Collaboration and Podcast Dynamics
Welcome back to another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour. And if you’re wondering, wait, I’m trying to listen to Prevention Navigators, you’re still in the right spot, okay? Today is a co-episode. You got me, Jake from Vive 18, and you got Effie. And in case you’re new to the Prevention Navigators world, let me give you a quick intro. So Effie is a program coordinator and the Prevention Network Program Liaison for her organization, which we’re gonna learn all about today as we get to know each other. But Effie, this is so fun. Tell us about Prevention Navigators, tell us about you.
Understanding Prevention Navigators
This is so fun, this collab episode that we’re doing together with Jake from Vive18 I’m just so excited. So my name is Effie Alofoje-Carr And yes, you are in the right spot. You are in the right spot for prevention navigators. This is a crossover. I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it a takeover. I call it a crossover episode where we are, you know, two powers united doing really good and really cool things. You all know me from over at prevention network and the work I do with coalitions. And I am so excited to be here on the Vive 18 podcast with my friend Jake.
We happen to meet and become friends in different places on more than one occasion in the past year. And so we decided to bring our powers together for both of our podcasts. And so what you’ll be hearing from Jake is about the drug prevention power hour with Vive 18 and the incredible work that he is doing with youth. I have had the blessing of witnessing the way he harnesses the power of brilliant young minds and just helps them feel like they can take over the world with their passion. And it has been incredible to watch his journey. And so super excited to talk about the work that I get to do in prevention with coalitions and to talk about the work that Jake gets to do his work in prevention as well, working with youth. And so, you know, we’re in for a fun ride, I think, for this particular podcast episode, right, Jake?
Yes, this is awesome. And thank you. You’re making me blush, Effie. Is it? Saying all those nice things. Let’s do this. I’m going to give you all my short intro in case this is our first introduction, but I started a company in college where I would throw enormous giant parties without any drugs or alcohol.
People sometimes they smile when they hear that. They think, does that work? And the fun part is yes, it works on every campus. No matter where you go, what age, people are looking for acceptance and belonging in a safe environment. And when you think about our world and the social norms that we have, it might seem normal to recreate or to get loud and wild with drugs or with alcohol, but our body’s designed to do it naturally.
We want to connect, we want to have fun. And if I found that if you give people the opportunity, they want to protect their friends and their future while having fun. And that’s what Vive 18 is all about. So it started years ago as a college movement and now is spanning the country, helping students in middle school, high school and college protect their friends and their future with positive events and let them lead the way. know, now I’m, I’m quote older and wiser, so I don’t throw parties for kids anymore, okay? I teach them how to do it. So that’s me. Effie, us little bit about you and what got you into this kind of work.
Personal Journeys in Prevention
Okay, sorry, I hope you can hear me. Can you hear me, Okay, perfect. Okay, so yeah, I love that. I love the fact that you threw those parties as someone who also, you know, values fun and connection and wants to protect my own body and future because I have enough going on. Okay, let’s be clear. So I need to mitigate things to be honest. And when I was in college, could have used that type of environment. I would have came to your parties. I would have been to everyone, honestly.
Just because it just sounds so fun to be able to hang out with folks without those pressures. So I think that’s really cool. Okay, so me and my journey, right? So my journey is a little different. My journey to the prevention world has really gone through the fact that I am a passionate public health professional, but majority of my time in public health has really been surrounded with maternal and infant child health and early childhood.
That’s really a big portion of my public health journey. There are pieces of it that actually also connect to legal advocacy for survivors of intimate partner violence. And so then as I’ve kind of moved on in my trajectory, I’ve seen the threads woven of families that I supported to help make great choices for their bodies, even while pregnant and navigate the legal system and navigate the social service system, still lose out in a really, really bad way due to substance misuse, due to the possession of substances, due to the use of substances while pregnant. And all of that came before I got to where I am now, right? It came in like, I wanna say the first 10 years of my professional career. And so now for the last year and a half and some change, I’m not great at math, okay? But I would say for the last year and a half, I found myself in the world of prevention. I am a prevention specialist. I am working towards my own certification in prevention. And I have had the pleasure of discovering that all of the work that I want to do, both in the advocacy world, in the legal world, in the family services world, in maternal health, in early childhood, all of it really points back to prevention in a lot of ways. There are families that are struggling.
The Role of Community in Prevention
There are families that need support. There are individuals who need support. And oftentimes when they don’t get that support that they need, when they don’t get that backing, when they don’t have that community, when they don’t have those safe spaces, they turn to substances to fill the void. you know, people want a good time. Needs will get met, right? You know, I talk about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs a whole lot. Needs will get met. And, you know, we as a community, I have come to believe that prevention is that backbone that gets people the support that they need when they need it most and help them navigate things. And so that’s kind of been a bit of my journey professionally and where I’m at now. And then in terms of the work that I do, so I’m a Michigan girlie. So here’s the hand. my hand’s bent. So we’ll use this hand. So here’s my hand.
And I’m a Michigan girlie. And so I have the honor and privilege of working with coalitions all across the state. So not just here on this part of the hand, but this part of the hand too, both the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula. And so they are doing great work in prevention. They are working so hard to make sure that their communities have support in terms of the different substances that we come across.
And so our mission at Prevention Network is to see our state and community and, you know, eventually like impact, you know, the entire country in the world, but, you know, to see a community free from substance misuse, right? And so we do that by working in a variety of different ways of prevention networks. So we’re working across the education system in terms of those who are in college. So, you know, like those parties that you were throwing, you know, we’ve, you know, got support there for that. We’re working on the opioid crisis, right? You know.
So we’ve got that work going on. We’re working on reducing underage drinking and alcohol use for youth because we know that the longer you delay substance use, the more you can give your brain time to catch up so it doesn’t fall into addiction patterns, right? So we’re doing that. We’re working with youth. So we’ve got a giant statewide youth coalition where we’ve got youth that are passionate, much like the youth I’ve seen you work with, about educating those around them, educating those in their community, educating lawmakers, educating friends and family and not misusing substances, right? So, you we’ve got that. We’ve got parenting awareness. So we’ve got parenting awareness in Michigan, where we’re working with families and parents, you know, which, you know, is a big part of my own public health passion and, you know, giving them that safe space and those resources, right? So that they can have what they need so that they don’t fall into, you know, substance misuse. So, you know, we’re working in all of the different sectors across, you know, really the lifespan.
And I come in because I try to knit that work together in different ways. And I also work with the coalitions who are on the ground in Michigan, you know, really putting in daily work and effort, blood, sweat and tears, if you will, to mitigate substance misuse in their individual communities, cities, suburbs, rural areas, you know, way up north, the Detroit area, which is where I’m from, you know, everywhere, all throughout Michigan. They are doing the daily hard work. And so I get to support them behind the scenes. I really love that. I really love that opportunity. And I feel like I’ve talked way too much. Hopefully I’ve been able to paint a thread and a picture of the work that I do, which is really just being a behind the scenes champion and cheerleader and a connector of things and people, a connector across networks. If I find resources and funding to support then you know I’m funneling that your way. Things like that right you know. So that’s a little bit about me and my journey and my work and I don’t know I think we both get to do cool work. I won’t say who’s cooler, I think it’s you.
Youth-Led Programming and Its Impact
We’re in the same lane, we’re in this together, we’re running parallel. So what I love what you said, by the way, I don’t know, I think we might’ve talked about this, but I come from Wisconsin, which also uses the hand with the thumb out.
Okay? You got wait, I’m not I don’t think I’m doing it right. Yeah
Right? Yeah. So we got Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We’re next door neighbors, football rivals, but I don’t, I don’t really hang my hat on football. So we’re okay, Effie. We’re okay. The one of the things that I love that you talked about was that the prevention is kind of the foundation of everything. And what I love talking about with people, especially young people, is that prevention is not about saying no to a drug. It’s about saying yes to your best life possible. Your most successful self who’s sufficient, who’s sustainable, who is doing amazing things, not only for yourself, but for the world. if we can view that as educators as well to know that we’re not like drug and alcohol prevention and substance use prevention isn’t about educating students about drugs.
It’s giving them skills with coping, building community, with resilience, setting boundaries for their life, providing basic needs. These are all prevention skills. And I want to ask you this, Effie, and I think it’d be cool to have a little conversation about what have we learned in the last year and a half or a couple years about prevention that have really shaped our understanding and our work.
And it might even just be, what did we used to think that now we don’t think anymore? Or what is, what’s going wrong? What challenges are going wrong and how can we make them right? And, I’ll kick us off with, just saying, like, for me, over the last two years, I’ve really, really learned the importance of youth led programming. So when I was at CADCA and we were talking a little bit, what? Okay, well, we’ll go back and forth on this. This is perfect. Because Effie, I saw so many students from Detroit. They’re at CADCA having an amazing time coming over to the Vive 18 booth to play basketball and hang out with us and talk prevention. And I just, like, my heart was filled. Like it was so filled because these student leaders are taking back information back to their communities and becoming positive role models. And I know even on my best day.
The Importance of Family in Prevention
I go to a presentation, I crush it, the crowd is amazing, they’re fun, they’re laughing, they’re learning. Give a student that same stage. They perform at, you know, quote, half the level, right? Like it was, it wasn’t as professional, it wasn’t as polished, it wasn’t as fun. They’re going to make more impact doing a quote, less professional presentation than I would do on my best one. And that’s just the nature of peer influence. And so the even though I was always all about youth engagement because I knew it worked, I didn’t know how effective it was and that all the evidence was pointing towards, hey, we have to invest in our youth. And that’s the only sustainable way. Because if I do it, I’m going to leave, you know? Like we got to pour into these young people. So I don’t know, piggyback Effie, did I steal the whole thing or?
Oh my gosh, no, no, no. So, love that you said that because I agree. So it has been a major, major learning for me. I had the opportunity to interview our previous Michigan Youth Coalition Network coordinator for a very recent podcast episode for Prevention Navigators. And that is actually a bit of what we talked about.
The fact that we let youth lead the charge and we give them ownership and we trust in them and we let them lead us makes all of the difference, right? It makes all of the difference and it makes all of the difference in so many ways. It affects sustainability, not just for them, but for us and the work that we’re doing in our organizations. It absolutely makes zero sense if we don’t have them at the table leading the charge, right? So shameless plug, If you are listening to the amazing Vive 18 podcast and you have not listened to prevention navigators, of course I want you to like go, you know, listen to all of the episodes, but very particularly if you want to go listen to a love letter to Lauren, that’s the interview with, Shelby, who was our previous Mike can coordinator. And you can hear us talk a little bit about this dynamic, right? And so, you didn’t steal it all Jake, but you stole most of it. 100%, 100 % you nailed it, you nailed it.
Hahaha! that’s so good. Well, what about Effie, what about parents and families? Because that’s where that’s the world you came from and a passion of yours. How do how do parents and families fit into prevention and why it’s so important?
Oh my gosh. So without the family, right, there goes the world. And I know that there’s like maybe some sort of a quote that probably encompasses what I’m trying to say, but you know, really like life can’t go on without the family, to be honest, in some form, in some structure, you know? And so we have watched substance misuse tear apart families. You know, we’ve watched, you know, relationships with parents crumble, we’ve watched marriages crumble, we have watched siblings, and we’ve watched really horrific things happen. Even in my own career, one of the most jarring things in my career was watching a mom and getting her four children taken into the system as a result of her husband’s substance issues, right?
And even the very baby that she was carrying, being with her at the hospital and her delivering the baby and that baby getting taken out of her arms, right? And it’s because of her husband’s substance misuse issues, right? And so it’s just a really scary thing to think about. And so it affects families at every single level. If you wanna be your best self for you, and then you probably might want to be your best self even all the more for a child that you’re raising. And if you’re partnered, which is, you know, a beautiful blessing, you know, especially in this day and age, you know, to find that person that’s your person and you’re partnered, you know, to have substance misuse impact that is not great, right? It’s not fun. I don’t think that anybody would make that choice voluntarily.
And so, you know, we all know that folks need support. And so I think that it is super important that we are able to give them what we need before they even know that they need it. And so that goes back to the resources, the education. It goes back to the coping. It goes back to helping folks be aware of even how some dynamics happened as they were growing up and giving them the tools to mitigate things that they might fall into. So a lot of folks have heard of aces, right? And so I have had the opportunity to study that over the course of my career and it is eye opening what that knowledge can do for someone as they move towards parenting and being partnered, in a adult season of their life, right? Like I opening what that knowledge can do for someone as they try to like work through some of the places of trauma and, know, work through some of the places of deep hurt that they have not been able to get through. And so it affects parenting and it affects families on every layer. And so I just really think that as we consider what folks need, we really, really, really need to consider what parents need to thrive and be healthy so that they can be their best selves for themselves and their children.
Understanding Parenting and Trauma
Yes, there. So I was just in Alaska working with the wellness coalition, the Ketchikan Wellness Coalition. And you know, was so cool is they are trying this thing called the Icelandic prevention model. And for those of you who are listening and you’ve heard of it, basically in the 90s, they kind of revolutionized drug prevention and they saw like in, I don’t even know the number, but they saw like beyond 10, 20% reduction.
I shouldn’t even say a number. Like look up the Icelandic prevention model and your jaw will drop on how they reduced substance use among youth. One of the big pillars that they found the program on is parent involvement. And for those of us who are in the field, we know that a caring adult or a parent figure is one of the best prevention strategies. It’s one of the best positive experiences a young person can have that deters risky decisions. And so that trusted adult, they actually made it kind of like a rule that you don’t schedule sports practices or activities over dinner. Like kids have to go home for dinner and spend time with their family because they know that quality time matters. So they’re putting these different things in place just to kind of emphasize and give opportunities for students to not eat alone. They’re eating with their family or they’re eating with their friends. And one of the things that we talk about to parents is that, you know, by eating dinner with your kids, they are four times less likely to misuse a substance or to start using it underage.
So that time matters. And if you don’t have time over dinner, maybe it’s that quality car time because you’re carting them around or it’s the late night hanging out because, you know, you’re working an you have to take every little moment you can get or they get up early and they, while you cook breakfast for them and they make their lunch for the day, you spend that time to catch up with them. but it’s, it really is. I think there’s a quote, I don’t know where it came from, but, the way you spell love is T-I-M-E. Time is love.
The Importance of Family Time
Oh my God, that’s beautiful. That’s beautiful. I love that you share that because folks are anxious and lonely and the youth are, you know, a glaring representation of that. What is so sad and scary is the CDC has declared loneliness an epidemic. And so you sharing this is so, so, so, so key. you know, I even just think about like some of the choices I’ve made and I want to, you know, preface it with the fact that it is truly a privilege.
I, I, for this very reason that you stated, I drive my son to and from school. I just, you know, I, I think that that time, you know, between sports and all the other things that we got to do and, know, working and, you know, all of that, it’s, it’s just so much. And I’m like, if I can hit the morning, the afternoon and right before bed. Okay. Cause I just, you know, I know we’re all over the place, you know, then, you know, at least I’m trying to do something. And it’s just, it’s scary that we have to think about the fact that kids who have dinner with their folks are four times less likely to misuse substances. But a lot of folks don’t have the privilege of, you know, sitting down together to, know, a home cooked meal or, you know, they just, because people are so busy trying to survive. And so this is exactly why I said what I said earlier, we got to give folks what they need and prevention is like the, the basic fabric of that, of, of getting people to the place of getting them what they need. Now, is there a lot to be done on so many other factors? Yes. It’s why, you know, advocacy and policy, you know, and you can only do so much. So like, you know, I’m not going to step on toes. I work at a nonprofit, so I can only say so much.
That it’s why advocacy and policy and those things are also important too. And it’s also why youth need to be at the table for those things. Like it’s why they need to talk to their lawmakers. It’s why they need to talk to the people in power. They need to have not just a seat at the table, but like, you know, a voice and, and, know, the folks that have power need to have a vested interest in them because of those exact statistics that you just shared. And so if people can’t even have the opportunity to have the privilege of being able to do that, where does that leave them? Right. Such a loaded conversation.
Advocacy and Policy in Prevention
Yes. Yeah. And that’s why, that’s why being culturally competent is so important. And when we talk about the model and all of our coalitions are hopefully following and having those seats at the table is because we realize every one of our communities is different. Every barrier is different. And so some people can’t have dinner because they’re working or traveling or whatever it would be. And sometimes it just doesn’t work with the school schedule because we want to give students the most opportunities for extracurriculars and stuff like that too. So yeah, we could, we could sit here and talk about problems and solutions, but there’s not one like cookie cutter answer. We have to develop it for our communities, which is why our work is so important. that like looking at one person and just saying, it worked for them. It’s going to work for me. Isn’t really the case, right? We got to assess our needs and all those good things to figure out what are the barriers here? How do we overcome them? And then what are the challenges we’re facing? And how do we provide that solution here where we’re making an impact? for, I don’t, yeah. And for you and I, like that’s why when we work with the community, we know it’s not about us. Like it’s always about them and understanding them. And I love it when I first learned of that and then reviewed that, you know?
I’m a big fan of learning sales skills because sales actually translates into a lot of other areas of our lives. Like if you can do sales well, then you are not self-consumed. You are service minded. Like you’re trying to learn everything you can about your customer because maybe you need to disqualify them from buying your product. You might need to say, hey, I’m not the one for you, but I know somebody who is, or you know what? We are a perfect fit because here is my unique expertise and how I can implant this solution so that it stays with you, you know, and continues to provide value. Yeah. Yeah, I love sales training. I think it’s taught me a lot about life and relationships and being a good steward of whatever gifts that you have. So yeah, big, big fan of that. Effie, can you tell me a little bit about your communities in Detroit area or Michigan, like that we’re talking about our areas, right? So what are the unique challenges that you’ve seen and you’ve maybe seen some hopeful, you know, things you’ve started to do in those challenging areas?
Community-Specific Solutions
I love that. Yeah. So I love the fact that you referenced the fact that each community has individual solutions, right? You know, I even think about some of the different needs assessments that I’ve had the opportunity to look over and there are systems and issues that are happening perhaps in like the actual city proper of Detroit that you go 30 minutes outside to another coalition that I support and their needs are completely different, totally different. And it’s a car ride, right? And so, you know, it’s very interesting. So like, think of certain coalitions and, you know, they are working really hard towards community buy-in because, you know, the folks, the families, the administration at the schools, and I’m thinking of one about 30 minutes outside of Detroit specifically, actually not too far from where my parents live, about 15 minutes from where my parents live now and in their community, folks don’t even think that they have a problem. But when they did their needs assessment, they actually, so at first the coalition was like, you know, we need to address alcohol. And then they did their needs assessment and came to find out they had more of a marijuana problem than they’d given it credit for. And they didn’t even realize that. Right. but then you go back, you know, down into Southeast Michigan and you go to Detroit and you know they have a whole host of different problems. have potentially access issues to quality healthcare, access issues to, you know, good food. You do a map and you look at their needs assessment and you literally, literally pictures in their needs assessment of liquor stores available on like every few blocks. I was shocked to actually look at a needs assessment from the neighborhood I grew up in. Okay. So just, okay, I looked at the needs assessment and I was like, I used to walk to this liquor store after school to get snacks. And so. Yeah, what? Like you’re a kid going to get snacks at the store and there’s just a bunch of liquor right there.
And you know, it’s just very interesting looking at it in this public health lens as a whole grown up in my thirties versus this is just normal and this is what you do. And you know, and we know the issues that we have in our community. Like we, we know, we know, we know what’s good. Right. And so when I think about that, and then I think about like, you know, what’s happening in other zip codes just across, you know, the freeway, it’s just, it’s very interesting to like, you know, kind of juxtapose the two. And so it’s very interesting for sure. then I don’t have the so we work with rural coalitions and a lot of coalitions that are on the Upper Peninsula. I don’t work with them as closely. As a matter of fact, unfortunately, some of them aren’t even able to do as much work as they used to just because of some different restructuring and things. But the issues in rural communities are completely different than they are in the under the bridge is what we call it, know, in the lower peninsula. There’s a lot of isolation, you know, it’s a whole different culture, a whole different world, a lot of different ways of being and viewing things. And so it’s very interesting to think about and how it affects communities and how it affects how they respond to the issues that come up and what they need and how they move forward and how they connect with other resources and other partners.
I think one of the coolest things that we even try to do at Prevention Network is when we find some of those commonalities and even when we see things that are very different, we try to connect those people so that they can kind of learn from each other and grow. And we try to connect those youth also because yes, you might be in the Upper Peninsula in a different lifestyle, et cetera, and you might be a coalition, a youth coalition from Detroit. There are so much that you can learn from each other even. And so that’s something that we try to encourage even at Prevention Network is that cross and that network and that connect so that folks can kind of work together. And we host some networking time. We do it virtually. And it is very interesting to watch these conversations kind of pop off and how they kind of help each other, support each other, solve problems, work through things together. And they’ve got completely different lifestyles, right? But sometimes hearing something from a different brain and a different viewpoint can kind of really help you look at things differently too. Yes. all right.
Youth Leadership and Mental Health
Yes. all right. It’s time for a quick plug. You said it, community sharing ideas. So last year was the first time we hosted a Vive 18 Youth Leadership and Mental Health Conference. And so it’s focused on prevention and mental health. And what was cool is the students, what they do is they come up with a shark tank or they come up with an event plan or a project they want to do. They learn public speaking skills and then they get to practice their public speaking skills by pitching their idea, Shark Tank style, to a panel of judges and win up to $500 to implement their ideas. And it was so cool, Effie. We had students come up with incredible event ideas, some app ideas to help make access more easy and access to mental health resources. It was so cool.
What was awesome is they went and they pitched in front of the entire room. And then that exact same skill set can be brought back to their communities to go build sustainability. Right? So they’re, they’re going back in their community and, doing that and raising money for their ideas. It didn’t just end there. and we made PSA videos, like talking head style, kind of what’s popular. Yeah. But I don’t know about you, Effie, but when I tell students to do PSAs, oftentimes they’re like, they’ve come up with some cheesy skit and they’re not taking it seriously. And it’s, it’s embarrassing to be honest. It’s, it’s so bad. So we are, we’re changing it to do more talking head style and giving them prompts more like you’re talking to a friend or giving advice to your previous self. And that’s kind of what we see working on social anyway, and with content that’s being featured. so those kinds of things, but when we did the conference last year, the advisors who came in, we only had a couple sessions for them. So the way they described it was, we got to hang out with our prevention friends, share the ideas, get encouragement from one another, put up our challenges, what we’re facing, and then all offer solutions. Because I think my pet peeve with some conferences is if it’s over-programmed, you don’t get space and time to share with your peers and learn from each other, which oftentimes that’s where the best ideas come from. Exactly.
Please say it again, Jake. I don’t know how to, I host, right? I host a coalition conference myself and our team at Prevention Networks. shouldn’t say I, and all of our partners actually are pivotal in that conference. And another shameless plug for Prevention Navigators, if you want to hear about, a little bit about what to expect at that conference, you can go back to our June episode. We had the conference in July, but we’ll have it again in 2025 and it’ll be similar but one of the things that I feel like I yell from the rooftops is we need space. We need space. We need space and connection. We need space and networking. We need space to process, right? You know, we go to these things and it’s like a fire hose. And then how do we do what you and I are doing right here, right? To move the work forward.
Exactly. Okay, Effie, I’m going to invite you first, okay? In 2025, we are hosting a prevention conference on a cruise ship. Here’s why. Here’s why. Connection is built into the experience. You don’t go to your tiny little room on a cruise ship to hang out. You spend time with your people you went there with. You go mini golfing. You go get dinner at the dining hall. It’s all included. You don’t pay for hotels and food.
You go on excursions together. Tell me you’re not going to come home with 10 new ideas and at least 10 new best friends in prevention to stay in touch with after a four day conference on a cruise. And every time you learn something, you get those opportunities to talk with each other, share ideas. And honestly, what I love about it too, because I’m a cheap person. I’m frugal. I’ll say that. I’m frugal. So I love that aspect of it. But the connections built in. So I’ll keep you updated, Effie, but 2025, we will release a date. We will have a prevention conference for professionals on a cruise ship.
I have never in my life wanted to be on a cruise ship ever. But you make a very convincing argument. Yeah, I have no desire to be like locked on a boat. I just don’t. It’s the size of a mall. You won’t even know you’re on a boat you’re gonna know. You’re gonna know.
But I love, love, love. I love the idea behind it because you’re right. It’s one thing to like, you know, go back to your hotel room and you know, which I do, you know, I’m guilty. And it’s a whole nother to be doing activities together that are way less pressure. Mini golf is fun. And for you to like still be having those types of natural conversations because you you all share that same passion, love and profession. It’s a whole different ball game.
And so I love the intention behind this and the idea behind it. And maybe, maybe if I’m going to do a cruise, maybe this is the one. I just don’t have the desire to be on a boat, but maybe this is the right one.
I’m going to keep applying some positive peer pressure to you, Effie. Don’t worry. You’re going to really have to say no. No, it’s all good. Let’s do this. I would love it to end episodes. usually like asking a question. If you have one piece of guidance for other professionals in prevention just to leave us with, what would that be from you, Effie?
Finding Your Place in Prevention
Ooh, So I said I’ve been around for about a year and a half, right? So I will say in this half, is there’s a space for you and a place for you. And there are people looking for you and what you have to offer. So you might be, you know, new to the prevention world, new to the profession. You’re just trying to figure out where you fit. believe me, you’re not in the wrong place because again, when we think about it, the work that we’re doing in prevention literally goes across the entire fabric of lifespan, of need, of how people show up at their base, right? Remember we’re trying to prevent people from being in so much pain that they fall into substance misuse, right? And so when you think about that, no one is exempt, literally no one, okay? Because no one is getting out of here alive and no one is getting out of here without some sort of pain or trauma, whether it’s big T or little T, right? And so when you think about it through that lens, prevention touches everything. So no matter how it is that you got here and what it is that, whatever your background story is that brought you to this place there’s a place for you and there’s a reason why you’re called to do this work. so show up much more confidently as a result, right? Show up in the room, shake the hands, meet the people, read the books, go to the events, speak up at the places, find the friends like Jake, who you see their passion and you are instantly magnetized to. And you’re like, we gotta have more conversations. We gotta have a relationship of sorts.
There’s a place for you. might not think that you have the knowledge and the skill set, all of that can be learned, all of that can be built. It does take time, but there’s a place for you because literally prevention is the fabric of our lives. And so I have learned that in the past year and a half. And so it has helped me so, so, so much in terms of finding my footing. It’s helped me support my coalitions. It’s helped me support my colleagues. And so that’s my one piece of advice. That might’ve been 20 pieces. I don’t know.
That’s good I got a I mean, I’m ready to go. Our episodes are released Monday. So if I end on that, I’m ready to tackle the week, baby. I’m ready to go. For me, I’m going to I’m going to pick out something you said, and I’m going to say that you don’t have to do this alone. That there are people in your network waiting to help you. And all you got to do is ask. Be that person who is so, so unapologetic about your mission that you will ask for anything. Go ahead, ask someone today. If they’re not on your team to join, if there’s something you’ve been putting off on your to-do list because you don’t enjoy it or you don’t feel like it’s your gift. Think about who has that gift and just go ahead and ask them. And you know what let Effie know, let myself know if you do that and what happens. And yeah, this has been an awesome episode. I know for me, for the drug prevention power hour, this is gonna be a good one. For prevention navigators, I hope it was a valuable one. But Effie, anything else before we sign off.
I love the fact that we got to sit together. I appreciate your questions today. They definitely have sparked some reflection in me that I have, you know, I’ve kind of like had on a smaller level, but you really kind of brought it out of me today. So I appreciate that. And yes, Prevention Navigators fans, I hope that you’ve enjoyed the conversation that Jake and I were able to have today. The questions that he asked me were hopefully some value and some comfort to you as you continue on in the work that you are doing every single day. You are so, so valued. You are so, needed. Please keep showing up every day, even when it’s hard and take good care of yourselves, please.
