Investing in Human Capital with Sarah Brady President FSH Works

Chapters

00:31 Introductions and Sarah's Path to Leadership

04:40 Understanding FSH Works and Its Reach

07:11 Key Programs and the Trager Response Center

11:00 Impact, Data-Driven Approach, and Overcoming Challenges

23:38 Employer Partnerships and Advice for Aspiring Leaders

29:18 The Power of Mentorship and Final Thoughts on Leadership

34:02 Conclusion

Episode Transcript

[H2] Introductions and Sarah's Path to Leadership

Todd Schmiedeler: Welcome to our podcast. Thanks so much for showing up again. I'm excited to have my guest this week, Sarah Brady.  Sarah is the President of FSH Works, part of the parent company Family. Sarah, welcome.

Sarah Brady: Thanks so much for having me.

Todd Schmiedeler:  You know,  I'm always astonished by you because as I get older, it seems like everybody's younger in leadership.  You have an astonishing journey that you've taken. I'd love for you to share with our audience about how did you get to become President of FSH Works, so young in your career?

Sarah Brady: Yeah, a lot of it has been motivation, but I think I started my leadership journey started when I was young. I'm a middle child, so I was always the one who was helping around the house and doing all the things. I started working the day I turned 16. I'm a child of a single mom and that's just the cycle of how things work.

When I was 16 and I fell into a summer job and the next summer they said, "Oh, you're going to be a supervisor". I had no idea what that meant, but what I did know is that all of the friends that I made the previous year, I was now their supervisor. I was responsible for making sure they were doing all the things that we used to do together.  

So it started when I was young, but it really just gave me the confidence to continue to grow. I would have never thought honestly that I would be the president of an organization at such a young age. But I think that it just continues to push me further and understanding the purpose of the work that we do is to help others grow. It just brings so much more energy to our team being able to understand that there is room for growth.  Your experience is not always the thing that gets you the job, but it's how you show up and the effort that you put forth.

Todd Schmiedeler: Yeah, I think that speaks volumes about what leadership really is.  It's not what's on your résumé necessarily. It's how you show up for the job every day and your commitment to it. So, I'm just interested because we share a lot of histories. I'm a middle child, of a single mom. Where was that job? Just out of curiosity.

Sarah Brady: So, I was at Kentucky Kingdom.

Todd Schmiedeler: Okay. All right.

Sarah Brady: I worked there for seven years, before I interned at Trilogy.

Todd Schmiedeler: Yeah, that's awesome. So what actually led you to Family Scholar House in the original kind of job that you took and what was that job?

Sarah Brady: Yeah. So, growing up working at Kentucky Kingdom, as a teenager, and  working there for several years while I was in college. It gave me a skill set of not only being able to work with people, but being able to  help people grow and help people to see their potential.  I think that's kind of a piece of where I've always seen my career going. You know, originally I went to college at the University of Louisville, thinking I was going to be an elementary school teacher.

Todd Schmiedeler: Oh wow.

Sarah Brady: I very quickly found that that was not the best route for me.  I found that in this role I get to teach people. I get to have an impact on individuals who may be in a situation where they don't have a ton of support at home and helping them figure out the cycles and the systems of post-secondary education and, apprenticeships and all of these different things.  Educating  not only other community leaders but also our peers and being able to show up for our participants in the best way possible.

[H2] Understanding FSH Works and Its Reach

Todd Schmiedeler: So, tell us a little bit about FSH Works and how that fits into the parent company of Family.  Because you know, I've done a previous podcast with Cathe Dykstra, the CEO of Family. If you haven't got a chance to listen to that, it'd be great for you to go back.  It's Episode 1 with what we've done. And so tell us about FSH Works because it's a separate organization but under kind of the parent company of Family.  Tell us about it and kind of how what you do.

Sarah Brady: Yeah. So FSH Works was born out of the upstream work of Family Scholar House. So much of the work we do at Family Scholar House, as you know we are able to provide stable housing for individuals, but we're also able to provide all of the other wraparound support services that are so necessary for individuals who are pursuing post-secondary education who don't have that support. So we have this long experience of serving individuals and advocacy and career coaching and academic coaching and so many other things.

We took all of that work and we started to work upstream. How can we meet individuals sooner to have earlier interactions to you know prevent the most vulnerable individuals really saving that housing component for them? What we've been able to do is we've been able to build relationships with the community college systems, other nonprofits, employers, other property owners to provide virtual and in-person wraparound services to the individuals that they serve.

Todd Schmiedeler: So give me some size, scale, you know, how many people are you serving, you know? Are you outside of Louisville? You know, give me some idea about that.

Sarah Brady: While our residential work is primarily here in the Louisville area, FSH Works serves across statewide, but also across 48 states total. Last year, I know Cathe probably mentioned, we served over 106,000 households and a lot of that was through FSH Works. It's through more intentional interactions. While we may be serving someone a shorter period of time, we're having greater impact because we're really being able to truly meet them where they're at and meet their needs. It has grown tremendously. A lot of that work I mentioned is through wraparound services, but we have so many other programs that fall under FSH Works that helps us do that as well.

[H2] Key Programs and the Trager Response Center

Todd Schmiedeler: Well, talk to us a little bit about some of those programs like when we think about FSH Works and doing this kind of early intervention work.  How do you reach them and, you how do you connect with what are the vehicles and what are the kind of the backside of how you do that?

Sarah Brady: Yeah. So much of the work we do is really truly through colleges and universities employers individuals, where there already are people who have passion; who have the desire to want to grow and our programs whether it's our public our FSH HealthCorps program that is a healthcare workforce talent pipeline program, or it's our Real Opportunities program that's a opioid abatement program that's getting individuals who are in recovery back in the recovery workforce, or if it's a community college that we work with. We have staff members that work at community colleges and college campuses all across Kentucky and Indiana.  But it really is how can we meet an individual, understand what barriers they may be experiencing and help them find a path in one of our programs.

So whether it is participating in Real Opportunities or being a HealthCorps member or maybe they would be a really great fit for the Family Scholar House residential program. Really, truly, our kind of  bread and butter of all of the things or kind of the glue that holds it all together is that Trager Response Center. It provides support to all of those programs and it really is the front line of the work that we do and gives us the ability to serve at such a large scale.

Todd Schmiedeler: So, explain to me the Trager Response Center because I'm not sure I've heard that term before.  What does that look like in real terms?

Sarah Brady: Our Trager Response Center is kind of like a call center, but we don't call it a call center because we're intentional to the work that we do. We don't we care about the number of calls.  We care about reporting and all of those things, but at the end of the day, we care how we're responding to the other person on the phone. It's open 8 am to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. And anyone can call.

Todd Schmiedeler: Wow.

Sarah Brady: Anyone, whether you're a community college student in Western Kentucky, you're a community member in Eastern Kentucky, you are a HealthCorps member in Bowling Green, Kentucky, or you're someone who's just wanting to know a little bit about who we are and what we do. Anyone can call to get connected to us or to get connected to any facet of the work that we do. And it really is a way that, like I said, they're the front line of who we are. You know, we talk about going into a healthcare facility and you work at the triage desk and you they get all of your information so you can go back and see the professionals. That is what our response center does.  They are social workers and educators and retired educators and individuals who may be practicum students who need who need quality experience and interacting with individuals.  We have so many great professionals that work in that space that help us provide the services that we offer.

Todd Schmiedeler:  I want to stop for a second and just see do you know the phone number off the top of your head?

Sarah Brady: I do.

Todd Schmiedeler: Okay. I think that'd be great. And not only tell us this, but I'll make sure that it's in the notes below.  So what's that phone number in case somebody needs to reach out?

Sarah Brady: You can call us at any time at 502-584-8090.  but you can also just go to the Family Scholar House website at familyscolarhouse.org, and that has all of our phone numbers, including a toll-free number listed.

[H2] Impact, Data-Driven Approach, and Overcoming Challenges

Todd Schmiedeler: So, it sounds like that that the Trager Response Center not only takes calls in and handles them, but do they do outbound calls also? It sounds like there may be a level of depth in the relationships.  It's not just a surface call of like crisis intervention. So talk a little bit about that.

Sarah Brady: 100%. While we do a lot of crisis intervention, a lot of connections to resources through inbound calls, so much of the work that we do is also outbound call campaigns. And so that's for again those employers, those education partners, those other property owners. All of them are really geared towards the individuals again in which they serve, whether it's entry- level workers, students, or their residents at their properties.

It really is all geared towards celebration, success, support, retention, enroll moment; all of the things that go into helping an individual succeed and getting them either connected to education or progressing through education that they may already be enrolled in. So, for example, for our community college partners, it's welcome to the semester. Do you have everything to be successful? And as of right now, you know, being mid-August, that's very much what our team's doing today and in the coming week.  But they are also when you're talking about entry level workers, making sure that they understand the resources that employers offer for them.  Also making sure that they understand that there's a support there if they need additional services.

Todd Schmiedeler: So often more than not, it's not actually going to school or going to work that's stopping someone from getting the degree, progressing in the workforce. It's life. It's child care. It's transportation. It's housing. It's mental health. And it's the domino effect of all of those things.

Sarah Brady: What our team really tries to do is how can we really truly help you overcome that barrier rather than just putting a band-aid on it. So, when you're talking to us about having a food insecurity, we we're going to get you connected to a local food pantry.  But how can we also help talk about bigger things like maybe getting you connected to maybe benefits that you may be eligible for or even budgeting and financial education? The list goes on and on and really just making sure that we're digging deep into supporting that individual, but also following up.

Todd Schmiedeler: Well, and I think that that's so real and I mean having lived it at different points in my life, especially when I was younger, having a daughter when I was 18 and having lost my dad when I right before I turned 14, you know, it was a tough to navigate.  As amazing as my mom is and helpful with that, still she didn't know all the answers. And so trying to figure that out, that kind of service could be critical in a time when you frankly, you know, I think that you can lose a little bit of hope.

Sarah Brady: Yeah.

Todd Schmiedeler:  And you can lose your own direction. So I think that's a sounds like an important part of what you all offer.

Sarah Brady: 100%. So much of the work that we do is providing individuals with the support that they may not have, but also meeting them with a balance of compassion, but also accountability. Understanding that we are 100% wanting to help get you towards your goals you're setting for yourselves. So making sure that there is that balance of we understand that majority of people have previous life experiences that shaped them into who they are today. And so much of that can come back into where you're at, especially when you start to do a little bit better. And so we help hold them accountable to those goals that they're setting and help them see how far they've come. But also again meeting with that piece of compassion and trauma-informed care.

Todd Schmiedeler: Yeah. I mean, When you talk about  compassion and accountability, I think that that also reference backs in my opinion to leadership.

Sarah Brady: Yeah.

Todd Schmiedeler: You know, good leaders have the ability to manage both of those things. They're compassionate about the people that they get a chance to lead, you know, for what's going on with them and understanding who they are, but also having a level of accountability, so that there is the ability for them to grow and for the execution of whatever that role is and how it impacts. I got to believe in your role with the fact that you're touching so many lives over so many states that there's a there's a number of challenges that come about because of that. Can you identify a challenge that you faced recently and maybe  the solution or innovation that you had to adjust to?

Sarah Brady: Yeah, for sure. I think I would be  amidst if I did not mention the  challenge of federal funding. I mentioned FSH HealthCorps. It is a AmeriCorps program. It is a very successful AmeriCorps program that started here in Kentucky three years ago and now has a nine-state footprint.  It has grown tremendously in being able to not only impact the facilities in which our AmeriCorps members are serving in, but also our members themselves. They're continuing service with us and having greater impact at hospitals and long-term care facilities. They're getting quality education. They're continuing their education, all of these different things. It's been a struggle, but I think that one of the greatest things that our team has really been able to do is pivot and kind of going back to that compassion and accountability piece as well. You know, being as upfront as possible and understanding that it is a difficult time, that there are a lot of questions, our team really showed up for our members and just and the way that our program is designed. It's really truly benefited our members more than a lot of other programs.  Even though amidst all of the federal funding  challenges, our none of our members went without pay.

Todd Schmiedeler: That's great.

Sarah Brady: None of our members went without pay.

Todd Schmiedeler: So, how many members did do you have?

Sarah Brady: Yeah. So, here in Kentucky, we have over 200 members.

Todd Schmiedeler: Oh, wow. Okay. So, that's not like a tiny program. It's a significant impact going across the state and they're all serving in health care facilities to get experience, so that they can figure out whether healthcare is for them.

Sarah Brady: Yeah. They're getting jobs at these facilities. They're continuing education with whether it's post-secondary education or continued credentialing.  But not only did we not have to miss any pay for our members, we also didn't have to lay off any staff.

Todd Schmiedeler: Wow.

Sarah Brady: And that was huge.  You know, we were showing up to meetings not just here in Kentucky, but again, as I mentioned we have a nine-state footprint in other meetings where, you know, program directors that had been there forever had been laid off or furloughed.  Our team really was able to rally and show up not only for our members, but for our host sites, the facilities in which they're serving in  and the communities in which those facilities serve, as well.  Our team has really been able to pivot in a time that has brought so much stress to them.  I can't thank them enough for being able to show up every day for our members.

Todd Schmiedeler: Well, you know, it's intriguing to think that you're not just helping an individual, but clearly by what you're saying, you're directly impacting the broader community. You mentioned the AmeriCorps program. Are there other ways that you feel like that that FSH Works is really impacting a significant community initiative or area of focus?

Sarah Brady: I would say so much of the work that we do is geared towards non-traditional students. Okay.  Non-traditional, entry-level workers and understanding that there are those systematic barriers to getting enrolled in school or getting the credential or figuring out how to balance that workload of being a parent going to school.  “How am I going to provide?”  Our team is really help there to help them kind of bridge those gaps.  While we do serve everyone, like I said, majority are in that kind of more non-traditional population.

But I think one of the big things impact-wise is how can we how can we keep people where they're at? How can we progress them further? And I think a lot of that is through the data.

You know, not only are we having one-on-one and conversations with an individual and logging all of those interactions, but we're getting intentional data. We're getting the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix. We're getting employment and children information. We're getting all of these things and we're using that information not only to one help them tell their story, but to advocate on their behalf, to show up and be in rooms where we can we can show the impact that providing these services have.  

We can help their employers understand who their employees are, what services they need, what barriers students are experiencing and how different types of tutoring that may be needed or how many students have a food insecurity? You know, we use our data to tell a story, not only so we can impact that individual that we're working with specifically, but to have greater impact on the partner that we're working with, and the community that we're serving.

Todd Schmiedeler: So, it interests me to talk a little bit about that data factor. How are you using that data? Are you when you say you're sharing it with not only the employer and the school and the community kind of abroad, you know, are there specific tools that you're using  with that data?  How much data are you really collecting? I mean, is it 10 or 15 questions? What does that look like?

Sarah Brady: Yeah. So, we have actually built our custom database FSH Canvas.  It's built on the Salesforce platform with shield level encryption. It tracks over 250 points of data for every household that we serve.

It's deep data, and again, it's not just your demographics and your contact information.  What have you experienced that's put you to where you are now and what goals do you have and how and in between all of that, how have we helped you to get to those goals?

So, not only can we show where you started and where your government benefits were then, but as you get your associates degree, get your bachelor's degree, we're continuing to get updated information over time, so we can track your progression, your increased in self-sufficiency, your decrease in government subsidies. Then because we track every interaction that our staff have, we can then show our community, our investors, our donors, our funders, the return on investment, because we have so much data, but it's intentional data. It's not like electronic medical records, but for social services.

Todd Schmiedeler:  You know what's interesting is that I see a lot of data points for especially in nonprofits, but also in for-profit businesses that are very surface level. We serve this many people with this many services. And there's nothing wrong with that. Okay. But you know what strikes me as what you're talking about is the longitudinal impact that you have on a life and then multiplying those lives by literally hundreds, thousands of people over time. And how is it that that these interventions are really making a difference? Are you doing anything like publications, white papers, that sort of stuff?

Sarah Brady: Yeah, absolutely. We have a few white papers that are on our website and more to come. We typically have been trying to get out at least three or four a year. Our most recent one was on children and our programming with children.  Then our next one is actually going to be our real opportunities program and giving individuals that opportunity to pursue education as they are transitioning out of their recovery program. How it can help prevent recidivism, give them purpose, help get keep them on a path  to progressing in their goals.

[H2] Employer Partnerships and Advice for Aspiring Leaders

Todd Schmiedeler: I think so many people, me included, have needed a second chance in some way.

Sarah Brady: Yeah. Absolutely.

Todd Schmiedeler: You know, the authenticity around the offer of a second chance is often whether or not you actually take advantage of it.  

So, one other thing that that you highlighted that I want to go back to is you've talked a lot about employers.  What kind of employers are right for you know maybe partnering with and how does an employer utilize your services in a way that is going to translate into real ROI for those businesses?

Sarah Brady: So that's what we call our fee for service model. Okay. That is where we work really closely with the employer to figure out what needs are. I will say we work closely with a lot of employers that that have entry-level workers who have apprenticeship programs or some sort of credentialing program to help progress individuals. And that work is again not just to help keep individuals there, but how can we really understand what those individuals are going through outside of the workplace?

Todd Schmiedeler: Yeah. So, it's kind of a skills and life.

Sarah Brady: Yes. And many employers early on when we started this work, a lot of people said, "Oh, well, HR takes care of that". But they may take care of it because they have to take care of it, but they're not trained to take care of it. They're not trained to help individuals get child care or to figure out public transportation or so many of the other things. And so what we do is we offer the response center for them to be able to call in and get connected to services. But the other piece on that too, very similar to the colleges and universities, is recruitment, retention, all of those sorts of things. If they do have some sort of educational component, how do we keep them progressing towards completing those?

And so those outbound calls do look a little different, but it’s after the first month of employment, thanks so much for being a part of our team. How are things going? What's your experience like?

If you know that it’s at 8 months when you start to lose those entry-level workers, for whatever reason, let's call them at one month, three months, and six months. I use this example a lot, but we were working with an employer and they said, "We lose the majority of our entry-level workers at 9 months. Can you start calling them then?" And I said, "No, I will not".

Todd Schmiedeler: Yeah.

Sarah Brady: And I won't do that because at nine months, you've already lost them. They already have another job.

Todd Schmiedeler: They're definitely already looking and had made their mind up.

Sarah Brady: Yes. And so what we've done is we've worked with that specific employer. You know, we called the beginning of the at the beginning, once they've been hired after orientation, and at three months, and at six months, and then obviously again at nine months. But it's been it's tailored to who you are.

It's tailored to the to the types of workers that you have, to the opportunities that you have for them.  It really is all geared towards people and understanding that investing in human capital is the best economic development that we can have. Yeah, how can we continue to help individuals grow? How can we push them towards self-sufficiency? But also understanding that that comes with barriers.

Todd Schmiedeler: Yeah. You know, I would say that response to the question of can you start calling them at nine months sounds like an HR question. “Hey, we've got this problem, can you start now?”

But you don't build relationships by having a transaction. You build relationships by being ahead of that and it sounds like that that's a purposeful thing for you guys and it’s almost custom.

You're going in deep with these partners instead of just saying, "Hey, this is a one-size-fits-everything".  When I think of one-size-fits-everything, I also think back to when people sometimes ask me how I got to where I've been. You know, if an aspiring leader is listening to this, okay? And they are anywhere from 16, when you kind of started your career, all the way to maybe even my age and still aspiring to find the job that they love instead of the job that they're in, you know, what advice would you give?

Sarah Brady: I think that the biggest thing that I learned early on is to be in the rooms. You know, meet the people, talk to the people, don't be afraid to show up and ask questions.  But that comes with motivation. That comes with confidence building. That comes with so many other things. I know I would not be where I was as President of FSH Works if it wasn't for who I know and the connections to get here.  Now, obviously it did take a lot of work and a lot of dedication, but you know, it definitely is because of not only the people who've made me who I am, that have instilled the work ethic that I do have, but because of the instructors that I spent more time with, connecting, building relationships with at U of L and through my internship and so many other things.  It has all put me into where I am today.  We can continue to grow from building relationships at different events for potential partnerships where FSH Works and so on and so forth.

[H2] The Power of Mentorship and Final Thoughts on Leadership

Todd Schmiedeler: One of my favorite authors is a gentleman by the name of Dan Sullivan who is a strategic coach.  One of his books is titled,  Who Not How. I was fascinated by it because I realized that as I was going through the education process, I constantly asked myself,  “How do I get this done?”  And it wasn't until I flipped the switch and understood this that the first question is who should be getting this done? You know, am I the right person to get this done or is there someone else that I have a relationship with that it would be a blessing for me to bring them in because it's a burden for me to try to do it?

You know, it sounds like you've learned that very early and it's been part of your secret success. I want to finish with one kind of odd question. You know, is there someone that you have had that has been a mentor for you that you want to say thank you to? You know, because so often, I know I've had these mentors that have literally transcended my life. I mean, after them, my life was different, you know?  It can be a family member, it can be somebody you work with, it can be an instructor. Is there somebody that that did that for you early on?

Sarah Brady: It's you. I started at U of L, and I started as a teacher. I talked about how I started in the education program. And at first, I felt very lost. I wasn't sure what my next step was going to be and I just fell into the communication degree program. It was going to get me graduated faster. I already knew I was going to be behind because I was switching my major during my junior year of college. At that time, I just thought, "Oh, I've worked in this role for so long. I'm in a position now that I really love. I'm training people and I'm hiring people".  And I just thought like, "How can I get out of school?" And part of that came with an internship. That's where I met you. I vividly remember being in a conference room and saying, "Well, why don't we just do a dollar a day?" And then the next day you we talked so much about who I am and where I've came from and goals that I've had. And ever since that day, there hasn't been a day that you haven't cared about me. You have pushed me to be a better person and there's not a time where I call and you don't answer.

You're always there to help me, but you're also there to tell me when things need to be fixed, when things may not be the best, and push me to grow. Again, that that balance of compassion and accountability, and ultimately connected me to Family Scholar House. And I am really truly living the dream of purpose of being able to show up for other people every single day, and advocate on their behalf. And that's because of you.

Todd Schmiedeler: It's really very kind and not what I expected. You know, I do remember that day in that room and we were perplexed by a problem.  There were, I don't know, 12 people in that room who couldn't find the solution and there you were, as an intern, and you weren't even paid.  You came up with something that was so simple that you know the term I sometimes use is simple brilliance. Sometimes, the thing that is right in front of you is actually the answer. It's just sometimes hard to see when you're so in the your own box.

Your ability to see things has always struck me as an amazing quality that that God gave you that that's special.  You're a very special person. You know, I love you and I'm very thankful for you being here today and sharing your story. Hopefully there'll be some other young people who will see that it isn't about age.

Sarah Brady: No.

Todd Schmiedeler: It's about coming every day. It's about being compassionate.  It's about helping other people be successful, right?  Whether that is directly people you serve or directly people you work with. When you do that, you're a leader no matter what your title is.  Leaders aren't built by titles. They're built by how many people you serve and whether those people want to be served by you.  And so, thank you again for coming. I always appreciate it.

The contact information for Sarah and FSH Works and Family Scholar House will be in the show notes.

[H2] Conclusion

And I'm thankful for the audience spending a little time with us. I look forward to seeing you again in two weeks. Thanks so much and have a great day.

To Learn More about FSW Works:

Website:   www.fshworks.family

Phone:   (502) 584-8090

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