Save What You Love with Mark Titus

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:21:09
Mark Titus
Welcome to the Save What You Love podcast. Or welcome back. I should say it's been a few weeks and I've missed you guys. My name's Mark Titus. I'm the host of the show. I just want to give you a little housekeeping on what's been happening in the last couple of weeks. First off, I got hired to be a producer on the show, NCIS with Mark Harmon.

00:00:21:11 - 00:00:52:03
Mark Titus
If you've seen this show, you know, it's been on for 19 years. And Mark has been a tremendous champion for Bristol Bay in the background and got to bring it to the foreground by writing in a Bristol based storyline. If you've seen my film The Wild, you know, Mark's in the film and over the last several years he's been working on a way to in a fictional way to tell the Bristol Bay story inside of this wonderful hit show that has been on for so long.

00:00:52:04 - 00:01:22:06
Mark Titus
So they brought me on, got to advise and film an episode in Bristol Bay in September. It aired on the 11th of October, and it's episode four. It's called Great Wide Open. You can just do a Google search for NCIS. Watch it right off of their platform online. Give it a look. It's great. Second thing is, we had a really wonderful event in Boulder, Colorado, with my friends and partners at Backpacker's Pantry and the Wild Salmon Center.

00:01:22:07 - 00:01:47:04
Mark Titus
You heard Guido on the podcast last time around. Guido is the CEO of Wild Salmon Center and those folks in and Ava's Wild and Backpackers pantry teamed up to create Rocky Mountain Wild. Hopefully you tuned in. It was a live stream of a screening of The Wild as well as some wonderful music by Melanie Brown and her band Sunny Porch and a live panel.

00:01:47:04 - 00:02:10:02
Mark Titus
Afterwards, we raised some money for United Tribes of Bristol Bay and the Defend Bristol Bay Coalition. If you did not get a chance to contribute to that, just head over to defend Bristol Bay dot org. And now we're back. We're back in ordinary time, as it were. And we're going to be bringing you a lot more shows. Today's episode is wonderful.

00:02:10:07 - 00:02:35:16
Mark Titus
I get to interview my friend Kel Moody, who is the director of Salmon Nation's Festival of What Works, which begins tonight, November 2nd. It runs through the seventh. I will let Kel tell you all about it in the episode. They are a tremendous leader in the business world as well as in this space and salmon nation of creating place based initiatives to live well.

00:02:35:18 - 00:03:01:19
Mark Titus
So all week, check out Salmon Nation Festival of What Works. Kel will give you the URL here down the line, but you can just go to salmon Nation dot net. I've got two events that I'm hosting on. Let's see, it's going to be on Friday the fifth and Saturday the sixth. I hope you can tune in. Also, we're getting ready for the holidays.

00:03:01:21 - 00:03:23:11
Mark Titus
I got some pretty cool announcements coming up, starting with Ava's Wild is coming out with our very own wild salmon jerky. It's shelf stable. It's something you're definitely going to want in your pocket, taking hikes, taking snowshoeing, taking skiing, standing in a river, Spey casting. You name it. It's going to be something that's going to be a go to for you for a protein hit.

00:03:23:11 - 00:03:42:13
Mark Titus
And it's delicious. It was the recipes created by my friend Kevin Scribner. So listen, enjoy the show today. Glad we're back. And you can go to Ava's welcome to keep in touch with all the things we're doing and to get ready for the holidays. And I hope you enjoy the show today. See you down the trail.

00:03:42:15 - 00:04:18:11
Music
How do you save what you love?
When the world is burning down?
How do you save what you love?
When pushes come to shove.
How do you say what you love?
When things are upside down.
How do you say what you love?
When times are getting tough.

00:04:18:13 - 00:04:22:18
Mark Titus
Kel Moody, welcome. Where are you joining us from today?

00:04:22:20 - 00:04:33:19
Kel Moody
I am on traditional Cowlitz and Chinook territories, now known as Vancouver, Washington. The other Vancouver has other Vancouver.

00:04:33:21 - 00:04:57:06
Mark Titus
Right? Yeah, I was just I was just pondering your location, thinking about it ahead of time on the way to the show here today. And you're in a good spot. I mean, you've got sort of the, you know, income tax from the Washington side and then the your your going down to or you can get stuff in Oregon with sales tax.

00:04:57:08 - 00:05:24:10
Kel Moody
That is that's true. There is a little bit of being in this location as a as a nice like I guess tax avoidance place but yeah I guess we don't really do that intentionally necessarily that much. But I will say that it is nice to not have to pay income tax coming from having lived in Portland most of my life and especially adult kind of career life.

00:05:24:12 - 00:05:52:01
Mark Titus
Well, you know, it's the grass is always greener no matter where you are. But I will say I did one time take advantage of this very lovely thing. And I went to Oregon to get my wife's engagement ring. And it was the biggest check I ever wrote at a Costco. At Costco Jewelers. Exactly right. Yes.

00:05:52:02 - 00:05:53:00
Kel Moody
Yeah, Yeah.

00:05:53:02 - 00:06:08:15
Mark Titus
We had a friend in the industry, as it were, in Costco, and she's like, Yeah, let's let's make this happen now. Let's go. So it was it was beautiful, but it was like, there's a guy buying tomatoes and there's I'm right in the of this thing. It was very, very surreal.

00:06:08:17 - 00:06:13:11
Kel Moody
That is great. That's a great story. That's a good, good use of that system for sure.

00:06:13:13 - 00:06:32:19
Mark Titus
Well, it was. And, you know, spread the love. So. Speaking of stories, would you do us the honor and tell us your story? How did you come into the work that you do and what keeps you going on a daily basis? Where what's the Kel story bringing us to today?

00:06:32:21 - 00:07:09:16
Kel Moody
Yeah, well, I'll actually maybe start with the end and what keeps me going and then I'll I'll circle back because it's all really kind of, I think, quite cyclical and also like kind of snake like in that it goes all over the place like and so I'd say like the two kind of core things in my being that kind of drives me are the idea of a strong sense of place and emulating water.

00:07:09:18 - 00:07:40:08
Kel Moody
So to me, like strong sense of place is kind of the thing that that helps people feel like they have true motivation to do well. And I think that strong sense of place comes from kind of three different things. One is, is kind of a deep knowing and understanding of yourself. Another is a sense of belonging in your community.

00:07:40:10 - 00:08:07:18
Kel Moody
And then the other is a rooted connection to the land that you're on. And I think if you have those three things, then you can have a strong sense of place. And that strong sense of place really can help. I mean, for me, I can speak for myself, but I think it really inspires me to do well for my community, for the land and for myself.

00:08:07:20 - 00:08:45:10
Kel Moody
And so that's kind of what pushes me to to be a positive contributor. The other thing that is, I guess a more personal and somewhat spiritual, I would say, is this idea of of being like water. And to me, water is super strong and also very soft. It has it holds these dualities like it can erode rock, but you can also float in it.

00:08:45:12 - 00:09:16:09
Kel Moody
It's like this this really powerful kind of element that I think emulates this idea of like subtle strength and also not so subtle at the same time. And I really I try to use it as kind of a almost like a mentor, I would say, to kind of be like, okay, be like water. It's also like extremely flexible.

00:09:16:09 - 00:09:43:17
Kel Moody
You know, you can it will mold into any shape. It's also the only element that exists in all three phases, liquid, solid gas. I mean, I could talk about this forever, but I think water just is something that really inspires me. And I love, love, love to be near water. I'd say particularly love being near like mountain streams or rivers.

00:09:43:17 - 00:10:16:20
Kel Moody
And it's just, you know, those negative ions smell like kitchen. But yeah, so those are kind of two things. But I'd say, you know, I grew up living in a really suburban area. My family is, you know, I'm descendants of of white settler Europeans, some of who have been on Turtle Island for lots of generations, obviously not as many as indigenous peoples.

00:10:16:22 - 00:10:58:10
Kel Moody
But, you know, it kind of goes back to that original when I say like white settler land stealers, like I have some family that came over on the Oregon Trail, some of the first like white land claim holders. And so that's like a pretty complex history to kind of grapple with. I would say I think it's important to me to acknowledge that that is part of my heritage and with that I kind of try to take the stance of, well, then it's my responsibility to do as much as I possibly can to repair the damage that was done and the harm that was done.

00:10:58:12 - 00:11:17:11
Kel Moody
And I try to do that through building relationships and then offering any gift that I might have towards the cause of of repair, and also not just fixing what was wrong, but building something better.

00:11:17:13 - 00:11:50:16
Kel Moody
I also am I am a partner. I am a parent. I have a almost two year old child and going through the toddler phase of life right now. So that's fine tuned in to death and she is such a sweet kid. Her name's Josephine and I also am trans. I identify as non-binary, I identify as Transmasculine and I use they them pronouns.

00:11:50:16 - 00:12:15:17
Kel Moody
And that's been a journey as I mean, on some level all my life has been going on, but I'd say really wasn't for the past year. Is it probably like 4 to 5 years that I really kind of came into that identity? And that's been quite a journey as well. So and I would say what got me this is there's so much to say, right, Mark?

00:12:15:19 - 00:12:38:14
Kel Moody
But what got me here, what I'm doing right now with the festival of what works is, is kind of all of it, I guess. I mean, I've spent a lot of years doing random things, like I was a tour guide, I've been a professional woodworker, I've worked in sales, I worked for coffee roasters, I've done a lot of random things.

00:12:38:14 - 00:12:52:17
Kel Moody
But somehow each of those things kind of contributed in some way to making me kind of fit for the role that I'm in now.

00:12:52:19 - 00:13:17:16
Mark Titus
I completely identify with that. And yeah, I, I don't know, we could, we could have a weird job off because I've done window installation, I've done myriad restaurant food server jobs, I've done shellfish farming, and I get it. It's like and then you look back and you're like, Wow. You know, at the time I had no freaking idea why I was doing this stuff.

00:13:17:16 - 00:14:03:02
Mark Titus
It seemed pointless. And and here we are. And all of it seems to have a little piece, a little fractal mosaic part in being in the present right now. Yeah, I love that. And I love that you're embracing that. And thank you for sharing part of your journey with with us and you know, I have such admiration for you in asking the hard questions and your courage and and being such a natural leader in the space that you've created for yourselves and men to identify with water, especially being in the mountains and I mean, we've talked about this before, but and and frankly, you know, on this show, it's such an interesting I don't know.

00:14:03:02 - 00:14:28:18
Mark Titus
I think that of all the things that bring us common confluence on this show when we're having these discussions, water seems to be that main stem. And I just love it for all the reasons you said, and I've never heard all of those reasons put together in the same bundle. So just love that description. You mentioned the festival of what works.

00:14:28:19 - 00:14:39:12
Mark Titus
Many of us are grateful, super grateful that you are the director of the festival. What works? What is it and what can we expect this coming week?

00:14:39:14 - 00:15:07:04
Kel Moody
Yeah, well, it's because it's one of the most exciting things that I've had the privilege of working on. And I would say I say that because it's not at all I don't even see it's not at all about me. And that's what I love about it is because I just get to like help and kind of guide maybe a little bit and uplift other people and that feels really great.

00:15:07:06 - 00:15:42:15
Kel Moody
So the festival is a week long celebration of sharing ideas to live well in place. To say it simply, it is a celebration of Salmon Nation, the Bioregion, which is the North Slope of Alaska, to, you know, central or Northern California and inward basically wherever Pacific Salmon, Pacific wild salmon have ever historically gone or are currently thriving on any and everywhere in between that.

00:15:42:15 - 00:16:12:09
Kel Moody
And so the bioregion is just such a hub of innovation and not in the ways that you might originally just think, innovation. And a lot of people think, like Silicon Valley and urban centers and, you know, entrepreneurs and these like really high level places. But we're talking about entrepreneurship out in rural communities, out in indigenous communities.

00:16:12:09 - 00:16:53:14
Kel Moody
And, you know, urban, you know, bipoc communities. These are places that they actually have some of the best ideas. They just don't often get the credit for them and or they don't seem to have enough access to resources to to scale and replicate them. So part of the goal of the festival is to kind of find these these ideas, find these people and help kind of share and spread the amazing kind of concepts that they've come up with.

00:16:53:16 - 00:17:21:11
Kel Moody
And so, you know, it's part of that about kind of exploring these ideas. It's also about, I think, really just helping people kind of unite around what's similar. I think sense of place can do a lot for that because we all want to be in a strong community. I think we all want to feel tied to the place that we are.

00:17:21:15 - 00:17:45:08
Kel Moody
And I think if we can all acknowledge that, then there's a lot that we can do together. So it's about empowering kind of this idea that you have within every single person. There is the capacity to contribute something meaningful. And I think we also we get so easy right now to get so bogged down with all the negative stuff that's going on.

00:17:45:08 - 00:18:12:08
Kel Moody
It is overwhelming, to be honest. And I honestly just think, you know, it's a little bit about shifting the narrative to what's working, what are people doing that's actually changing things, even if incrementally so. And I think, you know, really feeling and helping people feel like they have the capacity to do that as well is another kind of part about the festival that we want to make sure that people walk away with.

00:18:12:10 - 00:18:27:14
Mark Titus
Can you give us a couple of examples of things that you're looking forward to that you feel like a really great examples of what's working in our bio region and that might have a good chance of getting replicated?

00:18:27:16 - 00:18:59:14
Kel Moody
Yeah. Gosh, there's so many cool things that we're sharing. One that's like then kind of top of mind. It recently has been this event that we're doing. It's actually workshop style that really is involving the audience more. It's called The Power of Placemaking, and it is highlighting two kind of different projects and there's two representative from each project.

00:18:59:16 - 00:19:33:04
Kel Moody
One is called Come On Wood. It's a it's down in Oakland and they are a houseless encampment encampment. And a bunch of folks kind of got together and came into this area and built a bunch of like a beautiful cob structures. And there's a kitchen and there's kind of a place to go for medicinal needs. There's showers, there's, you know, gathering places.

00:19:33:04 - 00:19:42:06
Kel Moody
And it just really like elevated the there's my dog, which probably somebody so far Sorry about that.

00:19:42:06 - 00:19:46:00
Mark Titus
This is a dog friendly program. Yeah. So, yeah, we're good.

00:19:46:02 - 00:20:16:17
Kel Moody
Yeah. So it basically just like really elevated people's quality of life who are living in this space. And again, it this is really about like placemaking, like they came in and created strength of place for these people and stuff like that I think is just so important, especially right now. It's just the really tragic amount of of houseless folks kind of up and down the coast.

00:20:16:19 - 00:20:47:04
Kel Moody
You know, it was a problem before COVID, but exacerbated by current COVID. So that's one example. The other one is up in Seattle where you are, Mark, It's called Feed the People Plaza. They kind of took over this vacant lot and painted a mural and turn it into a community gathering space. And it's just been this incredible kind of hub for the community, kind of got community members involved in doing the mural together and just it's stuff like that.

00:20:47:04 - 00:21:17:20
Kel Moody
I think that just is just this tiny little spark that can just really turn into a flame and instead of kind of doing these presentations and then having the audience ask questions, what we're doing instead is each each project is going to kind of present their project, and then they're going to ask the audience a question. And so we're going to have people kind of go into breakout groups and talk about what their answer is.

00:21:17:20 - 00:21:40:23
Kel Moody
And they're just things like, you know, what can I do for my community? What are some things that I've seen happen? Or, you know, really just kind of exploring that and actually trying to turn it inward and have people do more self reflection. That's one that I can think of. You want more. I got so many more.

00:21:40:23 - 00:22:08:12
Mark Titus
I know and I do. And I think we're going to come back to this as we look toward the end. But I'd also like to hear a little bit more about your world view on a couple other matters. So I want to come back to sense of place. I think that if I'm right with you, I can pinpoint the moment when I had my revelation of sense of place.

00:22:08:14 - 00:22:52:02
Mark Titus
I was living in Southeast Alaska and caretaking the lodge that I guided at bay Lodge and realized in with complete sure fire in my chest that I was home and in meaning like in this bioregion, in this area that is connected by salmon. At what point did you come to that realization? That sense of place is so strongly important in your life and why do you believe developing a strong sense of place brings purpose to individuals and communities?

00:22:52:04 - 00:23:17:15
Kel Moody
You know, I don't know if I could pinpoint it to one moment. I think it was a journey. You know, I mentioned that I grew up in this area, which is nowadays, if if you're a person living in the Portland metropolitan area, pretty rare to run into people that grew up here because it's just been such a place where lots of transplants of have come.

00:23:17:17 - 00:23:40:06
Kel Moody
I don't know if that's even in the kind of of term people have moved here a lot. There's a lot of reasons why, and I totally get it. So I think there's some sort of like sense of identity that I have around being from here and just spending almost my entire life here. And that's, I think, even a rare thing, no matter where you are.

00:23:40:08 - 00:24:07:03
Kel Moody
It's I think our society is so accustomed now to like moving all over the place. And it's such a common experience that it's not that often that people stay in one place. And I also I also think it has to do with not being here and my experiences of not being here. I studied abroad in Thailand and lived there for about six months when I was in college.

00:24:07:03 - 00:24:40:04
Kel Moody
You know, really formative time in your life and people there have a really strong sense of place. And I think it's it's not until you kind of go somewhere else and kind of see things from the outside that you can kind of then apply that same understanding to where you are. And so I think part of me kind of, you know, witnessed people's identity and sense of place.

00:24:40:06 - 00:25:02:11
Kel Moody
So ties to where they were when I was, you know, getting to know people in Thailand. And then it kind of it was really like a moment of self-reflection where I was like, gosh, like, I guess I have similar feelings about where I live, where this is a weird story that I, I did not think I would that would pop up into my brain right now.

00:25:02:11 - 00:25:21:10
Kel Moody
But when I was in Thailand, the Twilight series film series came out, I think the first one came out and I had never read the books and I wasn't really that into it, but I had made friends with this this like group of Thai students, and there was like four of them and we always hung out. It was awesome.

00:25:21:12 - 00:25:45:14
Kel Moody
They took me to to see Twilight because they were super excited about it and I was like, okay, sure. And we we got there and, you know, it's filmed in Washington, right? So I'm in Forks. Forks and I saw all of the forests and I saw all of the scenery. And I was like, I miss home and like that.

00:25:45:14 - 00:26:07:14
Kel Moody
I think maybe there was a little moment right there, which is weird because I was watching Twilight in movie theater in Thailand, but there was something about seeing that I was like, wow, like, that is home to me. And so, I mean, it's it's moments like that. There's lots of moments. I think I can point to that maybe being one.

00:26:07:16 - 00:26:32:22
Mark Titus
And then I totally identify with that too. Like my first year of college way back when in 1990, I was in Minnesota and seeing all of college, and that's when Twin Peaks had come out. And the very beginning with Snoqualmie Falls and the Trees and the Mist. And it was I got completely heartsick for being in a home.

00:26:32:22 - 00:27:00:02
Mark Titus
I completely understand what you're talking about. And I think it's such a great point that you make here about go away, like go, you know, go explore, find your find your purpose, find your journey. And it it comes into snaps into focus very quickly. If if it is your place or if it's not. And I just have never thought about it from that perspective.

00:27:00:02 - 00:27:27:01
Mark Titus
But you're so right. And what do you think about this sense of place brings purpose to people like you? To me, too. To folks in Salmon Nation or the Gulf Coast or any other part of the world. Thailand. Why? Why do you think it brings more purpose and drive to to live well to individuals and communities?

00:27:27:03 - 00:28:14:15
Kel Moody
You know, I think there's something that we as humans, I can't deny about the fact that having relationship with land and I guess not just ground mean ground necessarily. I mean like ecosystems, I think it's pretty undeniable that humans feel a part of ecosystems. And I think, you know, easy nowadays because we live in these boxes and we're attached to these screens and we can have contact with anyone in the world anywhere, any time.

00:28:14:17 - 00:28:46:05
Kel Moody
Most of our the things that we consume are not necessarily from I mean, I'd say for an average person, especially in Western countries, are not from where we are, but there's still this tie like people feel like rooted in places where they have attachments to. And I think that like to me, that's such a central part of the human experience.

00:28:46:07 - 00:29:15:14
Kel Moody
I mean, feeling rooted and and part of an ecosystem is so important. And I think that is what again, I think I said this a little bit at the beginning, but I think that's what helps people want to do good and want to be good. And by good, I guess I mean positively contribute to their community and their society, because when you feel attached to something, you want to protect it.

00:29:15:16 - 00:29:44:04
Kel Moody
I think that's human nature. You know, I would do anything to protect my kid, right? I would also like, do anything to protect this place. And I think there is like this kind of thing about attachment that then I think kind of is part of it. Yeah, I think I think that's kind of how I would try to explain that.

00:29:44:06 - 00:29:47:11
Kel Moody
I mean, it is I think there is also something that's not explainable, right?

00:29:47:12 - 00:30:18:13
Mark Titus
Absolutely. Yeah. There is a it's a gut feel, too. But I think this is a two sided approach. Obviously, it's the name of the show. If you love something that is a common language and it is the heart space is the most powerful, potent space. I mean, things come and they go outside in our brains. I mean, we you know, if you if you have any kind of a meditation practice, you work toward acknowledging that that's just a thought and you let it go.

00:30:18:13 - 00:30:41:23
Mark Titus
And we can't really have a lot of control over that. But your heart space now that that's that's what drives the big things, the big decisions in our lives, the big values that we hold dear and that's I agree with you. That is where place resides. And in if it's there, you're going to want it to thrive for the next generation.

00:30:41:23 - 00:31:21:21
Mark Titus
And ideally, as our indigenous brothers and sisters have so well made an example of seven generations out and some somewhere along the line, you know, in the last couple hundred years we lost that. And I think a lot of this work that we believe in is is to try to emulate that and regain that Another way that I know you are very astute at in celebrating place and trying to do good and live well is through business.

00:31:21:23 - 00:31:30:14
Mark Titus
What is it about business that you believe can be a force for good? And can you give us some examples of that?

00:31:30:16 - 00:32:00:05
Kel Moody
Yeah, well, as you know, I am pretty involved in the B Corp community. And for those who are not familiar with what a B Corp is, it's it's basically a certification that for profit businesses can get and they get that through filling out a fairly rigorous assessment that kind of touches on really all aspects of your business and measures kind of in five different categories.

00:32:00:07 - 00:32:30:17
Kel Moody
What what your business is or isn't doing to make sure that you have positive impact. You know, environmentally, socially, it's really kind of all of those things. And I think, yeah, I think government is important. I think there are reasons that we have government. I get it I think is pretty ineffective personally at kind of tackling our challenges.

00:32:30:19 - 00:33:04:23
Kel Moody
And I think the as even I think the government shows businesses have a lot of power and and to me that power translates to responsibility. And so as a for profit business with power, I think it's really there's a lot of capacity that the business community has to actually create some really positive change. You know, as individuals, sure, we can do stuff.

00:33:04:23 - 00:33:37:13
Kel Moody
We absolutely can. And collectively, each of us doing things can create positive impact. So I'm not counting that out. I also think that businesses have enormous capacity for impact. And so I think it's really important that the business community steps up to that responsibility with the crisis that we're facing, you know, the the climate crisis, social justice crises, it just there's a lot that business community can do.

00:33:37:13 - 00:34:07:02
Kel Moody
So, you know, business businesses such as Certified B Corp often are the people that are putting their their kind of power behind those movements to to do good. You know, I'll give an example like Patagonia, They're they're a certified B Corp and they do a lot to create their clothing there. You know, they have recycled materials that they're testing out.

00:34:07:02 - 00:34:41:18
Kel Moody
I think they were doing something with like turning old fish nets into fabric. I think they've also are working with a company that does that. They also do things like pull all of their money from Facebook ads. And as recently I've seen that come up. They also do things like say, we're not going to sell branded clothing to the corporations that we don't believe in and that we don't, you know, that don't align with our values.

00:34:41:20 - 00:35:05:10
Kel Moody
And that's a big deal for companies to do stuff like that. But it makes a huge difference. There's also companies like Ben and Jerry's, also a certified B Corp who have really made some powerful statements around the social justice movement and Black Lives Matter. And, you know, they're not just like making these statements that are actually doing stuff behind those statements.

00:35:05:10 - 00:35:13:20
Kel Moody
And so those are maybe a couple examples, but there's some of like real, real capacity for change in the business community.

00:35:13:22 - 00:35:49:12
Mark Titus
Well, as you know, even as Wild is definitely on that track to to work into a B Corp mold. And I know that there's a lot of responsibility and there is a lot of there's a lot of work that needs to be done and so the folks that are excelling in it have really toed the line and put the work in and put the money, you know, put their money where their mouth is and and you're right, the examples you listed, I mean, I've I've got more Patagonia stuff than I probably should, but there's a reason for it.

00:35:49:12 - 00:36:23:11
Mark Titus
I feel really good and confident about about investing my money with that company. First of all, their stuff really works. And you know, when you're out standing on a river for 10 hours and you want your stuff to work. And secondly, you know, when you know that that money that you are giving them is being reinvested in things like finding uses for old fishing nets, for a practical application, that's where we need to be heading.

00:36:23:15 - 00:36:29:08
Mark Titus
So I love all of that. And you and I will be continuing this conversation offline, of course.

00:36:29:08 - 00:36:31:20
Kel Moody
Absolutely. Yeah.

00:36:31:22 - 00:36:47:04
Mark Titus
What advice do you have both as well as a person and also as the director of the festival? What works? What advice do you have for young or nascent entrepreneurs?

00:36:47:06 - 00:37:33:02
Kel Moody
well, I'm still learning, so gosh, I, I think my my approach to the work that I've done has often been about, you know, people can call it like things like stewardship, leadership or, you know, I basically try to dissenter myself in pretty much everything that I do. And I like to try to be around a lot of really smart people and be maybe one of the the least smart.

00:37:33:02 - 00:38:03:10
Kel Moody
I'm not going to say dumb. I'm not dumb. I would like to I like to be one of the least smart people in the room that I am and able to. It's so it's really empowering, empowering to to kind of be around, really inspiring people. And so I try to do that and, you know, I really just try to set the people up around me for success.

00:38:03:12 - 00:38:36:18
Kel Moody
And that's kind of how I approach leadership, is that if I'm doing my job right, then everyone else can do, can bring their best work and also their best selves. Like, I think it's so important to allow people to be full humans everywhere they go. Just because we're in a professional setting or we're at work does not mean that you can't show up as your whole self.

00:38:36:20 - 00:39:04:00
Kel Moody
And there are certain people that don't really have the option not to. You know, as a person that's trans and non-binary, it's such an unfamiliar identity for so many people that I don't really have the option not to expose that part of myself. And so I think it's really important for people to feel like they can just show up fully.

00:39:04:06 - 00:39:27:23
Kel Moody
And whether that means, you know, like, Hey, I can't make it to this meeting today because some thing came up, my dog needs to go to the vet or I just don't feel good or, you know, it could be anything. But being able to do that and be real about it and be like met with complete care and understanding.

00:39:27:23 - 00:39:41:21
Kel Moody
Like, I hope that that's what people feel when working with me is that they feel like they can be just real and then met with respect and care.

00:39:41:22 - 00:40:16:08
Mark Titus
I can attest, as one who does work with you, that you are doing a great job at that and it's a lot to hold. You've got responsibility to the work you're doing to to the outcomes you're hoping for, the people that have entrusted you with that work, but at the same time showing up as a genuine human being who gives a shit is that that can't be underestimated as the most I feel the most valuable part of moving an initiative forward.

00:40:16:10 - 00:40:46:15
Kel Moody
Yeah, I mean, what are we doing if if that's not part of it? Like, why even try to change the to, like, shift narratives and an approach like mass scale systems change if you're not internally allowing people to really show up as themselves, Like if that's not part of the systems change that that we're creating, then like to me that's, that's not it.

00:40:46:17 - 00:41:18:02
Mark Titus
What a wonderful segway into as we start heading down the homestretch here into this next question I have for you. As you know, we all know we are so divided here in the United States. I mean, Canada, too, but pointedly here in the United States, despite our political and social differences, from your point of view, where do we begin healing our wounds and coming together to survive and thrive here in salmon Nation and beyond?

00:41:18:04 - 00:41:46:16
Kel Moody
I mean, that is the question, isn't it, Mark? I mean, if I had the answer to that question, gosh. Well, if anybody had the answer to that question, that would be great. But I mean, you know, to to kind of pretend like I know what I'm talking about, I think it comes back to this kind of uniting around around the things that that we do have in common.

00:41:46:16 - 00:42:22:19
Kel Moody
And I think, you know, as I've been talking about, I think having a shared sense of place is one of those things. I think it's such a it's such a delicate balance to be able to hold people's unique identities as and honor those and hold them in kind of importance, while also finding the ways that we are similar and finding the things that we connect on.

00:42:22:21 - 00:43:01:15
Kel Moody
And I also think it's just about like respect. I think just if we could just really honestly and I can't even say that I can do this myself, but if we could really honestly just have honest, genuine respect for people, you know, across the board, I think that would probably do a lot for us. But it's hard. It's hard when, you know, there are people out in this world that was that was things that I don't even have a right to exist.

00:43:01:16 - 00:43:36:13
Kel Moody
You know, there are people in this world that, you know, want to erase my being. They want to not they me to not be part of this world. They want me. And that's shown through things like, you know, bathroom bills that shone through, you know, trans athletes being discriminated against, banned outright, just, I mean, completely disrespected as humans.

00:43:36:15 - 00:44:08:18
Kel Moody
All of those things make it really hard. And so I think, gosh, it's going to be such a journey and it only seems to be, you know, getting further exacerbated. So there has to be some sort of shift that happens in order to kind of get us back to, well, maybe we've never been there, but get us to something where we really kind of look at people.

00:44:08:20 - 00:44:31:12
Kel Moody
And first our first thought is this is a person who deserves to be respected, who deserves to be loved, who deserves to be treated with kindness. And if that is the first thing that we approach our interactions with, that would do a lot. But we're so easily on the defense.

00:44:31:14 - 00:45:12:20
Mark Titus
I think we are, and we're siloed. I mean, and obviously COVID has completely compounded that. You know, social media has so compounded that. And what drives me bananas is that there are people that have monetarily profited from that and continue to by dividing people further, you know, various news outlets. Obviously, we've touched on Facebook, profiting immensely from creating divisive silence for people.

00:45:13:00 - 00:45:32:19
Mark Titus
I mean, even in the ways that we you know, you mentioned earlier, like we we live in this boxed society. We live in a box. We go to work in a box when we do go to work, unless we're staying in the original box to work. And then we literally go in a cubicle box to go at work and then back in a box to go back to the box.

00:45:32:19 - 00:46:11:09
Mark Titus
And you know, there is a real loneliness in that. And also there's a when as a person in recovery, I can speak to this the heart, the root of my disease is in isolation because my mind, if left rampant, can can go all kinds of places that I do not need to be going. And I saw a guy I went out to the river yesterday and went to a casting just to practice for a few hours.

00:46:11:09 - 00:46:31:22
Mark Titus
It was beautiful. It was just beautiful. No, call me. River had been flooding and now it had come down and it was gold and leaves and blue sky and mountains and just, you know, kind of Zen blissed out. And on the way home, there was a big, big ass truck with a big ass flag that said Kinsley on it, our governor and a giant flag.

00:46:31:22 - 00:47:02:22
Mark Titus
And it's, you know, it's distracting and everything else. And honestly, you know, my react this is this is a reaction that I've had is immediately to take the bait. And, you know, and to react to to that. And instead yesterday, I don't know how this happened, but I was able to think about the man driving that truck in the way that you just described as a human.

00:47:02:23 - 00:47:38:12
Mark Titus
I have no idea what this this person suffering is like. I have no idea what this person's story is. I have no idea why they feel like they express themselves this way. But instantly, instantly going into the heart space of this person as a person, it got me out of that reactive space that, you know, that I was going to drift into and then spin on for the next hour, you know, and it's a gift to myself.

00:47:38:14 - 00:48:03:00
Mark Titus
And so I think that to add on to what you were saying, getting ourselves out of these boxes when we can physically, God help us all, you know, hopefully sooner than later, when you experience something together, when you eat a meal together, when you watch a sunset together, when you sit around a fire together, you go to a sports game together.

00:48:03:02 - 00:48:36:03
Mark Titus
I mean, I think that's that's when a case can be made. Say what you will about sports. And there's all kinds of stupid stuff with professional sports. But but that sense of community in that's that's one of those things a sense of place sense of community like where can we find opportunities to to weave these narratives together that don't put us back in these silos, in this anonymous space on social media or in our car, you know, on on any side politically.

00:48:36:03 - 00:48:44:12
Mark Titus
I mean, there's people that have bumper stickers up and down that are, you know, saying Trump and like it, it's the same thing.

00:48:44:14 - 00:49:13:19
Kel Moody
Yeah. There really is something about the gatherings, I think. And that's I mean, that's another thing that the festival is trying to do right now. We only have virtual worlds. So now I'm just going to ask you to come into a box and then join us on a box and look at a box. But I really do think there is something about gatherings and I, you know, as we kind of move out of this COVID time that we're living in, the vessel will be a gathering.

00:49:13:21 - 00:49:43:13
Kel Moody
It will be an in-person gathering at some point. And what form that takes, I don't know yet, but there is something really powerful about being with other people and and sharing experiences. And I think, you know, we're trying to do that in a virtual space right now. We're doing everything we can to kind of make it interactive and bring people in to feel like they're part of something because that's that's the safest way to do it right now.

00:49:43:13 - 00:49:58:10
Kel Moody
But there's still something there, you know, about being in community with people sharing that same kind of experience. I think that's really powerful thing to help kind of bring people together as well.

00:49:58:12 - 00:50:33:08
Mark Titus
Agree. And you and and the other architects who have created this festival, what works space have done such a great job of dealing with the confines that we have about, again, being a box into a box and in talking to a screen, have made it feel very lifelike. And and there there is so much that people want to share and are willing to give freely in this festival, in this bioregion that we live in.

00:50:33:10 - 00:50:54:22
Mark Titus
And you mentioned some of the examples earlier on, but can you give an idea of what are you, Kels, specifically looking forward to this week, most of all within the festival of what works? I like a good night's sleep and I.

00:50:54:22 - 00:51:36:05
Kel Moody
Am looking forward to seeing the light in people's eyes. And it happened last year plenty of times and it was just so exciting, you know, whether it's a one of our speakers or presenters who's sharing something and you just can see the excitement and what they're sharing, you can see the passion just oozing out of them and then you can kind of see some interactions take place with, you know, some of these panels are people that don't necessarily know each other coming together.

00:51:36:07 - 00:52:17:10
Kel Moody
And the exchange that people had last year to see and kind of eyes lit up around, there's something there's something similar that you're doing and like that somehow, like validate people's experiences. It also can open their eyes to new ways of thinking about what they're doing. And I think there's something really powerful about being in a position where you get to share your story sometimes articulating what you're doing to a group of people who have no idea who you are and who are may, may or may not, and who have maybe no idea the power of the work that you're doing.

00:52:17:12 - 00:52:47:17
Kel Moody
Being able to articulate that can really be an empowering experience. And so I'm excited about that. I'm also excited to hear people's responses, to see how people get excited about what we're sharing and what they're excited about and what it's encouraging them to do, because I think that there's something really, really powerful there. You know, we try to make sure that speakers, our speakers all get honorarium for participating.

00:52:47:19 - 00:53:09:06
Kel Moody
So they're getting, you know, monetary exchange. But I also really hope that there's more than that, that they're getting something else out of this experience that's more meaningful than maybe some cash. I mean, that's that, you know, it's important that we value people's time by giving them money. That's the that's the system that we live in. And I think that's important to do.

00:53:09:08 - 00:53:17:22
Kel Moody
But I also think it's important that, you know, we're building relationships with these people in other ways.

00:53:18:00 - 00:53:40:11
Mark Titus
I agree. And it does shine through. I've seen it the light in the eyes that you've talked about. And one last thing here on Salmon Nation. I love this place. You love this place. And there are so many wonderful humans that live in this place and live well in this place that we're going to be able to learn from this this coming week.

00:53:40:13 - 00:53:55:08
Mark Titus
But what is it about the wild and nature that is so central to the work that you do? Why do you have such a reverence for it?

00:53:55:09 - 00:54:40:18
Kel Moody
Gosh, Mark, coming in hard, I honestly feel like there's something that's not really explainable about it. It's more of a feeling, and I think it's probably different for everybody. But there's something I mean, I got to go on a hike yesterday. Like you said, it's a beautiful day. And just being out in a place where you're surrounded trees and fresh air and the wind and the sounds of birds and running water and you smell amazing.

00:54:40:18 - 00:55:16:20
Kel Moody
You know, forests, loamy, you know, all sorts of decaying things and fresh things. And you can feel the ground on your feet. And gosh, my kid was like, obsessed with all the mushrooms. She's, like, obsessed with seeing all the mushrooms. I mean, it's, you know, a 20 month old child. It already has this reverence for being out in nature.

00:55:16:22 - 00:55:23:22
Kel Moody
I don't think I don't know if that's explainable. It's just the feeling that you get.

00:55:24:00 - 00:55:50:01
Mark Titus
We are a part of it. And as much as we've tried to distance, distance ourselves and inoculate ourselves from it, we are made of the same clay of it. And I think there's no better indicator than what you just, you know, used as an example. It's just feints or wonder. Natural, unprompted, beautiful.

00:55:50:03 - 00:56:01:06
Kel Moody
Yeah. I mean, sticks were like the most exciting thing. I mean, you know, that kind of like it's I can't explain why that's so exciting to her.

00:56:01:08 - 00:56:01:22
Mark Titus
It is.

00:56:02:02 - 00:56:05:15
Kel Moody
Like, but it's also exciting to me, you know?

00:56:05:17 - 00:56:34:00
Mark Titus
Yeah, well, speaking it from as a male, growing up as a young I don't know what it is and you know, find some sticks and you are set for the after and the, you know, like camp kids finding sticks and doing battle. It's like, yeah, it never gets old. So I got to probably the most important question of the day here for you to wrap this up.

00:56:34:00 - 00:56:37:19
Mark Titus
What is it with odd numbers?

00:56:37:21 - 00:56:39:07
Kel Moody
What about odd numbers?

00:56:39:09 - 00:56:41:08
Mark Titus
What is it? Give you an odd number.

00:56:41:12 - 00:57:20:20
Kel Moody
yeah, I you know, I'm a person that I like things organized and orderly. And I think I think odd numbers are harder to make. Orderly So they're like a little bit rebellious for some reason. They have this, like, rebellion there. And I have nothing against rebellion. Like, don't get me wrong all about it. But there's, you know, I, like, can't have the volume of, you know on your stereo on an odd number or your TV or something like that.

00:57:21:00 - 00:57:47:14
Kel Moody
Things like that are so silly, but like it's just, you know, this little neuroses that I have. And it's funny because I was born on an odd date both here and day of the month. I have a lot of my anniversaries on an odd date. My kid was born on an odd date. You know, they kind of haunt me, but I don't know.

00:57:47:14 - 00:57:49:17
Kel Moody
I just don't like I don't trust them.

00:57:49:19 - 00:58:18:17
Mark Titus
Now, maybe it's meant to balance you out. It's. It's the Yeah. Into the into your yang. And yeah, it's funny that because I was I just came across that in one of your bio I, I completely identify I wouldn't even numbers to because of the probably the German side from my mom's side of the family you know like it just complete quarterly craziness maybe that's it.

00:58:18:17 - 00:58:31:20
Kel Moody
I have some German and me too. I don't know. I just. I like things in a certain way. I mean, you know, it's just all these little, little, little quirks that we all have, I'm sure, in some way or another.

00:58:31:22 - 00:59:07:17
Mark Titus
Indeed we do. And from a person that is downstream of the work that you do, we are grateful for it. So thank you for for being obsessed with numbers in order. And you've listened to the show. I know. So you're we've come to that point in the show where we're asking you the bonus question, really to drill down on what it is that are the things that are most important to you that you would say if you were in the path of a flooding river and you only had a couple of minutes to grab one physical thing out of the house, what would it be?

00:59:07:19 - 00:59:13:03
Kel Moody
You know, you're right, Mark. I have listened to your podcast, and so I thought about this a lot, actually.

00:59:13:03 - 00:59:13:21
Mark Titus
And I knew you.

00:59:13:22 - 00:59:45:16
Kel Moody
Would. And I it's still hard. It's still hard to find an answer. The thing that has come to my mind the most and I will say I have a water and fireproof safe. So like there are stuff in there that would probably be okay still. So barring the like passport documentation and all that kind of stuff, the USB drive from our our wedding album, which is in there.

00:59:45:18 - 01:00:19:14
Kel Moody
So I'm cheating a little bit. I think I would take this Christmas cactus plant that is older than me. It used to be my parents and my parents are divorced and my dad has actually passed away two years ago, but he was a horticulturist. And yeah, I think I would take the plant hard to replace that.

01:00:19:16 - 01:00:54:03
Mark Titus
Totally legit. Wow. Older than you. And that is that is really amazing. And when you think about turtles and I guess you're right. Cacti. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Well, okay. Cactus, the physical thing. How about to emotional or spiritual or, you know, esoteric things that make cal count. But what are those two things that if you could only grab two, what are those features that you would you would pull out of the flood take with you?

01:00:54:05 - 01:00:55:20
Mark Titus

01:00:55:22 - 01:01:12:05
Kel Moody
Probably just how much I care about things and maybe also my intuition.

01:01:12:07 - 01:01:36:15
Mark Titus
Both visible qualities in you and I heartily concur. Well, Kelly Moody, director of Salmon Nation Festival. What works? Can you give us the skinny on how to how to tune in this week and how to be a part of this thing and how to where to go online to follow your work and this important work with Salmon Nation.

01:01:36:17 - 01:02:04:07
Kel Moody
Yeah, absolutely. So the festival is starting on Tuesday night. We have a kickoff event and then a couple of performances and then it goes through Sunday. So this November 2nd, through the seventh, all of our sessions are going to be streaming live on the festival website. There's there are also Zoom sessions for the more interactive experiences that you can get linked to through the website directly as well.

01:02:04:09 - 01:02:26:03
Kel Moody
The website you can go to a festival of what DOT works is probably the simplest and quickest way to get there. That's our kind of main festival that we website that exists throughout the year. But there's a real quick and easy link to get to this year's event website. There you can register for events. It's free or pay what you can.

01:02:26:05 - 01:02:39:02
Kel Moody
We really just want as many people to get their eyes on this stuff as possible. So that is that is the hope to just everybody to join us.

01:02:39:04 - 01:02:56:01
Mark Titus
Cal, so grateful for your work, grateful for your friendship, grateful for your leadership. Thank you for jumping on the show today. I can't wait to see the magic, the alchemy that you've cooked up this coming week in Salmon Nation's Festival, what works. And we'll see you down the trail.

01:02:56:03 - 01:02:59:10
Kel Moody
Thank you so much, Mark. Great hanging with you.

01:02:59:12 - 01:03:02:10
Mark Titus
Great hanging. See you.

01:03:02:12 - 01:03:17:09
Music
How do you save what you love?
How do you save what you love?

01:03:17:11 - 01:03:43:09
Mark Titus
Thank you for listening to Save What You Love. If you like what you're hearing, you can help keep these conversations coming your way by giving us a rating on Apple Podcasts. You can check out photos and links from this episode at evaswild.com. While there, you can join our growing community by subscribing to our newsletter, you'll get exclusive offers on wild salmon shipped to your door and notifications about upcoming guests and more great content on the way.

01:03:43:11 - 01:04:22:01
Mark Titus
That's at evaswild.com. That's the word Save spelled backwards Wild dot com. This episode was produced by Tyler White and edited by Patrick Troll. Original music was created by Whiskey Class. This podcast is a collaboration between Ava's Wild Stories and Salmon Nation and was recorded on the homelands of the Duwamish. People. We'd like to recognize these lands and waters and their significance for the people who lived and continued to live in this region whose practices and spiritualities were and are tied to the land in the water, and whose lives continue to enrich and develop in relationship to the land waters and other inhabitants today.