barley

Okay.

00:15:31 Mark Barley

So what is on the horizon?

00:15:34 Mark Barley

You got a lot of things going on.

00:15:37 Sherry Houston

There is a lot, which is good.

00:15:38 Sherry Houston

That's job security.

00:15:40 Sherry Houston

So the first thing is, as I mentioned, on June the 2nd, there is the Automotive Training

Technology Center and we are raising money for that right now.

00:15:48 Sherry Houston

And then on June the 25th, we are going to break ground for the Hitchcock Family

Clubhouse.

00:15:58 Sherry Houston

And that clubhouse has been talked about, I believe, for the last maybe 10 years.

00:16:03 Sherry Houston

a fully funded donor building.

00:16:06 Sherry Houston

And so we are having several little fundraisers to bring people together.

00:16:11 Sherry Houston

And then we're looking at expanding not only that clubhouse, but the entire athletic

program and the department and the facilities.

00:16:20 Sherry Houston

So that's very tangible.00:16:22 Sherry Houston

And once again, it is so fundraising money here at Santa Fe College.

00:16:26 Sherry Houston

We have animals at the zoo.

00:16:28 Sherry Houston

We have planets and stars at the planetarium.

00:16:31 Sherry Houston

We have an awesome health care

00:16:33 Sherry Houston

nursing program.

00:16:35 Sherry Houston

We have dental hygiene.

00:16:36 Sherry Houston

We also have your basic what I call just higher ed things.

00:16:41 Sherry Houston

We have law enforcement.

00:16:43 Sherry Houston

Think of everything that we have.

00:16:45 Sherry Houston

There is nothing a donor would not want to invest in.

00:16:48 Sherry Houston

And in my previous lives, I was always missing parts of that.

00:16:52 Sherry Houston

Now I have everything.

00:16:53 Sherry HoustonAnd it's just a matter of having enough time to meet with donors to match their passion

with what we have and our needs.

00:16:59 Mark Barley

How do you do it?

00:17:01 Sherry Houston

My gosh, I have so much fun.

00:17:03 Sherry Houston

I get up at 4 A.m.

00:17:04 Sherry Houston

and I Peloton.

00:17:05 Sherry Houston

I take really good vitamins.

00:17:07 Sherry Houston

I eat really well.

00:17:08 Sherry Houston

I have lots of fun.

00:17:09 Mark Barley

Do you do, do you bike through Sicily or wait?

00:17:12 Mark Barley

I mean like on the Peloton.

00:17:14 Mark Barley

What do you?

00:17:14 Sherry Houston

Oh no, I listen to music and I have certain instructors I really like.

00:17:19 Sherry Houston

And then I do weights and I do a meditation.00:17:21 Sherry Houston

More information you want to know.

00:17:23 Sherry Houston

No, and I watch the sun come up and it is so much fun.

00:17:27 Sherry Houston

Every day is a new opportunity and it's

00:17:29 Sherry Houston

It's really, it's fun just when you have the opportunity to meet a person on their journey and

to change a life of someone.

00:17:37 Sherry Houston

And I think sometimes we don't realize how powerful our interactions are, whether we're

opening a door for someone or talking to an individual at lunch and they decide they want

to make an investment.

00:17:50 Sherry Houston

Every opportunity is a chance to make a difference in someone's life.

00:17:55 Sherry Houston

It's all about relationships.

00:17:56 Mark Barley

Yeah, and you've built a life of establishing relationships and using, using is not the right

word, but those relationships to further a goal, right?

00:18:10 Mark Barley

And I feel like that's why you're so great in this role.

00:18:14 Mark Barley

and why you and your team are so important to the overall mission and that theoretical

foundation to the college.

00:18:23 Mark Barley

Real quick, you touched on kind of the stuff that Santa Fe has like athletics and the zoo.00:18:31 Mark Barley

Those are two big departments that your department has supported through fundraising.

00:18:38 Mark Barley

Can you talk a little bit about

00:18:39 Mark Barley

your department's relationship with athletics and then your department's relationship with

the teaching zoo.

00:18:44 Sherry Houston

Well, we have an awesome athletic director.

00:18:47 Sherry Houston

Chandra Stebbins is one of the most dynamic people I've probably worked with in my life.

00:18:51 Sherry Houston

And we have so much fun because when we meet once again with donors and friends, they

want to invest in Santa Fe College athletics because they know they're making a difference.

00:19:00 Sherry Houston

We've had several scholarships that we have been able to put together since I've been

here.

00:19:06 Sherry Houston

And then the Hitchcock Family Clubhouse, I mean, tangible

00:19:10 Sherry Houston

buildings that are going to transform the lives of our athletes rather than getting changed in

their car.

00:19:15 Sherry Houston

They're going to have a clubhouse that they're going to be able to get changed.

00:19:19 Sherry Houston

Like, oh my gosh, to be able to leave the world a better place is just so awesome.

00:19:23 Sherry HoustonAnd then you look at the zoo and I'm also Rotarian.

00:19:27 Sherry Houston

I like to volunteer.

00:19:28 Sherry Houston

You can see that.

00:19:29 Sherry Houston

And I

00:19:30 Sherry Houston

And so to be able to work with the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation and to facilitate

a tree house that's going to transform the way the zoo is experienced is so cool.

00:19:44 Sherry Houston

So here you have Sherry Houston Foundation.

00:19:46 Sherry Houston

You have Sherry Houston, who is a Rotarian.

00:19:50 Sherry Houston

And then all the Rotarians in the community who are working towards making a difference

at a place that's so very dear to my heart was so much fun.

00:19:59 Mark Barley

It's and you speak a tangible evidence of the foundation's impact and but you can also

speak of the and you did the impact that it has on someone's personal growth and how

they're leaving Santa Fe better and how Santa Fe is impacting them as they step out into

the world and so the foundation is the most

00:20:29 Mark Barley

wild, crazy department I think we have is just because there's so much to it.

00:20:37 Mark Barley

But it's also this necessary, like if without the foundation, I mean, you don't, Santa Fe

doesn't have a lot of what they have currently without the foundation.

00:20:47 Mark BarleyAnd so that's a testament to the fundraising that before Sherry, BS,

00:20:56 Mark Barley

did, right?

00:20:57 Mark Barley

And then the fundraising and the impact that you all are making.

00:21:02 Mark Barley

So that's, you're doing great work, Sherry.

00:21:06 Mark Barley

But before we let you go, we're going to do 5 quick questions.

00:21:11 Mark Barley

All right?

00:21:11 Mark Barley

So you're going to have a minute with my fake timer, a minute to answer 5 questions.

00:21:18 Mark Barley

These are rapid fire questions.

00:21:20 Mark Barley

I don't want you to think about them.

00:21:21 Mark Barley

I just, right off the dome, just off the top of your head,

00:21:25 Mark Barley

No thoughts.

00:21:26 Mark Barley

Whatever comes to your mind.

00:21:28 Sherry Houston

My heart is racing.

00:21:28 Sherry HoustonGo ahead.

00:21:29 Mark Barley

I mean, this is serious business right now.

00:21:32 Mark Barley

All right, you ready?

00:21:33 Sherry Houston

Yes.

00:21:33 Mark Barley

All right.

00:21:34 Mark Barley

Coffee or an energy drink?

00:21:35 Sherry Houston

Coffee.

00:21:36 Mark Barley

From where?

00:21:38 Sherry Houston

Jerick.

00:21:39 Mark Barley

Oh, what are you drinking?

00:21:40 Sherry Houston

Just coffee.

00:21:41 Mark Barley

Just black.

00:21:42 Sherry Houston

Just black coffee.

00:21:42 Mark BarleyBlack coffee.

00:21:43 Mark Barley

Wow.

00:21:44 Mark Barley

All right.

00:21:45 Mark Barley

Texting or calling?

00:21:46 Sherry Houston

Call.

00:21:47 Sherry Houston

Oh my God.

00:21:48 Sherry Houston

Relationships.

00:21:49 Sherry Houston

Mark.

00:21:50 Mark Barley

Listen, you're busy.

00:21:52 Mark Barley

I don't know how you have time to talk to everybody.

00:21:54 Mark Barley

All right.

00:21:55 Mark Barley

Okay, most overrated food.

00:22:00 Sherry Houston

I don't know.

00:22:01 Mark BarleyDo you not eat?

00:22:02 Mark Barley

I do.

00:22:03 Sherry Houston

I do.

00:22:03 Sherry Houston

Actually, I'm trying to fit in my dress for the gala next week, so I'm not eating any carbs.

00:22:09 Sherry Houston

So I say maybe.

00:22:09 Mark Barley

So all food is overrated right now.

00:22:11 Sherry Houston

Maybe a Krispy Kreme donut?

00:22:13 Mark Barley

I don't know.

00:22:15 Mark Barley

All right.

00:22:15 Mark Barley

One song you know all the lyrics to.

00:22:18 Sherry Houston

I only listen to music.

00:22:20 Sherry Houston

When I'm in my car, I'm talking to people on the phone.

00:22:22 Mark Barley

But you just told me you're the Peloton, you're listening to music.

00:22:25 Sherry HoustonI am.

00:22:26 Sherry Houston

I'm stuck in like the 70s and 80s.

00:22:28 Mark Barley

Okay, what song?

00:22:29 Sherry Houston

Like, I don't know.

00:22:30 Sherry Houston

I don't know the names of songs.

00:22:32 Mark Barley

But do you know the words when they come on?

00:22:34 Sherry Houston

I could sing to them, yes, but I'm not.

00:22:36 Sherry Houston

I don't know songs.

00:22:39 Mark Barley

All right, last one.

00:22:40 Mark Barley

Best thing about Santa Fe?

00:22:42 Sherry Houston

The people, the students, the faculty, the staff, the administration, working with Dr.

00:22:48 Sherry Houston

Brody, he's a visionary, and working with people like you, Mark, and having the opportunity

to really just have fun every single day.

00:22:57 Mark Barley

So Sherry, how can an everyday person like myself00:23:03 Mark Barley

support the foundation and the college, and where can they go to maybe donate some

money?

00:23:08 Sherry Houston

So anyone can make a gift to Santa Fe College.

00:23:10 Sherry Houston

It doesn't matter how large or how small, you can make a difference in the life of a student

here at Santa Fe College.

00:23:16 Sherry Houston

So you can go to our website.

00:23:17 Sherry Houston

You can also give me a call.

00:23:19 Sherry Houston

Carrie Saunders is our director of development.

00:23:22 Sherry Houston

She is awesome, not nearly as enthusiastic as I am, but she's very thoughtful.

00:23:26 Sherry Houston

Not everyone likes the enthusiasm and bubble.

00:23:29 Sherry Houston

But truly, there are so many ways that you can make a difference

00:23:33 Sherry Houston

Whether it is, yes, money is great, right?

00:23:36 Sherry Houston

And you can donate stocks and bonds and cars and things like that, but also taking some

time, just come and take a tour of our campuses.

00:23:45 Sherry Houston

At the foundation, we do these programs called the Inspire Series.00:23:48 Sherry Houston

And Jess Lutwig is our special events manager, and she does this awesome job in making

everyone feel welcome.

00:23:54 Sherry Houston

And so we have some food, and individuals are able to look at a program, interact with the

faculty, the staff, and be

00:24:03 Sherry Houston

be a student at Santa Fe College for just two hours and learn so much more.

00:24:08 Sherry Houston

And I think that's what we need to get out there is so much more to discover, so much more

to experience.

00:24:16 Sherry Houston

You just need to come on campus and we can help make that happen for you.

00:24:20 Mark Barley

That's perfect.

00:24:21 Mark Barley

You've sold me on being a student at Santa Fe 100%.

00:24:25 Mark Barley

So thank you, Sherry, for your time.

00:24:28 Sherry Houston

Thank you, Mark.

00:24:28 Sherry Houston

I've loved being on here.

00:24:37 Mark Barley

If you found this podcast informative, there's more to discover on our website,

sfcollege.edu.

00:24:42 Mark BarleyYou can also follow Santa Fe on all your favorite social media platforms, X, Facebook,

Instagram, YouTube.

00:24:49 Mark Barley

We're there at Santa Fe College.

00:24:51 Mark Barley

Give us a like, follow, and a subscribe.

00:24:53 Mark Barley

Have suggestions on who you want to hear from next or watch your story featured on the

podcast?

00:24:57 Mark Barley

Send us an e-mail at communications at sfcollege.edu.

00:25:02 Mark Barley

Thanks for listening and go Saints.