# GK - EP 25 FINAL
[00:00:00] Leslie Wehr: We really need to protect the concept of giving flowers, and not get distracted in a lot of different ways. The whole point of Growing Kindness really is to grow kindness, grow community, connection, provide people that need it with hope. And so finding a way to make sure that never gets lost- Mm-hmm ... is really, really important.
[00:00:26] Leslie Wehr: And in a transition period, we're going through a lot of details. All of that beautiful history and knowledge out of this wonderful founder, and capture it, bottle it up, and not lose sight in that, that we just wanna encourage people to give flowers. You show up and give what you can. You show up how you are, and you give what you can, and that's enough.
[00:00:53] Deanna Kitchen: Hey, friend. Welcome to the Growing Kindness Podcast. I'm your host, Deanna Kitchen, founder of the Growing Kindness Movement. This is a place where we grow together, learning to root our lives in kindness, connection, and community. If you've ever wished the world felt a little softer, a little more neighborly, or if you're craving stories that remind you that goodness still grows, you're in the right place.
[00:01:14] Deanna Kitchen: Together with our guests, we'll share stories of generosity and community, proof that even the smallest acts of kindness, from growing and giving cut flowers to everyday acts of care, can change lives and connect us in powerful ways. I'm so glad you're here. Let's get started.
[00:01:37] Deanna Kitchen: This season is made possible by Heirloom Roses, our season two sponsor. We're deeply grateful for their generosity that helps carry the Growing Kindness mission forward and makes these stories possible.
[00:01:47] Deanna Kitchen: Hey, I'm gonna start out this podcast with saying I'm sorry for my voice. Thank you for bearing with me.
[00:01:53] Deanna Kitchen: We are fresh off of the Growing Kindness retreat, and I've spent the last three days in the most beautiful conversations with the most incredible people from all across the country and all across our community. But I'm a little froggy now, so bear with me through this episode. I really wanna just say thank you for being here.
[00:02:13] Deanna Kitchen: Um, this is a pretty big episode for me, both to sit with and record and share with you, so thank you for being here with me in it So you might remember that about six months ago, I shared with our community that my role in Growing Kindness would be changing. But maybe in some ways from the outside looking in, it probably hasn't really looked like a lot has changed yet.
[00:02:36] Deanna Kitchen: But there's actually been a lot that's been quietly changing behind the scenes, and we're on the cusp of some really big changes that are going to be happening next. I'm gonna get to it all here soon and share it all with you. Um, you're the first people who get to hear all about this, so thank you for sitting with me and hearing my story and hearing my heart.
[00:02:59] Deanna Kitchen: It means a lot. It's been about six months since I told you that I'd be stepping down as the director of Growing Kindness, and it's been a slow
[00:03:06] Deanna Kitchen: process, but that's really only a part of the story. There is actually so much more that I haven't really shared beyond the circle of, um, my closest people, and I wanna share it with you here.
[00:03:22] Deanna Kitchen: Um, it's time. I want you to be the first ones to hear about this and kinda know what is going on with me and what is next for Growing Kindness. I've been thinking about what I wanna share with you and how I wanna share it today, and I just keep coming back to one thing, and that is gratitude. Almost 16 years ago, when I was a young mama of two at home, and I was navigating this new role of motherhood and all of the joys that it brings, but also the extreme isolation, and now understanding that I was navigating through postpartum depression.
[00:04:01] Deanna Kitchen: I just knew that I just wanted to know not how to lose myself in that season. I wanted to find a way to take care of myself so that I could keep showing up for my family whole, and so that I had purpose and connection in my community. I know some of you already know and remember my story that in this season I had just resigned my job as an elementary school teacher.
[00:04:24] Deanna Kitchen: And so I started growing and giving flowers of acts of kindness. And then over the course of the next few years, I began inviting others to join me. And from that, Growing Kindness was born. And I could have never imagined where that simple need that I had and that simple idea would lead. But last weekend, like I mentioned, we just had the retreat, hence the froggy voice.
[00:04:49] Deanna Kitchen: But I had the privilege of gathering with 28 incredible women from all across the US who were sharing their hearts and their stories. And something just resonated so deeply with me that one person shared as we were going around the circle at the beginning of the retreat, asking everyone to share what is it that they needed, what was the word that described what they wanted from the experience of our time together.
[00:05:15] Deanna Kitchen: And one person shared that her word for the weekend was belonging. She shared with us all that she often feels like she doesn't belong, but she feels like she belongs in our community. And It's what I feel too. Getting to hear her say that, I think, spoke so deeply to the young mama who wasn't sure of where I fit in my community anymore, and to the little girl in me who didn't get invited to the birthday parties always, and who was never invited to sit at the cool kids table in middle school, and never really knew where I fit in.
[00:05:54] Deanna Kitchen: And so to hear her say that, um, was just the deepest joy for me. So what started out as this simple invitation to grow and give flowers just as an act of kindness has become a community. It's a place where people get to belong. It's a community that, uh, unites around vulnerability and connection and kindness, and I could not have imagined the thousands of people who would grow and give flowers in their communities and neighborhoods all around the world.
[00:06:26] Deanna Kitchen: The, the young mama in me who was planting those sweet peas and taking them to long-term care could have never known, and the little girl who never got invited to sit at the table could have never known that she would get to sit at a table with the most incredible people from all across the country gathered together at a place where everybody belongs.
[00:06:47] Deanna Kitchen: I don't think I ever could have guessed the friendships that I would be blessed with because of Growing Kindness. Your stories of kindness, of giving, of resilience, the stories that would be shared with me, or that I would then get in turn to share with the world, I could have never guessed at the countless moments of connection that happened just in those sweet little experiences where someone chooses to notice another person and just hold out what they have in kindness.
[00:07:14] Deanna Kitchen: And I definitely could not have imagined how much all of you are gonna teach me all along the way in this journey. Growing Kindness has truly shaped my life. It has shaped our family, and being trusted to help build it and lead it has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. So today, I wanna share with you a little bit about what is going on with me and what is happening next, both with me and with Growing Kindness, because we're in a season of transition.
[00:07:48] Deanna Kitchen: So over the past year I've been doing a lot of thinking about my role here and about what is both healthiest for me and what is sustainable for this organization. And I shared with you back in February, actually, I checked the date this morning, February 14th, no less, how's that for a Valentine's card? I shared with you that I would be stepping back from my role as executive director.
[00:08:12] Deanna Kitchen: And the reality is, friends, is that I've given an enormous amount of myself, um, to this organization and to this work. And please hear me say, that has been one hundred percent willingly, and it has been absolutely a joy and a delight, and it has been done with so much love. But I've had to become really honest with myself about what the actual cost is that's come with carrying this for the last eight years.
[00:08:41] Deanna Kitchen: And here's the thing, friend, I actually haven't been telling you the whole story. Um, if I'm being honest with myself, it's taken me a lot of years to just even accept my whole story right now. And that reality is, is that running Growing Kindness as an organization is taking a tremendous toll on my health.
[00:09:01] Deanna Kitchen: And I'm not gonna pretend like I was the healthiest person coming into this mission. I'm not gonna pretend that I was not already a really sick kid and haven't had to navigate a lot of things. It's not like this has all been all of a sudden all at once. But in twenty twenty-three, two years after we launched Growing Kindness, um, two years after marathons of hardly any sleep at night in order to keep it running and juggling homeschooling the kids and juggling through the pandemic, I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and a disease called Hashimoto's.
[00:09:39] Deanna Kitchen: So, so my doctor told me at the time that the amount of stress that I was under and the amount of sleep that I was getting, which was very little in that season of pulling really, really late nights to do the work to build this organization and sustain it, at the same season we had our kids home, um, during the pandemic.
[00:10:00] Deanna Kitchen: That combination, coupled with already kind of a lifetime of not having the strongest health... The hard part is, friends, is that, like, I actually had recovered a lot of my health, um, prior to putting myself through this. And so, again, I don't regret giving what I've given, but I have to face the reality that the cost has been pretty great
[00:10:22] Deanna Kitchen: And so at the time,
[00:10:23] Deanna Kitchen: my
[00:10:23] Deanna Kitchen: doctor
[00:10:23] Deanna Kitchen: told me that that was really the cause of what was going on.
[00:10:27] Deanna Kitchen: And so the answer that I had at that time was to make some adjustments and to slow down a little bit. But I never really slowed down a lot, and I never really made changes that ensured that the mental load and the stress that I was carrying were shifted. And then unexpectedly, in the last eight months, I've been hospitalized twice.
[00:10:53] Deanna Kitchen: I definitely did not see those coming. It was a really real awakening that I had to face. I wasn't gonna share this here, but I think it's an important part of this story. Back in December, I was the ER, um, waiting for test results, and there was that moment of time, I think we all have them, where we have to really face realities.
[00:11:16] Deanna Kitchen: And two thoughts became really clear to me. One was that if the tests come back, if it's something that changes the course of my life, then I'm gonna make a change, and I'm gonna spend more time with my family. In the last eight months, I've kinda really had to face the reality of where things are at, um, for me and for my health.
[00:11:38] Deanna Kitchen: I've had two very unexpected hospitalizations, and I'm not gonna go into all the details. I promise they're not things that I can't turn around, but they are significant. And I will tell you, I know if you've experienced this also, you know that there's nothing quite like laying in a hospital bed in ER not knowing what test results are gonna come back as that Really forces you to wake up to your reality.
[00:12:07] Deanna Kitchen: And I wasn't gonna share this, but I think it's a, a real part of this story. Um, and I think it kind of is a picture of where my heart has been. That first hospital visit in December when I was laying in ER and we really had no idea what was gonna come back from all these test results that they were running, and I actually had a moment where I thought, "Well, if it's something that's gonna end my life, then people will understand.
[00:12:35] Deanna Kitchen: It will be okay for me to take a break, for me to step back." And I realized even just having that thought that it shouldn't take that, and that people would understand. So it's been a rude awakening, but a really, really needed awakening to listen to what my body has been trying to say. I need to rest, like real rest.
[00:13:01] Deanna Kitchen: Not just even physical rest, but the kind of rest where I can set down the mental load and the worry, and actually figure out how to take care of my body. But also to figure out what my life looks like when I'm not responsible for the mental and emotional load of carrying Growing Kindness. And so while I resigned officially as director in February, I really never fully stepped away from the work or the worry.
[00:13:33] Deanna Kitchen: What's become so clear to me is that for my health, but not just for my health, for the future of this organization, I need to take a break and take some rest, and I'm gonna be taking a sabbatical from Growing Kindness. This has been eight years of pouring out my heart and my time, and again, I'm so grateful for what it's become.
[00:13:55] Deanna Kitchen: But it means that it's time for me to completely step back for a while Um, that means that I will be stepping back from operations and management, and also I have stepped back from my... I've resigned my position from the board. So another piece that this involves, um, is that I'm gonna be taking a step back from managing social media for Growing Kindness.
[00:14:20] Deanna Kitchen: Um, if you've been following along here for a while, you'd know that I had publicly announced that I was going to be stepping back from social media three years ago when I stopped sharing from my- our farm's account, both sharing our farm and our family story. But I never actually got the opportunity to step back fully from social media because we didn't have a budget for anybody to take over Growing Kindness's social media, both, like, content creation and actual, like, administration and management.
[00:14:52] Deanna Kitchen: So in this time, I'm going to be stepping back fully from that as well. And then lastly, I need to share that in this time we're going to be pausing production on the podcast in order for me to figure out what it looks like to fully rest, and also as our organization makes this really critical and really important transition from being founder-led to being organizationally led by a board and the community behind it.
[00:15:26] Deanna Kitchen: I think you can probably begin to imagine, I know that you guys know me well enough to know that, number one, I can overanalyze things really well, but number two, that I feel things really deeply. And it matters a lot to me, the impact of my actions and my decisions on the people around me. And so this is not a decision that has been come to with any amount of lightness in any regard.
[00:15:53] Deanna Kitchen: Um, I can't begin to tell you the number of conversations, consultations, and prayers that have gone into arriving at this place, and there's grief in it. Like, there's no way to say that there isn't. I've been saying that my role is going to change since February, but now we've reached this point in time where it actually is changing, and change is hard.
[00:16:14] Deanna Kitchen: It means letting go. Um, it means accepting realities. And, and that's okay. There is time and there is space for that too, because my reality has been that Growing Kindness has become such a huge, huge part of me and who I am and what I do. But a dear friend gently reminded me that I didn't start Growing Kindness because I wanted to be in charge of an organization.
[00:16:39] Deanna Kitchen: I started it because I wanted people to feel seen and loved and cared for and know that they belonged, whether it was in their community or within this community that we've created. I know without a doubt that those things are happening. And while my role in this organization is changing, the mission will always, always be a part of who I am and what I do.
[00:17:05] Deanna Kitchen: And I actually feel complete peace knowing that this is what I need to do right now. And there's something else that I've been feeling too, and that is hope. I didn't expect that. I knew there was gonna be grief, but Here's what I really want you to know and understand. I've always said from the very beginning, um, days of this organization that Growing Kindness was never supposed to be about me.
[00:17:33] Deanna Kitchen: I have always felt like it's been my gift and privilege to bring it into the world, but it was never mine to hold and keep all for myself. It has always, always been about you. Growing Kindness is not one person. It isn't Deanna Kitchen's mission. It isn't my mission. It isn't my organization. It is ours.
[00:17:57] Deanna Kitchen: It belongs to us together. And quite literally, that is why I created a 501[c][3] for this organization, because then it could not ever just belong to me. It got to be all of ours. It is not a private business. It does not just belong to me. I just wanna reiterate that so much, that Growing Kindness, legally and literally and figuratively and in every way, belongs to all of us.
[00:18:26] Deanna Kitchen: It belongs to all the people who are planting flowers and growing kindness in their communities all across the world. It belongs to Kat, who tucks flowers into her apartment parking lot, like right in the little tiny strips between the pavement and the fences, and creates beauty for her neighbors to enjoy, and then grows flowers that she can share even without having a backyard.
[00:18:50] Deanna Kitchen: It belongs to Sue, who plants every single inch of her yard with flowers and sets a goal to share at least 1,000 bouquets in her community every growing season. It belongs to people like Robbie, who use growing and giving flowers as a purpose to help her heal from a stroke and find connection or community after losing her husband.
[00:19:13] Deanna Kitchen: It belongs to Amy, who's teaching her kids and all the kids in her neighborhood what kindness in action actually looks like, as she helps them to cut flowers and give them away at the little free flower stand they built, complete with bubbles and all. It belongs to Lori and Amy and all of the teachers in this community who are showing their students what it is to grow flowers, and then to gather them and share them in their communities as gifts of kindness.
[00:19:41] Deanna Kitchen: It belongs to Katie, who doesn't even have a garden, but goes out and finds flower farmers to buy flowers from, and then she takes them to the nurses at her local hospital. Growing Kindness belongs to all of us, and it belongs to you. It belongs to all of us and each of us together as we're making thousands and thousands of small choices every day to simply notice another human being and just to start where we are to do something to reach out in kindness.
[00:20:14] Deanna Kitchen: This is Growing Kindness, and none of it, none of it disappears if I pause or have a different role in this organization. If anything, I hope that this next chapter gives Growing Kindness the opportunity to become even more of what it's always supposed to be. I am just one person. I have one perspective.
[00:20:36] Deanna Kitchen: I have one set of skills. But when this grows out and beyond us, it becomes something so much bigger and more beautiful. It is our mission together. And I wish that somehow I could show you all of it, all the things that I have got to witness in the last eight years, every bouquet that I've seen shared, every doorstep conversation that I've heard about, every hospital room and nursing home and teacher's desk.
[00:21:03] Deanna Kitchen: We don't get to see it all. I get to hear about portions of it that I wish I could share with you, but even I don't get to see it all. We don't get to see every person who is met in their grief with someone who brought them flowers out of kindness. We don't get to see every person who was lonely, who was seen.
[00:21:20] Deanna Kitchen: We don't get to see the strangers who weren't expecting anyone to even notice that they existed that day. We don't get to see every child who's learned what it feels like to give something away out of generosity and just simply for the act of kindness. We don't get to see every person who's discovered what growing a garden does for their own mental health, their own physical health, what it would do for them, to how to...
[00:21:43] Deanna Kitchen: it would carry them and carry them through the difficult seasons. And then not only that, become a tool for connection and community. We don't get to see all that, and I wish we could, but I know that we can trust that the ripples of kindness that are going out into the world are far, far more beautiful than we can even begin to imagine.
[00:22:02] Deanna Kitchen: And I wish that I could take all of those moments and just bottle them up and put them in one place for us to all stand back and look at like a, a quilted, a patchwork of kindness quilted together that we could just step back and see what we have created together. Because that, friends, that is Growing Kindness.
[00:22:22] Deanna Kitchen: I might have planted the first seeds, but that's it. You are the one who took it into your community. You are the one who grabbed hold, and you are the one who grew this. And I think one of the things that I am learning now is that I just have to trust that. I have spent years, and you guys will laugh because really truly, I don't think there's been a podcast episode yet or a live call yet where I have not shared Arthur Ashe quote.
[00:22:52] Deanna Kitchen: It says, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." I've spent years telling people that who you are and what you have is enough. You don't need anything fancy. You don't need a bunch of flowers. You don't need to be special or extraordinary or Instagram famous or anything that the world tells us that we need to be to make a difference or make an impact.
[00:23:16] Deanna Kitchen: All we need to do is take what we already have in our hands and use it to do some good. And now, after me telling you these things, after all these years, now in a different way, I have to truly start believing those words too. I have to trust that Growing Kindness doesn't depend on what I can personally carry.
[00:23:38] Deanna Kitchen: Above all, what I want is I don't want anyone to mistake that my need to rest and my need for my role in this organization to change is in any way a loss of the belief in the power of this mission and the capacity of this organization. I believe in it so much that I know it can continue without me carrying it every day, each step of the way.
[00:24:06] Deanna Kitchen: That's because I believe in you enough to know at the heart of this work was never mine. It was never mine to carry alone. It was always about us together. There are so many people that I could thank right now who have come along beside me, who have held and carried and poured in and championed and donated to and shared.
[00:24:30] Deanna Kitchen: So many people have poured into this organization and made it what it is. There are people who believed in this mission from the very beginning and didn't tell me I was crazy. There are the people who stepped in in the beginning and said, "Hey, I have an idea. Can I help you?" There's the people who have served on the boards all these years and helped on committees and jumped in behind every local event behind the scenes and shared their talent, whether that was for photography or graphic design or website building.
[00:25:02] Deanna Kitchen: I mean, there are so, so many people who have poured into this organization. There are people and companies who have donated money, flowers, seeds, vases, supplies. countless hours of education. There are so many people who have said yes and stepped forward. There are the podcast guests who trusted me with their absolutely beautiful and sometimes heart-wrenching stories.
[00:25:31] Deanna Kitchen: There are those of you who stepped up and said, "I'll fly across the country to go to this lady's house and hang out for two days for a retreat." There are people who have sent me cards and emails and messages and photos that reminded me over and over again, and oftentimes in the most timely ways, that this work mattered and to keep going.
[00:25:58] Deanna Kitchen: And there are the people who have planted the flowers and grown them and given away and changed their lives and other people's lives in the process, and there will never be enough words. You took a dream I had, and you turned it into something real, and in the process, you have changed me in the best ways.
[00:26:22] Deanna Kitchen: And I want to assure you that I truly believe when I say I have so much hope for this organization, it is, it is because of the people who have come along beside it and who have already poured into it.
[00:26:39] Deanna Kitchen: There have been people who are working incredibly hard, so many of them behind the scenes, to make sure that Growing Kindness continues and thrives.
[00:26:48] Deanna Kitchen: Um, you may remember that in March, we expanded our board, and the board team has been working incredibly hard in the background on this transition from moving from founder-led and founder-held and founder-carried to truly being a board-led and community-led organization. So since spring, our board team has been working together, asking hard questions, listening, learning, and thinking deeply about how to steward this mission into its next chapter, and I want you to begin hearing from them.
[00:27:22] Deanna Kitchen: I don't wanna just tell you that Growing Kindness is being entrusted into other people's hands. I want you to know the people whose hands are holding it, and one of those people is Leslie Ware, our board president for Growing Kindness. I've asked Leslie to join us today so that she can share more about her heart for this mission, the other people who are carrying it alongside of her, and all that she sees ahead for Growing Kindness.
[00:27:49] Deanna Kitchen: And Leslie, before we get into any of that, I just wanna take a moment and say thank you Thank you for the hours and hours of thought and work that you have already been pouring into Growing Kindness since this
[00:28:04] Deanna Kitchen: spring. Thank you for caring so deeply about this mission. Thank you for holding so much space for me.
[00:28:11] Deanna Kitchen: Thank you for holding space for me in support of this transition and also just An assurance that my heart is being heard and held in this, and my, my love for this mission is being carried forward. And I wanna take a minute to say especially thank you for being here and present in this episode today.
[00:28:35] Deanna Kitchen: Leslie and I just had the opportunity just
[00:28:38] Deanna Kitchen: yesterday morning at this actually exact time, we were standing in my kitchen in Washington State, and Leslie and I were washing and drying the dishes from our benefit dinner that we hosted Sunday night. And Leslie tr- had traveled across the country to be here for the three days of the retreat and the f- the benefit dinner, and then not only that, showed up to help me clean up and just get to share space and listen and talk, um, before her flight back out.
[00:29:04] Deanna Kitchen: Her flight back out was a red-eye, um, which put her back on the other side of the country first thing this morning and right straight into this episode. So Leslie, I think if there was ever a testament to how hard you are working behind the scenes and how much effort, um, and just commitment that you are bringing to the table, I think that is absolutely it.
[00:29:26] Deanna Kitchen: So thank you, thank you, thank you for all the ways that you're showing up for this organization and for being so ready to jump in and make the p- production time on this podcast episode work. I'm just deeply, deeply grateful, and I'm so glad to welcome you here to the podcast. I am gonna start with the first question that we always ask everyone, um, and now they've got a sneak peek 'cause I know you're across the country.
[00:29:49] Deanna Kitchen: But can you share a little bit more about what corner of the world you're growing kindness in?
[00:29:53] Leslie Wehr: I will start by saying thank you for that beautiful introduction. That s- was very kind and, and warm, um, and loving. So Deanna, thank you for that, for welcoming me, and welcoming me to Growing Kindness with open arms.
[00:30:06] Leslie Wehr: I, um, actually live in this, uh, Chester County, uh, which is outside of Philadelphia in southeast Pennsylvania. And I got off the plane this morning, walked outside, and immediately wanted to turn back around and get on the plane going back to Seattle. Because the humidity here is just... Um, but anyway, that's where, where I am.
[00:30:31] Deanna Kitchen: Awesome. Now, Leslie, I was reflecting this morning as I was preparing to come into this podcast episode, and here's something wild that I realized. I actually, I know that you have h- such a just tremendous heart for this mission, that you've been involved in it as an ambassador. But I'd love to hear about your first introduction.
[00:30:50] Deanna Kitchen: When were- when did you first get connected with Growing Kindness?
[00:30:54] Leslie Wehr: That's a great question. It was March, I think it was March, maybe January or February of last year, so 2025. Yeah, I came in as an, an ambassador. It's a little curious how I got here, though. I can share that. I, uh, retired three years ago.
[00:31:13] Leslie Wehr: Sometimes when you retire, it's like, "I know exactly what I wanna do. I've been planning it forever," and you just march right into it. Nope, that wasn't my situation at all. I just needed to I needed to step away from, and I was ready to step away from, um, sort of a very corporate world in, uh, the pharmaceutical industry, R&D, research and development.
[00:31:34] Leslie Wehr: And, uh, so when I stepped away, it took me about six months to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. In the meantime, while I was trying to figure that out, I was building my gardens here. You know, I, I live on a, a, uh, four and a half acre property, most of it's woodland. And I was building my gardens, and I was just loving flowers.
[00:31:57] Leslie Wehr: I was moving into learning to grow annuals, uh, which is not something I had done before. I'm a big perennial person. Shade was where I cut my teeth in gardening, and, uh, moved into sun, uh, when I moved here, perennials and shrubs, et cetera. So I really was just, "Oh my gosh, what am I gonna do?" And I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who's in Michigan, and she grows tons and tons of flowers.
[00:32:25] Leslie Wehr: And I, I kept saying to her, I said, "Why are you growing all these flowers? Are you selling them?" She goes, "No, I don't want the headache of selling. I just give them away." And so-
[00:32:33] Deanna Kitchen: She's our kind of girl.
[00:32:35] Leslie Wehr: She is our kind of girl. And so she would take flowers to her church every week, bouquets that she would make, and she would take them, she would package them up for a friend of hers who would take his dog to community, you know, senior community centers and give them away.
[00:32:51] Leslie Wehr: He would give them away there. After that conversation, it was like, "Uh-huh, that's what I wanna do." And I don't wanna sell them. You know, I don't want that headache. I don't want the whole marketing aspect. I just really want to put those bouquets together because arranging is, uh, where my heart is. I just love color combinations and finding different things.
[00:33:11] Leslie Wehr: Anyway, I'm, I'm, I'm sort of... I can circle right back to the question rather than go down a bunny trail.
[00:33:16] Deanna Kitchen: You're, you're truly great. I think it's so important for us to have things that we do that bring us joy, and this was something that brought you tremendous joy. So once you decided, "Hey, I'm gonna start growing and giving flowers," then that led you, I, I would assume then, uh, uh, down a new pathway of how you were giving in your community.
[00:33:35] Deanna Kitchen: Do you wanna share more about that?
[00:33:36] Leslie Wehr: I thought about what, what my friend was doing, about where she was giving, and, and she wasn't necessarily doing it individually. I mean, definitely to friends and things like that. Uh, so I started really, really thinking about who could benefit, who would enjoy this, and it led me to the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County.
[00:33:55] Leslie Wehr: I contacted them and had to sign an NDA so that I can't share anything, you know, about where they are or anything like that, which was very funny or, or awesome. I just every week started taking 10 to 12 bouquets there for these, for these women, and it just, it, it just hit my heart so much because if you think about those- women who are in a crisis time in their life, and just for them to go into their room and have a bouquet of flowers with a little tag that says, "You matter."
[00:34:26] Leslie Wehr: I did that for every week, and then I also found our, uh, Chester County, uh, retirement home, and I started taking there weekly. Uh, and about six months for, let's see, I would say it was probably January, February, I think I said, of last year, I found Growing Kindness. I stumbled across it, and I'm like, "These are my people.
[00:34:47] Leslie Wehr: I, I wanna be a part of this." And so I signed up also to be a- an ambassador, and I was blessed to be selected, and the rest is kinda history, I guess.
[00:34:57] Deanna Kitchen: The rest is
[00:34:57] Deanna Kitchen: history. Here we are. Had- You probably had no idea how, how much Growing Kindness back then was gonna become a part of your life now. But I just, I think that paths get crossed for a reason.
[00:35:08] Deanna Kitchen: I think we find the right things in the right seasons, and I'm so, so glad that you're here now, Leslie. And you and I have talked so much about how beautiful it is. I have jokingly said I'll never record an episode without sharing the quote, but really truly, that when we start where we are and use what we have to do what we can, like, there's tremendous beauty in that, and especially when we trust that- Who we are and what we bring to the table is always more than enough.
[00:35:36] Deanna Kitchen: And it's been just such an absolute delight to get to have you bring your unique experience and skill set. Leslie, you are gifted in ways that my brain cannot even begin to work, having come out of a career in an industry, you know, leading teams and creating systems and managing just high, high-level projects.
[00:35:59] Deanna Kitchen: You know, you bring such unique gifts and strengths to our organization, and we're so thankful to have you here and pouring that out and sharing that. In that same breath, you and I know because we've been behind the scenes, it's not just the two of us who are working so hard behind the scenes in this transition.
[00:36:17] Deanna Kitchen: There is an incredible and beautiful team of people. And, and really, truly, if we pause, there has always been people beyond me and beside me who have been helping grow this mission to what it is and pouring in their special skills and strengths and talents. From Katie back in 20- I think it would've been 2019, who built a Google Doc, 'cause I didn't even know what a Google Doc was, um, to help Growing Kindness be able to have its first, like, a Global Gardener program with a Google Doc.
[00:36:46] Deanna Kitchen: Um, so ever since those very beginning days, there have been people who have been pouring in and bringing their unique skills and strengths and experience to the table. And you and I have had the privilege of working alongside our board team, which like you- we mentioned, was expanded in March. A lot... And our...
[00:37:04] Deanna Kitchen: We've got new members who've come alongside of some really lovely continuing board team members. And together, this is the team who is, uh, pouring in their hearts and bringing their unique experience and talents and time to the table to really help guide Growing Kindness through this season of transition.
[00:37:23] Deanna Kitchen: So I would love if you wanna take a moment and just... I wish that we could have every single board team member on this podcast. You were graciously nominated. I don't know if you wanted to be nominated, Leslie, for this. But it- because we can't have them all here, if you would take a moment and help us just to get to know this team a little bit more.
[00:37:42] Deanna Kitchen: I think it's just so lovely for people to get to learn a little bit more about the peoples whose hands are carrying this forward.
[00:37:49] Leslie Wehr: Sure. Well, I'll s- I'll start with, uh, Kayla Jones. She is officially our secretary on the board, and she's our newest board member. We're, we're so blessed to have her, as we are every one of the members.
[00:38:01] Leslie Wehr: And I'm gonna pause just a second, and one of the things I probably should have said to begin with is our board is wonderfully diverse in location and in age and in, uh, experience. And personalities, uh, and what they bring to the table. And that is so important, I think, for a successful board, is to really have that sort of, you know, uh, variety, something that really brings in different perspectives.
[00:38:27] Leslie Wehr: And also the length of time people have been on, uh, working with Growing Kindness. We have people that probably were, or a c- one person that's been there almost from the beginning. And Kayla, who I'm introducing now, Kayla Jones, our secretary, is literally the newest, uh, member to the board. And Kayla is, uh, such a gift.
[00:38:48] Leslie Wehr: She's an executive. Um, she's in design and operations. She spent her career helping Helping teens and the people within them do their best work. She loves taking vision and pulling it down into, like, how do we kind of take that vision and materialize it in, in the most appropriate or way that just really supports that vision.
[00:39:11] Leslie Wehr: And she has, um, she does work full-time, and she has a side business where it's a small flower stand, et cetera. You know, she's, um... One of the things that I love and, uh, really want to nurture is geography, and she is in North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. So very, very passionate, heart for Growing Kindness, and she's just jumped in and said, "How can I help?"
[00:39:40] Leslie Wehr: That's Kayla. Brenda Vredin. And for a couple of these board members, I am going to ask you, Deanna, if you wanna add a little bit-
[00:39:49] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. Well, so Brenda, Brenda has... was on our original ambassador team. Um, so that would have been in 2020. So they're, they're... That was back when we shipped ambassador kits too. So, um, Brenda was one of the first 75 across the nation, and she did the most incredible and beautiful thing.
[00:40:08] Deanna Kitchen: Like, her heart for giving is just tremendous. Brenda, at that time, was still... Well, she's still involved in nursing now, but in more of a, um, consultant-type position. But at that point, was working on staff in a hospital, and she spearheaded getting an entire garden planted on the rooftop of a hospital and ensured that patients were getting flowers delivered to them throughout the season.
[00:40:33] Deanna Kitchen: And I think it's just two things. I think it's e- evidence of Brenda's just long-standing passion for really reaching out and seeing those in need, but I think it's also a testament of her vision to take an idea and execute it and bring it to life. And so it's been lovely to have Brenda walking alongside of us on the board team, supporting in so many different ways, but also just being a person who can take these ideas and help get them executed.
[00:41:03] Leslie Wehr: I know. And one of her passions, uh, right now is really welcoming people, uh, welcoming and thanking donors, working with them, you know, to just ensure that they know they're, they're seen. And so it's just- She brings such a unique perspective, which is her love, her, her patience, her commitment to our community, um, which is just really beautiful.
[00:41:28] Leslie Wehr: Sherri Firlik is, uh, the next board member I want to mention, and, um, I have gotten to know Sherri. She was at the, um, retreat, and I was so happy to be able to actually physically give her a hug because, you know, we've been working together, you know, talking and, and, you know, thinking about this transition and how the board is gonna take things on, how we're gonna build community.
[00:41:51] Leslie Wehr: Sherri is, uh, 48 years in nursing, and she is a true grower of flowers. She loves flowers. She loves giving them. Uh, she doesn't sell them. She just wants to give them away. She is just amazing, and it was so... Like I said, it was so wonderful just to physically meet her and give her a hug because we've spent so much time on the phone talking and, and sort of thinking about wh- where, where the community's going and how to build it up.
[00:42:20] Leslie Wehr: Sherri, uh, loves and is so passionate about our community and supporting them. Uh, if you, if you aren't aware, we have a greenhouse where, uh, it's an opportunity for people to get in and, and, and ask questions and communicate and, and talk and share, et cetera. Sherri is always there, and she was one of the people that when I joined She was always there.
[00:42:44] Leslie Wehr: And I saw her even before we got on the board together, and I just, I knew her name, I knew how passionate she was about, uh, answering questions. She is so knowledgeable with flowers, et cetera. And she loves... She really is passionate about our community, our, our, our Growing Kindness community and, and just being there and, and helping and, and connecting.
[00:43:07] Deanna Kitchen: She truly, I think that, the, all of those years spent in all of the different practices of nursing that Sherri experienced and worked in are just such a huge reflection and also development of her nurturer's heart. She's truly a, a nurturer, which is so important to the heart of this mission. We're so glad to have Sherri, um, working alongside the board team this year as well.
[00:43:30] Leslie Wehr: The last board member, uh, is Katie Scott. And I think it... She has such a heart for this mission, and she loves children. You know, there's, there's some real opp- opportunities there in the future for us to grow, and she has all of that passion for that. She also is such a social person and wants to help develop things that can be used locally.
[00:43:56] Leslie Wehr: That's also a passion of mine, is how do we create materials that you, this community, can use locally in your community to spread the word and encourage, um, people to learn about Growing Kindness, or just simply give whatever their, whatever flowers they have. Um, so she's extremely passionate about that.
[00:44:17] Leslie Wehr: Um, and but, but Deanna, you have known her for such a long time 'cause she's been on the board for a while.
[00:44:24] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah, so Katie, Katie has been with us, um, she was a second-year ambassador, I believe. And one of the things that stood out for me about Katie right away is Katie's a counselor, and again, a person who has a tremendous nurturer's heart.
[00:44:38] Deanna Kitchen: And Katie just is one of those people that just brings big energy into the room, and just enthusiasm. Like, Katie's the cheerleader that everybody needs in their life. Um, she brings just a ton of positivity and energy to our board. And then also, with her work in counseling, building connections for Growing Kindness with therapeutic horticulture, as well as opportunities for us to...
[00:45:01] Deanna Kitchen: You know, we've talked about for years and years and years, it's a passion that I have carried, and I know Katie has as well, that someday there will be a Growing Kindness kids program. And Katie holds that near and dear to her heart as well, so. And then, again, Katie has been with us on the board since, I believe, 2023.
[00:45:20] Deanna Kitchen: And so she brings hi- the history of kind of having watched all the iterations of our organization and seen, you know, the things that we've tried that have worked and not worked. And just, it's really lovely to have that kind of history and experience continuing on the board as well. So we, I mean, Leslie, it makes...
[00:45:39] Deanna Kitchen: I'm like, I'm not gonna, I keep saying I'm not gonna cry, but I'm gonna cry because it's me. But just to look at
[00:45:44] Deanna Kitchen: the people who are stepping up and stepping forward and saying- I wanna bring the skills that I have. I wanna help in this, you know, more committed and involved way. It's really
[00:45:57] Deanna Kitchen: beautiful, and I agree with you.
[00:45:58] Deanna Kitchen: I think that having a diverse set of life experiences, geographic locations, specific, you know, personalities, talents, skills, I think we're just tremendously blessed in our board team who is already here with us. As I shared earlier, you know, one of the opportunities that we now have in our organization is that with me resigning my board position, there is opening on the board, and we are looking for people who have such a heart for this mission as our current board members and are wanting to step up and do more and lead.
[00:46:38] Deanna Kitchen: Leslie, as the board team looks, you know, to fill this position, if someone was listening right now and thinking, "I wonder if that could be me. I wonder if I could help," what would you want them to know?
[00:46:51] Leslie Wehr: That's a great question. I would love anyone that's considering it to just think about it, you know, pause and look at it and see if this is something that you feel is something that you're truly being led to do, that you want- Mm-hmm
[00:47:08] Leslie Wehr: to support this mission, that you believe strongly in it, and you're ready to commit a little bit of time perhaps for board meetings, et cetera. But more importantly, that you have a heart for this mission, and that we're ... Just awareness, we're in a little bit of a transition period.
[00:47:27] Deanna Kitchen: A, a lot of a transition A lot a bit of a transition period.
[00:47:31] Leslie Wehr: Yeah, if you're okay just kind of rolling with it, and, and I always say that that's-- You're gonna be, you're gonna be somebody that is, um, really helping to shape and facilitate and transition. It, it's an important time for us. I would say you'd have to be okay with some change or some rolling with it kinds of things.
[00:47:50] Leslie Wehr: As I said, passion for, for this mission. We're looking to keep a geographical presence too. I don't wanna say don't apply if you're on the East Coast, because there's so much that can be done everywhere. But I also want to encourage, uh, geographical diversity, 'cause I think that's important. Age doesn't matter, anything like that, you know?
[00:48:11] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. And I love what you, I love what you mentioned is that having unique ages, having unique, um, life experiences, and having unique skillsets. Um, you know, the skillsets that are needed on the board, like, like you've already spoken to, is someone who knows how to jump into a team and work with flexibility and positivity, um, who's deeply excited about this mission, and someone who's ready to share their talents and experiences, whatever profession or life experience that they're, they're coming out of, that see those be an opportunity to just to continue to strengthen the diversity of the board team and help continue to carry this mission forward.
[00:48:55] Leslie Wehr: One of the things specifically that I think our board would benefit from is somebody with a also sort of a financial experience. I don't wanna say it's an accountant, I don't wanna say it's a CFO, anything like that. But it's somebody who also we would benefit from somebody who can look across our financial picture and sort of help be a presence on the board to guide us about, "Okay, well, here's what you have coming in.
[00:49:22] Leslie Wehr: Here's what we're spending. Here's the bigger picture here. You know, I know you wanna kind of do this, this, and this," and just help us and guide us from that perspective. The second transition that we're going through is moving from a subscription-based model, which we've been moving toward for quite some time, and now we're moving into, okay, now we're not charging anyone, because the most important thing is we want our community to be able to give- flowers freely without a charge.
[00:49:54] Leslie Wehr: It really is the beauty of y- you know, everybody putting those together and giving them, and not feeling obligated that monthly they have to pay s- for something. So in walking away from that approach, it puts a bit of a heavier obligation, if you will. I'm not sure the right word. But it moves us toward donations, it moves us toward sponsorship, it has us looking at grants, various other ways that we can keep, keep the lights on and grow and financially support this.
[00:50:27] Leslie Wehr: So that is a transition also that we're going through, is like how do we, y- you know, just moving more into that, falling more into that. So that's the second transition that we're going through.
[00:50:38] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. I agree with you, Leslie, so much. You know, our community who have been here for many, many years know that we've gone through so many iterations of, one, how we financially sustain the organization, and so much of that was dependent on subscription-based models.
[00:50:55] Deanna Kitchen: So for a while, people were paid members coming in, and it was wonderfully supported. We were able to depend on those membership payments that came through. That, that was what sustained the organization to be able to keep going. However, we did get to this really f- you know, a big fork in the road where we realized we don't want to be charging people to s- be a part of the community and a part of the mission.
[00:51:20] Deanna Kitchen: We really want everything that we do, the resources that we create, the community that we're building, the education that we put out in the world, the storytelling that we put out in the world, we want that to be completely free and accessible to everyone so there are no barriers. That became so, so important to us, um, and we really began making that transition in 2023.
[00:51:42] Deanna Kitchen: Um, and n- where that led us has been beautiful in that the organization has been fully donor-supported. And in the same breath, as you said, that's brought us to the point where we need to look at how, as an organization, we are diversifying, um, and finding support beyond just donors. I actually feel like I'm kinda batching this too, so let me, let me pause really quick.
[00:52:09] Deanna Kitchen: We wanna, um- And as deeply grateful as we've been for those people who have come alongside and donated to our organization, we need to really continue looking at how we're building fundraising for our organization, how we're improving our donor programs, how we're bringing more people into supporting Growing Kindness in that way, as well as bringing more people into supporting Growing Kindness through sponsorships and partnerships, through grant funding, um, and through other unique opportunities like that.
[00:52:37] Deanna Kitchen: So I agree with you, Leslie, in saying bringing someone into our board team who brings some financial, um, chops, if you will, um, is-- would be a tremendous asset to our organization. And in the same breath If someone was listening and maybe thinks, "Oh, shoot, well that, that omits me from applying," I certainly don't want anybody to think that.
[00:52:59] Deanna Kitchen: If you feel a passion and a call to join the board, we're certainly looking at diversifying the team. And it, it's sometimes possible that we add, you know, more than one team member at a time. We've had that in the past where we've had several incredibly qualified people come in, and we've said, "Hey, you know what?
[00:53:16] Deanna Kitchen: We're adding two people, not just one, because we need both of these incredible people on the board team helping lead." So Leslie, we will make sure that we link in the show notes the application for the board. Um, I do wanna assure people, it's, is not gonna, uh... It is not an essay like a college application.
[00:53:33] Deanna Kitchen: This is a short and easy application where you get to just share your heart and your passion and your desire to wanna come alongside this team. So that is one of the really critical ways that the board team is continuing to grow and develop the team and the resources that are gonna help carry Growing Kindness forward in this time of transition.
[00:53:50] Leslie Wehr: Deanna, can I also say that maybe you don't wanna be a board member, uh, it's not sort of something that, you know, calls to you, but you wanna be involved in some way. Like, you have grant writing experience or you have fundraising experience. We also, and, and, you know, we don't have time on the podcast et cetera to share all the beautiful people that are coming alongside now and are taking- Mm-hmm
[00:54:15] Leslie Wehr: on various roles right now, uh, for our community. We're in a transition period. We hope at some point to have an executive director, but right now there are people stepping up. They're not on the board, but they're saying, "Put me in. Put me in, Coach." Put me in,
[00:54:28] Deanna Kitchen: Coach. Put me in, Coach. Which even, like, I mean, for example, I got to have a lovely conversation yesterday of a connection that you made.
[00:54:35] Deanna Kitchen: A team member who I didn't even know this about her even though she's a friend of mine. I didn't know that for years and years she wrote a, uh, the newsletter. She was in charge of the newsletter for Children's Hospital, and she's gonna be coming alongside to help support newsletter writing. And so it doesn't mean that she's gonna be making, you know, a commitment to the board for a year or, you know, anything like that, but she's in this transition bringing her time and her talents to help in a way that aligns with what she's able to give in the capacity that she's able to give.
[00:55:03] Deanna Kitchen: And so I agree with you, Leslie, so much. If there's... If you're listening and you think, "Hey, I've got this unique skill or talent or experience or thing that maybe could be a help right now," or, "Hey, I don't even know what you might need me to do, but, like, just tell me and I'll try."
[00:55:17] Leslie Wehr: Here are my hands. Here
[00:55:19] Deanna Kitchen: are- I know
[00:55:19] Deanna Kitchen: the
[00:55:19] Leslie Wehr: helpers, right?
[00:55:21] Deanna Kitchen: Yes. And to say like, "Hey, I am interested in helping, and I can." We're gonna also, we'll also include our organization email, and we would love for you to just shoot us an email and say, "Hey, you know what? Here's how I'd like to show up if I can," or, "I don't know how to show up, but here I am.
[00:55:37] Deanna Kitchen: Help- Let me know how I can help." Because, like, as we've said over and over again, this organization has truly become what it is because of- All of the incredible people who have poured into it over the years, whether that has been resources or talents or time, that is why Growing Kindness is what it is, and that is why it will continue to thrive and flourish with each of you coming forward and putting your hands on it and carrying it with your special, special strength and your special sharing.
[00:56:10] Deanna Kitchen: So really grateful for that. So Leslie, you have spent a lot of hours behind the scenes really getting to see how the inner workings of our organization function, but also just really getting deeply connected with the community and the heart of the mission. And in that time, and in your personal experience as an ambassador and as a person who's growing and giving flowers, what would you say that you have gathered that you believe is the most important thing about this mission that we absolutely have to protect as we move forward as an organization?
[00:56:47] Leslie Wehr: That is, um, the best question ever. It really is. It's a hard one to sort of like put into words. So I will try from my perspective, and that is that we really need to protect- The concept of giving flowers and not get distracted in a lot of different ways. The whole point of Growing Kindness really is to grow kindness, grow community, connection, provide people that need it with hope.
[00:57:25] Leslie Wehr: Finding a way to make sure that that never gets lost is really, really important. And in a transition period, we're going through a lot of details. We're going through a lot of like, okay, how do we... Like I said before, how do we get that, all of that beautiful history and knowledge out of this wonderful founder and capture it, bottle it up, and not lose sight in that, that we just wanna encourage people to give flowers, you know?
[00:57:54] Leslie Wehr: And, and wherever you are, whatever is... I, I think you tell me this all the time, Deanna, and I, I love it. You, you show up and give what you can, you know? You show up how you are, and you give what you can, and that's enough. I would say that's probably the biggest thing to protect and not get lost as we make this transition.
[00:58:13] Deanna Kitchen: To have the gift of having the heart of the organization seen and recognized, and having you, Leslie, b- the, the whole board team behind you, the whole community behind you in saying, like, "This is important work, and it has to keep going in the world." And the fact that it's such a simple mission. We just show up with what we have, and we do what we can.
[00:58:33] Deanna Kitchen: That we always keep it that, I think is so powerfully important, and it means the world to me that in this transition period, that is what is being held so tightly to and valued so deeply. I love what you shared, too, about the... There is, there's a place for each of us. Like, we each just show up
[00:58:55] Deanna Kitchen: what we ha- with what we have. And I think one of the most beautiful things that I've heard over and over and over from our board team is a commitment to keeping this organization a safe space where everybody feels welcome, and where there's a seat at the table for everyone, where everyone belongs, and that has always been the deepest, truest desire of my heart, of what we created in this organization.
[00:59:19] Deanna Kitchen: And to know that it is so seen and so held, that we're gonna keep this simple, simple, powerful thing of inspiring people to grow and give flowers, and this beautiful, beautiful thing of building a community where people feel safe and welcome from wherever they're coming from and whatever walk of life. I mean, I know all of us have had maybe our literal middle school experiences and maybe our proverbial middle school experiences in life where we didn't feel welcome at the table, and I am deeply proud of- That that's what we've created in this organization, and I'm deeply thankful that our board team is so committed in continuing to create a space where everyone feels welcome and nurtured and inspired to just do what they can to spread kindness in their community.
[01:00:11] Deanna Kitchen: And Leslie, I cannot thank you enough for the way that you have stepped up for what you are carrying in this season, and for the way that you're, you're holding tightly to all that this mission is, and ensuring that it not only sustains, but it, it thrives, and it continues to grow. So I just wanna just express my deep and personal gratitude to you and to our entire board team, and to every individual who has poured into this organization and who continues to pour into this organization, and who will step forward to continue to pour in in whatever ways, big or small.
[01:00:48] Deanna Kitchen: And really, there is no small way, because every single bit matters and counts. So just wanna express my deepest gratitude to you, and to our community, and to our board team for that. So as we move forward, I want you to know just how much I trust and believe in those who are capable and have put their hands on and are carrying this mission forward.
[01:01:13] Deanna Kitchen: In terms of what comes next, um, for me, I just wanna share in honesty that I don't exactly know what my next chapter looks like. And surprisingly I am completely okay with not knowing. For almost eight years, so much of my life and my days and my time have been shaped around the question, what does Growing Kindness need?
[01:01:37] Deanna Kitchen: And for this season that I'm entering into, I get to allow myself to ask some very different questions like, what does my body need? And what does my family need? And who am I when I'm not carrying an organization? I know those answers aren't gonna come overnight. I know that that is why I need to take this time to rest and have some quiet and have a chance to actually listen and know what comes next.
[01:02:03] Deanna Kitchen: But even though those are the things I don't know, there is one thing that I do know, and I don't need a minute away to figure that out, and that is that I still believe deeply in the power of kindness. I still believe that one person choosing to notice another person matters. I still believe that ours can be the most incredibly simple but powerful way to s- tell somebody, "I see you, and you matter, and you are not alone."
[01:02:30] Deanna Kitchen: And I still believe deeply that what you have is enough. Who you are is enough. And because of that, I still believe deeply in this mission, and I wanna do everything I can to help as I'm stepping into this transition and this season of rest to be able to give Growing Kindness the strongest possible chance to continue thriving.
[01:02:56] Deanna Kitchen: So as I've shared before, Growing Kindness was built with me serving as an executive director, and I never took a salary. We never had the opportunity, but bigger than that, that was never my intention. I wasn't trying to grow, um, an income for our family. I wasn't trying to grow a career for myself, and I don't regret that for a minute, friends.
[01:03:18] Deanna Kitchen: Please do not hear me say that. I have been paid abundantly in joy, in kindness, in friendships, in stories, in getting to sit at tables where everyone has a place, getting to witness what happens when people choose to show up for each other in kindness. Even though I may have never taken a paycheck, I was always paid so richly and abundantly in what I was receiving in running this organization.
[01:03:46] Deanna Kitchen: But here is the thing, friends What that also means is that we have built an organization that is able to reach thousands of people in communities all across the world on the tiniest of budgets. And let me tell you what, I am so dang proud of that. I am so proud of how carefully we have stewarded every single dollar that has been given to us by a donor and how far we've been able to stretch such a little budget.
[01:04:14] Deanna Kitchen: But here's the thing. It has created a pretty big challenge for Growing Kindness as an organization. As Leslie shared with you, hiring a director is such a critical next step for Growing Kindness. But in order to do that, the organization is going to have to grow its revenue
[01:04:30] Deanna Kitchen: so that it actually has what it needs to be able to hire someone to carry this work forward.
[01:04:35] Deanna Kitchen: I know that there are some people who have been here supporting and cheering on and pouring into simply because you believed in me, and you believed in the dream that I was chasing. And what an incredible gift. What an absolutely incredible gift to have somebody believe in you like that and stand in your corner and cheer you on in that way.
[01:04:58] Deanna Kitchen: And if you're here
[01:05:00] Deanna Kitchen: because you believe in the mission, because you've experienced it personally, you've participated in it, you've, you've been in the live calls, you've,
[01:05:09] Deanna Kitchen: you've sat in the classes, you've benefited from the resources, you've been encouraged to get out in your community and build bridges and open doors through the power of giving flowers.
[01:05:20] Deanna Kitchen: If you've sat at tables where you've now felt seen and belonged, if you've just gotten to witness what can happen when someone rees- receives an unexpected act of kindness, if that's you, then right now Growing Kindness needs your steady support now more than ever. We need people right now who are willing to say, "I'll give five dollars a month."
[01:05:46] Deanna Kitchen: Or I'll give $15 a month, or I'll give $150 a month. I will be the one to step forward and quietly and steadily help carry this. Our board is 100% committed to keeping Growing Kindness free. As Leslie and I were discussing, we don't wanna ever go back to a subscription model. We don't ever want there to be a barrier that keeps anyone from getting to experience the joy of participating in this community and having access to all of our resources.
[01:06:19] Deanna Kitchen: Our board is 100% behind that. But in order for that to be possible, our community is gonna have to help carry it forward, and I truly believe that Growing Kindness is in the best hands. Friends, it is in the hands of a committed and passionate board who are working together in the most beautiful ways to help carry Growing Kindness forward, and it's in your hands.
[01:06:45] Deanna Kitchen: So even though I'm gonna be going quiet, I hope that you will take this as your opportunity to make kindness even louder. Please keep growing, keep giving. Please keep noticing where the needs are in your community. Please keep reaching out and putting flowers into people's hands and reminding people that they matter.
[01:07:07] Deanna Kitchen: Please keep making Growing Kindness yours, because it already is. I just wanna say one more time, thank you. Thank you for what we've got to grow together. I am grateful beyond the words that I will never have the words to express how grateful I am. But I just wanna say, I cannot wait to see what you're going to grow next
[01:07:36] Deanna Kitchen: Thank you so much for listening to the Growing Kindness Podcast. If today's episode encouraged you, there are a few simple ways to keep growing kindness with us. First, you can join the team. When you become a Growing Kindness gardener, you link arms with like-minded, like-hearted people from all around the world who believe that small acts of kindness really do make a big difference.
[01:07:55] Deanna Kitchen: To learn more or join the team, visit growingkindnessproject.org/gardener. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, membership is free. Another way to get involved is to become a donor. The Growing Kindness movement and this, our podcast, are made possible by the generosity of our donors, kindhearted people who believe, just like you, kindness matters.
[01:08:17] Deanna Kitchen: If you'd like to support the movement, visit growingkindnessproject.org/donate to make a gift and keep kindness blooming. And finally, if this episode touched your heart, would you share it with a friend? It's one of the simplest ways to spread kindness today. I'm so grateful you're here. Until next time, keep growing kindness, one bloom at a time.
[01:08:53] Deanna Kitchen: This podcast is made possible in part by Her Connection Hub, a female-focused co-working space in Bellingham, Washington, who generously provides the studio space where these conversations are recorded
