SF Unscripted
Host Mark Barley interviews Santa Fe College administrators, faculty and staff to share the latest news.
SF Unscripted
SF Unscripted - Sherry Houston
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Meet Santa Fe College's Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer in the Office for Advancement.
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.