Welcome to Episode 30 of The Uplifters Podcast!

This week we are releasing our episode a couple of days early in light of the tragic events unfolding between Israel and Hamas. Today I am joined by my friend, Sara Axelbaum who leads a global team responsible for keeping diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the center of her company by fostering a true sense of belonging for every employee. Sara was honored as one of the top women in media and ad tech as a DEI champion, and recognized by The Reagan Awards for Wellness and South by Southwest in 2023 for her work in DEI. Before MIQ, Sarah was an SVP at 21st Century Fox and an entrepreneur. Sara is also Jewish, a mom to two joyful little boys, and the descendant of holocaust survivors.

Sara and I are going to share a conversation today that's different than any conversation we've had on The Uplifters. So much of what we have talked about in these episodes relates strictly to the individual stories of the amazing women that we are talking to and how that has impacted their world. But Sara and I are going to get a little messier today and talk about what's happening in the world and how it's impacting her and others.

You’ll hear us struggle with what we don’t know and get clear about what we do know for sure.

We’re talking about a specific moment in history, and in Sara’s personal experience, but our goal for this conversation is to explore what it means to be an Uplifter in times of crisis and extraordinary fear.

Uplifters, we will all have moments of loss and fear in our lives. Wherever our minds are in this extraordinarily complex time, I hope this episode can be a reminder to hold each other tight, open our hearts, and support one another as only Uplifters can.

I’m profoundly grateful to Sara for mustering the energy to talk to us in this difficult time.

Episode Summary

Sara Axelbaum's Background (2:15 - 7:12)

• Sara Axelbaum is introduced as the global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion at MIQ.
• She leads a team focused on fostering a sense of belonging for every employee, and her accomplishments in the field are recognized.
• Sara shares her personal connection to her Jewish heritage and being the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.

Navigating a Challenging Topic (7:12 - 10:44)

• We discuss the challenging topic of the recent conflict on the southern Israel border.
• We acknowledge the confusion, fear, and complexities surrounding the issue.

Supporting and Uplifting Each Other (10:44 - 17:58)

• Sara emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the suffering of innocent people caught up in the conflict.
• The conversation shifts to how individuals can support and uplift one another during times of crisis.
• We discuss the significance of being there for one another, even when the right words may be hard to find.

The Power of Connection (17:58 - 27:30)

• Sara highlights the importance of reaching out to friends and loved ones during difficult times.
• We discuss their fears about speaking out and the vulnerability that comes with sharing personal experiences in a public space.
• Aransas shares her regret about not reaching out to a friend who was battling cancer and how she learned the importance of showing support, even if it feels uncomfortable.

Creating Space for Grief (27:30 - 34:44)

• We emphasize the significance of creating space for grief and the transition from collective grief to collective joy.
• Sara reveals how her organization is focusing on supporting team members and fostering a sense of community during challenging times.

Intentional Communication (34:44 - 39:21)

• Aransas and Sara stress the value of intentional communication and being honest about difficult topics, rather than staying silent due to fear of saying the wrong thing.

Self-Care and Resilience (39:21 - 44:50)

• Sara shares her personal practices for taking care of herself during tough times, such as keeping a gratitude journal, seeking moments of joy, and being kind to herself.
• The conversation ends with a reflection on the awe-inspiring nature of human resilience and the importance of appreciating the beauty of authentic, courageous, and supportive individuals.

Conclusion (44:50 - 46:07)

• The episode encourages listeners to connect, support, and uplift one another during complex and challenging times.
• It highlights the strength of human connection and the power of unity and gratitude.

Outro (46:07 - 46:26)

• Aransas Savas thanks Sara Axelbaum for joining the podcast and sharing her insights on navigating difficult conversations and supporting one another.

Welcome to the Uplifters podcast, I'm your host, Aranzas Savas. And today I am joined by my old friend, Axelbaum. And though and I have been in each other's worlds for a long time, we really haven't been in touch other than social media in a lot of years. So it feels really special to be in this room with her today.

Sara is the global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion at MIQ,. She leads a global team there who work to keep inclusion at the center of the company and to foster a real sense of belonging for every employee present and future. was honored as one of the top women in media and ad tech as a DEI champion. That's diversity, equity, and inclusion.

than any conversation we've had on The Uplifters. Because so much of what we have talked about in these episodes relates strictly to the individual stories of the amazing women that we are talking to and how that has impacted their world. But and I are gonna get a little messier today and talk about what's happening in the world and how it's impacting her and others.

And the topic we're broaching is one I don't know how to talk about. I don't know all the history. I don't know all the beliefs. I don't know even what I think about it, really. I feel just really confused. And so I do know there's one thing I think about and that I believe in my heart, which is that

I believe murder is bad. I believe killing people is bad, hurting people is bad. And the rest, I'm just overwhelmed by the complexity of the situation. And so maybe and I are gonna find a little more clarity in this conversation. And our hope, I think at least for me and I think for as well, is that what we find uplifters,

is a way for us to uplift and support those we care for and human beings in general in complicated and confusing and chaotic times of crisis.

So yeah, , I don't know where to even begin here. I know you thought a lot about this. Set the stage for us a little about what's happening and what it's meant for you personally.

Yeah, so thank you so much for that warm introduction and welcome. And it's so nice to just be in space with you today because there is something beautiful about having messy conversations. Um, honestly, I'm nervous to have this messy conversation because I don't have all the facts either, and it's really hard to know what the facts even are right now.

I have been engrossed in this for most of my life and most of my career, and it still feels impossible to parse out in any rational way. So just, I guess, a little bit about my background. I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. That has been something that has just been incredibly present in my entire life.

I was amazingly fortunate that I got to have my grandma Liddy in my life until I was in my mid twenties. And that was many, many years of joy with her, of learning from her, of taking the lessons of life from her. And she didn't talk a lot about the hard stuff, but when she did talk about it, it was so real and so current. And I think that lives in me and it will always live in me.

Um, you know, she was a lifelong volunteer and, and a person who just gave back to the community. And I think that if I was going to trace my trail back, that's where it goes to. So now, you know, switching from a career in media to a career in diversity, equity and inclusion, not only do I feel called to help bring people together in a belonging and inclusive space, but I also have conversations every day about identity and, um,

and all of the different ways that we can both separate and unite as people. And this one is especially personal because it feels like the people that I represent are also me and I have to make sure that I am protecting that as much as I can.

Um, supporting people as much as I can, but also knowing in the background that there is chaos of the news happening and. Misinformation in ways I knew existed, but didn't want to accept that after something as atrocious as we saw this weekend and so many innocent lives now being put at risk everywhere because of it, that the.

dialogue immediately turned to who's right and who's wrong instead of turning to how do we support the innocent people who are caught up in this? And that's where I've really struggled with how do I speak about it? How do I help others while helping myself? And how do I make sure that we always kind of bend towards that feeling of joy because I think that's what brings us through this life. So it's been a hard few days.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. as a Jewish woman, as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, as someone who is supporting so many other people through this time and pouring so much energy into others while trying to find energy to care for yourself, I can't tell you how much it means that you were willing to come and talk to us today and to help us.

find more perspective through your journey, it is a tremendous act of generosity. And one of the things I'm noting too, as we talk, is that neither of us has even really said what we're talking about, because I don't even know how to say it. What words are you using to talk about this time, this moment?

Right?

The words are really hard. I worked on internal communications for my company about this. And this is so vague. And this is because I don't want to put words to it because there are no right words. So the words that we decided on as a company that wanted to be as supportive as possible was the conflict on the Southern Israel border. And...

Right.

Mm.

We played with a lot of different versions of the language. We wanted to be specific, but we didn't want to disregard how anyone might be feeling. And as a company, that's a tough needle to thread. And I think that as the person who has to make those recommendations and decisions and talk with people about it, there were so many different opinions and feelings and all of them were valid and all of them were

Mm-hmm.

hard and all of them were true and figuring out how then we're going to put it into words, while also the true raw compassion and fear that a lot of us had at the same time. There aren't words for those things and I think that we do the best we can with the words we have.

Right, because I'm sure there are many Jewish people in your company. And part of your mission is to foster a sense of belonging for every employee present and future. And I assume, hopefully, there are many Muslim employees in your company, and maybe even some Palestinian employees in your company. And so that means.

finding a space for belonging and you're right, words are a big problem.

Yeah, words are hard, especially because words can be so uplifting and they can also be so harmful. And the last thing we want to do in this space right now is cause anyone more harm. And that was kind of the focus, is how do we support and do as little further harm as we possibly can?

while also talking about it. Because I think that's why. And then it was tempting, I think, for both of us to not have this conversation.

Yeah.

Oh yeah. Yeah. For a million reasons. You know, I, I'm scared. I'm going to say the wrong thing. I'm scared. I'm going to hurt somebody. I'm scared of publicly talking about being a Jewish person in the world right now. I had a real conversation with a friend of, should I use my last name during this podcast? Knowing that will make me findable and.

Ha!

Same, same.

while I've had that experience in the past, this is one of the ones that feels almost the scariest, as well as the fact that I now have a family of young children to protect. And I've run into experiences where I've been doxed on the internet before, just for supporting a drag queen happy hour. And that was a very tiny...

group of people on Facebook who left some DMs in my messenger that were not kind, but that's as far as it went, thank goodness. But I know that by putting myself out there and trying to even talk about it, that puts me in a more vulnerable position. And that is very scary because I feel incredibly vulnerable as a Jewish person right now.

How heartbreaking. But to use your own last name should feel like an act of courage.

The world that we live in right now, there's so much reaction to things that people perceive as being a threat. And that reaction has resulted in a lot more fear based on.

identity based on beliefs and you just don't know what people are going to do with information and that is a terrifying thing. You know, I love to live my life out loud. I love to show my joy and to celebrate things and to have,, social media interactions where I am able to really live in a way that is happy and joyful and fun.

And I don't want to have to hide. I don't want to have to feel like I can't be my true and authentic self every single day. Um, but I've been thinking more about that lately and the safety of that. And that's a real shame because anyone who feels like they can't put their joy publicly online because of the way that people might say something about who they are to their children is a really strange.

world that we're living in and one that I absolutely didn't want to believe existed.

and I still believe there are so many more good people, loving people, accepting people, kind people in the world than there are mean, hateful, divisive people. And 100 loving people feels really good, but one really mean person feels really bad.

Yeah, really scary. The vocal minority is dangerous. And they're not the majority, but they can be dangerous. And I hate that that's the truth. And I think that while that is so much what I think about, it's also the other side of, but the majority is still there. And the majority is what gives me hope. The majority is what I think the future is going to be built on.

and scary.

Mm-hmm.

And these are tough times that I think we can absolutely get through because the majority is still there and they are unwavering. And that is such an important aspect of it, because I think it would be really easy to drown in the idea that one singular person can be a terrible entity. But when that person compared to a million of people who are looking to put more joy and love and goodness into the world, that's what the future shines bright with.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yep. And that's why we're here. That's why the Uplifters exist, because it is built on this fundamental belief that we rise higher together, that we are louder, and stronger, and more impactful for the world when we come together as Uplifters. And we fortify one another and find courage in one another. And we find ways to talk about weird, messy, scary things, because we're like, OK, we're in this together. And.

What you bring us back to, I think, in what you just said is that, is this at the end of the day is not about governments? It's not even really about religion or land. It's about human beings.

Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yep. And it's about people who would prefer some human beings don't exist. And there are people who believe that human beings are wonderful and all of them deserve to be protected every last one of them. And I think that it's too easy for that to be conflated right now. It's too easy to say, Oh, but

and bring up some issue that chances are most people don't agree with anyway. I am incredibly proud to be a Jewish person. I am not religious. But I am very in touch with my culture and my heritage. And that doesn't make me pro anything. That doesn't make me a flag waving anything.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm

But when people are being killed, that full stop, that's something that we cannot support. And it doesn't matter. None of the other stuff matters right now because there are people who are being massacred and there is no political conversation that should happen. All that should happen right now is how do we help the people who are suffering the most? How do we keep the people safe who need to be kept safe?

And I think that the other stuff is noise that's meant to distract us, that's meant to divide us. And the more divisiveness that's sewn into these conversations, the more it actually divides us. And I think that's one of the things that it's very easy to distract us from the human toll on life when all we're talking about is how much we are divided and how much we are opposed and how much we disagree.

Mm-hmm.

great, while we're seeing they're talking about that, we have now freed up a lot of airtime for people to do terrible things. And that is all within the plan, in my opinion. That is all from the textbook of how to be a terrorist. Get people talking about right and wrong and not about life.

Mm-hmm.

differences. Yep. Not about humanity and not about what unites us.

Right?

So there are a lot of things we can think about in terms of how we are uplifters from afar. We donate, we give time, we support aid organizations, and we vote, and all of those are super important. And I think those words are out there. And I think we know the playbook on that. We may not know the exact place to go.

But Google can tell us. What Google can't tell us is how to support those closest to us. And while right now we are talking about, as you said, the crisis on the southern Israel border, I think those were your words, this is not the first crisis we have seen in our communities. We have.

watched over the years as moments of really elevated fear have happened for people we love in all sorts of communities, whether the gay community, the trans community, our black and brown friends, our indigenous friends, our Jewish friends, our Muslim friends, our Christian friends. Like there are moments where we feel under attack and we feel unsafe.

And we feel scared by our very existence in life. And I think we've got to, as uplifters, keep having that non-Googleable conversation about how we show up for each other in those moments. And you can't speak for all Jewish people, and you certainly can't speak for all people who have ever felt under siege. But you can speak to you.

Yeah

So I'm curious what it is you want and need in this moment.

I think that for me personally, what I have found is the most helpful is the sense of community that people care enough to say, hey, this is awful. I'm here if you need me. And that simple message, you know, I've had people reach out and, you know, you don't need to respond. Just let you know I'm thinking about you. That is one of the most powerful things.

Mm-hmm.

And like, I'm here if you want to talk, I'm here if you want to laugh, I'm here if you want to vent, I'm here if you want to do something that has nothing to do with the conversations that are happening right now. And that applies to everything from when I was going through a terrible health crisis to when I lost a loved one to when I was doxxed on the internet, when, you know, this is happening right now. And that's how I try to show up for my friends as well.

You know, just the thought to say like, I'm here if you need me. You know, if you don't, that's okay. But I'm thinking about you, you know, it's so simple and it requires so little, but it's so important because I think it's that little moment of humanity that reminds us, oh, right. There's good in the world. I have friends who are supportive. I have people that will rally around me if I need them to. And sometimes like, especially in times like this, like you need those moments of connection.

Yeah.

Yes.

And I think for me personally, that's the number one thing that helps me. And that's how I like to help. Um, you know, my friends who are very close to me know that I will channel all of the fear and anxiety and sadness I have into action to a point where I will burn my candle at 12 ends and they check in on me and they're like, have you slept today? Have you eaten lunch today?

Have you had your coffee today? And they know me well enough to know that that's probably a side that I need to just like stop for a minute, go have a cup of coffee, you know, zone out from the world, play some word all and be better. And I think that's where, you know, those are the little things, those little connections of humanity are the most important right now.

Mm-hmm.

They are anchors in times where it feels like we are floating away in the fear. A one of my biggest regrets in life is the friend I felt too awkward to talk to about his cancer. After.

Yeah.

after misunderstanding and misstating something about where he was in his journey. And my awkwardness about saying the right thing again kept me from reaching out again and just saying, I'm thinking about you. And now he's gone. And I swore to myself at his service that I would never let the fear of saying the wrong things stop me from saying anything.

And that was the gift of that conversation in my mind. The gift of that is you learned how to show up better in the future. And I think that that's important. There are friends in our lives who I really think are there to teach us things all the time. And that might mean they're in our lives for a day, a week, or a lifetime. But I really believe I have so much to learn from all the people around me. And I can't regret if I've learned.

And that's a big part of how I try to view life.

Yes, yes, what a beautiful reframe on that too. if it is learning, it is not regret. It is gratitude. Yeah.

It's a way forward and it's a, it's a lesson for the future that if you didn't learn in that instance, you would have learned with someone else and possibly to a greater degree. So how beautiful that you got to learn it when you did.

Mm.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, that's true. And I think it is so important to acknowledge how that fear of being misunderstood or sounding wrong or dumb or inappropriate or even offensive, how ultimately that quiet is worse than having a messy conversation.

Yeah.

Yeah, when I was sick, a lot of people would reach out and say like, I don't know what to say. And be like, you don't have to say anything. And I always say like, send me an emoji. Like you're thinking about me, send me an emoji because it's easy and it made people feel like they were doing something to let me know without interrupting. And I always thought it was interesting. People are like, I don't want to bother you. I'm like, literally, please bother me. I need to be bothered. I need to spend some moments of my day, not thinking about,, if this tumor growing and having that, those moments of joy with my friends was so important, even if it was just a quick little message. And I needed that more than ever when it was happening. And I wish that more people would have reached out. Like, if anything, I wish people that came out of the woodwork and they were just like, hey, saw your Facebook post. That sucks. Hope you're OK.

Something as simple as that. Like I just needed more humans in that moment.

Yeah, yeah, you're so right. When I think about the hardest times of my life, what has made me feel the most buoyed is being honest about what's happening to open up the invitation for people to show their kindness, their support, their encouragement, in whatever wonderful, messy, awkward ways are available.

I also love that this message this person gave you of, I don't want to interrupt, gave you an invitation to say, oh, actually, no, that's what I want. So it all is just opening up honest communication here. Please do. Yeah, and I mean, I'm really taking from this conversation already I am biased towards action like you, . And it.

Please do.

is an invitation to me now to go and reach out to the Jewish and Muslim friends that I have, because in this moment they are hurting and they are scared and they are facing so much division and misunderstanding and being lumped together with beliefs that may or may not be true for them. And

Right, those misunderstandings are what lead to greater divide.

as someone who leads teams responsible for fostering a sense of belonging for all team members? How are you talking about this within your organization

So one thing that I love about the organization that I honestly feel privileged to work for is that we are not an organization that's gonna come out and say, we believe blank. The only thing that we believe is that our people need support and we are going to be here to support them. And we will listen to our people and make sure that we are doing what needs to be done to make sure that they feel as good as they possibly can right now.

No one's going to feel great right now. How do we bolster people where we can? How do we bring people together in community? Because that's what we're hearing. We originally were talking about should we have a safe space conversation with a facilitator? And a lot of people are like, you know what? I don't want to talk about it. I don't need a facilitated conversation. I can read the news. The news is awful. I don't want to talk about.

Mm-hmm.

what's happening or any events or politics or anything. I don't even want to get into that. What I need is to be with other humans and have this collective feeling of togetherness. So I actually this morning was talking through with a few people about, all right, what are we going to do? We want to do something. We talked about should we have a grief counselor come in and talk about collective grief?

Because if we're all focused on grief, then the conversation, we don't have to worry about it veering off in any angle. But then is it really grief? Because I think it's a very Jewish thing, but also it's very a human thing that you wanna channel grief into joy. So we're talking about how do we bring collective grief and transfer that into collective joy? And...

Mm-hmm.

you know, where we're where I think we're landing, we still haven't made the final decision is we're probably going to have somebody talk about what collective grief is a professional who knows and understands what it's like to grieve in community because that's what we're all doing. But then to shift that from all right, and how do we do something to unite us enjoy.

Mm-hmm.

So we're gonna do a gratitude wall where everyone's gonna get a post-it and they're gonna put what they're thankful for and we're gonna put it up on the walls. We're gonna do a jam board for anyone who's virtual so that they can participate. And hopefully it's just something, I don't know if it's gonna be temporary or permanent, I don't know what it'll be, but when we talked about that, the collective of people that I was talking to went from being like, what are we gonna do to like, yes, that's it. That's what we wanna do. We want to be together in joy right now.

And there's some people who said, you know, we don't want to immediately turn to joy. So that transition from collective grief to collective joy is important. And we're still trying to figure out what that looks like. And it's going to be messy. It is not going to be right for everyone. But I feel like that is such the response we need right now. We need to be together and collective gratitude for what we have, because I think. Everyone is squeezing their children a little tighter tonight. Everyone,, is.

reaching out to loved ones a little more, everyone's being a little more gentle with each other. And what an incredible privilege that we can do that right now. And I think it becomes so much more obvious how necessary that is in these times. And I hope that that's gonna serve as many people as possible. I know we can't serve everyone, but that feels right now. And I'm really glad that that's where we netted out.

How beautiful. And everything that you're saying both acknowledges the very real and human and important emotions that people are processing through. And I think you're so wise to.

create intentional space for the grieving. And I even hear in your story how you have been moving through stages of grief in this moment. And then turning your eye toward what brings us together instead of what keeps us apart. And really looking for those moments to reunite. And.

I think it's interesting too, this idea that perhaps this can become an artifact of a time that becomes a part of the culture long term.

Yeah, absolutely.

What are you feeling grateful for right now, ?

I am incredibly grateful that I have cultivated people around me who have cared enough to reach out. I'm grateful that I have a great community of Jewish friends who I feel comfortable crying with right now. I'm incredibly grateful for my partner who is probably the most supportive person on earth and how we get to raise two incredible kids together.

because this has been a really tough week and it was his birthday on Monday and yet he was just sitting there like, how can I help, how can I support? And I kept saying, I'm sorry you've had such a bad birthday. And he was like, no, this is fine. This is what I'm here for. And it was so wonderful to have that because I feel like since my foundation is so solid, it just enables me to do this work. And this is hard work, especially when it involves my identity.

And just having that stability beneath my feet is really such an incredible motivator and opportunity for me to do it. And it's really an interesting time to be grateful to be Jewish, but I am. And I feel that more than ever. And I feel in much more community with other Jewish people right now than I have in a long time. And I think that that's just part of that pole of kind of that generational...

we survived this because we survived together, that is so necessary and evident right now.

Yes. Such a resilient legacy.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Absolutely. And I, I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for that resilience, because I'm here today. You know, I get to hold my genetically Jewish children, because my great grandparents and my grandmother was resilient enough to leave Vienna and do so in a way where they didn't know where they were gonna end up. You know, they ended up in Cuba for a while. They had to split up as a family for years and...

Yes.

That is an incredible history that I am just so proud is mine and I'm so grateful that it has set me up to be in this position of gratitude today.

And it is all inside you. So while you take care of so many people in so many ways, how are you taking care of yourself this week, ?

We're gonna go to bed.

A few things and some of them are deep and some of them are incredibly shallow and that's exactly how I like it. So I do keep a gratitude journal and I write down what I am grateful for every day three things I'm grateful for., and then at the end of the day, I look back and say,, what was what was great about it.and then the other thing that I've, recently started is purposefully seeking out moments of joy and awe and gratitude in my day. So.

little things like, wow, that's beautiful, or that's wonderful. And sometimes they're very, you know, existential, sometimes they're nature based, sometimes they're my kids. And then on my team meeting each week, we share our moments of joy as how we start our meeting. And it gives us a real moment to reflect and to bond. I've really personally enjoyed that.

You know, I hope my team does too. And it was in the spirit of team togetherness, but it's also just a moment to sit down and say, this made me happy this week. And I find the more that I look for these things, the more they come up and that's a wonderful thing. So those are the deeper things. And then on the surface things, I am being really easy on myself this week.

You know, I've been trying to eat really healthy these last few months. And this week I'm like, you know what? I want the cookie for lunch. I'm gonna have the cookie for lunch. And I had the cookie for lunch and it brought me 15 great moments of joy. And I'm still thinking about how I had the cookie for lunch and how it brought me joy. And I needed that cookie for lunch. And I'm not trying to, you know, have that inner monologue of,, oh, you messed up your healthy eating this week. And...

that really those little things just like giving myself that grace is really important and I'm just spending as well yeah it's mentally healthy eating and then I'm just spending as much time with my kids as possible right now l I'm hugging them so much that I think my eight-year-old's about to be like enough please stop with the hugging but he's such a cuddly kid and I'm really grateful for that because I feel the need to just kind of like wrap him up in me right now

Mm-hmm. That sounds like healthy eating to me, eating with grace. Yeah. Ha ha.

Mm-hmm. How beautiful. You talk about awe, and I do feel a sense of awe in nature often, and I do feel a sense of awe in the perfect piece of art. But the thing that inspires the most awe in me personally as human beings, especially uplifting women with courage and authenticity, to.

wander awkwardly through the world, asking questions, trying their best, taking care of themselves, and making the world better. And so know that you are my moment of awe today. And I am so grateful that you had the energy to have this conversation today.

This was hard, but it also feels really cathartic to be able to talk about it. So I will return the moment of awe in that just having this moment to kind of exhale and talk about something that has been moving around my brain for this past week is a moment of awe for me too. So I'm very grateful for you and very grateful that you invited me here today.

Thank you for being here. And Uplifters, thank you for listening with an open heart and with curiosity and with an Uplifters spirit.

Thank you for being all of you out in the world. Thank you for looking ways to unite instead of divide, to care instead of judge.

Let's keep rising higher together.