The OtterCares Podcast

Sometimes you have to look back to appreciate your journey and get excited about the future. In our journey, we've had the privilege of partnering with some incredible organizations that have allowed us the opportunity to invest in the future and create long-lasting, transformational change in the lives of students and in our communities. One of these partners is the Rocky Mountain chapter of Junior Achievement. We sat down with Kelsey and Elizabeth from JA to reflect on a relationship that has spanned over a decade and celebrate the impact we have created together. So many feels!

It's National Entrepreneurship Week! Entrepreneurship is not just one pillar of our mission - it is a mindset that has the potential to create long lasting, transformational change in our communities and the world! Check out this month's episode as we chat about the why behind entrepreneurship and why entrepreneurs and an entrepreneurial mindset should be celebrated all year long!

Happy 2022! We're jumping right into the New Year with some helpful tips and ideas for helping you craft a killer grant proposal! We sat down with Hilary Sontag, Director of Competitive Grants & Strategic Partnerships at St. Vrain Valley Schools in Longmont, Colo., to chat about all things grant writing, including how to develop partnerships with potential funders and overcoming writer's block to help convey your idea in words. Have grant writing as a goal to accomplish this year? Take a listen!

It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year...to give back! As we approach the end of the year and the holiday season, there are so many ways we can help inspire kiddos in our world to give back by leveraging the spirit of the season. Whether it is finding ways to volunteer as a family during the holidays or creating fun and easy activities that help young people understand the power they have to help others, this time of the year is the perfect time to dive into those opportunities that bring the joy of giving to life. We chatted with our Impact and Education Director, Sarah Weeks, all about ways that anyone can jump into giving back and creating impact in their communities! Get inspired!!

Welcome to episode 9 of the OtterCares Podcast! In this episode, we have the privilege to chat with an incredible Otter who volunteers over 200 hours a year with nonprofits she cares about! Not only is she an amazing Otter, she is also the recipient of the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award and February 26, 2021 was officially “Liza Patton Day” in Denver  in recognition of her incredible volunteerism! What an inspiration!

At OtterCares, we love to invest in ideas that have the power to transform young people and unleash the maker, doer and giver inside each and every student. But this transformation cannot be made alone. That is why we are eager to tap into the passions and talents of educators who are cultivating tomorrow's change-makers using hands-on and innovative approaches to learning. We not only seek to partner with these likeminded educators, we want to help create more educators to transform even more students! We're partnering with MindSpark Learning to kick off our inaugural NoCO IgnitED event! This event is designed to bring together educators, business leaders and community members to discover ways to not only prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow but to help cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and spirit in young people, setting them up to be the innovators, problem-solvers and world-changers who will transform our communities and world for the better. Check it out!

Welcome to episode 7 of the OtterCares Podcast! In this amazing episode, we chat with STEM Coordinator, Becky Woodcocks and parent volunteer, Kelli Wallace about their students' experience using Project Heart! Becky and our very own Sarah Weeks collaborated on integrated our Project Heart content into Becky's afterschool leadership club, STAR Squad, and the results were incredible! Get ready to be inspired and listen to Becky and Kelli's awesome story!

We've sat down with Kellie, the CEO of MindSpark, to talk about our incredible partnership and collaboration on one of their flagship programs, Education Accelerator! Get ready to be inspired and learn more about how you can get involved in EA to advance and elevate your school or organization's educational goals!

Welcome to episode 5 of the OtterCares Podcast! In this episode, we get the opportunity to chat with an extraordinary Otter who is not only passionate about the work she does but also about the service she gives to others. We talked with Shanshan about her incredible volunteer experience and what she is doing to create impact in her community while celebrating and preserving her culture. She also shares some ideas and tips for how you can get into volunteering and find a project that is just right for you! Check it out!

It's National Volunteer Week! In this episode, we chat about all things volunteering and how you can find ways to give back, even from home! We also chat about our annual volunteer day, closed2open! Tricia Vincent, our Senior Director of Grants and Programs, shares the genesis of this incredible day of giving, what is different this year and why this day is so important to our company and our communities! Don't miss it!

We sat down with one of our awesome partners, Christian Ludwig at the Vista Innovation and Design Academy in Vista, Calif. and chatted about how he has brought Project Heart to his students in an unique and entrepreneurial way! Have a listen and then visit https://myprojectheart.org/resources/projectheartvida to get access to Christian's materials and use them in your classroom today! 

To create change, you have to have community. Meet one of our amazing community partners, Colorado Succeeds, and hear how we are working together to help connect community and education to help prepare students for tomorrow!

Our last episode of 2020! It's been a crazy year but that hasn't stopped us from working hard to continue to grow our impact through our mission while staying true to our core value of giving back. We sat down with our Executive Director, Linda Crum, to reflect on the successes and accomplishments this year while sharing some of our goals for 2021. Get INSPIRED!!! Thank you to ALL of our amazing listeners for making our pilot year so incredible! Stay tuned for a new year full of new stories, new tips and more ways to Ignite Tomorrow Today!

Another AMAZING episode the OtterCares Podcast! This month, we talk all things Innovation Stations! Hear from Tricia Vincent, our Senior Director of Grants and Programs and one of our Innovation Station Fund recipients, Kaitlyn Chambers and get inspired to apply for your own Innovation Station!

We're back from summer break with some fun news - we have a new addition to our team! In this episode, we introduce you to our new Community and Employee Engagement Manager, Courtney, and hear all about who she is and her role in helping us grow our mission! Check it out!

When a young person uses their personal passions to identify and solve a problem in the world using entrepreneurial thinking, they are the change-makers that make our world better! Olivia is an amazing example of how you can use entrepreneurship to tackle a problem in an innovative way and she is one of our Illumination Fund grant recipients! Check out Olivia's interview and listen to her passion, determination and drive to change the world!

Welcome to the first ever episode of our new OtterCares Podcast! Our goal is to bring you fun and enjoyable content that you can listen to anywhere. In this episode, you'll be introduced to our production and hosting team, learn a little bit about who OtterCares is and what we're all about. You'll hear overviews of upcoming stories and learn more about what to expect when you tune into future episodes of the OtterCares Podcast.

We have a lot to be thankful for. From the fantastic people and organizations we partner with to bring our mission to life to the incredible people who make up Otter Products and live out our core value of Giving Back, we are privileged to be a part of experiences and stories of transformational impact. We've learned that at the core of all impact is relationships. Whether a relationship between a teacher and a student or an individual and an organization, the relationships that we forge with others can create a positive impact in their lives. And sometimes, we had no idea that we were the catalyst of that impact.  We had a chance to catch up with Otter Products employee, Cass Santoro and Heidi Olinger, the CEO of one of our partner organizations, Pretty Brainy, to talk about how one person's choice to invest their time and talent can create far-reaching and long-lasting impact. Several years ago, Cass signed up to volunteer to help Pretty Brainy with a project to connect young women to STEM in fun and hands-on ways. Cass had no idea that her choice to engage with Pretty Brainy would change the course of her life as well as create impact in the lives of so many other young women. Get ready to be INSPIRED! 

Check out Episode 6 of the OtterCares Podcast! We reflect on a very special day we have the joy of hosting each year - Pack2School! Our annual Pack2School event is about so much more than school supplies; it's about community. What a great way to start the school year!

We're back from our summer break and are sharing some of the cool things we experience over the last couple months and talk about what we're up to this fall! Check out this episode of the OtterCares Podcast and hear about some of the impactful projects we were apart of in June, what we were up to in July and hear more stories of impact that you can watch on YouTube Channel!