Megan Greer and Deb Logan

[00:02] MEGAN GREER: Hi, my name is Megan Greer. I'm the executive director of Blue Zones Project, Southwest Florida. Currently I am 43 years old and today is February 23 of 2024. And we are in Fort Myers, Florida. And I'm here with, I would have to say, the person who I am the biggest fan of, my mentor and our previous executive director of Blue Zones Project, Deb Logan.

[00:32] DEB LOGAN: Hi, my name is Deb Logan, and I am the retired executive director of Blue Zones Project, Southwest Florida. I'm 62 years old today. It's February 23, 2024. We are in Fort Myers, Florida, and I am here with Megan Greer, the executive director of Blue Zones Project, Southwest Florida, someone who I respect and adore for her passion. And so we're here to talk about Blue Zones project today.

[01:01] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, we're excited to be here. Tell the story of how it came to be and what has transpired since. And so I think I'm going to go ahead and just share a little bit about Blue Zones project. For those who don't know, Blue Zones Project is a community health and well being project that began in. Well, it began about 20 years ago, where fellows from National Geographic went around the world to find places where people live the longest. And the leader of the group was Dan Buettner, who discovered five places across the globe that have three times more centenarians than you would typically find in. Sorry, they're three times more likely to live to be 100 than the typical american. So he started studying why these people were living so long, what they were doing, what their lifestyle looked like, what they were eating. And those areas he decided to call blue zones because they circled him with a blue marker, nothing too scientific about it. But then brought that down into nine common principles that we call the power nine, that really identified the nine commonalities that all of these places shared and then turned that into a community curriculum and brought it back to the US, to a small town that was near his hometown, to see if they could kind of reverse engineer longevity and well being, to see if we could improve some health indicators and outcomes based on how these people were living so long and their environment and their, their food and their lifestyle. So that's kind of an overview. And there's a lot of information out there on Blue Zones project, but we wanted today to tell the story of how blue zones made it to southwest Florida. So, deb, you have been at the helm since the very get go. So I think let's start there. So how did blue zones come to be in southwest Florida?

[03:03] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, it's actually a great story, because back in 2014, the CEO, board of trustees and Administration of NCH Healthcare system, big healthcare system in southwest Florida, they changed their mission statement to include help everyone live a healthier, happier, longer life. And in order to accomplish that goal, they partnered with Luzon's project by Sharecare. And during the fall of 2014, they held several dozen focus groups. So inviting all kinds of partners, anybody who touches well being, from people in education, law enforcement, government, nonprofits, schools, businesses, restaurants, grocery stores, as well as healthcare and public health and media. And he invited everyone to come into focus groups and kind of do a swot analysis of what was happening in southwest Florida and where are there opportunities just to still improve well being. And through those focus groups, not only did shared care and NCH get a lot of information, but they learned that there was tremendous amount of interest to bring blue zones project to the area to help everyone live longer, healthier, happier lives. So that encouraged NCH to say, okay, we're gonna sponsor this. The sole sponsor. Big deal. And so in 2015, early in the year, brought together a steering committee of community leaders from all over southwest Florida that represent different organizations that all impact well being. Then a team was built, a small team started in 2015. Next came the committees. So we built committees for the different ways that we implement well being. So people, we needed committees of people who could tell the story, learn the story, then tell the story. And how do you engage individuals? How do you work with hoas or homeowners associations and faith based organizations, get them involved, and then also how do people implement it into their own personal life? What are those power nine that you mentioned? And then places. We had committees that would work with schools and work sites, as well as homeowners associations, et cetera, grocery stores, restaurants. How do they get engaged? What do they need to do to move well being? And then finally, policy, knowing that policy moves well being more than probably anything else we can do, has a greater impact. Committees come together, built committees that would focus on built environment where we live, as well as food, food policy, food access, and then tobacco. And so the committees were formed throughout the year. And then we finally did a community launch in November of 2015. So the games began at that point.

[05:54] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, it's amazing to think it's been almost a decade since, well, pretty close to a decade, actually, that everything started and launched and got going. And this is a huge area, right? So it's 2000 sq mi, all of Collier county and the southern part of Lee county. So it's a big undertaking. And you just talked about a lot of different organizations, people that were involved, and all of the deliverables that you were charged with at the team. So what would you say, knowing that that was, like, such a big undertaking, what was the most, like, exciting part to the start of it? Actually getting going and starting implementation, I.

[06:34] DEB LOGAN: Would say I have to mention, probably one of the most exciting things is partnering with a healthcare system that really recognized the importance of not just doing repair, but prevention, and that they were actually investing in that for their community. That's a tremendous wow. And that's exciting. That's where it all started. Right. Without them, we wouldn't have a project. And then secondly, all the individuals and organizations in the community that came out to say yes for well being, you know, this is a we project. The secret of our success is all of us coming together. And so having that happen was incredibly exciting. I'm proud to say that the people came together and they are continuing to do so in southwest Florida.

[07:22] MEGAN GREER: Right, right. Did anything in that process surprise you? You know, I mean, there's. There's a. A lot of different people from different backgrounds and economic statuses. And so as you're implementing and launching things that came out of the woodwork or that you didn't expect to happen, that happened, yeah.

[07:43] DEB LOGAN: Well, I'd say the initial surprise was, I was pleasantly surprised of how evidence based and measurement based the project is, that it's really quite detailed and layered, and everything we implement is well documented to make impact. So it's just not willy nilly, let's do this, because it makes people feel good. It's actually really well researched. And then we measure everything we do. We measure in a multitude of ways so that we know that we're making an impact. You know, we always say you can't manage what you don't measure, and so it's so important. And then also, in order to see impact, you have to have measurement. So that was the initial big surprise. There were many more to come. That was the initial one.

[08:30] MEGAN GREER: And I don't know, this is a good time to talk about it, but you're recognizing the amount of detail for each organization. You initially had a team of nine.

[08:43] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, four, then five, then nine.

[08:47] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, four, then five, then nine. So we always kind of refer to building an airplane in the air because things are growing and expanding. And you kind of started one community at a time and then moved because there's eight communities overall that all had those kind of deliverables. So I think just to explain how each community had its own set of numbers of people that needed to be involved. So, as you're saying, like, it was so metrics driven to an extent that we tracked every single person that signed a pledge or attended an event or participated in a purpose workshop, and then even the work sites, each worksite had its own set of deliverables and metrics within the grander scheme of all the work sites that you know or restaurants that we were bringing on board. So it was so data driven and there was nothing that didn't go recorded and documented.

[09:45] DEB LOGAN: Absolutely.

[09:46] MEGAN GREER: It speaks volumes to the amount of really intentional work that went into it for each organization. Really made it meaningful.

[09:55] DEB LOGAN: Absolutely. And, you know, I think it's important to mention when you say that, that those eight regions or eight different communities within southwest Florida, we were really intentional to make sure that this was not just a general Southwest Florida project, where the early adopters in wellbeing programs tend to be people who have more time on their hands. So they might be retired or semi retired. They often are women, they're often white women, a little more privileged. So they're often the ones living on the coast. When we think about southwest Florida, we wanted to make sure that we weren't just going to impact the happy, clappy wellbeing folks, you know, move well being, just a nudge further for those who are already healthy. So we broke up the community specifically to make sure we touched all of our pockets of need, all the different vulnerable or at risk populations, to make sure we're making, first measuring their well being and then making adjustments to make sure we made an impact.

[10:50] MEGAN GREER: Yeah. And all those municipalities had to have their own policy adoption, which I think is so key, because if they didn't adopt their own policy and were just kind of under an umbrella, if a new administration came through or a new mayor or city manager, there was no saying that they would have to follow somebody else's kind of best practice policy. They had adopted it within their own municipality, which meant they had to follow it from no matter who came into leadership, it was going to be a followed policy.

[11:19] DEB LOGAN: Exactly.

[11:19] MEGAN GREER: That's very key. So leading into that, then, what would you say was the biggest challenge or some of the biggest challenges that you ran into?

[11:28] DEB LOGAN: Yeah. So our community was on fire in 2015 when the project was brought to southwest Florida. People had heard about it because there's so much pre work that went on in 2014, so everybody wanted to get engaged. And again, we were a very small team, four people in that first year. And our challenge was to learn how to implement, because this is a multi layered project and very comprehensive. Learn how to implement, build those committees I mentioned and then support the people who were coming in that wanted to get their organization or themselves involved in the project. And so there was a lot of enthusiasm, and we had to have everyone be patient and kind of learn together. So we had people, for example, that were really well intentioned, that started putting the brand on their websites or on the products they were selling, like lipsticks with blue zones, you know, and, or people that wanted to do presentations, and we're talking about blue zones, but they weren't necessarily aligning with the accurate information. So they were all well meaning. And, you know, all this enthusiasm was a challenge that we overcame because ultimately, these folks, most of them, many of them, became a gift to us. They became ambassadors and champions to help us really do the work and make it impactful.

[12:54] MEGAN GREER: It often became like the eyes and ears of the project beyond those four or five staff where they started, hey, we noticed this issue or this gap in services, or here's this opportunity, or, hey, even my girlfriend or my business, you know, executive or colleague would like to come on board. And so it generated so many different leads and so many different areas to close those gaps or provide those services or, you know, really be more, you know, farther than we could be with, with four or five people.

[13:28] DEB LOGAN: Absolutely.

[13:29] MEGAN GREER: And we always call them champions, and so many of them are still champions to this day. And that's, I think, one of the funnest things now, sustainability, is a phone call or email from one of our champions. Like, hey, this person I talked to the other day, and they really want to be involved. So here's their information. And it's just. And now we're getting them from all over the globe. Sometimes we get these inquiries of people that they want to learn how to bring blue zones project to their community, or they want to participate, or they want to go to a purpose workshop. But they live in Australia, and it's just fascinating to see how, you know, we think the world is so vast and huge, but at the same time, you know, when people get excited about a story and something that's really changing lives for the better, they want to be a part of it, even if it's across the globe, which I think has just been so cool.

[14:20] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, it has this ripple effect, right?

[14:23] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, absolutely. Did anything happen that you really did not anticipate? It's a little bit different from surprises.

[14:30] DEB LOGAN: But, yeah, I would say what really stands out is in our very first year, we had a very small group that politicized, tried to politicize blue zones project, tried to spread the message that blue zones would take choices away instead of empower people with healthier choices. And so that was a bit of a distraction, a bit of a frustration, because once that telephone tag of misinformation gets out there, you know, people start believing it. So we stayed the course, we kept educating, and, you know, as time went on, people really realized that this was a good thing. There was nothing negative behind it. But we didn't see that coming because we thought, gosh, everybody probably wants an opportunity not only for their own well being, but for their children, their grandchildren's well being.

[15:19] MEGAN GREER: Right. Yeah. To have that in place. Yeah, we get those questions sometimes, like, is this a democratic thing? Because it's blue, you know, blue zones. And, you know, we often have to say, oh, no, no, it literally has. It's because of a blue marker. There's no affiliation to anything on any side at all, which is, yeah, it's funny, but, yeah, and it tends, you know, those things can be hot button. But I think that's one of my favorite things that we still use on the team today is, you know, you would always say, just do the right thing. And I think that was always such a good focus to come back to the center and we're doing the right thing and we're creating health access for everyone. And that's really the goal. And so to continue to educate, educate, educate is always the best practice whenever we're moving forward or talking to a new group or anything like that. So did you notice a shift in mindset or sentiment around people who engaged in Bluzon's project once they got heavier involved?

[16:20] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, I think one of the best things that Bluezone's project does, really, is broaden the minds of people who engage about really what is well being. And so people engaged in the project learn that it's not just what they eat or whether or not they exercise. That's important. But equally important is how they connect with friends and family and faith of some kind, even if that's meditation and relaxation, but engaging in more than just our physical health. I think also people identifying that purpose is so important. Having a reason to wake up in the morning is really critical for longevity. So it broadens people's mind about, really what is my well being. And also because we work with policy advocacy and education and really teach people about social determinants of health and how it impacts the overall well being of a community, I think that people start to see that bigger picture and they realize we're only as healthy as our most vulnerable individuals living in the community. So it's important that we lift everyone up. And so I think, you know, it encouraged people to start to think about, oh, you know, I should also advocate for sidewalks and bike lanes and healthy food access and housing and things like that. And so I think that's probably, you know, the mindset and the change that we see happen when you implement blue zones.

[17:58] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, I am. So I think, you know, you're hitting on the purpose piece. It just took me back to the start of the pandemic, and I'm gonna get emotional, but it was such a very fast, just, like, shutdown and being in the middle of a project that has a deadline and deliverables and everything. And this happened to everybody, you know, that, just like that. But it was so transformational to be in a space with a mission of our project and starting from the space of purpose, going forward into the pandemic, where so many people just life stopped and having to sit in your space, in your own house, with your own family or by yourself and almost being forced to say, what am I doing and what does my life look like? And if this is all over tomorrow, have I lived the life that I want to? And am I taking care of myself and the people around me? And I think having that tool of purpose workshops and being able to keep pushing forward and knowing that more than anything, people needed this kind of, you know, mindset and the resilience and the fortitude to, like, use the tools that you have now. Use everything in your space, we're going to help you along the way. And, you know, I think that it was, in the weirdest way, such a blessing to have had the project fully in operational mode during the pandemic because it really did help people to kind of downshift and think about, what am I doing moving forward? And when we get out of this mess, you know, am I living a life full of purpose, and am I going towards the things that are truly important to me, or am I in the rat race? And I think that that was such a. To me, and this isn't scientifically based, but it's such a tall tale of so many people that originally didn't quite come back to work yet or found a different way to operate their family is just seeing like, wow, when we have time to actually sit down and have a meal together, we've been missing each other. We've been missing that connection. And I don't think people realize how important connection was until they didn't have it anymore. And so now even to focus, you know, I think that's one of the most touching points of sustainability. And being out of the pandemic is really reminding people now we have to really develop and work back towards that connectivity.

[20:37] DEB LOGAN: Absolutely.

[20:38] MEGAN GREER: Because some people, I think, almost got used to just that, okay, I'm just isolated. And, you know, and so really having these events now where we're encouraging people to come out but really focus on connecting to others. You know, we held an event last night connecting seniors in the community with college students and a couple of the people after, you know, it's a three part series. And I talked to a gentleman, he was like, okay, so now what? And I was like, well, you've already, you know, you've met this person. He goes, yeah, well, we already connected. And I'm like, no, we're gonna build the relationship now. And it was just funny to, like, have to be like, no, this is part of it is like we're building to see if you can build a sustainable, deep connection with another individual. But it's kind of funny that the concept was like, okay, I met them. And it's like, well, let's continue that. And a lot of research since has come out that's based on blue zones. But diving deeper into the connection pieces, and it's fascinating what they're really finding.

[21:41] DEB LOGAN: And I think people who never really understood loneliness learned what that was all about and how danger it is to our health. And so I think there's a lot more consideration for that now. And, you know, even remember our hoas got very active in reaching out to neighbors, almost like what was done decades ago.

[22:01] MEGAN GREER: Right.

[22:02] DEB LOGAN: You know, reaching out to neighbors. Are you okay? Making sure people had food, you know, various things to really get connected. So, yeah, there was a silver lining.

[22:11] MEGAN GREER: Absolutely. What were the impacts of implementation? And then we went through certification. So after, you know, when we came out at the very beginning with what was called a blueprint and kind of a huge set of goals and numbers that we had to accomplish, that led up to, you know, accomplishing all of those goals which allowed Southwest Florida to become a certified blue zones community. So what were some of the outcomes of that on the grander scale?

[22:40] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, so, you know, by the numbers, it was incredibly impressive because of this amazing community and people that said yes and the organizations that said yes to well being. Risk factors were reduced from our baseline data 2015 to the 21 2021 data for certification. Risk factors were reduced by 14.1%. And those were risk factors that tend to raise medical costs or lower productivity. So 14.1% equates to approximately $190.2 million in medical and productivity savings for southwest Florida.

[23:24] MEGAN GREER: Amazing.

[23:24] DEB LOGAN: Yeah. So that was huge. And that's the community coming together. That's the power of the we. In addition, because blue zones project is interesting and it's got a lot of good stories that come along with it, we attracted over $35 million in positive media attention. And then we also, because it's such a collaborative project, we were able to attract $15 million or more in grant funding for project related to food access and built environment. So those are the numbers. But I believe that probably the greatest impact is the infrastructure that was laid. Over 800 organizations, more than a half a million people getting involved in adopting best practices live longer, better. And those best practices they pass down, there's a ripple effect. They pass it down to their kids, they pass it across to their coworkers, and on and on it goes. And then, as I mentioned before, the awareness about social determinants of health and how they really play into community well being. I mean, it's great if I keep myself healthy and do what I should do, but if my community's not healthy, ultimately I'm not going to be living in a healthy community. Right. So people understanding the importance of built environment and food access, and whether or not vaping and tobacco is being used and our kids are adopting it, that impact, that occurs really, because you lay that infrastructure, you get policies put into play, and you educate people. That I think was even more powerful than the dollars.

[25:03] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, absolutely. And I think we saw a lot in the policy world, too, with a leaders who wanted to go in certain directions. And because we had more staff to help with that and access to consultants, we could help to kind of speed up the process on some of that stuff and do some of the back work to support them. And it often opened up new opportunities that, you know, if something moved faster, we could start addressing the next project that was coming down the pike. But I also think it was really transformational to involve the community in lending their voice to upcoming projects or needs. And I see that opportunity now more just. It was always valued. But I think there's a very dedicated effort to gathering and collecting community voice to make sure that it's not just, you know, the five or ten people that are able to make it to a commissioner's meeting or a city council meeting, but making that effort to. How else can we gather voices from people who are working, you know, on Tuesday morning at 09:00 a.m. and can't come to a meeting. And so I think that that helps to get a broader scope of the real needs and how they can address that infrastructure and make infrastructural changes to be more inclusive. And I think that there's been a shift towards that. You know, even council members that have come back to us after we tried an initiative that crashed and burned and they waited a few years and worked on the education and conversations, and now it's coming back around and we're being asked to come out and help support or, you know, reach out to our consultants to get some more data to back a movement that would provide more or better accessibility for the general public. So it's really exciting to see sometimes things they just take a little bit longer. But like you're saying, the groundwork has been laid and so now there's, you know, more of an adoption and kind of ownership of the opportunity and the creativity.

[27:06] DEB LOGAN: Yes. You know, our elected officials always say, you know, we listen to the voices that come out, the people that are talking or writing letters or whatever. And I think what Blue Zones project does really well is help educate people why they should have a voice, you know, and how they organize that voice, because you might care for something, but you're not sure how to get your message across. But I think that, you know, you were one of our policy leads during the implementation period, and, you know, how important it is to have help elected officials understand. Here's your options, and here's the why this is possible, why this would be a good idea. But also all the people in the hoas and work sites and all the people that blue Zones project touches, helping them really understand how to have that voice.

[27:53] MEGAN GREER: Yeah. Yeah. And share. And that's what, you know, you always said about policy, that it's so difficult to bring people on board because they, it's very hard to be for something if you can't see it and experience it. And policy is often, you know, just trusting that the data is correct or that it worked in these other cities for these reasons and that it can work here. And it's very hard to experience that if, you know, to believe in it and support it and put your dollars behind it if you are not totally sure and you can't try it. And I think that that's, you know, something that's very admirable of a lot of our leaders that they, you know, listened and even some that haven't, they've come back later and said, and I think this is very admirable to have said, you know what? I was wrong. And this project that you guys put in place, their planners and their staff, this project that you put in place has made a transformational difference. It worked way better than I ever expected, and I'm sorry. And, you know, I'm very. I'm very grateful that, you know, you used to all your resources and your education to pick the best solution for our community. And I just think that's really cool that the data speaks sometimes over voices who might be afraid of change or not sure about something.

[29:13] DEB LOGAN: Very true.

[29:14] MEGAN GREER: Deb, what do you think? All of this work, that's very data and best practice based, but when it comes to you, in your heart, what you have seen and experienced, what do you think is the ultimate key to longevity?

[29:27] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, I think without a doubt, the key is building infrastructure that sustains well being. You know, helps people get healthy and sustain that health and versus relying on willpower. You know, for the longest time, we focused on help, you know, behavioral change, helping people, teaching people to eat healthier, teaching people why they should exercise, why they shouldn't smoke, et cetera, et cetera. And people want to be healthy, and they want their kids to be healthy, but life gets in the way and best intentions. So we find that if you build the infrastructure and you make the healthy choice, almost the inevitable choice, like it was for generations ago, you know, I grew up in the sixties and seventies, and there weren't fast foods. There weren't cell phones. We walked to the school bus or to the school, which automatically, on average, puts in 3 miles of activity into a kid's day. You know, these things were automatic. And as you said in the very beginning, beginning blue zones is really about just helping a community re engineer into the infrastructure, whether that's, as you talked about, the built environment, the streets that we walk and bike and drive on, or if it's in a workplace setting. And how do you make sure your employees are living their healthiest life you want? They're important to you. So how do you make sure you're supporting their well being as their employer? So I'd say it's that infrastructure is the key.

[30:57] MEGAN GREER: Yeah. And we see that in, you know, centuries or cities that are centuries old. Is there, you can't really unbuild the way that they're built, but they're so built around walking and times before there were vehicles. And so you do have to walk everywhere or bike everywhere, and they tend to be healthier. And have better longevity just because that movement is a necessary part of their day to get from point a to point b and to get to work and everything else. And so really being conscious about that going forward or if we're, you know, we are going to be stuck in our car, how do we find ways that as soon as we can park that car, we can be moving? Yeah, it's a challenge, but I would have to agree that finding ways to do that is continually of growing importance.

[31:43] DEB LOGAN: And, you know, Megan, you say, like, in the car, because here we live in southwest Florida, where at least during season we have a fair amount of traffic. And so it's even saying, okay, as part of my personal infrastructure for well being, I'm going to learn something new every day. I've got an hour in the car. I'm going to, you know, turn on NPR. I'm going to audio book, whatever it might be.

[32:04] MEGAN GREER: Audio podcast.

[32:05] DEB LOGAN: Yeah.

[32:05] MEGAN GREER: And so learn a new language. Yeah. There's so many opportunities for learning constantly. That's a very good point.

[32:12] DEB LOGAN: Make sure I tune into my purpose, which you mentioned early. That was a big outcome of the project, and certainly after Covid.

[32:20] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, very good point. How did the project impact your personal life and your own personal well being?

[32:26] DEB LOGAN: Yeah, this project significantly added to my purpose, my reason to wake up in the morning and, you know, well, really, the research tells us that if you have a reason to wake up every morning, you can live up to seven years longer. So hopefully the impact was, I'll live another, you know, seven years longer than I had expected to. But, you know, the meaning really comes from all the people that got involved, all the people that said yes to well being and seeing meaning in their life, seeing the impact, going to a school where they've implemented blue zones, best practices, and seeing the relationships between the staff and the students and, you know, just really special. So many moments, you know, I know we don't have time to talk about it, but every day I felt totally exhausted but totally invigorated. Right. You can relate to that.

[33:23] MEGAN GREER: But I can't get over, like, seeing the kids in the garden that they built at their school and just being so over the moon proud of, you know, the peppers that they have planted that are, you know, they're getting ready to pick and. Or putting the tomatoes into their salad for lunch. Like, they're just so over the moon. And it's the coolest thing ever because some of them have never, ever seen anything like that. Absolutely. You know, and it's something so simple, but it goes such a long way, you know, for how they're going to develop and pay, you know, attention to what they're putting in their body, where it's coming from. So as we're wrapping up here, what would you say is, like, the biggest takeaway of the implementation, the process, and the ability to sustain the work going forward?

[34:07] DEB LOGAN: Yeah. For all those phases, it's the power of we, you know, as individuals, we can do good work, but together we become a force multiplier, and we can do amazing work together, and we can have meaningful impact together. You know, that's what occurred in southwest Florida. That's what's continuing to occur in southwest Florida under your leadership with sustainability. So I guess I ask you, you know, how you feel like that's going and what your takeaways are.

[34:39] MEGAN GREER: Yeah, sustainability has been really fascinating because I think, like we said, you know, laying that foundation and laying the conversation for keeping things health focused and paying attention to just not allowing things to become day to day and back to normal, really focusing on, okay, especially, like, throughout the pandemic moving forward, how do we make sure that we're always moving in that positive direction has been so key and then really just building on, I think it created, like, that infrastructure that you say created this conversation around, how can we do better? Always, like, how can we always do better? And that's where we see this, the reaching out of organizations that are coming to us saying, hey, can you help with this? Or we have this opportunity, or, hey, our work site is struggling, can you come out and just help us reinvigorate? Or can we set a goal for the next month that everybody can get behind activism that really starts to just remotivate people and keep them in that positive direction that, you know, like, we're so much like family now in, you know, ways that I don't think anybody really anticipated. But to know that, like, hey, oh, I know the person that will take care of that, or I know the person the best contact or to. To become trusted colleagues, you know, outside of, like, your own organization. But now, because we have these committees and they all have a purpose behind them, I think knowing that we're walking throughout the day, whether it's at a chamber function or, you know, or out to lunch for a meeting, that we're constantly looking for ways to, like, continually add betterment, you know, in that space. And so I think it built that level of trust of, like, okay, we have this new project coming out or a new parks master plan is starting or whatever, and we get that phone call of like, hey, can you take a look at this? Can we get, you know, some other, like, the innovation and the open. The openness to innovation is. Is much grander than I think probably was there at the start of everything because people wanted, like, how can we be at the forefront of this? You know, even working with Doctor Felke at FGCU and the new shady Rest Institute is so cool to, like, literally have that mindset that sounds like, you know, you're crazy, but, like, we are going to teach the rest of the US how to age gracefully in their community. Like, and, like, literally, how do we change what aging looks like? How do we change, and how do we stop that isolation and the loneliness that typically comes when you get to an age where you need, you know, daily care? And how do we embrace our senior population in a way that is, you know, fulfilling for them and, you know, it keeps that sense of ikigai or their purpose very strong. Those type of things, I think, are really just. I continually am shocked, you know, when sometimes you get nervous, like, oh, is this, you know, are we losing our edge or whatever? And then it's like, every day somebody needs you, you know, and they need that idea and the collective support. And so I think that's what's really exciting. But I also, I love that working in marginalized populations, we have built that trust again to sometimes, you know, if you haven't grown up in that situation or you're not in that community on a daily. We've built that trust that our partners will say, hey, you're focusing on this, but that's not really the root of the problem. We need to fix this first. Or those types of things, they allow the transformation to come at such a deeper level because we're really getting at root causes. And I think that's what's been really important moving forward to continue that effectiveness.

[38:55] DEB LOGAN: That's outstanding. And I know you and your team are going to continue to do amazing work.

[39:01] MEGAN GREER: Yeah. It's been such a blessing, and we're so grateful to NCH for supporting this and just believing in the power of well being over illness to transform communities and keep them vibrant and thriving. And it's really impressive to come from a healthcare system to really be the leader in that mindset.

[39:23] DEB LOGAN: Absolutely.

[39:24] MEGAN GREER: Thank you, Deb. This has been really awesome. And I love to share the story of blue zones in southwest Florida from our fearless leader who brought us all the way through certification. Thank you so much.

[39:35] DEB LOGAN: Well, thank you, Megan