64. Errin Stanger – Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub – Inspiring Innovation and Expanding Opportunities

Errin Stanger:

It makes you think about kind of some career pathways in a different way, because especially now as you're integrating technology and, oh my gosh, especially in the last five years, there's been such an uptake in different technological devices in my opinion, there are skill sets that people don't realize maybe they have that they've learned in these creative environments that can really take them very far in life in their career

Robert Wagner:

From Hogan Taylor CPAs and Advisors, I'm Robert Wagner, and this is How That Happened, a business and innovation success podcast. Each episode of the show, we sit down with the business and community leaders behind thriving organizations to learn how business and success actually happens. Our guest today is Errin Stanger. Errin is the director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. Errin has held various roles with The Innovation Hub since it's founding in 2014 and was named director in December of 2021. Prior to that, she was completing her education at Rhodes College in Memphis, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in urban studies. So Errin, welcome to the How That Happened podcast.

Errin Stanger:

Thank you so much. Happy to be here.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. We're so excited to have you and to learn more about The Innovation Hub and about what you're doing there. So let me lay a little foundation for us. Give us an overview of what The Innovation Hub does and its mission.

Errin Stanger:

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for asking. So The Innovation Hub is considered, of course, we're the first makerspace in Arkansas. And back in 2014, makerspaces, that was kind of a new word that people just were like, "What is that? What does that mean? How is it going to serve the community?" And thankfully over time now, I think that's a more accepted word and people understand that a makerspace is quite simply a place where you make things. And so whether you're making a business or whether you are making a product, you can come in and really how have access to the unique tools and resources that we have in the building.

Errin Stanger:

But what's really fun is to explore how The Innovation Hub came to be. So I want to give you a little bit of background in history if that's okay.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah, that'd be great.

Errin Stanger:

Yeah. While we're here and talk a little bit about the area, because the story is fun. And so years ago, now I guess it's over 15 years, a gentleman moved into Argenta and you may or may not know him, his name as John Gaudin. And he decided to make this area workable, livable community. And if you're familiar with this area at all, of downtown North Little Rock, this was not really a place where you wanted to be 20, 30 years ago by yourself walking around. It Wasn't considered obviously what it is today.

Errin Stanger:

And so even him kind of moving here and making that proclamation, if you will, and he's kind of turned it into a beautiful neighborhood, it was like, whoa, how is this going to happen? In that process and in the planning of what this neighborhood could be, there was a really big group that came together, volunteers and community members, business owners, the city, you name it, a big group of us, where we got to really think and plan about what would a master plan look like for this area and what are the necessary steps to make that possible?

Errin Stanger:

And so the plan began block by block, moving down Argenta and figuring out what could we bring to the area that would, of course, make people want to be here and make it beautiful and clean and inviting? And so the reason why it's Argenta Arts District is because John loves art and he knew that bringing art into community would really help entice if you will, different types of individuals and creatives and entrepreneurs to land and work in this area. And so you'll always see some art galleries and stuff along the main street in our Argenta.

Errin Stanger:

But as we realized the importance of bringing, of course, that creativity into a neighborhood, it was like, well, where are these people going to land and just work and have access maybe to studio space, whether you're young or old and what kind of environment exists around place making and making sure that there's a building that's available for people to go and feel welcome and work?

Errin Stanger:

And so that's kind of how the beginning stages of The Innovation Hub came to be. And it originally started out, it was called Art Connection and it was just in one corner of the building where students would come in and they would have access to tools and resources in the afternoon after school and be able to work and create. And we modeled it after a wonderful organization called Artists for Humanities in Boston. And there was a group that traveled around and looked at other makerspaces across the nation and really just took all these good ideas home, they just brought them to Arkansas.

Errin Stanger:

And it was like, we want to impact the youth and we know we want to, and of course everyone, there wasn't really a safe place for kids to go after school in this area where you could focus on creativity. So that was the first program, if you will, that existed at The Innovation Hub. And then through the years, thankfully just through a lot of wonderful community support and fundraising and all those good things and partnerships, we were able to expand and really utilize the whole building. So it's 22,000 square feet.

Errin Stanger:

And when you walk in, sometimes people just call it, it's like a playground of really fun tools and resources, because you can come in as maybe a hobbyist that wants to learn, maybe has a certain skills that like, "Hey, I'm a potter, but I've always wanted to learn like how a 3D printer works," and vice versa. You might come in and say, "I'm just curious, I'm a forever learner and I want to take some classes and use your tools and resources." And so you can come and join the hub as a member and be able to utilize different parts of the building. Or you may be an entrepreneur that is just looking for a place to land and work and you just need a desk and WiFi. And you don't want to be in a coffee shop anymore. You're tired of your home office. Thank you COVID, isn't everyone? And you just want to get out and be in a creative space.

Errin Stanger:

So the building is beautiful. It's 108 years old, so you can just come and land and work here. But then we also have students that come in the door, we realize pretty quickly we better offer field trips to showcase all these different tools and techniques that we have in the building, and how can we partner around with what's being taught right now and focused on with the different standards, but how could we infuse kind of that maker, tinker philosophy and really show students how you can learn a certain concept in the classroom, but you can put that, that concept to use by touching and building and creating? And so the STEAM Education really blossomed out if you year as well. And that's been one of our leaders.

Errin Stanger:

But as important as this for kids to get excited about that, we of course know adults do too. And so what we offer in the day with the field trips morphed into afterschool programs for the years and then adult classes at night and the weekend. And so you'd see those on our website, airhub.org and just really excited to be able to serve the community and provide some wonderful educational opportunities, but also just be a nice, safe haven, if you will, a place to come in as a creative or an entrepreneur, young or old to come and have access to a really cool building and friendly staff and dedicated tools and resources to help you, no matter what you're making.

Errin Stanger:

That was a really long answer, But that's a little bit tiny scope. There's much more, but kind of the beginning aspects of how The Innovation Hub was created.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. Thanks. That's a great context for us. And maybe we just fill out a little bit for folks, this maker thing. So sure. I've been to the Fab Lab here in Tulsa, which is, I think what we think of as our makerspace and it's 3D printers, CNC machines, things like that. Is that the kind of environment that we're talking about?

Errin Stanger:

It's part of the environment, and I'm really glad you mentioned some of those great tools. So what's really neat about The Innovation Hub is when we traveled and looked around at all the other makerspaces, some do focus just on the type of equipment that you said. So you've got your CNC machines, your 3D printers, some of those resources, laser cutters, but then we also realize the importance to infuse different types of art into this environment. So of course we do have our tech area of 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, but we also have part of our building that's dedicated to pottery and we have a pottery studio, a screen printing studio, we teach jewelry here at the hub;so leather working and jewelry making, and we also have print making and we also have a full metal and carpentry shop.

Errin Stanger:

So instead of just being focused on maybe what you might think of when you think technology and making with maybe 3D printers, we on purpose have gone and really infused a lot of different types of art, if you will, throughout the building, because we want to be intentional about those creative collisions that can happen between individuals. So you may be a potter for example, that's your trade and you're excellent at it, but you're noticing that your fellow potter is taking their clay and their pottery and they're taking over to laser and graver. And they're watching this beautiful art happen on their clay from a lase. And it's like, they didn't even realize that that was possible.

Errin Stanger:

And so we found that being intentional about creating these spaces where people can interact and look over and, "What are you doing? What are you working on?" it really kind of stretches everybody's imagination. So we've got, of course the typical, what you might see in a makerspace that focus on technology. But like I said, the art and especially the wood and metal shop has been one of the busiest areas that we've ever had here since we opened our doors, because it provides access to those tools that you might not have at home anymore. Maybe you had it growing up if you lived on a farm maybe, or you might have had it in high school, but there's not a lot of shops in high school. So that's a popular area.

Errin Stanger:

So we've been intentional to create some space and some atmosphere here so that everyone will feel comfort. So I joked the other day that you may walk in and covered in clay dust, if you will, I'm like, "Come on in." Or you may be the governor that's coming in for a tech conference, so we have this beautiful event space. But the goal is that no matter who you are, how you're entering the building, you feel welcomed and you feel appreciated and we're just excited to have you come making creative be here. And so it's a really warm, inviting space, no matter your background or how old you are.

Errin Stanger:

So that might be a little bit different from other makerspaces. Great enough should say, let me back up and say, all makerspaces have this wonderful key community, hopefully feeling as soon as you walk in the door because they really, really just deserve. But one thing that we really try to do to be intentional about is not just do one thing, not just do technology, not just do art, not just do wooded metal, not just do entrepreneurship or apprenticeship programs or education, but we're doing those things at the same time. So no matter who you are, you can find your niche and drop in and get to experience The Innovation Hub. I have not found another maker space like ours.

Errin Stanger:

And I tell everyone the only thing that's unique about or the thing that is interesting about makerspaces is that they're all unique. There's just not a cookie cutter. There are some for profit and not for profit. But a lot of the not for profit maker spaces are designed to serve your community. Like, what does this community, what are some things that maybe we could help with or what's missing? What can we offer that would help? And so again, kind of how we started, it was just this nice look to say, what can we do to serve and how can we really flourish around all this creativity that's happening around downtown North Little Rock?

Robert Wagner:

That's really good. I like the connection, you didn't say it this way, but the connection between the technology and these ancient crafts, right, like pottery and woodworking and things like that, that have been done for centuries. That's very cool. So I mean this to be an opportunity question, not an adversarial question at all, but make the case of why is this good for a community? What's the return. What are we expecting 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years later, we look back and say, "This happened because this activity was happening here?" What's our hope for us there?

Errin Stanger:

Yeah. I love that question. So thanks for asking it. Immediately, the first thing that came to my mind was workforce development. And the reason why I think that came to mind is because I'm already seeing individuals that have come through The Innovation Hub and they have been introduced to a skillset that maybe they weren't introduced to at school, or I should say maybe they have been introduced to at school but they might not have caused their attention. But when they were maybe taught it here in a different way, they realized, "Oh, that's really interesting. I didn't know I was good at this. Like I didn't know I was good at coding, for example."

Errin Stanger:

And so you might get that aha moment, that early spark and like, "Oh, I just realized I'm good at this. I kind of have some confidence in it. And I realize that the skill that I've learned, I can take it and I can step into a job market in ways that I didn't think that I could." And one thing that we found with this, there's lots of studies done about makerspaces and just that exploration that happens with an individual when they're exposed to the different things that you might see in a makerspace, it takes you out of this area where you say, "Okay, I love math. What is the first thing that comes to your mind do you want to be when you grow up? A math teacher?"

Robert Wagner:

Accounts. A math teacher or accounts.

Errin Stanger:

Right. Yeah. But you could love math and that could lead you into construction. You got to be able to do some math. Like how do you add fractions? So I mean stuff like that. And so that's just one example. But it makes you think about some career pathways in a different way, because especially now as you're integrating technology and, oh my gosh, especially in the last five years, there's such an uptake in different technological devices in my opinion, there are skills that people don't realize maybe they have that learned in these creative environments that can really take them very far in life in their career.

Errin Stanger:

And it's just been exciting to watch children, if you will, now because we've been open now for eight years, I can say, we've had children come into The Innovation Hub, they've been introduced to something, really turned onto it, excited about it, they're studying those and now either they're going on to college to study those things further, or they're actually jumping straight into a trade and they have a job. And there's an economic impact that happens immediately because they're living and working for example, in North Little Rock.

Errin Stanger:

And so I've seen a really nice economic development and workforce development around makerspaces that I can say true for the hub. If I were to look back when we first opened, I'm looking out across my window right now, that used to be a blank space, if you will. It was an empty field and I have a beautiful apartment building and a wonderful technological company right behind it. And they realized the growth opportunity, even seeing The Innovation Hub and all the creatives and entrepreneurs that were flocking here, it made them look and go, "Oh I think I might want to think about building there." Like this is an up and coming area. So I think it can have an economic and a workforce development impact and people might not even realize right now.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. That's very good. Yeah. And when you started your first answer, you started really with economic development and development of a community. I think that's really good stuff. And the thoughtfulness of the North Little Rock example of a makerspace is very impressive. One thing I wanted to make sure that we covered and just people connect the dots, The Innovation Hub is part of Winrock International. So what is that relationship? Who is that? For folks who aren't in that area.

Errin Stanger:

Right. So fun news to tell you is that we actually officially merged with Winrock International as of January 1st. Yeah. So we partnered with them back in 2016 and we were basically considered part of their US programs, but now officially we have merged as one organization. And so we're definitely of course, part of the US program and team, and kind of considered the US program for innovation, but the merger itself, if you will, doesn't really change anything about us. We're still doing the exact same work and all the same things that we've talked about today, but Winrock, if you will, is that parent company and now that we've officially merged, they of course are a large nonprofit that has an international presence and focuses on community and economic development in several areas.

Errin Stanger:

So it's a neat thing and we're going to welcome some of their team into The Innovation Hub. So The Innovation Hub is becoming Winrock International headquarters. I'm not sure if you are aware of that.

Robert Wagner:

No, no, that's great.

Errin Stanger:

Yeah. So they focused on reducing their carbon footprint and realized during COVID that, as we all know, as we all worked remote, they were very wise and did a study and realized that they didn't need a big, large office space to be well that they used to have and a lot of their workers preferred to be remote and were doing a really good job with their remote status. And so as they got smarter and smarter and realized, okay, I think we can reduce our carbon footprint and let's look at getting rid of the real estate that we don't need anymore and thinking about what can we do to serve our current employees that do want to be in the office? What are some areas that we can look into and how can we serve them better with space? And so it became pretty evident that the is able to house the Winrock employees that want to be in person.

Errin Stanger:

And so we're now embarking on some construction, that'll start later this year to renovate some of the internal space inside The Innovation Hub to house them. So lots happening in 2022. That's one of three construction projects that we have slated for the year.

Robert Wagner:

Okay. So that's awesome. Well, that always brings energy to an environment as well. So that's great.

Errin Stanger:

Yeah. I think it'll be fun. I want to ask you about a couple of specific things that I just found doing research about The Innovation Hub. So there's a program called Skills to Launch. How does that work?

Errin Stanger:

Yay, as I clap and my desk. This is one of those programs that words probably cannot express how proud I am of this one, because it is a beautiful pathway for an individual to walk into and be exposed to. And so what do I mean by that? I really realized that individuals were inspired when they come into The Innovation Hub. And at a young age, I can kind of walk you down this pathway of how this formed. At a young age, let's say, Robert, you came in as a fifth grader and got really excited in a field trip opportunity. And then you decided, "You know what, I'm going to be a part of that afterschool program. And you know what, I think I also want to be a part of the summer camp."

Errin Stanger:

And then as you get a little bit older, I always see this switch, I have six kids. And so I see this switch happen with, "I'm too cool for summer camp. So I'm ready to be an intern because I'm thinking about working." And so then they want to be an intern here at The Innovation Hub. And then as we started really of course, getting to know these individuals here all the time, it was like some of them are studying what they've learned here at The Innovation Hub and of course they're studying that in school and they love it. And they may be on track to go onto a college where they're going to continue that kind of study.

Errin Stanger:

But then there was another group, as we all know that they're brilliant here at The Innovation Hub, maybe their grades weren't brilliant at school. They weren't those straight A students, but they are brilliant and they're working with their hands and schools maybe not have been their best place, but they're in it. But they realize as they look forward, maybe college is not for them. And so maybe they're ready to start a career and jump into that pathway, just get some more training. And I thought we need to create a program where someone has that ability to step into this Skills to Launch program. If you're 18 and up, you can step in. And it's scholarship, a hundred percent. So this is a grant funded initiative. So it's no cost of the individual. And so you can apply to be part of the program.

Errin Stanger:

And if you're chosen, you get to pick your track and all the tracks are fantastic and needed here, especially in Arkansas. So it's industrial maintenance, it's welding, it's HVAC, construction, jobs that are needed here in Arkansas. And so someone when they are accepted, they get 10 weeks of training. So it's a pretty short period, but they get OSHA certification. They get life skills training, which is fabulous, resume building, job interviews, all those types of skills. And then you get the technical training and you also get on the job training.

Errin Stanger:

And what we found, we've done three cohorts and each cohort is about 20 students. And I thought when we first kicked off, it's kind of a newer program because it's only been around about 18 months. I thought, we're going to do like one cohort and see how this goes. And I found all of a sudden, we needed to do three because we had so many people that wanted to participate and we had the funding to make that happen. Thankfully Gilead Sciences has supplied that funding and we're able to graduate about 20 students per cohort and we have an 80% job placement rate.

Errin Stanger:

And so all these kids are working and they're living right here in central Arkansas and being able to support themselves and their families. And so I just love it so much. And so we do the whole shebang; the kickoff, the graduation, all that good stuff. But we have these beautiful partners, Pulaski Tech helps us with the training and we've had others throughout this 18 months really step in. And we have these great partners like Habitat for Humanity and St. Joseph. And we're able to go and do some on the job training in those different places. But it's been a wonderful new newer program, if you will and we thankfully have been working with the Office of Skills Development and we've had some funding from them as well.

Errin Stanger:

So thankful that we're working on maybe becoming a pre-apprenticeship program because employers, we're catching their eye. We are giving this wonderful pipeline of students that are willing to jump in and learn all this training, because they're ready to work. And I would say eight years ago, I don't think I could have predicted this program, but this is one, like I said, I'm so proud of it because it's just a life changing opportunity for these individuals where they might not have otherwise had that opportunity.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. That is so good on so many levels.

Errin Stanger:

Thank you so much.

Robert Wagner:

So many levels. And I love that there's funding for it, which is just essential to do it and do it well. Yeah. And there's something happening, I don't want to wander off a far here, but you sort of handed at it a little bit. There's a stigma that's coming away from the kids who are, aren't maybe not going to college and we're recognizing, I think COVID has taught us the value of all those jobs to everyday American and that those jobs should pay well and they do pay well. And most of them are technology jobs now. I mean, HVAC and things like that have a huge element of technology to them. So I think this concept where you're marrying these skills that have been around a while with the technology and giving those kids a job up start is fantastic. It's very, very cool.

Errin Stanger:

Thank you.

Robert Wagner:

So there was something else that caught my attention. I have a bunch of kids too, and I'm raising most of them.

Errin Stanger:

Congratulations.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. We're raising mostly accountants, but we did have one musician in the crowd who was very different. And you had mentioned that you're adding music to your programs in 2022. So how's that working, marrying the music with the innovation?

Errin Stanger:

Yeah. Another really fun, exciting step. We've always wanted to bring music somehow into our programming, but weren't quite sure how to do it. And we stumbled across this wonderful opportunity to write a grant to Best Buy. And Best Buy has something called the Best Buy Teen Tech Centers. And it's funny how when I first heard of the Teen Tech Center, I was like, "Wait, what is this?" I had not heard of it. This was new to me. And after doing some really fast research, I was like, "Oh, there's 44 of these in the United States and we don't have one Arkansas. Let's go for this. Let's try it."

Errin Stanger:

And the goal is that, of course it, it introduces music and fabulous technology. And it's a free program after school for high school students and on the weekends. And so thankfully through wonderful grant writing with help, we were able to get that proposal turned in. Of course it was a yes. We were awarded to become the first Best Buy Teen Tech Center here in Arkansas. And tat construction is also going to take place this year. It's going to take over a little part of our studio spaces on the art side of our building, but it enables us to, like I said, bring the music in and have recording studio and a digital studio and teach students how to make music and then how to record it.

Errin Stanger:

And I say this all the time, that Best Buy is one of those partners, they are just the kindest individuals. And it's been such a joy to work with the whole Teen Tech Center team to really put all the planning and watch this come into fruition. And I think this will be just a game changer option if you will, for an after school activity and something to do on the weekends, because to my knowledge, there's not a free opportunity for high school students to come and have access to this kind of equipment and resources. So I am just over the moon excited about, about this opportunity.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. That's very exciting. And it's, again, as someone who's raised a musician, who kind of came from the cradle with the talent, the musical talent, it's fine to have the talent and to be able to use it in some way and sit down on an acoustical instrument and play it. That's fantastic. But if you want to make a living, you got to be a technologist as well. And there's no way around it because that's where it's at. So again, I think that's brilliant and I'm thrilled that again, you've got great sponsorship with the Best Buy. I didn't realize that Best Buy was connected to the music part so that's very exciting

Errin Stanger:

100%. And what does your child play, what instrument?

Robert Wagner:

His main instrument is the piano.

Errin Stanger:

Great. that's great.

Robert Wagner:

So let's talk about Errin a little bit. So you've been at The Innovation Hub for a while now, seven or eight years, I think. And you've been the director, that's a new role for you. So what are you learning about yourself and how are you spending your time? How do you divide up your time as you're focused on the right things?

Errin Stanger:

Yeah, thanks for that question. And so I have been here since the beginning and people often ask me, what have you done and what are you doing now? And I say, the question really is what have I not done? Through the years, I have been here for so long now that I'm happy to say as anyone kind of move from a deputy director and then interim director and then full time director, you kind have to knowingly shift your focus, to get out of the weeds. So it's important for me to remember to keep this visionary view of steering the ship down on those beautiful paths to success. But I personally have to remind myself, don't jump down into the weeds too much.

Errin Stanger:

I have this beautiful team that is what a team! I cannot say it enough what talented staff that I have here. And even through the years, we wouldn't be here today without this huge team. So there's no I really here at The Innovation Hub. It's this massive capital 'WE' from the [inaudible 00:30:14]. And that means we, the staff, but also we the community. And so now as Errin's leading the ship, I'm always really focusing on, as I said, just a lot already this year, even though it's only February 1st, but just really intentional partnerships. I found that you can have a ton of meetings and you can have a ton of conversations and want to do a lot of good.

Errin Stanger:

But what I really want to say the wheel to the road is when you have those conversations with partners and you're intentional and really laying out foundational ways that you can partner, whether it's through programming or support or making or technology, or what have you. But it's not just words, I've been listening, if you will, for a lot of years and supporting tons of different efforts that we have done and so proud of what we've gotten to accomplish through the years.

Errin Stanger:

But now I just feel like I have this huge heart of gratitude to sit in the seat and say, "Oh, wow. I think I see this opportunity, for example, with Mosaic Templars or with our house or with Easterseals, or with all these different individuals that are in these groups that are making these phenomenal steps in our community, what can I do as a leader to say, "Okay, team, let's sit in this and really look at this organization and figure out how we can support each other to make our reach and our impact a little bit bigger."

Errin Stanger:

So I find myself sitting with that visionary sense, if you will, and making sure that we're doing our best, of course for ourselves, but also for our community. I tend to think about when you get on the airplane, put the oxygen on yourself and then put it on your child. So I always want to make sure the team is taken care of, we're all good and doing well, making sure we're our best so that we can turn around and serve and partner with individuals and organizations to be even more, if that makes sense.

Robert Wagner:

Yeah. Absolutely. So it was noted in some of the research I did, you're the first female leader early Innovation Hub. Is that important to you?

Errin Stanger:

And that's a great question. I thought a little bit of that myself and I realized it is important because I would definitely want other women and young women to feel that they too could sit in the seat and they could see themselves in it. And I think leading by example is such a big thing. And it kind of dawned on me recently that we have actually three females, three different females, me of course included in Mildred Franco who's at The Generator and Pine Bluff, but also Grace Rains at The Conductor in Conway. And I called them, we were on this meeting together and I said, "Do you realize that I think we might be onto something that there are three different makerspaces in Arkansas that are being led by three females?" I said, "Did you know you're a big deal?" And they all started laughing. I said, "I kind of think it's a big deal."

Errin Stanger:

I'm excited that we're in these three different cities and we're running these three different makerspaces. And of course we love when they call The Innovation Hub the mothership, because we're the first one. And we help any other makerspace that wants to be created. We have helped The Conductor and we have helped The Generator, I'm proud to say and many others, but I thought it's important to just take a minute, and I told both of them this, "Let's just take a minute." And I said, "I just want you all to clap for yourselves because you're doing a great job. And we have this really neat opportunity to focus and say, look at the, look at this example that we can set for other women, but also for our state, it's kind of fun."

Errin Stanger:

So I just encourage anyone that's thinking about going into this field that you could do it. And I also want to say too, like in no way, when I was a little girl that I grew up to say, I'm going to lead a maker space. And so my pathway here is quite interesting and it's not at all the path that I thought that I, Errin would be on. It was given to me in a whole different way. We can talk about that in a minute if you want, but I just always want to encourage people like you may be on a certain path, but really be other ways that your path may twist and turn. And of course, females, come on, jump on the train.

Robert Wagner:

Well you did give a great segue into a question that I wanted to ask. So you have a degree in biology and now you're running the innovation lab. So what was the plan?

Errin Stanger:

Okay. Are you ready?

Robert Wagner:

Sure.

Errin Stanger:

Okay. So when I was in sixth grade, I went to Holy Souls and Mrs. Gray. It was my science teacher and we studied, it was the unit on the heart. And I was like, "Oh my gosh." When I was introduced to this organ, I thought, this is the most fascinating thing inside the human body. I want to grow up and study this. I want to go into medicine and I want to somehow work hard or cardiology or cardio surgeon. It just really kind of spoke to me at a very young age.

Errin Stanger:

And so all throughout school, of course, high school, college, all that, I was like, I knew that I wanted to go and have biology be my major because I loved it so much. And I thought, I want to go into medical school. That's absolutely a hundred percent what I see myself doing. But when I graduated from Rhodes in that summer, I got a phone call that just changed my life. And as I was prepping to MCAT and go onto medical school, my sister Kelly called me and she lived in California at the time and she had a five month old baby and she called to tell me that she had stage four breast cancer.

Robert Wagner:

Oh gosh.

Errin Stanger:

And in that moment now that I look back, my life completely changed. And I said, "Well, I'm on my way." I was like, what do you ... I mean, just all the emotions that you have when you get that type of news from a loved one and I have two sisters, Kelly's the closest one to me And then Lindsey's just 18 months older than Kelly. So I was the youngest sister. I'm the youngest of three girls. And I looked back on it now and realized in that instant, when I was like, "Well, I'm going to come and see you. I'm on my way. I'll be out there tomorrow. I'm hopping on a plane," I was just at a point in my life where I could do that. I was just at this in between point where the next school hadn't started and I could hop on a plane and do that. And I was working at the time at Baptist Hospital.

Errin Stanger:

But anyway, I was able to hop on a plane. And when I went out there, I realized that I 100% wanted to be by her side in that fight. And her husband was a pilot and she just had this baby. And so in that instant, I realized my trajectory just changed and I was able to be her caregiver for five years. And she moved home in the middle of that fight about in between years two and three and had a really aggressive form of breast cancer, stage four when she was diagnosed and there's five stages. And so at that point, it's pretty severe already, but she definitely was where I see a lot of women today have this mentality where regardless, especially when you have young children, you're going to fight no matter what treatment option is given to you, whether it's a trial, chemotherapy, radiation, bone marrow transplant, she did it all to fight as hard as she could.

Errin Stanger:

And so like I said, in that process, she moved home, which was nice, because there's more family support, but it was without a doubt, the best decision I ever made because I thought, well, medical school will always be there, but I don't know if Kelly will. And so being able to spend that precious time with her has just been such a gift and of course, after she passed away, I thought, well, this breast cancer is just the worst thing ever. This is just devastating. It's just horrible. And I wanted to do something to try to make a difference in someone else's life. And so I thought I want to raise money for breast cancer to find a cure.

Errin Stanger:

And so I started volunteering with Susan G. Coleman. And when that opportunity really introduced me to nonprofit and what it looks like to serve as a volunteer and be a board member and I chaired the race for the cure and all the things that you can do in that nonprofit arena, it really opened my eye to, gosh, you can do so much good working with nonprofits. It's normally around some massive cause, that just doing something awesome. That's so much bigger than just yourself. And so I found this bond of sisterhood with all these friends that were all it for the same reason. Like I said, that kind of opened my eyes into nonprofits.

Errin Stanger:

And so ever since that time, I've always been of course, drawn to causes that are supporting, of course cancer related fields, children education as I had my own children. And I realized I really think I wanted to jump into the nonprofit career and really work with nonprofits on development to make it ensure they're sustainable and that they have funding. And it just kind of became this calling of mine. People will tell you I'm not afraid to ask for money for something I believe in. And so that's kind of a unique maybe trait that not everyone feels comfortable doing that, but I'm like, "Come on, you got to be able to support this and we got to do some good together."

Errin Stanger:

And so I think maybe that spirit probably passed down from my grandmothers, but it's just been a calling ever, ever since that phone call, if you will, with Kelly that I wanted to stick with nonprofits. And I said through the years, it's led me into great friendships and partnerships to support non-profits that I really believe in. So here I am today leading this part of this beautiful nonprofit, The Innovation Hub.

Robert Wagner:

So yeah. Well, that's a beautiful story. Obviously has a sad note to it, but it's a beautiful story. So thank you for sharing that.

Errin Stanger:

You're welcome. Thanks for asking.

Robert Wagner:

So we're nearing the close of our time together and we really appreciate that opportunity to hear about you and hear about The Innovation Hub, But we always close with five questions for our guests. So are you ready?

Errin Stanger:

Oh my goodness. I guess so. I better be ready.

Robert Wagner:

So what was the first way you made money?

Errin Stanger:

Waitress.

Robert Wagner:

Okay.

Errin Stanger:

It was one of the most fun jobs that I've ever had. Absolutely loved waiting tables because I was serving really good food and all the customers loved it. So the place is closed down now. It's called Hills Cafe. Oh, I just loved it so much. Great environment.

Robert Wagner:

Okay. I think I know the answer to this now, but maybe, maybe not. If you were not the director of the Arkansas Innovation Hub, what do you think you would be doing?

Errin Stanger:

Let's see. Probably with another nonprofit. Trying to do something massively good for the community.

Robert Wagner:

Okay. All right. I thought you might say go back and be that doctor.

Errin Stanger:

Oh, thanks for mentioning that. It's always a possibility. Medical school will always be there, but if I were to say right now in this phase of my life, I still feel that massive nonprofit calling. Maybe in 10 years though, I might have differently.

Robert Wagner:

Okay. So what would you tell your 20 year old self?

Errin Stanger:

Listen well and always have a mentor.

Robert Wagner:

Okay. Yeah. That's good.

Errin Stanger:

For sure. Yeah.

Robert Wagner:

So Errin, what would the title of your book be?

Errin Stanger:

That's a big question. Gratitude. Okay. Yeah. Gratitude. I've always had a sense of thankfulness and optimism and I can pray every day that that comes out of me. And so I think gratitude would 100% be the title.

Robert Wagner:

Awesome. Okay. Last question. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Errin Stanger:

Ever been given, that's a great question. I think it would be ... can I have two?

Robert Wagner:

Sure.

Errin Stanger:

Okay. Well, one that I think a lot of people know it's that we have two ears and one mouth for the reason. So really be slow to speak and really be mindful. The other wonderful piece of advice that I have received is dig into the word daily. And I'm Christ centered and it's been wonderful advice that I was given kind of at a young age, but it has really been a nice guiding post for me and a nice basis for my life to make sure that I'm spending time in the word.

Robert Wagner:

Awesome. Well, that's a great way to end. Errin, thanks so much. Appreciate you being with us. So if folks want to find out more about the Arkansas Innovation Hub, how do they do that?

Errin Stanger:

Yeah. So you can find out more about the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub by going to arhub.org. You can also find us on all the social media channels, all of them; Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn, all the places. And we would love to always tell everyone the way to experience Innovation Hub is to come and see us.

Robert Wagner:

Okay. Very good. Yeah. We'll take you up on that.

Errin Stanger:

Thank you so much.

Robert Wagner:

Errin, thanks very much for your time. Appreciate it.

Errin Stanger:

Thank you so much.

Robert Wagner:

That's all for this episode of How That Happened. Thank you for listening. Be sure to visit howthathappened.com for show notes and additional episode. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. Thanks for listening. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Copyright 2021, Hogan Taylor LLP. All rights reserved. To review the Hogan Taylor general terms and conditions www.hogantaylor.com.